spoilers up to dr3, closed to tsunderine

[futurebullets]

[He's dying.

It's the only thing Hinata is certain of as he lies on the cold, hard floor. He can feel the blood slipping from his body, pooling around him, as he stares face up at the ceiling and gasps desperately for air. He knows the spear was meant for someone else - someone who should've been here, dying instead of him, but is somehow safely at home. He does not understand how he knows this.

It doesn't make sense, because somehow he knows he's in his sixteen year old body, even though he's twenty one. Even though he'd almost brought disaster into the world, and forgot he'd planned to.

He remembers things he shouldn't, and yet he remembers it all. The poisonous feelings that welled up in his chest looking at Hope's Peak. Being drugged out of his mind as they played God with his brain. Watching Nanami die. The killing game he'd brought to fruition with his own hands. Waking up from it to save the ones who needed to be saved.

Hinata remembers peaceful island life that shouldn't have happened. He remembers being pulled away from that and into a game of dating, where he met a beautiful girl who smelled of herbs and stole his first kiss.

But he shouldn't, because it doesn't make sense to remember all of it for some reason.

He tilts his head at the sound of footsteps. Something tingles in his arms; not quite a vein and not quite a nerve. It feels... strange.

The thought is forgotten as he sees who's approaching, and...

"...You should wear it like that more. Not that I'm an expert on it or anything, but it suits you."

His eyes are wide. His fading heart gives a stronger beat than the others, and somehow he finds the strength to speak.]

Y... You're...

Comments

[tsunderine]

You could at least fake it, can't you? [She can't help but frown a little bit at his statement, even though she knows that he isn't wrong. Telling someone that they might potentially die isn't exactly the smartest way to reassure someone, but telling the truth is a lot better than lies.] You're a normal person, Hajime-kun. [Even though 'normal' is relative.] As the part of magi code, it is customary for us to get rid of anyone unrelated. While I could stop Archer, I don't want to waste something that I could use in an emergency.

[futurebullets]

Just knowing is that serious, huh...

[This is Rin's world and not his. There's still so much that he just... doesn't know, and it would be pure foolishness to not follow her word when he knows so little. And besides...

I trust you.]

...Alright. If it's that bad for him to be aware I know, I can pretend at least. [It's not without a twisting feeling in his stomach as he says it. Hinata doesn't want her to waste anything else important on him. But outwardly he only lets his mouth twitch up a bit as he lets his eyes slip close.] Hopefully it'll just be pretending, anyway. It'd be nice to sleep without worrying about my life for once.

[Only half of that is a dry attempt at humor. He should've finally been able to sleep a little more worry-free, but... Oh, well.]

[tsunderine]

That's right. [She doesn't want to say anything more about it, if only because time is limited and she can sense Archer coming back. But at least he isn't arguing her on that point — in fact, is he smiling a little? Nevertheless, there's a conversation that happens when Archer opens the door-- "Is he alright?" "Yeah, he'll recover, Archer." "I see." "Is there something wrong?" "No, it's nothing. I'll leave this here. If you need me, just call for me. I won't bother you for the rest of the night." "Alright, thank you." And Archer leaves, having left soup and cups of tea on the bedside table. Rin then sighs, almost a little melodramatically before she taps him on the shoulder to wake him up.] I got soup if you're up to eating. He honestly didn't have to, though... geez.

[futurebullets]

[Hinata blinks his eyes open. It's probably really good that she tapped him, or he might've completely knocked out after all. I'm more tired than I thought, I guess.]

Soup sounds good, yeah. Just need to take it slow. [With a grunt, he steadily tries to prop himself up with his elbows. A bit dizzy, still, but not as bad as it was before. Maybe he really did need to rest more.] That was pretty thoughtful of him to make some, though. [It's not quite a grin, but his lips twitch upward as Hinata arches an eyebrow. He might be a little amused at her sighing about it.] Did you not want him to?

[tsunderine]

He shouldn't be doing any unnecessary things... [She can't help but grumble those words almost under her breath, but it's not as if they're completely inaudible. But there's definitely some annoyance there as she folds her arms over her chest.] I honestly appreciate that he did it, but I could have done it myself. [And maybe get him to appreciate her cooking! That would have been nice, you know, Archer!!] But do you want me to bring the bowl to you or should I feed you myself?

[futurebullets]

[His eyebrow arches higher. That is an interesting reaction.]

Maybe it's not the most practical if he had something else to be doing, but it must've seemed important enough to him. [Then he does actually grin a bit.] Or maybe he just wanted to do it for you.

[But that grin is gone in the next moment. Maybe it's punishment for feeling so entertained by Rin earlier. Regardless, he splutters as his face turns a bit pinkish.]

Y-you don't need to feed it to me, though! I'm not that weak, honestly!

[just screams internally]

[tsunderine]

That's... [She frowns a little bit more when he says that she wanted to do it for her, because she honestly doesn't doubt that, especially since she knows Archer's true identity.] Are you saying that you don't want to, Hajime-kun? [In fact she'll drag out his name out slowly just to tease him a little bit.]

[futurebullets]

Gh-! That's not what I said, I-

[Ohhhhhhh kill him, she really is doing this on purpose.

He shouldn't have let that last bit slip. That and the flush that belies his words won't make this convincing, Hinata knows, but...]

D-do as you like. If you want to, then I don't mind it...

[tsunderine]

[His blush is honestly really cute and she can't hide the smirk that settles on her lips as he stutters that reply.]

Okay. [Let her go grab the bowl and bring it closer to her before she shifts her position to sit closer to him.] Here, say aah...

[She is definitely feeding him as she brings the spoon with the soup near his lips.]

[futurebullets]

[He grumbles something under his breath that sounds suspiciously like "enjoying this too much", but he closes his eyes and opens his mouth obediently.]

A-aah...

[But his eyes shoot open when the soup hits his tongue.] ...Woah, that tastes really good. [He kind of wasn't expecting it. His eyes dart away from hers, a little bit of pink streaking across his face.] But... Thanks.

[tsunderine]

Well, of course. Archer's a good chef, after all. He wouldn't make something bad.

[Rin knows that firsthand, after all, more than anything else in the world.]

I'll thank Archer for you later. Are you still hungry or is that good enough?

[futurebullets]

You sound pretty fond of him... That Archer. [If his eyes weren't still averted in embarrassment, the corner of his mouth would twitch up in a half-grin.] But I appreciate. I...

[...wouldn't mind if she did that some more.]

...I wouldn't mind having a little more. But at some point, we should figure out what we're going to do after this, shouldn't we?

[Better to focus his mind on practical things, probably. Focus, Hinata Hajime.]

[tsunderine]

W-W-What are you talking about?! [Rin's face immediately grows a bright red as she yells at him. Maybe it's a good thing that he's not looking directly at her, because if he did, he'd see a sight to behold. Not to mention that he'd be able to probably poke fun at her. Nevertheless, she eventually huffs, folding her arms over her chest a little indignantly.] If you're going to say stupid things like that, then maybe I'll eat the rest for myself! [Tohsaka, don't bully the person who almost died... Except she's already feeding herself the soup that he's already eaten. Wow.]

[futurebullets]

Ah-

[He's surprised enough by her yelling that he does, in fact, turn to look at her... just in time to see her spooning soup into her mouth. Oh. Oh, wow.

Hinata genuinely doesn't know whether to be impressed over that reaction or confused about why she's having such an impressive reaction at all.

Either way, delicacy is probably the best thing here - which, admittedly, is not Hinata's strong suit. But he knows how to be gentle, at least, so he'll at least drop his voice to a softer tone. Effort shall be made.]

If you want to, then... sure, I guess. [He'll give a pause here, just a brief one as he fiddles with the blanket in his hands and words in his head.] But, um... Rin, if I made you mad, I'm sorry. I really don't get why, but... Sorry if I did something to make you angry.

[tsunderine]

What do you mean, "sure, I guess"!? [There's a bit of a mocking tone in her voice, but the fluster still hasn't faded in the slightest bit.] Why are you accepting that I'm going to be eating it so easily? Shouldn't you be more like-- [ahem] "Wait, Rin, you shouldn't eat that, I already put the spoon in my mouth" or something like that, right? [At this rate, Tohsaka Rin is going to become a red tomato and there's no way that anyone is going to be able to stop her. While she does grumble a bit, she does, at least, manage to calm down somewhat with a few more huffs and spoonfuls of the soup that Archer made. It's hers now.] And you should be able to understand why I'm mad. Isn't it obvious? Geez.