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- Inbox for Hinata Hajime at Empatheias.
Feel free to utilize this for telepathy, messenger birds, any Future Beginnings shenanigans or action.
Please note the date and type of message it is in the header, please.
Warning: Spoilers for SDR2 + DR3 in the comments!
oh w h o o p s, my mistake..... I guess it's just extra precaution or something now....
Hi-Hinata-kun, you don't need to say it again...
[
this is an attackHe's not patting him on the hand like Certain Other Parties That Won't Be Named, so Naegi will count it as a mercy, even if that flush isn't fading quite yet.]Ah, but that's good at least... I'd rather not be stuck in a dress again any time soon...
[The topic had been light enough, if a bit embarrassing, so what's said lastly gives him pause. Not just mentally but physically - Naegi stops walking for a moment, his thoughts holding him in place. It's less that Hinata's words themselves have weight, but the implication of it.
It's as Naegi had feared. He'd known it to be all too possible, and he's at least been able to confirm a few of them who are still here, but...
He knows what he's about to say will not be easy on either of them. But he has to ask.]
...I've been shying away from it since I returned, but I probably shouldn't avoid it any longer. Hinata-kun, forgive me, but... May I ask who returned?
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Wearing a dress isn't too bad, you know. [ Source: himself. Nevertheless, he finds himself walking to find him another outfit. ] By the way, did you want me to fix your current outfit, too?
[ Might as well ask that while he's at it. ]
Ah... well. Nagito went back home.
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I remember Da- ah. [He shakes his head.] Cherryblod-san said the same thing when I ended up in it that one time. [It's strange, that he'd been so caught up in not calling him by name when he'd been here before, but it seems to be the other way around now.] It's just not for me, I don't think...
As for this, though... [He glances down at his sleeves and winces.] If anybody could do it, I know it would be you, but... I hate to ask. It's really such a mess. Wouldn't it be a lot of trouble?
[But soon enough, any stray thoughts are flying out of his mind. He can't help the wind of shock that sweeps through his hair, or the quick burst of rain that accompanies the sudden grief before he can force himself to settle.]
Komaeda-ku- Ah, no... Komaeda-senpai is... [Any of them missing would have hurt, but it's a blow Naegi wasn't ready for. But if it hurts for him, Hinata must be-]
Hinata-kun... I'm so sorry...
[He knows sorry isn't enough. It can't bring Komaeda back, even if he's alive and well back home. But the genuineness is still there, as well as the pain, and Hinata can probably hear both - because Naegi remembers how it felt, when Kirigiri went away. He remembers those painful nights of curling towards the empty space on the bed.]
This world is kinder than ours in so many ways. But it doesn't make it hurt any less when the one you love goes back.
[He'd been afraid to use that word once, and it's the closest he's come to really saying it. But it matters little in the face of everything else right now.]
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[ But Hinata shakes his head as he wears a smile that seems almost a little tired than most things. ]
It's not that much trouble at all. It's a lot easier to tailor something that's already finished than to make something from scratch, anyway. Besides, it's a part of my job to help out, anyway. And you're a friend.
[ He could go on and on about that, but-- ah. He finds himself gritting his teeth a bit for what seems to be a short moment before he sets his jaw back in place, smiling. ]
Don't worry too much though, Naegi. It isn't as if I won't see him again. It'll just... take some time.
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But his eyes catch the tiredness in his Hinata's smile.]
Even so... Don't push yourself. I'm not really good with things like this, but let me know if I can help with it. [His eyes glance around, taking in the familiar walls. It's a comfort to see them again.] Now that I'm here, if it's alright... I'd like to start helping out again soon, even if it's just in little ways.
[Naegi keeps watching him with careful eyes. Maybe that natural skill he's always had with people has gotten more honed over the years, or enough time with Kirigiri has helped him to pick up people's tells.
But he's worried. Naegi is very worried, because Hinata doesn't seem fine at all.]
...Honestly, you should know better than to say that to me. [But he won't push any more than that. There's a teasing note to his words, but it's layered over the concern that's clear in his tone.] But you will. He'll definitely be there when you get home.
[He pauses, mind lingering over the last time he saw Komaeda. And, unexpectedly, his face steadily turns red as his gaze involuntarily darts down to his hands.]
I... didn't think he would react so strongly when he saw me, though.
[It was startling enough when it happened, but even more so when he thinks of the Komaeda he knew here.]
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[ That's a lie that he tells himself; something that looks like it's the truth but actually isn't. Whether he's just hiding it very well or has just simply convinced himself that... is a little difficult to tell, but when Naegi says those words, there's something--
Something that swells in his chest as he wears a soft smile of his own.
He's trying, at least. ]
I wouldn't mind the help, at least. It'll be nice to have you around again. I'll still pay you for your time, you know.
[ There's no way that he wouldn't. After all, they're friends. ]
Well, he must've seen the hope in you... so that's why...