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

Chapter 19: Entirely Unrequited

The following morning, Makoto walked into the dining hall with a particular pep in his step. He was much lighter on his feet than he had been previously, almost as if he didn't touch the ground. On his face rested a small smile that threatened to grow wider as he saw the figure sitting at a circular table near the back of the room. As he approached, though, he noticed that Togami wasn't alone.

   "For the last time, leave me alone. Your stench offends me." Standing behind the blonde boy like a limpet was Toko Fukawa, looking suitably chastised. She was biting on her nail, her pigtails swinging from side to side as she swayed nervously. Makoto stopped. He had noticed that she had become overly attached to Byakuya in recent times, but he hadn't imagined that it would lead to stalking. Looking at her, Makoto felt a previously alien feeling in his stomach. He wasn't jealous, he assured himself, because he knew Byakuya was reviled by her very presence. And, anyway, it wasn't as if he and the blonde were anything official. He wasn't protective of him, because there was nothing to protect. But still, seeing Fukawa next to his Byakuya made him uneasy, and more than a little angry. The girl noticed him, and sneered.

   "Wh-what are you l-looking at me f-for? Am I r-really that h-horrible to look at?" She demanded, stuttering as always.

"No, that's not it at all. I just wanted to talk to Bya- to Togami, that is." He replied quickly. At this, Byakuya looked at Fukawa expectantly, as if waiting for her to leave. When she didn't, he sighed.

"Fukawa. Leave. I wish to talk to Naegi. And I don't want you interrupting." Still, she lingered there, hesitant to leave. Byakuya rolled his eyes, before giving Makoto an apologetic look. "If you truly love me, you'll do what I say. So leave." That did the trick, and the writer left, muttering something under her breath. Makoto sat down and raised an eyebrow.

"Do you want to explain to me what that was about?" He asked, somewhat indignantly. Byakuya spread his hands out.

"I'm sorry. It was the only way I could think of to get her to leave. I assure, her feelings are entirely unrequited." He responded.

"That better be true. I definitely won't like you if you're two-timing me." At this, Byakuya sighed, exasperated.

"How long are you going to hold this over me?" He asked, almost plaintively. Makoto giggled.

"That depends~" he teased.

"On what?" Byakuya demanded, brow furrowed.

"How nice you are to me." He said with a mischievous smile. Byakuya put his head in his hands.

   "This is going to be so difficult. You are very easy to be mean to." The blonde retorted.

   "See? This is the kind of thing we're trying to avoid here. Good on you for being a bad example, Byakuya!" Makoto giggled, and he saw a shadow of a smile on the taller boy's face. They looked into each other's eyes, hazel craning up to meet ice blue, and before long, Makoto burst out laughing. Byakuya watched, barely holding in laughter himself, an almost invisible smile forming.

"Of all the people in the world, why did it have to be you?" The blonde muttered under his breath, which only made Makoto laugh more.

"You know you love me." He said through fits of giggles. "But anyway, Byakuya, I came over here to tell you that Hina's throwing another party this evening. I'm gonna be there, and it'd be really cool if you were, too."

   "Why are you telling me this? Couldn't Hina have done it herself? That way, I wouldn't have to deal with all of your idiocy."

   "I don't know for sure, she told me to tell you about it and that was it. I'm fairly sure she just wanted to get us to talk to each other. She's probably spying on us from somewhere around here."

   "No, I'm not!" called a voice from behind the kitchen, which caused Byakuya to let out a small laugh.

   "That girl..." he said, shaking his head. "I just wish she'd leave us alone already. It stopped being funny before she did it."

   "Yeah... nothing to do about it, though! So... are you coming to the party?" Makoto asked.

   "I suppose. As long as it's not a waste of my time. I may change my mind later, though."

   "What else are you gonna do with your time? Stare at photos of me?" Makoto asked.

   "I am liking you less and less as we continue talking, Naegi. I hope you know that."

   "Awww, don't be like that, Byakuya! It's just a bit of fun!" Makoto said with a grin. "Well, I hope I'll see you there. Ach, would you look at the time. I've gotta get to English. Don't you have class too?"

   Byakuya frowned. "I'm not quite feeling like school this morning. I may take a day off." Makoto feigned shock.

   "The illustrious Byakuya Togami, taking a day off school? My, my, I'm a bad influence on you, Togami."

   "Oh shut up, plebeian. It's not like I was going to learn anything anyway. I'm so much more intelligent than those idiots they call teachers." Byakuya sniffed derisively. "Hurry along now, Makoto. If you're lucky, you'll see me at that party later."

***

Byakuya watched the small boy rush to his next class, and rubbed his temple, frustrated at himself. He had lied to Makoto, of course. It wasn't entirely a fabrication; he truly didn't feel like going to school that day, but then again he never did. That had never stopped him before, he knew he had to go to school. It was not only the law, but simply basic logic that he must attend. What made today different, though... even Byakuya couldn't answer that.

   Just the thought of seeing people, of having to speak to them, having them look at him, it made Byakuya feel like the walls were pressing in on him and he couldn't breathe. It wasn't a new feeling, he had been dealing with it since he was a kid, but today it felt different. And as much as he tried to block it out, as much as he just tried not to feel, the room just seemed to shrink and shrink and shrink. School would definitely not be on the cards today.

   But what about the party? He had told Makoto that he'd be there, but the idea of being crammed into a tiny dorm room with a bunch of other, probably drunk, students for more than five minutes made him feel like throwing up. However, being around Makoto tended to ease his nerves somewhat. It was horribly cliche and pathetic, but true nonetheless. He groaned, head cradled in his hands in exasperation.

   Makoto wanted him to go, in addition. And Byakuya places great value in what the brunette wanted. In fact, everyone was expecting him to be there. Hina, Enoshima, everyone. Who was he to let down their expectations? He couldn't do that. Especially not if Makoto was counting on him being there. He could endure it for Makoto.

   He could. Right?

Word count without A/N: 1206
A/N: Hoooooo Boyyyyy it's been a hot sec since I've updated this bad boy. A little over a month? Apologies again, my motivation levels have been at an ATL lately, and I've barely been able to get out of bed in the morning, let alone do anything creative.
   So, we finally have Fukawa's official introduction and a little bit of setup in this chapter. It took a little while to try and get as much in character as possible, since Fukawa is difficult to write for me personally. What did you think? Be sure to let me know!
   As for when the next chapter will come out..... somewhere between two days and two months. That's a pretty good timescale, right? Yeah, sure. Thatsssss pretty muchhh alll I wanted to say, so thanks for reading and I'll hopefullyyyy see you next time as wellll. Alr peace.
—Winter