Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-26993737-20161128042834/@comment-25167224-20161130205952

no problem! and thank you, saionji is such an adorable mean thing. there is actually a lot of evidence pointing towards hinata liking komaeda at one point, post trial 1 he behaves like a bitter ex haha. so yeah, i really wouldn't say hinata hates komaeda. he's just bitter about how things turned out and probably somewhat disappointed in the fact that he got attached (/attracted?) to him.
 * he uses the wording 'you tempted them, just like you temped me' when talking about how komaeda lured the remaining twilight girls into the airport. a lot of the time the line is attributed to komaeda but it's. genuinely hinata. it's really forward and has so much double meaning i kind of had to take a step back when i read it first.
 * his entire thing of pursuing komaeda even after the 1st trial. he justifies it to himself a lot but to me he's just really bitter about how things turned out with komaeda and despite himself still seeks him in hope of uncovering the person he initially met. i can totally see him missing the calmness that komaeda gave him before, let's not forget who waited for him when he was having a panic attack. not tsumiki, not even nanami, it was komaeda so it caused hinata to develop a special attachment towards him.
 * he mentions that komaeda's smile soothes him early on. obviously before the reveal. but it's still sweet nonetheless that he feels so relaxed in komaeda's company.

he often mentions the difference between the komaeda before the trial and the komaeda post trial. it's hard for him to accept that they are one and the same, i guess you can consider it a bit as hinata trying to protect that serene image for himself? though he's fully aware he can't fool himself and there is no 'before' and 'after' komaeda. just him as a whole.

furthermore, it just kinda nicely parallels with how komaeda feel towards hinata. he still likes him even after finding out he's not a super high school level but just a reserve course student, and it's confusing for him. he doesn't understand why he still feels a connection to him. it's oddly similar to how hinata feels about him. plus the game sure does love to point out how similar those two are, so this wouldn't surprise me.