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It was three in the morning, and honestly Hinata could do better than this. He’s been tossing and turning, thoughts still focused on the dinning hall in the Old Building. While the other students were soundly sleeping in their cottages, their stomachs full, Komaeda was there all alone. Was he sleeping? Or was he starving to death because of them? Hinata shivered. Sure, the guy was a total creep and could use a therapy but even then he deserved some sympathy towards him.
“He’s not an animal”, Hinata thought getting out of bed. Was it a good idea? Probably not. But it was too late to turn back anyways so he put on his pants to look at least a little bit decent and went outside. It was chilly and quiet – just as you could expect from a tropical night.
Making his way to the Old Building, Hinata prayed to all Gods he could think of that no one sees him creeping towards there. If others think Hajime was an accomplice of some sorts… Well, let’s say he wasn’t very fond of the idea of spending his days chained on the floor.
“Like Komaeda”, his conscience spoke, making Hinata’ s heart ache more. That was stupid. Absolutely childish, not worth the risk and probably useless. He repeated these words while opening the door. The room was the same as he remembered. Sans a dead body, of course. To Hinata’s great relief. His gaze trailed to the place where he last saw Komaeda. He was still there, bended in the most uncomfortable position imaginable. His hair was messy, clothes wrinkled and skin bruised. It appeared he wasn’t treated gently at all. Though was that Souda’s or Nidai’s doing Hinata had no idea. Not that he was interested in such details.
“Ah, Hinata-kun!” he perked immediately, adjusting his body. His lips curled into a smile filled with pure admiration. Hajime coughed.
“Ah, um… good night?”
“Wow, good job starting a conversation, Hajime”, he scolded himself.
“What can I do for you tonight?” Komaeda shifted a little. “Could it be… you finally gave in?! Will you use me as your stepping—”
“Jesus, just shut up. No!”
He regretted his decision already. Why did he come here? Just to listen to some lunatic’s nonsense? Hajime wondered himself. When he first thought of Komaeda, he pitied him. Yeah, the guy’s not right in his head, but…
“But what?” he asked himself.
“So if you’re not here to kill me”, Komaeda spoke slowly. “Maybe you want to release your anger?”
Hajime could swear he saw stars in his eyes at the moment.
“Oh, I would be so honored!” Komaeda continued blissfully. “You can beat me up, step on me or… Or maybe you’re into choking? I don’t mind, really. The thought of someone like you even touching a pile of useless trash like me.. Ah..!”
No, that was enough. Hajime’s intentions could go to Hell for all he cared now. Hearing Komaeda’s whimpering noises only made him more irritated.
“Forget I even came here,” Hajime turned around, ready to exit the room. He’s so not keeping this idiotic dialogue going. Right as he was about to leave the room behind, Komaeda almost yelled after him.
“N-no, please stay! I promise to be quiet. Just… don’t go. Please.”
He sounded so pleading and genuine. Guess, even someone like Komaeda had a limit. Stopping on his tracks, Hajime turned his head.
“How long has it been since you last eaten?”
“I’m sorry?”
Keeping himself from another snarky remark, Hajime repeated his question.
“A day, maybe two. Oh, did I spend a week here?!” Komaeda shrugged. “I don’t really know. There is no clock and others seem to avoid me. Don’t blame them though. I wouldn’t talk to myself either, given a choice. But it gets so lonely sometimes and I do find myself an amusing company. Not as amusing as you are, of course”, he added quickly. “But I have low standards.”
“What do you wanna eat?”
“Pardon?”
“Oh, are you deaf now or what?” Hinata barked. “Answer the damned question before I change my mind.”
“Sorry, I just… Whatever goes, I guess? Though you don’t have to do this! Just imagine the relief on others’ faces when they’ll find me dead and miserable. The hope that it could ignite…”
“I’ll be back soon,” Hajime cut his speech short. Didn’t seem like he had much to say anyway, except that he is a waste of space or whatever. What else? Ah, yes, his “hope” talks. Very inspiring. Hinata scoffed.
A trip to the kitchen was much quicker than expected. Grabbing some leftovers, he hesitated a little. He could return to his cottage now, hide under his blanket and forget that night ever happened. But something prevented him from doing so. Maybe that was his sense of justice that boiled inside of him. Or maybe, just maybe, every time he closed his eyes he saw an image of Komaeda, lying on the floor and slowly starving.
“Moron,” Hajime whispered and made his way back to the Old Building.
Komaeda was still in the same position, though he closed his eyes as if trying to get some sleep. When the door creaked a little, he immediately opened them, eyeing the guest.
“Oh, you’ve… returned?” he asked, surprised.
“You though I wouldn’t?” Hinata answered with another question, getting closer to Komaeda.
“No, no, of course not,” he smiled shyly. “You’re too kind for that, Hinata-kun.”
Hajime snorted. Placing a plate near Komaeda, he got on his knees.
“Turn around, I’m gonna untie you,” he ordered.
“Aww, you’re not going to feed me?” the other boy replied, looking back at him.
“Just stop.”
And, surprisingly, so he did. He managed to stay silent through the whole process, though making quiet whimpering noises when Hajime squeezed his wrists too hard.
When all was done, Komaeda finally managed to sit properly, carefully rubbing his wrists. They were covered in bloody bruises and Hinata couldn’t help but think that it was his fault as well.
“Does it… hurt?”
But he was greeted with silence.
“I’m starting to think you really are deaf now.”
Komaeda blinked a few times before raising his eyes to Hinata.
“Sorry, you told me stop and I thought… well, never mind that, I’m more than okay. You’re giving me attention and someone like me could—”
“I’m asking whether you’re okay or not. Answer the question.”
“I… am,” Komaeda lowered his gaze. “I’m very sorry, Hinata-kun, you’re going out of your way, helping me and I just irritate you. You can punch me, I—”
“Can you stand up on your own?”
“No, I don’t think so? But, as I was saying—”
“If you keep babbling about this, I’m gonna leave you on the floor. Tied up,” Hajime said harshly. He wasn’t very fond of being rude towards anyone but sometimes… Well, at least it worked.
Placing Komaeda’s right hand on his shoulder, Hinata carefully held his waist helping him walk to the nearest wall. Making sure the other boy’s comfortable enough, Hajime grabbed a plate and placed it on Komaeda’s knees.
“Eat up,” Hinata uttered before sitting next to him.
“You’re going to stay with me?”
“Obviously. Don’t think I forgot your passionate speech about killing someone,” Hinata scoffed before folding his hands on his chest.
“Yeah, that happened,” Nagito agreed grabbing a piece of toast. They fell silent for a little while.
But then for some unknown reason Hajime turned his head and blurted:
“Why do you always call yourself worthless? I mean…” he trailed off. “Not that I particularly care, call yourself whatever you want but you’re among other talented students, so…”
“That’s very nice of you to say, Hinata–kun,” Komaeda replied politely, biting into his toast. “But you still don’t get it, do you?”
“Get what?” Hajime frowned, now genuinely confused.
“It’s… a long story. I don’t think you’d be interested in hearing such a boring tale of mine. Let’s just agree on this one, if you don’t mind.”
“No. I don’t think you’re worthless. Quite the opposite, in fact. You did help with the investigation, you know. And you managed to come up with… a plan,” he added a little bit hesitatingly.
“An unsuccessful plan,” Komaeda protested immediately.
“That’s… not so important right now.”
“As you say, Hinata-kun.”
They continued sitting in silence. Komaeda ate slowly, without showing any enthusiasm as if he wasn’t just lying on the floor, starving. Hajime just gave up on talking to him. Not that he minded much, no. At the very beginning Komaeda presented himself as a decent human being and sometimes Hinata wondered whether it was just a well-thought act or could he really be a pleasant company.
Though despite all that Hajime still found himself casting side glances at Komaeda. He looked peaceful as if thinking about something. His gaze wondered from the toast in his hand towards the plate and he looked almost cute at that moment.
“Cute?” Hajime caught himself thinking. “Now that’s new.”
Yet he continued watching over Komaeda who soon noticed the attention he was getting and smiled sheepishly.
“Anything you want, Hinata-kun?” he asked in the most innocent tone possible. Hajime swallowed.
“You look… really tired?” he managed to mutter. “Haven’t you slept at all?”
“Occasionally,” Nagito shrugged, licking his fingers before turning his head to Hinata. “A floor is not very comfortable, you see. Ah, but I should be thankful they haven’t thrown me under the floor boards. That’d be… troublesome.”
“Wanna sleep for little bit? I mean, I can watch over you so no one spots you untied,” Hinata offered.
Komaeda giggled, blushing a bit.
“That’s not necessary, Hinata-kun. You can tie me up and be on your way. No need to waste your precious kindness on me.”
“You want it or not?” Hajime pressed further.
“Maybe,” Nagito closed his eyes for a bit. “But I guess returning to my cottage is out of question now and I doubt that sleeping on the floor will get me much rest. So there are no options left. Unless…”
“Unless?” Hinata parroted, suspicious.
“Maybe you could help me?”
“I, um…” Hajime flushed. “Help as in… how?”
Komaeda giggled sheepishly.
“You don’t need to get all embarrassed over it, Hinata-kun. But maybe you’re barely containing your anger, so that’s why your face—”
“Spit it out already!”
“Fine, fine,” Nagito heaved a sigh. “Maybe you could lend me your shoulder? I understand it’s a lot to ask but I… well, maybe that’s just hope you’ve planted inside of me, Hinata-kun, but I… hope you’ll allow it. Just this once.”
“And that’s it?” Hinata raised his brow. Honestly, he expected something much worse, considering Nagito’s… ‘quirky’ nature. “Well then, go ahead. I don’t really mind.”
“Really?!” Nagito perked up. Before Hajime could answer him Komaeda gently placed his head on his shoulder, nuzzling a bit while doing so. “Is this okay?”
Hajime fell silent. It wasn’t as awful as he though and, with all honesty, he kind of enjoyed it. Swallowing thickly, he managed to utter:
‘Yeah, that’s fine.”
“You really are superior, Hinata-kun,” Nagito whispered. “And I feel so honored that you’re directing your kindness towards me. Maybe years of suffering have finally paid off, eh?”
He started to sound a bit sleepily and soon he went completely silent. Trying not to awake him, Hajime carefully checked on him before leaning back and sighing.
“You deserve every last bit of it”, he said quietly. He could feel Komaeda’s breathing on his neck, his warmth spreading through his body. Hajime’s eyes started to close slowly. Of course, he had a lot of explaining to do when he woke up next morning. But that was future Hajime’s problems. Right now he felt his head falling atop of Komaeda’s, his fluffy hair tangling his nose a bit. But that was more of a pleasant sensation which gave Hajime strange comfort.
Clinging to the slipping conscience, Hajime whispered “Goodnight… Nagito” before falling into peaceful sleep.