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So annoying.
Naegi is on the brink of his patience. He knows he's being tested, and maybe being threatened at the same time, but he's not going to give in. He can’t lose his cool. He never loses his cool. He always has everything under control.
But seriously, goddamn.
“You wanted to talk to me again, Naegi-kun, cutiepatootie?” The reason why Naegi is so irritated in the first place finally showed up. Enoshima Junko—he knows she’d be a valuable ally, considering her intelligence, charisma, and other skills, but she sure acts like a wild card sometimes. “Oh, my, you don’t look so pleased! Did something happen between you and Komaeda-kun?”
“Enoshima-san,” Naegi says, making sure to maintain his smile. “I just wanted to ask you a little favor.”
She hums. “I’ll hear you out. Anything for the cutie!”
“Can you stop talking to Komaeda-kun?”
She stands straight, her face suddenly serious. “Understood. Possessive behavior is usual when it comes to people in relationships.”
Naegi allows himself to cringe. “You know that’s not what this is about, Enoshima-san.”
“As a matter of fact, I do. Knowing you, you possibly believe that I am interfering with your affairs.”
“Is it wrong for me to get that kind of impression? Last time, you called me ‘master of the world’ in front of him. I’d really appreciate it if you stop doing things like that.”
She then laughs loudly, and really, Naegi is already getting used to her sudden shifts in behavior. It’s a part of her, of Enoshima Junko. In fact, he's starting to feel uncomfortable whenever she stays with one personality for too long. “Why the fuck not!? That nickname fits you as hell! You're not there yet, but damn are you headed there!”
“He can’t know yet. Stop hinting things to him, Enoshima-san. You even suggested that we’re playing with each other. And then recently, you told him that I know about Hinata-kun’s talent.”
“Well, that’s—” She laughs again. “What the fuck is wrong with that!? I'm just doing it for damn good fun! Whatever damn thing I say, he's not going to believe it anyway if you refute it! Which I'm sure as hell you did!”
“Just stop doing it, please. You yourself know he's not going to believe you, so just don’t.”
She frowns sadly, her hands playing with each other. “How despair-inducing… Naegi-kun completely misunderstood my intentions… Did you think I was trying to foil you…? So despair-inducing indeed… You don’t trust me…”
To be fair, she doesn’t seem very trustworthy, that’s why. But Naegi’s not going to say that. “Look, sorry, Enoshima-san. I just had to think of all the possibilities. It’s not that I doubt you.”
She shakes her head, still with a frown.
This is all an act anyway. Because he knows that there's no way that Enoshima will really feel bad about that.
This is all an act anyway. Because Naegi didn’t mean a word he said, especially that apology about doubting her. Acting gets kind of old sometimes, but it makes things work for him, so he's going to have to put up with it.
“Aww, Naegi-kun is really cute when he's like this!” And so her behavior changed again. She reaches out a hand and ruffles Naegi’s hair. “Alright, alright, I’ll stay away from Komaeda-kun for a bit.”
“For a bit?”
“A-ny-way!” She giggles. “I'm getting really bored already! When are you going to start things?”
“Just be more patient, Enoshima-san.” He puts on his smile again. He just realized that he actually frowned seconds ago. “We shouldn’t rush important things.”
--
The courtyard is being sickly familiar to Naegi. He hangs out here every single day with Komaeda ever since that one certain lunch time. Hinata never ever joined them again after that, not like Naegi didn’t expect that to happen.
If Hinata still decided to join them after playing that probably painful game, then Naegi must say that he's more resilient than he looks.
But hey, Hinata didn’t do that, so. Pfft.
“So… Did you talk to Hinata-kun already?” He asks, making sure to lace his voice with concern. A matching worried face is a must as well, together with a hand reaching to hold Komaeda’s. “I'm really, really sorry for all the trouble I had you undergo, Komaeda-kun.”
Komaeda smiles and squeezes his hand back. “We did talk already. Thanks for your concern, Naegi-kun. You're too kind. You also don’t have to apologize. As I said, what you asked from me is nothing compared to what you do for me, alright?”
“Still.” He lets out a chuckle. “But you know… thanks a lot for holding out that long. It really means a lot to me… so how did it go with you guys? What happened?”
“Well, we… we kinda hugged. I'm so sorry if that upsets you. I’ll never do it again if it makes you uncomfortable.”
“No, no, it’s okay.” Naegi smiles, ruffling Komaeda’s hair with his free hand. “You guys are best friends, so hugging is normal.”
“There is something I forgot to tell you too…”
“What is it?” Komaeda looks hesitant somehow, so Naegi decides to add. “Don’t worry. It’s okay. I won’t mind whatever it is.”
“It’s all in the past, I swear, but I feel like you have the right to know.” Komaeda takes a deep breath. “Well, I used to like Hinata-kun… But I swear that was just back then! A year before you transferred! I never felt anything like that for him ever again, especially since… you're here now…”
Komaeda’s lightly blushing again. He frequently does, Naegi observed. Quite too frequent for someone who's, well, in a relationship with him. To be fair, Komaeda usually says things like ‘I can’t believe that you want someone like me’, so it’s probably because of that mentality of his.
Naegi doesn’t really want him anyway, so ehh.
“It’s alright, Komaeda-kun.” Naegi leans in and pecks him on the cheek. As expected, Komaeda’s pale face immediately reddens even more. Typical. “I believe you. I believe in you. Don’t worry too much.” He leans his forehead on Komaeda’s. “I decided that I can put up with a bit of jealousy. I don’t want you to sacrifice your comfort anymore.”
“Naegi-kun…” Komaeda closes his eyes and presses his lips lightly on Naegi’s. He felt a bit surprised because Komaeda usually doesn’t initiate something that forward, but he supposes he has to just accept the gesture. “…I wasn’t sacrificing my comfort. If it’s for you, it’s not called a sacrifice at all.”
“Thank you.” Naegi pulls him closer and embraces him. “I need you. Never leave my side.”
And Naegi might mean that a bit, just not the way Komaeda thinks.
--
Naegi has so many things he wants to do, and they're not just ‘things’. They're important things that will help him achieve his dream, but being in a, ugh, relationship—he feels like it’s taking all his time. He has to be with Komaeda every break, and the only time that he actually has for himself is dismissal time.
Well, he should know better than everyone that loyalty comes with a price.
He decides to walk around the campus just for the sake of doing so. Empty corridors make him feel comfortable, if he were to be honest. Same goes with walking alone. He doesn’t have too many opportunities to do that anymore nowadays, so he decides to just take the moment.
He can still hear distant voices from other classrooms. Some people with after-school activities must still be around, and while he usually prefers silence, the muffled and barely understandable voices that he hears at the moment can do, too.
He continues walking with no particular destination in mind. It really has been a while since he was able to do this. The last time was probably when he went to the library that certain day, back when he needed to review for the two quizzes that he missed.
He turns left. The area that he's in now is the hall full of staff rooms. He knows that a good number of those people are actually researchers, if not all. He wonders what they do at times like this, when most of the students are gone…
A door opening interrupts his thoughts, and he pauses from his walking to see who went out. He can’t deny that he was surprised about who the person was, but hey, it made sense. It made sense that it was none other than Hinata who was around until this time.
“Naegi?” Hinata says. He was surprised as well, and he didn’t even bother to hide that fact. “What are you doing here?”
Naegi chuckles, making sure to look apologetic. “Sorry… I didn’t want to return to the dorm yet, so I thought I should walk around for a while. Hope’s Peak is surprisingly comforting when it’s silent, haha.”
“Yeah, sorry too, I guess I just didn’t expect to see anyone. Didn’t mean to seem like I'm interrogating.” Hinata smiles a bit. “Komaeda’s not with you?”
Naegi almost rolls his eyes at that question. “No, Komaeda-kun returned to your shared room already. Are you going back as well?”
“Uh, well…” Hinata clears his throat. “If it’s okay… There's something I’d like to talk to you about. Is right now a bad time?”
Naegi already has a rough idea what it is that Hinata wants to discuss. He smiles anyway and nods, walking over to Hinata’s direction. “I'm not really doing anything, so it’s okay, Hinata-kun. Where should we talk?”
“I don’t really know…” Hinata smiles sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. “We can walk to the courtyard and talk at the same time, right?”
Naegi nods. “The courtyard it is, then.”
That sickly familiar and boring courtyard.
It was a bit pretty back then, but being there every day—it just made Naegi feel repulsed. He starts walking next to Hinata who seems to be thinking about how to start whatever topic he wanted to talk about. Naegi predicts it must be about Komaeda, specifically about him ignoring Hinata and the rest of his class.
“So, uh…” Hinata clears his throat, finally finding it in himself to speak. “Things are going great between you and Komaeda, right?”
Too bad blushing can’t be done at will. If so, blushing right now would have been a great idea. He can’t do that, so that’s why he decides to make do with what he can, forcing out an embarrassed giggle and doing his best to look shy somehow. “Yes… Things are going perfectly, actually. Komaeda-kun is such a lovely person. He's always there for me, so I do my best to be always there for him, too.”
“Yeah.” Hinata smiles at him, and Naegi knows that that smile can’t be genuine. “Sorry for that stupid question. I'm sure that you guys are really getting along just fine. He really admires you, haha… well, setting that aside, did he, uh… ever mention me to you? Or our classmates, at least?”
Naegi lightly rubs his chin, as if thinking. “Well, no… Komaeda-kun never mentions you at all. Same goes with your classmates. Why do you ask?”
Hinata grimaces, just really slightly, but enough for Naegi to catch. He immediately tries to cover it up with another smile though, so Naegi decides to act like he never even noticed. “Is that so? Not even once?”
“Well…” Naegi pauses a bit. “When I asked him who his roommate was, he said that it was you.”
“Ah.” Hinata nods, his forced smile seemingly just plastered on his face. “Well, see, I was just wondering if he said something to you regarding, uh— It’s okay now, actually. We talked a bit last night, but I just thought that I still should ask— he actually, uh, avoided me and the rest of our classmates for a good deal of time. I was just wondering if he ever said something about that to you…”
If Hinata is asking about this, then that must mean that Komaeda didn’t tell him the real reason why. Naegi kinda already knew that Komaeda wouldn’t tell anyone the truth. It’s almost funny because Naegi didn’t even instruct him anything regarding this. It was something that Komaeda did at will, but Naegi isn’t going to complain.
Despite this story not being unfamiliar, he still makes a surprised face as he replies. “Seriously? Komaeda-kun did something like that?”
“Oh…” Hinata looked really disappointed that it’s almost funny. “So he didn’t talk about that either?”
“Yeah…” Naegi frowns. “No offense, but, uh… you guys didn’t do anything to him, right?”
“Not at all!” Hinata almost defensively reacts. “I-I mean… actually, I'm a bit worried about that. I mean, what if we did do something and we just didn’t notice it? But as far as I know, I don’t think so… I'm so sorry for pulling you into this mess, Naegi.”
They finally reach the courtyard, and they sit on one of the nearest benches. Good thing Hinata wasn’t stupid enough to invite him under that stupid tree. But of course, Hinata didn’t really have a good memory regarding that tree, so Naegi supposes that that was understandable.
“No, it’s alright. I'm always ready to help.” Naegi smiles and turns to Hinata as soon as they both were comfortable on the bench. “…But I'm still kind of worried. Komaeda-kun probably has a problem, and he didn’t even tell me. He's really sweet, see, so maybe he didn’t want me to worry... I just want him to know that I'm really willing to do anything for him.”
“Yeah. He has a tendency to act like he doesn’t deserve basic human kindness…” Hinata awkwardly smiles. “But you know, maybe it’s not that. I mean, he… tells you everything, right?”
“Well, as far as I know, yes, he does.” Naegi nods to punctuate his words. “But if he didn’t tell me this…”
“…That just means that it’s not important enough to talk about. About us, I mean.” Good. That was what Naegi was trying to make him feel. “Haha, it just kinda hurt… I mean, it’s all fixed now, as I said, but it just hurts that I don’t even know why he did that.” As if realizing what he said, he immediately added an explanation. “I-I mean, we’re best friends. We’re really close, so…”
“I understand… I didn’t know you were best friends though.” Naegi nods. “So… do you want to talk about it?”
“Ah. He didn’t tell you, huh…” Hinata looked really embarrassed somehow as he repeatedly shakes his head. “But uh, I don’t want to be a bother... I already took so much of your time. The last thing that I’d want to do is whine at you.”
“No, no, it’s alright.” Naegi smiles again. “It won’t be whining, Hinata-kun. Just plain old sharing. I’d love to know more about you because you're Komaeda-kun’s best friend, after all.”
Hinata slightly flinches at that. Naegi is amused as Hinata immediately tries to steel himself again. “You know… you're a really nice guy, Naegi. I can see why Komaeda likes you so much.”
“Haha, if you say it that way, it’s embarrassing… I mean, I still don’t think I deserve Komaeda-kun. He's too great for me.”
“Nah.” Hinata smiles, but Naegi can sense the frustration and pain that he's probably feeling. “You guys are perfect for each other… I hope he doesn’t mind me telling, but he said this once back then when you guys weren’t dating yet… Haha, he said that he's looking for that person who can embody hope, and hey, he's really, really lucky because he actually found you, and you like him back. I'm very happy for you guys.”
Naegi places a hand on his heart as he smiles. “That means so much to me. I think Komaeda-kun deserves all the happiness he can get because he's a really kind person. If my showing up here made him happy, then I’ll do my best to live up to my title.”
“No pressure. I think you're doing well.” Hinata gestures to him. “I mean, even if we never talked like this before, you still are willing to help me. You even wanted me to vent to you.”
“Well… I just think I should do my best to help out anyone, you know.”
“Funny, Komaeda says that too. You really go well together.”
“Thanks.” Naegi smiles. “You're not a bad person yourself, Hinata-kun.”
“Nah… I'm nothing compared to you.”
“Hey, now, don’t say things like that.” Naegi makes sure to frown. “There's a reason why you're Komaeda-kun’s best friend, you know. I'm sure he won’t associate himself with just anyone.”
Naegi just finds it really comical how Hinata always reacts a little bit whenever Naegi says ‘best friend’. “Well, you know, to tell you honestly…” Hinata bites his lower lip. “…I kinda doubt that we’re still best friends.”
Naegi tilts his head, looking confused. “Why?”
“Well…” Hinata takes a deep breath, running a hand through his hair. “It’s not because I have ill will towards him. Don’t misunderstand. It’s just that… I wonder if he still wants to do anything with me.”
“Why would you feel that way, Hinata-kun?”
“Well, I told you, right… He suddenly avoided the whole class. I-I mean, I'm his best friend… so he should have excluded me at least.” Hinata pauses. “Yeah, sorry, that sounded horribly selfish. Really, sorry.”
“No.” Naegi shakes his head. “Something that I always tell Komaeda-kun is that you should never apologize for what you feel.”
“…Even if it’s so selfish? Saying it that way… it’s almost like I'm only thinking about myself.”
“A bit of selfishness here and there isn’t bad, you know.” Naegi smiles. “I mean, you're best friends, right? You're the one closest to him among your class. It’s normal that you'd feel that way.”
“Thanks for understanding, Naegi… I mean, it was kinda embarrassing to admit that. I didn’t think you'd understand.”
“Haha, I do my best.”
“So, uh… the second reason is that…” Hinata scratches the back of his head. “…Never mind. This is even more embarrassing.”
“I promise I’d understand. I won’t judge you, Hinata-kun.”
“Well, you said… you said he didn’t even mention me to you… or the fact that we’re best friends.” Hinata pauses. “Now that’s just really petty, huh? Again, I'm sorry. I think I’ve bothered you too much already.”
“No, Hinata-kun. I said it’s okay.” Naegi pats him on the back. “Look, he probably has mentioned you to me, and it’s just my poor memory saying that he didn’t… Don’t worry too much, alright?”
Hinata doesn’t look convinced, not that Naegi wants him to be. “I think you're just being nice now. It’s alright, really… I guess I should just accept that I'm not as important to him as I thought I was.”
“Come on, Hinata-kun, it’s probably just my memory, really. Please don’t be too hard on yourself.”
“No, it’s really—”
“Look.” Naegi holds a hand up. “I remember now. He did tell me that you're his best friend, but I forgot. I'm really sorry, Hinata-kun. It’s not my intention to make you feel like he doesn’t care about you. I'm so sorry.”
“No, it’s okay, it happens…” Hinata slightly relaxed. “…You're not saying this to be nice, are you?”
“No, but, haha…” Naegi smiles sheepishly. “Alright, it’s my turn to be embarrassed… I hope you don’t hate me for this.”
“I won’t. Give me your best shot. I'm prepared for anything.”
“Okay.” Naegi decides to take a deep breath before starting. “This was way, way back then… I, haha, asked if you guys are dating…”
“Huh!?”
“It just seemed that way for me, okay? Now I'm really embarrassed…” Naegi scratches his cheek lightly. “But Komaeda-kun said that you're just his best friend and that he never really regarded you that way, so it’s okay! I hope I don’t become the reason why you’d feel awkward around Komaeda-kun… I swear it’s all platonic for him! I don’t want to ruin your friendship!”
“Ah.” Hinata forces a laugh. Naegi can imagine what he really feels though and it was amusing to think about. “Oh, don’t worry, I know that it’s impossible for him to feel that way towards me. We’ve always been nothing but best friends.”
“Alright, sorry if I seem to have gotten worked up… I just didn’t want to cause misunderstandings. I don’t want Komaeda-kun to lose his best friend.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Hinata nods, still smiling. “Well, I’ll always be there for him if he needs me, rest assured. So, uh, it has been good talking to you, Naegi. You're really a great guy.”
“The pleasure is mine, Hinata-kun.” Naegi returns his smile. “I enjoyed our conversation very much. You can talk to me anytime.”
“Actually, I should tell you the same thing… Thanks for listening to me ramble earlier, and especially thanks for understanding. I'm not as good as you, but if you, uh…” Hinata scratches the back of his head. “…If you need anything, tell me.”
Naegi actually smiles at that. “Sure thing, Hinata-kun.”
“And wait, one last thing.”
“Yes?”
“…Please don’t tell Komaeda anything.”
“You can trust me, Hinata-kun.”
--
Naegi’s class is actually pretty close-knit despite the fact that they were greatly diverse. Even if there's the fact that some of them don’t really go well with a lot of people, somehow, they found themselves getting closer with each day.
It started with Naegi, actually. He was the first one who managed to get closer to all of them. They started telling him secrets, until somehow, more bonds started to get formed, and the secrets he knew about started to become secrets that the class kept as a whole.
It was admirable, actually, if he says so himself.
What he actually didn’t expect was that instance during one of their class bonding times—when he declared for ‘secret time’ that he, in fact, wants the world to be his. He said it jokingly because they didn’t really have to know that, but then they actually bought it and said stuff like, “I’ll support you there.”
Hah, who's he kidding, of course he expected that. That’s why he brought it up in the first place.
His classmates are kind people. They're really helpful, too. For some reason, their class as a whole has become really attached to each other, and if one of them wants to create his own world, well, as long as the rest of the class is in the front seat for that aforementioned world… why wouldn’t they want to help?
People say that one should never trust anyone fully, but Naegi knows that if it’s him and his class, they can pull things off together.
A really sentimental thought. It doesn’t suit him at all, Naegi admits.
There are still others welcome for the front seat aside from his classmates.
Komaeda and the new Hinata who will emerge from that so-called Project Hope.
--
“N-Naegi-kun… h-here.” Fujisaki Chihiro, the Super High School Level Programmer handed him a black and white stuffed bear out of nowhere one time. One of the secrets that Fujisaki has shared to him and the rest of the class is that he's actually a boy, and the class swore to keep the secret until he decides to say that they shouldn’t, anymore.
Naegi takes the bear, but he can’t deny the fact that he was confused. He inspected it, turning it around to see its entirety. It looks like just a normal stuffed animal… but if it’s from Fujisaki, then— “Is this the one I requested from you, Fujisaki-san?”
He brightly smiles and nods at Naegi. “I realized that I never was able to ask Naegi-kun what the model should look like, and Enoshima-san happened to be around… She told me that you'd probably be alright with whatever, so I decided to follow her suggestion… I'm really sorry if you didn’t like it, Naegi-kun.”
Before Fujisaki could frown, Naegi ruffles his hair and returns his smile. “It’s alright. Enoshima-san was right—I don’t mind what it looks like, so don’t worry, okay? How do I control this?”
“I'm glad… I was a bit worried you won’t like it.” Fujisaki hands him a remote. “Here… I put small labels under the buttons… did I make them too small?”
“No, I can read them just fine.” Naegi inspects the remote as he replies. It only has a few buttons, so he guesses that Fujisaki might just be trying some things out yet at the moment. “Thank you so much, Fujisaki-san. I'm so sorry to have troubled you.”
“N-No, don’t thank me yet, Naegi-kun...” Fujisaki looks embarrassed. It’s actually endearing. “That one is not done yet. I just wanted to show you my progress already… For now, you can only make it walk and say something that’s prerecorded… but I plan to add a lot of other features to it.”
“You really did well, Fujisaki-san.” Naegi caresses the stuffed bear before handing it back to Fujisaki. “You can continue working on it, but please don’t overwork yourself.”
“I won’t…” Fujisaki smiles at him again. “Thank you for your concern, Naegi-kun.”
--
“As expected of the Super High School Level Programmer!” Komaeda looks up to him while speaking, his head lying on Naegi’s lap. “I'm excited to see the final product!”
“Yeah, Fujisaki-san really did well.” Naegi replies, his hand idly playing with Komaeda’s hair. “I’d love to show it to you too when it’s done.”
“What did Naegi-kun exactly request anyway?” Komaeda’s eyes sparkled in interest as he asked.
“Well, it was a very general request, actually. I said that I just wanted a non-living thing that I can control.”
“It is general indeed, but hey, that gave her more space to work, right?”
Naegi nods, his hand continuing what it’s doing. One thing that he can actually declare in all honesty is that he likes touching Komaeda’s hair at least. “Enoshima-san was the one who suggested what it would look like, so expect it to look a bit unorthodox.”
“Oh…” Komaeda nods, and that gesture causes Naegi to feel slightly tickled. “Enoshima-san, huh… Well, whatever I feel about her doesn’t matter. She's still the Super High School Level Fashionista, and I know that she's a trendsetter. Whatever looks unorthodox right now, if she starts it, I'm sure it will be embraced even by the mainstream.”
Komaeda has this really massive admiration for the students of Hope’s Peak, always saying that they're symbols of hope. He didn’t say the exact reason why he's so… obsessed about hope, but he did tell Naegi about his luck cycle. Naegi guesses that it’s because of that.
He can understand where Komaeda’s coming from, really. Enduring something hellishly impossible, only to be greeted by something pleasantly impossible again. Naegi thinks that his luck can make normally unattainable things to happen, and that’s the reason why he keeps Komaeda around in the first place.
It’s like having a really strong weapon, only, it’s kinda uncontrollable.
While that defies his normally calculated and no-room-for-error approach, he decided that it’s okay, because he can rely on his own luck as well.
He actually has been fairly lucky himself too.
“Naegi-kun?” Komaeda reaches out a hand to touch his cheek. “Are you alright? What are you thinking about?”
Ah, he did it again. He really hates it when he spaces out. He places a hand on the one placed on his cheek and closes his eyes. “I'm thinking about you.”
Naegi can’t see Komaeda’s face, but he just knows that Komaeda blushed when he heard Naegi’s words. “…You are? Why?”
“I'm just thinking about how much I need you.” Naegi opens his eyes and smiles at him. “You'll really never leave me, right?”
Komaeda looks alarmed as he shakes his head repeatedly. “I swear I won’t! Not unless Naegi-kun doesn’t want me around anymore… in that case, please never hesitate to tell me.”
“Aw, I won’t do that to you, Komaeda-kun.” Well, as long as things play to his favor, Naegi doesn’t think there will be a good reason to do so.
--
It was one of those walks during dismissal time when Naegi sees Hinata again in that same hallway. Hinata was holding a paper, and he immediately chucks it in the small bag that he has with him when he sees Naegi.
Mhm, suspicious.
“You're here again, Hinata-kun?” Naegi greets, deciding not to address the paper.
“Y-Yeah.” Hinata’s obviously trying to act like the usual, but he looks really tired… possibly stressed out? Good. Now’s a good time. “I just had to discuss some things with a teacher.”
“What about?” Naegi tilts his head.
“Just…” Hinata hesitates. “…grades.”
Naegi thought so. He nods anyway. “Was Hinata-kun sending a complaint? Did a teacher grade unfairly?”
“Uh, yeah.” Hinata’s obviously lying. Naegi has observed ever since the start that he's too transparent for his own good. “Yeah, you're right. Haha, some teacher deducted seven points from me… What bullshit, right?”
Naegi softly chuckles. “That’s really rough. Seven points is quite a lot. What subject is that?”
“Well, physics.” Hinata rolls his eyes. “They can’t just go deducting seven points, yeah? So I had to talk with them.”
“Oh.” Naegi nods, lightly scratching his cheek. “Correct me if I'm wrong, but this isn’t the office of your physics teacher, right?”
“…Ah.” Hinata suddenly looked panicked. Naegi had to resist the urge to laugh. He looked like he was torn between apologizing endlessly and just plainly screaming, but he did neither of those. Instead, he just opened his mouth to try and say something, but nothing came out.
“It’s okay.” Naegi smiles, making sure to put on the sweetest smile possible. “I understand if it’s not my business.”
“Damn, I'm so, so—” Hinata ruffles his own hair and deeply sighs. “I'm really sorry, Naegi. I didn’t want to lie, it’s just that…”
“It’s okay. I understand that Hinata-kun probably has reasons that he can’t tell anyone. Don’t feel bad about it.”
“Look, I'm really sorry. You’ve been so good to me and Komaeda, yet I decided to repay you by being a lying dick.” Hinata’s expression was a mix of shame and guilt. It amused Naegi. He wonders if Hinata realizes what position he's in at the moment, though. For Naegi, guilt is probably one of the dangerous feelings one can feel. It causes one to be vulnerable, and even accompany it with fatigue… “Okay, so, uh, if you'd like, I can tell you anything. Maybe Komaeda’s favorite food or something? His favorite places? Or you probably already know those… Just anything. Come on, holler at me.”
Guilt makes people weak. The same goes with gratitude. It makes them promise… things like Hinata did, for example. “No, that’s unnecessary, Hinata-kun. I didn’t really mind. It’s alright.”
“No, really, I mean it. I insist.” Hinata’s just looking more tired and tired. “It’s like thanks for taking care of Komaeda, and an apology for lying.”
“Anything is really alright?”
“Yeah, give it your best shot.”
Naegi pauses for a moment, as if he's thinking of what to ask. That was nothing but prelude though. He knows what he wants to say. “Well… If it’s alright to ask…”
“It is. Just go on.”
“Hinata-kun,” Naegi looks up to face him. “What's your Super High School Level Talent?”
Naegi should have counted in his head how fast the color from Hinata’s face seems to have disappeared. His eyes widened slightly at Naegi’s question too, and they share a long while of tense and uncomfortable silence.
Well, not much for Naegi, but for Hinata, it probably felt like hell.
“As I thought…” Naegi finally breaks the thick atmosphere, accompanying his words with a sheepish chuckle. “…That one was too much to ask, after all. I'm so sorry, Hinata-kun.”
“No, it’s alright…” Hinata exhales loudly. “…I want to tell someone too, but I shouldn’t. Of course I rather tell Komaeda first, but I can’t… I don’t want him to know.”
“I'm not forcing you, Hinata-kun. If you don’t want to, it’s really alright. I’ll just come up with something else to ask?”
“You know, now that I think about it… you're probably the ideal person to tell.” Hinata forces a smile. “I mean, you're nice and understanding… and I don’t really want anyone in my class to know. But uh, I'm not ready right now... can you promise me one thing though?”
“Anything, Hinata-kun.”
“…Whatever that secret is… when I finally tell you…” Hinata takes another deep breath. “…Please don’t tell Komaeda.”
“Sure thing, but…” Naegi tilts his head. “Why not?”
“Well, he…” Hinata stares at the floor as he replies. “…He’d probably really look down on me.”
“I'm sure he won’t!” Naegi doesn’t mean that one bit. If there's actually anything that Naegi likes about Komaeda, it’s that Komaeda always says that talentless people can’t embody hope, therefore, they exist to be stepping stones for those superior to them. “You're best friends. Komaeda-kun won’t be upset because of whatever your talent is! Maybe he’ll be upset because you hid it from him, but not because of what it is. And I'm sure he’ll forgive you quite quickly, you know.”
Just like that certain instance, Hinata didn’t look convinced. Just like that certain instance as well, that isn’t what Naegi is aiming for. “Thanks, Naegi… Oh, well, I swear I’ll tell you when I'm ready… And, uh, it’s getting late.”
“You're right.” Naegi nods. “Goodbye for now, Hinata-kun.”
“Bye… Thanks again for today, by the way.”
--
“Komaeda-kun, do you want to eat somewhere else today?” Naegi asked as they were walking from Komaeda’s classroom. “The courtyard is really beautiful, but I want to try another place. Is that alright with you?”
“Oh, I'm alright with wherever, Naegi-kun.” Komaeda replies. “I mean… the fact that I'm having lunch with you… is a great thing already.”
“Come on, Komaeda-kun, don’t say it that way.” Naegi chuckles. “I really am glad that I'm with you. So are you alright with the rooftop? Or is climbing too much of a hassle?”
“No, it’s alright with me.” Komaeda chuckles as well. “Let’s go?”
So they start walking. Naegi knows that it’s going to be a bit tiring, but if he wanted a change of scenery, then he supposes he has to put up with it. Besides, he doesn’t really go to the roof a lot—the last one is probably a few months back, and that was only because one of his classmates wanted to tell him a secret in a private place. He never really returned after.
By the time they reached the rooftop, there was a slight discomfort in his legs, but he decided to ignore it. Instead, he diverted his attention to the sky, and then the over-all scenery of the school and its surrounding places. It’s weird that he doesn’t hang out every day in this place instead of that boring courtyard.
It’s beautiful up here because he can see everything, and that gives him an overwhelming sense of power.
“Naegi-kun?” Komaeda speaks beside him. “I see you liked it up here, huh? We should have spent our time here instead.”
“You said the exact words that I was thinking!” Naegi smiles at him, and Komaeda lightly blushes. “I like it so much here because I can see the clouds much more clearly. They remind me so much of your hair, Komaeda-kun. I like your hair a lot.”
“Ah…” Komaeda started idly tugging on the ends of his hair. “Thank you… I actually think my hair is weird, but if Naegi-kun likes it, then…”
He ruffles Komaeda’s hair. “I really do like your hair, you know. Anyway,” He holds Komaeda’s hand and lightly pulls him down to sit next to him. “Sorry that we had to walk all the way here. Climbing stairs can get tiring, huh?”
“It’s alright, I can put up with it.” Komaeda leans on his touch a bit. “…I feel so comforted when Naegi-kun touches my hair.”
“Well, I do like touching your hair.” Naegi pats his lap, and Komaeda automatically lays down his head on it. “By the way… There's something that I’d want to ask from you, Komaeda-kun. Is that alright?”
“Of course.” Komaeda replies. “I already said that you can tell me anytime you need something, right?”
“Thank you.” Naegi dips down and kisses his forehead. “…May I borrow your phone?”
“Sure, but…” Komaeda gets the phone from his pants’ pocket and hands it to Naegi. Naegi gladly takes it, brushing his fingers on Komaeda’s skin in the process. “…haha, there isn’t really much that Naegi-kun can see in my phone. I'm so sorry for being boring.”
“Hey, now, don’t say that about yourself.” Naegi presses the unlock button, and he was greeted by a password query. “Komaeda-kun?”
“It’s 0205, Naegi-kun.” Komaeda blushes a bit. “…Your birthday.”
Naegi kind of expected that, but okay. He puts in the four numbers, and the lock was then gone. His only business from Komaeda’s phone is his contact list, actually. He just needed to get a certain someone’s contact number, and that’s it. He smiles when he finds the contact, forwards the number to his own, and deletes the copy in the sent folder.
That was all he needed to do, but knowing Komaeda, he's obviously allowed to snoop a little.
He finds nothing interesting though, but then again, it was probably because he wasn’t really concerned about Komaeda’s personal affairs. As Komaeda himself said, there wasn’t really anything of note to be found in his phone, and it was quite indeed boring.
The possible source of entertainment that Naegi expected to get amused at is Hinata’s messages for Komaeda, but those were disappointing, too. Naegi guesses that they don’t text a lot, but that was understandable because they were roommates anyway.
“Thank you so much, Komaeda-kun.” Naegi finally returns the phone, slipping it inside Komaeda’s pocket. “Thanks for trusting me with your password too.”
“Come on… You're Naegi-kun. I trust you more than anyone.” Komaeda smiles. “If it’s not too much, may I know what you needed to look at in my phone, though?”
“I checked out your playlist… Sorry, I guess I should have just asked for recommendations, huh? I mean, I needed some new songs to listen to.”
“Oh!” Komaeda immediately gets up, but Naegi notices a hint of carefulness in his actions—probably as to not accidentally hit Naegi on the face. It’s almost admirable. “I’ll even pass you the songs if you want me to!”
“You'd do that for me?” Naegi places a hand on his chest, looking flattered. “Thank you so much, Komaeda-kun. I'm thankful. I really am.”
Komaeda lightly blushes when he smiles. “It’s no problem… That’s just a simple thing compared to what you do for me.”
Komaeda continues speaking, but Naegi’s concentration starts to drift away. What he's thinking about is what he’d do next, now that everything is ready for the next thing that he's planning to do.
We shouldn’t rush important things.
He remembers telling Enoshima that, and his belief in that statement still stands.
He knows all this planning will be worth it, and soon enough, he won’t even realize— wait, actually, no, he would. He would realize everything. He would savor the feeling, savor every sensation that he possibly will feel once everything he can see from this rooftop, once everything in the world, everything, everything… is finally his.
It won’t be long now.
It won’t be long now, he knows.