Danganronpa Agere Oneshots!

💵☕️Picture Books♠️♦️

Caregiver: Celestia Ludenberg
Little: Byakuya Togami
hello!! this was requested by Ariwolf56789 :D thanks for requesting!! i personally really like celesgami so i hope you enjoy it c: thank you for reading and remember to drink water and eat something today!
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"Togami-kun," Celeste's voice echoed throughout the library as she paused her own searching for a book, "I did not expect to see you here."

She raised an eyebrow at the way he froze, slowly pulling his gaze away from the book in his lap and frowning at her. Upon closer inspection, the cover of the book was colorful, and it was fairly thin, too. It appeared to be a picture book.

When he didn't respond to her, she pointed towards his book with a long, painted fingernail.

"What is that you have there?"

Byakuya huffed at her words, mumbling incoherently about something. It was difficult to understand his slurred speech, but she thinks she could make out the phrase, "'m readin'".

"Alright, then."

It was painfully obvious— at least to her— that he was regressed. For that very reason, Celeste did not want to leave him alone.

...Not that she cared, but it would be terrible if the wrong person were to walk into the library and find out.

She turned away from him, walking towards a random shelf in the library and searching for a book that interested her before pulling it out. The book held close to her side, she walked towards where Byakuya was seated and sat across from him.

As Celeste opened up her book, beginning to read the first page, she couldn't help but notice that Byakuya was having an awfully hard time reading his own book.

He'd furrow his eyebrows, holding the book closer as if that'd help him make sense of the words. Or sometimes, he'd try to mumble a sentence of the book out loud, letting out an irritated noise when he didn't get it right.

It was a picture book, with no more than a sentence or two on each page. If he was struggling to read it, then he must be regressed quite young.

When he frowned and slammed his book shut, that was what led Celeste to close hers, glancing up to meet his eyes.

"Are you having trouble?" She tilted her head.

Byakuya's cheeks flushed with embarrassment as he shook his head and crossed his arms.

"Uh uh," He whined.

"I'm not attempting to make fun of you," She told him, softening her voice in a way that surprised even her, "Would you like me to read that to you? I do not mind to."

Byakuya furrowed his eyebrows as if he was going to get frustrated and tell her no, but he begrudgingly nodded his head, his face visibly red.

Celeste set her own book to the side, pulling her chair closer to him and taking the picture book he'd been attempting to read.

"Goodnight Moon?" She read the title out loud, and upon the unrelenting shame on Byakuya's face, she cleared her throat, "This is one of my favorites, too."

To tell the truth, she hadn't ever read this book before. But a little white lie couldn't hurt, she was sure. Especially if it made Byakuya feel more comfortable.

It seemed to have worked, because his embarrassed expression lit up, even if just a little.

"It is?" He mumbled, and she smiled at him.

"It is."

With that, she opened the book, beginning to read the first page out loud.

"In the great green room," She began, "There was a telephone..."

Byakuya scooted a little closer to her so that he could see the pictures. He moved so closely that their shoulders touched, just a little.

As Celeste read, she would speak with excitement, and serenity, and even with a bit of tension if that was necessary. She read the book with emotion, and feeling. Byakuya would giggle when she'd gasp, or slowly turn the page to build anticipation.

"What do you think will happen next?" She'd murmur to him, and he'd shrug, before softly answering with a few words. They were always slurred, and for the most part incoherent, but all Celeste would do is say, "Oh really?"

Soon, though, they had finished the book. Celeste read off the final page before closing it and glancing over to Byakuya, who had a delighted look in his eyes.

"Did you like it?" Celeste asked, and he nodded, swinging his legs.

"Uh huh," He smiled, and it was so genuine. Usually, the most you could get from him was a coy grin. But now, he seemed so utterly happy that Celeste felt positive she'd read him every children's book in this library.

'I'm getting soft,' She thought to herself. Even then, she found that she truly didn't mind looking after Byakuya. It was nice to see someone as stoic as him so carefree and happy now.

"Well," Celeste stood up, looking at the label on the book and placing it back where it was meant to be, "That's that. It's getting quite late, is it not? Perhaps we should head back to bed."

He stayed quiet, fidgeting with his hands. He didn't say anything more until Celeste had already started to make her way to the exit.

"'Leste?" He called hesitantly.

She glanced back at him, and he nervously shifted in his seat. Nonetheless, he held up a single finger to signify 'one'.

"Book?" Byakuya said shyly, and she couldn't help it when her lips curved upwards into a grin.

One more book. What was the harm in that?

"Oh, I suppose it couldn't hurt," Celeste turned away from the door, returning to the shelves of books and ushering for Byakuya to stand up, "Come pick one for me. But after this, we really should go to bed, hmm?"

Byakuya nodded, excitedly jumping up out of his chair and running towards her, scanning over the shelf of books. He looked over them carefully, as if this was the most important decision he could make.

As Celeste watched, she sighed. She found that she quite enjoyed watching over him.

She liked making sure he was safe, and contented, even. She enjoyed feeling like she could protect him, especially if one of their had classmates walked in on him (she assumed he wouldn't want anyone to know he was a regressor).

Maybe tomorrow, Byakuya would avoid her and they'd go on pretending like this never happened.

But maybe, just maybe, he'd trust her enough to allow himself to be looked after once more.

And as much as it wasn't her decision, she really, really would love the latter.