Just Lucky

Quickly regaining my composure, I slowly approach Hajime. I take his arm, helping him to his feet, easily catching him when he stumbles. "Are you alright?" I ask in a murmur, "were you drugged?"

He shakes his head slowly. "No, just knocked out. My head hurts." He mutters, rubbing at the back of his head. My grip on him tightens.

"Junko, please, he's in no condition to play. The gamble won't be fair." I sigh, glancing over my shoulder at her. She rolls her eyes in turn.

"It's never a fair gamble with that ridiculous luck of yours," She states, "besides, it's his own fault for being so weak. Hinata plays or Hinata dies." Mukuro lifts her gun-bearing arm for emphasis.

"I can't-I don't want to be a Housepet." He mumbles anxiously, face going pale. However I'm quick to assure him;

"I believe in you. It's just a stupid game." I say, taking the tag off of him and tossing it to the side.

Although it's so much more than that. It's a gamble! A thrilling battle between hope and despair-and I'm once again going to gamble with who is practically the embodiment of despair-aah~ It's so exciting! Gambling with Hajime and despair. . .I won't let you down, Hajime, so please watch me!

"Whatever." Hajime mumbles, brushing past me to have a seat at the table. I don't hesitate to follow. I sit at one end of the perfectly-square table, Hajime sitting to my right. Junko sits across from me, a devilish smirk gracing her face.

I lean forward in my seat, lazily resting my chin in my hands. "What'll it be, Junko?" I ask, letting out a yawn. She wrinkles her nose.

"I'm so glad you asked! It's just a simple tournament of Memory, I'm sure you two remember the rules," She sighs, "flip the cards over to make pairs from memory. Hajime and I will play first and the loser will play you. First person to lose to two people will be the loser and will attain Housepet status with how big this wager will be. Then the two others will play to see who receives the money. As for the wager. . .two billion sounds good, right?"

Mukuro points her gun at us, practically forcing us to agree. I smile sweetly.

"Certainly, wouldn't you agree, Hajime?" I reply, glancing at him. He looks like a nervous wreck. He. . .really doesn't want to become a Housepet, does he?

But why exactly, I wonder? We wouldn't leave him, Sonia's status is proof of that. Then, perhaps he is worried someone will think less of him, like Chiaki maybe? No, that can't be it. . .maybe the way the rest of the students will treat him then? Hmm. . .

". . .Yep." He answers, voice cold and empty. Junko claps her hands together, lighting up once more.

"Great! Let's begin then!"

Mukuro produces two fresh packs of cards from her pocket and silently passes them to Junko. They're definitely new, never been used. You can tell by the shiny plastic still encasing them. Junko easily slices through it with her long crimson nail and begins shuffling the first deck rapidly.

"Hajime, you're up first. And just to be clear, you want the cards to match exactly. An ace of spades with an ace of spades for example," She explains, setting the first deck down and proceeding to shuffle the other, "We'll play until we're either down to the last few cards or we call a Mercy."

"Sure." Hajime agrees with a dry tone. I offer him a bright smile and a wink. This makes him look away immediately, cheeks holding just a hint of pink.

Heheh..., cute~

Mukuro spreads the cards out on the table, and flips them all face-up. Hajime and Junko are then allowed a moment to stare and memorize the card positions the best they can. When a minute passes, Mukuro flips all of the cards over and the game begins.

I watch idly as they each take turns flipping over random cards, trying to either find a pair or find a card that they remember where it's partner is. So far, nothing.

Hajime is concentrating hard, eyebrows furrowed with a mix of determination and nerves. Junko, however, doesn't look phased at all.

A few more moments fast and suddenly Junko draws a pair. She smirks, delighted as she takes her automatic second turn, thankfully coming up with nothing.

A few more moments pass and Hajime comes with a pair and I applaud for him. This pattern continues on for a while.

Not before much longer, Junko suddenly starts drawing pair after pair after pair, crushing Hajime. Thankfully, she's too far ahead for the game to continue and the beautiful brunet is defeated.

"Solid effort, Hajime. You did good." I coo, reaching across the table to rub his hand.

". . .Uh-huh." He breathes. Junko then gathers all the cards back up and restarts the shuffling process.

"Remember, loser acquires Housepet status." She reminds us. Hajime exhales.

"Looks like we get to play together sooner than I thought. . ." I comment, giving him one of my signature carefree smiles. The result? He flinches. . .huh.

HAJIME POV

Nagito moves so that he's sitting directly across from me, smiling all the same. Junko then lays the cards out for us to examine.

"You're going down, Hajime~" He murmurs, causing me to shiver at his words. He then looks up and meets my gaze with a simple grin, eyes sparkling mischievously.

Junko giggles. "Well, well, you're sure quick to turn on your little boy toy, aren't you Nagito?" She comments, proceeding to flip the cards over.

Crap, this isn't good. If I lose I can't pay the fee and Nagito is practically unbeatable. This isn't going to end well for me.

"You go first, Hajime." Nagito directs, gesturing to the cards in front of us. I gulp nervously.

". . .Right." I reply. I flip over two cards, getting nothing. Nagito tries next and gets a pair right away.

"Such luck!" He exclaims, taking his next turn, thankfully coming up with nothing. I exhale shakily, taking my turn. Nothing.

We continue you on like this for a while, each of us getting a pair or two each couple of rounds. Eventually, it's quite obvious that Nagito is ahead and it's practically guaranteed he's going to win.

"Nagito, we should call Mercy~" Junko smirks. He shakes his head.

"I'm sure Hajime still has a chance." He responds, eyes shinning.

There's no way I'm going to win.

A few more hands pass and Nagito's stack of pairs is quite high now while I only have a few.

"Ugh, that's it, I'm calling a Mercy. Hajime loses!" Junko declares, annoyed.

My heart sinks as I slump back in my seat.

I lost. I lost. I lost I lost I lost I lost I-

I can't pay the fee. I'm going to made a Housepet with a debt this big. I-

Junko retrieves the Housepet tag and approaches me, making me automatically shrink away from her. Nagito frowns.

"Wait," He calls out, making her pause in her tracks, "we should play first to see who he'll be indebted to, no?" Junko grins.

"Certainly then~ Let's play."

I don't even pay attention to the game, let alone my surroundings. My worse fear is coming true. Dammit-why can't I be rich when I need money?! My life is over, I can't-

I'm spiraling-

"I win, Junko."

My head snaps up at those words. My eyes fly over the table. They seem to have a close amount of pairs each but Nagito has slightly more. Junko sighs, folding her arms over her chest.

"Fine. I suppose you did win. I can't say I'm surprised, Nagito 'lucky' Komaeda." She responds bitterly. Nagito smiles, reaching across the table and snags the Housepet tag, making me freeze.

"This is for me then~" He says happily. He then stands up and faces me, eyes gleaming dangerously.

. . .Holy shit.

He casually saunters towards me, fiddling with the tag in his hands. "Hmm, I guess you belong to me now, aha~ Pochi~" He says in a teasing tone as I stare up at him, horrified. He then carefully drapes it around my neck.

"Hmm," He hums, "it does suit you after all."

"How strange. I thought you cared deeply for this boy." Junko observes dryly.

"Nagito." I gasp out in a strangled whisper. He presses a finger to my lips.

"Shh." He directs calmly. Junko smirks deviously.

"Well then, you two are free to go now. This had an. . .interesting turn of events." She sighs, standing and walking over to Mukuro. Nagito smiles.

"Indeed. Come along, 'pet." He responds. I stand up dutifully and follow him out of the room. He takes long strides down the hall and I hurry to catch up to him.

"Komae-" I start to say but he cuts me off, saying;

"You should go home, Hajime, you've been through a lot today, huh?" He suggests.

"I-are you sure?"

He blinks. "Of course. Please get some rest, I beg you." He replies, ruffling my hair.

"Don't pet me." I mutter, annoyed.

"Hush, Hajime, you sure are talking a lot today. Go home and sleep." He sighs.

"I-. . .okay."

-

"So, you want to tell me how you got that Housepet tag?" Chiaki asks as we're driving to the school. I sigh, looking down at the tag with disdain.

". . .Nagito and I were forced into a gamble with a high wager. I don't feel like getting into it." I mutter.

"I see. Who are you indebted to?"

"Nagito. Again, don't feel like explaining right now." I answer. Chiaki cocks an eyebrow.

"He didn't let you off the hook this time, huh?"

"No. He actually seemed quite happy to make me his Housepet, actually." I grumble.

"I see."

We ride the remaining few minutes in silence and Chiaki pulls into the school parking lot. She finds no trouble finding a parking spot before shutting off the ignition.

". . .I don't want to go in there." I say. Chiaki clicks off her seatbelt.

"You have to though, you can't miss. Let's just go in and get it over with, alright?" She suggests, stepping out of the car. With a heavy sigh I follow suit. She grabs my wrist and practically drags me into the building.

She proceeds to lead me in the direction of our lockers. I keep my head down, eyes glued to my shoes. I can feel the stares burning into my back, it's awful already as I try desperately to block out the whisperings and snickers all around us. Although I know the real torture hasn't even begun yet.

Sonia is waiting for us when we arrive at our lockers, fiddling with her Housepet tag. She takes one look at me and gasps.

"Good heavens, Hajime, what happened to you?!" She exclaims, covering her mouth in shock. I let out a groan.

"I. . .I'm not really in the mood to talk about it right now." I respond in a bitter tone. Her eyebrows crinkle worriedly.

"If you're certain. . .anyways, have you seen Nagito?" She wonders. Chiaki shakes her head.

"Not yet. I'm sure he'll turn up soon enough, he always does." She answers. I hum in agreement.

He'll most likely show up. He definitely seems like the type to torment his victims. If he was an annoying jerk before, then I can only imagine how much worse it’s going to get now. . .

"I'm not in the mood to see him." I grumble. Chiaki rolls her eyes.

"Come on, Hajime, don't be wary of seeing Nagito, he's not a bad guy. . .mostly." The peach-haired girl scolds.

"Mostly." I parrot.

"Wait. . .did you two have a fight, or. . .is Nagito the one you're indebted to?!" Sonia demands anxiously. I nod, staring at the floor once again.

"I wouldn't worry about him in particular, he's quite fond of you already," Chiaki assures me, "at worse his teasing is just going to get a little worse."

"You say that like it's not a bad thing." I mumble.

"Hajime!~" Someone suddenly exclaims. Arms wrap around my chest and the owner of the voice's chin nestles into the crook of my neck, squeezing tight.

"I'm so glad I found you."