Okay so, bad news. :(

This story is about to end in less than 5-6 (or perhaps 3-4? Idk I'm bad at estimating) chapters. Also I found a bunch of mistakes in this- *cough 583 cough*

Anyway, the good news is that I'M STARTING ANOTHER STORY! Komahina ofc (and I totally don't need to finish Death's Harvest and start Despairingly Hopeful). The problem is, I'm going to be publishing it on AO3 (Archive of Our Own) first so that I can focus on Death's Harvest here.

So if you want to see it first, I'll give you my user when I publish it on my AO3 account. I also will be publishing it here when I finish Death's Harvest and begin Despairingly Hopeful.

I'm going to publish my first chapter of the new story around Friday, April 12th (I hope so), so direct message me or leave a comment on my conversation board if you want my user or the summary of the story.

Also, screw word limits. It's at the end of the story, idgaf. I'm going to write until I finish a scene, and write as much as I want. The chapters are gonna be looooong :D yay.

Yeet. :3 (Sorry for the long author's note and all those parenthesis uwu)
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2 years later...

An empty feeling had permanently settled in his chest. It was as if someone had hollowed out his heart and stripped him of his emotions. There was no more of that bond that had once connected him to the person he served. He was free. He was no longer bound by a book, no longer controlled by that evil woman and man. But... a sense of guilt still cradled him in its arms, reminding him so very oftenly about what he had done.

It was all his fault, he kept telling himself. All this despair that he had believed would create a path for hope, was all his doing. It was because of his luck cycle. His stupid, cursed luck cycle.

He shouldn't have let himself be too happy with the things that had come to him. He shouldn't have declared his love to Hajime. Hinata should have never accepted his confession. All because his good luck had affected him. Now he would pay.

It was now the two year marking of Hajime Hinata's death day.

The day he would go back in time.

Nagito wasn't fully sure if the rewind would  actually work. Heck, he had zero confidence that what his future self had told him would come true.

The albino stood up from the small headstone in front of him, gently placing down a couple of violet flowers in front of it. 

He would make sure none of this happened again. Although trash like him shouldn't even be here in front of Hajime's grave, Nagito desperately needed to bring him back. It would be his 'thank you' for everything Hajime had done for him. Then, he would leave. He would stay as far as possible from Hajime, so that he would never be able to harm the brunet again.

"Are you ready?" A voice behind him murmured softly into the gentle breeze.

The white-haired boy's back stiffened, but then relaxed after he recognised the voice.

"Yes."

No. He was not prepared for this. Not one tiny bit.

"Kirigiri's in the lair now. We should go." Makoto smiled softly at the servant, offering him his hand.

Nagito simply looked down at the outstretched hand, his eyes glued to the palm, unmoving.

"Trash like me shouldn't even be allowed to touch your hand," he blurted out.

Makoto frowned.

"You're not trash."

"I'm a murderer, a liar, and a manipulator. Shouldn't I be trash? Shouldn't I be a disgrace to society? I should let everyone step over me, to use me for a stepping stone. After all, that's the only thing I'm good for."

"You've changed so much after Hajime's death, you know? You've converted back to your old self even after you were freed." Makoto grimaced.

"I was always like this." Nagito stared confidently into the brunet's eyes.

"No, you weren't," Makoto shook his head. "You were livelier, more energetic, filled with optimism. Much more different than your character self. But now? You've changed."

Nagito turned his head away from the shorter boy, unable to meet his gaze.

"No, I didn't," he said through gritted teeth, suppressing his emotions. "Come on, Kirigiri's waiting."

"It's not your fault. You have to know that." Makoto spoke from behind him.

Nagito didn't heed his words. He continued walking in the direction of the lair, his fists clenched at his sides.

But he had to admit it. What Makoto said was true. He did change. He changed because of Hajime. And he changed once again because of him. He never deserved to get close to a guy like Hajime. He had more hope than Nagito would ever have. He should have known that his luck woukd ruin everything.

Now he had to set it right.

His steps quickened, and anxiety bubbled inside of him, sweat building against his palms.

"I see you're here." The lilac-haired detective stared at the white-haired boy.

"Hey, Kirigiri!" A voice piped up from beside Nagito.

"Makoto," she replied.

"So... Are you ready?"

For Hajime.

With a shaky breath, he made his decision.

"Yes."

~

The operation began immediately after those words fell from his lips. Nagito was now laying on the surgical table while Makoto and Kirigiri fussed with the machinery.

"The anesthetic is going to kick in pretty soon, so when your heart rate decreases, we'll start the surgery." Kirigiri told him.

His pale grey-green eyes glanced at the long scalpels and bandages that lined the tray sitting next to the detective.

It was worth it. He had made this mistake, and now he was going to fix it.

The machine next to Nagito hummed with a silent buzzing noise, and he felt something cold enter his bloodstream.

His eyes drooped, and a sweet smell corrupted his senses. Everything blurred around him, and he felt himself fading away into the darkness.

~~~~

Something smelled funny. It smelled like some sort of... trash?

Nagito's eyes snapped open. Where the heck was he? Why wasn't he in the lair?

Darkness surrounded his body, and his back was cushioned by something rocky. When he tried to sit up, his head hit something hard.

"Ow!" he exclaimed, rubbing the top of his head. He hands his hands above him and pushed.

A cold breeze hit the pale boy's face as droplets of water attacked his hair, dripping down onto his skin.

He reached up to his forehead to wipe away the water soaking through his white hair, but as he did so, a mechanical whirring and an unfamiliar feeling settled in his left arm.

"Huh? What?"

Attached to his left hand was now a metal substance which was colored black and white.

Unsettling noises came from his prosthetic hand as he curled and uncurled his fingers, testing the new limb.

So the operation must have had succeeded. That means...

The servant looked around his surroundings, analyzing where he was currently in, before he did something reckless.

A cat suddenly meowed on the rooftop, frightening the young boy. As it leaped down from the roof, Nagito noticed that he was sitting in a dumpster.

He chuckled to himself. He really was trash, wasn't he?

A sense of reality gripped his mind forcefully, pulling him back into focus. He needed to act quick. He didn't know how much time he had left.

What day was it even?

Jumping down from the garbage, he dusted himself off before running out of the alley.

What was he to do now? He had no clue where he was, or what time it was, or what day it was. How was he supposed to save Hajime now? He was pathetic.

Footsteps splattered on the wet pavement right outside the narrow pathway between the two buildings, alerting Nagito of someone's presence. 

A blob of white appeared on the sidewalk, panting heavily as they charged into the rain, their hair sticking onto their neck like a wet glove.

The white-haired boy's breath hitched.

He knew what day it was, and if his assumptions were correct, then... he had approximately six hours before Hajime's death.

The albinos stayed silent, blending into the shadows of the alley. He didn't interfere with his past self. He knew what was going to happen if he did.

Once the footsteps faded away into the distance, Nagito made his move. First, he would need to consult Kirigiri and Makoto. Well, their past selves at least.

Now where were they again? His memory was hazy from the two year time gap, and he had to fit them together like puzzle pieces.

He snapped his fingers (a natural reflex he had gained over the course of those years) as the memory resurfaced. That's right. Makoto and Kirigiri had been slightly arguing when Hajime had fumed and stomped out the door, he himself following the brunet.

Which means that they would still be at his house.

His socks soaked up the muddy rain water as he passed several civilians while running back to his house. The wind and rain lashed at his hair, and a countdown registered in his mind. Thirty minutes and counting. He had about five hours and thirty minutes until Hajime died. He hoped it was enough for his to hatch his rescue plan.

Naguto's legs screeched to a halt in front of the manhole leading to his underground house. With labored breaths, he climbed down the ladder, nearly slipping when his wet shoes met the metal bars.

Punching in the passcode, the door opened with a click.

Distant voices flowed into his ears.

"Kirigiri! Why did you do that? They had such an excellent bond going on, and everything was going to be fine. Why did you-?"

"Makoto. You have to know that it was the best for him. Hajime would have to know sooner or later."

The drenching wet servant stumbled into his living room, trying to catch his breath. 
Wide eyed and stunned with his sudden appearance, the short brunet and the detective sat there in silence.

"Nagito?" Makoto started slowly, but his eyes betrayed his confusion. "Did you find Hajime yet?"

Nagito was panting too heavily to reply, his heart racing with every second that ticked off from his nonexistent timer.

Kirigiri was the one to notice first.

"You... You aren't from here, are you?" She spoke nonchalantly, as if this had happened to her before.

All the white-haired boy could do was shake his head, still trying to take in lungfuls of air.

Makoto stared at his companion with a  perplexing expression. He looked from Kirigiri to Nagito, and back again, his brain still unable to comprehend the situation at hand.

"Makoto, help the poor boy off of the floor," she ordered.

Still confused, the brunet did what he was told, placing one arm of the back of the albino as he eased him onto the couch.

Tension filled the room, heavy upon the trio's shoulders.

"So..." Makoto said with a slight chuckle. "Care to explain what's going on?"

"Can't you see?" Kirigiri replied with a 'are you that dumb' look. "Here's clearly not the Ko from our time."

The lilac-haired girl pointed to Nagito's prosthetic hand.

"His hand was replaced by a metal one," she pointed out, explaining the problem to Makoto like a person would to a small child. "His clothes are different too. Fresher and... a bit stinkier too."

"So you're saying... He's from a different timeline?"

"Precisely." Kirigiri took a sip of her tea. "Now to get to the point. We don't want to waste your time since you're clearly in a rush."

Nagito's even breath had returned to him, and he started explaining.

"I am from the future. Yes, Kirigiri is right." He nodded at the detective in approval. "In six hours time, Hajime Hinata will die. My past self will be there with him and I am supposed to go save him. That's what I was sent here for."

Short, simple, and easy. He knew Kirigiri could infer the rest of the details on her own. Makoto? Not so much, but he'll explain to him later.

Kirigiri kept silent, the gears turning in the head.

"So I need your help." Nagito finished, licking his dry lips. "But then, of course, I don't expect you talented people to help trash like me."

That was a lie. He needed help right now. He could never do this alone. That's why every one of his past selves failed at saving Hajime. It was because they worked alone, and had no assistance from others. He wouldn't make that mistake this time.

"You know what? Forget it. It's okay. I'm just trash-"

"We'll help you." Kirigiri interrupted him.

"What? We will?" Makoto sputtered.

"He's desperate. He's done this more than once. He wants to end it. And of course you should know by now, he's in love with Hajime. Why wouldn't we help him?" Kirigiri stood up from her sitting spot. "Tell us what we need to do."

"Well..." Nagito started. "I'm not exactly sure, but I need information on time paradoxes. If I got here through that, then that means that I can get back to the future, therefore destroying all traces of the past timelines, right?"

Kirigiri paced the room, arms folded and head dipped downward at the floor.

"I belive your theory stands correct," she narrowed her eyes. "However, we need to know how to send you back to the future, along with Hajime, too."

Nagito stared at the detective in silence, letting her ramble on as much as she liked. Although this took up much of his time, he needed to know how to get his Hajime back to the future.

"Here's what I think. There has to be some way to send you back to the future. In doing so, all past timelines will be erased, and Hajime will become himself again. He will become the exact same one from your timeline, with all memories intact from the beginning of your adventure to when he died. Thus meaning that you two get to start your relationship again. Understood?" She glanced briefly at the male, just to see if he was listening to her or not.

"Then how do we send him back?" Makoto questioned.

"Easy. We do the opposite of what got Ko here."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Nagito was as confused as Makoto was, and he couldn't even blame the boy for not understanding when he didn't get the concept either.

"Supposing that Ko sacrificed his hand to get here, he should reverse his actions, and that would send him back to the future."

Makoto's eyes lit up at her words.

"Oh, I get it!" He exclaimed, but it came out more like a slight question.

"What do you mean?" Nagito decided to directly ask the detective.

She sighed, shaking her head.

"You see, the way you got here was to sacrifice your hand to go back into the past, right? So what you need to do is to get something back that you lost."

"You mean Hajime?" Nagito asked, his mind still in cahoots.

"It could either be your personality or Hajime. It's too early to tell. Either way, if you have one of those things returned back to you, you're free to travel back to the future," she explained.

"My personality?" Nagito echoed. "What do you mean by that?"

"Do you still remember what you acted like now? In this timeline?"

Makoto's words floated in his mind, reminding him of what had changed.

"You were livelier, more emergetic, filled with optimism. Much more different than your character personality. But now? You've changed."

Had he really? Had Hajime's death affected him that much? His heart ached whenever he thought of that name, and a downpour of guilt would rush into his mind, the voices taunting him every night.

He missed his smile, his laughter, the comforting feelings of his presence. Thinking about him just made his gut coil in fear. He didn't want to harm Hajime again. Wouldn't it be better if he saved him then left?

He was so trapped in his thoughts that he didn't realize that Kirigiri had placed her hands on his shoulders.

"Whatever you're thinking now, don't plan on doing it. You have to remember that Hajime loves you too. Even when he said he hated you, he didn't mean it. Belive me. I could see it in the way he talked. It was more forced than usual."

Letting out a shaky breath, Nagito wiped away his thoughts, and all of his troubles. He needed to focus on saving Hajime now, and nothing else. He couldn't get those lousy thoughts to stop him from saving the one he loved. 

A prolonging silence settled down between the three people, an uncomfortable aura blanketing the room.

Makoto coughed once, then cleared his throat to get Kirigiri and Nagito's attention.

"So. What's our first move?"
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I don't even know what's happening anymore. I just write whatever my brain tells me to write. I should really start updating daily again. I feel like it's better for my grasp on the story plot.

Right now, I feel like the characters are not themselves anymore because of how I portray them in the chapter (their personalities), so bEtTer WrAP ThIs StORy UP.

screet.

(I'm sorry for my crappy writing goddammit wtf help i cant write nagito the same way again at this point ;-;)