It was early in the morning when I woke up. The sun was just rising, which was the usual when I woke up on weekends. I never worked out during the week since I had gym class at school, but on weekends I went to Sakura and Aoi's gym. They gave me a special discount so I could afford it.

My neck and back ached from sleeping upright on the couch. As I moved my legs, I noticed a blanket was placed on Nagito's and mine's lap. Either Chiaki and Kazuichi put it on us or my parents did once they came home last night.

More than that, though, I noticed how snuggled into my side Nagito was. Not only was his head still resting on my shoulder, but his entire side was curled up into mine with his left leg laying on my lap and his arms wrapped around my waist. I was a giant teddy bear. His giant teddy bear. I honestly loved it.

I was surprisingly still tired, and I wanted to go back to sleep, but I knew if I continued to sleep like I was, my back would hurt for the rest of the day. Being as careful as possible to avoid waking Nagito up, I shifted him slightly so I could lay back on the couch with him laying on my chest.

Once I was comfortably laying down, he snuggled back into my chest and tightened his grip around my waist. Smiling, I gently ran my fingers through his hair before closing my eyes and falling back asleep.

A few hours later, I heard a squeal that instantly woke me up. Opening my eyes, I looked into Nagito's wide, fearful eyes. Lifting my hand, I ran my fingers through his hair. "Good morning," I yawned.

"I'm sorry, Hajime," he quickly said. "I-I didn't mean to sleep on you."

"It's okay," I chuckled. "I actually, uh...I'm the one who laid you on my chest." Nagito blushed as he looked away from me. "I woke up in the middle of the night, and you looked so peaceful I didn't want to wake you up, so I laid you on my chest. I hope you don't mind."

"It's okay," he murmured, sitting up. Rubbing his eyes, he yawned. "I did sleep a lot better than I had in a long time. I had no idea I was so tired."

"I'm glad you did."

Looking around the room, Nagito quirked an eyebrow. "Where did Chiaki and Kazuichi go?"

"They most likely went home after the movie," I answered. "Chiaki lives in the house to my right, and Kazuichi lives in the one next to hers. Everyone kind of comes and goes as they please around here."

"Really?"

"Yeah. We're all close. Everyone's families in our cul-de-sac are close. Our parents are all friends with each other, so we were all forced to hang out as kids, which then caused us all to become friends," I explained.

Nagito's smile fell as he stared at his lap. "You're really lucky to have so many good friends. It's nice to have people you can rely on."

Sitting up, I tilted my head. "Do you not feel like you have many people to rely on?"

"Not nearly as many as you," he shrugged. "It's just what it is."

"Well, always know that you can rely on me."

His smile perked back up as he looked in my eyes. "That makes you one of my favorite people."

Blushing, I swung my legs off the couch and stood up and rubbed the back of my neck. "You're one of my favorite people, too."

Peeking at Nagito, his face lit up as he stared back at me. He was too cute. He was one of my favorite people in my life. It made me happy, and I was ecstatic knowing I was one of his favorite people, too. In a way, it made me a little sad that in just a few short weeks I'd managed to become one of his favorite people. He had Sonia and Gundham whom he seemed to be the closest to, but even though he was friends with everyone in the Ultimate Club, was he not as close with them as it seemed?

Nagito was surely one of the sweetest people I knew. He was kind-hearted and helpful, always wanting to make the people around him feel at ease. I truly admired him for it. It was a shame other people couldn't see that about him.

Nagito was the first to look away, standing up from the couch and walking away. "I'm going to use your bathroom really quick."

"Take your time," I assured him.

Plopping back onto the couch, I dropped my head into my hands. All the things he'd told me about himself were clearly only surface level, all trivial in his mind. I didn't know as much about him as I thought I did. There were things he hadn't told me yet that I wanted to know. Why he considered himself worthless and trash. Why he was always alone. Why he didn't have many people to rely on. Even if what I knew was just the surface, the surface showed me a kind boy who was polite and sweet to everyone.

I believed it wasn't an act, that the politeness came from his apparent depression and desire to want to please and make people happy. I wanted to know where it stemmed from. How could I please him and make him happy? Could I made him feel even more at ease? Could I make him happy?

There was so much to learn about Nagito, and I had every intention to learn everything I could about him. He honestly was one of my favorite people in such a short amount of time, and I wanted to know why it was the same for him. No matter the answer, I intended to remain someone he could rely on.

It was so much more than wanting to prove myself as being a potential boyfriend. Since he said he wanted to have a husband one day, I had a better chance at becoming a boyfriend than just a friend, but I wanted to prove myself as being someone he could count on. I wanted to be someone Nagito relied on not because I wanted to date him but because I cared about him. I needed to prove that to him. Even if he claimed he could already rely on me, I still had to prove it.

Once Nagito exited the bathroom, I asked, "How would you like to go out for breakfast today?"

"Sure," he smiled. "Let me get changed first."

"Of course. Just be careful up here. My parents are sleeping."

Holding his finger over his mouth, he giggled softly and followed me up the stairs. While I changed in my room, Nagito changed in the bathroom. I changed into a plain black sweatshirt, a white t-shirt, and jeans. I knocked on the bathroom door, and Nagito opened it for me, a toothbrush in his mouth. Since we had duel sinks in our bathroom, I bushed my teeth as well.

Once we were both done, we walked downstairs, slipped on our shoes, and walked towards Nagito's car. Before I could open the passenger door, I heard Sakura call out to me. Smiling at her, I waved. She walked over to the car. Nagito's eyes widened as he stared at her, smiling apprehensively.

"Good morning, Hajime. It was strange not seeing you this morning."

"Sorry to worry you," I said. "This is my friend Nagito. He stayed the night."

"It's nice to meet you, Nagito," Sakura greeted.

"You too."

"What are you doing home? Did something happen at the gym?"

"No. We ran out of my favorite protein powder, so I came home to grab some more."

"Of course. How could you make it through the weekend without your weekend protein drink?" I chuckled, Sakura joining me. "I'll probably join you after breakfast. We'll see how the day goes."

"We look forward to seeing you." Turning to Nagito, Sakura smiled. "It was nice meeting you, Nagito."

"You too."

After we were seated in Nagito's car, he exhaled. Quickly glancing at me, he sat upright and held up his hands. "Sorry. She just seemed so intimidating."

"It's okay," I assured him. It wasn't that big of a surprise, considering she has the body of a body builder. She worked out constantly, making sure she remained in top shape to keep her title as an ultimate martial artist. She was one of the strongest women in the world. "She does seem intimidating, but Sakura is one of the kindest, purest people I've ever met in my life. Every time she's around Aoi, she just melts and gets all cute. It's really adorable."

"Can I ask, were you supposed to meet with her this morning? I'm sorry if I wound up keeping you from anything."

"Oh, no, you didn't. I tend to work out on weekends at her gym."

"I didn't know you worked out."

"Only on weekends. Otherwise, we have gym class."

"Still. I don't have the drive to want to work out, but I honestly probably should."

"I'd say do it if you plan to do it because you want to be healthier or get into healthier habits. If you do it because of body dysmorphia, you're just going to hurt yourself in the end. I'd hate it if you hurt yourself."

Nagito blushed and giggled softly. "You're too sweet, Hajime."

What I said sunk in, and I blushed and stared out the window.

"I just realized I never asked where you wanted to go," he chuckled.

"Oh, head down that road," I said pointing at the next stoplight. Five minutes later we pulled up to a mom and pop breakfast and lunch diner. I hadn't been out to breakfast in a long time, but whenever I did, my parents always took me here. It seemed like a fairly average place to go to in order to help give Nagito his normal sleepover experience.

"Usually, at sleepovers, we make breakfast at home, but my parents were out late last night, so I didn't want to risk waking them up," I explained. "So I thought I'd take you somewhere my parents and I go a lot whenever we do wind up going out for breakfast."

"Do you all come here a lot?"

"Not really. We tend to eat at home for the most part, but on special occasions, we'll come here. Like if my grandma comes to town or if we're celebrating something. It depends."

"Is it okay to bring me here?"

"Of course."

I held the door open for Nagito, and I asked the host for a booth for two. He led us over to a table near the back, and we sat across from each other.

"Get whatever you want. This is my treat."

Nagito jerked his head up and shook it. "I can't ask that from you."

"It's okay," I smiled. "I really want to treat you, so don't worry about it."

Holding the menu up in front of his face, preventing me from seeing him, he said, "I've never been treated like this before."

I didn't know how to respond, so I scanned over the menu. Before I could ask him what he was thinking of ordering, my phone rang. I pulled it out of my pocket, wanting to check if it was important or not. It was Kyoko.

"You can answer that if you want to."

"Sorry," I said to Nagito before answering, "Hey, Kyoko."

"Good morning, Hajime. It's been a while. How are you doing?"

"I'm alright. I'm actually out right now. Is everything okay?"

"Yes, everything is alright. I'll only be a moment," she answered. "I had an idea that I was hoping to run by you."

"What is it?"

"As you know, Komaru's birthday is the day after I return home. I was hoping to have a surprise party for her in my backyard. Since I won't have time to plan out the details, I was hoping you would be able to help Chiaki plan everything out."

"Sure thing," I replied.

"Thank you, Hajime. I'll see you when I return home."

"I look forward to seeing you then."

"You as well. Enjoy the rest of your day."

"You too."

Hanging up, I slid my phone back into my pocket. "Sorry about that. Since Kyoko's away at boarding school, she only has a limited amount of time when she's allowed to be on her phone. I'm sure she called me since she knew I was the only one who was awake and not working."

"Don't worry. It's okay. Is everything alright, though?"

"Yeah. It's Komaru's birthday coming up, so she was hoping Chiaki and I could plan a surprise party for her."

"Does Kyoko live nearby you all?"

"Yeah, she's my neighbor."

"Which house, though? There were only six in your cul-de-sac."

"She lives with Chiaki. Technically, they're sisters. Kyoko's family adopted Chiaki when she was seven."

Nagito tilted his head, seeming even more puzzled. "Why is she in boarding school then and not Chiaki? Oh, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked such a personal question."

"It's okay. Kyoko is away at a special boarding school that's helping her perfect her detective work. Kyoko will be joining her family's detective agency once she graduates."

"Amazing."

"Yeah. She's very talented. She was the one who helped solve the Monokuma Case."

Nagito's jaw dropped. "She's the Kyoko Kirigiri? The one who caught Monokuma the serial killer?"

"And caught seven of her remnants of despair."

Monokuma was a high school serial killer. She would kidnap her victims and torture them until they felt absolute and total despair before killing them. She had a total of ten henchmen, referred to as the remnants of despair. Kyoko discovered her hideout by chance and collected evidence.

Thankfully, she alerted the appropriate authorities before Monokuma found her. She tortured Kyoko, resulting in her hands being burned horribly, but Monokuma was caught and arrested before she could cause any more damage. Since it was hard to find her remnants of despair, Kyoko worked with her parents in order to find the remnants and wound up unmasking seven of the ten.

Due to her help in unmasking the remnants and discovering Monokuma's hideout, Kyoko was accepted into a prestigious boarding school that would help her become an even better detective. She would be graduating early and returning home to officially start working at her parents agency.

Folding his hands in front of his face, Nagito's eyes sparkled as he gazed at me. "I'm a huge fan of hers. When I heard about the case, I was so fascinated by it and really went down a rabbit hole looking into it. She's amazing."

"I can introduce you to her once she's back in town if you want."

Nagito practically vibrated in excitement. As happy as I was for him to be excited over meeting Kyoko, I couldn't help but worry that me knowing her would change his perspective of me. I didn't want him to like me only because I knew her, and while those chances seemed slim, they were still possible.

Vote, comment, and share!