Chapter 37: Day 34

Togami awoke to a soft pressure against his cheek. He groaned as it brought him to his senses, and he slowly opened his eyes only to be greeted with the sight of darkness and the sensation of someone against him. Yet the pressure continued, moving from his cheek to his jaw, and Togami soon recognized the feeling as a kiss.

"Naegi…" He whispered the name, and the pressure stopped. He felt the other's movements, and soon one of their e-handbooks was turned on, providing enough light for Togami to see the outline of his boyfriend. Naegi returned to his side and smiled warmly at him.

"Good morning." To Togami's surprise, Naegi then continued kissing him, trailing soft yet sensuous kisses along Togami's jaw and eventual neck. Togami inhaled sharply, the warm feeling of Naegi's face and lips causing his heart to flutter and his breath to quicken. He reached out and intertwined his fingers in Naegi's hair, bringing him slightly closer.

"What…what time is it?" asked Togami, his voice softer from the attention he was receiving.

"Almost time for the morning announcement," Naegi answered between kisses. He stopped just above Togami's chest before breaking off and moving back up to look at him. "I, uh, is this…okay…? Sorry, I just–"

Togami smirked as he placed a finger on Naegi's lips, effectively silencing him. "I'd tell you if I wanted you to stop," he whispered. Naegi smiled brightly and leaned forward as Togami let his hand drop, kissing Togami firmly. Togami used his free arm to pull Naegi's body closer to him, and soon Naegi crawled and settled on top of him, deepening their kiss. Heat sizzled between them as they moved, and Togami's thoughts began to muddle as he was overwhelmed by feeling. He closed his eyes as he parted his own lips. He could barely register what he was doing as his hands reached under Naegi's shirt, but the feeling of the other's skin underneath his fingertips felt divine, and he took his time letting his hands wander up Naegi's sides, back, and shoulders as he passionately pressed back into the kiss.

Naegi moaned in response, his hands reaching up to cradle Togami's head as he broke his lips away to heatedly kiss Togami's jaw down to his neck. Togami craned his neck to the side as his hands continued roaming along Naegi's back. A heavy sigh that was meant to be Naegi's name escaped him as he felt Naegi's tongue begin to dance against his skin. He clutched at Naegi, a hand reaching up to play with his brown hair.

"Togami…" The sound of the other's breathless whisper cut through the corporate heir, and he tightly grasped onto him, ready to roll them over so that he was on top –

Ding dong, bing bong.

"Gooooood morning!"

Both of them groaned as the lights of the dorm room flashed on and the monitor lit up, revealing Monokuma's annoying face. Now illuminated, they could see how flustered and disheveled the other was, and Togami smiled as Naegi chuckled in mild embarrassment while looking down at him. Naegi's hair was a mess, his chest heaving with heavy breaths, and his face was flushed. Togami imagined he himself looked much the same.

"We need to find a better time to do this," Togami observed once the morning announcement ended.

"Yeah… S-Sorry…"

Togami frowned. "Why are you sorry?"

Naegi blushed and looked away. "I mean, I kinda just woke you up out of the blue and–"

"Stop." Bringing Naegi forward, Togami planted a firm kiss on the other's lips before stating, "I would wake up to this every morning if we had the time. Unfortunately, we don't. So…" Smirking mischievously, he stared into hazel eyes and said, "We find another time."

Naegi's smile brightened, and he kissed Togami in a way that made the corporate heir's heart flutter. Togami let himself indulge, returning the kiss slowly, but Naegi soon broke away and clumsily crawled off him before standing. Togami pushed himself up to a seated position and grabbed his glasses.

"Stupid Taka and his stupid meeting," Naegi muttered as he awkwardly walked over to his clothing.

Togami smirked. "You're on the leadership committee too, you know. You could get the meeting time moved."

"Yeah, so everyone knows we're making out first thing in the morning," Naegi countered. "Fukawa would actually kill us."

"Ugh, don't say her disgusting name and ruin the moment."

"Sure thing. And…uh… Can I shower here? Instead of walking over to my dorm?"

"Of course." The idea of joining the other student floated through Togami's mind, and he had to remind himself that they had stopped making out precisely because they didn't have the time. Instead, he watched as Naegi entered the shower room, leaving the door just slightly ajar, and soon the sound of the water running created a calm ambience. Togami checked his e-Handbook and notes as he waited, observing with slight amusement that there was no steam floating out of the bathroom.

Once Naegi was done, Togami stood and grabbed his own clothes. Before he entered, however, he quickly looked over and said, "I mean it, by the way. Never apologize for that."

"You mean for waking you up?"

"Yes."

Naegi's smile was just as bright as his blush as he stuttered, "O-Okay."

And before his willpower could completely dissolve, Togami turned and stepped into the shower room.

"Are you certain I can't just continue sitting at my table?"

"I mean, you can, but you did say you owed me a favor."

Togami sighed heavily and glanced down at Naegi, who was currently smiling a rather cheeky grin. "Once again, your damn title is evidently proven true," he muttered under his breath. The two walked through the double doors of the dining hall, and Togami inhaled, steadying his nerves for what he knew would be a painful experience. Fortunately only Maizono and Ogami were present, but even they were unable to contain their surprise when Togami approached the long table alongside Naegi.

"Good morning!" Maizono exclaimed. "Are you joining us today, Togami?"

"I'm joining Naegi," Togami corrected, shoving his hands in his pockets as Naegi pulled over another chair. Togami quickly took his seat and pulled out his e-Handbook, ignoring the stares of the two girls.

"This is so exciting!" Maizono continued as Naegi rushed to the kitchen, no doubt to make their much-needed cups of coffee. "We'll all be together now!"

"We'll simply need to convince Fukawa to sit here, and that will be everyone," Ogami observed.

Togami shuddered and stated, "I would rather we didn't."

"Yooooo, Togami!" Togami closed his eyes and sighed as Hiro's voice echoed from across the hall. "You sittin' with us today?!"

"I'm sitting with Naegi," Togami corrected a second time.

"Oh man, you guys must be serious! I need to do a reading for you guys right away! Discounted services, too!"

"I'd rather not," Togami replied, trying his best to be blatant about his e-Handbook usage. He waited impatiently as the minutes passed, and soon Naegi returned with two [rather large] mugs of coffee. And he did so just in time, as another voice pierced the comfortable silence that had been settling in the cafeteria.

"Togami, I knew you'd come around!"

Taka's voice boomed as the Ultimate Moral Compass approached the table. Togami looked over at Naegi's expression, and if he didn't know any better, he could swear Naegi was enjoying this whole fiasco. His smile was evidently trying to hold back hysterical laughter, but it was doing a poor job of it. Togami mouthed 'you owe me' to Naegi, but Naegi merely chuckled and mouthed back 'no, we're even.'

Togami shook his head, realizing that he had been outplayed by the commoner. He'd have to negotiate better next time.

One by one, the other students entered the dining hall, shouted in surprise at Togami's appearance, and either congratulated the two or made offhand comments. By the seventh entrance, Togami had completely tuned them out, focusing instead on the e-Handbook and list of items while letting Naegi handle the others. After all, the backup was due tomorrow, and he had to make sure his diagram was ready. Thus the sudden scream that reverberated throughout the room caught him off guard, making him jump in his chair in surprise. All heads turned to see Fukawa staring at the long table, a panicked look across her face.

"M-M-M-Master?!" she exclaimed, rushing over to the table without sitting at it. "Wh-what have they d-d-done to you? Why are you n-no longer sitting b-by yourself?!"

"Togami's sittin' with us now!" Owada answered, a flashy grin across his face. "You should sit with us too!"

"M-Master is s-sitting with…with you all?" Her gaze immediately darted to Naegi. "Y-You… Y-y-you convinced him that th-this was a g-g-good idea, didn't you?"

"Umm, well, yeah, I did ask him to join us at the table, so I–"

"I knew it!" Togami's eyes widened in horror as the writer's expression completely changed. Clasping her hands over her chest, eyes wide with admiration, she gasped as she exclaimed, "The love he has is so real, s-so perfect! He's t-trying to make me j-j-jealous by sh-showing how 'serious' he is with N-N-Naegi. He's so c-committed to p-playing hard to get! And N-Naegi is in on it, too! All just to make me s-suffer and b-beg!"

"How freakin' nuts are you?!" exclaimed Hiro, recoiling in his seat at the statements being made. "Why would those two "pretend" anything?"

"B-But h-how else would Naegi c-c-convince M-Master to sit with you all? Other than doing things that I-I-I could only d-dream of?"

Togami felt the color drain from his face as Enoshima waved her hands in front of her. "We don't need to hear THOSE details!" she protested in disgust.

"Yeah, we're gettin' ready for breakfast here!" Kuwata all but shouted.

"Don't say such disgusting nonsense," Togami scolded, glaring daggers Fukawa's way. "Your voice alone is enough to make us all lose our appetites." As he spoke, Togami peeked over at Naegi, whose face was beet red. He growled in frustration and added, "Now don't speak another word for the rest of the day," before looking back down at his e-Handbook. Perhaps if he stared hard enough at it, it would explode in his face, causing him to be knocked unconscious so he could escape this hell.

Of course things couldn't just end there. With a dramatic hand gesture, Yamada giggled loudly as he proclaimed, "I knew it! The Ultimate Writing Progeny is, in fact, a lover of the fabled yaoi!"

"I am NOT!" she shouted back, glaring menacingly at Yamada. "Th-that f-filth is utter t-trash! G-Garbage! Nothing in comparison to M-M-Master's own exploits!"

"'Exploits'?" Togami pinched the bridge of his nose. "How deranged can one person be?"

Yamada smirked victoriously as he continued, "And yet you're rambling about it, even going so far as to 'dream' of it. I daresay, perhaps you yourself have written a piece of yaoi to–"

"I-I-I-I have not!"

"Mayhaps you can take your argument elsewhere?" Celeste chimed in. "The rest of us would like to eat breakfast in peace."

"Yeah, what's going on out here?" asked Hina as she and Fujisaki exited the kitchen, plates of breakfast in tow.

"Fukawa here is showing her true colors," Yamada taunted.

"I-I-I am n-not!" the writer shouted back.

"Can we please just settle down?" Kirigiri's voice carried over the shouting, causing everyone to become silent. "We have a lot to do today. Let's get breakfast out of the way so we can focus on today's assignment."

Togami sipped his coffee as Hina casually passed around the plates of breakfast, ignoring everyone's stares. He listened to Fukawa walk back to her corner, and soon the sounds of arguing were replaced with silverware, cups, and small chatter here and there. Togami let a few moments pass before he casually glanced over at Naegi, who still looked embarrassed and a bit dejected.

As subtly as he could, Togami bumped his elbow against Naegi's and waited for him to look up from his breakfast. He then shook his head and offered a small smirk, hoping that what he wanted to get across did. He didn't want Naegi blaming himself, after all, for what transpired. Naegi offered a small smile, and, if Togami didn't know any better, he could almost see the wave of relief wash over his boyfriend.

Togami couldn't resist the small smile that crossed his own lips as he finished his breakfast and savored the remainder of his coffee.