[With the difference in their heights the way it is, the second Komaeda feels that grip in his sweater, he's kneeling down to come eye-level with Atem. He doesn't quite meet that intense gaze, even when those hands hold him tenderly by the jaw with a warmth that feels like it's permeating his very soul. Instead, his pale green eyes cast downwards, towards Atem's collar, or lower. He doesn't have the strength to.

It's not that he doesn't believe the words being said to him. Rather, he wants to desperately believe in them with a blind trust that could fill his vessel up to the brim. He wants to feel that safety of that certainty so badly and yet... All he can think about is how Atem was at the beginning of the previous month.

Would seeing the memories locked with Komaeda's head bring out that despair, again? To see not only himself, but the classmates that Atem has come to know, in situations no human being should ever have to live through? Heinous acts of violence, of self-mutilation, of reveling in torment... It's all the things that seemed to have worn Atem down within the last two years—and the last thing Komaeda wants is to worsen that.

The trepidation he feels is worn plainly on his face. Even if Atem is so close he can feel the ghosting of warm breath across his face. Close enough to feel that fiery bodyheat in a way that makes his heart race for reasons other than his own nerves. He knows that if he's to move forward, he needs to trust. And he does trust Atem, wholeheartedly, to protect him. What he doesn't trust is himself.]

I do trust you, Atem-kun... That's why I asked you to do this for me.

[He glances up at the other meekly, having to really pull himself to do it.]

I just don't... Want to hurt you, when you've already been through so much...