Hinata was in a little bit of a state of panic. It had been more than a solid month and yet Komaeda hadn't returned. Now he would check the tree fort every fifteen minutes just to be completely sure. At one point he even slept in the structure overnight (With nothing short of a sore back in the morning).
He hadn't thought his reaction would be so extreme. The assumption had been made that if Komaeda had ever stopped being friends with him for whatever reason, he would be unhappy but accept it as a fact. However, this wasn't something Hinata could just accept like it's nothing. His only friend could be in potential danger, or even dea-
No, no, he was alive. Obviously.
A few days later and Hinata was beginning to lose hope a little. Every day that went by he checked the tree fort less and less. It was night, and the brunette was staring idly out the window at the tree in sort of a trance. The moonlight splashed across pale wood, almost putting the emptiness of the fort on display. Hinata drew his eyes away and sighed, ready to prepare for bed before something caught his eye. A darkened figure had lifted itself over the fence and was scaling the tree.
Hinata stopped breathing. That's not-
A few seconds later he was rushing outside, scrambling his way up the tree trunk. Perking his head over, he realized the figure was still perched in the tree, and he recognized it.
"Komaeda!" The realization almost knocked him off the fort. Hinata flopped onto the platform completely, and looked to the other boy.
Komaeda wasn't responding. "Ko...maeda? Hello?" Hinata shuffled closer. The other boy had rolled up in a ball and wasn't moving. "Are you… okay?" Finally Komaeda lifted his head. His ashy eyes' brightness had been dulled by a flood of tears.
"Komaeda!" Hinata's first impulse was to move closer and find a way to comfort his friend, but he didn't really know how. He hadn't ever really seen him upset before. Komaeda had lowered his head again as well.
Not knowing what else to do, Hinata wrapped his arms around him. His face was directly in this messy white clump of hair, but he didn't care. It was actually incredibly soft, and made Hinata feel better himself. He wondered if this was the best course of action, but Komaeda didn't tense at all. For awhile they sat there in silence, Hinata daring not to move. It was completely quiet save for the whistle of the wind threading through the rustling leaves above them.
Eventually Komaeda did speak up, which surprised Hinata. "You didn't have to do this for someone like me, Hinata-kun." It only made Hinata's embrace tighter. "Of course I do… you're my friend. Now what happened…?"
Hinata was almost mortified. It was too much for a ten-year-old to really take in to hear that their best friend's parents were killed by impossible chances. Actually, it looked like Hinata was more upset than he was. Komaeda seemed not to be as affected as a ten year old who saw the death of their parents really should be. It was natural that he would cry of course, but…
"Are you not that hurt from this?"
The other boy looked to him, no longer crying. "Of course I am, Hinata-kun, I'm just… used to this sort of thing happening…" He wheezed.
"I really don't get it…" Hinata admitted.
Komaeda looked towards the sky, then back to him. "Neither do I…"