A loud hammering at his dorm room door jolted Naegi out of a sound sleep. He sat up sharply, blinking fuzziness away from his eyes – and caught sight of the time glowing on his clock. Was it really that late? He threw himself out of bed, panic beginning to set in as the knocking grew louder. How could he have overslept this long?

In a blur of activity, he scrambled into the nearest set of clean clothes and snatched his backpack from beside the bookshelf, before running to the door and flinging it open.

Togami dropped his fist, impatient scowl softening as he took in Naegi's rumpled appearance. "You forgot to set your alarm again, didn't you?"

"Sorry." Naegi tried to look contrite at the fact that the other boy had had to come wake him up – but he couldn't stop the happy smile that spread across his face as he looked up into Togami's eyes. Sometimes he thought that just seeing the other boy at the start of every day might be everything he wanted out of life.

Togami rolled his eyes, but he didn't bother to hide the answering smile on his own lips just before leaning down to press a soft kiss to Naegi's temple. "Come on, or we really will be late." He slid an arm around Naegi's shoulders and began steering him down the hall.

Naegi let him lead the way through halls, painted golden with the morning sunlight, and he let himself press contentedly into the circle of the other boy's arm. They certainly could have walked faster if Togami had let go – but neither of them made a move to break apart.

As Togami dragged him in the direction of the stairs, Naegi glanced a little regretfully down branching hallway that would lead to the cafeteria. "Do you think I'd have time to get breakfast before the cafeteria closes? Maybe if I run?"

Togami frowned. "I don't think so. Not if you want to make it on time."

Naegi's stomach let out a loud growl of protest at that, making him flush a little. Togami smirked. "But on the other hand, we can't let you faint from hunger. Maybe if you're quick –"

"Then you might make it to the cafeteria just in time to see them lock the doors," came a voice from further down the hall.

Naegi looked in that direction – just in time to see a granola bar fly at his face. He shot up a hand to try to catch it, but it slipped out of his fingers, bouncing off his wrist to ricochet into an open pocket of his backpack.

"Nice catch," Kirigiri said dryly, falling into step on Naegi's other side. "That should be enough to get you through the morning."

"Thanks!" Naegi dug the granola bar out of his backpack with a grin. "You're always a step ahead of the rest of us, aren't you?"

"Someone has to be." She gave him an amused smile. "But when Togami spends most of breakfast watching the clock like it personally insulted him and then storms out in a huff, it isn't hard to put the pieces together."

"Oh, very clever," Togami drawled, his lip curling into what would have been a sneer if there had been any real animosity behind it. "We're all well aware of your skill at detection – you don't have to prove it every time one of us doesn't explain our actions."

"Who needs an explanation when you make it so easy?" Kirigiri shot back, eyes dancing with humor in spite of the stern line of her mouth. "And speaking of things I noticed…" She reached into her coat pocket and tossed another granola bar in Togami's direction – which he caught without a fumble, to Naegi's annoyance.

"What's this supposed to be?" Togami asked, giving the bar a dubious frown. "I'm not the one who slept through breakfast."

"Four cups of coffee aren't a real breakfast," Kirigiri told him. "Count yourself lucky that's all – I heard Fukawa muttering something about home cooking."

"Ugh." Togami grimaced. "Maybe I should just get a coffee pot for my room and stop bothering with the cafeteria altogether."

"What? No, you said you were going to try to eat better in the morning!" Naegi said, looking up at the other boy in concern. "You let me pick out a real breakfast for you yesterday, and you said that it wasn't so bad!"

"Well, you were there," Togami said, shrugging. "Nothing's as bad when you're around."

"Really?" Naegi beamed up at him, delighted at the hint of pink that dusted the other boy's cheekbones as he realized just what he'd said. "If that's all it takes, then I'll definitely have to set my alarm so that I can be there every day from now on!"

"Which will make breakfast a little too sugar-sweet for the rest of us," Kirigiri said. Both Naegi and Togami went red at that, and she laughed.

They finally made it up the stairs and down the hall with barely a minute to spare. Naegi hauled open the heavy wooden door on one of the many Hope's Peak classrooms.

"Well, looks like you three made it in the nick of time after all! I guess nothing beats teamwork, huh?"

The cheerful voice rang loudly across the classroom, bright and familiar, and Naegi turned towards it to answer. He looked past faces that he recognized, friendly smiles that he knew as well as the back of his hand, until finally his faze settled on the person who'd spoken. He looked up and –

And he fell off the bed, head crashing against the floor with a painful jolt.