Friends show their love in times of trouble, not in happiness.

-Euripides

Chapter 10

Naegi groaned as something cold and wet licked her cheek. She opened one eye and saw the American Eskimo dog that Tanaka had given to her the previous day lying down on her chest. She rubbed her eyes and slowly got into a sitting position and looked at the dog.

"Let me guess, bathroom?" she asked it. The dog wagged its tail. She grabbed her phone and saw that it was almost six in the morning and resisted the urge to groan. She wasn't going to be able to go back to sleep after this. A look around the room told her that her companions were still sleeping. Quietly, as to not wake them, she got on her feet and put on her slippers and beckoned the dog to come to her.

It seems she was the only one awake. Fujisaki and Mitarai were both still sleeping in the living room and the rest of the house was quiet. She made it to the back of the house and opened the door so the dog could go outside and do its business. She should really name the poor thing already. Making sure she could still see him, Naegi took a seat on the porch and got to thinking. What would be a good name for a dog? She glanced at it again. He was white. Fluffy? She shook her head. Nope. What else she thought.

"Have you named him yet?" a voice said from behind her. Naegi jumped and turned around to see Komaeda behind her. He was rubbing his eyes and was still in his pajamas.

"You're up early." She commented.

He yawned into hand. "So are you." He said as he took a seat next to her on the porch. She laughed.

"True."

For a moment they just sat there in comfortable silence before Naegi looked back at the dog.

"No," she said sighing. "I can't think of anything good."

"What about," he said, tapping his chin. "Fluffy?"

"Already ruled that out." She said with a wave of her hand. The dog had made its way back to them and was sniffing Komaeda in curiosity. Komaeda lifted his hand, hesitated, and then came down on the dog's head to pet it. He smiled.

"Do you like dogs?" she asked him. He nodded.

"I did. But due to my terrible luck, he got run over by a car. His name was lucky." He said sadly.

"I'm sorry." She said patting his back. "You must have really loved him." He nodded again and then he straightened and looked at her in excitement. "I know what you can name him!"

Naegi tilted her head. "Well? Go ahead. Don't leave me in suspense."

"Nozomi."

"Does it mean anything?" she asked. His face turned red and he mumbled something.

"What was that?"

He picked the dog up and buried his face in its fur. "It means hope." He said a little louder. Naegi blinked and then she let out a small laugh. He blushed harder. "Don't laugh! Its embarrassing!"

"Sorry." She said as her laughter ceased. "I like it. Nozomi it is then." His eyes widened and he shook his head.

"Are you sure? You don't have to choose something a trash like me recommends. I'm sure you can come up with better ideas that someone like me." Naegi flicked his forehead.

"First of all, stop calling yourself trash. You're not. You're my best friend." She said with a smile. "And second of all," she pointed at the dog. "He seems to like it already."

Komaeda looked like he wanted to protest but when he saw Naegi lift her hand to flick his forehead again, he closed his mouth. He lifted the dog in the air and looked at him. "Is that true? Do you want to be called Nozomi?" the dog let out a small bark and wagged its tail.

Naegi nudged his stomach with her shoulder. "See? He likes it. Nozomi it is then." Another comfortable silence followed after that. Naegi had gotten up and moved to the middle of the field.

"Naegi?" Komaeda quietly said. Naegi looked back at him. The humor had died from his eyes. He looked wary and a little sad.

"I want you to be careful." He said, almost whispering.

She blinked and walked up to him until she was in front of him. "Komaeda?"

"I don't think this is over yet." He said. "The feeling I had before; it hasn't disappeared. I think you're still in danger."

Naegi's green eyes bored into him and she studied him closely. After a while she gave him a firm nod. "If you say I'm in danger, I believe you. I'll be careful."

"You believe me?" he asked surprised.

"You're usually right." She said as she looked back at the house. "I guess Taichi Kurosawa wasn't the real culprit then."

Komaeda nodded sadly. "I'll admit, he did steal those underwear's, but my feeling of wrongness hasn't gone away. You're still in danger. You should let Togami and the others know."

For a while Naegi didn't say anything. Then she turned back to him and kissed him on the cheek. "Okay. Thanks for letting me know Komaeda. I'll make sure to keep my guard up. I'll tell Togami later."

"I-no problem." He blushed madly and looked down at his hands. "It's what friends do. I'll see you later? Oh wait you live here. Of course I'll see you later. I-shower. I need to take a shower."

Naegi hid her smile. She'd never seen him rambling like this. "Okay, take your time," she said with a wave of her hand. He all but ran into the house. Weird she thought.

She looked down at Nozomi and scooped him up. "So it's not over yet." She mumbled into his fur. An overwhelming fear came over her and she shuddered. She shook her head. Now wasn't the time to get scared. She'd have to be careful. But she was sure that'd she'd be okay. She could only hope that everything would turn out okay. With one last glance at the sky, Naegi headed inside to take her own shower and put the thought to the back of her head. She'll worry about this later; she still had a sleepover to get through.

An hour later, a fully dressed Naegi walked into the loud kitchen and towel dried her hair. Sitting at the counter sat Komaeda, Hagakure and Soda eating breakfast. Or at least, Komaeda was trying to eat but Hagakure kept hitting him with his elbow with all the hand gesturing that he was doing. Komaeda grimaced at the noise, got up and took a seat at the couch where he began to eat the rest of his food.

Teruteru was behind the counter making breakfast for everyone. Saionji and Tsumiki were both looking at his movements very closely while taking a bite of their own food every now and then. From the sudden rise of voices, it seemed that the others were getting up too.

Two pair of arms suddenly wrapped themselves tightly around her middle. She smiled. Togami was awake. She turned around and wrapped her arms over his shoulders and breathed the scent of him. His nose grazed the nape of her neck.

"You smell good," he muttered. She laughed.

"It's called a shower, ever heard of one?" she wrinkled her nose at him teasingly. He huffed.

"Fine, I can take a hint." He stifled a yawn and moved a blond strand away from his face. He turned to Teruteru. "I don't want a heavy breakfast. Something light will be good." And with that he headed up the stairs to take a shower. Komaeda arched an eyebrow in her direction. Later she mouthed back. He gave her a nod.

When Togami came downstairs, everyone else was already up and eating breakfast in various places of the house. Thankfully, Tanaka had brought some dog food with him so Nozomi was eating from a bowl in the kitchen. Togami picked up his plate and took a seat on the couch with Naegi. He took a bite of his tomato toast with macadamia ricotta and his eyes widened slightly. Naegi nudged him with her elbow.

"Good right?" he nodded and offered her a piece. Naegi took a bite and then there was a flash of a camera. Naegi blinked the stars from her eyes. Togami looked around angrily.

"Whoever took that picture, better delete it now." He growled. Everyone looked away. Togami narrowed his eyes and let out a scoff. "Honestly."

"So what are we doing today?" Owada asked from his position on the floor. "I'm feeling kind of lazy today. I also have a slight headache thanks to someone." He shot a glare at Junko who was eating an apple. She gave him a grin and a wave.

Everyone else agreed. Chiaki perked up.

"Why don't we play video game? I brought a few of mine."

Hagakure and Soda both straightened in their seats. Sonia tapped her chin thoughtfully and nodded.

"I too would like to play, it sounds very interesting."

"However," Naegi regretfully said. "I only have one TV."

Kuzuryu got up from his seat at the counter and took out his phone. "Leave that to me. Some of my men can bring two TV's in half an hour."

Mitarai raised his hand. "We can use my projector as another TV as well." Hagakure and Soda both said that they could bring their PS4 systems from their dorms as well.

"I brought my karaoke machine with me so we can play that too." Maizono said. Leon, Mioda and Tanaka perked up at this. Pekoyama nodded her head as she bent down and rubbed Nozomi's chin.

"And we should gather more snacks! I'll go buy some more donuts!" Asahina exclaimed from her seat. Everyone groaned. Mukuro and Tanaka looked a little sick. Hinata's face turned a little green.

"No more donuts Hina." Celestia shook her head. "You brought two more boxes of them after the barbeque and you practically shoved them in peoples mouth."

"You just want us to get fat!" Toko stuttered. The Ultimate Imposter, who was dressed up as Mitarai again nodded in agreement.

He looked down at his stomach and said, "No more donuts."

Asahina frowned but agreed once Sakura told her they could get some at night instead. Ishimaru took a bite of Owada's food and declared that they were going to play video games today. It seems he didn't notice the flash of Koizumi's camera go off in his direction. Everyone else decided to keep quiet about that too.

Nidai wrung his hands with a towel after cleaning hos bowl and said they should all go on a light jog while they waited for the TV's to come. Owari was still stuffing her face but she yelled out a muffled agreement. Everyone else let out another groan. Nidais' face fell.

"How about those who want to jog can jog, and those who want to walk, walk instead?" Kirigiri offered to mollify him. He smiled and nodded. Tanaka offered Naegi a collar and a leash and walked out to join the others. After making sure Nozomi's collar was secure she walked up to Togami who was waiting for her at the doorway and headed outside.

After a few minutes of silence, Togami turned his eyes to her. "You want to talk about it?"

Yes. No. She didn't want to ruin his good mood. But-she sighed. "Komaeda says that it's not over yet."

He whipped his head in her direction and came to a stop. Naegi would have continued walking, but he gripped her elbow and forced her to stop. "What do you mean?" he whispered angrily.

"About the stalker. He thinks it's not over yet. Taichi Kurosawa might not have been my real stalker."

His grip on her elbow tightened. He had the sudden urge to lock her in a cage where he knew she'd be safe. He shook his head to dispel those kinds of thoughts. Naegi wouldn't like that.

"Komaeda said this?" she gave him a nod.

If the Luckster had told her this, then he was probably right. The thought of someone following his girlfriend brought a burning anger in him. He'd keep her safe. And he wasn't the only one. He glanced down the road at the rest of his classmates. He was sure if he told the rest about this, they'd keep an eye on her.

Part of him rebelled at the idea of asking the others for help. He was a Togami. They never asked for help, he glanced at Naegi. For her however…he would throw away his pride if it meant she would be kept from harm. "I'll let the others know. Is that okay?"

His gaze focused on her again, and she nodded.

He let go of her elbow and put his arm around her shoulder and brought her closer to him. He placed a chaste kiss on her forehead before he started walking again.

"I should get you a stun gun." He declared.

"Well," Naegi said with forced lightness. "I suppose I could use it on you as well when you turn all pervy on me." She teased.

He gave her a small smirk and scoffed. "You wouldn't dare."

Naegi brought her other hand around Togami's middle and laughed. There was another flash of a camera and Togami turned towards Toko who was trying to hide behind a tree.

"That's it!" he growled and took chase. "Come here!"

Toko let out a small shriek and started running. "It's for my readers!" she screamed, Togami hot on her heels.

Nidai and Owari let out a shout of encouragement and took chase. Ishimaru shouted something about youth and ran after them.

Naegi shook her head and shrugged her shoulders when Hinata shot her an incredulous look.

"God damn it! She beat me again! Someone else take over, I'm going to take a piss!" Owada said as he shoved the controller to a flustered Tsumiki.

It'd been about three hours since they started playing Street Fighter V and no one had been able to beat Chiaki yet. Kuzuryu's men had brought over two large TV screens and placed on one each side of Naegi's own TV. Mitarai and Fujisaki had placed the projector outside facing the house and most of the girl were there playing either Karaoke or Dance Dance Revolution on Soda and Hagakure's PS4 systems.

Naegi and Hinata were trying to teach Togami how to play Pokémon on the coach. Togami let out a frustrated growl.

"I don't understand why he can't beat it. He's my Pokémon, he should be able to take down that guys Pokémon no problem."

Hinata let out a sigh and turned towards Naegi. "You're boyfriend always this dumb?" Togami let out an indignant hey at that but Hinata ignored it. Naegi turned back towards her boyfriend.

"You have to train them. That guys Pokémon is level ten and yours is four. Plus, your Chespin is a grass Pokémon and that guys Bunnelby is a normal type so your attacks aren't very effective. You can't just waltz into a fight and expect to win without training your Pokémon."

Togami looked at her as if she was speaking another language. Naegi turned back to Hinata. "Maybe." She muttered. Togami let out another hey at that but was once again ignored. The sudden rise in voices made them look up.

It seems Komaeda was going to challenge Chiaki next. Celestia started taking bets on the side.

Hinata turned his full attention to the new match. "Now this looks interesting. The Ultimate Lucky student vs. the Ultimate Gamer."

Naegi looked him over. "You know, you're also a lucky student right?" he waved her comment off.

"Yeah, but Komaeda's luck is better than mine. When I play against her, I still lose. But if it's Komaeda, there's a fifty percent chance that he could win."

Naegi gave him a mischievous smile. "You want to bet on who will win?"

He gave her a grin. "All right, twenty bucks on Chiaki."

"Deal." They shook on it and waited with baited breath. Komaeda turned towards Naegi and beckoned towards the screen. Naegi glaced at the characters displayed on the screen.

"Who would you choose Naegi?" he asked her.

"Hmm, how about Vega? He looks kind of cool." Komaeda nodded and Chiaki asked Hinata the same thing.

"What about Karin? She looks tough." She nodded and soon the fight began. The rest of their friends had come up to Celestia and were placing bets on who would win. Naegi was surprised when Togami got up and placed his own bet on Komaeda. She gave him a knowing smile and he turned away, but not before Naegi saw the slight coloring of his cheeks.

It's been about fifteen minutes since they started and they were still neck in neck. Half of their friends cheered on Chiaki and the other half cheered for Komaeda.

Chiaki had sweat running down her forehead and Komaeda, encouraged by the cheers of the Ultimates he loved so much was putting more effort than usual into his playing.

Chiaki's character crouched and threw a punch at Komaeda's character. Meanwhile, Komaeda was trying to find an opening when Chiaki's character suddenly stopped moving. Chiaki kept pushing buttons but nothing happened. Seeing his chance, Komaeda threw punch after punch at Chiaki characters and won by a landslide.

Everyone gaped and Naegi launched herself and Komaeda and gave him a hug.

"You won!" she cheered. Everyone on Komaeda's side cheered and gave him high-fives. Togami turned towards Hinata and gave him a smirk.

Celestia turned towards the ones that bet on Chiaki and spread her arms. "Pay up kiddies."

With a groan, they all got up and gave their money to Celeste.

"So." Chiaki said. "Round two anyone?"

"Oh you are so on!" Hagakure shouted. And so round two began.

Later in the afternoon, Naegi lay on her back on the grass, enjoying the warm sunlight. She started humming a random song. Everyone else was still inside playing games while Nidai and the rest of the athletes in the group made a dash to the store to get more ingredients for dinner. Togami's head lay on her stomach as he lay on the floor with her. His golden hair seemed to shine brighter than usual.

He opened an eye and he offered her a lazy smirk. "You hum that song a lot. What's it called?"

"City of Stars from the La La Land soundtrack." She said as she stared at the sky.

"Ah, that movie you wanted to see last time." He said as he sat up. He plucked a strand of grass off her hair and his fingers grazed her cheek as he gave her a soft smile. Naegi felt her face heat up.

"Has anyone ever told you how beautiful you are?"

Naegi's blood raced; she was definitely blushing now. He leaned in closer and Naegi met him halfway. It was like a million fireworks exploded inside her. Kissing Togami always felt like this. He tasted like honey. She brought a hand and tangled it in his hair and Togami let out a growl. The kiss became more heated. Naegi let out a groan and they continued kissing for a while until Togami reluctantly pulled away. He held her at arms length.

They were both breathless. "Keep that up and I won't be able to control myself." He muttered.

Naegi lay back down and yawned. "Tired?" he asked. She nodded sleepily. He lay back down on the grass and face her. Naegi felt warm and safe as she nestled beside him.

"Sleep Naegi. I'll keep you safe." He whispered into her hair. Naegi gave a small nod and let the darkness take over.