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The kitchen was quiet at this time of the day. Most of the New World Program survivors were still asleep at 6am in the morning. Truthfully, the two that were there right now would usually be asleep as well, but by some unfathomable coincidence, they weren't.
'Oi, Hinata,' Kuzuryuu mumbled groggily, rubbing his eyes with a fist, 'pass me the goddamn cookies,' he ordered. Hinata looked back at him from behind the counter before heading his way with a bowl of chocolate chip cookies and a basket of various fruit.
Hinata Hajime didn't enjoy being ordered around, not one bit, but he still ended up fulfilling people's requests most of the time. It's not like he was bad at saying no, for some reason he just never used his right to say it.
Currently, though, he was too busy being surprised to even consider it.
He knew Kuzuryuu for a while now – how long it's been, he couldn't say. His memories were a jumbled mess, between memories from the simulation, and remnants of school and post-school memories. Both felt real and tangible, but they were contradictory in many ways. In the NWP, Kuzuryuu ended up being one of his closest friends. In 'reality' – the unreal events that took place mostly when he wasn't even fully himself – he never interacted with him much.
But the current confused mess that was Hajime Hinata – with his hair and eyes a shade darker than when he started school, as if to remind him how much darkness covered the events of the past years – was undeniably best friends with Kuzuryuu Fuyuhiko, whose young-looking face was currently more ashy and tired than he remembered from the simulation. They were connected by confusion and loss that neither could really comprehend.
All that said, this was the first time Hinata ever heard Kuzuryuu admit he has a sweet tooth. He knew about it, of course – everyone knew, really, but the small yakuza never liked admitting it, as if it collided with his image. Maybe it did, Hinata noted, but so did nearly everything about him, so denying that one thing seemed kind of pointless in the long run.
In any case, he realised, Kuzuryuu asking him to pass the cookies might be a sign that he's grown to trust him even more. In a way, it was natural to expect, but Hinata was acutely aware that Kuzuryuu never trusted anyone, really. He grew up in a powerful yakuza family, so betrayals, violence and murders were all things he was intimately familiar with – and the only things he got to experience, really.
Hinata sat down by the table, facing Kuzuryuu, and set the bowl and the basket between them. He yawned discreetly before biting into an apple. Free fruit was one of the perks of living on a tropical island under protection of the Future Foundation. They got pretty much everything they wanted.
'Thanks,' Kuzuryuu said, grabbing a handful of cookies before meticulously putting them in his mouth one by one, chewing slowly. He really didn't seem fully awake to Hinata, who himself regretted being awake. The only reason he was up were nerves – nerves he had no explanation for, at that. At this point, he was used to living here, to the series of random memories filling his brain, to the fact most of his friends were stuck in a coma. He had no reason to be nervous, and yet he was. He wondered why Kuzuryuu was awake, too.
'Hey, Kuzuryuu,' he teased, 'I never thought you're an early bird. Is something up?' Kuzuryuu stopped chewing and focused his eyes on Hinata. He sighed before answering.
'Yeah, it is, actually,' he stretched his arms behind his head before continuing, 'I kinda wanted to talk to you. It's fuckin' embarrassing, and if I said it at any other time, I'd shoot myself. But I'm barely awake, and can't be bothered to care. Ya wanna hear it?'
'Sure,' Hinata answered hesitantly, forcing his eyes too focus.
'So...remember how I told you you're my first friend? Don't say anything, just fuckin'...nod or something. Alright,' he continued after Hinata nodded, 'I've been thinking...Peko was kinda my fiirst friend too, you know? But it was weirder, because were forced to be together from birth. It was like we were twins but also like...like she was my fuckin' bodyguard. I wish I had called bullshit on that when I had the chance. Anyway, that's not the point. Point is...you chose to be my friend, even though I was kind of an asshole. I appreciate it, but what I'm thinking is...' he gulped, 'remember when you joked about me proposing to you? Just nod! Okay, good, anyway...ah, what the fuck. I think I actually like that idea?'
Hinata blinked and tilted his head wonderng if he misheard.
'Uh...so you're proposing?'
'No, dumbass! I mean...kinda? I don't fuckin' know,' Kuzuryuu threw his hands up in the air, frustrated with himself and with Hinata at the same time, 'I guess I'm asking you out? Maybe? Don't make me say it again.'
Hinata blinked repeatedly in confusion.
'You...wanna date me? Like, right now?'
'I guess? Listen, just reject me already. I'll be fine, I promise.'
'I'm not planning to?,' Hinata informed through a yawn, 'I was going to say yes.' Kuzuryuu's eyes shot wide open, and he seemed awake for the very first time.
'Are you for real? I swear, if you're messing w-'
'I'm not. I mean it,' Hinata insisted, grabbing the other's hand over the table, almost knocking over an apple, 'I think I love you. For real.'
Kuzuryuu blushed furiously, his mouth hanging agape in surprise.
'Fucker,' he said finally, 'I love you too, dammit.'
'If that's all,' Hinata said with a yawn, 'I think we should go to bed. I'm feeling better, but I'm sleepy again. We can go together,' he remarked, making Kuzuryuu blush again. Still holding hands, they went to the dorms together without a word.