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She could tell from the lack of sunlight in the room and the heaviness of her eyelids that it was well before anyone was going to have to wake up; she wasn’t entirely sure what had just dragged her back to consciousness. Reaching her arm out, she expected to find her girlfriend’s massive form sleeping peacefully, rolled away from her sometime during the night; so she was surprised to feel nothing but cold emptiness covering the other half of the bed. Lifting her head in sleepy confusion, Hina furrowed her brows, holding herself up with her elbow in an attempt to feel around for Sakura, but not finding her anywhere. She wasn’t in bed anymore.
Thinking did not come easily, but the swimmer’s body reacted on autopilot. She still had the sense that, if somebody was missing, then something was wrong; even though that had been years ago, even though they were safe in their own home now, she couldn’t help but worry that she would walk into a room and find pink blood splattered across the room and a dead body slumped against the wall. Hina stumbled a bit as she stood up from the bed, reaching for the wall in order to support herself as she walked towards the doorway that would take her out of their bedroom.
Hina didn’t dare touch the lightswitch, but there were more windows in the main room of their apartment, so she could see better without her eyesight needing to adjust much. It wasn’t difficult to spot Sakura, her voluminous white hair almost shining in the moonlight and her head held in her hands. She hesitated then, not wanting to disturb her girlfriend if she was lost in thought, but at the same time not wanting to leave her to fend for herself if her thoughts were getting out of hand again. The decision was pretty easy, and within a few seconds she was standing behind the bigger girl, a hand on her shoulder. A glance at the green numbers glowing on the oven told her it was half past three in the morning.
Sakura started upon the contact, and Hina flinched, pulling her hand away until her girlfriend looked behind her and gave her a small, weak smile. The swimmer leaned over the chair she was sitting in, both arms going over her shoulders and her cheek pressing into the back of her head. Hina closed her eyes, almost ready to fall asleep again now that she knew Sakura was safe, but she made herself talk anyway - she needed to be there for her. “You okay?” she asked quietly.
The other girl reached her hand for her, effectively hiding Hina’s hands in her much bigger ones. Sakura let out a heavy sigh, leaning her head up in order to strain her eyes to look at the girl resting on her head. “I’ll be fine. I was just having trouble sleeping. Did I wake you up?” Her dismissive tone was enough evidence for Hina that Sakura was lying to her, trying to keep her from worrying. Maybe she was struggling to sleep, but… there was more to it, wasn’t there?
“You don’t have to lie to me,” Hina spoke quietly, giving her hands a gentle squeeze and sticking out her lower lip. “I’m… I’m here for you, Sakura. We were both there. We both saw everything. What good is a girlfriend if she can’t help you through all the bullshit that comes after, right?” She pulled one hand away from Sakura’s, and used it to gently swipe some of the long, long white hair out of her girlfriend’s face to tuck it behind her ear; it fell back into place easily, though, and she frowned in annoyance. If only she had a hair tie on her.
Silence followed, Hina quietly leaning on Sakura and waiting to see if her girlfriend would say anything else. It took a little while, but eventually the martial artist managed to get a few words out. “I just wish there was more I could do. For all of them. I wish I could have stood up to and stopped the mastermind, I wish I had been strong enough to do something…” She sucked in a small breath through her teeth, and Hina felt her heart sink a little more.
She knew Sakura blamed herself, at least a little. She knew her girlfriend had more underlying issues about the deaths of their friends than she did, and that was saying something. The other girl was a very protective person, wanting nothing but to keep those she cared about safe, and the fact that so many people died on her? It tore her apart, no matter what Hina tried to say, no matter how often she tried to remind her that it wasn’t her fault and there was nothing she could have done.
She wanted to remind her that the dead wouldn’t want her to cling to the past or let herself be haunted by it. All she could do, really, was be there, listen to Sakura talk and be a shoulder for her to cry on whenever it was necessary. “I wish there was more anybody could have done,” Hina spoke softly, closing her eyes - all of the emotional struggle in the world couldn’t hold off the hour and her lack of sleep. “I don’t know if it would’ve even been possible, though. Monokuma was determined to get us all to kill each other, and… people just took the bait, I guess. You couldn’t have changed anyone’s mind.”
Sakura was quiet then, and Hina thought for a moment that she must have said the wrong thing, but before she could let herself think for too long the other girl suddenly rose to her feet. The swimmer backed up a couple of steps to avoid getting in her way, but her girlfriend very quickly wrapped her up in a protective embrace, holding her close. Hina relaxed against the other girl, closing her eyes and letting out a soft sigh as Sakura held her.
“I’m sorry for worrying you,” the bigger girl murmured softly, running a hand through Hina’s hair, down for once in her life. “You’re probably right, I just can’t stop myself from thinking sometimes.” She pressed a small, gentle kiss against Hina’s forehead, and the swimmer hummed ever so slightly, leaning forward a little bit to get closer to the contact. They stood like that for several moments before Sakura moved one arm underneath her thighs to lift her rather easily. She squeaked, clinging to her girlfriend’s shoulders as another kiss was pressed against her cheek. “Let’s go back to bed.”
She nodded, and allowed Sakura to carry her back into their bedroom. She was set down gently on the bed, and the other girl crawled on beside her, and Hina immediately scooted closer to her, closing her eyes and letting out a soft sigh as Sakura pulled her against her and cuddled her gently. “I love you,” Hina murmured softly, blue eyes opening slightly in order to look up at her girlfriend, a small sleepy smile upon her face.
“I adore you,” Sakura responded, a faint smile the last thing Hina saw before drifting back off to sleep.