NO, THAT'S WRONG! ~~Naegami~~

Chapter 4: That's Enough

"Naegi?" Togami asked incredulously. Makoto immediately knew he'd come at the wrong time. Togami's hair was dishevelled and his eyes were slightly puffy and red.

"Byakuya? Are you... crying?" he asked, and knew instantly that he shouldn't have. Togami's face twisted into a sneer.

"That's Togami to you. And no. A Togami doesn't cry. Now, are you done here?" But Makoto knew from Togami's face that he wasn't okay. He didn't know why he cared, but he knew that he did, and that was enough for him to decide not to leave.

"Seriously, Togami, it's not a bad thing to cry. I won't tell anyone so you don't have to-" he was cut off by a broken voice he hardly recognised as Togami's.

"Not a bad thing for you, maybe. You've never been expected to do anything with your sad, meaningless, life. But unlike you, I have a future. And that comes with expectations I have to live up to. So can you please get out of my sight. The sight of you makes my skin crawl."

Makoto knew what Togami was doing. He himself had done it several times in the past. When you feel vulnerable, you lash out at others. You convince yourself that being better than them will make you feel better. But it never does, and you end up resenting the fact that people leave you alone.

"Insult me all you like, Togami, I'm not going to leave you until you tell me what's going on."

"Why?" Togami asked softly, "Are you that desperate for some dirt on me? Or do you still hold on to the foolish delusion that we can ever be friends?"

"It's a thing called human decency. You probably haven't heard of it. It's where people comfort other people who are sad."

"Sorry, but that sounds like you doing me a favour. And I'm not interested in being indebted to trash like you." Byakuya said, closing the door, but Makoto grabbed it before it shut.

"For God's sake, Togami, get over yourself for five minutes." Makoto said and slipped his thin body through the opening in the door. "See? I'm in your room now. You legally have to talk to me. So, what's wrong?" Makoto looked around to see Togami's face redden before his eyes, and his brow crease even further. His icy-blue eyes sparked dangerously, and Makoto knew he'd overstepped. When Togami opened his mouth, it wasn't his usual harsh tone. He spoke softly, but sternly. Somehow this was so much scarier than shouting.

"Naegi. Get the hell out of my room and never talk to me again. In fact, I don't ever want to see you again." Makoto was frozen to the spot. He knew he should be moving, but his feet were glued to the floor.

   "But I-"

   "That's enough." Makoto saw another tear make it's way down Togami's cheek. "Please... Makoto... leave..." Makoto had never heard Togami say the word please before, so silently left the room.

                                                                                             ***

Byakuya watched Naegi leave his room. It was only after he had gone, softly shutting the door behind him, that Byakuya allowed his composure to crumble. He folded onto his bed and shoved his face into his pillow to stop himself from crying. He couldn't believe he had lost his cool in front of Naegi, of all people. It was mortifying to have someone see how vulnerable Byakuya really was. Hopefully Naegi wouldn't share the experience with anyone, he seemed too nice to gossip about him. Hang on, Byakuya thought, where the hell had I got that impression of him? Byakuya reasoned it was because Naegi just seemed like a nice person. His face was really kind, and he spoke really softly. Goddamn it. He really wished he'd let Naegi stay in retrospect. He hadn't been judging him, really. Maybe he should go and find him, apologise for overreacting. All of a sudden, he heard his father's voice in his head.