It was deja vu all over again, but without warning this time. Hinata hadn't seen Komaeda in a good solid month, but this time he hadn't gone on vacation or anything. He was simply… gone.

"C'mon, Komaeda… don't make me worried like this…" He sat in the treehouse, constantly checking the time on his phone, which he had just gotten recently for his brithday. If only he could call or text Komaeda… but he knew the other boy didn't have a phone.

He scowled as the hours went by, and peeked over the window's edge, careful not to cut himself on the window edge that used to be covered safely by the reinforcements before Komaeda accidentally ripped it off. He peered into the city beyond the fence outside the tree fort's window, looking up and down the streets for Komaeda. "Come on, not again…" He checked the time once more out of nervous habit.

It was late at night when Komaeda entered the fort. Hinata had given up sentry duty and was destressing through use of the games in his phone.

"Hup-" Hinata sprung upwards, recognizing the sound of Komaeda lifting himself up, and bolted to the window. Without a doubt, it was him. Hinata was relieved for the most part, but inquired with concern about the abundant bruises and cuts lining Komaeda's arms and face.

"Oh, these…? Ahah… I have quite the story for you, Hinata-kun…" Komaeda hesitantly told Hinata about what had happened.

Hinata was downright horrified. "How could something like that happen to you? I had no idea!"

Komaeda only laughed. "Yeah, my luck takes some odd turns certainly, but being kidnapped was definitely far from what I had imagined."

Hinata grit his teeth. "You seem pretty calm about it…"

"Well yeah, now that it's all over."

The other boy scooted closer. "So, tell me what happened after they kidnapped you! How did you escape?"

"Haha… I didn't 'escape', per se. They let me go. You see... they kept me secured in a lone room, and only came in to injure me further… hahahah…"

Hinata only stared in shock. This is not some small laughing matter, Komaeda-!

But they eventually realized there was no one who would pay the ransom. No one would be coming to save me. I was useless to them, so they tossed me in a garbage crate until the police managed to find me. I don't know how long it was in that crate… could have been hours, or days…"

He looked up to see Hinata's expression of terror. "Ah, don't worry about me, Hinata-kun. I'm not worth worrying about-"

Hinata had abruptly hugged him again. "Komaeda… don't you ever let that happen again, okay? I want to make sure you're safe."

"But why, Hinata-kun…?"

"You're the most important person in my whole life, Komaeda."

Most important…? Him…? No, Komaeda thought he must have heard wrong. Definitely. There was some sort of emotion welling up inside him, but he didn't know what to think about it. He decided to ignore it.

"Oh, and another thing. Check it out, Hinata-kun. I found this in the dumpster I was in."

"...Oh?" Hinata looked up, and saw a small slip of paper in Komaeda's grip. "What is it?"

"Heh, it's just an unclaimed lottery ticket. Probably useless."

Hinata smiled at the little piece of paper. "Hah, maybe it's the winning one for millions, can you imagine?"

Komaeda grinned. "Yeah, if only… oh, Hinata-kun, I think I have to go." Hinata frowned. He wanted to spend more time with Komaeda after all that worry. But he didn't have a say in the matter after all.

"Wait, Komaeda…"

"Oh? Yes, Hinata-kun?"

"About the 'Hinata-kun' thing, well… I was thinking.. if you wanted to call me Hajime, you can…" He blushed slightly, unsure of Komaeda's reaction.

"That sounds… lovely. I think I will. But two things. One, you can call me Nagito too." Hinata smiled at the sound of that. He silently mouthed 'Nagito' just to get a feel of the name.

"Seems good to me. What's the second thing?"

Without any sign of warning, Komaeda narrowed in on Hinata, and stole himself a kiss. Hinata breathed, and smiled at the tingly feeling of the kiss.

"That's all. I suppose I'll see you later… Hajime-kun." He grinned, before popping out the window.

"You too… Nagito."