"Your blood is very warm."
"Yeah...I mean, I'm pretty sure it's...supposed to be."
Nagito laughed. "You're funny." And he continued bandaging Makoto's wound.
Makoto tried to swallow back his reflexive whines and blink back the tears. The Monokuma really had slashed his arm pretty badly.
"You would have had time to line up your shot, if you'd resigned yourself to the prospect of one of them dying, instead of jumping in the way," Nagito observed neutrally. "Do you think that might be a lesson learned?"
"I learned not to waste my knockbacks."
"Unfortunately, I don't think I can offer you any more until you learn how to prioritize better."
"You mean prioritize lives? Because I think injuring one arm is better than letting someone die. Where's Yuta?"
"You could have been killed," Nagito pronounced clearly, tying off the bandage. "And I think you know that. So that leaves me with the question: Who communicated to you that 'Ultimate Hope' means sacrificing your life to save complete strangers?"
"I didn't do it because I think I'm the Ultimate Hope. I just...The Monokumas always take a second to react to new people. I was buying time. And it worked."
"Sorry to make you explain yourself further, but I just don't see how that changes the premise of my question or answers it."
"Ice cream shop with the Monokuma Kids. The bears won't attack in there."
Makoto got to his feet and started walking in the direction Yuta was purported to be. (Nagito followed.) "I don't like leaving him by himself."
"Are you worried for your classmate's sake, or does he make you think of your sister?"
"I'm worried for Yuta's sake! And, yes, for Hina, and Komaru. And speaking of questions that didn't quite get answered, do you know where my sister is, now?"
"Only where she was. And maybe where she will be. Lift your arm for me. Tell me how it feels."
He lifted his arm, then lowered it. "I can still aim my hacking gun," he decided. Of course, it hurt a lot to move his arm, but he could do it. He had to.
"Imagine the alternative. If you'd actually given up your arm this soon in the story."
"If you were scared, you can just say that."
"Oh, I won't waste your time talking about my insignificant feelings. And even if I did, the ones you inspire far exceed my vocabulary."
He stopped outside the ice cream shop. "Nagito. Scared, yes or no?"
A breathy laugh, at the simplicity of the binary choice. And a quiet surrender: "Yes."
"Okay. I'm sorry I scared you. I'm not sorry I tried my best to save someone. And thank you for getting Yuta to safety. I can tell he's grown on you a lot."
"Of course. He's extraordinary, and his energetic nature is inspiring."
"Yeah." Makoto smiled. "He's a good kid." He scanned around. Still no more bears. Yuta was inside the shop, alive and well with a pint of half-melted ice cream, and he'd spotted them through the broken window and started climbing back over the counter toward the exit. "Nagito, what did you mean about knowing where my sister will be?"
"Don't worry." Nagito's expression had turned remote and mysterious in the way it sometimes did. "I'll get us there. It just may not be the straightest path."
Makoto stared at him with a furrowed brow, trying to figure out what that was supposed to mean. Was Nagito keeping him from Komaru on purpose, or was there really nothing he could do to speed things up?
"Hey," Yuta said, emerging from the shop and gazing between them warily. "Are you guys fighting?"
"Of course not," Nagito said, with a smile. "Who am I to fight him?"
Yuta's focus had already shifted; his eyes widened. "Your arm!"
"I'm okay," Makoto reassured him. "Just a scratch."
"If I hadn't left that crowbar behind in the sewer, I could have helped you fight!"
"I think it's for the best that you left it." Nagito made amused eye contact with Makoto.
"Yeah, you're already great at helping us find our way out of these mazes, since you run so much faster than both of us."
Yuta grinned brightly. "Well, that's just because of all my track and field experience."
"Why don't you tell us more about that?" Nagito suggested.
And maybe he only said it to avoid having to answer questions, but Makoto couldn't help smiling as Yuta immediately got to babbling, clearly hungering for the chance to talk a lot about his favorite things.
He hoped, wherever she was, that Komaru had someone to talk with about the things she loved, too.
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