Hinata glanced briefly at Komaeda, who was refueling the car, before turning his eyes to the magazine on his lap, browsing the pages absently. Ever since his panic attack, the air between the two of them had felt awkward. He wasn't sure if it was his imagination or not: Komaeda was acting the same as always, so it might be just him. He looked at his hands; he could still remember how cool Komaeda's hand had felt, the comfort it had provided.

And even though the emotion was weird, something he hadn't even remembered he could feel, Hinata felt like he could trust his companion. There were still many question marks about the other, he still couldn't understand most of what Komaeda said, but he felt like the intention behind his actions was just sincerely the wish to help.

The door opened and Komaeda seated himself on the driver's seat. When Hinata looked at him, his look was immediately returned with a warm smile, and he quickly turned his eyes outside of the window. Komaeda's smile had quickly grown from familiar to comforting, and that scared Hinata. He didn't feel like he should trust anyone; he knew there were always consequences to trusting others and as long as he didn't know anything about the other, he shouldn't be seeking any sort of comfort from him.

As long as it was a possibility Komaeda was going to betray his trust, it was too risky to mindlessly trust him. It was the logical decision, but then again he desperately wanted to trust someone for a change. And Komaeda just seemed so trustworthy, had been so kind and understanding so far…

Hinata shook his head as he picked up the magazine again to find something to distract his mind with. From now on he'd need to consciously avoid trusting Komaeda too much: it was already strange enough that he didn't instinctively take distance from him, as he had from everyone until now. Especially when he had known the other for just few days. He was certain this feeling of trust was just an illusion, some lingering feeling of comfort that had been left from his panic attack.

After turning the pages for a while without reading anything, he dropped the magazine to his lap and sighed.

"Hinata-kun, I'm sorry to bother you, but would you do me a favor?" Komaeda asked as he noticed this, and Hinata tilted his head. "I'd like to eat something, so could you give something for me from the backseat?"

Hinata just nodded as he turned on his seat, reaching for the bags. As he dug a few things out of there, he realized that this was the first time the other was eating since this morning: he had been so preoccupied with his own worries that he hadn't even realized the other had been just driving without replenishing himself at all, except for the cup of coffee he had taken from their last stop that had already been emptied. No wonder the other hadn't gone to the bathroom at all either if he hadn't been drinking anything. Hinata took out a couple of different drink bottles as well, and retreated back to his seat.

He probably should try to pay attention to the other a bit more.

He opened the wrapper on one of the snacks and offered it to Komaeda, who accepted it with words of gratitude. Hinata fiddled with the bottles as the other ate, feeling slightly restless. He wasn't too good at helping others, but he was pretty sure he could manage to do this. So when Komaeda was done eating the snack, he quickly opened one of the bottles and offered it to him.

"Here, something to drink…," he said, his voice trailing off. He was feeling more and more awkward every second, and he felt his cheeks heating up when he saw the look of surprise on Komaeda's face. But before he managed to give up on the idea from his embarrassment, Komaeda smiled softly and took the bottle.

"Thank you, Hinata-kun," he said and Hinata just nodded, shooting his eyes to the scenery passing by.

Hinata looked up to the sky when he noticed the snowflakes falling. The dark night sky greeted him with clouds, and for a moment he just followed the falling snow, leaning against the car. They had arrived in Tokyo almost an hour ago, but from there on their travel had slowed down considerably. They had finally gotten to the hotel Komaeda said he had once visited due to his work, and he was currently inside, checking out if they had any vacancy.

He shivered in the cold, and glanced towards the hotel. It had been over five minutes already since the other went in, and Hinata was starting to get cold. He really wanted to eat something warm soon.

As he began to fantasize about all sorts of food he could ask to eat, he didn't notice right away when Komaeda returned.

"Hinata-kun, should we take our stuff to the room first or would you like to go somewhere to eat? They have a good restaurant at the hotel too, but there's all sorts of different restaurants in the area as well," Komaeda said, surprising Hinata.

"A-ah, okay. Uh, let's just take our stuff into the room… is it possible to eat there too? In the room?" Hinata said, his words scrambling out as he slowly got his thoughts together. The other just nodded with the same smile as ever as he took their bags from the car, and they started to head towards the hotel.

"Yeah, they have room service too, if that's what you'd prefer. Would you like to take a bath after eating?"

"They… have a public bath?" Hinata asked, and immediately felt stupid. Of course the other wasn't talking about a public bath, there must be a personal bath in the room. He should've remembered that much even if he had been out of touch with this for so long. He glanced at Komaeda quickly, but the other didn't seem fazed at all by his dumb question, instead seeming pretty cheery. Hinata envied the energy he seemed to have even after driving for almost seven hours with only two breaks.

"There's a personal bath accompanied by the room. It's really spacious, I'm pretty sure you'll enjoy it," Komaeda explained as they walked into the hotel. Hinata couldn't stop the small sigh of relief at the warmth. "I can prepare it while you eat, so it'll be ready right when you want it," he added cheerfully.

It took few seconds for his words to sink in, but as soon as they did, Hinata immediately argued back.

"You should eat too! I mean, I'm not in any hurry to take the bath, geez. Just, eat. You've been driving the whole day, I'd feel horrible to watch you prepare some bath for me while I just sit and eat…," Hinata said rapidly, trying to find the right words and ending up blurting it all out. He sort of envied the composure the other seemed to always have. "You must be tired after all," he added as they got into the elevator.

Komaeda smiled.

"Hearing you worry about me gives me plenty of energy! But if that's what you wish, then I will eat with you," he said softly as he leaned against the elevator wall. Hinata just sighed and followed the floor numbers passing by until the elevator finally stopped on the 6th floor. Komaeda's… devotion was just baffling to him, he couldn't really understand why the other was so eager to help him, not even after his explanation. Even if Komaeda had been waiting for something to happen in his life, Hinata couldn't see how he was related to it. He was… just trying to live the rest of his life free, and while he was thankful for the other, it made him fearful of the fact that at some point, the other might realize he himself wasn't anything special at all.

He looked at Komaeda's back as they walked through the hallway, and thought about all the things he hadn't said. If he were to spill it all out, what would Komaeda's reaction be?

As he slowly slid into the water, Hinata couldn't stop a sigh from escaping his lips. Despite just sitting in car the whole day, he felt really exhausted. Most likely his energy had gone with the panic attack; it had been such a long while since his last one that he hadn't even remembered how draining it actually was. So now, lying in hot bathwater after eating a great meal, he was starting to feel sleepy. Falling asleep in the bath was bad however, and he knew he shouldn't take too much time relaxing or he'd risk himself drowning.

He had checked the phone quickly before taking the bath. To his surprise, there had been only one message, with the text "And?" He wasn't really sure what he should answer to that; he wasn't sure if he should just tell her that there was someone Komaeda was in love with now. But then again, it would feel just…

Awkward. Saying that about himself, after all. And if for any reason Komaeda were to get his phone back, it would be… Hinata didn't have any idea how he would explain that then. But the way he had phrased that message, he really couldn't get any other ideas. He could always delete the mails after she had finally stopped mailing, and just, keep it away from Komaeda's hands until then.

He nodded to himself; that would have to do. It was kind of embarrassing, but it didn't really matter if it meant he could get her to stop sending mails. He resolved to do it after his bath, and with a contended sigh he lowered himself into the water until it just barely missed his lower lip.

Way too relaxing.