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It was late when the knock on the door came. Hajime open his eyes groggily, his mind still half asleep and unable to register where he was.
What time was it? It had to be the middle of the night, he didn't think he had been asleep for very long.
"Who's there?" He asked. He sounded exhausted.
Now that awareness was starting to return to him, the hunger pangs he had been feeling all day started to come back as well.
Right... He was in the funhouse. He and all the others had been forced to stay here by Monokuma earlier that day, without any food to sustain them until another killing happened.
Hajime himself was currently lying on a bed in one of the crummy rooms of the grape house, where he had been offered to stay by the girls when they were taking room assignments.
One of them couldn't possibly be knocking at this hour, could they? What could they need?
Another knock came again, this time causing Hajime to sit up and slip out of bed.
"I'm coming," he called out, half curious, half annoyed. It was hard to be cheerful about being woken up when he was already trying to conserve as much energy as he could due to starvation.
He crossed to the door and opened it. To his surprise and further annoyance, it was Nagito who stood on the other side of the threshold.
"Ah, you're awake, I was beginning to think I should just give up and head back to my room," Nagito greeted with a laugh.
"Nagito? What are you doing here?" Hajime asked with a yawn.
Nagito shifted his weight from foot to foot, pondering as to what his next words should be.
"Oh, it's nothing serious," he replied. "It's probably not my place to offer this anyway, even though the thought crossed my mind."
"What are you talking about?" Hajime asked, now confused.
Nagito laughed again, more uncertainly this time.
"Well, I just happened to notice that you are staying in a crummy room, while someone like me is staying in a deluxe room," he explained. "Even though we all played the game of rock papers scissors fair and Square, deluxe rooms should go to ultimates like yourselves, shouldn't they? I only won the deluxe room thanks to my luck, which compared to the talent that all of you possess, doesn't seem like a worthy enough reason to stay there."
Hajime's mind seemed to go blank, or perhaps he was still half asleep and the hunger was only further inhibiting his thought process. Was Nagito seriously talking about room assignments of all things at this hour of the night? Couldn't he have waited till morning?
"I don't really care where I sleep," Hajime replied. "We won't be here for long at the end of the day, I'm sure we'll find a way out tomorrow."
"That hope you have for things to improve so soon... warms my heart," Nagito sighed, placing a hand over his chest. "But that's even more of a reason why I can't bear to let you stay in here, at least not without putting my offer forward first."
"Are you offering to trade rooms or something?" Hajime asked. "I don't think Akane and the others would really like the idea once they find out."
"Oh, no," Nagito shook his head. "I wouldn't dream of making them uncomfortable by moving into grape house, especially when I wasn't invited."
"Then what are you planning?" Hajime asked, now more confused than ever.
Nagito fidgeted with his hands nervously.
"Well, I know it'll not be much better since you'll be with trash like me, but I was going to offer to let you share my room for awhile, so you could have a decent amount of comfort," he explained.
Hajime felt his face going red... this was the last thing he had expected.
His feelings towards Nagito had been complicated ever since they had arrived on this island. He couldn't tell if he liked the guy, hated him, or some strange combination of the two.
Perhaps it was something else entirely? It felt as intense as hatred, but as strong as liking someone. He couldn't quite place it.
"Why should I trust you?" Hajime asked, even as his heart began to beat a little faster. "This is still a killing game, you could be trying to kill me at this late hour of the night."
Nagito looked genuinely hurt.
"I would never kill somebody like you," he told him sincerely. "The last time I attempted a killing, it was because our situation had just started and I wasn't sure if anyone else was going to do anything about it. If no one attempted any murder at all, I knew that things wouldn't get better and we would never get out of this place, since things always needs to get worse before improving. That's why I decided to take matters into my own hands once I realised that things had been too peaceful for a few days. But now that we are further along the killing game and things are only getting worse, I know that it's only a matter of time before hope triumphs and things turn around. So unless something changes, I'm no longer going to interfere. If anything, I'm willing to sacrifice myself right now if you all can live."
Hajime could not lie, he did not understand most of that. But a part of him really did want to trust Nagito. He didn't want to doubt any of the people he was with on this island, especially not the first friend he ever had since coming here.
"If I die tonight, I'll come back from the grave and reveal the truth in the class trial anyway," he threatened, stepping out of his room.
"Oh so you're coming?" Nagito gasped, so eagerly that it almost made Hajime regret his decision.
"Don't get too excited about it, I just want to see what you're up to," Hajime replied, even as he subconsciously moved to stand closer to Nagito. The hunger must've been making him delirious.
"I'm sorry, I guess I just didn't expect you to say yes," Nagito apologised as he began walking.
"I was fully prepared to go back to my room if you had refused, or you didn't answer the door."
"I'm surprised you even knew which room I was staying in," Hajime commented. "Sonia was going to draw portraits on our doors so we would remember our room assignments, but I doubt she has had time to do that yet. You could've knocked on Akane's door by mistake, and I don't think she would've been very happy about that."
"I guess I could have," Nagito agreed. "But I trusted that my luck would lead me to the right door. There were only two possible crummy rooms you could have been in, so it was a 50-50 chance. I've gotten lucky at much lower odds before, so I wasn't worried."
"How long have you been planning to invite me to your room?" Hajime asked as they entered the elevator that led to strawberry house.
"To be honest, I've been thinking about it ever since we got our room assignments," Nagito admitted. "But I didn't want everyone else to assume I was trying to kill you so I didn't mention it then, just in case they tried to tie me up again or something. Though of course now that I think about it, being tied up wouldn't be as bad anymore since I'm already going through part of that experience with Monokuma's motive. Starvation was one of the worst things about being restrained, after all."
They reached strawberry house, and Nagito led the way to his room.
"Here we are," he announced, opening it.
The room was definitely a lot more luxurious than the one Hajime had been staying in. He had seen it earlier when they were all exploring the funhouse, but it's colours had been too bright for him to consider wanting to choose to room in there.
He could not deny that the bed looked comfortable though. The heart shaped carvings on either end of it seemed to add a deceptively cosy feel to a place that was supposed to be their prison, and the curtains that hung around it could be drawn for extra privacy.
Nagito closed the door behind them and invited Hajime to sit down on the bed.
"There's not much I can offer you apart from a comfortable place to sleep, but make yourself at home," Nagito invited.
Hajime glanced around the room suspiciously, half expecting to see a weapon of some sort lying around.
But he saw nothing.
He looked back at the luxurious looking bed. Something about how soft it appeared, coupled with the fact that he was in here alone with Nagito, seemed to make his heartbeat even faster than it already was.
Was this really not a trap? Could he trust Nagito in this situation?
He really didn't see any reason why he couldn't, at least, not this time around...
Hajime hesitated for a few more moments, then sat down on the edge of the bed. He kept his eyes fixed on his new roommate, just in case he made any sudden movements.
Instead, Nagito simply stood facing him, completely empty-handed.
"You should rest Hajime, you'll need all your strength in a place like this," Nagito commented.
"Don't you need to sleep too?" Hajime wondered aloud, patting the empty mattress behind him.
"I couldn't possibly encroach on your bed space," Nagito replied with a shrug.
"But Nagito, this is YOUR room," Hajime reminded him. "Where will you sleep if not on the bed?"
"I was planning to camp out on the floor," Nagito replied as if it was the most obvious thing. "I don't need cushions or blankets, i'm glad to give my bed up to an ultimate like you. What kind of host would I be if I didn't make sure my guest feels comfortable?"
"But..." Hajime protested. "You said we would be sharing the room tonight. Wouldn't that mean sharing all it's resources?"
"Don't worry about me Hajime, just get some sleep, Nagito assured him.
"Come on, this is ridiculous, you can't just sacrifice your entire bed just because you felt bad for me," Hajime persisted.
"I already told you, remember?" Nagito began. "Someone like me doesn't matter in this situation. I would happily sacrifice myself for you and the others to live. That includes sacrificing my comfort for you. Please understand, I'm not trying to upset you by doing this. I really just want what's best for you, And if I can do something to help you, that would bring me more hope than anything else no matter what I have to give up."
He came forward and put a soft hand on Hajime's shoulder, meeting his gaze with genuine sincerity.
"Sleep Hajime," he coaxed gently. "Conserve your energy. Don't worry about someone like me."
"Alright," Hajime relented it last. "But you're coming too."
He let himself lie back on the comfortable mattress, taking hold of Nagito's hand in his own. He guided the latter to lie down with him, making sure to lean back slowly enough that he wouldn't fall.
"Hajime... what are you doing?" Najito asked, a little surprised.
"You may want to sacrifice yourself to help others," Hajime began. "But I don't want to sacrifice your comfort for my sake. You said we're sharing tonight, so that means the bed too. If it's just for one night, I don't mind. You should be comfortable as well."
Nagito sank into the matress facing Hajime, keeping hold of his hand even as he adjusted himself to be in a more comfortable position.
"I'm not worth sacrificing your comfort for," Nagito whispered, even as his heart melted at the warm gesture. "I don't deserve it."
"This situation is bad enough as it is," Hajime said softly. "If you're going to go out of your way to give me a comfortable place to sleep, then I at least want you to be able to rest as well. We all have enough discomfort right now, you don't need to add the hard floor to yours."
Nagito let go of Hajime's hand, his own hovering upward towards the latter's shoulder. He intended to pull him closer for a hug, but hesitated.
"Hajime... is this, okay?" He asked uncertainly. Pink splotches were beginning to appear on his cheeks too.
In response, Hajime put his other arm around Nagito's waste and pulled him close.
"We should huddle for warmth," he said quietly. "People tend to feel colder when they get hungry."
Nagito let himself complete the hug and the two of them held each other.
Hajime could feel the other's warm breath against his skin. For some reason, it was strangely soothing.
"You know the others will have questions if they find us like" this tomorrow," Hajime murmured, even as his eyes began to droop.
"I guess we'll just have to get you back to grape house before the others wake up," Nagito suggested, beginning to drift off himself.
"Good idea," Hajime agreed. "How do we know when we should wake up?"
"I don't have an alarm, but with any luck, I'll wake up in time," Nagito offered.
Strangely, Hajime believed that. Perhaps it really was the lateness of the hour or the hunger getting to him, but he believed that Nagito would make it work.
He moved his hand upwards to brush against the latter's soft hair. Something about this moment felt too real, too intimate.
Even with all the doubts he had had over the past couple weeks, Hajime could not help but feel at peace.
"Someday soon... I'll figure a way for us to get out of all of this," he promised, just as consciousness began to fade.
Nagito chuckled.
"That's the hope I like to see," he replied. "I know you will."