Komaru Naegi

tension.

komaru couldn’t say she was surprised when kotoko wanted to get her nails painted, & since there weren’t any functioning salons left, komaru had to see if anyone randomly had some nail polish lying around she could borrow. small things like that seemed to be a luxury these days, but komaru managed to get her hands on some nonetheless. she just hoped kotoko would like the color, it’s not like they had options for more. ( she already promised she’d do half a co-workers shift for them the rest of the week for it... )

it, however, worked out, & komaru got set on painting the girl’s nails. she was extra careful, thanks to the fact she was without acetone to clean up if she spilled it, or got it on kotoko’s skin by accident. she told a story of a sleepover with her friends she once had as she did, recalling that they were all terrible at it. she had to paint chieko’s nails then, & horribly messed up. they were all too embarrassed for their own jobs to admit the rest was terrible though. it was a fond memory, even with the awkwardness.

“back then, it was so easy to shatter. now, it doesn’t even matter.” komaru doesn’t know if the words were meant to comfort kotoko, or herself more. all she knows is, she’s completely at a loss for what to say. she made a reckless decision in bringing her to future foundation in the first place, with how many distrusting looks it gained her & kotoko. all she knew is she wanted her to be safe & where her brother ( & now she ) worked just seemed like the best option. 

“...sorry, that’s not very comforting, is it?” she thinks more. what could make her feel better? think, komaru, think. she was still scrambling, trying to look for a way to sugarcoat it. she supposed there wasn’t one. there was just the harsh truth. touko told her that there wasn’t much she could do, that she’d just have to tell her it.

she presses her lips into a fine line, arms still tight around the girl. she releases her, looking her in the eyes & seemingly finding the words she’d been looking for.

“she always had a smile from morning to the night.” she finds it hard to talk about chieko, especially now that she had no idea where she was. she didn’t know if she was alive or dead, & komaru was left with her memories. sayaka didn’t know that though, so she didn’t blame her for asking about her when komaru had mentioned her.

“i wanna run away just to live my life my way.” she confesses after finishing off one of the monokuma bots in their way. she didn’t know if touko would care, but she was so tired of having to fend for her life every day. she was confident in the fact she could fight, that she had a knack for it at this point. at the same time, she was still deeply affected by her journey & imprisonment. she sighs, thinking on if the other would think she was pathetic.

“it’s just-” she pauses, “i know it’ll never happen, but it’s... okay to dream, right?” she could close her eyes, & imagine herself a million miles away from towa city, from killer kids, & monokuma bots. even if it was like that only a few years ago, & now, she had to fight for her life with touko with only increasing danger. she just wished for it all to go away.

four word phrases.

“no! why would i do that?” she stands strong, it not taking much to keep the knife out of his reach. even so, she holds the knife high above his head. she wasn’t going to just give it to him! he could hurt someone, & komaru couldn’t let that happen.