Equilibrium

Doubts and Bonds

Quite a bit of time has passed since Komaeda successfully made Naegi his friend.

Naegi is so caring and accepting that he had begun to include Komaeda in anything he could.

If they couldn’t hang out by themselves, Naegi would offer him to join in with his other friends. Komaeda hates the idea of having to force the others to deal with a waste of space such as himself, but if it means being around Naegi then so be it.

Naegi’s presence is a gift to Komaeda, he adores the comfort it brings him. He won’t admit it out loud, but the feeling of having his talent go null...is incredible.

Liberating.

Although it doesn’t always happen.

After some careful analysis Komaeda has realized that whenever he isn’t alone with Naegi their talents come back, which can result in chaos. Several apologies were given to Naegi’s classmates those days. One of the worst days was when he was invited with Naegi to a karaoke night with some of his classmates.

He tried to turn him down, not wanting to subject everyone to his voice. Maizono specifically. An Ultimate Pop Sensation doesn't need that.

Still Naegi insisted and dragged him along, ignoring his words. Everything had gone fine, until it was time to choose who went first.

No one wanted to go first, feeling too embarrassed. Eventually they had decided on choosing who went first randomly through a few rounds of rock paper scissors.

That's where it all went awry.

Komaeda can never let himself go into a karaoke room with them again, he can’t risk causing that kind of danger once more. Before they could even finish the first round all the tv screens fizzed out and shot out sparks everywhere. It was horrific. He was lucky enough that none of them got hurt.

Several Ultimate lives were at stake that day, I cannot let this happen again.

If we are to be together then we must stay away from everyone else.

This revelation has led to seeking out Naegi when he’s alone as often as possible, if he’s not alone he whisks him away. It doesn’t take much to convince either, Naegi’s kindness stops him from turning down Komaeda.

The two lucksters have hung out almost every day now.

Seeing the two hang out with each other so frequently has brought some concern to the others in his class. They think that Komaeda can't tell when they're whispering about the two in class, but he can.

He may not have as sharp an ear as the amazingly talented Mioda, but their collective whispers aren’t hard to listen in on.

It's not like they're very secretive about it either, whenever class ends none of them get up to leave. They all stay silent for a while, until Komaeda leaves the room.

The moment his foot is out the door he can hear them discuss and debate amongst themselves.

Komaeda doesn't understand the interest, it's pretty straightforward.

They just can't see what Naegi truly is I suppose...

Still, he knows beings as superior as them will figure out what's going on soon, so he isn't bothered.