Welp, I've been kind of wanting more fluff of these two lately, and I figured I could use some more practice with them anyway so... why not? Based on a couple of hcs I have for them too.

I've been going back and forth all week on whether or not I like how this turned out, but at the very least I know someone will probably like it. I tried to write it in the same way I wrote 'What Are We?', but I don't know if it turned out as well as that did (which yes I am stupid proud of that fic. Bite me).

Clingy

Naegi let out a soft groan as his eyes slowly began to open. He gave a slight wince as he blinked a few times, some small streams of light from outside managing to hit him through the window. He clicked his tongue a few times as well; his mouth felt extremely dry for some reason. His neck hurt too, it was incredibly sore—was he leaning on something? That would explain why everything looked tilted at least. He lifted his head off of whatever it was, though he almost immediately regretted it as the light from before now shone directly in his eyes.

He squeezed his eyes shut again to avoid being blinded by it. His mind felt foggy and muddled, and no matter how hard he tried he seemed to be unable to remember what he had been doing. Something about being on a bus…? For a school trip maybe? Or was that just him imagining nonsense again?

Just what exactly was going on again?

Squinting against the irritating trace amounts of light, he finally managed to get his eyes fully opened again and started to look around. It was fairly dark, with almost everything in sight being covered in shadow, but not to the point that he couldn't make details out. His thoughts about the bus seemed to have been true at least. Still, there was very little interesting to focus on—a few empty seats, someone's jacket carelessly tossed and forgotten on the floor, his bag laying at his feet. Nothing that eye catching really.

It was surprisingly quiet as well—barely any sounds at all, minus a few hushed conversations somewhere in front of him. Maybe someone listening to some loud music as well on their headphones? It was too hard to tell, though his first guess would have been Kuwata; last time the baseball star had asked him to listen to some music he liked with him he swore he'd nearly gone deaf from the absolutely ridiculous volume he'd cranked it to.

But aside from that, there was little else to go off of as to what was going on. His initial confusion had worn off somewhat—everything seemed familiar again at least—but it still had a much too tight grasp on him to fully remember everything. Had he fallen asleep or something? He supposed that would explain why he felt so groggy. And it was probably pretty late, at least judging by how dark it was. Staying up until the late hours of night or the early hours of the morning wasn't something he could say he had much experience in, so he had to admit it wouldn't be that much of a stretch for him to have nodded off because of that.

Figuring at least that mystery had been solved, he leaned back and let his head rest against the seat. He made a move to raise his hand, intending to wipe the sleep out of his eyes, but found that he couldn't. His arm got caught on something.

"Huh?" Well, that was strange. He looked down to his right and soon found the cause: his arm was wrapped around something. Both of his arms actually. His brow furrowed at the sight. He didn't remember doing anything like this either. But before he could even mentally question it much, something else grabbed hold of his attention instead.

"Did you have a nice nap, Naegi?" A quiet, even toned, almost teasing sounding voice asked him from his right. He almost flinched at the sudden sound of it, then snapped his head over to the source of it. He almost flinched again at the sight. A pair of purple eyes returned his gaze and stared back at him with an amount of intensity that, from anyone else, would have unnerved him completely.

It was the gaze of the Ultimate Detective: Kyouko Kirigiri. Who he considered to be his best friend, who he was sitting next to on this bus.

Which meant that…

What he had his arms tangled around currently was actually her arm…

And if that was the case, that also meant that he had been laying his head on her shoulder only moments ago.

"Oh no…"

He felt his face pale as the realization dawned on him. His whole body tensed as he felt his heart rate quicken. Slowly, his eyes moved up from there to look at her face.

For her part, Kirigiri simply raised a brow at his frantic expression.

Well, if he hadn't been awake before, he certainly was now.

"Sorry! Sorry!" he squeaked out in a harsh, loud whisper. He immediately retracted his arms from her and quickly pulled them back in a panic. He wasn't sure what to do with them at at first, initially trying folding them over his chest before feeling to uncomfortable and stifled with that. He finally managed to fold his hands down onto his lap with minimal difficulty, twiddling his thumbs to keep himself from squirming. At the feeling of her stare still on him, he looked down towards his lap to try and ignore it, feeling his face heat up with embarrassment. The tips of his ears felt like they were on fire.

He needed to distract himself with something. Anything. And with his previous drowsiness having now been mostly swept away, he could more clearly remember what the events of the day had been. That seemed a sufficient enough thought to focus on for now. He took a deep breath to try and steady his racing heart.

Both the 77th and 78th classes of Hope's Peak had had a sort of school outing today some place a bit out of town. The goal was apparently to show off their talents for some kind of event—really he didn't know much of the details. 'Ultimate Lucky Student' wasn't exactly a talent one could show off to others (Well, maybe Komaeda could, but generally almost everyone agreed that seemed like a bad idea), so he really hadn't paid the event much mind. He didn't even think everyone was going to go at first, given that it was meant to 'show off' various talents, but one way or another everyone had gotten roped into it at the last minute.

And after that part was done… really there hadn't been much else to do but hang out, the event having taken much less time than expected, and the day becoming a kind of free day for the classes until it was time to head back home. Most everyone was free to spend time doing whatever so long as they 1: Didn't break the law and 2: Came back to the bus on time that evening.

Personally, he'd planned on spending the day with most of his friends, but he really ended up spending most of it with Kirigiri; everyone else suddenly seemed to have plans that would have been 'ruined' supposedly as soon as he asked about them, but then would encourage him to seek out the detective instead at his disappointed expression.

All of them.

He found it suspicious of course—the chances of them all coincidentally coming up with the exact same idea were slim to none, even he knew that—but truthfully it didn't really bother him. He really liked getting to hang out with Kirigiri. He enjoyed spending time with all of his classmates of course, but with her it was… it was really special.

He'd had to fight hard to gain any semblance of trust with her just to gleam what few details he currently knew about her, and when he'd win those battles she was constantly surprising him with new and amazing aspects about her life. She was just so much more interesting compared to himself that it was difficult not to be amazed by her! And that battle of his had paid off, getting him to the point where she actually considered him her closest friend, an admission that had stunned him for the rest of the say when she'd made it. He couldn't help his lips twitching upwards at the memory of the events from earlier that afternoon.

He'd been impressed enough when she'd sat herself next to him that morning on the way there, having expected her to try and sit by herself if at all possible. But then to actually get to spend most of the day with her? It had been great! Mostly she'd stayed quiet and enjoyed a book she'd brought along, but he still enjoyed just sitting in silence with her. They did that pretty often actually; he normally hated it being so quiet when with others, but she somehow managed to make it comfortable.

The trip back had mostly been in that same comfortable silence as well from what he could recall, with a few odd conversations here or there. Evidently though, none of it was enough to keep himself awake, thus leading to… well, the very situation he was finding himself in now.

At the thought of her again he gulped and tore his gaze away from his fidgety fingers and stole a glance at the detective out of the corner of his eyes. She'd finally stopped staring at him and had instead returned to gazing out of the window instead, eyes seeming to scan over every detail they came across. He looked back down again and repressed the urge to to sigh.

She hadn't said anything, which worried him. She wasn't the type to speak much anyways of course, preferring to only speak when absolutely necessary, but that would've been his only clue as to how she'd felt about what just transpired. She was a very guarded person in general, she wasn't going to let anything slip by in her face or words without intending it, but even a miniscule hint would've been nice. Silence told him nothing, and all it did was make the anxiety build.

Now he had the worry of whether or not days like this would even continue with her. After this… he wasn't sure she would even want to talk to him again. Perhaps he was panicking just a bit, but now that the concern was in his mind he was struggling to think of anything else.

He quickly slammed his hands down on his leg to stop himself from bouncing it. He was fine, there was no need for that. No need to make himself look more like a fool than he already had.

Naegi knew that he was the type of person who greatly enjoyed physical affection. Friendly touches on the shoulder, holding hands, hugs—especially hugs—he liked it all. And just as much as he enjoyed being on the receiving end of those actions, he liked returning them to his friends as well.

But, he also recognized that not all of his friends shared the same sentiment, such as how Kirigiri felt on the idea. She'd never verbally expressed any discomfort about it to him, but he could tell it wasn't something she sought after. The way she'd tense up on the few occasions he'd hugged her, or how she'd move away if someone was touching her. She liked her space, and he could respect that.

So, in spite of how much he liked the idea of having that type of contact with her—again, especially hugging—he limited himself out of respect to her personal boundaries. And he was fine with that.

Clearly though, his restraint on such matters didn't carry over to when he was sleeping.

God, and it had been such a nice day too. And now he was certain he'd ruined it! Even though it was accident, he was sure she still didn't appreciate having him enter her personal space uninvited. All that time spent building trust with her, spending time getting to know her, shattered in a single, stupid moment. It'd be a miracle if she even decided to talk to him again after this, let alone let them return to studying or having lunch together!

And all of this trouble simply because he fell asleep! He hadn't even felt that tired earlier! So why-!?

"I… I need to stop thinking about this. Now." He was going to drive himself crazy if he kept this up. Well, more crazy that he'd already driven himself in any case. He took in another deep breath, stiff shoulders drooping as he exhaled.

He started to look around the bus again. Now that he had a slightly better view. If it weren't for some light streaming in from outside and the glow from some peoples electronics up front, he wasn't sure if he'd have been able to see at all. It made him wonder just how late it really was.. The bus ride that morning hadn't been all that long really, or at least it hadn't seemed that long in any case. Surely they should've made it back to the school by now?

He glanced back towards the window that Kirigiri was still peering out of to check, and the sight gave him pause.

"Are… are we even moving?" He hadn't noticed at first, too caught up in his buzzing worries, but now that he got a closer look, the answer appeared to be resounding no. Had they moved at all since he'd woken up? It didn't seem like it. And it didn't appear that they were even close to the school yet either, so that wasn't it. "So, why not…?"

"We hit a bad patch of traffic; a bad accident on the road from what I've gathered. It's been slow moving since then," Kirigiri said suddenly, making him jump. Her eyes moved to look at him through the reflection on the window. Had he said that out loud?

"O-oh…" He said, scratching at his cheek. That would explain it, he supposed. "It didn't seem that bad earlier though…" He noted quietly.

"It wasn't. We only hit it about 20 minutes ago." She explained, voice flat and even as always. There was an unspoken 'And you didn't know that because you were asleep' hidden in her words that he heard loud and clear.

He cringed at the reminder. Was that her subtle clue to him that she was upset about it? Or maybe it was a sign to just drop the subject and let it die? Argh, he had no idea! Getting a read on her was near impossible unless she deliberately allowed it. And he highly doubted she would be doing that any time soon, which meant that all he could do was speculate about it.

Truly, a terrible idea with an imagination like his.

He bit his lip and looked down at his hands again. The anxiety was returning again; there went his plan to distract himself. The ever racing worries returned once more—all the dreaded what if's and worst case scenarios he'd been trying to escape—and he had to force himself not to move his leg again, instead choosing to clench his hands into tight fists.

She was definitely not happy with him, he was certain now. He had to do something. He needed to fix this somehow, provided that was even possible. Maybe his luck could finally kick in for him and he'd be able to at least partially salvage the trust she'd put in him?

"I'm really sorry!" He found the words spilling out of his mouth in a panic a moment later.

She turned back to look at him with an almost bemused expression. "Hm?" she let out.

He swallowed, trying to gather his nerves. "F-for falling asleep and everything! I really didn't mean to do that in the first place, but I'm especially sorry for leaning and grabbing onto you like that! I totally get it if you're upset with me about it—"

"Naegi-" She tried, but it fell on deaf ears.

"—because I know you like your space, and I really do respect that! I don't know why I did it at all, I know we're friend but it was still completely uncalled for regardless of that fact and—"

"Naegi,' she tried again, this time with a little more force in her tone.

"—I just hope that this doesn't ruin anything between us. I-I'd totally get it if it did! B-But I still really like hanging out with you so please don't be mad-"

"Naegi!" She said sharply, effectively sending him into silence, jaw snapping shut with an audible clack. She raised a finger to her lip and made a vague motion towards the others on the bus, reminding him to keep his voice down. "You're rambling, Naegi. Take a breath and try again,"

He shrank back, feeling almost like a puppy being scolded. That probably hadn't really helped his case. He gave her a small nod and gave himself a moment to just breathe, letting out a soft exhale to try and calm his thoughts. Slowly, the more frenzied ideas started to dissipate, leaving him in a somewhat more clearer state.

"Sorry…" He muttered again after collecting himself, then started twiddling his fingers once more. "I just… I really didn't mean to fall asleep or anything. And I completely get it if you're mad about it but I-"

"I'm not," she cut him off before he could finish

His head snapped up once more. Had he heard her correctly? "Huh?"

"I'm not upset at all." She repeated patiently.

He blinked. What now?! "B-But I-"

"You were asleep, therefore I presume you had little to no say in the matter of how you moved around. People do strange things in their sleep all the time, including sometimes things they normally wouldn't when they're awake, but rarely does it actually reflect anything about the kind of person they are. I'm not going to be mad at you for something you couldn't control," She folded her arms over her chest gave him a side eye. "Or do you really think me to be so petty?"

"W-what!? No, of course I don't think that!" He defended, waving his arms frantically in front of him.

This wasn't what he'd expected at all frankly. But, the more he thought about it, especially with his worries from before easing their grip around him, he supposed it made sense. Kirigiri wasn't the type to have big reactions to things, even to those that grated on her nerves. She kept it all hidden behind a mask, something about protecting against deception he believed she'd said? He'd managed to see glimpses of what she was like without the mask, or at least when it wasn't as strong, in small instances here or there in private. But even in those moments she was very muted in her reactions.

So, even if she had been irritated with his actions, she probably wouldn't have displayed it so openly. He knew that about her better probably than anyone else in his class. And yet in his panic, he'd forgotten that fact. Gah, he felt like an idiot!

And even so, the guilt of his actions still wouldn't leave him alone. "But still I… I invaded your personal space. It's not like it'd be super unreasonable for someone to get annoyed with that, even if it wasn't on purpose…" He countered weakly.

"And would you have that type of reaction?" she asked after a brief pause between them. At his confused face, she elaborated, "Would you be mad if our roles were reversed in this situation?"

"Huh?" Now she was turning this onto him? "W-well… no, I don't think I would." He shook his head after a moment of thought. "No, I definitely wouldn't. It wouldn't be a big deal, especially if it was on accident and- oh…" He felt his face heat up again as he understood what that made him sound like. The almost smug look she was giving him didn't help at all.

"And so why should I find it to be so offensive?"

"Because I uh… well it's… er…" He faltered. He let out a defeated sigh. "I guess… there's no real reason." He let out a forced sounding, sheepish laugh and rubbed at the back of his neck. "Just me being stupid and worrying too much about being too invasive I guess. Sorry…" His nervous laughter trailed off for a few seconds, then died off entirely when he noticed her lack of reaction. He let his hand fall back down at his side and looked towards the empty seat beside them.

A beat of silence passed between them. The bus lurched forward a bit, but only just barely made any headway. Just as soon as it started, they were back to a standstill once more. The ride home was going to take an eternity at this rate, much to his chagrin.

He could feel her gaze on him before she said, "Hm, you worry far too much about others for your own good, do you know that, Naegi?"

He refused to meet her eyes. "I just… I just don't wanna make anyone feel bad, accidentally or otherwise, y'know?" He muttered with a shrug. "You're my friend, Kiri—a really, really good friend. I'd hate to be the reason that you're uncomfortable."

He heard her let out a low, breathy chuckle. Not quite her natural laugh, but close. "An admirable, if a bit excessive worry for you to have. But I suppose I really shouldn't be surprised by this from you by now, now should it?" He finally turned to look towards her, and he had to stop himself from gasping at just how soft the look in her eyes had become. "You really are an open book."

"Heh… so you've told me before…" He found himself letting out a small laugh as well, finally able to let a small smile form on his lips. Kirigiri allowed one as well, lips twitching upwards as she heard him laugh. Their eyes met and for a moment, it was almost like they were entranced with one another. It felt amazing, the look on her face seemed so open and trusting, it made him feel privileged he even got a glimpse of it. He wished it never had to end.

But unfortunately, it did have to.

She broke it off first, looking away and moving to tuck some loose strands of hair behind her ear. "In any case, your worry in this particular instance though appreciated is… entirely unnecessary." Before he could even get the words to his question to form on his lips, she continued. "At any point it would've been very easy to simply wake you up, or even just to pull my arm from your grasp, had I found it to be necessary. You didn't have a very tight hold of it at all really,"

"Yeah… I guess I hadn't really thought of that," he sheepishly admitted, scratching at his cheek again. "Then again, I don't think most people expect to wake up like that, so I just kind of panicked and well…" he trailed off with another awkward laugh, though this one was much more jovial than his last one. But then, something odd about her phrasing struck him. "But, wait! If you would've just done that the whole time, then why didn't you?"

"I did… consider it, yes. But you looked rather content like that, and you seemed like you needed the rest," she quietly admitted. She hesitated only briefly before continuing, adding, "And… although your observations about my opinions on physical contact are correct, I… I actually found I didn't mind it in this instance. And in fact… I find myself ok with it in general… so long as it's with you.' Her voice was barely above a whisper, and he swore he saw the color of her cheeks darken just a bit as she spoke. He blinked. Had he seen that correctly? Was she actually… blushing? Or was it just the lack of lighting playing tricks on his eyes?

Regardless, he certainly felt his own face warm up once again. "O-oh! I uh… I see." He let out a small cough as he slightly turned away from her again. He wasn't sure what to say in response to that. That he was glad? That would just sound creepy, wouldn't it?

Luckily, he didn't have to think too hard about it before she moved onto a new subject. "And you know, Naegi, more than anything else, I actually found it quite endearing that your first instinct seemed to be to latch onto me a like I was an oversized stuffed bear," she teased, her expression turning a but playful.

Ah, because of course the subject had to be her poking fun at him. His face flushed once more, and he was convinced it was going to remain that way at this rate.

"A-ah well, bears are actually my favorite animal, don't you know?" he responded.

"Oh? Are they now?" she asked. "I think that's the first favorite of yours I've heard that you didn't just refer to whatever's popular. I would have taken you for more a dog person."

"Well, I like dogs too of course; how could I not like them, they're too cute! But… I dunno, I've just always liked them more."

"Any particular reason?" She seemed to have a genuine inquisitive look on her face.

"Uh… nope. I've just always thought they were cool," he replied, voice rising in pitch a bit.

The thought of Beary sitting on his bed back in his dorm room had absolutely nothing to do with it. No, not at all. Definitely nothing she needed to know about

She didn't seem convinced, but said nothing about it thankfully. He didn't think he'd be able to take that alongside all the other embarrassment that came from tonight.

He glanced toward the window again. "How long do you think it's gonna be till we get back?"

"Hard to say, but at this rate, probably at least another hour," she figured.

He winced. "I was afraid you were gonna say that." He sighed and leaned back again, closing his eyes for a moment.

"Planning on going back to sleep?" she asked.

He opened them again and glanced at her as he shook his head. "I don't think I could even if I wanted to." He certainly wasn't feeling refreshed after waking up, but he didn't really feel tired enough to fall back asleep either. "What about you though? Do you wanna get any sleep? Like you said, we're gonna be here awhile."

She turned back towards the window again. "I'm fine. Staying up late isn't that big of an issue for me." She paused for a moment, almost hesitated in continuing. "And besides, I've never been one to be able to sleep on public transportation anyway. I'm far too light a sleeper."

"I mean, we aren't moving all that much anyway, and getting some rest is better than nothing so…" He swallowed. "So I mean… if you change your mind or something…"

"Naegi, are you really offering yourself for me to rest against should I decide to?" She gave him a strange kind of expression that made him falter. He hadn't overstepped, had he?

"W-well, I mean..! Y-you don't have to or anything, but I just thought it was fair since-" He stopped when he heard a quiet, muffled laughter emanating from her. He couldn't stop his smile from returning—her natural laugh, at last.

"You truly are an open book, Naegi," she reminded him. He

But, even as she spoke those words, she moved to scoot towards him. His heart skipped a beat she he felt her start to lean against him, and he forced himself not to instinctively tense up. She muttered something under breath in his ear, something about how 'the idea did sound nice'. Her eyes closed, and he watched as her chest began to rise and fall more slowly as she relaxed into him. He couldn't wipe the giant, dopey grin off of his face, not that he would've wanted to.

"'Ok with it so long as it's with you' huh…" The words endlessly echoed around in his head. It made him feel downright giddy to know she placed such trust in him. He'd have to be sure to cherish that trust, he knew it wasn't placed in him lightly. She was far too reserved with everyone else for him to think otherwise.

And knowing he had that trust… it made his thoughts begin to spin. He liked the detective very much, he could easily admit to himself that he was crushing on her hard. It wasn't like he was hiding it all that well, most of their class already thought they were together—it wouldn't even surprise him if she was entirely aware of his feelings for her too at this point, much as the very idea terrified him.

Going beyond his head and actually admitting he had them to her though… well, that was another matter entirely. He wanted to confess to her—so badly he wanted too—but every time he thought of it he lost his nerve. He was just so unsure about it all. She was just so amazing at everything she did, and he was just so… ordinary. The fact that he'd won over her friendship was incredibile enough as it was, and now they were so close… the idea of potentially ruining that bond through a confession of feelings was a gamble he wasn't sure he was willing to take. He couldn't fathom what someone as brilliant as her would ever be able to see in someone like him.

But this tiny place of faith in him, this fraction of vulnerability she was showing as he rested against him with her eyes shut, the trust she'd given him with her quiet admission minutes ago… maybe they were all a sign.

Maybe the idea of reciprocation wasn't as unfathomable as he once thought.

He felt her hand moved slightly and brush against his leg. His eyes flicked down toward it and found it sitting right beside his knee. He bit his lip as an enticing idea struck him. It was bold for him… but he hoped it wouldn't be too much.

"I know she trusts me… so I hope this isn't overstepping any boundaries." And, with only a brief moment of hesitation, he reached down and took her gloved hand into his own and threaded their fingers together.

He waited with baited breath for any kind of reaction from her.

A moment passed.

She gripped his hand back.

A sigh of relief escaped from him. He sat back once again, staring into the seat in front of him. He gave a brief glance toward her once more as the thought of a confession entered his mind once again.

"Not today, Kiri, but maybe one day soon…" It was too soon for now. He still had too many unanswered doubts to feel even partially comfortable with the idea.

But… maybe he'd have the courage sooner than he'd expected.

They were both free next week, weren't they?

Unbeknownst to him, from his side, Kirigiri smiled.

You know, in hindsight I probably didn't have to have them on a bus for this to happen, but whatever. Memories of band trips in hs hit you when you least expect them I guess. Not that this is based on anything in particular mind you, I just thought of them lately.

The HCs I thought of are: As stated in the fic itself, Makoto is a very physically affectionate person as a whole, and has a harder time actually reining himself in if he's tired or otherwise incapacitated in some way. And yes, I made bears his favorite animal. Isn't irony fun?

Kirigiri meanwhile is less comfortable with being touched just due to a lack of experience with it (Totally not self projecting again hahahaha)

Hope you liked it though! I'd like to think I'm getting better at writing them, but I honestly don't know.

At least I'm trying...?