Chapter Text
The water is warm. It’s not extremely hot or cold but it’s just enough to wash away the lingering, icky, uncomfortable feeling on his skin.
Hajime stands under the shower-head longer than he probably needs to, letting it run over his shoulders, his back, and his face. He does not dare to look down at his body.
The thoughts don’t disappear completely, but they quiet, drained out by the steady sound of water and the repetitive motion of Hajime washing his arms.
‘You are remaining longer than necessary.’ Izuru’s voice startles him a bit, snapping him out of the motion. He notices his arms have started to become quite red from how hard he was scrubbing.
“I…I know.” Hajime murmurs, his eyes half-lidded. He scrubs his arms a bit more, feeling them burn a bit. “Just give me… a minute…” He trails off, setting down the soap as he begins to scrub at his legs. (He does not look.)
‘One minute.’
Hajime stops himself from snorting at that. “What? You’re timing me now..?”
‘Precisely.’
Izuru’s words are enough to make him smile.
Just a bit.
——
By the time he’s done, his limbs feel heavier, but in a more… tired way. The kind of tired that settles in after everything else burns out and becomes too much.
His bed looks the same as before, sheets wrinkled, blankets tossed to the side, and a few plushies — gifted by Chiaki and Nagito — had been thrown to the floor.
He lets out a breath, kneeling down as he picks them up. The softness of the plush dog and plush… seal — at least he thinks it’s a seal — is almost comforting to him. He sighs, sitting down slowly onto his bed before slowly letting himself fall into it, plushies in his arms still as he stares up at the ceiling.
He shifts slightly, getting comfortable as he sets the plush dog by his head and the plush seal in his arms. His body finally relaxes into the mattress.
“…Thanks.” He mumbles, barely audible. Theres a long pause, long enough that Hajime thinks maybe Izuru just won’t respond or he simply hadn’t heard.
‘You’re welcome.’ Izuru’s voice is flat, but theres some kind of tone to it, that Hajime can’t quite place his finger on.
He can hardly think about it any longer as he feels his eyelids grow heavy. The thoughts are still in the back of his mind, gnawing at him.
But all he can think about is how warm he is.