His eyes flickered across the computer screen; every part in Naegi's body was telling him to stop, to exit the internet browser and do something else, but he couldn't help himself. Getting into Hopespeak had certainly been a surprise. Getting on the front page of a lot of internet sites? That hadn't even occurred in his dreams.

The brightly colored sites were buzzing with information about him. Alongside pictures of Sayaka were pictures of he himself. There were dozens of comments as well, both on the actual article and in the comment thread.

At least Naegi hadn't bothered to scroll down and read the comments sections (yet).

He flipped from tab to tab, from one tabloid website to another. A few seemed promising, with very little regards to him. Others...

Well, he had always known that he was an ordinary guy (though he did have a lot of luck), he had never thought that he was too normal. Some of the articles downright accused Sayaka of dating him because she felt sorry for him. Those articles tended to have tons of lies and misinformation, but he still read on.

How much longer would it be until his family found out? How much longer until Sayaka found out? What if she already knew? What would she even think?

He sighed. Why hadn't he thought about this before asking Sayaka to date him? Why hadn't he listened to his earlier doubts? They probably would have done better for him anyway.

Did the school already know? Probably.

Naegi sighed.

A knock came to the door of his room, and then opened just as quickly before Naegi had a chance to respond. He sat frozen in front of his computer screen, unable to get himself to look away.

"Naegi?"

Her voice forced his body to turn around. "Sayaka, it's you..."

She looked so different from him; she stood up tall and straight, looking beautiful even in simple school clothes. She caught people's attention rather than just fading into the crowd, and she always had a smile to offer to the people that noticed her.

She moved slightly to the left, turning her head to look at his computer screen. Naegi looked down to his lap and began to play with his hands, his cheeks bright red.

"Oh," she said, folding her hands together. "You found out."

"Why wouldn't I?" He turned away from her, then finally shut off his internet window.

"I had hoped that you wouldn't find out." She looked back to the door. "I actually came to ask you if you could help me with some homework. Never mind, I can get it later."

He bit his lip.

"I really am sorry, Naegi."

"Am I too ordinary for you?" He yelled it so loud that he was sure a number of other people heard him.

Sayaka's frown deepened. "No," she said. She smiled, a real one. "You may be ordinary compared to me, but I care a lot about you. You make me happy, Naegi, and you're always there for me; you fill me with hope. I'm so glad that we were able to reconnect." She waved to him, then turned and left.

Naegi pulled his internet browser back up, then went to his email. He had a few things to tell his parents; he just wasn't that nervous about it any longer.