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

Chapter 17: Sleeping Beauty

Makoto had a very strange relationship with this subject. It had gone from his least favourite, to tolerable, to his absolute favourite, and now it was right back where it all started. Like some sort of circle. Which, funnily enough, he was learning about right now.

   "As you can see, a radius always bisects a chord. What can we use this to figure out?" The teacher was speaking at the front of the class, but Makoto tuned it all out, staring at the clock in the corner, watching the seconds tick by moment by excruciating moment. Only 20 minutes left. That's just ten minutes times 2. He just had to survive five minutes, four times.

   Which was proving to be quite the challenge. Every second he spent here, he felt as if the walls were closing in on him, brushing against his shoulders and crushing him. He had given up on trying to understand what on Earth the teacher was talking about, because all of her words were drowned out by the ringing in his ears. He thought that if he stayed here for any longer, he might just drop dead.

   He screwed his eyes shut and tried to imagine himself somewhere, anywhere not in this classroom. He found himself in a place slightly alien, but also strangely familiar. Calendars lined the red walls, and the blue carpet beneath his feet was immaculate. He glanced over to the far wall, and caught sight of a row of clocks, each labelled with a different city and country, each displaying a different time.

   Had he really just imagined himself in Byakuya's room? Was that his brain's idea of a comforting space? It was definitely not helping in the slightest. What it was was incredibly strange. Somehow, it felt like a violation, even though Makoto wasn't actuallly in his room. He heard footsteps coming outside the room, and the door slowly cracked open.

In strode Byakuya, tall and imposing in his bottle green suit, brow- as ever- deeply furrowed into a frown. When the blonde's gaze landed on Makoto, however, his countenance was for once lighted by a smile. Makoto knew it was just his imagination, but all the same he wished it were real.

   "Makoto, whatever are you doing in my room?" Byakuya asked playfully. Makoto replied with a smile.

   "I just wanted to talk to you."

   "What about?" The taller boy asked, tilting his head.

   "Well, uh..." Makoto trailed off. He didn't have a good excuse, so he just stood there, blathering, stalling.

"Makoto?" Byakuya asked, still with a smile on his face. "Makoto?"

***

"Makoto!" Byakuya called, reaching out and shaking the sleeping form of his friend. But still he did not stir. Was friend even the right word anymore? Byakuya hated how confusing this whole situation was. Emotions, he had decided, were far more trouble then they were worth.

But, honestly, falling asleep in class? Perhaps it was normal for Makoto, but to Byakuya it seemed almost criminal. He understood that Maths wasn't the brunette's strongest subject, but the best way to change was to actually pay attention during lessons.

Byakuya was guilty of a similar thing, it must be conceded, but for entirely the opposite reason. Everything here was just so basic for someone like him. Seriously, finding the centre of a circle? How could anybody over the age of twelve not know how to do that? From the confused looks of his classmates, Byakuya's estimate was off by a significant margin.

Still, as much as he fought to pay attention, he felt his mind wander as the teacher talked at the front of the room. His focus was entirely centred on the small boy resting his head on his desk, face as peaceful as a still lake. Byakuya wondered what Makoto dreamed about. They had to be good, judging from the small smile that rested upon the brunette's face. He'd like to be in on whatever was making him so happy.

   ~~~

The lesson continued for around twenty minutes, but- to Byakuya- it could have been twenty hours, with how bored he was. When it came to what he should be doing and what he wanted to be doing, the two couldn't be further apart. What he should be doing was concentrating on the lesson and putting all thoughts of the brunette out of his mind. What he wanted to be doing? Well, it certainly wouldn't involve Makoto sleeping.

   As they began to pack up, the teacher called out from the front of the class.

"Alright, class, since about half of you weren't paying attention today, I've decided to set the homework I was going to set next week today." Byakuya sighed. It was frustrating, but nothing he couldn't handle. He looked at Makoto, still sleeping beside him. Would he be ok with this homework? He'd noticed that the brunette was more swamped than usual lately. Maybe Byakuya could help him out? Granted, that hadn't gone incredibly well last time, but that was a one-off. He was fairly confident that, if Makoto wanted him to, he could help him.

   But that 'if' bothered him more than he'd like to admit. The thought that Makoto wouldn't want his help... there was no way to put it that wasn't pathetic: it hurt him. An imaginary scenario that made Byakuya's guts twist in anxiety. How had it gotten this bad? How was it possible that this talentless nobody had compromised all of his defences in such a short amount of time? Byakuya thought he spent more time thinking about Makoto than he did on anything else at this point. Which wasn't good when he was one of the busiest people alive.

   "But don't worry, everyone! This homework will be pretty fun! You and the person next to you will have to make a presentation on anything that we've studied so far this year! Minimum of four minutes, I want this to be detailed. To make it slightly less difficult for those of you who are struggling right now, this won't be due for four weeks. You have plenty of time to make sure that this is as good as it can possibly be!"

   Byakuya felt his heart drop through the floor. The person next to him... was a certain brunette boy whose mouth was leaking a rivulet of drool as he slept beside him. He'd have to make a presentation with him? The thought filled him with a bizarre and unwelcome sensation, a despicable mixture of excitement and nerves. He had never understood the phrase 'butterflies in the stomach' before, but now he definitely felt as if hundreds of flapping, crawling critters were wreaking havoc in his chest. The teacher noticed Makoto's situation and called out to him.

   "That means you too, Mr Naegi. Togami, could you do us all a favour and wake up Sleeping Beauty, please?" Byakuya turned slightly red, and shook the shoulders of his friend once more.

   "Makoto!" He hissed, "Wake up, you idiot. You're making even more of a fool out of yourself than usual." The sleeping boy stirred, and opened his eyes blearily.

   "B-Byakuya? What are you doing.... I was just in your room..?" Makoto said, speech significantly slurred with sleep. Some of the students around him heard the muttering, and reacted as teenagers typically did.

   "Yoooo, Makoto! What were you doin' in Togami's room, huh?" Kuwata called loudly.

   "I-I b-bet you w-were getting up t-to all k-kinds of p-perverted things in M-Master's r-room!" stuttered Fukawa, who was starting to get the wrong idea about him. Byakuya probably needed to deal with her sooner rather than later.

   "Togami! Be careful around Makoto!" Hina abrasively told him. "He's not as innocent as that ahoge would have you believe!"

   Byakuya, for his part, merely rolled his eyes and scoffed. Inside, though, he was very curious as to what Makoto meant. But he couldn't show that to everyone else.

   "Stop being ridiculous. The boy's mind is clearly addled from sleep. Now, can we move on to something actually important, I beg?" He asked dismissively.

   "Thank you, Togami. Now, that's all for today. Go and find your partners, people. No better time to start than now!" The teacher called, signalling the end of the lesson. Byakuya turned to the short boy whose eyes still had the fog of grogginess in them, wondering just what he'd managed to get himself into.

Word Count without A/N: 1410

A/N: Heyyyyyyy champs, longggg time, no see! Sorrrryyyyy about not updatinggg for.... over a monthhhhh?? Ohhhh damn, sorry January's apparently realllyyyyy busyyyy for me. So, uhhhhh, Happy New Yearrrrr!!! Let's hope 2022 holds more consistency for meeee (although that's not proving to be the case so farrr). Also, Happy Valentines Day tomorrowwww, for those of you who celebrate ittttt! I hope to see you againnnn sooon! (Hopefully before April this time!!) Thanks yet agaiiinnnn for alll the supporrrttt this fic has gottennn, it really means the worldddd to me! Alr peace.
   —Winter