"Life always gives us another change: It's called "To Move On."
― Ana Claudia Antunes, A-Z of Happiness: Tips for Living and Breaking Through the Chain that Separates You from Getting That Dream Job
Chapter 8
Naegi didn't know when she'd fallen asleep. She remembered getting in the limo with Togami and having a conversation with Hideki about recent events before she put her head on Togami's shoulder. She must have fallen asleep.
She sat up in bed and looked at her surroundings and was surprised to find that she was in her dorm room. Her desk still occupied her laptop and the shelf next to it was covered with books, due to Togami's influence, and a bunch of CD'S. It was only after she'd done a full sweep of the room that she finally noticed Togami sitting on the floor, his arms crossed, and fully asleep.
Togami must have carried her from the limo. She looked at the clock and was surprised to see it was almost noon. She'd slept most of yesterday and today. She glanced down at Togami and decided to lie down again. After a pause, Naegi reached down to stroke Togami's hair. This always seemed to relax her. Togami stirred under her touch, and he moved his head closer. Naegi ran her fingers through his hair and Togami made a sound of contentment. Naegi smiled.
It was finally over. Taichi Karasawa was behind bars and wouldn't be harming anyone anymore. Hopefully he'll have learned from his mistakes. Naegi was also free; no longer would she have to fear being alone anymore. Don't get her wrong, Naegi loved her friends, but she didn't need them with her twenty-four seven. Sometimes a girl just wanted her alone time.
There was no need to dwell on the past. Things were finally looking up. Summer vacation was just about to start and she was looking forward to the sleepover with the two classes. Perhaps she should go home and clean up a little before tomorrow. She glanced down at herself and noticed she was still in her gym shorts and the long sleeved shirt that Junko had lent her. Perhaps a shower would be better first though.
She got up off the bed and bent down to give Togami a good morning kiss. Togami moaned and put one hand behind her head to bring her closer. Naegi laughed into the kiss.
"Good morning." She said. Togami gave her a crooked grin.
"I could get used to waking up like this." He frowned and touched her cheek. "You should really put some ice on this. How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine and I will. After my shower." Naegi said. One of Togami's eyebrows shot up and he gave her a cocky grin.
"Oh? You know we can save water if she both take a shower at the same time." Naegi put a hand out to cover his face and groaned.
"Oh please don't look at me like that. We haven't dated that long and if you keep looking at me like that I might give in." Togami let out a laugh and put his hands up.
"Okay okay. Then at least let me wash your back, I won't do anything I swear." Naegi looked at suspiciously.
"You promise?" she asked.
"I promise."
"Fine."
Togami got to his feet and headed to the restroom. "Alright then. I will prepare the bath, in the meantime, go to that cooler I brought and put some ice on that cheek. I'll call you when the baths ready."
Naegi gave him a mock salute. "Yes sir." Togami rolled his eyes and disappeared inside the bathroom. Naegi shook her head and took out a pair of jeans and a tank top. After looking around she finally noticed the cooler on the floor and took out an ice pack and laid it on her cheek. She let out a hiss at the contact.
"By the way, where's my phone?" she asked.
"About that, Sakakura called and said the janitor found your phone in the locker room. It's broken though so we'll have to get you a new one. And Chiaki, Hinata and Komaeda kept asking how you were. I told them to messaging me so much and that you were fine." Togami replied from the bathroom.
"Aww, I liked that phone." She shrugged. "Oh well, time for an upgrade. And no need to be so rude to them, they're just worried. I'll talk to them later."
"I'll buy you a new one. And they're being annoying." Togami said as he exited the bathroom. "By the way, baths ready."
Naegi got to her feet and headed to the bathroom. "You don't have to do that you know."
Togami waved away her concern. "Don't worry about it. Now get in before it gets cold." Naegi gave him a look and Togami sighed and turned around so she could undress.
"No peeking." She warned. Togami snickered. "Why, I wouldn't dare." He said. Once she was inside the bath, she gathered the bubbles to cover her more and picked up the ice pack and placed it on her cheek again.
"Aww, you remembered I like bubbles in my bath. How sweet." She teased him.
Togami turned around, grabbed a sponge bath and put some soap on it before taking a seat behind Naegi. "Whenever you and your sister slept over at my house, you always filled the tub with bubbles. And I remember very clearly when you covered my bathroom in them."
Naegi laughed at the memory. "Brenda the maid was so mad. She gave us such a long lecture and made us help with the clean up. I was going to offer anyway, but she was so scary I didn't say anything."
Togami's thumb grazed over a particular spot on her back and Naegi let out a groan.
"Good?" Togami asked. Naegi nodded. "Good, just relax and leave everything to me."
All too soon, bath time was over and Togami and Naegi were both dressed and ready to start the day. Togami frowned at his wrinkled suit.
"I'll have to go back to my room and get a fresh set of clothes." He muttered.
"Its almost one in the afternoon. We'll have to go to class and pick up our summer vacation homework after school. And I'd like to go home to clean up a little for tomorrow." Naegi chimed in from his side. Togami intertwined their hands together.
"We'll make a stop by my dorm first then." Just as they were about to leave, Naegi's doorbell rang. Togami raised and eyebrow and looked down at Naegi. "Expecting company?" Naegi shook her head. Frowning, Togami opened the door to find Chiaki, Hinata and Komaeda at the doorway carrying a couple of bags.
Hinata walked right in and took a seat at Naegi's bed. "Yo." He greeted.
Togami turned towards the brunette and scoffed. "Do you honestly have no manners?"
Hinata shrugged. "She was going to let me in anyway." After a minute f hesitation, Chiaki and Komaeda walked in and took a seat on Naegi's bed as well.
Komaeda thrust a bag in Togami's arms. "What's this?" the heir asked.
"A few of your clothes. I didn't know what you wanted.," he said with a smile. Togami's eyes widened.
"You broke into my room?!" the heir yelled. Komaeda shook his head.
"When I turned the knob a few times, the door just opened on its own. I just took out the first things I saw in your drawers." Togami rolled his eyes and muttered something that sounded a lot like "Of course it did." Togami turned and headed to the restroom before mumbling a small thank you to Komaeda.
Naegi took a seat at the desk and asked what was on the other bags.
"Yours and Togami's homework for the summer. We took the liberty of picking them up for you guys. After what happened yesterday, classes were canceled today. All we had was a speech at the auditorium telling us about what happened and if we notice anything strange, we should tell a teacher and blah blah blah. After that, they said they'll see us again in August and let us go home." Hinata explained.
It was during Hinata's explanation that Togami exited the bathroom. He was wearing a long- sleeved crew-neck jersey T-shirt with slits at the sides and some skinny jeans and sneakers. It was the most casual outfit she'd seen Togami wear, and he looked damn good in it. Naegi bit her lip to stop herself from the dirty thoughts she was having. Togami glanced at her and gave her a devilish grin. Naegi flushed. He knew exactly what she thinking. Hinata let out a loud cough and Togami and Naegi focused on him.
"You guys can make out later. Weren't you going somewhere?"
"We're going to pick up a new phone for Naegi and then we'll be going to her house to clean things up a bit for tomorrow." Togami explained while leaning on the wall.
Chiaki turned towards Naegi. "By the way, how are you doing?"
"I'm fine guys. It was a little scary but everything turned out for the best. I honestly just want to forget about it so there's no need to worry." Naegi said.
"Well if you insist." Chiaki said. She got up and gave Naegi a hug. "I really am glad that you're okay Naegi."
Naegi returned the hug. "Me too Chiaki."
"Well, I've already called Hideki and he'll be here in another five minutes." Togami said looking down at his phone. One of his eyebrows went up. "I'm assuming you three are coming as well?" He received three nods and he sighed. "Fine, let's go then."
Chiaki, Hinata and Komaeda left the room first. Togami glanced at Naegi. "Did you notice?" he asked her. Naegi nodded.
"I'll talk to Komaeda when I get the chance. He probably won't talk in front of everyone, so I'll make sure to get him alone."
Togami nodded and crossed his arms. "Good. When he's this quiet it's unnerving. He should go back to his annoying self already."
Naegi gave him a small smile and started heading towards the door. "Why don't you just admit that you're worried about him?"
Togami followed after her and scoffed. "I'm not."
Naegi gave him a dubious stare. "Right."
Togami growled. "I'm not." He repeated.
Naegi snickered. "Okay, whatever you say."
Picking out a new phone for Naegi didn't take very long and before they knew it they were all looking up at Naegi's house. It looked like one of those old Japanese houses; there were plenty of stone pillars and arches supporting the structure. To get to the house you had to pass the garden, which was pretty big. There were a lot of trees and a pond close to the house.
"Do you guys have any neighbors?" Hinata asked looking around in wonder.
"Our closest neighbors are about ten miles away. This little land belongs to us. Dad wanted our house to be somewhere quiet. He actually had people build this house for us. Looks pretty cool right?" Naegi said proudly.
Chiaki nodded. "It looks pretty big. It also comes with a porch. It's very nice Naegi. I think thirty-two people will fit just fine here."
Naegi frowned. "There are only four rooms. I suppose eight people could sleep in the living room though. Luckily, the rooms still come with the king sized beds so at least four people can sleep there too."
"Hmph, the rest can sleep outside. There's plenty of room. However, Naegi's room has a piano inside so it might be a tight fit in there." Togami said.
"You play the piano?" Komaeda asked Naegi. She nodded.
"I also play the violin and the guitar. Togami helped me out with the piano and violin though. He was very strict."
Togami crossed his arms and nodded to himself. "Of course I was. If I'm going to teach someone, its going to be done right."
"Okay everyone, enough standing around. We need to mop the floors, wipe the counters, put some sheets on the beds, and I'll think about the other stuff." Naegi said as she listed the things that needed to be done.
Everyone nodded and began to gather supplies. Naegi decided to put some music for them to make the cleaning go faster. She settled on Muse's sixth album The 2nd Law and left the othersto their cleaning. Hinata and Chiaki decided to mob the floors and Togami made himself useful by cleaning the counters. Komaeda headed upstairs with Naegi to put some sheets on the beds.
After a minute of neither of them saying anything during the boring task, Naegi turned around and poked Komaeda's forehead. Komaeda jumped.
"Naegi?" he asked confused. Naegi gave him a long appraising look before opening her arms wide. Komaeda looked at her uncertainly.
"Come." She said.
"I don't know what you're-" he felt something cold on his cheek. Surprised he placed his hand on his cheek and was shocked to find it wet. He was crying he realized. As the dawn of it struck him, he looked at Naegi again and felt more tears welling up. Before he knew it, he'd gotten on his knees before Naegi and hugged her around the middle.
"It's okay Komaeda. I'm okay. This is not your fault, do you hear me?" Naegi said hugging him back. Komaeda let out a sob.
"I'm so glad." He said through his tears. "I'm so glad you're okay Naegi. I thought I was going to lose another important person. When that man pointed his gun at you, all I could think of was that this was my fault. If you'd never met me, none of this would have ever happened. All I ever do is inconvenience others. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. You must hate me!" Fat tears landed on Naegi's shirt, Komaeda wasn't even trying to hold anything back anymore.
Naegi went down on her knees and hugged him back. She lifted his chin and said, "You are not an inconvenience Komaeda. You're my friend. One of my best friends actually. What happened to me was not your fault. And I could never hate you Komaeda, never ever. So stop blaming yourself for something you had no control of."
"You're my best friend Naegi. Please don't die." Komaeda said in between tears.
"I'll do my very best Komaeda. It's a promise." She said with a smile.
Naegi glanced up and noticed Togami standing by the door. He gave her a nod and quietly closed the door. And for a while they stayed like that. Komaeda kept crying and Naegi let him.
