Hopeful Days XI – Catching Up
Soon enough, lunch break was over and the boys went their separate ways.
Mondo went back to his workshop, apparently his bike was in need of some fine tuning. Kiyotaka went back to patrolling the halls as he puts it, 'to better the school environment and stop any students from breaking the rules!'.
Yasuhiro and Leon accompanied Makoto for a bit, before going their own separate ways, leaving the brunette alone in one of the hallways.
"I'm starting to think this school is a bit too big." The Luckster says as he opens his e-Handbook and goes to the map app. "Let's see where am I now?" He continues looking at the device in his hands, not noticing someone approaching from behind.
"Naegi-kun?"
"Huh?" Taking his eyes off the e-Handbook, the brunette turns around and a smile grows on his face. "Maizono-san!"
"Hello Naegi-kun!" She smiles back, making him blush. "Going somewhere?" The bluenette approaches, looking at his handbook.
"K-Kinda, hehe, I just got a bit lost." He chuckles, scratching the back of his head. "I'll probably go check on the library now."
"Cool!" Sayaka giggles, making the boy's heart flutter. "Can I tag along? I haven't visited it yet either."
"Of course!" Makoto smiles and points down the hall. "Let's go!"
With that, the two Ultimates start making their way towards the library. As they walk, Sayaka keeps some small talk, asking how he's settling in and how Makoto feels about the school until now, which the brunette responds as honestly as he could.
After letting her steer the conversation for a bit, the brunette teen finally gets enough courage to say what was on the forefront of his mind.
"I'm actually surprised you remembered me." Makoto says awkwardly, trying to not sound too condescending.
She stops walking and looks at him, there's a small moment of silence following his comment, which makes the brunette regret what he just said.
'Darn it Makoto! She probably just saw some article about me and learned my name there!' He bites his lower lip in regret. ' Urgh. Why would she remember me? We barely talked back then!' Before he could continue to panic and start apologizing, the blue-haired girl giggles.
"How could I not?" She replies, her sweet smile never leaving her face. "You helped heal my broken wings." His panicked expression turns into one of confusion. "Of course I could never forget you."
"…" Makoto blinks slowly. "Huh?" At his reaction, Sayaka can't help but let out a small chuckle, which soon turns into full-blown laughter. "Haha!" Even though he didn't understand why she was laughing, the boy just couldn't hold his own chuckles, the idol's energy was so contagious that he simply had to join her in laughing.
After some minutes, Sayaka cleans a tear running down her eye and cough. "That- ha- was a good laugh!" She smiles and closes her eyes. "I needed that." Without warning, the blue-haired idol gives Makoto a kiss on the cheek. "So, let's go to the library?" She blushes slightly.
The brunette was still stunned and his cheeks are noticeably red tinted. "Y-Yes, of course." He didn't know what just happened, but at least Sayaka seemed happy and that was enough for him.
Not wasting any time, the two went back to walking and Sayaka once again took the helm on the conversation, this time with a lot more vigor and an almost permanent smile on her face.
The two teens walk up to the school's library, excitedly talking about mundane things like how school was like to an idol.
"Oh, so you studied at home?" The brunette asked and Sayaka nodded.
"Yeah, my producer said that it would be too bothersome for us to physically go to school." The idol replies, her smile never leaving her face. "Something about bringing too much attention to ourselves." She giggles cutely. "Kinda silly if you ask me."
"I can understand why." Makoto puts his hands in the pocket of his hoodie. "My sister would kill to even be on the same room as you, I can only imagine how a entire class of fans would do."
Seeing a opportunity, the blue-haired idol stops in place and pouts. "So you are not my fan?" She says in a hurt tone.
Makoto starts to panic and pulls his hands out of his pockets. "O-Of course I am! It's just that my sister is a lot more of a fan."
Sayaka's pout turns into a smile as she giggles. "You're so easy to tease!"
"Hah, hehe, I guess." He scratches the back of his head, embarrassed.
The two share a quick laugh and go back yo walking.
Soon enough, they finally reach their destination.
The double door of the library are made of some fine dark wood, with golden above it and by the side of the doors.
"Even the doors here are super fancy." Comments Sayaka.
"Yeah, it's pretty wild that this door probably has more monetary value than everything I ever owned." The brunette replies with a sigh.
He looks at the doorknob, which by itself was adorned in gold and moves his hand to grab it.
At that exact moment, the doorknob turns and the door is swung open from the inside. Being startled because of the sudden door opening, Makoto loses his footing and trips forward.
"Oh-" Before the brunette can face plant on the floor, whoever opened the door grabbed onto him, stopping the boy from falling. "Uh, t-thanks!" The Luckster says, adjusting himself.
"It was nothing." Replies a feminine voice her tone incredibly cold and somewhat uninterested.
"Naegi-kun! Are you okay?" Sayaka asks approaching the two.
The boy nods. Before Makoto finally turning to look to the person who grabbed him. "Oh, uh, Kirigiri Kyoko-san, right?" He asks, feeling even more awkward, thanks to her cold demeanor. "Sorry about that."
The detective nods, completely indifferently. "Just try not to fall on anyone."
"O-Oh, yeah, I'll try!" He replies closing his eyes and an awkward laugh. "I'm Naegi Mako-" When the boy opens his eyes again, the pale detective had already walked away. "-to."
"A bit rude isn't she?" The idol says, resting her hand on her hips.
"I m-mean, she did grab me before I fell." Scratching his cheek, the brunette smiles softly. "Guess was just in a hurry."
"Whatever." Sayaka shrugs. "Anyways, let's go inside and see how it's like!"
The brunette nods and the idol enters the library first. He soon follows her, but not before tossing one last look to where the pale detective went.
Hope's Peak, as it was to be expected, did not skimp out on the library. There are large rolls of bookshelves full of whatever book an student may or may not need, some are even so high up that a little staircase was needed to reach them.
Just like with the door, the bookshelves are adorned with golden details on the dark wood, creating a almost fantastical feeling to the whole library.
Sadly, the two teens couldn't appreciate the architecture of the place, as they stepped into a shouting match on the supposedly quiet room.
"Y-YOU U-UNCULTURED S-SWINE!"
"Tsk! I'm SORRY to say FUKAWA TOUKO-DONO, but the one who's UNCULTURED around here is YOU!"
Both Makoto and Sayaka blink, then look at each other confused.
Yells can be heard from the back of the gigantic library, all while an very clearly annoyed Togami sits at one of the reading tables, a cup of coffee in front of her and a book in her hands.
"Oh great, more peasants." The blond comments as she looks towards the two teens in front of the door, not even bothering to whisper. "The two on the back are already getting on my nerves."
"Hey!" Finally snapping out of her confusion, Sayaka marches forward and stops in front of the blond heiress. "That was very rude!"
"Yes, but also correct." Retorts Byakuya immediately. "What is the problem in calling a peasant an peasant?" She shrugs and sips on her coffee.
"You little-" The idol was about to retort, but Makoto stops her by getting in between the two girls.
"Calm down you two." He says as gently as he can. "Uh, Togami-san?" Turning to face the blond, Makoto is met with the most judgment glare he has ever received in his life. ' Gotta chose my words carefully.' He thinks. "M-May I ask what is going on in the back?"
"Huh, at least this peasant is polite." Closing her book, the blond adjusts her glasses as Sayaka shows her tongue. "Well, those two insufferable 'artists' are arguing about some nonsense on the back of the library for a while." Crossing her arms, the heiress sighs. "It is getting quite annoying."
"If you are so annoyed, why didn't you go back there and told them to shut it?" The bluenette asks and Togami chuckles in the most condescending way possible.
"Why should I?" Togami smirks. "Those peasants are at best a minor annoyance. While it would be preferable to have then silenced, it isn't exactly a good way to spend my precious time." She then opens her book once again and takes a sip of her coffee.
"T-TAKE T-THAT B-BACK RIGHT N-NOW, YOU D-DIPSHIT!" An female voice yells from the back.
"ONLY if YOU admit that MY art is superior to your SILLY books!" A male one yells back.
"…" Togami sighs, putting her glass of coffee back on the table. "You know what?" Looking up towards the brunette, she points to him. "You go deal with them for me." The blond then goes back to reading.
"H-Huh? W-Why?" The boy asks and Togami ignores him, not taking her eyes off her book.
"Hey!" Sayaka calls, still the blond doesn't bother to look at her. "Why don't you go there and do it yourself?" Indignation was very clear in the bluenette's mind.
Togami continues to ignore her.
The idol was about to say more, but Makoto puts a hand on her shoulder and says. "It's okay, Maizono-san." He smiles softy. "I'll take it as an opportunity to meet some more of our classmates."
Sayaka was about to protest, but seeing his smile, she simply blushed and nodded slightly. "Geez Naegi-kun, you're a bit of a pushover aren't you?"
The brunette chuckles, then turns around and makes his way towards where the yells are coming from.
He reaches another reading zone, with more tables and even a pink beanbag for more comfortable reading.
As he steps closer, the two voices get even louder.
"Y-YOU F-FUCKING B-BASTARD!" The female voice yells, even more angrily than before. "T-TAKE THIS F-FILTHY S-SHIT AWAY F-FROM ME!"
"It isn't filthy!" The male one says, slightly less loud than the female one. "It is the most pure form of art!"
Makoto finally reaches the two voices, but, as his luck would have it, he stepped in right as one of his classmates grabbed a manga magazine and tossed it away, coincidently exactly in his direction.
As the manga magazine hit the brunette right in the middle of his forehead, the only thing he could think of was.
Why does this keep happening to me?
Hopeful Days XI – Catching Up
A bit of Naezono bonding and Togami being a bitch, better be prepared because those two are gonna be common place.
Anyways, hope y'all liked it and see you around!