Hajime shook his head in an irritated manner, feeling his hair covering his face again as he did so.
"How does Mikan deal with this..?" He wondered for a moment, brushing the hair back out of the way with his hand. "While I'm stuck like this, maybe I could tie it up, or... Something. Anything to make this a little more normal."
Pushing those thoughts away, Hajime focused back on what he was setting out to do - he supposed that there might be too many people at the cafeteria, given how many are normally there. As sad as it sounded, Hajime didn't entirely feel ready to face most of the group with how he currently was, especially if Hiyoko was doing anything akin to her normal tricks. At least at the beach, there'd probably be fewer people, and he could hopefully work toward becoming a little less uncomfortable with his current situation.
Walking towards the beach, Hajime couldn't help but occasionally itch at his arm, still wondering about those wounds on Mikan's arm. He supposed she was quite clumsy, it was very possible her tripping, or even a medical application mistake, had caused the wounds. Hopefully it wasn't a cause for concern, or anything...
Finally arriving at the beach, Hajime could hear the crashing of the nearby waves, causing him to look curiously out towards the nearby water. He'd never thought about it before, but the ocean was... Surprisingly calming to look at, during times of stress. It was almost as if some of his anxiety was washing away in front of him...
"Hey, Mikan! How's it going?" Chiaki's voice rung out, causing Hajime to turn around confusedly - Chiaki was looking directly at him, while Nagito stood next to them. If he remembered correctly from yesterday, Chiaki and Nagito had swapped, right?
"Um... Nagito, you know I'm not Mikan. It's me, Hajime, remember?" Hajime spoke out, an unavoidable timidness spreading into his voice. Nagito's body also turned around, slowly, and gave a silent wave.
"Ohhh, right! I almost forgot about the swapping thing, haha... Me and Chiaki have just been having fun here!" Nagito (from Chiaki's body) spoke nonchalantly, motioning his hand to the space behind him. Taking a peak beyond the two, Hajime could see a television set up, with a full video game console and multiple controllers wired to it. How did they even get all this stuff wired up on the beach, of all places?
"How did..? Wait, what do you mean you forgot? How can you just forget about all this?" Hajime looked between Nagito and Chiaki, while indicating his arms towards himself.
"It's not that hard, really. Besides, me and Chiaki are more alike than I thought! Well, that's insulting, considering Chiaki is still an Ultimate, without her body or not, while I'm just lowly trash, but... Still, you get used to it!" Nagito stretched out his arms, as if presenting himself to Hajime. Even for Hajime, seeing Chiaki's body doing something like that felt odd - but Chiaki herself barely seemed to care, continuing to play the game on the TV.
"Ugh, I wish I could agree. Mikan's body just feels... Off. Not to mention her hair keeps getting in my face. Honestly, I kind of admire how well you've both taken to this whole thing. Have you both just been hanging out here this entire time?" Hajime asked curiously, continuing to brush his hair out of his face.
"Well..." Nagito's body quietly spoke up, not looking away from the screen, "We started in my room, but Nagito convinced me to go outside... Usami helped set up the console."
"Of course! I've listened to enough of Nekomaru's advice to know how important sunlight is for the body. And I wouldn't want my own bad luck to cause your body to come to harm, Chiaki!" Nagito's stated in an oddly reassuring manner - even Hajime felt how considerate he was being.
"Yeah... I usually prefer to game inside, but this... Isn't so bad." Chiaki spoke softly, keeping her eyes on the screen.
Nagito turned back from looking at Chiaki, facing Hajime once again. "See? There's a lot we can learn from each other. I've been trying to beat Chiaki at Supreme Shatter Bros., but I'm on a losing streak, hahaha..."
Hajime looked at the screen a little closer - Chiaki was performing a lengthy combo on a black sandbag, her male fingers moving with surprising dexterity.
"At first," Chiaki explained, pointing one of her fingers into the air while continuing the combo flawlessly with her other hand. "The sets were nearly even - Nagito's fingers are longer and bonier than mine," Hajime raised an eyebrow at the term 'bonier', but Nagito didn't seem to mind. "...But I eventually adapted. If I was more used to it... Nagito's hands might give me more of an advantage, in theory. It makes it easier to reach the back of the controller, and I can keep my hands a little looser."
Nagito chuckled softly, moving back towards the TV. "Hahahaha! You don't need to compliment me or anything, Chiaki. As it is now, I'm taking at least one stock each set - I bet if you had your original body, I wouldn't even get in a hit!" Nagito rotated his head around, Chiaki's hair slightly moving in front of his eyes - yet, strangely, Nagito didn't seem at all bothered by the inconvenience. His original body did have pretty long hair, maybe he was used to it?
"Hey, Mi-- Sorry, sorry! Hajime, how about you come play some games with us? Usami wants us to socialise, after all. Maybe this'll be what you need to break out that shell you're in?" Nagito spoke as he sat down, working Chiaki's fingers around the game controller.
"You want me to join in..? Well..." Hajime wondered, placing his arm through his hair and on the back of his neck. Playing a game didn't seem so bad right about now, but he did still need to find Mikan. If Nagito and Chiaki had gotten so comfortable just by talking and being friendly, maybe Hajime could do the same by talking to Mikan? It would alleviate some of the anxiety he was sure they were both feeling, at least.
Which should he do?
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