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

Chapter 7: Not Now

A/N: Uhhhhhh no I didn't completely forget about this story, shut up. I just haven't had time to write it... and also I reread the last chapter and I kinda hate it? I'm gonna keep writing, because I think I like it as a whole, but uhhhhh idk there's definitely gonna be more space between chapters than before. Uhhh enjoy or whatever.

———
"Teach me." Byakuya said in a tone that even to him, sounded whiny. What am I even saying? 'Teach me'? How the hell do you 'teach' someone art? Byakuya, although he kept his cool exterior, was internally screaming in embarrassment. He had messed up again, and around Naegi no less. He looked up from the bed his eyes were boring into in order to hide the slight reddening of his cheeks to see the brunette smiling a bemused smile, looking distinctly confused. Byakuya could think of only one way to defuse the situation without making a fool out of himself.
   "I'm joking, Naegi. You need to stop taking everything so seriously, you know." Makoto turned red and let out an annoyed huff.
   "It's not my fault that you're harder to read than the Spanish dictionary, Togami. Maybe make it more obvious that you're joking next time?" he said with mock anger, playfully pushing Byakuya's shoulder. He couldn't help it, he let out a short laugh. Makoto was too precious, with his disgruntled emerald eyes and rumpled hoodie. Byakuya had the most outrageous urge to reach out and touch that ahoge in his hair.
   "Hm?" Makoto asked, perplexed, "What was that about hair?" Shit, had he said that out loud. He was seriously losing his edge around Naegi. He'd need to watch out for that, going forward.
   "You misheard me, unsurprisingly. There must be something stuck in your ears, Naegi. I said chair. As in, do you want my chair? You've been sitting cross-legged on my floor for hours now, and I can't imagine that's good for your fragile knees." Naegi's expression cleared; that made more sense than hair, he hoped. The smaller boy nodded and hopped up from his seated position.
   "I mean, I'm fine with it, but are you sure? You'll be sacrificing your precious height advantage, you know."
   "I could lie down on the floor and still be taller than you, midget." This finally got Makoto to laugh, and Byakuya found it the most beautiful sound he had ever heard. Clear as crystal, yet soft as silk. That sound could end wars, could bring people to their knees. Byakuya was immensely proud of himself for eliciting a laugh out of the Lucky Student.
   "What are you grinning at, Togami?" Makoto asked innocently, though Byakuya could see the mischievous glint in his eyes.
   "Wouldn't you like to know, plebeian?"

~~~

"Hmmm... ever heard of Sea Girls?"
   "Nope."
   "Vistas?"
   "Nope."
   "What about Glass Animals?"
   "Never even heard of them."
   "Togami, you're telling me you've never heard the musical masterpiece of The Other Side of Paradise?"
   "Is that supposed to be a song that I recognise?"
   "Indubitably! What, did they only play you Classical music back at the Togami household?" Why did he have to go and mention his family now? It wasn't that he didn't take his position as the heir apparent seriously, he did, it was just that whenever he thought of his family, he thought of how completely inappropriate it was for him to be wasting this much time speaking to one of the 99% like Naegi. He should be spending his valuable time working on increasing profit for the corporation, not messing around discussing music with this... this waste of space. That's what he should be thinking, but his brain rebelled and thought the exact opposite.

   I wish this night could go on forever.
 
   "Bya- I mean Togami? You alright there? You've gone a little quiet. Did I hit a nerve?" Makoto asked cockily.
   "Silence, commoner, before I hit you. But, I will give this inane band a listen if you insist. What was that song again?" The light that sprang up in Naegi's eyes could illuminate the dark side of the moon, maybe even the darkest reaches of Byakuya's heart.
   "Don't worry, my uneducated friend, I'll play it. Where's your phone?" As soon as the first chord blasted out of Byakuya's tiny phone speaker, he felt swept away. The music touched him in a way that he didn't understand, and as the strange yet smooth song continued to swirl through his head, he found it reminded him of someone. With a shock, he found it reminded him of himself. He couldn't pinpoint a reason why, the dissonant chords just resonated with him. As the chorus played, Byakuya began to lose his spatial awareness as he gave himself up entirely to the slow and seductive flow of the rhythm.

Bye, bye, baby blue,
I wish you could see the wicked truth.
Caught up in a rush, it's killing you,
Screaming at the sun you blow into.

The lyrics had him feeling a distinct sense of deja vu, somehow mirroring his own life in just four short lines.

Curled up in a grip when we were us.

Byakuya's fists clenched, as if trying to capture this feeling, to keep it forever.

Fingers in a fist, like you might run.

Byakuya wanted to run, but found he was rooted to the spot, a slave to the smooth beat pumping through his ears and into his brain.

I settled for a ghost I never knew.

Byakuya never knew music was supposed to, was even able, to have this effect on people, much less himself.

Super paradise I held onto,

Byakuya held onto the sounds in his head, as they unravelled and arranged themselves into a beautifully tragic tapestry depicting a life of cruelty, high expectations, and no warmth to speak of.

But I settled for a ghost.

***

As the last words of the chorus played, Makoto saw a tear run down Togami's cheek. Did he really hate the music that much? He had noticed his pained expression and hands clenched so tightly that his knuckles were turning white, but this was the final indicator that something was wrong. He immediately switched off the music. He had hoped Byakuya would identify with it as much as he had, but evidently people couldn't get their way all the time.
   "Sorry Togami. I really thought you would like that." Byakuya's clouded eyes cleared, and he looked surprised, as if just noticing the music had stopped.
   "I... I..." he spoke with none of the confidence he'd possessed just 30-ish hours ago. Was the music really that bad?
   "I... actually really liked it." Byakuya said at last.
   "You... certainly have an odd way of showing that, Togami." Makoto responded. "Oh! And by the way, when I was pausing the music, I noticed a message from a blocked number."
   "Just ignore it." Togami said, like his momentary flash of weakness hadn't happened. "It's just some idiots who think they could be business partners with the corporation there to give me another boring pitch."
   "That's... odd" Makoto remarked, a touch of bemusement in his voice.
   "Why?" Byakuya responded, frowning.
   "Well, it's just that..." Makoto hesitated, "the text addresses you as 'li'l bro'. Is that something the boring businessmen often do?" Byakuya turned white as a sheet, and spoke with no hint of the joviality that he was just beginning to show minutes ago,
   "They what?"

Word count without A/N(s): 1180

A/N: finallyyyyyy I got round to writing this, are you proud of me. Not really sure what half of this is, I wrote it at like midnighttttt so I'm kinda deliriousss, but at least I wrote something, which is more than I can say for the last few weeks. Sorry for the slightly short chapter, I'm still getting into the swing of writing again, and I felt like this was an alrightttt place to end the chapter. But uhhhh yeah I think Paradise kinda reminds me of Byakuya, but I don't really know whyyyy, so I kinda wanted to include it at some pointtttt. Yes, I am a Glass Animals fan. I will not apologise. But I promise you, this fic will NOT have much more music references, because I don't really like them. Like I saidddd, I kinda just wanted to throw this one specificcc one in there, but that's probably it. Don't know why I'm explaining myselfffff, but one must pad the word count in some wayyyy. Uhhh yeah that's basically all I have to say. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Alr Peace
—Winter