This is my first fic for the Dangan Ronpa fandom, and it's ridiculous fluff! I hope you like it!
The bell rang to signal the end of yet another school day at Hope's Peak Academy, and the students filed out of classrooms cheerfully, ready to go back to their rooms for the night. Well, that's where Naegi was headed, anyway. Most of the kids were going to hang out in the rec room, or at the pool, until nighttime, but Naegi just wasn't feeling up to socializing. He had another thing, or rather another person, to focus his attention on. He didn't know when he had started finding the obnoxious and arrogant Byakuya Togami attractive or interesting, but he did know that he couldn't stop thinking about him, which was a problem. The heir would never even speak to someone as plain and ordinary as he was. It was a waste of time, really, but Makoto couldn't get the kid off of his mind.
Meanwhile, one other student was lounging alone in his own room. Togami, who wasn't known for being particularly social anyway, had been even more reclusive than normal lately and only left his room for class and mealtimes. He hadn't even been in his usual spot in the library in nearly a week, and nobody could figure out why. Not that they cared, really. They certainly didn't miss his superior attitude and constant orders to do things for him that he could have easily done himself. The only one who even acknowledged his absence was Fukawa, whose unhealthy obsession with Byakuya was one of the reasons he preferred to be alone. Today, however, an entirely different person was occupying the heir's mind. God knows why, but for some odd reason, the talentless and completely dull boy known as Makoto Naegi was in Byakuya's thoughts. It was driving him crazy, and he refused to leave his room unless absolutely necessary until he figured out just why he had such feelings for such a commoner.
"Where do you think Makoto is?" Leon asked casually, handing a drink to Sayaka, who shrugged.
"I don't know. I hope he's alright," she said, sounding concerned. Mondo and Kiyotaka joined them at their table in the dining hall.
"Naegi is not one to miss socializing with his classmates," Kiyotaka noted, and Mondo nodded.
"Yeah, he's usually here with the rest of us." He looked around and then grinned. "Maybe he finally hooked up with Byakuya," he added, at which Kiyotaka nudged him in the ribs with an elbow.
"That kind of behavior is not encouraged here, Mondo. You should know that after all of your attempts at seducing me and failing." Mondo blushed and nudged him back, a little harder. "Though it seems that neither Naegi nor Togami would be opposed to such actions." Leon scoffed.
"You're right, they're obviously in love. They're just too stupid to realize it." He then smiled mischievously. "Maybe we should…help 'em? Just a bit?" Mondo nodded in agreement.
"I think we can do that. Right, Taka?" Ishimaru hesitated before sighing.
"Fine. I will allow it just this once. But only because it is to help our fellow classmates."
Byakuya had nearly dozed off when he heard a strange noise. He moved from his bed to investigate and found that a piece of paper had been stuck under the door of his room. He stepped outside and looked around, but the hallway was empty. Returning to his bed with the note, Togami raised an eyebrow at the contents of it.
"Meet in the dining hall at 7:30pm for a mandatory celebration."
What kind of an invitation was this? What were they even celebrating? It said it was mandatory, but Byakuya really didn't feel like leaving his room. Would the others really notice if he didn't show up? In the end, however, his curiosity got the best of him and, at exactly 7:30, he headed for the dining hall.
Upon entering the hall, however, Togami was confused by the sight before him. The room looked exactly as it always did, and was completely devoid of people. He glanced at his watch; it was definitely 7:30, just as the note had said. Just when Byakuya was about to turn and leave in frustration, Makoto entered the hall. He too looked surprised by his surroundings.
"Uh, hey Byakuya," Naegi stopped when he saw the other boy and looked around nervously. "Are you the only one here?"
"Obviously." Togami rolled his eyes. This was an absolute waste of time, just as he had thought. And seeing the shorter boy was extremely unhelpful in his current mission of not thinking about him.
"That's weird," Makoto laughed and produced a note from his pocket. It was identical to the one that Byakuya had received. "Says here to be here at 7:30. I'm even a little late and there's no one else here."
"Seems like some moron here is pulling some sort of idiotic prank on us. Though I'm not sure what they're getting out of us coming to the dining hall for no reason." The heir turned to leave yet again before a voice sounded from the kitchen.
"Who you callin' a moron?" Leon called. Byakuya sighed; of course it was Leon. No one at Hope's Peak was as good at pulling stupid pranks as Leon Kuwata was.
"I believe I called you that, as you would know if you had any trace of a brain in that oversized head of yours. I'm leaving." The blonde took a step toward the door but stopped in his tracks when Leon laughed out loud. "What are you laughing at?" he snapped.
"Oh, nothin'. Just thought maybe you'd wanna know why I made you come here before leaving, is all." Naegi nodded.
"Yeah, I'd kinda like to know. I mean, there's gotta be a reason, right?" Leon nodded arrogantly.
"Of course there is. I'm a master prankster. I don't just do stuff without a reason. But," he smirked, "It'd be more fun if you guys figured out for yourselves why you're here." Togami scoffed.
"This is ridiculous. Tell me why you called us here so I can get back to more important matters." When Leon didn't respond, the taller boy sighed and gave in. He did have one idea about why it was just him and Makoto that were summoned to the hall… No, that couldn't be it. He shoved that idea out of his mind before his face had a chance to turn red. Nobody knew about his secret, after all. This was just a coincidence.
Another look at Makoto made his stomach clench, however. The smaller boy's face was tinged a light pink and his expression was almost identical to the one that Togami knew he had been sporting just a few seconds ago. Was it possible that maybe Naegi returned Byakuya's less-than-platonic and frankly embarrassing feelings? The only thing he could do now is ask. He turned to Makoto, now fully blushing, and started to speak up.
"Uh, Makoto?" he started quietly. Naegi looked up, surprised that Byakuya had called him by his first name, and that his normal condescending demeanor was completely gone. "I have a question. By any chance do you maybe…" Makoto nodded expectantly, waiting for Byakuya to finish his sentence. The end of the question never came, however, as both boys were suddenly pushed forward, toward each other, ending up in an awkward and embarrassing embrace, clichéd sloppy kiss and all.
As quickly as it had happened, they jumped back in surprise. Togami turned around, fuming, to find none other than Mondo Oowada standing behind him with an absurd grin on his face. Behind Naegi stood Leon himself, laughing loudly with tears in his eyes. Without another word, the heir stormed off toward his room, his face flushed bright red. After not even a second of hesitation, Makoto followed behind him, calling his name.
The next morning, the students of Hope's Peak—aside from Togami and Naegi—met in the dining hall at the usual time for breakfast. Leon was, rather loudly, telling the story of last night's events to the others, who all found it extremely amusing. The room suddenly went silent, however, when the door opened and the two missing students entered. Byakuya came first, dragging Makoto by his hand, which was laced with the blonde's, toward the buffet, avoiding the curious glances of the others. They filled their plates and sat at a table away from everyone else, looking tired but much happier than they had the day before, and rather like they hadn't gotten much sleep the night before.