Author's Note: There's no particular reason this exists, I just wrote it. Takes place during chapter 4 inside the Funhouse.

Strawberries

Hinata lie half-crumpled on the bottom of the slide in Strawberry House. His arms were slung over the side, the ridges forcing his joints at awkward angles and cutting off his circulation. The plastic his cheek was smashed against was cool and smelled vaguely of chemicals and strawberries. It was highly uncomfortable, but he just couldn't find enough energy inside him to move.

It was their second day without food. That he had been reduced to this only after two days was pathetic, but he'd never gone this long without eating. He'd went from having sharp hunger pains to being dizzy and nauseous to feeling a strange disconnect between his mind and body. If he lie still, though, his brain felt a little more like it was staying inside his head.

He hadn't seen any of the others in a while. He wondered how they were doing—if any of them were wondering how he was doing.

As he floated in and out of consciousness, a hand touched his shoulder. The touch was feather light at first, then it gripped more strongly. Nanami, he hoped. Or Souda or Owari.

"Hey, are you okay? You aren't dead, right?"

Komaeda.

"I'd be pretty upset to lose you this soon. After all, your hope has shone so brightly thus far..."

It felt like too much effort to move just for Komaeda's sake, so Hinata settled on a nondescript grunt.

Regardless, it seemed to satisfy him. "Ah! You're alive, that's such a relief."

Hinata cracked open an eye. The blurry form of Komaeda kneeling down beside the slide swam into his vision. "Wha' d'you wan'?" he mumbled.

"I saw you lying here and got worried. I'm sorry, having someone as worthless as me worrying about you probably doesn't make you feel any better, does it?" Komaeda ran a hand through his hair, laughing helplessly. "I wish I could be of more use, but..."

Hinata did his best to glare. With herculean effort, he pulled his arms up and twisted onto his back. High above him, lines of strawberries drifted across the ceiling. He stared, mesmerized.

"...Hinata-kun...?"

He wanted to answer, but his mouth felt too far from his brain. Even the strawberries he'd been trying to track slipped away, starting to blur into the background. But there was no foreground; there was just empty space in front of him. The space was slowly sucking him in.

Suddenly, his vision went black.

At first he thought he'd passed out, but he could still feel the slide pressing awkwardly against his shoulder blades. Something warm was on his face, over his eyes. He gingerly touched it and realized it was a hand. Komaeda's hand.

Taking at the wrist, Hinata pulled it off and turned his head toward Komaeda. His eyes traveled over Komaeda's body—his unruly white hair, the long coat he always wore despite being on a tropical island, the strange red symbol on his shirt, those tight black pants that couldn't be comfortable in this weather either—taking him all in.

Komaeda was drab and pale. Frail and exhausted. Perfectly still.

Hinata wanted nothing more than to just stare at him.

In the sea of pink in the Strawberry House, and the equally offensive green in the Grape House, Komaeda's appearance was sweet relief on his eyes.

"Hinata-kun?"

Komaeda's voice sounded higher, more strained, but Hinata didn't pause to wonder why. Using the last of his strength, he rolled off the slide. Komaeda did his best to catch him, but it ended with them both in a pile on the floor. Hinata couldn't say he minded, groping for any part of Komaeda to bury his face in.

He sighed into the olive coat. Komaeda did not smell like strawberries.

"H-Hinata-kun? Perhaps it's supercilious of someone like me to question your actions, but... what are you doing?"

"...The strawberries."

Komaeda remained silent. And then, "What about them?"

"Please don't let them get me."

It wasn't until the words passed Hinata's lips that the gravity of his plea hit him. The fruit on the walls was tormenting him, existing to remind him how hungry he was. Wandering the Funhouse in search of escape meant letting them circle him endlessly. If someone would just die, they could leave.

"Please," he whispered, tightening his arms around Komaeda.

Eventually, the embrace was returned. Komaeda was stiff, but he settled one arm around Hinata's waist and the other around his shoulders. "If it's just strawberries you need protection from..." His voice sounded hoarse. Or maybe it was just Hinata's imagination. "...I suppose even someone like me can do that."

Hinata pushed his face into Komaeda's collarbone, focusing on steadying his breathing. He could feel his body now because someone else was holding it. His mind was there, trapped inside his head. It wasn't going to float off into space as long as Komaeda kept it down.

Hot tingles rippled through his body when he realized what he was doing.

He was clinging desperately to the person he trusted the least, begging him to keep his mind from falling apart. Komaeda was messed up; his way of thinking didn't make any sense. He did things for the sake of hope, without caring how it affected everyone else. Hinata was so, so angry at him—an anger that drove him to want to understand Komaeda.

Hinata didn't have the energy to be angry now, though. Regardless of how infuriating of a person Komaeda was, he was here now. He'd had come to check on Hinata, make sure he was still alive, and he was lying still now, indulging Hinata's ridiculous request for protection.

"We have to get out of here," Hinata whispered. His voice rasped like sandpaper.

Komaeda took so long to respond, he wasn't sure he'd even heard. "...I'll happily let you kill me, Hinata-kun. It'll be the perfect murder, no one will ever suspect you. I'll help you escape, you just have to say the word—"

"I said we. As in, all of us. That includes you."

"Hinata-kun—"

"There's no point if we all don't make it out." Hinata drew back, light drowning his vision once again. It was dizzying, but he focused his attention on Komaeda's eyes. "I want to get out of here with you, Komaeda. You're the type of person to take your secrets to the grave, so I have to get them out while you're still alive."

A wry smile cracked across Komaeda's face. It was different from his usual carefree one. It had intention. "You want to know my secrets, Hinata-kun? But the secrets trash like me has can't be that interesting."

"If they aren't interesting, then it shouldn't be a problem to say them."

Komaeda's eyes were unreadable. His next movements were slow and Hinata observed them as if watching through a television screen. The way Komaeda wet his lips and swallowed. He shifted his arms, propping himself up on one elbow and placing his free hand on Hinata's cheek. When he leaned down, Hinata didn't even flinch.

His body felt too far away.

Their lips met and Komaeda spoke from there, his voice nothing more than a soft vibration against Hinata's mouth.

"You should run far away from me, Hinata-kun. I'm such worthless garbage, someone like me will only weigh you down."

But even as he said that, he pressed closer. Hinata's heart was pounding as Komaeda shifted on top of him, but he wasn't afraid. For once, he wasn't afraid of what Komaeda was going to do or what would come out of his mouth. For once, it was very clear what Komaeda wanted. Hinata tightened his hands in the back of his coat as if he could drag that honesty out.

Komaeda's voice shrunk to a pinprick, and he seemed more intent on drowning it in amongst soft kisses. "I'm in love with y—the hope sleeping inside you. It's so warm and bright, it makes me feel alive when I'm near you... It makes me want to never let go of you."

Pressing a hand to the back of Komaeda's head, Hinata kissed him back. No more words were spoken. He tilted his head and parted his lips in invitation, hoping Komaeda would continue to do as he pleased. His mouth was ravaged and it felt good.

It was the porny sucking sounds filling the empty room that finally got to Hinata, forcing giggles up and out of his stomach.

Komaeda jerked back, looking ready to bolt, but Hinata rolled them back onto their sides and hooked their ankles together. "I'm s-sorry, I just..." A few more giggles interrupted him. "I think I've gone insane. Am I hallucinating?"

"I think we both are."

Grinning, Hinata pulled him close again. He spoke without thinking. His brain was so far away now. "You sound sexy when you don't know what's going on," he said. "Have I finally managed to surprise you, Nagito? Are you wondering what I'm going to do next? Are you confused? Are you scared?"

"I-I'm... somewhat concerned, yes."

Hinata laughed again, high off the control he suddenly wielded. He went in for another kiss and moaned softly, just because he could. Komaeda shivered in his arms.

Souda was searching for Sonia when Hinata and Komaeda came by. Or, more accurately, Souda was searching for Sonia and Gundham, since the two of them had disappeared together again, when Hinata hurried by, dragging Komaeda behind him.

"Hey, Hinata, have you..." Souda trailed off when Hinata showed no signs of having heard him. The expression on his face was focused and intense. Komaeda, on the other hand, looked terrified.

Perhaps Hinata had finally snapped and was planning to kill Komaeda.

"H-Hinata-kun, I really don't think this is necessary, you've proved your point, I'll tell you whatever you want to know—"

"Shut up."

"The stairs, Hinata-kun—Please, go more slowly, you're going to trip—"

"They why don't you carry me?"

"I can't—"

Souda watched in morbid amusement as Hinata ignored Komaeda's protests and hopped onto him piggyback. Komaeda staggered a few awkward steps, looking like his legs might give out, before steadying himself.

"We can't go downstairs like this," Komaeda said, sounding strained. "We'll both die."

"Go."

"I'll drop you and then be convicted of murder."

"Go!"

"You know how Monokuma is about rules, don't you? It doesn't matter if it was an accident, if you die, it'll still be my—"

"Na~gi~to~"

Komaeda muttered something under his breath and shakily took the first step down. And another, and another, leaving Souda behind to wonder what the hell he'd just witnessed.

The next day found Hinata breathless and dizzy for an entirely different reason. He had to go, he had to continue investigating the murder case, or him and his innocent classmates might die, but... what could he do? He was just a talentless Reserve Course student. He'd completely deluded himself into believing he was an Ultimate like his peers.

He paused in a stairwell, bracing an arm against the wall.

Even if he investigated now, could he hope to compete? Or was he just hanging onto the false truth that he'd been helping up until now? After all, the person who always held the most vital clues to solve the cases wasn't him.

Right when he'd made up his mind to keep going, that perhaps he could be of some help to Nanami, a pair of arms wrapped around his waist. They were green and familiar. "...Komaeda."

The previous day washed over him in full force; the shame of the things he'd done while he was starving and giddy coloring his cheeks. He'd dragged Komaeda back to his room and made out with him for what felt like hours. His memories of it were blurry, but there was no way Hinata could forget how it felt to be kissed by him, the soft pleasured sounds he made, the way his body felt. Komaeda had whispered a lot of things to him as he was drifting off to sleep, stroking his face reverently. When Hinata woke up again, Komaeda was gone. And then the murder happened.

Now it seemed irresponsible to dwell on those things. But Komaeda's arms were around him again and it was hard to deny the fact that he still liked it.

"I thought this would feel different, since you're just an unremarkable Reserve Course student," Komaeda breathed into his ear, "but... it feels the same."

Hinata's throat felt dry despite the water he'd just drank. "What do you mean?"

"Despite knowing what I do, I still want to taste more of you."

It was hard to breathe with Komaeda speaking so huskily.

"Even when you believed you had a talent, you were always so kind to me... Out of everyone, you were the only one who ever went out of your way to have conversations with me. As much as I'd like to just forget that... I can't. These feelings I have..."

Hinata finally turned to face him. They were close, with Komaeda's arms still loosely slung around him. "...They're just feelings, Komaeda. Don't think about them too hard."

And then they were kissing again. It felt natural by this point; he knew exactly how Komaeda would move, how to respond. Komaeda pressed him back against the wall, pinning him against the strawberries.

It was dangerous to do this in the open when everyone was alert and searching the Funhouse, but his arms looped around Komaeda's shoulders of their own accord. Even more than he wanted to escape this Hell they were trapped in...

...he wanted Komaeda to like him again.

His cutting, degrading remarks had hurt. He much preferred the boy who adored his classmates and rambled on about hope, not this... angry, arrogant version of him.

Perhaps, Hinata thought idly, he selfish to want that.

Komaeda pulled away for air, breathing harshly into the tight space between them. "...Hinata-kun..."

"We need you," Hinata said. "We won't get out of here without you."

Komaeda was silent, not seeming to hear him.

"You know things the rest of us don't; without you, we'll all die here. We can't get out of here without you, so please..."

"...I love you."

Hinata choked. "P-Pardon?"

"Hinata. I love you." Komaeda caressed his cheek, but his eyes didn't lose their hardness. "You're just a worthless nobody. Whatever I saw must've been your own strength of character. So it... must be you that I'm in love with."

Words wouldn't come. Hinata opened his mouth, but his mind was blank. Nobody had ever confessed love to him like this before. He hadn't been expecting it, and certainly not from Nagito Komaeda.

But, then again, Nagito never did anything he expected.

"You don't have to say anything," Komaeda said, stepping back. "In fact, please don't. I'd rather this come to rest where it is."

"But—"

"We have an investigation to finish. No doubt you morons have missed the most obvious thing, but—" Komaeda smiled again, but this time it felt wholly patronizing, "—since you begged me so nicely, I have to help you. Because I adore you, Hajime."

Hinata slid down the wall, watching Komaeda's back disappear down the stairs.

The strawberries continued to loop around the stairwell, unperturbed.

A/N: I have literally thousands of words worth of Danganronpa fanfiction sitting on my desktop right now. Komaeda, what have you done to me.

Thanks for reading!

RegenesisX