→ 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 (𝐧𝐚𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐢)

vi. mutual hatred

          togami's mind raced. naegi was looking at him with the coldest stare he had ever seen, which was a lot seeing as he grew up constantly disciplined by his parents. he could see traces of his father in the way naegi was looking at him. disappointment. disbelief. cold, pure hatred. togami suddenly felt the ability that he couldn't talk. he opened his mouth, but no sound came out no matter how hard he pushed. naegi was talking to him. his mouth was moving angrily, but he couldn't hear anything. all togami could see was the hatred in that boy's face. the hatred in his father's face.

          he could talk again. he could hear naegi. "you pervert! why would you do that?! there's no reason in hell why what you did was reasonable. none! you..." naegi's voice cracked with distress on the last words he spoke. "you disgust me, togami! you are a disgusting boy! leave me alone!" naegi collapsed into a fit of sobs, caught by maizono. the girl looked at togami, shaking her head.

          "you need to check yourself, togami. really not cool," she said softly. she looked to be genuinely worried about the sobbing boy in her arms, but there was emptiness behind her eyes. she held naegi as he cried, watching as togami gathered his things and swiftly exited the classroom. he brushed past his classmates, most of them staring after him judgmentally. togami couldn't blame them. thanks to naegi, his reputation was now worsened to a perverted asshole. just wonderful. togami's shoes tapped on the linoleum floor, echoing through the locker-lined corridor, but stopped when he realized that another pair of footsteps was following him. togami turned on his heel, his face being met with a tiny smirk.

          kirigiri.

          "kirigiri. what do you want?" togami snapped. he'd had enough of the stares of his classmates. he came out here to be alone, and that's exactly what he intended to do; without this purple-haired detective following him like a stray puppy. "i don't have all day. come now, spit it out."

kirigiri sighed, crossing her arms. "i know about you and naegi," she said, so calm it caught togami off-guard. "you like him, plain and simple. but he's madly in love with maizono. and maizono knows, too. she's protective. and she'll lie to keep naegi with her. it's not out of selfishness, it's out of fear of losing him." kirigiri folded her hands, looking at togami intensely. "i want to expose her lies. with your help, of course. naegi is trapped. he's my friend. i want to help him out here." kirigiri stuck out her hand for togami to shake. "will you do it?" she asked him, patiently waiting for an answer.

togami stared down at kirigiri's gloved hand in front of him, in disbelief. "what do you take me as?" he spat down at her. "some lovesick child? i have no intention of involving myself with naegi, much less involving myself in a romantic way with him. you must be out of your damned mind if you think that i, of all people—" togami was suddenly slapped in the face with a piece of paper, shoved by kirigiri. on it was a photograph of togami staring in wonder at naegi, who was hard at work. togami's eyes were wide and his cheeks were flushed. he was visibly enamored with naegi here. togami took the photograph and sputtered in shock. "this is clearly edited! there is no way i look at that... plebeian like that! absolutely disgusting."

"i took it last week. the first day you met him." kirigiri took the photo back, neatly tucking it into her blazer. "i could tell. the moment he introduced himself to you, you were gone. deeply in love with him." the girl stepped closer to togami, and he stepped back in response. "i want to help you be with him. allow me."

togami sighed. "it's impossible," he muttered. "how will we expose maizono for the lies? everyone believes her. naegi especially. and his opinion is the one that matters."

"we dismantle his relationship with maizono. it's going to be difficult, but naegi is smart. he'll catch onto her trail eventually, if we leave hints for him." kirigiri smiled. "i believe that naegi wants to believe you, deep down. he needs to uncover that part of him."

togami blinked, shocked at how well kirigiri had read him. she truly was the ultimate detective. she could read people like pages of a children's book, deduce their lies and truths. she would be a useful asset to his cause. the blond smiled slyly. "fine. let us begin."

•

once togami had returned to the classroom and sat down, he caught naegi's eye. the two boys held eye contact for a brief moment, which felt like eternity to togami, before naegi broke away. his demeanor was almost guilty. togami sighed and returned to his book, feeling naegi's eyes on him once more. he chose however, to remain absorbed in his reading. the bell rang, and maizono came to whisk naegi away. he laughed with her, closely following behind her.

"sayaka, wait up!"

"last one to the restaraunt is paying! i'm almost there, makoto!"

togami sighed, standing up and walking out of the school. kirigiri was right. it was going to be difficult.

•

a/n: hello everyone!! here is chapter six of meant to be! i had a lot of fun writing this chapter and i'm excited to bring out chapter seven hopefully by wednesday! love you!! <3