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Kirigiri clenched her hands into fists at her side, the only sign of distress the tremble in her arms and a wild widening of her eyes. Naegi looked helplessly at her. It was the most upset he had ever seen her, possibly the most upset she had been in years.
"Hey, Naegi," she said, her voice level.
Naegi's voice caught as he stared not-so-subtlely at the photograph of Kirigiri and her father, still on the dresser. "Eh?" was all he managed as he turned to look at her.
"I have a small request from you." Her voice was quiet. Her eyes flicked downward.
"What do you need?" Naegi smiled at her, knowing she would see how forced it was.
"I know this is unreasonable of me, and I know it may be inconvenient, but..." she shifted her weight. "can you please hold me?"
Naegi couldn't help but gasp a tiny bit, wondering why Kirigiri would think it inconvenient that he should be there to comfort a friend in distress. He nodded, mute, and she stepped forward and nearly collapsed into his arms. She grabbed onto his jacket and he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close. Her body shook and he tangled a hand in her long hair.
"It's okay," he whispered. He looked around at the room, but it offered no assistance. All that it contained her father's belongings. Her shoulders shivered against his arm and he started to rub circles into her back.
Gradually, Naegi realized that through her hitched breath, Kirigiri was whispering, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," over and over again. The more she said it, the more she cried and soon she was sobbing.
"It's okay. Don't be sorry. Please, it's okay," Naegi said, pulling her out of the hidden room. She followed with unsteady steps, her arms still mostly around him, and he led her to the bed, where they sat. After sobbing into his shoulder for another minute, Kirigiri pulled away from him, her face red and wet. She closed her eyes, wrapping her arms around herself. Naegi couldn't help but feel that it was the realest she had ever looked to him.
She swallowed hard, breathed deeply, gulping in air. "Don't cry," she whispered sternly to herself.
Naegi reached out and put his hand on hers. She turned hers over and laced her fingers in between his, tightening her grip into a vice.
"Don't cry," she repeated, and a few traitors squeezed out of her eyes. She reached up and violently wiped them away.
"Stop crying," she said and her body started to obey. Naegi tried to say it was okay, that he didn't think any less of her, that she was allowed to cry, but the words caught in his throat. She sniffled a bit, wiping her nose delicately on her gloved hand.
Naegi squeezed her hand, putting his other hand on her opposing shoulder. "Are you alright?"
Kirigiri closed her eyes and took a slow breath. "Yes." She opened her eyes. "I will be."
He looked between his lap and her face with uncertainty. "I just..." he said softly, squeezing her hand. He raised his other arm to brush her face with his fingertips, the skin soft and damp.
She inhaled sharply, her eyes widening. He pulled his hand away immediately. "Oh, no, I'm sorry, I just..." He untangled his fingers from hers and started to move away. But her gloved hands shot out, grabbing his wrists, pulling him down with her so they were lying face to face. His hips and legs were twisted almost on top of hers.
"Ki-Kirigiri," he stuttered uselessly.
"You're so fucking dense," she scoffed and grabbed his hair with both hands, pulling him on top of her and jamming their lips together. Naegi was strangely aware of every single paralyzed part of his body. A moment passed and he relaxed, kissed her back, kissed her as hard as he'd been wanting to, kissed her with the force of ten murdered friends. She clung to him, her mouth opening and it was remarkable how vulnerable she could be in an instant.
She took her hands out of his hair, pushed on his shoulders, and rolled on top of him. Then he was the one to feel vulnerable as she kept one hand firmly locked in his hair as her other wandered across the lines of his neck, shoulders. His heart jumped as she let her fingers trace over his chest. A double panic swelled in his throat as the image of her strangling him to death flashed across his mind as well as the panic of being touched on his chest. Her mouth, so forceful before, became softer. He didn't doubt that she knew both of his anxieties without him having to voice anything. He relaxed, resting his hands on her hip bones. A veil of soft white hair surrounded them, ticking his cheeks and neck and filling their surroundings with gossamer light.
She moved, kissing his cheeks, tracing his jawline and down his neck. He arched into her and could just feel her smile as she scraped teeth alone his neck. Drops of wetness fell onto his neck and face. When she came back to kiss his mouth again, it was salty. He puller her tighter, both arms around her back. She lay down on him, resting her weight on his chest. She swung her hips off to one side, curling around him. Lazily, he kissed her, tucking her hair behind her ear as he ran fingers through it.
"Thank you," she whispered.
Naegi nuzzled his head into her hair, breathing deeply. She smelled like the no-name shampoo Monobear gave to all of them, but also like gunpowder and grass and heat rising from the summer's ground.
"I've wanted to do this for so long," Naegi said, his hands rubbing circles into Kirigiri's back.
"I am a Super High School Level Detective."
Naegi laughed, pulling Kirigiri close, wrapping both of his arms around her. She smiled back at him. A laugh made its way past her lips before Naegi kissed them again.