Archive of Our Own ^beta

Komaeda feels like an idiot, to be honest, but at least he is a happy idiot at the moment.

As soon as he woke up, his first instinctual move was to practically jump to the end of his bed and check if his necklace is still there. He wouldn’t really be surprised if everything from last night turned out to be a dream because it really was all too good to be true for someone like him.

He blinks for a while and his wide smile from last night was back, it’s as if everything Naegi said ran through his head all at once, when he actually sees the half of the heart with a four leaf clover on it. He realizes that it wasn’t just a sweet dream no matter how tempting it was to just dismiss it as that.

No, it was reality, and that just makes everything so much better.

--

It’s embarrassing, but Komaeda just wants to show practically everyone he knows the necklace. People might think that he's making too much of a big deal about this, but he's just sincerely happy. It’s almost scary, really, because for someone like him, it’s dangerous to be this pleased about something.

But if it’s Naegi, personified hope, then maybe Komaeda’s measly bad luck can’t affect him.

After all, there's no way that something as insignificant as his luck will be able to harm someone as good as true hope.

He shakes off the negative thoughts, reminding himself that he should be nothing short of euphoric right now especially considering what Naegi did for him. Naegi went out of his way to find a wonderful gift despite the obvious fact that Komaeda does not at all deserve that honor, so he should just rejoice all he can.

“Oh, oh, oh!” He hears Mioda’s voice as soon as he enters the room. She was grinning, curiously looking at his necklace with wide eyes. Despite thinking earlier that he wants to show it everyone, he's actually feeling pretty shy now that there is actually someone who can look. “What do we have here? Wait, wait, don’t answer that! Let Ibuki guess!”

“Of course, Mioda-san.” Komaeda stands still, letting Ibuki stare at the necklace even more. It’s making him feel a little self-conscious even if he himself is not the one being stared at anyway. “It’s really pretty, isn’t it?”

“Yes, yes, it’s really pretty! And Ibuki is guessing,” Her grin widens even more, her words ending with a singsong note. “That this is given to Nagito-chan by Makoto-chan for the tradition! Am I right or am I right? Ahhh! Ibuki’s jealous at the lovey-dovey!”

So it really was better to say it by himself, after all. He felt his face heating up just having to listen to someone else point out that it’s from Naegi. Komaeda doesn’t know why he should feel that way since it really is obviously from him—it’s not like there's anyone else who’d give Komaeda a gift like this.

“Haha,” Komaeda’s embarrassment ends up manifesting in his chuckle. “You're right, Mioda-san. This is indeed given to me by Naegi-kun for the Day of Hope. How about Mioda-san? What did you receive yesterday?”

“Oh, oh! Nagito-chan’s great for asking!” She flashes him a thumbs-up. “Well, Hiyoko-chan gave us a furoshiki bag! I feel like a Modern Girl! It will be so hot if Ibuki and everyone else walk in the street together using the furoshiki bags! Gyahaaa! It was so pretty too, but Ibuki was disappointed when she found out that it can’t advance or reverse the time of the things she wrapped in it!”

“Oh.” Komaeda nods. He's getting the feeling that there's a reference that he didn’t understand somewhere in there. “That’s really good though… I think I overheard that Saionji-san has personally made the furoshiki that she has given out this year.”

“She did! She really did! And that moved Ibuki’s fragile maiden heart!”

“Ahaha, well… I suppose it really is moving having something customized for you.”

Komaeda himself prefers to give customized gifts. The gifts that he wanted to give to Hinata this year and last year were both customized to some extent, and the gift that he had for Naegi this year also was. His gift was pretty embarrassing, too mushy, even, but he thinks it’s a perfect way for him to show Naegi what he felt.

He tried his best to keep off some self-deprecation in his messages too, as Naegi was never pleased when he does that, but he couldn’t stop himself from writing ‘Sorry for my stupidity’ and ‘Sorry if I'm too noisy’ somewhere in the paper strips inside.

It’s true, after all.

He's really just too stupid and too noisy—

“Hey, hey, Nagito-chan!” He feels Mioda’s hand on his shoulder, and he snaps back into reality. “Are you okay? You look like you’ve drunk ten gallons of milk and tea then milk again!”

“Ah,” Komaeda blinks. Oh, no, he has done it again. He wants to be just happy because he really is, but thoughts like that really just find their way back to his head. “I'm okay, Mioda-san! I guess I just spaced out a little, sorry… Anyway, what else did you receive?”

“Eeehh, Nagito-chan, you really spaced out! I was asking what you gave Makoto-chan this year, you know! Your head is in the clouds, and your hair is the clouds!” She places her hands on her waist, nodding to herself. “Ibuki was so witty to joke that way!”

“I guess that joke was indeed pretty clever, huh?” Komaeda chuckles. “Anyway, sorry for not paying attention. To answer your question, Mioda-san, I… well, gave Naegi-kun a box with strips of papers carrying my messages for him. I know it’s pretty stupid—”

“Oh, no, no! That’s adorable!” Mioda covers her mouth. “Ibuki will die in happiness if someone does that for her! So what did Makoto-chan do? Did he kiss you? Did you guys have some fun in the adult night? Do tell, do tell!”

“We did nothing like that, Mioda-san.” Komaeda feels his face heating up again. “We just hung out in the city, that’s all.”

“Really?” She wiggles her eyebrows. “Oh, well, if Nagito-chan says so! Ibuki’s not convinced though!”

“I'm saying the truth!” Komaeda replies, lifting his hands in front of him as if to cover himself. “A-Anyway, enough about me—”

“Wait, wait, Ibuki has one last question for Nagito-chan!”

Komaeda hopes it’s nothing embarrassing. “Oh… Of course. What is it?”

“Did Hajime-chan give you anything?”

“Ah.” Komaeda blinks. “Well… not really, but—”

“Alright!” She interrupts. “Gyahaaa! It hurts! Everyone Ibuki asked said that Hajime-chan didn’t give them anything! I heard a rumor that he was working really hard to get someone something… but aha, Ibuki hasn’t found who that lucky person is!”

“Oh, I see.” Komaeda slowly nods. “That is interesting… Have you really asked everyone? Including Nanami-san?”

“Aha!” Her grin widens. “You think Hajime-chan likes Chiaki-chan, don’t you? Ibuki thinks that too, but Kazuichi-chan said she was wrong… but bummer, he won’t spill the right answer anyway!”

“It’s not Nanami-san? Seriously?” Komaeda blinks. “Then maybe it’s Tsumiki-san or Sonia-san? Ah, oh, but if it’s Sonia-san, that would pose conflicts with Souda-kun, huh?”

“Right, right, they're both very cute, but they said they didn’t receive anything either!” Mioda purses her lips together as if in deep thought. That must be one of the most serious expressions that Komaeda has seen from her. “Anyway! Ibuki’s gotta continue her search for that lucky person! Talk to you later, Nagito-chan! Have fun with your necklace!”

“I will.” Komaeda waves at her as she goes to find another person to talk with—he noticed she went to Nanami’s seat and asked again if she really did not receive anything from Hinata—and he promptly goes to his own seat as well.

This whole deal is making him curious, he admits.

Now that he thinks about it, even if he seems to be Hinata’s best friend, he doesn’t know who Hinata’s liked person is. He thought that it was just because Hinata was just private like that, and that no one else aside from himself knows, but from what he has heard just now, Souda too seems to know.

Komaeda doesn’t know if he has the right to feel this way, but he's feeling pretty bad about that…

After all, he thought that it was an unspoken rule to let best friends know first before others… but then again, he doesn’t really know much about stuff like that. Maybe that was just a misconception?

Or maybe he isn’t Hinata’s best friend anymore?

But just recently—

Ah, he mentally chides himself. He’d hit himself slowly on the head too if only he won’t look stupid doing that with his classmates in the same room.

He can’t believe that he's thinking of that again. After Hinata going out of his way to tell him that he, in fact, still cares, Komaeda can’t believe that he can still find it himself to doubt. Hinata’s so kind, dealing with him so gently despite his troublesome behavior, and probably the most disrespectful that he can do to Hinata is to doubt that genuine care and kindness.

Obviously, you don’t know how much I care about you, Komaeda.

I care about you so much, hell, I think I might even be willing to do anything for you!

That’s why I don’t appreciate you saying that I am disinterested in you because honestly, I never ever did lose interest in you.

I never ever stopped caring about you.

So don’t say things like that.

Hinata’s words give him a warm sensation in his chest. There's just something about Hinata’s actions that seems to scream sincerity—not that Komaeda is implying that others are being insincere—but if it’s Hinata, it’s just really stronger somehow.

It’s almost overwhelming.

He can’t believe that he's about to doubt a feeling that strong again.

He looks at Hinata at the farthest side of the row, and he wonders if it’d be okay for him to ask.

--

Komaeda can still remember the first time Hinata brought up that he actually likes someone. It was during that certain night last year when Hinata asked him if it would be a good idea to confess. Hinata even asked him for ideas on how, and Komaeda can clearly remember that he wasn’t able to give adequate help even back then.

Ah, he really has been a useless friend right from the start.

But he at least knows that that was the point when he wanted to be a better friend—someone whom Hinata can count on.

That point was when he decided to forgo the previously romantic feelings that he had for Hinata because it would be way better for him to be a dependable friend, way better for him to be the one who can give Hinata romantic advice even if he himself doesn’t really know much, way better for him to be the one to cheer on Hinata if the latter has a story to tell about the person that he likes.

It’s not like he's good enough for Hinata anyway—he's not implying that he's good enough for anyone—so that’s the best that he can be. No matter how pathetic it is, however, despite his resolve to help, he still doesn’t know who Hinata is pertaining to.

Alright, he decides.

He’ll actually ask as soon as he finds his resolve.

--

If Mioda indeed has asked everyone and didn’t find someone who received a gift from Hinata, and it is true that Hinata was working hard to get someone a gift, then that only means that whoever that person is doesn’t belong to their class.

Now that Komaeda has thought about it, recently, it seems that Hinata and Naegi were getting closer to each other too. It wouldn’t be too surprising if the person who ended up receiving a gift from Hinata was none other than Naegi.

Komaeda can imagine how comforting Naegi’s presence must be to Hinata. After all, he himself is experiencing that same soothing sensation whenever Naegi is around. That’s why Komaeda couldn’t really blame Hinata if he indeed got attached to Naegi.

He admits that there's something about this whole deal that feels kind of wrong for him though…

But he doesn’t really know what exactly, so he just decides to forget about it.

--

When Komaeda gets back to the dorm two days later, he was momentarily unable to do anything but stare at Hinata who was seated at his usual spot by the study table. Only, this time, there were even more books and notebooks stacked on the surface, and it’s only as if they need just one flick of a finger and all of them will come toppling down. Komaeda wonders when exactly Hinata was able to transport these materials to their room because they weren’t here earlier this morning nor the days previous.

“Hey, Komaeda, welcome back.” Komaeda’s relieved that Hinata still found it in himself to look up from his books at least. “…Are you alright?”

Komaeda blinks. He realizes that he must have looked out of it because he really was unable to do anything for a while aside from staring. Hinata’s stacks of academic materials seem to have tremendously increased in number, and Komaeda wonders why Hinata isn’t feeling overwhelmed at just the mere sight because that was what it made him feel.

“I'm okay… I think I just got surprised at these.” Komaeda gestures to the things on the top of the table. “You seem to be pushing yourself even more so than the usual, Hinata-kun. Are you alright?”

“Oh.” A hint of nervousness shows up in Hinata’s face. “Yeah, of course… I'm just reviewing some things that I shouldn’t forget.”

“But why? We don’t have a quiz anytime soon, do we?” Komaeda walks over to peek at the book that’s currently opened in front of Hinata. He felt his own eyebrows furrow when he sees exactly what Hinata is reading. This topic—it only has been mentioned by one of their teachers, but it was never really ever discussed to them in full length. He looks at Hinata, confusion all over his features. “…This is an advanced topic, isn’t it, Hinata-kun? It’s admirable that you're so dedicated to learning… but what are you studying for?”

“Ah, right. Well,” Hinata clears his throat. “Hope’s Peak chose me to take a test somewhere… so I'm just preparing as much as I can.”

“Oh, a test…” Komaeda slowly nods. He can feel his awe rising over the top. “I see, I understand now… Wow, you're really impressive, Hinata-kun! So you're, like, going to represent the academy in a quiz bee or something? As expected of someone as talented as you! I'm really feeling so proud!”

“Ah, it’s nothing impressive, I assure you…” Hinata’s smile doesn’t look happy despite those praises for him. Komaeda wonders if he must have looked insincere or something, and he wants to sincerely apologize for that. There's just really something about him—something that makes him feel innately unreliable—and Komaeda hates that so much because he actually meant what he said earlier. He seriously found Hinata impressive, seriously felt proud because even if he doesn’t know the details, this probably is a big accomplishment, but his unreliability won’t even let him effectively convey that. “…They just want to give the loser a chance, nothing big.”

“Aw, come on, Hinata-kun! I'm sure that whatever basis they had to choose you, it must have been a pretty high standard! I mean, this is Hope’s Peak, after all!” Komaeda smiles. “You should be proud of yourself for meeting their expectations, you know!”

“…You're right.” Hinata nods, a small smile showing up on his face. Komaeda’s own smile widens even more when he notices that Hinata’s smile, although small, is more genuine now than it was before. “I guess I should let myself be happy even just for this, huh. I worked hard, so I should stop beating myself up… right? I mean, I was happy when I first heard it, but right now, I can’t help but just feel… pressured.”

“I understand.” Komaeda pats his shoulder. “I can imagine that the pressure must be really heavy. But even so, you should not forget that this is an accomplishment, and you should remember that this is also something to be happy and hopeful about!”

“Hope, huh.” Hinata repeats. He looks pretty absent—he's obviously thinking of something else—but Komaeda understands. Hinata probably has a lot to think about, after all. Not only does he aim to maintain his high grades, but there also is this test now. “You're right. I should continue holding on to hope even firmer now… I can’t be discouraged now of all times.”

“That’s the spirit!” Komaeda giggles. “You're shining with hope, Hinata-kun! It’s amazing!”

“Thank you, but uh…” Hinata bites his lower lip. “…I'm going to say something possibly embarrassing. Is it okay?”

“Haha, nothing is embarrassing when it comes to me! Fire away, Hinata-kun!”

“See,” Hinata clears his throat. “…See, you're the one who gives me hope. So… if you're going to be amazed at anything, you should be amazed at yourself.”

“I give you hope…” Komaeda repeats the words. Those are just too much to hear, especially coming from a person that he values so much. He's just so happy that someone as insignificant as him was able to give someone as important as Hinata hope. He remembers Naegi telling him the same thing too, and he just can’t believe that he's actually capable of giving off something that great to someone. It just sounds too surreal. Komaeda? Giving hope? It sounds like a massive joke! “That means so much to me, Hinata-kun.”

“Hey, don’t act like I'm the one who has done you a favor now.” Hinata reaches out and ruffles his hair. “You're the one giving me hope, so I should be the one saying that, right? ‘That means so much to me’… You giving me hope mean so much to me.”

“Thank you…”

“Don’t thank me. Anyway…” Hinata smiles at him again before patting the book in front of him. “Thanks for talking with me. I should go back to reading now.”

“Ah, oh! Right, don’t let me bother you!” Komaeda nods. “If there's anything I can do to help though—maybe help refresh your memory about anything—just tell me! Sorry if I'm being too presumptuous, being as disrespectful as to think that I can actually give you assistance, but I just want you to know that I’ll do my best at least to make things even just slightly easier for you…”

“…Is that really okay?” He wonders why Hinata looks slightly guilty. There's nothing wrong with asking for help, is there? “I don’t want to bother you, and if you help me out, you might not sleep enough…”

Oh, so that’s what he's worried about.

Komaeda nods in understanding, his smile going back. “I don’t really mind. I usually sleep during the lunch time anyway. Naegi-kun is kind enough to watch over me to make sure that nothing bad will happen, so I’d be fine studying with you! It’s just like what we do last year, right?”

“…Yeah.” He nods. Komaeda notices that Hinata looks so tired—there must be a plethora of reasons why—and he honestly wants nothing but to suggest to the latter to just rest for now, but he knows that Hinata wouldn’t accept that especially now that there's something important to prepare for.

So he just offers his bed to the both of them so that they can study together just like they always did back then.

--

“Hey, Komaeda,” Hinata turns his chair around so that it would be facing him. Komaeda can remember—this was sometime last year when they were both studying for a test the next day—when they both decided to pull an all-nighter as preparation. “Can you explain to me why I wasn’t given full points in this item?”

“Which one?” Komaeda asks, and he promptly receives a sheet of paper in his hand. Hinata was pointing on a certain item, and Komaeda slowly nods as he reads that particular item. “Ah… you were supposed to prove this claim.”

That problem—Komaeda can clearly remember as well—was about proving that the segments formed by some certain points were parallel. Hinata just immediately wrote that they were parallel—to be fair, they evidently are, anyway—and some points were deducted from him because he didn’t even bother proving that they are.

“What?” Hinata furrows his eyebrows, slightly frowning at the paper. “But they're obviously parallel. Look. You don’t even have to use a ruler to know that.”

“But the instructions said that you have to prove it, Hinata-kun.” Komaeda giggles. “You can’t just assume that they're parallel. You have to prove that they are, you know.”

“Hey, what's wrong with assuming something so obvious?” Hinata looks slightly embarrassed as he places the paper on the table to get a pen. “Really, it’s ridiculous… That much was just too obvious, you know. No one has to be a genius for that.”

“Haha, but that’s what the instructions require us to do. Anyway,” Komaeda gets the paper again. “You have to prove that they have the same slope. That way, you'll be proving that they're parallel. Hinata-kun didn’t do that, so that’s why some points were deducted.”

“Same slope…” Hinata murmurs. “To be not parallel, we shouldn’t have the same slope…”

“Ah?” Komaeda tilts his head. “Yep, that’s it. Do you need the formula for the slope?”

“N-No. Sorry… I was just talking to myself. Anyway,” Hinata clears his throat. “I’ll just solve this… can you check it afterwards?”

“Sure, Hinata-kun. I’ll just be here.”

--

Ah, Komaeda totally has forgotten to ask who Hinata’s liked person is.

--

Another couple of days passed before Komaeda realized that he still hasn’t asked that question that he wanted to ask. It’s just that every time he sees Hinata, he realizes that Hinata probably has a lot of things that he would rather think about instead of a discussion about his crush.

Hinata’s stacks of books are going taller and taller, and his tiredness is getting even more evident. If Komaeda were to be completely honest, he's actually pretty scared that Hinata’s recent fever might come back with the rate he's going.

That’s why Komaeda finds it pretty embarrassing to admit that he still couldn’t fight his curiosity regarding Hinata’s liked person, so he goes over to Souda’s seat the moment he sees the chair beside the latter vacant. Souda was visibly confused—Komaeda knows how weird this whole setting was because it’s not like they were close friends to casually chat with each other—so Komaeda shows him a small smile and starts quickly as an effort to shorten the awkwardness.

“Hi, Souda-kun.” Komaeda realizes that his attempt was still awkward. No matter. “I know this is pretty weird, but… the reason why I'm here is because there's something I have to ask you. Is that alright?”

He decided to cut to the chase. He avoided the much unneeded preamble because that will just prolong both of their waiting.

“Uh, sure.” Souda has his eyebrows furrowed. With his expression, it’s as if he didn’t even bother to hide that he's weirded out. “What's up?”

“Well, I’ve been told…” Komaeda lowers his voice, almost conspirational.  “…that you are the one who knows who Hinata-kun’s liked person is.”

“Yeah… that’s right…” Souda slowly nods. It took him a good five seconds before he practically jumped out of his seat and screamed, pointing an accusatory finger at Komaeda. “I mean, no! Wow! Why are you tricking me!? Hinata never told me who his crush is! It’s not like I’ve known since last year!”

“Huh?” Komaeda tilts his head, blinking. “Oh! So the person Hinata-kun likes is the same person that he liked last year? May I ask who it is?”

“What!?” Souda aggressively shakes his head. “No, no, no! What are you even talking about? There's no way I'm telling you! I mean, I have nothing to tell anyway because I know nothing! Nothing!”

Souda runs out of the room after that.

Komaeda blinks, confused.

…Okay, that went well.

--

“So that’s what happened, huh…” Naegi slowly nods, his head on Komaeda’s lap. “I'm surprised, honestly. I thought you'd be the first person to know who Hinata-kun’s liked person is.”

“That’s what I thought too, but Souda-kun obviously does know…” Komaeda lets out a sigh, but he immediately stops, as if realizing that sighing is wrong. “…I-I'm not implying that Hinata-kun should tell me everything, by the way! Sorry for being so impudent!”

“It’s alright, you're not being impudent.” Naegi reaches out a hand and caresses his cheek. “Right, I forgot… Are you and Hinata-kun okay now? He said something about not wanting to be your friend anymore, right? I never found the opportunity to ask because the last times we talked about him, we were discussing his wellbeing…”

“Oh...” That. Komaeda forgot about that too. Or maybe he was just pretending that he did. There's just something about that whole deal that confuses him greatly, and he wanted to avoid it because it makes him feel… uncomfortable? “…Right. Actually, I… wanted to ask you something about that, Naegi-kun.”

“Yes?” Naegi continues caressing his cheek. “What is it, Komaeda-kun?”

“Um, well…” Komaeda bites his lower lip. “I just wanted you to elaborate about Hinata-kun saying that… I mean, I wanted to know about the context, if that’s alright? You don’t have to tell me everything you talked about… just enough at least to make me understand enough.”

“Oh, I see.” Naegi’s hand stops. He still has a smile on, but Komaeda gets that familiar feeling of… something wrong? “Komaeda-kun… do you doubt me?”

“…Huh? No, of course not!” Komaeda quickly shakes his head. “There's no way that I’d doubt you, Naegi-kun! I wholeheartedly trust you.”

“Actually, Komaeda-kun,” Naegi smiles again. “Isn't that what you're doing right now? You doubt me.”

“W-Wait, I'm sorry, that wasn’t my intention...” It’s difficult to tell if Naegi’s upset because he still has that usual smile on, but Komaeda guesses that this feeling of panic at the moment is enough. “I promise that there's no one else that I trust more than you, so I'm really sorry for making it seem like I meant otherwise... I was just really curious. I'm so sorry.”

“Are you saying the truth, Komaeda-kun?” Naegi goes back to caressing his cheek. “Do you mean what you just said?”

“Of course... I’ll never lie to you, Naegi-kun. I'm sorry.”

“You say that, but you think that I said something wrong.” It wasn’t a question. Komaeda can’t explain it, and he doesn’t understand why, but he's actually feeling… slight fear? Right now? But why? This is Naegi, the most comforting person that he knows… the one called Super High School Level Hope. There's no reason to be scared. “Right? You must have talked to Hinata-kun. And I guess you believe him more than me.”

“No, I'm sorry… It’s just that I was just worried that there might have been a misunderstanding. It’s not that I doubted your words, I just really wanted to know more… I'm sorry.”

“It’s okay. I forgive you.” Naegi promptly sits up. Komaeda’s fear amplifies because he thought that Naegi finally decided to leave him alone, and he feels slight relief when Naegi wraps his arms around him. Komaeda closes his eyes, muttering another soft apology, causing Naegi to pat his back. “I guess I'm a little upset though… I mean, you did say after all that you'd always choose me over him. But don’t worry, it’s not like I'm mad or anything. I can never be mad at you. I mean, it’s not like I can blame you if you can’t keep everything you say. It just happens, I guess. I understand.”

“I'm really sorry… I promise I never doubted you.” Komaeda returns the embrace. He realizes that his hold came off too tight, and he was almost scared that Naegi would push him away. “It’s still true that I’d always choose you over anyone… I’ll never break that. I'm sorry.”

“Shhh, stop apologizing. It’s okay.” He feels Naegi nuzzling against his neck. “You know that I love you so much, right? I love you, and that’s why I can never doubt you. I just hope that you are the same way.”

“I love you too… I don’t doubt you.” Komaeda tightens his hug. “…I'm sorry for upsetting you. I’ll never do it again.”

Naegi giggles, his hold around Komaeda tightening even more. “I’ll be counting on you, Komaeda-kun.”

--

That was when Komaeda realized that he wouldn’t want to anger Naegi ever.

Just the mere thought of being inadequate enough to upset someone as good as Naegi was a horrifying thought.

--

“Ah, Komaeda.” Hinata immediately stops what he was doing as soon as Komaeda arrived. Komaeda would feel bad that he seems to be a bother to Hinata’s studying, but he's also glad because at least Hinata remembers to stop and take even just a short break upon seeing him. “Hey, welcome back.”

Komaeda gives him a small smile. “I'm back, Hinata-kun. Have you eaten dinner yet?”

“Ah, right,” Hinata gestures to a bunch of empty biscuit crackers. “I did eat some biscuits. Anyway, there's something that I’d like to talk about.”

“Oh, sure.” Komaeda nods and sits on the edge of his bed, still facing Hinata after. “I don’t think your dinner is what I’d call dinner though, but I guess it’s better than nothing…”

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to eat a lot after taking the test.” Hinata turns his chair around to face Komaeda too. “Before I start to talk about what I wanted to ask though… are you okay?”

“Oh, of course.” Komaeda furrows his eyebrows. “Did I do something weird just now?”

“Not really…” Hinata blinks at him, staring at him harder afterward. “…You look kind of sad, I think? Or am I just imagining things?”

“I do?” Komaeda repeats. “I don’t know… I don’t think I'm sad…”

“Yeah, sorry, it’s just that, your eyes…” Hinata pauses. “I don’t know either, sorry, but your eyes kinda do that… thing. Whenever you're sad. I don’t know. Ignore me. Anyway. You're okay, right?”

“Alright…” Komaeda slowly nods. “I am okay. We can talk about what you wanted to discuss now if you want.”

“Okay…” Hinata stares at him for a little longer, looking doubtful, but he continues anyway. “Well, uh, Souda told me… that you asked him something that concerns me?”

“Ah, I did…” Komaeda’s embarrassment returns. He doesn’t want to admit that he's prioritizing his nosiness over simply supporting Hinata in his studying. Now, despite not meaning to, he still has caused Hinata to waste time that should rightfully be used for studying in discussing this with him. “…I'm sorry. You don’t really have to tell me now if you don’t want to.”

“Oh, I'm sure it’s okay.” Hinata furrows his eyebrows. “I mean, he didn’t tell me what you asked. He just said that you asked him something about me. Whatever it is, I'm sure I can tell you myself… right, why didn’t you just ask me anyway?”

“Well, I didn’t want to bother you.” Komaeda sheepishly giggles. “Hinata-kun should just be studying instead of entertaining my useless queries… so I thought I should just ask Souda-kun instead since he didn’t seem to be as busy as you.”

“No, it’s okay.” Hinata nods, encouraging him. “I mean, a break does sound nice right now… I admit it’s pretty tiring reading for hours, after all. What is it?”

“Okay, if you insist…” Komaeda clears his throat. “I just… asked Souda-kun who your liked person is. I mean, you have mentioned to me last year that there was someone to whom you wanted to confess, but after that, I never really heard anything about them again… so I just remembered and I was really curious. Sorry if it’s not my business.”

Hinata’s eyes widen. Komaeda immediately wants to apologize because just by that reaction alone, he can tell that he probably just came across as nosy by asking. Ah, he can’t believe that he's so stupid. Obviously, this is not his business. After all, if he should really know about it, Hinata would have told him who it was since last year.

He was about to deliver a long apology when Hinata spoke first. “No, don’t sweat it… It’s okay to ask.”

“Oh.” A feeling of relief washes over Komaeda. “Thank you… I was pretty scared that you'd get mad.”

“Why would I? It’s really okay, but uh…” Hinata bites his lower lip. “…I can’t really tell you right now.”

“Oh… I'm sorry. It’s okay, I didn’t want to compel—”

“Okay, look, before you get the wrong idea, it’s not because I don’t trust you, okay.” Hinata immediately follows up. “I really just… can’t tell you right now. But I do want to tell you. I swear I do.”

Komaeda slowly nods. “Is there… a particular reason why you can’t tell me, Hinata-kun? Or if I shouldn’t know the reason too… then it’s okay with me as well. I’ll respect it…”

“I'm just…” Hinata pauses as if thinking hard about how to continue his sentence. “…not ready to tell right now. I mean, Souda just forced me to telling him, I swear. But if there's someone who I really want to know about it first, it’s you, Komaeda. I promise. But I can’t tell you. Not right now.”

“I understand.” Komaeda smiles. He notices that Hinata seems to be guilty about not telling him, so he decides to smile in the best comforting way that he can. “It’s okay, Hinata-kun. Don’t worry. I’ll patiently wait until you can tell me… I promise I’ll support you with the best of my abilities!”

Hinata smiles back, but there was that tinge of tiredness in it again. Komaeda can easily just be imagining things too, but Hinata seemed… sad? As well? There's no reason for Hinata to be sad with what they're talking about though, so it’s probably just Komaeda being unnecessarily stupid again. “…Thanks, but I won’t hold it against you if you can’t do anything. Not because I doubt your abilities, but because… well, this situation is pretty hopeless. That person is too good for me—they're basically perfect compared to me, to be honest—so I'm not really hoping much anymore. But really, thanks.”

“You should have more hope than that, Hinata-kun!” Komaeda shakes his head. “If I remembered right, during the first time you mentioned them to me, I said that you're an amazing person and that they’ll be flattered to know that you like them! That still stands true right now. If anything, maybe Hinata-kun became even more amazing! You're so dedicated to your studies and you're a really industrious person… they’ll be so impressed! So you should tell them!”

“…I’ll tell you.”

“Oh?”

“Who it is, I mean.” Hinata clears his throat. “I’ll tell you who it is. If I pass the test, I’ll tell you everything.”

“Seriously?” Komaeda can’t see himself at the moment, but he can say with certainty that his eyes probably are pretty much sparkling at the moment. “Don’t force yourself, Hinata-kun, but I’ll be really happy! Also, you won’t tell me if you pass the test. You'll tell me when you do! Because that statement shouldn’t be conditional—I mean, I'm sure that you can do it! If it’s Hinata-kun, then surely, you will!”

“Thank you.” Hinata promptly stands from his chair and goes over to sit beside him on his bed. Komaeda smiles even more when he feels Hinata’s warm and secure embrace, and he returns the hug as soon as he can. “…Is this okay? I just missed doing this all of a sudden. I’ll pull away if it’s uncomfortable.”

“No, it’s alright.” Komaeda tightens his embrace to emphasize his point. “It feels soothing, see? And I heard that hugs can alleviate tiredness, so… I think it’s best if Hinata-kun gets a hug right now!”

He feels Hinata’s chin on his shoulder, and he could have sworn that Hinata’s hold on him grew even tighter. It’s a wonder why it’s not feeling painful yet though, or maybe the comforting warmth is just distracting him enough. “…I’ll do my best to pass. I want you to know everything.”

Komaeda giggles, and he buries his head on Hinata’s shoulder. “I’ll be waiting, Hinata-kun. Best of luck to you.”

--