Hopelessly Obsessed (KomaHina)

16: Cards

Nagito's POV:

I feel frozen outside the door in the hallway, being overwhelmed by even more thoughts. And I don't know what to do anymore. It's too much and I can't deal with it. There's nothing I can do to make them less frequent and less intense. I just have to sit there and deal with it. I want to make them shut up forever...

I start walking. I don't know where I'm going, but I don't think standing still is helping anything. I need to distract myself. And I'd like to stop crying too, that'd be nice. I try to steady my breathing as I walk, occasionally wiping away my tears too. Now that I'm alone, my brain is calming down a bit, and the embarrassment of crying in front of people again sets in. I don't know how long it's been, but I'm a lot calmer now, although embarrassed. I stop walking and look around to see where I ended up, wiping away the last remnants of tears. This...seems to be around Celeste's class. My class interacts with theirs quite a lot, but I don't really talk to anyone else aside from them. They were curious about my talent and started playing card games and things with me to test who would win, them having luck with gambling and all. We kept a record of the wins and losses, and we're almost constantly drawn. If one of us takes the lead, the other catches up soon enough. It's interesting, to say the least.

"Ah, Komaeda? What are you doing here?"

I turn around to the direction of the voice, and speaking of Celeste, there they are. "U-Um," I start, my voice still trembling, "Nothing really. I was just walking around and ended up here."

They tilt their head to the side, twin drills moving with their head fluidly. "Oh? If that's the case, and you aren't doing anything, care to join me for a game?" They speak in a careful manner, a light French accent tinging their words. To this day, I still can't tell if it's genuine or not. "Sure," I say, to which a small spreads across their pale face, and they take my hand to lead me to an empty classroom.

Hajime's POV:

As soon as the bell goes, Yukizome-Sensei asks to speak to Komaeda. Which is weird, I guess. He quickly follows her out of the classroom with his head down, a mess of snowy white fluffy hair hiding his face. I can't read his expression at all because of this. I turn around and give Nanami a confused look. She shrugs, then stands up and walks over to my desk.

"What's that all about?" I ask, running a hand through my spiky hair.

"We can ask him when he comes back, I guess. But...he might not want to talk about it. He seems a little upset, but overall better, I think."

"Hmm," I hum, "I don't know. I can't tell how he is. I can't put my finger on it, but he's acting weird." I glance to his empty desk as I speak. Nanami yawns a little in exhaustion before speaking, "Can't you tell, as his boyfriend and stuff?"

My cheeks heat up at the sudden remark. "Shut up, Nanami. Seriously, it's not like that!" But...now I actually think about what Nanami's saying. Me...? Komaeda's...boyfriend? That has...an interesting ring to it. How do I feel about him, anyway? How do I tell? I don't really know, I pretty carelessly call him my friend, but...are we just really good friends, or...or is Nanami...correct?

"Earth to Hinata-kun? Hello? Now's not the right time to fantasize about your boyfriend, as lovely as he is. Look up." Blinking rapidly, I look at Nanami. She points to the front of the room. Where Yukizome-Sensei stands without Komaeda. "Huh?" I mumble, glancing between our teacher and the classroom door. "Where's...?"

"Not here..." Nanami mumbles, taking out her phone. "We could text him?" Then she sets it down on my desk. "Or maybe you should, as his beloved boyfriend." I don't even react to that other than a quick glare and take out my phone. Tapping on Komaeda's contact, my heartbeat quickens. I feel myself gnawing on the inside of my cheek as I type, a warm feeling I cannot place in my chest.