"Hajime? Are you OK?"
That was the third time Nagito Komaeda has asked that exact question. With that exact wording.
"Yes. I'm fine." That was the third time Hajime Hinata responded with that exact same sentence.
"Hajime..." Was Nagito's response. His tone was a bit gentle and sympathetic, but Hajime suspected that he could hear some traces of firmness, and a hint of reprimanding.
Well that's new, Hajime thinks as he looks for some evidence to try to figure out who murdered Peko.
Peko...
God, this situation is fucked up. Peko is dead, Fuyuhiko is hurting, and Hajime can't see to find anything that can help either of them.
"Hajime, I think you should rest or something. You're overworking yourself." Nagito replies, looking for evidence as well.
"I'd really love to, Nagito, but I can't. I have to find out who murdered Peko; one of my friends." Hajime replies absently, not even looking behind him at Nagito.
If he had, he might have seen Nagito's worried olive eyes, and he might have caved to his request.
And besides, even if Peko wasn't my friend, Fuyuhiko is. And finding out who killed Peko would help Fuyuhiko get over his hump. Hajime admits to himself.
Or it just might make him the second murderer." He sighs out at the though.
"Hajime." Nagito says again, and Hajime bites back a frustrated groan.
"What?" He bites back, and he can see Nagito's slight flinch. Apparently, Hajime had too much bite in his tone. He hadn't meant to put that much malice in his tone, but he couldn't help his frustration.
He wasn't frustrated with Nagito; he was frustrated with the situation. Nagito's talking, however, was less than ideal with softening said frustration.
"Ah, I'm sorry Hajime. I guess you wouldn't really want to heed the advice of a piece of trash like me, would you?" Nagito laughs, waving his hand as if it was of no concern.
Oh, he's doing that again. Hajime sighs again. Finally, he turns back to look at Nagito.
"Look, Nagito, you're not trash, OK? I'm just exhausted." He sighs again. Nagito blinks before he laughs again.
"I appreciate your opinion, Hajime, but I'm really not worthy of your kind words." Nagito chuckles, waving a dismissive hand again. Hajime sighs, and Nagito's face changes to one of concern.
"But really, Hajime. You should rest. I'd hate it if you-" Nagito started, but he bit back his words.
What's he trying to bite back? Hajime thinks again, puttering around through the contents of the beach house, which was in the vicinity of where Peko's body was found.
If Hajime turned around and looked past Nagito (Which is a hard feat to accomplish, but technicalities aren't important), he could probably see Fuyuhiko either stroking Peko's deathly chilled face, looking around the crime scene for any additional evidence, or hunkered down on his knees sobbing into his hands once again.
Either way, Fuyuhiko was doing something to relieve his grief.
"Your hope, I meant. I'd hate it if your hope was damaged or hindered in any way." Nagito chuckled, waving a hand dismissively once again. Hajime looks up from the walls of the beach house.
"Yeah, well, my hope isn't damaged or hindered. I'm just exhausted." Hajime replies before he goes back to investigating the beach house.
Something isn't right...
"Hey, Hajime, I think I found something." Nagito calls, poking his head into the closet. Hajime turns to him, waiting for his probable evidence.
Well, at the very least, he was trying not to look at Nagito's ass, which was right in his line of vision as the albino luckster was bent over inside the closet trying to retrieve whatever he had found.
He retreated out of the closet, and Hajime shook his head to clear his blush. Nagito raised an eyebrow, but he presented the item he found anyway.
It was a yellow gummy, no bigger than the space between Nagito's thumb and index finger.
Hajime takes it out of Nagito's hand, thinking and turning it this way and that in his grip.
"And then there's that." Nagito says, gesturing to the trashcan beyond the beach house...
Which was overflowing with plastic, empty water bottles.
Hajime rubs his chin.
Just as Hajime and Nagito were about to leave, Fuyuhiko walked up to them.
His eyes were still bloodshot, and his hair needed a little fixing, but he had a determined look set in to his childlike face, and his lips were pursed, like they always were.
Hajime didn't comment on the ribbon clutched in his hand, or the destroyed, deep aqua sword bang slung over his hunched shoulder.
"Did you find anything?" The gangster asks, tightening his grip on the ribbon. If Hajime looked closer, he could see that Fuyuhiko's thumb was gently rubbing the surface of the ribbon, as if the ribbon was the only keeping him living, and if it was ripped away or destroyed, Fuyuhiko would be destroyed right along with it.
Hajime had reason to say that that might just happen.
"Just that trashcan." Nagito says, pointing over to it. "And Nagito found this." Hajime says, showing the gummy to Fuyuhiko and putting extra emphasis that Nagito has found it.
If Fuyuhiko noticed or cared, he certainly didn't show it.
Instead, he nodded and turned to look around the beach house, the white bow on the top of Peko's old and torn sword bag swishing.
"How about you?" Hajime asks as Nagito rubs along the walls for any sign of irregularities. Fuyuhiko looks up, his face betraying how defeated he still was.
"Not much. Just her body, and I've already fucking seen it enough that I'll start having nightmares about it." Fuyuhiko says angrily, but Hjaime wonders if that's really true.
Maybe the nightmares have already started.
Still, Fuyuhiko looks up at Hajime. "We should meet up with those other bastards. Time's wasting, after all." Fuyuhiko says, getting up off of his knees and walking out of the beach house past Hajime without so much as an 'excuse fucking me'.
"Are we meeting up with the others, now?" Nagito asks, turning to Hajime, who nods.
"Yeah, we gotta go." Hajime says, waiting for Nagito to match his walking speed as he tries to keep up with a fast and determined Fuyuhiko.
Whoever did kill Peko, Hajime was hoping that they didn't value their face, because Fuyuhiko was probably going to make them unrecognizable once he was done.