Chapter Text
Hiro waits in his office…huh, it’s weird that he of all people have an office now that he thinks of it. But life can take you in wild directions, right? Honestly, Hiro hadn’t expected himself to become a teacher. Not that he hates it, quite the opposite actually. Now whether his younger self could have seen this coming he’s unsure. Sure his accuracy is around 30% but still, this wasn’t the career path he had in mind.
Anyways, what’s he doing in his office again? Normally he’s the type of guy to be strolling around campus. Maybe giving one of his fellow survivors a "distraction" (they really need to learn how to take breaks) or giving students pep talks and advice. Mind you, this is all if he doesn’t have a class to teach himself. What, he’d never intentionally miss one! Okay well, he may be late once or twice but that’s only by a couple minutes. He and his surviving classmates really have made it far past those dark days. They rebuilt the school by hand with the help of the Future Foundation and have been running it just fine.
Getting back on track, today he’s in his office because a student, Kaito Momota, requested to meet with him. He hadn’t really said why just that he needed to and that it was important. Apparently Hiro is the “only one who might know what to do” which is strange. Hiro likes to believe himself good at being there for others, but if this is an emergency… yeah he’s not the best pick. Kaito argued that it wasn’t, but his tone made it sound urgent.
Kaito isn’t a bad kid, he knows that from when he subbed for his class. He may have difficulty paying attention, but Hiro doesn’t hold that against him in the slightest. After all, he was the same growing up. But why Kaito wants to meet with him out of everybody here is confusing.
A knock on his open office door tells him that Kaito has arrived. “You can come in, I don’t bite!” Hiro calls with a grin. Kaito comes in grinning back and offers his hand, “I sure hope not! It’s good to see you, sensei.” Hiro shakes it and gestures for him to take a seat. Once Kaito does, Hiro decides to catch up first. “It’s been a bit. How’ve classes been going?” “They’ve been alright. I only got reprimanded by Fukawa-sensei once for falling asleep. I think that’s an improvement. Writing’s not my subject, you know? I want to be known as ‘The Luminary of the Stars’ not ‘The Luminary of the Blank Sheet of Paper’.” Hiro has to hold back a laugh. For Toko’s sake he lectures him. “You shouldn’t be falling asleep in class, but I do agree that this is an improvement. I’m glad that classes have been alright for you otherwise.”
Kaito beams, “Thanks, sensei! Yeah, it’s not like I’m failing.” That Hiro can confirm; when he was grading for their class, Kaito had some of the highest marks there. “Just try not to fall asleep for Toko’s sake, okay?” Kaito offers him a mock salute. “Okay!”
Now they’ve gotten to the hard part: why Kaito’s here in the first place. He had been dodgy when he first asked. Hiro tries his best to ease into the topic, “So… what brings you in? Other than catching up?” Kaito gets a grim look on his face. “Do you mind if I close the door?” “Oh no.” Hiro thinks but replies, “Umm, sure. Whatever you need.” “Thanks.” As Kaito stands, it feels like a thousand questions and concerns are flashing through Hiro’s mind. “Oh god, oh god
, what could it be?! I should have done a reading…no, I’m trying to rely on that less. Am I about to be bribed?! No, he’s a good kid, definitely not. Wait is his home life okay?! Maybe I should call-” Before Hiro can ask or do anything else, the door clicks shut and Kaito is back in front of his desk. He takes a deep breath and says straight faced, “You might not believe me but….I think that one of my best friends is haunted.”
All Hiro feels capable of doing in that moment is blinking and going “W-what?”. Considering the buildup, he had expected something much more severe. It’s slightly a relief, only slightly because ghosts are terrifying. Hey, just because he hasn’t seen a ghost before doesn’t mean that they don’t exist! He chants prayers for good reason! Trying to keep his voice even, “A ghost?” Kaito looks down with a sigh, “You don’t believe me either.” Despite Hiro wanting absolutely nothing to do with a ghost, he still wants to help. “Stay calm Hiro, it’s probably something else. Yeah, that’s it!” Hiro turns back to Kaito and tries to reassure him. “I never said that. What makes you think there’s a ghost involved?” Kaito brightens up but still maintains his serious expression. “It just has to be! My sidekick’s been acting weird, and I can’t find any other explanation!!"
This narrows the potential hauntee down to two people: Maki Harukawa or Shuichi Saihara. They are the closest people to Kaito if memory serves him right. “Well, what’s been happening?” “His room has been really warm lately.” “Warm? You know that haunted locations are usually cold right? Are you sure they didn’t just change the room temperature? Or get a space heater or something?” “There’s no way! I don’t know how much you know about the student dorms, but they are stupidly cold. We also aren’t allowed to have heaters in the dorms due to them being a potential "fire hazard". My friend isn’t the type to hide forbidden items either. And the room temperature can’t be changed without help.” “Maybe they just got help?” Kaito shakes his head, “Others have tried, and every request has been denied. Besides I think they woulda told me if they asked and succeeded.”
Hiro takes a mental note of the temperature situation. He’ll bring up the issue to Byakuya or Makoto later. No student should be freezing in their dorm. For now he has to focus on the matter at hand. He half wishes that Kyoko was here with him, she’d be able to ask better questions. “Any personality changes? Have they become more reclusive recently? Like spending more time alone or in their room?” Kaito appears surprised. “Yeah actually. How’d you know?” “That often happens when a person becomes haunted.” “Yes, I knew it!” “But….” Hiro raises a hand, “classes have been picking up recently. Your friend could just be busier from that. And aren’t several of your friends the type to need alone time to recharge?”
Kaito stands looking upset. “You don’t believe me. I can go. I’m sorry for wasting your time.” Head down, he moves for the door. “Kaito, please wait! I’m sorry if I’ve been making you feel unheard. I just wanted to ask you these things to rule out other possibilities. Like a detective, you know.” Kaito looks back at him and smiles. “Thank you, this is why I asked you specifically. You actually listen to me.” Hiro feels touched as Kaito returns to where he was seated.
“Speaking of detectives I wish Shuichi could help us.” “It would be good to have an actual detective on the case.” Hiro mentally agrees. “Why can’t he?” Kaito scratches his head looking embarrassed. “Ah whoops, I forgot to tell you. Shuichi’s the one being haunted.” “No worries, I honestly forgot to ask.” They share a laugh before Hiro continues.
“Anything else felt off lately?” There’s a minute or so of silence until Kaito snaps his fingers. “Oh I forgot! Shuichi’s been fixated on figuring out a certain tea recipe. He’s been going at it for a couple days now.” “Tea? Do they normally like tea?” “I mean yeah, but it’s still strange right?” Hiro feels that he can agree with that. “I can’t say that it isn’t. By any chance did you ask them what type of tea they were trying to make and why?” “I think it was something called ‘Royal Milk Tea’.” For some reason that answer fills Hiro with dread. It feels so familiar, but why? The answer’s right at the tip of his tongue, but he can’t remember. “He never told you why?” “Not really. Just that it was important.”
Hiro scratches his chin. Everything Kaito brought up could be dismissed as circumstantial. Yet, his gut tells him that he should check this out. At the very least for Kaito’s sake. Having someone on his side is something he needs right now; regardless of whether or not there is a ghost around. Which he really hopes there isn’t.
“How about this? We visit your friend’s dorm together and if I see or sense anything off, I’ll let you know. Does that sound good?” “You promise?” “I promise.” Kaito grins. “That’s perfect! I know their schedule pretty well. I think he’s free in an hour or so after classes end. Will you be free then? We could just meet here again.” “I can pencil you in. Believe it or not, the great Yasuhiro Hagakure does take requests. For a fee of course.” Kaito huffs but smiles. “Oh really? I could just tell Togami-sensei about your side business.” Hiro makes a mock gagging noise. “Alright, alright. Cool students get a one-time consultation, free of charge. I’ll see you again after classes.” “Awesome! See you later, sensei!” Kaito opens the door and leaves with a wave.
Hiro waves back and groans after the door is shut. He’s committed himself to a ghost hunt. “Please, please, please, let nothing be there!” He also really hopes that Kaito was joking when he threatened to tell Byakuya about his side business, he doesn’t need to get busted again. To pass the time, he decides to get some paperwork done. It’ll take his mind off of things and get Byakuya off his back. A dual win in his book.
Time passes quicker than he’d like as soon enough there is another knock on his office door. “Sensei, you ready? Classes just ended.” “In a second!” Hiro questions whether to bring anything with him. It would definitely inspire more confidence in his abilities, but he also doesn’t want to attract a lot of attention. Rumor of a ghost would spread whether or not there actually is one. If it hasn’t already. As a kid he probably would’ve been the one sharing such to everyone. However, for Makoto and his fellow survivors’ sakes it would be best to keep this on the down low. They don’t need novice ghost hunters popping up everywhere. Or parents complaining any more than they already do. Ultimately he decides to go as is. He’s definitely not going to regret this. Not that he isn’t regretting his decision already.
Taking a deep breath and a quick “You’ve got this Hiro”, he exits his office. Kaito is standing nearby looking extremely pumped. “Lead the way, Momota-kun.” It’s better if Kaito does, it’s good for his nerves and the fact that he wouldn’t know where to go. “Will do, sensei!” is the excited response and off they go.
Hiro waves to a couple of people as they walk to the student dorms; as a teacher he stands out. Faculty normally aren’t on this side of campus and it’s causing some interest. He has to tell multiple students that he’ll chat later. The lie he slaps at the last minute is that he’s inspecting the dorms with Kaito. A horrible lie really but what can you expect? He’s on the spot right now. Thankfully, the students are buying it, but he knows his visit will still be discussed. Hiro stops at Shuichi’s dorm when he sees the nameplate but is surprised to see that Kaito has walked past it.
“Hey, where’re you going?!” He quietly calls after Kaito and jogs to catch up. “Weren’t we going to head to your friend’s dorm?” He hates to admit it but he’s a little out of breath from that jog.
“We were but you gave me an idea.” “I did?” Hiro wonders silently. “I’ll show you just how cold the dorms really are.” Hiro can’t help but be impressed at Kaito’s quick thinking. “That’s a great idea Momota-kun, it will give us a good comparison.” “I’m glad you agree. My dorm’s pretty close too.”
After a couple more steps Kaito announces their arrival ,“Here we are!” and unlocks his room’s door. As soon as Hiro enters he shivers. “W-what the hell?!” “I know right! It’s so fucking cold here that I swear my masculinity might fall off.” “So all the dorms are like this?” “Yeah as far as I’m aware. We all freeze our asses off in the summer.” Okay, Hiro’s now more determined than ever to bring this up to the others, ghost or not. This is ridiculous! They exit Kaito’s room and Hiro tells Kaito such as he is closing his door.
“Ghost or no ghost, I’ll make sure that this gets fixed.” “That would be great—” “So you roped a teacher into your ghost stories, Momota-chan?” Both Hiro and Kaito jump at the unexpected voice and turn around to see Kokichi smirking at them. “Go away Ouma and stop doing that. Actually, wait! Didn’t you experience something too?” “Kokichi chuckles, “You should really make up your mind, space boy. And maybe I did, maybe I didn’t.”
Hiro looks at the two of them in confusion. “What do you mean?” “Unless he’s lying, he recently got pushed by something.” “Pushed?” “Yeah I didn’t mention it because I think he’s lying. It coulda just been Shuichi—” “It was not!” Kokichi interrupts before quickly going back to his carefree demeanor. “There’s no way he’d push me off. My lovely Shumai would never!” “You know you’re not dating right?” “Not yet, Momota-chan. Not yet. I think they’ll give into my charm soon.” Hiro did not expect or want to learn about the love life of some of his students this way. He’d honestly rather not learn further, but this could be potential evidence. “So…what happened?”
“Momota-chan could you kindly go up against that wall? I wanna recreate the scene for accuracy.” Kaito grumbles with a “Stop calling me that,” but does. “Right after class one day I had them exactly where I wanted.” Kokichi puts an arm on either side of Kaito. “The hell are you doing?!” “Why recreating the scene. Also uncross your arms and put them against the wall. That’s what Saihara-chan was doing.” Kaito complies mumbling about how he’s tempted to punch him. “Anywho! I had my little detective right up along the wall just like this. Telling him how cute he is.” “This is definitely harassment.” Hiro decides but prompts, “And then?” “And then!” Kokichi dramatically stumbles backward. “You’re certain that he didn’t push you?” “I sure would have.” Kaito adds. “As certain as the fact that I’m a liar! They haven’t ever before, they’d usually wait me out or ask to be let go. He looked as shocked as I was.”
“What happened after?” “He apologized and ran off.” This gets Hiro thinking. “Could Saihara-kun know he’s being haunted? He did apologize….but he could’ve just believed that he pushed Ouma-kun too. Ugh, this doesn’t clear up anything!” As much as the reenactment weirded him out, Hiro thanks Kokichi for telling them what he experienced. “Anytime sensei. Even though that was all just a lie.”
Hiro’s not the best at telling if someone’s lying, yet he believes that Kokichi’s story was mostly true. “He wouldn’t have gotten so riled up earlier if it wasn’t.” “One more thing…” Kokichi continues, “If there is somehow a ghost haunting Saihara-chan…” his face darkens and Hiro swears that Kokichi’s eyes turn white, “make sure that you get rid of it.” As quickly as the change comes it leaves. “I should be the only one haunting him after all!” “Scary!” Hiro shudders. “Yeah, um, if anything’s there we’ll get rid of it.”
Kokichi grins, “Good!” before getting an excited look on his face, “Wait a minute you two are going to visit them now, aren’t you. I’ll tag along!” “Hell no!” Kaito yells, “You’ll just get in the way!” “It would probably be best to have less people—” Hiro begins but he’s interrupted by Kokichi bursting into tears. “Waah! Both of you are bullying meeeee!!” The tears throw Hiro off-guard. “Woah! Hey man calm down!” To Hiro’s dismay, Kokichi starts crying louder. “WAAAH!” In contrast, Kaito only looks more annoyed. “Just ignore him. Ouma does this whenever he doesn’t get his way. Let’s just go.” Kaito starts to walk away when Kokichi dashes out in front of him. “I’ll just beat you there and tell Saihara-chan that you’re looking for ghosts again!” Kaito rushes after him. “Not if I get there first!”
Seeing the two about to dash off, Hiro yells in his most serious voice, “Hold it!” and to his immediate relief the two stop and look at him. Time for him to be the "responsible one". “Fighting won’t get us anywhere. Ouma-kun you can tag along on one condition. You don’t tell Saihara-kun why we are actually there, and you don’t disrupt us. Does that work for you?” “But-!” Kaito cuts in before quieting. It seems he’s also realized that Kokichi won’t leave them alone otherwise. And the last thing either of them needs is for Shuichi to think they are wasting his time with a ghost story. “Nee-heehee. That works for me! You won’t even know that I’m here.” Kokichi says with a wink. Hiro feels as unconvinced as Kaito looks, but at least they’ve come to an agreement. Kokichi takes the lead exclaiming that he “knows the way the best” while Kaito argues against that. Hiro sighs but decides to let them argue it out as they walk, only reprimanding them once to keep their voices down.
Eventually the three arrive at Shuichi’s dorm a minute or two early despite their argument. The constant bickering has worn on Hiro, but he tries to remain optimistic. “It’ll only be a quick check. Then we all head our separate ways. Easy!” Kaito casually walks up to the door, knocks, and says, “Shuichi, Hagakure-sensei and I are here.” He adds more begrudgingly, “Ouma as well. We ran into him in the hallway.” There is a long enough pause that Hiro is about to ask Kaito if he’s 100% sure that Shuichi is in there before he hears an answer. “You can come in. I was just working on something.”
Without warning Kokichi slams the door open. “Hello my beloved Shumai! It’s been soooo long since I last saw you!” “Hey! What happened to us ‘not knowing you’ll even be here’?!” “There’s no rule against me talking to him.” There is a sigh, presumably from Shuichi. “Ouma-kun, I saw you last period. Also, could the two of you please keep it down, I’m trying to focus. Why are all of you here again?”
Hiro barely notices any of this interaction, because when the door opened he froze. He was greeted by the sight of something, no someone he’d hope to never think about, much less see again. Floating a couple feet above Shuichi is the ghost of the very person who killed his stepbrother along with one of his friends and then framed him for their murders. Celestia Ludenberg.