Makoto Naegi got that Togami was tired of being followed around. He got that Fukawa could be a little unsettling sometimes. And he got that Togami had told her from the start to stop following him around.

But that didn't excuse what he'd just said.

Fukawa stood at the entrance to the library, eyes wide, completely frozen. Her hands were halfway up to her mouth in a unfinished attempt to physically convey her shock. And Togami just turned and walked away.

"Hey, hold up," Naegi said. Togami turned on him, and he took a half-step backward. "That was really… that was really mean, Togami-kun. I think you should-"

"What? Apologize? I've told her over and over to leave me alone, and she hasn't done it. It's her own fault," Togami said, dismissing the matter entirely and locking himself in the back room. Naegi turned back to Fukawa, who still hadn't moved.

Well, if Togami wasn't going to apologize, Naegi would do it for him. "Fukawa-san?" he said. Fukawa whipped her head around to look at him. One of her braids hit him in the face. "I… I'm sorry."

"Why?" Fukawa snapped, but it didn't have the usual conviction to it. She chewed on her lower lip, and then ran out of the library. Naegi winced, glanced back at the door to the back room, and followed her.

She went directly to her room, and Naegi spent a good fifteen minutes knocking on the door before she answered. "Wh-what do you want?"

"I wanted to see if you were okay," Naegi said, though he was starting to feel a little uncomfortable with the whole situation. "I mean, you ran off, and what Togami-kun said was… well, it was even worse than what he usually says."

She stayed silent, and Naegi kept going. If he was completely honest with himself, Fukawa had the tendency to freak him out a little – even before the whole Syo thing had come to light, she'd freaked him out. There was just an aura of unpleasantness around her, but that seemed to dissipate as he kept talking, apologizing on Togami's behalf and rambling on about how it was all wrong. Soon, the door was open all the way, and she looked almost happy.

"…so, I just wanted to see if you were okay, and since you look like you are-"

"You're just going to be an asshole and leave me?" she asked, but, like before, the usual conviction wasn't there. Naegi swallowed.

"Do you want me to stay?" he asked. She took a deep breath and, face red and breathing heavier than usual, replied.

"Nobody's- nobody's ever even came after me before," she said. She looked almost pleased. "Unless- you're planning on using this to gain my trust and-"

"No," Naegi said. "I'm just worried. You just… seem… sad."

"Because I am," Fukawa said. She gave a little smile, though – a pretty one, not a lewd or disturbing one. "You're too nice for your own good, Naegi. You're so naïve. You're the one that the heroine rejects because she wants someone better, someone not so mousy and small and someone who doesn't follow her around like a dog. The best friend."

Naegi didn't really have anything to say to that.

He was pretty sure that she'd just insulted him, but he couldn't actually be sure.

She sighed, and the brief moment of the literary Fukawa was gone. "I'm fine," she snapped. "Not that you really care."

With that, she slammed the door and he was left there in the hallway, shocked.

Still, the next morning at breakfast she met his eye more than once. And she didn't edge away or mutter if he ever stood close to her. So, maybe she was wrong – maybe the nice one wasn't the one that got left.

And years later, after the high school of despair had been so long ago that it was more of a nightmare than something that had seemed like it had actually happened and Makoto Naegi kissed Touko Fukawa for the first time, he knew she was wrong.

So, this was requested by a user on tumblr; I changed up the request a little, but the first part – Togami says something douchier than usual, Naegi comforts Fukawa – is basically what I went off of. Either way, here we go!