Notes: It's still before midnight here so HAPPY BIRTHDAY NAEGI! Let's have a little peek into his storyline, shall we? (Also this is largely unbetaed.)

There will be a part two to this, but it still has a ton of parts that need ironing out so I'm not even going to try to guess when that will go up!

After Dying
Part 1

The Baader-Meinhof phenomenon.

If pressed to explain his current predicament, that was the best Naegi could come up with: the illusion that something has increased in frequency after becoming aware it exists, when in reality it's been there all along.

There was no other reason why he would keep running into Byakuya Togami during his daily life. Crossing paths when Naegi arrived for his shifts in the evenings, when he clocked out in the mornings, when he was out and about during the daytime...

It was simply unthinkable that Togami could be going out of his way to run into Naegi, so it had to be some sort of cognitive bias on his part.

After all, their lunch together had been absolutely abysmal; Togami had shot down all of Naegi's (admittedly awkward) conversation attempts, to the point that Naegi eventually just gave up on talking completely. Ninety percent of the lunch had been in complete, uncomfortable silence. It was far from the "hot date" that Komaru had teased him about.

Not that he had wanted it to be that, anyway. He didn't know why he hadn't been able to outright deny Fukawa's accusation of romantic interest, but he was fairly sure that wasn't it. Maybe Komaru had been on the mark when she had brought up Maizono, but that didn't necessarily mean anything. A thirteen-year-old's crush usually didn't translate well into adulthood.

Naegi was just starstruck by the kindness of a local celebrity. That's what it had been with Maizono, and that's what it was with Togami.

Even that was hard to explain to the girls, though, because Naegi felt a bit silly about it himself. All Togami had done was make a positive comment about Naegi's work ethic. It wasn't the first time he had heard such a compliment, but usually it was directly followed by, "so it's a shame we have to let you go."

Of course, it couldn't be overstated that it was Byakuya Togami who had complimented his work ethic.

And it was Byakuya Togami who had accepted his invitation to lunch.

And it was Byakuya Togami who had started greeting him when they crossed paths.

That was kind of weird, and Naegi couldn't really explain it. Of course, being Togami, said "greetings" were little more than a huff of acknowledgment, a minuscule nod of the head. Naegi wasn't worth much more that that. But either way, that was the only indication that maybe he wasn't actually experiencing cognitive bias. That definitely wasn't something that had existed before they had lunch together.

...Maybe he and Togami were both experiencing the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon in regards to each other.

For weeks, Naegi didn't know what to say to Togami when they crossed paths, so he opted to just stay quiet. If he was greeted, he would politely nod his head in acknowledgement, but aside from that Naegi wouldn't dare risk stepping past whatever barriers Togami had set.

Besides, Togami was his boss. If he actually wanted something from Naegi, surely he would just come out and say it.

He never did, though, and eventually the strange new status of "cordial acquaintances" (or something close to it) simply became the norm, nothing for Naegi to worry about.

But when he arrived at work one day a month after their lunch to find Togami milling around behind the checkout counter, Naegi froze up, a knot forming in his throat.

That was sure to be an interaction outside the norm.

Nervously, he crept to the back room to clock in and pull on his store apron before returning to the front. Togami was still behind the counter, typing something onto his smartphone while glaring down at the receipt printer.

"Um... do you need help with something?" Naegi said carefully, deciding it was a situation where it was best to be proactive.

Togami huffed in irritation. "We received a complaint this afternoon from a customer who didn't receive a receipt. Apparently there was an issue with this printer." He turned his icy gaze onto him. "Explain, Naegi."

Naegi blinked up at him blankly for a moment. Explain? He had just gotten there... Had Togami not discussed the issue with the previous shift's cashier? Or was he purposefully giving him a hard time? "Well... this printer tends to jam up, so that's probably what happened." He stepped over to the printer and flipped open the top to look inside. "Sometimes it jams so bad that it takes a while to fix, and we can't reprint a receipt before the customer leaves. It looks fine right now, but it happens at least once a day."

"And how long has this been a recurring issue?"

"Since before I started working here," Naegi said honestly.

"Unacceptable," Togami grumbled. "Did no one think to request a replacement?"

"We have!" Naegi defended. "Several times! It's just hard to—" He quickly shut himself up; it would probably be out-of-line to complain about upper management's tendency to ignore storefront issues until a customer complained.

Togami seemed to have caught on, though, his eyebrow twitching slightly as he lifted up the printer to take down the serial number. "I see. Well, as long as I'm here, are there any other equipment issues I should know about?"

Naegi tilted his head in thought. "Well... the keyboard on the register sticks sometimes, but I think that just needs a deep cleaning, not a replacement. Somebody probably spilled soda on it at some point. And sometimes the cold case makes strange noises at four in the morning..."

Togami looked at him with a weary glare.

"I'm not joking!" Naegi said defensively, though he could feel an amused grin pulling at his lips. "I know it sounds like some dumb ghost story, but it's the truth!"

Sighing, Togami stepped out from behind the counter. "For your sake, it better be. I'll take down the cold case's information too."

Naegi watched as Togami made his way to the cold case, but something about watching his boss from behind felt really weird, so he averted his gaze and tried to find something else to occupy the silence between them. "Um... can I ask you something?"

"You may ask," Togami said without looking up from his phone. "I can't guarantee an answer."

Naegi hesitated, but decided to go ahead with his question. "Why didn't you talk to me when we had lunch?"

Smirking, Togami countered, "Why didn't you suggest less vapid conversation starters?"

Naegi grimaced; he couldn't argue with that. The situation had been so awkward and uncomfortable, and he could barely even remember what he had tried talking about, but he knew it had been less than impressive. "I, uh... I'm not always that good with small talk," he admitted.

Togami sniffed derisively. "One would think that a social psychologist would be better at carrying a conversation."

"Oh, I'm not—!" Naegi barely kept himself from yelping his denial, then continued in a more dignified manner. "I'm not a psychologist, really. It's what I studied in college, sure, but I don't think I'm cut out for graduate studies, so I only have a bachelor's..."

"Yes, I noticed." Pocketing his phone, Togami turned to face Naegi again. "I saw when I looked up your CV."

Why did you dig up my CV?! Naegi managed to kill the impulse to ask, keeping his mouth shut.

"So." Togami cocked an eyebrow. "What exactly did you plan to do with only a four-year degree in psychology?"

Naegi sighed, then shrugged. "I hadn't planned on anything, really? I had no idea what I wanted to do, so I kind of chose that major at random." He spread his arms outward, chuckling wryly. "Now I'm just stuck here, I guess."

Togami crossed his arms in thought. "But even if it isn't directly related, an education in psychology could be more useful in other fields than you'd expect. Familiarity with the human psyche is a valuable asset."

Naegi blinked up at him blankly. Kirigiri had told him the exact same thing before, as encouragement, but hearing it from Togami... What? "I'm sorry, what do you mean?"

"In business, for example." Togami gestured across the store floor. "Your education, especially your focus on social psychology, would give you the ability to gauge others' feelings based on body language and other cues, yes? That's an important skill here in customer service, where the objective is to offer a welcoming, comfortable shopping experience."

Naegi frowned. "So you're saying that I fit right in at minimum-wage jobs."

Togami smirked. "You could say that, but of course that's not the only option. You could also excel at the top, where getting the advantage over your business rivals is of utmost importance."

"Uh, no thank you."

"No, you don't quite have the personality." Togami looked him over, and Naegi squirmed under his gaze, feeling his cheeks starting to heat up. "But perhaps as an assistant... a secretary, perhaps."

Unsure of exactly what response would be appropriate, Naegi laughed at what must have been a joke.

But Togami seemed less than impressed by that reaction. Crap, so that wasn't a joke...

Wait. It wasn't a joke? "Wh— huh?" Naegi stammered. "What are you... Togami-san?"

Togami rolled his eyes. "Perhaps not."

"Were you just... serious right now?"

"And what led you to believe that any part of our conversation was meant in jest?"

Naegi's mouth flapped uselessly before he found his words again. "I'm... I'm just a part-timer! I don't have any qualifications! I can't work for... the Togami Corporation?"

"And perhaps you're right." Togami huffed. "Indeed, at first glance, you seemed to be... average. Absolutely nothing spectacular about you."

Naegi wasn't sure whether he should take that as an insult, but for the moment it supported the point he was trying to make, so he let it be. "Right, and I just... I can't do what you're suggesting. Doubting people, analyzing them, taking advantage of what they're hiding... I can't do that. I don't want to do that." He shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I only ever take people at face value."

Togami leaned closer to him, eyes narrowing. "It certainly doesn't reflect well on you that you can't even see your own capabilities," he said, voice lowered. "I suppose we'll have to see if I do indeed want you for myself."

Naegi openly gawked, and without another word, Togami turned on his heel and walked out of the store. A minute later, once cognizant thought returned to Naegi, he felt his face flush all the way down his neck.

What... what the hell was that?! Togami wanted to hire to him to the Togami Corportaton? He genuinely saw some worth in him? He might actually want Naegi for himself?

Naegi was all the more mortified to think, completely unbidden, yes please.

He curled over onto the counter, hands clamped over his mouth to keep himself from—from what? From screaming? Squealing? Making some other sort of humiliating sound? And yes please what?! What was going on in his head?!

You know full well what's going on in your own head, part of him insisted, but he firmly pushed that aside.

Togami was talking about possibly wanting Naegi as an employee. A more high-ranking employee as than a store clerk. That was all.

Why did he need to convince himself of that?

He knew he had to be in denial, but that suited him just fine. Denial was easy. Denial didn't require any unnecessary worrying.

But denial wasn't right.

Groaning, he slumped to the floor and took his cell phone out of his jeans to type a quick text to his sister.

-hey... do you think i maybe have a crush on togami-san?

-You actually didn't know? m9(^Д^) lookit this idiot lololololololol

Maybe she wasn't the best candidate for calming his nerves.

He couldn't immediately wrap his head around the idea that he had a crush on Togami, of course. As long as he had been aware of romantic inclinations, Naegi had always been attracted to girls. He was fully aware that that was more of a convenient excuse than anything else; even though attraction to another man had never happened before, it wasn't like he wasn't open to the idea. A person was a person, regardless of gender.

But this person was also Byakuya Togami, heir to the Togami Corporation, and Naegi's boss.

At most, he couldn't let it be more than a fleeting attraction. It was just too complicated otherwise, both in terms of work and private affairs. And Naegi was just... normal, anyway. He couldn't compare. He wasn't in Togami's league.

Also Fukawa would hate him oh geez.

Over the course of his shift, he considered his options. For eight full hours, it felt like his heart was thudding a mile a minute, jumping straight into his throat every time someone walked through the door. He knew, logically, that Togami wouldn't be strolling into the store in the dead of night, but just the thought of facing him again had Naegi on edge.

But he was bound to run into him again eventually. Togami was his boss.

So once it was time for him to go home, he flagged down the morning shift manager and did something he had never done before.

He quit his job.