The closer Nagito came to the control room's building, the more the island's breeze turned into a constant wind. It was the same with the air, the atmosphere growing more intense with each step of his feet, the direction of the wind changing from just the worst to all directions. It was making him excitable, to feel changes outside that could mark reinforcements of his sudden intuition to come to this place.
As he reached for the main doors, the sounds of distant voices reached him along with noises of an engine pulling tires and louder sounds made by clanging metal. Nagito stopped and whipped his head around in both directions before quickly ducking inside, lest he be spotted. The doors now behind him, he shuddered, the still air inside much colder than the whipping wind outside. Focusing, he took a step, listening for any noticeable changes in the room as he did. After a quick moment of standing still, he broke into a slow pace, surveying the room around him. The reason for his sudden spurt of intuition wasn't making itself obvious, so he came to his own assumption in place of missing knowledge.
Nagito: "Is someone there?" His voice floated out lightly, carrying little weight and probably reaching nobody in the process. He wasn't responded to, but he still thought that this must be it... someone in the room was now awake. He didn't speak again, but continued moving, choosing now to walk towards one of the nearest pods.
Once he came to the capsule, he leaner over it and was met with a sleeping visage of Nekomaru Nidai. He said nothing and moved on to the next one. Teruteru was still, Gundham was as well. And so was the nameless imposter. He quickened his pace to see the others, Ibuki, Hiyoko, and Mikan. He stopped in place after passing over the musician and traditional dancer, thinking he finally narrowed things down.
Nagito: "Mikan?" He called out, looking across to her capsule a few feet away. Taking a slow step forward, he wheezed out a heavy shuddering breath which conveyed his eagerness to confirm his hunch. The air crackled with static anticipation as he moved towards her with bated breath, expecting to hear some signs of life coming from her way. The closer he came to her, the more he was weighed down by the heavy silence, his strong belief in his luck beginning to waver.
Until he saw her face. Beneath Nagito, Mikan was fidgeting around as she lied there with her eyes slightly opened, her warm breath fogging up the transparent screen between them. He let his index finger tap on the barrier, asking for her attention as he spoke her name in time with his taps.
She didn't even appear to be aware of his presence, her empty gaze looking right through him. All she seemed to be doing was shifting in place, as a sleeping person would do if you were to gently shake them by the shoulders, and then her eyes shut again as her body slowly settled back into rest.
Nagito: "Hm?" He was taken aback by her return to stillness, a strong look of confusion now ironed onto his face. At first, he called it a fake out, his face hovering above her so that he could stare her down through the heavy breaths that continued flowing from her lungs and fogging the screen between them. "I don't get it, I must be missing something..."
===========Meanwhile===========
Kazuichi: "Three... two... one... NOW!!!" At the final count, Fuyuhiko let his foot away from the gas pedal, the truck now backing into the breaking waves of the shoreline. As the trailer hit the water with the barge atop it, Hajime and Akane were on standby at both sides, awaiting to help push the barge further into the water. As strenuous as their efforts had to be, this was the only possible way to get the barge in the water, the marina lacked any sort of machinery to lower the vessel into the water. Kazuichi had just proposed they simply push the barge off the dock and be done, but still, there would be no way to remove it from the trailer first.
Luckily for everyone, the barge was wider horizontally than vertically, letting it slide off the flatbed once it was submerged enough. As steel met the water, Hajime and Akane went into action, the two of them slowly striding over to each side, and nudged the vessel forwards. As they did, the sound of an engine kicked up, joined by very loud convulsions as Kazuichi manned the helm, fighting his motion sickness while he rocked gently on the waves.
Akane: "We're running outta ground here!" Akane yelled, spitting and coughing after a wave rose and smacked her in the face.
Kazuichi: "Go ahead and... l-let go! I think we're... all right! I'm bringing it around to the dock!" Kazuichi happily exclaimed through laboured breaths as he battled against his gag reflex. As he said so, the barge began to move forward at a steady pace, breaking through the waves to float on steadier waters ahead.
===========Timeskip===========
Nagito: "Hiyoko... Nekomaru... Gundham... Teruteru... Ibuki... the Imposter, and... Mikan?" Nagito found himself looking over everyone again, ending on Mikan as he did before. He sighed as he bit his lip. The nurse was still unmoving, laying as if she were a corpse. "Is this not why I'm here?" Sighing again, he grabbed at his empty sleeve and pulled it to his stomach, his phantom limb creating sharp pains with every bend of a finger. Nagito stood in place, thinking things out as he waited for the pain to subside. He was becoming frustrated, even if only slightly. More often than not, his strokes of luck were clear and obvious, so the idea that the reason for his 'lucky intuition' was alluding him, leaving him pretty irritated. "I guess I'll look around." He said to himself under his breath, taking one last pass over Mikan before walking around the room. He began inspecting everything around him, scrounging up nothing apart from junk and machinery, none of it giving him a good enough reason for why he was really here in the first place.
Hajime: "What are you doing?" He froze, his loose grip on a printed document faltering, the stapled papers floating down to land on his shoes. Forcing a lump down his throat, he shakily turned his head to the right, peeking over his shoulder to greet the person who had caught him sneaking about. He was a little relieved though, to see that particular pair of green and red eyes.
Nagito: "Izuru! I mean... Hajime. Sorry about that." Hajime's eyes quickly darted around the room before falling onto his once again. Hajime was soaking wet, beads of water still clinging to the strands of his hair, his pants squishing with every small movement he made. "Ah! I'm not doing anything you wouldn't approve of! I mean... would you believe me if I told you I was here for... an intuitive reason?"
Hajime: "What would intuition have to do with you turning the place upside down?" Hajime questioned him, slowly circling the pods as he approached.
Nagito: "Um... well...I..." He stammered, not wanting to tell him, yet knowing that to lie would get him back on Hajime's bad side. "I'm not really... looking for anything in particular. When I got here, I thought one of them was going to wake up-"
Hajime: "Who?"
Nagito: "Mikan! Y-Yeah, Mikan... her eyes were open, she was tossing and turning... then she just stopped." After the quick rundown, Nagito watched Hajime approach Mikan, thoroughly examining her before looking back at him.
Hajime: "Okay, listen." Hajime started talking, stopping to walk over and grab a plastic bucket hanging from a hook on a nearby wall. "I'm gonna be gone for a bit, to go scrape my clothes off the airfield. I'll come back once I'm cleaned up. Until then... you watch her like a hawk, all right?"
Nagito: "All right! I mean, yes. I can do that!" Hajime was a bit surprised at his enthusiasm but wasn't willing to take the extra minutes to question him about it. He nodded to Nagito and then turned to walk away, a brisk pace carrying him away, once Hajime reached the doors, he turned back before taking his exit.
Hajime: "Nagito... can I trust you with this?"
The Ultimate Lucky Student froze, his beating heart going into double time. In his head, Hajime's voice rang with the same question over and over. To be considered for such an honour... how exhilarating! His heart started beating even faster, excitement winding him up, while not trying to tell him just how happy he truly was in the moment. He couldn't help but let a bubbly laugh escape him, his head nodding up and down as if it were on a spring.
Nagito: "Yes, you can! You can trust me!" Hajime didn't appear to care about his odd enthusiasm, only returning his wide smile with a curve of his lips. They both waved each other off, an intense burning in his chest igniting once Hajime had finally left. He raised his now clenched fist and slammed it onto his chest. All he had to do now was hope that nothing would go wrong, he had to be absolutely sure that he didn't mess this up for himself. "I guess I really am here because of my luck. I just hope I can earn your trust... all of you."
AUTHOR'S NOTES: This story was originally inspired by another creator, K3Y-TP. Their story went for 25 chapters, and at this point, their story came to an end. As much as I loved their story, I hated how it ended on a cliff hanger. Most of the things you read in this story are things you'll read in K3Y-TP's story, but I made sure to add new things and fix anything that was misspelled, missing or straight up wrong. There are even scenes that I removed and replaced. Everything that comes next is made by yours truly, in hopes that things get more interesting, and that it'll bring this story to a satisfying conclusion. When this is all over, I recommend looking at K3Y-TP's story, you'll notice all the differences and similarities.