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Hinata jolted awake, sitting up instantly, feeling the air escaping his lungs and a couple beads of sweat trickle down his forehead. As he struggled to breathe properly again and looked around almost frantically, trying to get his bearings in time and space in the panic of the darkness, he seemed to hear something.
"Hinata?"
Komaeda called from his own bed, a short distance from Hinata's; he still looked drowsy, a little confused, leaning on his right hand with the moonlight reflecting slightly on his hair and pale skin.
But Hinata couldn't focus on those details; he stopped breathing the moment he noticed the other man nearby, completely frozen for an instant before stirring slightly in his bed, trying to get up, breathing again, though still agitated, desperate.
Komaeda stopped him first, quickly getting up and walking towards him, looking kinda scared, or at least worried.
"Hinata, are you okay? What's wrong?" He hurriedly asked, wiping away the tears that were streaming down his partner's cheeks.
"I... you- you're..." Hinata choked on his own words, caught in his throat, while the tears couldn't stop. "...I woke you up, I'm sorry..." he could barely manage to say with his voice trembling.
A brief silence fell, which somehow helped Hinata to clear his head a little; in silence, with his vision a little clearer and Komaeda in front of him. Before he could say anything else, he was interrupted by Komaeda's arms wrapping around him, pulling his head against his chest.
"Did you have a nightmare, Hinata?"
After an initial moment of surprise, Hinata found himself hugging Komaeda back, his throat tightened again, so he could only nod and cling a little tighter to the white haired boy.
Komaeda was used to the days when Hinata was exhausted from work, unable to sleep at night because of sporadic but persistent nightmares about events that occurred in the simulation; although he hadn't elaborated much on the content of his dreams when the topic came up, Komaeda could bet on his luck and guess that most of them were probably his fault.
Sometimes he would mentally berate himself for causing these problems to Hinata, and his other classmates, even if he couldn't apologize properly without ending up belittling himself, which would lead to Hinata comforting him instead.
How unfortunate and lame.
"...Nagito" he called softly, surprising the boy a little; it was still uncommon for them to call each other by their names.
"Yes?"
"Stay here a little longer, okay?"
And that's how Komaeda ended up sitting on Hinata's bed, well, more precisely, on his lap, embracing each other, while he ran his hand through the brunette's slightly disheveled hair.
"...Do you want to talk about what happened in your dream?"
Hinata seemed to stop breathing for a second, maintaining a silence that Komaeda tried to decipher as to whether it was a "no" or if he was still deciding
"...it was when you... in the..." he couldn't finish the sentence; he first tightened his grip in the hug, then pulled his face away to look into Komaeda's. His eyes, still glassy, reflected the light from the window, completely focused on taking in Komaeda's face, perhaps trying to reassure himself that the albino was really there in front of him; then he sighed and forced a weak smile.
"Don't worry, I think it's over now, it doesn't... doesn't matter anymore."
Hinata then felt Komaeda's hands move towards his face, hands which he unconsciously checked to make sure there were no wounds, that they were cold because that's how Komaeda's hands were, and not because the blood had stopped circulating.
"I... am here with you... nothing bad is going to happen to us, okay?"
Komaeda has to admit he didn't feel very confident saying something like that.
Realistically, it was the first time he'd been with Hinata when he had one of those nightmares. They started living and sleeping together on the island at some point in their... particular relationship, and from then on, it seemed Hajime's nightmares had stopped; but it seems it was only a matter of time during these few weeks they spent working at the Future Foundation's headquarters.
It didn't help that Hajime usually tried to put his problems aside and appear strong when it came to being with other members of the foundation.
But on the other hand, Komaeda knew nothing about comforting a loved one; in fact, he considered that someone as useless as himself could never bring that peace of mind to anyone; the hope of thinking that everything would be alright just because someone else tells you so.
And still there he was, trying with sweet words, similar to those Hajime had said to him in his most unstable and vulnerable moments.
He was met then with silence that made him inwardly berate himself.
Amid his internal reprimand, however, something akin to laughter escaped Hinata's lips, followed by a gentler smile. "You're going to make me cry again, y'know?"
Komaeda felt a wave of relief at the brunette's smile.
And then his warm hand on his neck.
And then a kiss on the corner of his lips.
And then the inevitable heat in his own face.
"...Thanks, Nagito," Hinata finally said, withdrawing his hand and looking at him with shining eyes, like priceless ruby and emerald that belonged only to Nagito Komaeda.
"Oh... there's no need to thank me" the albino replied, in a tone far more captivated than he himself knew he could sound, which made his ears feel even redder.
"... Are you ready to go back to sleep, Hajime?"
Hinata seemed to hesitate for a moment, pressing down slightly with the hand that was still around Komaeda. Miraculously, he seemed to know what to do this time. "...Although the bed is rather narrow and it might be a nuisance, I could sleep in your bed tonight, if that's alright with you..."
Hinata once again remained silent, pressing his lips together, but nodded. Komaeda could only guess, again, that this was his way of accepting despite the shame... or perhaps pride, some things never change.
"Good night, Hinata. Get some rest. We have a lot of work ahead of us tomorrow." The response to his feigned excitement was, at first, a groan.
"Yes, I know... Good night... thanks again"
"...Hinata."
"Hm?"
"...it's nothing, sorry, I just remembered something. Rest in p-"
"Quit saying it like that"
Komaeda only answered with a giggle.
He decided he would apologize properly tomorrow; for now, they needed to rest.
Hinata simply snuggled closer, hugging him tightly, and Komaeda did the same.
He thought for a fleeting moment that if he could stay like this with him forever, he'd never have to worry about nightmares like this again.