As the final bell rang on Friday, Naegi was only too happy to shove his stuff in his bag and sprint out of the classroom. It had been an unusual week to say the least, he'd been asked out by two girls in the popular group. One of them asking him out would be strange enough but two?! Why would someone like Maizono, a cute girl with all the energy and looks of an idol, be interested in a plain, pathetic boy like himself? Or someone like Celeste, with the flirtatiousness and beauty of a mature and refined woman. It made no sense. He decided it would be best not to think about it and hope things would be back to normal next week. Speaking of which, next week was the due date for his English essay, for which he had to finish not only his own but Enoshima's as well. As he mulled over how much work he had to do and how tired he was going to be and how despite his optimism he really hated his life sometimes, he suddenly realised he'd need a book from the library in order to finish the essays. He stopped just in front of the exit doors to the school and immediately turned around, heading back towards the library.

"Man, lucky I remembered before I got on the bus, and this means I'll have to get the late bus so I won't have to ride with Enoshima. Guess things are looking up." He said to himself, smiling as he walked through the large oak doors that lead to the school's library. The room was vast, walls lined with huge old oak bookshelves spanning two floors and circular tables dotted around the room for students to sit and study. Were it not for the computers at the back on the room and the main desk just to Naegi's right one would assume they'd stepped back into the 1920's. The room was practically empty except for the librarian and a figure on the second floor that Naegi could barely see under the room's low lights, they seemed to be looking through the mystery section, one Naegi visited frequently. There was something incredibly thrilling about figuring out the solution to a mystery and being able follow the character's as they also strived to figure it out. Naegi was a humble person, a very humble person in fact, but even he knew he was quite talented when it came to understanding people, looking at the actions, words and thoughts of the character's in mystery books was usually how he figured out the solution. He wished he could head up to the mystery section now and become lost in another great story but he needed to work on these assignments or else there's no telling what Enoshima would do. He quickly rushed over to the classic literature section of library and began scanning the shelves. Their English teacher had asked for a thousand word essay on the use of poetic and literary devices in 1984. Naegi had been coming to the library to work on it but he was still only eight hundred words in and that was just Enoshima's essay, he still had his own to do. He breathed an audible sigh of relief when he spotted a copy of it at the end of the bookcase, quickly grabbing it and rushing out of the isle towards the front desk. Unfortunately, in his rush, he didn't notice another figure walking across the room towards the front desk until he'd ploughed right into them, sending them both tumbling to the floor. Naegi was slightly disorientated for a few seconds before he realised what had happened and hastily kneeled next to the person, offering support and apologising profusely for what happened. Now that he was looking he saw the person he'd run into was a girl, not just any girl but one who's beautiful violet, almost silver hair was now hanging over her shoulders and face as she sat up grabbing the book she'd been carrying from where it had landed. Naegi felt his face flame up in embarrassment. Not only had he just run straight into someone like an idiot but of all people it was the girl he'd been crushing on for the last three years.

"I'm so sorry." Naegi squeaked, blushing heavily and helping Kirigiri up. Kirigiri seemed surprised for a fraction of a second as she noticed who it was that had knocked her over but her stoic mask was quickly back on her face as she brushed herself down and collected her stuff.

"It's fine, just be more careful in future." Kirigiri said politely.

"Yeah…" Naegi breathed awkwardly.

Kirigiri made to move around Naegi and keep walking to the chairs on the other side of the room, where she planned to sit and read quietly.

"So, deja vu moment huh?" Naegi blurted out suddenly, causing her to pause. She turned to face him, eyes crinkling in confusion. Naegi blushed, he wasn't sure why he'd said that, it was like his mouth refused to listen to him. "You know since we first met because I bumped into you here." Naegi wished he could melt into the floor he was so embarrassed, why couldn't he seem to stop himself from talking.

Kirigiri placed her thumb and index finger on her chin, a position she was known for adopting when she was thinking. She racked her brain until eventually the memory of a flustered Naegi bumping into her and the two of them sitting together to talk about their favourite mystery stories came flooding into her mind. It was probably the first and last proper interaction she'd had with the young Hope in all the time the two had known each other.

"I remember…" She said, lowering her hand and looking Naegi in the eye. If anything this made him even more uncomfortable.

"Yeah… Sorry, seems I can't keep from bumping into you." Naegi laughed. "If only I was less clumsy."

"I think it's not so much that you're clumsy, rather that you always seem to be in a hurry." Kirigiri replied.

"Ah, yeah, guess you're right." Naegi said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

There was an awkward pause between the two as neither of them really knew what to do. Naegi was trying to think of a way to salvage the situation without embarrassing himself further whilst Kirigiri was contemplating asking Naegi out just to get it over with, then she could tell Enoshima he rejected her and she could move on.

"Say uh Naegi…" She began nervously, she really didn't want to do this. It wasn't the fact that it was Naegi but rather that she just wasn't interested in romance in general. Also, she thought Enoshima was probably going to far with this, she felt guilty being involved in something so cruel. Unfortunately, she knew it was suicide for anyone to go against Enoshima. Kirigiri couldn't risk losing her place in the popular group, not because she liked the other people in the group but because being a member meant she was safe from any persecution and could spend her school days studying and preparing for the future in peace. The truth was, Kirigiri never gave a thought to doing the right thing or the wrong thing, only ever the smart thing. The smart thing right now was to stay on Enoshima's good side, which meant going along with her plan to break Naegi. "Would you like to get coffee together tomorrow?"

Naegi practically choked on his own spit when she said that. He was sure he must have misheard her.

"We could talk about our favourite mystery stories." She continued.

"Y-You, you mean like a date?!" Naegi stuttered, blushing profusely.

"Yeah— Well, I mean, yes." Kirigiri stammered, a light pink dusting her cheeks as she nervously placed a strand of her hair behind her ear. Both Naegi and Kirigiri herself were surprised by this, it wasn't like her to stumbled over her words. "Forget it…" She sighed, "it was a stupid idea." She turned to leave, honestly pleased she managed to get that out of the way, when suddenly Naegi stopped her for the second time that afternoon.

"Wait, I- I'd love to."

Kirigiri turned to see him blushing even harder than he had been earlier, which she hadn't thought possible.

"I mean, I want to go on a date with you." He said, a bit more firmly.

"You do?" She asked, genuinely confused.

"Yeah, well, I mean, I've always liked you but, well, I…" Naegi's nervousness returned tenfold and he became a blushing stuttering mess once again. "Honestly," he began, suddenly looking at the floor forlornly, "I never believed someone like you would be interested in someone like me, you're so perfect and I'm so, well, the total opposite of that."

"You… Think I'm perfect?"

"Well yeah! I mean… You're beautiful of course, and smart and well, you always look so cold and emotionless but I really like how you smile so softly when you're happy and tuck your hair behind your ear when you're nervous or confused which makes you angry cause you don't like not knowing things, it's so cool how determined and dedicated you are even at the small things—" Naegi caught himself, realising he'd begun rambling, he blushed again, embarrassed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to go on like that."

Kirigiri just stared blankly at him, her face betraying nothing besides a soft blush. Inside, her emotions were spiking. Naegi's words… His deep understanding of her… His obvious feelings for her… No one had ever said anything so deep and meaningful to her before… People had complimented her before sure, but only ever basic things like how beautiful or smart she was, never how they admired even the small simple things about her personality the way Naegi seemed to.

"So… Uh… About that coffee date?" Naegi prompted. Kirigiri blinked, returning to reality. She smiled, softly, feeling very warm inside all of a sudden. She didn't think she'd ever experience a moment like this with anyone, but here she was, having an awkward yet romantic moment with Makoto Naegi.

"Yes, let's do so. At the cafe " She said, still smiling. Naegi's own mouth curved into a relived yet very excited smile.

"G-Great, awesome, yeah, fantastic." He babbled. "I'll, I'll see you then." He laughed awkwardly, stumbling away, almost tripping over a table as he went to check out his book. Kirigiri chuckled at his antics before catching herself and putting her mask back up. She'd never let it drop like it had for the duration of her conversation with the short social outcast. She hadn't even been thinking about Enoshima or her ridiculous plan when she'd agreed to the date. After he'd left though, it all came flooding back and she found herself feeling guilty. Normally she wouldn't care, in fact, she didn't understand why she cared now. She did her absolute best not to care about others. Not because she was a bad person, she didn't see herself as bad or good, but she kept herself closed off because she'd been hurt once before, badly, and from that day on she'd not been able to trust people anymore. The gloves on her hands did more than hide what was underneath, they were also a reminder; a reminder of how she'd been hurt so she would make sure it didn't happen again. She'd keep her heart closed, protected, that was the promise she made to herself. So why was Naegi able to get to her so easily?

Speaking of Naegi, he was just in time to catch the last school bus of the day. Not many people caught the bus at this time, especially on a Friday when everyone was anxious to get home and start their weekend. He noticed a couple of third year students sitting near the front but he didn't know them. He did however notice Komaeda sitting at the very back of the bus leaning his head against the glass of the window. He was clearly lost in thought, so lost in fact he didn't even notice when Naegi sat down beside him. Being the concerned person he was he naturally wanted to know what was bothering the pale young man. Naegi gave Komaeda's shoulder a quick tap causing him to flinch and turn sharply towards Naegi. Naegi threw his hands to let him know he meant no harm.

"Oh, Naegi…" Komaeda said, sounding very tired.

"Hey, Komaeda, are you feeling okay?" Naegi asked.

"Why do you ask?"

"Well, you've been acting strange ever since Hinata came to school." Naegi didn't miss the way Komaeda flinched at Hinata's name.

"Oh, that, it's nothing to concern yourself over Naegi…" Komaeda turned back to the window, indicating he wished to leave things there. Naegi wasn't the kind of person to leave things alone when he thought someone was hurt though and lately Komaeda seemed to be in emotional turmoil.

"Komaeda, I know something's wrong, please just tell me, I want to help you." Naegi pleaded. "Besides, if you talk to me it's not like I'll gossip, who could I gossip to?"

Komaeda actually laughed a bit.

"Yeah, you and me both… Well… At least, it use to be that way, before Hinata."

"I don't understand, aren't you happy? To have a friend?"

"Are you ever happy when people ask to be your friend?" Komaeda deadpanned, knowing full well Naegi rejected potential friends just as much as him.

"I guess I'm not one to talk, you're right… Still, I'm glad someone seems determined to be friends with you."

"I'm not the kind of person people should be friends with Naegi, and I'm not just talking about the inevitable social outcast status that comes with being my friend, though that is important, there's also the fact that some of the rumours about me are true. I really am obsessive and emotionally unstable and disgusting and lowly and—"

"Komaeda!" Naegi interrupted, not only was Komaeda rambling but his eyes had taken on that crazed look he sometimes got. Thankfully Naegi's words snapped him out of it.

"Sorry, but see, this proves my point, I'm not a stable person. The scary thing is that I know that… I know I'm broken but I don't know how to fix it. I'm depressed Naegi, and, in the way some people turn to drugs or alcohol I turn to hope, which sounds fine… But the way I worship hope… I know it isn't healthy…" He turned to Naegi with tears in his eyes. "But I can't seem to stop."

Naegi pulled Komaeda in for a hug, allowing him to cry on his shoulder. Neither of them had noticed they were the only passengers on the bus, nor that they'd stopped near Komaeda's house.

"I know what I'm about to say is hypocritical and that you don't want to hear it," Naegi said, rubbing Komaeda's back, "but I think you should let Hinata into your life, let him help you. He's far braver than either of us…"

Komaeda didn't say anything, just continued crying. The bus driver glanced at the two boys in his rear-view mirror but quickly turned away, feeling intrusive. He knew he should tell them to break it up so the white-haired boy could get off, this was his stop, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. So, instead, he waited patiently for Komaeda to calm down. It was six o'clock on a Friday evening, it wasn't like the streets were all that busy anyway.