Free Time: Gifts Not Included ((Kamukura X Komaeda))

Free-Time-Event Two [Chapter Three]

Ignoring Monokuma was an easy feat, erasing what he already told me was not as much.
The voices of the fellow students still alive were no more as nobody was willing to follow my footsteps into the hospital.
They feared catching the sickness, but I did not share the concern.
It was a useless thing to worry about, something within me said even if I did get sick, it would not be very long.
I was admittedly slightly curious as to how I was so different from the others, but the mystery was of unimportance.
Hearing the nurse's footsteps descend down the hall, I took the chance to slip into the patient room.
I had to come today after a fellow student claimed Nagito had awoken from his critical state.
If that was true, I required to see for myself and speak to him.
I shut the door behind me but still allowed myself a second to brace myself before turning around to face Komaeda. What was the exact disease the others claimed he had?
It was... Liar's disease, yes?
Then I was to expect anything he said would be the opposite of the truth.
Obviously.
Firstly, I allowed myself to take in his disheveled appearance. Messy hair, sweat-stained hospital gown, his eyes still appeared glazed and disconnected, but he sat up in the bed and looked at me with curiosity and confusion. His words were lies, but his body exposed his true thoughts.
"How are you feeling?" I questioned first. A simple question, but I desired to gauge what I would be dealing with. I wasn't sure if I cared at all, that was.
He gave a wide, calm grin.
"I'm fantastic! I think I'm ready to go back to my room now, so I don't need to be held here any longer, right?"
Although, he made no moves to stand up.
"Feeling that bad I see," With a sigh, I pulled out the chair sitting beside the bed again and took a seat. "You are still ill, so that is unsurprising. The other sick patients are not in as bad of a condition as you are, I wonder why that is? Could it be a mutated strand, or something about you that makes it much more dangerous for you?"
Once again, he had captured my curiosity, giving me a new emotion.
Interest? Wonder?
Yes, Nagito was not a boring person. At least for now, would he continue to cure my boredom if I stayed close?
"I have no idea," He averted his eyes to look out the hospital window. "I bet this sickness doesn't even exist. It's all a lie, you know? It's someone's trap, maybe Mahiru's?"
"Hm..." Mahiru was dead, there was no point in that. Yet I felt his words held the answer if I could dissect them.
He knew why, perhaps I needed to rephrase it to basic questions, or I would continue getting bothersome riddles of answers.
"Is it you or the illness? One or two?"
I scoot closer as Komaeda turned back to face me. His green eyes were hazy, and locked to my own.
They reminded me of whirlpools, or a vortex, pulling me into peculiar darkness.
"It doesn't matter," A mysterious emotion flickered behind his irises. "I don't want to tell you anything. I can't stand even looking at you, I want you to leave now."
For half a moment, I was ready to heed his request. Sitting up from the chair, I found myself stopping. With such harsh words, I had nearly forgotten everything he said was a mere lie.
Perhaps I was becoming sick as well because I was not feeling normal myself.
I was weak, feeling simpleminded. How unlike me to forget something.
"If you want me to stay, you need to tell me," I raised an eyebrow, "If you know, speak. I have more questions for you, if you cannot answer something so easy, then there is no reason for me to stay."
His eyelids fluttered before Komaeda looked down to the bedsheets. Within his hands, he took two handfuls of the thin blanket and bit down upon his lower lip.
I took careful note of his body language, down to the small twitching of his slender fingers. Nervous, perhaps?
"Komaeda,"
He flinched as his name left my lips, "I will leave. Do you want me to leave now?"
Without hesitation, he flicked attention back to me.
"Yes, yes go away, I never want to see you again. I'm starting to feel better, I want to be alone."
That was easy to decipher. Giving a sigh, I sat back down on the chair,
"I am finding that asking for an answer to that is getting boring, there is no reason to know. Here is another; did you hear me yesterday when I came to visit?"
"Nope," He was quick to give a smile. "I was sleeping that whole time, I didn't hear anything."
Could he have possibly been awake? Had I been mistaken? No, I won't question that part. So if he had heard me, how much did he hear?
"Did you understand what I was trying to say?"
I found myself leaning closer as I propped my arm upon the hospital bed and awaited his response. I could smell the sickness crawling off his body. The smell was overpowering, I nearly lost my focus and required to move back once more.
"Yeah," Nagito relaxed his shoulders. "Everything you said, I understood. Your words to me were clear, but your voice is pretty ugly."
I could have laughed if I felt any semblance of emotion right then.
"Let me rephrase it then," I cocked my head to look over his face carefully. "You make me feel things I was not aware I physically could. I want you to give me more of that."
He blinked, keeping quiet. As I predicted, his body still told the truth as his face twisted in confusion.
Why was it so hard to explain what I was trying to say?
I seemed to be perfect at everything but expressing myself. Why was that?
As I stood up from the chair, it scraped against the floor.
"Nagito Komaeda, I suspect it will be easier to feel emotion if I formed an emotional bond with you. I am trying to request you to be my partner in a relationship sense."
I caught his fingers shivering ever so slightly, his shoulders following after.
He bit his lip and dug his nails into his legs weakly.
Although he opened his mouth to speak, no words escaped. As quick as he could, he pulled the blanket further up his body.
I didn't expect to get an answer right away, not when he was as such as he was, but still, there was hope.
There was nothing more I could say when he was so obviously unhealthy and delirious, but I could not leave the hospital when having such close contact with the sick anyway.
A nap in the waiting room until any new information came to light, perhaps?
I made a turn to leave when a sudden pull stopped me in my tracks and I turned back, Komaeda's pale and slender fingers gripping the rim of my dark jacket. They were almost bony in a sense but still remained strong enough to keep hold.
"Romantic?" His green eyes glistened softly. A question; he could not lie when asking questions?
"Yes," I exhaled. "That is what I was implying. Take your time to think it over, I will not accept any answers while you are not thinking right."
I caught a twitch in his eyebrow, the gears turning in his mind. Still, he would not release my attire. How bothersome, but it captured curiosity as well.
"Komaeda," I started, bringing his attention to my face. "I will wait until you are better. Whether or not you accept my request, I will assure to return something back for the troubles. I will not be going anywhere."
I was not quite sure if that was what he wished to hear, but it looked to calm the worry in his face nevertheless.
It was unfortunate I could not directly touch his skin, else I would have checked his forehead, or even held his hand for comfort. That was what one does in affectionate situations, correct?
I could not be sure, not without my memories, but that felt right.
Once Nagito released, he gave a calm sigh and leaned back into his pillow to allow me to step out of the room.
Something within me nearly didn't want to, but I had no interest in listening to something as dull as emotions right then.
He was still sick and needed to rest, I had bothered him long enough, we could speak later.
As expected, the waiting room was still empty, but the communication monitor that had been left behind flashed lightly as a call awaited.
How strange, it was not the scheduled meeting time.