→ 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 (𝐧𝐚𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐢)

v. self doubt

          b. t. ...

          naegi had been thinking about those initials for the entirety of lunch so far. he knew togami had those initials but there was no way it could be him, right? naegi had heard from just about every single one of his classmates that the elusive byakuya togami never did anything for anyone unless it benefitted him in some way, so this huge favor couldn't have been of his doing. but still, there was the fact that nobody else had handwriting that neat. naegi thought of comparing notes with togami later that day to confirm the writing was in fact his, but still had the doubt in mind that he could refuse.

naegi sighed, absentmindedly poking at his bento. hina was chattering away about a new donut shop she had discovered across the street, but her words sounded as if they were being spoken from a location far away. he could feel maizono's eyes on him, and he looked up at her and offered a smile. it was half-assed, he soon realized as maizono worriedly tilted her head. "i'm all good," naegi said. "promise." naegi put a bigger smile on his face and laughed.

maizono scooted closer to naegi, making him blush. "naegi?" she asked him, frowning slightly. naegi smiled and tucked a piece of her blue hair behind her ear for her. she was so cute when she was all worried about him.

"what's up?" naegi asked, gently holding one of maizono's hands with both of his own.

"should i be worried? about you and togami?" maizono sniffled, batting her eyes up at naegi as he looked at her in confusion.

"togami? why would you be worried about togami?" naegi felt almost stunned. why would maizono be worried about togami? he and naegi barely spoke with each other, just sat in uncomfortable silence during class. sure, there was that one time at the party, but naegi was drunk and had no clue what he was doing. "me and him don't really talk much, maizono. why are you worried about him?"

maizono stared down at her fingers intertwined with naegi's. "i just..." she sighed. "i always look at you in class. just sitting, paying attention. totally normal. and togami was staring at you. like..." maizono widened her eyes and stared intently at naegi before blinking and drawing back. "like that. it was really creepy. and... this one time, this morning, you were sleeping at your desk and he just picked you up and put you on him." maizono shuddered. "it creeped me out. he had his hands all over you."

naegi recoiled in shock. togami couldn't have done that, could he? of course, he had no clue what had happened while he was asleep, but it seemed a little sketchy for togami to be touching naegi like that. naegi glanced over at togami's table, then back at maizono. "really?" he said, almost in a whisper. maizono nodded in confirmation, and naegi sat back in his seat. he put down his chopsticks, suddenly no longer hungry, as maizono sighed.

"i'm sorry, naegi."

•

after lunch ended and the second half of classes for the day began, togami slid into his seat next to naegi. he couldn't help but notice how uncomfortable the boy looked when he came into the room. togami wondered if his writing naegi's notes for him was too buddy-buddy and strange for naegi's tastes. togami cleared his throat and read his book, peeking at naegi's feet as they shuffled further away from togami. the blond boy frowned in disdain. "naegi. why is it that you're acting so skidding all of a sudden?"

naegi seemed to stiffen at the mention of his name and behavior. "i— uh—" he stammered, sweating bullets as he scrambled for an answer that wouldn't let togami know that he thought togami was creepy. "i—"

"he knows about your staring. and you feeling him up when he was asleep this morning." maizono's sickeningly sweet voice cut through the air, and naegi let out a sigh of relief as togami drew himself back in confusion. "you're a pervert," maizono spat.

togami scoffed. "i did nothing of the sort! i never have!" togami's eyes snapped to naegi, whose head was hung in shame and embarrassment. "naegi, tell her! i have never done that to you!"

"but... i don't know if you did or not," naegi admitted. "maizono told me that you did it this morning while i was asleep." naegi looked up at maizono as if checking to see if his details were correct. his eyes were filled with confusion and fear, and his ahoge lay flat against his head. his cheeks were reddened and his leg was bouncing underneath the table.

"admit it, perv," maizono glared at togami. "if you like naegi, you should tell him instead of violating him like that. it's even worse when he was asleep." togami was outraged. he could see the shadow of a smirk on maizono's face. this was on purpose. she was making up lies about togami so naegi would stay away. she was... jealous.

togami suddenly stood up, defiance shooting through his veins. "it is no fault of mine that you are so insecure about me you feel the need to spread lies about my nonexistent relationship with naegi here. it is no fault of mine that if forced to choose, naegi would likely choose me. it is no fault of mine that—"

"no, that's wrong!" naegi's voice cut off togami's, bringing him out of his stupor long enough to realize what he had done. naegi had tears in his eyes and was looking at togami with one thing burning in his gaze.

hatred.

shit... what have i done?

•

a/n: hey everyone!! here is the next chapter of. meant to be!! sorry it took so long to come out, my writer's block has been absolutely ruthless lately. but it's okay!! another chapter will be out sometime in the next couple days. love you all!! <3