Will I ever // Naegami

Chapter 8 // Assessments, assessments, assessments...

⚠️SPOILER WARNING FOR AUTHOR NOTES⚠️

———

For the first time in two months, Naegi had his mind on something other than the tall blonde.

Naegi was completely overloaded with assessments. He'd been sleeping in so much, just barely makings it to the train several times in the past two weeks.

"You've been far later than usual." Byakuya questioned the shorter boy as they were on the train. "I'm just sleeping in, I'm busy..." Naegi responded with an exhausted sigh. "What is it you're having trouble with?" Byakuya said the question as if it were some sort of command that Naegi had to answer to. "Biology, Math, Japanese, English..." Naegi stood next to Byakuya, his hand draped over a hanging train handle. Naegi looked about the same as he felt. His hair was messier than usual, bags under his eyes and although he was barely awake, he continued to push himself. "Very well." Byakuya had dismissed Naegi so easily.

Naegi didn't know that later though that Byakuya would do something Naegi would never expect.

———

It was a tired day at school, warnings of exams, assessments... it was all so overwhelming.

Naegi was on the train home, just barely staying awake.

He knew he needed rest, but he refused to give in so easily to sleep. He had to stay awake.

Naegi finally arrived at his stop, nearly face planting onto the concrete.

"There you are. Come on, let's go." Byakuya was standing arms crossed at the train station. "Why are you here?" Naegi asked sleepily, yawning. "To take you home, obviously. Come on." Byakuya followed Naegi home. "Don't follow me.." Naegi yawned, his legs dragging along the pathway. Once they got to Naegi's house, Byakuya was practically holding Naegi up so he wouldn't collapse onto the ground.

"Hello?" Komaru peeked out from behind the door. Komaru and Byakuya locker gazes before Komaru looked back at Naegi, then back at the taller boy. "Are you my brother's boyfriend?" Komaru raised an eyebrow. "He's not my boyfriend..." Naegi groaned, Byakuya sighing. "Oh, come in." Komaru opened up the door. As Naegi passed Komaru, she gave him a smug smile. Naegi gave a disinterested glance in response.

"Do you have a boyfriend?" Was the first thing Byakuya asked after they got up to Naegi's room. Naegi was currently doing assignments at his desk whilst Byakuya sat on the edge of his bed. "No, but my sister thought I had one ever since the late night out a few weeks ago." Naegi didn't look up, his eyes still trained on his textbooks. "...Okay." Byakuya's leg was crossed over another, his arms folded. He watched Naegi intently, practically burning holes into the back of Naegi's head. Finally, Byakuya had enough.

"Stop that."

Byakuya dragged Naegi off of his chair, onto his bed. "Go to sleep. Now." Byakuya sat on the edge of Naegi's bed. "I have assessments to complete, Byakuya—" Naegi tried to release himself from Byakuya's grasp, instead failing and being held down onto the bed. "I won't hesitate to lay on you." Byakuya released Naegi, his arms finally freed. "Fine, I'll sleep. But next time if you're worried about me, don't follow me to my house and invite yourself into my room.." Naegi groaned, too sleepy to protest against Byakuya.

Naegi then drifted off to sleep, Byakuya laying a blanket over him.

———

It was morning, a peaceful one at that. Sun seeped through the curtains, painting the plain room a beautiful orange glow.

"It's Friday...?" Naegi looked confused. He could've sworn it was still Thursday afternoon...

Naegi decided to text Byakuya.

Naegi: Byakuya
Byakuya: What is it Naegi?
Naegi: Its friday right?
Byakuya: Yes, you imbecile.
Byakuya: Did you sleep well?

Naegi was confused until he remembered what happened.

Naegi: You watched me sleep
Byakuya: I did not, I just waited until you were properly asleep to leave.
Naegi: Creepy...
Byakuya: You weren't sleeping properly, I had to make you sleep.
Naegi: Its 5am, when did I fall asleep?
Byakuya: You had 13 hours of sleep, in that case.
Naegi: ...
Byakuya: You fell asleep at 4:00pm.
Naegi: I slept for so long
Byakuya: Yes, you did.
Naegi: That's creepy
Naegi: But thank you, I guess.
Byakuya: If you don't start falling asleep earlier, I'll do the exact same thing again next time this happens.

Honestly, more time with Byakuya sounded appealing... but Naegi really did have to focus more on his assignment.

Naegi: Okay, I'll make a note not to.

———

Week 11, Term 1...

"Finally finished every assignment, every exam!" Asahina jumped up in the air with joy.

Finally, all of their assignments were finished. Naegi was relieved to be free from the stress, although he also wondered how Byakuya handled the stress for his assignments...if he even got stressed over them.

Friday afternoon in the second last week of their semester, their assessments concluded.

———

"Come on Byakuya, you seem to handle your assessments so well. I'm just asking for advice." Naegi whined, Byakuya kept protesting. "There's no advice to give." Both of the boys were walking to Naegi's place. "There must be something, like you had just said, you pass tests effortlessly!" Naegi was still clinging to Byakuya.

☆

To be honest, Byakuya didn't mind the other boy clinging to him. He quite enjoyed it actually— but of course he couldn't say that to the other boy's face.

Once they made it to Naegi's place, they rung the doorbell.

"Oh your boyfriend's back." Komaru peeked from behind the door once more, inviting them in.

"I've told you again and again, he's not my boyfriend." Naegi groaned. "Sorry, she still keeps insisting that we're dating." Naegi apologized.

Really, Byakuya didn't mind the thought of being Naegi's boyfriend. He loved being around the boy in general. It would be embarrassing to say this all to him, though. Naegi probably didn't feel the same. Naegi was more impulsive than him and had more friends than Byakuya ever would.

To he honest, Naegi was one of Byakuya's only friends. He was kind of friends with some of his peers such as Fujisaki Chihiro and Kirigiri Kyouko though.

Fujisaki Chirhiro was particularly popular with all of her peers, most admiring how petite and cute she was. She also did coding though, and she was pretty popular because of that too.

Kirigiri Kyouko was also pretty popular, mainly for how cold and distant she was. She was often in the library looking at old documented crime scenes. Come to think of it, she was fond of mystery novels and fine literature too.

Togami Byakuya. Mainly known for being heir to the Togami corporation, was seen as a loner. He was quite popular, a lot of the girls taking a liking to him, although quite a few men also took an interest in him as well. He was rich, and didn't associate himself with many people in such a carefree manner. It was odd to find him becoming friends with someone who was seen as a 'lower class' compared to him, or as he was known to say, a 'commoner'.

Although it could be seen as so small and insignificant, Naegi and Byakuya's friendship was something that showed even some rich kid with outstanding grades and someone so ordinary could still talk in such a carefree manner, despite their class difference.

"It's fine."

☆

———

Author's note:

I address Fujisaki Chihiro with she/her/herself pronouns because at this point in the story nobody in his school knows he is actually a boy.