→ 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 (𝐧𝐚𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐢)

iv. obstacles

          togami could feel the heat rising in his cheeks. naegi was laying on top of him, giggling drunkenly. he smelled strongly of alcohol. togami took notice of the empty solo cup in naegi's hand as the boy stared at him. had he just called him by his first name? togami was visibly surprised, but attempted to cover it up with his usual demeanor. "naegi, what have you been drinking?" he said in complete disgust. "you're making a fool out of yourself. get up." togami helped naegi to his feet, becoming aware of the crowd that had grown around them. "show's over," togami growled.

          as the mob of students dissipated, maizono came forward. she had a smile on her face. naegi's face brightened at the sight of his new girlfriend. maizono giggled and hugged him, her soft little smile disappearing when naegi couldn't see it. "you keep your hands off him," she whispered to togami. "you hear me? he's mine. not yours. keep away from him." maizono glared at togami, who took this as a challenge and simply glared right back. maizono was absolutely livid. "if i see you talking to him, i'll kill you myself," she spat, all while holding naegi and stroking the back of his head. the boy was half asleep.

          "it's not my fault your little boy toy came crashing into me. you should keep a better eye on him if you're going to be so possessive." togami stared down at maizono in disdain. "i simply happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time." togami started to turn and walk away when he suddenly felt the need to get a final word in. he snapped back to maizono and naegi and glared down at the two, watching naegi in particular. "i wouldn't even attempt to go after that disappointing specimen if i was paid a fortune."

          as togami strutted away, he heard naegi mumbling something to maizono but paid no mind to it. he couldn't help but feel a little bad for saying those things about him, but why? he had never experienced any remorse before, so why now?

          what made makoto naegi so special?

•

          the next day at school, togami arrived to a quiet classroom. half of his classmates were hung over in some way, shape or form aside from the motherly types and non-drinkers such as kirigiri, ogami, fujisaki, and celestia. togami sighed, making his way to the back of the classroom where he sat, and was surprised to find naegi slumped over his desk, asleep. togami wordlessly slipped into his chair, eyeing maizono to make sure she wasn't paying attention to him as he moved naegi's body so that he was leaning on togami's shoulder. togami then coughed, drawing maizono's attention to him, and smirked as he opened up his book completely unbothered.

          the sound of a chair being pushed back echoed through the classroom, followed by the taps of footsteps on linoleum as maizono stormed back toward togami. she opened her mouth to start yelling at him when togami put a finger to her lips, careful not to wake naegi. "shh," he whispered. "your boyfriend is sleeping. we wouldn't want to wake him, now would we?" togami watched as maizono's face filled with rage knowing she couldn't do anything, then swiftly walked back to her seat with the eyes of the class pricking her back.

          togami's words had woken up naegi, however, and he lifted his head in confusion. he looked exhausted. "maizono?" he said softly, his voice raspy and deeper than usual. this caught togami off-guard and his eyes widened, but he stayed silent. naegi's gaze turned to togami. "oh... it was you. what time is it?"

          togami quickly flicked his wrist up, checking the time on his priceless wristwatch. "it's just about nine," he said in a softer tone of voice than intended. why did he care so much about naegi's hangover? togami quickly disregarded his blaring internal question and cleared his throat, looking away. naegi's hair was messy and his eyes were heavily lidded with dark bags underneath them. he had a mark on his cheek from where he was resting on his sleeve earlier. it was... cute.

          "togami?" naegi's morning voice cut through togami's moment of reflection and he snapped back into reality.

          "uh— yes?"

          "i was just asking if you could wake me up when class starts," naegi said, a bit embarrassed. "i don't want to miss anything important from dozing off like that. of course, you don't have to. it's fine." naegi laughed slightly, wincing when this affected his headache. togami smiled slightly.

          "yes. i will do that."

          togami watched naegi's face break into a smile. "thanks togami, you're the best." naegi sighed in relief, putting his head down once more. togami watched as his breathing slowed and he fully relaxed. it didn't take naegi long to fall asleep at all.

          when the class bell rang, togami debated if he should wake naegi or not. he gently shook the boy to no response and sighed, taking out two sheets of notebook paper for notes instead of just one. as the class went on, togami wrote thorough notes for both himself and naegi, making sure naegi's copy was neater and more readable than his own. purely because togami's handwriting could get messy at times. of course, that was the only reason. as the class came to a close, togami scribbled his phone number at the bottom of the note page with a small message. he slid the paper under naegi's arm, shaking him again before leaving for lunch.

          as naegi stirred, he felt the crinkling of paper underneath his arm. he lifted his head, pulling the paper out from underneath him. to his surprise, naegi was looking at a full page of notes on the class from that day in the neatest handwriting he had ever seen. naegi scanned the page, his eyes catching on a bit of writing at the bottom.

          "you slept through class. i took notes for you. i apologize for the messiness. call me with any questions. (xxx)xxx-xxxx. sincerely, bt."

•

a/n: hello everyone!! i apologize for the chapter being so late. my dad recently got his hip replaced and i've been taking care of him. but no worries, he's recovering quickly and i'll hopefully have a new chapter out tomorrow since i'm on spring vacation!! love you all <3