high school sweethearts- naegami

chapter 4

"Hey, do you know where Naegi-kun went?"

"He was at school earlier.."

"But I didn't see him leave."

"I'm worried, he looked really upset.."

"Whatever he's doing does not concern your well being." Byakuya snapped making them all shut up. He internally cursed himself for that, now he was going to attract attention surrounding where Makoto went. Rumours spread like wildfire in college, and even though all of these people were young adults, some of them still acted like they were 11.

Yeah, and some of them still ate lucky charms for breakfast. why does makoto like that garbage so much? is it made of optimism or something?

But that wasn't important right now. From what Togami could gather, people had seen Makoto leave the school crying, though some people said he had not gone through the gate.
This was..interesting. For once. Finally, a rumour that isn't shitty and actually has evidence to back it up.

Maybe it was so interesting, Byakuya wanted to investigate for himself. He felt himself getting up, but then stopped. He'd be stooping to Kyoko's level then, and she'd never let him live it down..

..if he got caught, that was.

i guess i have to be sneaky about this..i can't let people know i actually care for that idiot.

He made sure no one was looking and then got up, leaving quickly and quietly so nobody would suspect anything.

"Excuse me, sir!! You cannot be in these premises if you do not have a hall pass!!" I wonder who that was.

"Ishimaru, I have requested permission and I have been granted it. Scram."

"Where is your permission slip?!"

"..here." He took out a card and wrote his signature on it. "Signed by Byakuya Togami himself."

"B-but-"

"How can you argue to that? Know your place." He winced slightly from that phrase. did I really have to use a phrase my father uses on me?

"..I apologise, sir."

Byakuya just ignored him and walked past, feeling bad but trying to push it away again. He'd always been told to push his emotions away, he didn't know any better. He wanted to be nice, but he was afraid he could be taken advantage of.

i hate my sister.

Togami sighed and ran his hands through his hair. He was thinking about it again, he didn't want to, he just wanted to get it out of his head but it was always in the back of his mind, every minute of every day. He hadn't found a salvation yet.

And that was when he heard quiet crying in the bathroom.

"..?" is that naegi?..maybe i should try to find out..

He went to the door and knocked on it. Okay, smart move, not. "Naegi, is that you?"

"..."

"Answer me."

"..t-togami-kun?" Makoto said brokenheartedly making the other boy feel a sharp pain in his chest too.

..this was my fault?

"Why are you in the bathroom crying?" Byakuya had to physically stop himself from adding an insult on the end.

"..why do you think?" He whispered.

"Get on with it and tell me, I'm not here to guess through a door."

"..because you made me cry."

"..what?" I..made him cry?.. He started to feel..guilt. Remorse for his actions. It was strange, he had never felt this way unless he made a mistake when he was younger. So drowned by guilt, he'd let his walls crumble and he'd start crying. Then his father would beat him for crying, causing the walls to come back up stronger than before. It was a twisted cycle, horrible manipulation. Toxic masculinity is awful.

Makoto was the opposite with that. He had never been told off for experiencing emotion, and was allowed to cry, just as much as his sister did sometimes. He had never been hit, ever, he was very small. So if he felt like crying, he'd just let himself cry usually. Unless it was making the other feel bad, in this case it was. And Byakuya actually looked like he was sorry.

"..but.." Makoto wiped his tears and unlocked the door. "It doesn't matter! Everybody makes-"

He was interrupted by Byakuya wrapping his arms around him tightly.

"?! W-what are you-"

"I'm.." he took in a deep breath. "..sorry, Naegi."

"..." he slowly hugged him back. he smells good..like tea.. "It's okay, Togami-kun."

"..I don't hate you. I don't hate anyone." He was tolerant of a lot of people. "I just..snapped..and I'm sorry for that." He was deeply ashamed. Byakuya always prided himself on being calm and collected, but his arrogant behaviour had gone up a notch and he'd let himself go in that moment. He was just..terrified that he'd fall in love, and somebody would take his place as the heir.

"Everybody makes mistakes, Togami-kun. Like I said before!" Makoto squeezed him a little tighter, his heart pounding. He was very flustered..and it was adorable.

Byakuya felt his own heart starting to beat faster too, and he mentally cursed himself.

this is going to be much harder than I thought.