The Thorns of Despair: First Love's Future - Makoto Naegi x Reader

Chapter 8: Betrayed and the End of Hope

A/N (IMPORTANT): This is probably the last update I will do for about three weeks. I have my mocks in a week so I have to focus on revising for those. Sorry for making you all wait for a while but I promise that I will be back! I made this chapter two pages longer than usual to make up for it :)

See you all in a few weeks!

~Your POV~

Togami didn't trust me. I knew that. But he seemed determined to rip Makoto away from me at any moment. As much as I tried to get along with him, it never seemed to be enough. I couldn't persuade him to give me a chance, no matter what I did. It was infuriating, especially because he not only insulted me on a regular basis, but my friends too, which in my mind was unforgivable. I had expected it, though. Like I had said to Makoto, I knew that this would happen when I decided to be a Remnant of Despair. I would be hated, I would be feared, I would be ridiculed and spat on when I fell. People would look at me in contempt, just like Togami did. Seeing my friends smile again was worth the price and I refused to give up, no matter how much the world despised me. But for some reason, his words hurt. No, I knew why. It was because I was prepared to go through this self-sacrificing journey alone. That was when Makoto stepped in and opened my aching heart, taking me by the hand and pulling me towards a future in the sun. A warm, bright future that I would experience with him. Not on my own. Only when I met Makoto, I realised just how lonely I was. I wanted to have someone by my side and I wanted a reason to smile. I wanted to smile in the name of hope and not in despair. He gave me hope. He gave me a future. He was kind to me and never gave up on me. That was why I never gave up either. I never gave up on saving my friends and I never gave up on trying to get Togami's approval either. He was someone important to Makoto, after all. I just couldn't keep my cool completely around him because of his attitude towards me. He thought of himself as so superior to me, which I assumed was from his status as a Former Super High School-Level Heir. I would've been able to brush that off if it wasn't for the fact that he constantly tried to stand between Makoto and I. He seemed to think that I would infect him with some disease so he tried to keep all of the distance between us that he could. Disease probably isn't the right word, though. A more accurate word would be Despair. Cold, dark, crippling despair. As if Makoto, the Ultimate Hope, would give into despair so easily.... There was no point in being so cautious. At least Kyoko seemed to get along with me, despite how quiet she was.

Sighing, I turned to Miaya, who was working on the Neo World Program with me at that moment. "Is it alright if I take a break?" I asked.

She merely nodded in response and I left the room, drowning in my thoughts once again. I had to be careful of what I said. Togami would use anything I said wrongly against me. Kyoko would also pick up on any suspicious behaviour. Being the Former Super High School-Level Detective made her really sharp. I closed my eyes before opening them again and looking ahead, any trace of my previous emotions hiding behind a mask of fake friendliness. They may be smart, but I was capable of outsmarting them. I was once the Mastermind of World Calamities, after Junko died. I was capable of deceiving people and manipulating them into getting what I wanted. I was able to commit the most sinful acts without any show of remorse. That hadn't changed. After all, I had only recently stopped destroying the world with a smile. They wanted a Remnant of Despair, so I decided to give them just that. Only this time, I would inflict a new kind of despair on them. The despair of having their suspicions proven wrong and their hatred unjustified. 

"(f/n)." I heard a familiar voice call, snapping me out of my thoughts as their footsteps became louder.

"Makoto." I greeted and was about to smile when I hear two other pairs of footsteps in the distance.