fear. || { bnha }

thirty five.

a/n: hey guys! sorry for how utterly long this chapter took, i've been busy and haven't had the motivation to write this, which is something i want to address (and have wanted to for a while) in this little note.
this isn't an x reader story. at all. i genuinely appreciate everyone who reads, comments, and votes, but when a lot of it is (sometimes pretty blatant) erasure of my oc, it sort of hurts and makes me not want to continue writing this anymore. i don't want this to get too long, so comment or message me about it and i'll go into more detail.
anyways, i hope you all enjoy the chapter, even if it's really short ^^"

-

When Valui woke up, she was laying in a bed with the blanket pulled up to her nose. Sunlight was streaming in through the blinds of a window somewhere above her; when her eyes adjusted to the light, she found herself staring at a wall. As she became aware of her surroundings, she felt a gentle weight over her side; against the back of her shoulder. Soft breathing filled her ears — it was then that she realized where she was.

"Hitoshi?" she asked softly, her voice quiet enough to where it wouldn't wake him were he asleep, but audible enough to where he'd be able to hear it if he was awake. "Are you awake?"

Hitoshi shifted softly, his arm twitching and tightening slightly around her. "Yeah." He didn't sound very awake, but he spoke fairly coherently nonetheless. "I'm awake."

Valui bit the inside of her cheek, then rolled over in his arm. By the time she had situated herself so they were facing each other, Hitoshi had opened his eyes partly to look down at her. Her eyes met his, then drifted down to the bandage on his neck. "How are you feeling...?"

"Better," he mumbled, shifting and adjusting his other arm so that it was resting beneath the pillow his head was laying on. "What about you?"

Valui took a brief moment to think — to let her previously racing mind slow down and think over everything that had happened in the past day. She was okay both mentally and physically, aside from the ache in her knees that had spread halfway up her thighs and the faint worry in the back of her mind over whether or not he was okay. "I'm fine," she said after a short moment of thought, blinking sleepily and leaning her forehead against his chest. "I'm just glad you're okay."

"I'm fine now." As he spoke, his hand moved from the middle of her back to the back of her head. His fingers ran through her hair lazily; Valui thought for a second that he was falling back asleep. "Don't worry, okay?"

"...Okay."

Despite what her worry and anxiety was telling her, she was going to listen. She was going to believe him when he said he was okay and she was going to believe it wholeheartedly — he wouldn't lie to her, after all.

At least, she didn't think he would.

Valui let the thought slip from her mind and instead let her tiredness wash back over her. As she drifted off again, a sound caught her attention — something soft and somewhat foreign; something she was having a hard time discerning its reality or not. Curiosity eventually got the better of her, and led her to opening her eyes.

A pair of yellow eyes were staring back.

"A-ah!" She couldn't help the startled yelp that escaped her. Hitoshi's eyes shot open as Valui jumped back from him, her back hitting the wall. Panic flooded his face for a brief moment, only dissipating when Valui relaxed. "O-oh. Just a cat."

"Huh?" Hitoshi blinked, seemingly still out of it, before registering what she had said and looking to the cat that was perched on his side. "Oh, him. I didn't realize he was there." He rolled over; the cat moved with him to lay on his stomach.

Valui scooted back over to his side, looking at the cat as he began betting it. It was all black with a yellow collar on. She didn't know much about cats, but from what she could tell, it was at least a few years old. "I didn't know you had a cat," she commented softly, watching as it leaned into the hand Hitoshi was petting it with.

"Yeah, he spends a lot of time alone. Usually sleeping." Hitoshi gave the cat a look that was an odd mixture of scolding and endearment. "You didn't have to scare her like that. Say you're sorry."

The cat meowed.

Valui giggled.

Hitoshi glanced at her, a faint smile flickering across his face. "You can pet him if you want."

Nodding, she reached up to pet it softly, smiling to herself when it purred in response. "What's his name?"

Hitoshi hesitated before answering, something resembling discomfort replacing the soft expression that had been on his face moments before. "Um," he started, sounding reluctant to say it. "Keshigomu. Keshi for short."

Valui tilted her head slightly, her eyebrows coming together. "...Eraser?"

"...Yeah, so—" Hitoshi cut himself off with a nervous laugh that turned into a small sigh. He looked at her through the corners of his eyes only to look away moments later; back to his cat. "Don't make fun of me, okay?"

"O-okay...?"

"His...actual name is...Eraserhead. I got him when I was younger and I—" He stopped when Valui started giggling again, his eyes snapping to the side to look at her as a dark shade of red spread across his face. "H-hey!"

"It's cute~" Valui assured between giggles, leaning over to kiss his cheek, which only seemed to make the redness deepen. "Really~ I'm not making fun of you." She said the last part with more seriousness than before; and when Hitoshi looked at her fully, she smiled as sincerely as she could.

He relaxed — she could see it on his face; in his eyes. A moment later, his smiled lightly back at her. "Fine, I'll believe you." There was a gentleness to his voice that made Valui's heart thump a little harder.

Distantly, she wondered if he noticed.

Keshi stood up on Hitoshi's stomach and meowed, looking toward the door before jumping off him and onto the ground. Valui blinked in soft confusion, watching the door move slightly as Keshi left the room, then shifting her gaze to Hitoshi.

"What was that for?"

"Mom's cooking something. He does that every time she does." He yawned softly, then sat up, running one of his hands lazily through his hair — which only made his hair get even fluffier than it was before. "Are you hungry?" he asked, looking down at her sleepily.

Now that it had been mentioned, Valui could faintly smell something cooking. It made her realize she was getting really hungry — how long had it been since she had eaten? How long had it felt like it had been since she had eaten? She pushed herself up and nodded, reaching up to smooth down her own hair.

"Let's go, then." The sentence was punctuated by Hitoshi turning and sliding off the edge of the bed, waiting beside it as Valui scooted over and climbed off as well. She stumbled sleepily for a moment; a gentle grip on her upper arm held her still and kept her on her feet. "Gotcha."

Valui looked up at him, her face turning a soft pink color that only darkened when he smiled at her. "Th-thanks."

"Mhm."

She looked away from him; his hand slipped off her arm. She shifted her weight between her feet, then started to walk toward the door to go to the kitchen. "I-I guess we should—"

"Hang on."

His hand returned to her arm and stopped her in place. Valui turned to look back at him, and the moment she met his eyes, he leaned down and kissed her.

"...I love you."