Danganronpa Agere Oneshots!

🔪❤️Undeserving🎹💕

Caregiver: Kaede Akamatsu
Little: Maki Harukawa
hello!! this was requested by FANBOISCREECH :D i hope you like it!! also— MERRY CHRISTMAS/HAPPY HOLIDAYS to anyone who celebrates!! i hope this is a little bit of a gift to you all for supporting my book <3 i feel like everything i write involves hurt/comfort JJDKDK i hope you all aren't sick of it haha!! have a wonderful day everyone <3
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"Look, angel!" Kaede briefly stopped pushing the shopping cart, walking over to a shelf and picking up a plushie, "Isn't this adorable?"

Maki glanced up from the floor. It was a red cat, the ears tipped with pink and a small smile sewn onto the face. It was... pretty cute, but it wasn't Maki's primary focus right now.

"It's cute," She mumbled.

"I should get it for you," Kaede hummed, stepping closer to Maki and holding it out for her, "Do you want to hold it, darling?"

"No," Maki said sharply, guilt overcoming her when Kaede winced at her tone, "Sorry. I really appreciate you offering to get it for me. I'm good, though."

"If you say so..." Kaede said, setting the stuffed animal back on the shelf.

Kaede continued pushing the cart down the aisles, occasionally stopping to grab something they needed. Even as they kept walking through the store, Maki couldn't shake the guilt she felt.

She felt bad that she snapped at Kaede earlier, but that wasn't the root of the problem.

The thing was, Maki felt... guilty of everything that Kaede had been doing for her. Especially when she was regressed.

Kaede would play with her for hours on end, waving stuffed animals around in the air or building castles with the blocks that they had. She would come home after a long day, only to have a stuffed animal or one of Maki's favorite snacks in her arms. She would even read her bedtime stories, and then hold her close until she had fallen asleep.

Maki appreciated everything that Kaede did for her— she was more than a wonderful caregiver. She just felt... undeserving of it. Like Kaede shouldn't waste her time and effort on her.

She knows it's not good to bottle these feelings up. But that's the only way she's ever known how to handle things.

So as much as she knows this probably won't help, she's been refusing a lot from Kaede. She won't let her buy things like dinner— Maki always insists on paying. When Kaede does offer to buy her something (like a stuffed animal), Maki says she doesn't want it.

It's not just financial matters she's been changing, though. She can't remember the last time she let herself regress around Kaede— always protesting that she's fine, that she doesn't need to be looked after. And... as bad as she feels, she isn't very affectionate with Kaede anymore.

It's not that she doesn't want to be! Maki just... doesn't feel like she deserves it.

She's aware this isn't the way to go about her feelings. She shouldn't be depriving Kaede of affection or lying to her about how she feels, but Maki doesn't know how else to handle it.

She wishes she did.

She was snapped out of her thoughts when Kaede reached out to grab her hand, a frown on her face as she tilted her head.

"Maki? Are you feeling alright?" She asked, "If you're not, I can just go check out right now and we can head home."

Maki felt her own face form into a frown at Kaede's concern. She was, once again, ready to set everything aside for Maki.

And the familiar feeling of frustration coiled in Maki's chest, leaving her to shake her head and carefully pull away from Kaede's touch.

"'M okay," She said, but her voice wasn't firm like she intended, it was wobbly and shaky.

She was doing a bad thing by avoiding Kaede like this.

She wasn't being honest.

She... She did not deserve to be frustrated. She did not deserve to be taken care of, she did not deserve to be reassured, and she did not deserve to be loved.

"Sweetheart? Are you sure you're okay?" Worry melted into Kaede's warm voice as she pursed her lips together, "Let's just head home. We've been here a while anyways—"

"No!"

The outburst surprised both Maki and Kaede, and at the hurt expression on Kaede's face, Maki felt something inside of her crack.

And before Maki could stop it, she felt tears blur her vision, spilling down her cheeks as she kept her eyes on the ground.

"'M sorry," She whimpered, "'M sorry, 'M sorry..."

She repeated it like her life depended on it, her body beginning to shake with emotion.

She heard a concerned noise come from Kaede, and it wasn't long before she felt Kaede's arms wrap around her.

She couldn't help but press herself closer to her. It had been so long— so long since they had gotten to hug each other like this again, and Maki felt a fresh wave of guilt wash over her at their lack of closeness.

"'M sorry," She choked out, "'M sorry I've been ignorin' you, 'm sorry for snappin' at you, 'm sorry for not lettin' myself be small..."

Kaede might have said something had Maki not spoken once more, burying her head closer into Kaede's chest.

"'S a-all my fault..." A sob welled in her throat as she spoke, "I-I felt u-undeserving of e-everythin' you do for me. F-Felt like didn' deserve it... d-didn' deserve to be loved."

"S-So... I pushed it all away. But th-that made it all worse! D-Don' wan' you to be mad... don' wanna feel bad anymore..."

Kaede waited until Maki was finished, her voice softening as she hushed her, taking a hand to run her fingers through her hair.

"It's okay, Maki," She murmured to her, "I'm not mad at you, angel."

Maki sniffled at the realization that Kaede wasn't mad at her, listening as she continued.

"You're very much deserving of love," Kaede said to her softly, "But I understand how it feels to think that you're not. I don't blame you for anything. Now we can just be sure to be honest about how we feel, yeah?"

Maki nodded into her chest, taking in a shaky breath.

"U-Uh huh," Her lower lip quivered.

Kaede gently placed a kiss on the top of Maki's head.

"We can talk more when we get home," She said, "But don't forget that I love you very much, okay? I'm here because I want to be. You deserve the world and even more."

Maki didn't feel like she deserved the world.

But with Kaede holding her close and reassuring her just how much she loved her, it made Maki feel a little less uneasy.

When Maki pulled away, Kaede reached out to intertwine their hands, their fingers laced together adoringly.

And as they walked down the aisles, making their way to the check out, Maki felt a small smile form on her face despite the exhausting day the both of them had had.

They would be together through the good and the bad.

She felt lucky to no end that she had someone like Kaede as her caregiver.