Komaeda looked down at the black and white metal on his lap in disgust. It was an improvement from the neatly painted red nail, but he was still disgusted by it, almost wishing he didn't agree on Soda making him the fake appendage.
Next to the hospital bed sat Hinata, looking down happily at the prosthetic arm as he explained how to take care of it. Why it wasn't the pink haired mechanic that instructed him, he wasn't sure, but he was happy at seeing the brunet, not complaining as he listened to his smooth, steady voice.
The other had been beside him almost every day since he woke up from the Neo World program eight days ago. Giving him updates on the other students happily, explaining to him what had happened the best he could. The first days Komaeda felt outraged, to say the least. Not even daring to listen to the powerful men beside him, but as he was locked up in the hospital room 'for his own protection', he began to accept the situation more and more, looking forward to Hinata daily visits.
Today, though, was more of a bad day compared to the rest. He had bought the mechanic prosthetic with him, strapping it on and installing the sensor detectors. He had no idea how any of this would work, and he was about to scold the other for not knowing either when he realized that Hinata now basically knew everything.
Guilt washed over him as he realized how he had acted towards the poor boy after leaving the strawberry house. He didn't deserve any of that, but Komaeda was just drunk on despair, not being able to comprehend that the man he had admired so much turned out to be a total disappointment.
"Why are you willing to help me, anyway?" He breathed out as the brunet tweaked the sensitivity on his arm. "I don't understand…"
"Because I- we were all so relieved to see you waking up from the program." Komaeda choked down a laugh. We? You got to be kidding me. There were so many snarky remarks he could've thrown back as an answer, but he settled with the most obvious one. "But what I did was horrible."
"We all did something horrible…" He scratched into his chestnut locks apologetically. "But- we've all been forgiven as well, this will be our clean slate. So make sure you write the future you want."
The word future sounded bitter in his mind, knowing the world wasn't saved from despair just yet. He sighed as he tried to move the mechanical fingers, the whirring it made sounding odd and loud as the hand twitched into movement. He had to say, he was impressed at how accurate and smooth it moved, not expecting anything less from an ultimate.
Hinata looked as happy as ever, analyzing the hand as he tried to move the fingers around, turning his wrist and getting familiar with the new arm.
"Try to pick up something…" The other looked around in the room, there was barely any furniture in the hospital room, let alone decorations or objects he could pick up. Moving his head back to look Komaeda in the eyes, he lifted his arm limply, offering it to the other. Gray orbs just followed him in confusion. "Try and hold my wrist."
The command seemed so easy, almost degrading, as he lifted his left hand steadily, the sounds of the mechanic appearing loud in his ears. He placed the cold palm against the other's fleshy wrist, letting the fingers close individually. It was still too hard to close them all at the same time, he thought as he saw the black metal twitch down slowly.
The grip wasn't really secure, on the contrary, if it was a glass it would've fallen in-between the space of his hand already. But Hinata still praised him proudly, looking happy at the improvement. "Now try pulling it up." He asked gently, a patient smile on his face. Why was he so helpful anyway? He didn't understand.
Concentration washed over in his pale face as he tried to gently pick up the other's arm. It was harder than he thought, afraid of losing his grip on his wrist as he moved his arm up gently, Hinata's hand following limply. He couldn't help but smile a little at the small accomplishment, this time, the brunet's optimism rubbing off at his as he moved his arm up and down, in the most awkward handshake in the world.
The brunet sighed happily as Komaeda released his hand again. He took in a deep breath before continuing the conversation. "Everyone was so scared, afraid our friends wouldn't wake up anymore. But here you are now, alive and conscious, and it's the best thing in the entire world because it gives us hope that everyonewill wake up as well."
'Friend'… the word sounded heavy in his ears. Did Hinata really mean that? He was about to ask him, doubt swirling in his eyes, but the genuine smile on the brunet answered all his question. It felt like he was being hit by a brick, emotions crashing through his veins as the realization of the entire situation started to sink in.
He choked down on a sob, his right hand rubbing his eyes furiously, not daring to let tears fall. Everything, the killing game, the incident, the brainwashing, he had all bottled it up since the moment he woke up, not being worthy to express his emotions. But now, With Hinata being so kind, so patient, it made the floodgates open, whimpering pathetically on the white sheets. He wanted to push his face into the pillow, drown in sorrow, anything in order not let the other see him in such a weak state, but there was nowhere for him to hide.
Warm arms covered him in an embrace, a surprised yelp making place for sobs as he looked down in confusion. Did Hinata hug him? He wanted to push him away, tell him he wasn't worthy of the other's affection. But the smooth hand running on his back comfortably made him relax into the embrace, making him cry on his shoulder instead.
When was the last time he was hugged like this? To be able to express his emotions like this? He didn't remember, and he blessed his luck for feeling something as special as this. His body was shivering, still weak from waking up a couple of days ago as Hinata cooed at the others, whispering him that 'it's okay'.
The sniffling died down as quickly as it happened, the two of them now hugging in silence. It felt nice, Komaeda thought as he sniffed in the scent that was Hinata, snugly curling into the other's grasp. He felt cold when the other moved back, ending the embrace. Scenarios, where Hinata would run away in disgust, ran through his mind, but the other made no move to get up, still leaning forward on the folding chair that was placed next to the bed.
He noticed the other staring at his face intently, Komaeda flinching away at the other's stern gaze. His face must've looked hideous, flushed from tears. He tried to hide it, avert his gaze from the other, when a hand cupped his cheek, running a thumb against the heated flesh. "H-Hinata-kun is so nice…" His voice sounded weak, cracking a little when he said the other's name.
Smiling at the compliment, he removed his hand again, asking the other to try and to the same with his mechanic hand, pointing at his cheek as to make a point. Komaeda took a steady breath, wiping his face so he would look his usual self again.
He moved the hand up flatly against the other's skin, so his fingers could curve over the other's cheek when he made contact. Momentarily forgetting the delay in his electronic appendage, instead of stopping at the other's cheek, it twitched against the other's flesh harshly. The whirring died down as he held his hand still in shock, eyes wide at the realization of what just happened. Did he just… slap Hinata? The slightly tilted head of the brunet, who had his eyes closed from the impact, answered his question. About to open his mouth into a rant of apologies when green and red opened, looking at him with a small smile.
"I guess I deserved that…" He chuckled, relaxing his face against the metal that had just hit him. He noticed the skin under the black fingers reddening slightly, feeling a sob leave his throat as he parted his lips into an apology. "Hinata-kun… I'm so s-sorry."
A, what he presumed, warm hand covered the shiny metal, stroking it in comfort. "It's okay, you did great." Komaeda blushed slightly at the action, feeling a little embarrassed about the entire situation. The soft cracking sound signaling that his metallic fingers were twitching. He wanted to move the thing away from the brunet, afraid he would hurt him again, but the contact felt too nice to him, imagining he was able to feel the heated skin on the other's face.
"Komaeda, I thought you died. I thought you would never wake up from your induced coma, I felt horrible, like it was all my fault." He explained as if he earned the slap, taking in a deep breath before continuing.
"I want to understand you, to be your friend. To give you the love you were carving for, which you deserve." He blushed, quickly rambling another sentence. "We all want to give you that."
The pale male snickered, feeling the need to lighten the heavy mood with a joke. "Is that a confession, Hinata-kun?" The words sounded more teasingly in his head, his vocal chords betraying him when the end of the question wavered, his tone sounding way too serious. Lucky for him, the brunet just laughed at that, not noticing the other's internal conflict.
"What if it is, will you slap me again? Komaeda laughed in return, this time, the first time he genuinely smiled since he woke up a week ago.
Hinata had always cheered him up in the program, and even now, when all the secrets were laid on the table, he still put in the effort to make him feel comfortable. Looking back at the brunet, he noticed that he wasn't smiling anymore. Did he do something wrong? Was he perhaps not allowed to laugh? Panic shot through his face as he watched the other's contort in concentration.
His hand wasn't touching the other's face anymore, since Hinata had leaned forward a little, making his arm stay awkwardly in the air. His multicolored eyes lidding lazily as the distance between them grew smaller and smaller, Komaeda not daring to move a muscle. Their noses bumped together, making the white haired man stiffen. They stopped moving now, looking deeply into each other's eyes, as if trying to communicate this way, both too afraid to say a word that would break the charm.
He felt the other's breath tingle on his lips, the brunet was so close now, he could practically taste the other's skin. His pale face flushed heavily, heat rising to his cheeks. Time seemed to stand still as his mind turned into mush, not knowing who moved to crush their lips together, and not caring anymore.
The kiss was sweet and gentle, the other's lips feeling warm against his as he moved the hand clumsily to relax on Hinata's shoulder. He closed his eyes to relish in the feeling, warmth filling his entire body as he pressed his mouth against the other.
The seconds seemed to tick by so slowly, but when the brunet pulled back, he decided that the kiss was way too short. Damn those scientists with their theory of relativity. He subconsciously licked his lips, still tasting Hinata on them as he looked at the other in confusion.
"I'm sorry, I thought-" He scratched his cheek sheepishly, eyes darting downwards to look at the floor, cheeks dusted red. "I thought you liked me, so…" Komaeda perked up at this, he thought he didn't like the kiss? He quickly grabbed the other's hand in his right palm, the left mechanic one following a lot slower as he edged him on to look at him, an embarrassed smile dancing on his lips.
"I don't mind if it's with you, Hinata-kun." The brunet just looked back in confusing, they both were too afraid to say what they meant exactly, just trying to turn around the subject confusingly. The silence grew heavy, but both didn't know what to say. Komaeda squeezed into the other's hand as a sign of affection, but Hinata just whimpered at the action.
"A-Auch, Komaeda-" He looked down his hand with a now pale face, the other following his gaze in confusion. He noticed the brunet's hand trembling, turning white under the other's death grip. Releasing his prosthetic hand at the sight immediately, muttering an apology. I guess they still had to tweak the strength of the mechanic appendage, he thought as he noticed a small bruise forming on the skin. "S-Sorry."
"It's okay… don't worry about it." He smiled as he pressed down the reddened skin. Komaeda stuttered another apology, ranting about how 'trash like him had hurt someone as amazing as Hinata-kun', before being shut up with another kiss, his self-depreciation speech catching in his throat as white lashes fluttered close.
The brunet's skin was so heated, he didn't know if the other was always this warm, or if it was the contrast between his icy cold flesh. The kiss was short, more of a peck than anything, and Hinata moved back for the second time that day, a content smile on his face as he successfully cut Komaeda's train of thought short.
"Hinata-kun… What-?" He was confused, kissing isn't what friends are supposed to do, right? He felt himself shudder at the word 'friend', not sure if he was allowed to call the other that as the brunet's smooth voice filled the room.
"I told you I wanted to give you the love you deserve." He smiled at him affectionately as he took the robotic arm into his hands, kissing the metallic digits gently. "I guess this is a great way to start doing that." Not helping the radiant smile forming on his face as he watched the brunet clutch at his hand lovingly, Komaeda nodded, accepting his offer.
"Komaeda... let's write our future together."