Heir & Heiress

Rift

As the others left the dining hall, Byakuya insisted on hanging behind. "Aren't you curious about what's on the fourth floor?" I asked.

He shrugged, "They'll return to give their briefing. In the meantime," Byakuya held my hand tightly and led me towards the bathhouse.

"Uh! What are we doing?" I asked, yanking Byakuya to stop. Staring at each other, we realized our minds were on two separate pages. "This...is about the locker, isn't it?" Pure embarrassment scorched my face. Sneaking a glance up at his face, I noticed Byakuya covering his chuckling. "It's not funny! Why are you laughing?" I pouted.

"Honestly, inside the bathhouse would be the most private".

"That's not-! I don't think the others would appreciate that kind of indecency," I pulled my hand away and crossed my arms, turning my heated face away.

"Seducing M-master again, I se-see," Toko stood as close to Byakuya as he would tolerate.

"Honestly, I'm starting to think I don't even have to try," I gloated. Rolling her eyes, Toko followed us into the bathhouse and stood next to Byakuya as we listened to Alter Ego. Typing question after question, the files had provided information about the incident that condemned Hope's Peak Academy. "The Tragedy....," the words dropped out of my mouth, heavy with the implications. The burning buildings, students jumping from the top story windows, fire, blood, chaos; the beginning thoughts that I had awoken to fit perfectly. "One year ago," I slipped the laptop from Byakuya's lap to mine. "What information do you have about the students?" I spoke as I typed out my question.

<Sorry. I don't have access to the student rosters> Alter Ego's downtrodden face met my disappointment well.

I sighed, setting the laptop back into its' designated locker. In the silence, three beeps resonated throughout the room. Taking our handbooks out, we noticed a new rule had been added: 'Attempting to break into locked rooms is strictly prohibited'.

"What did those idiots do now?" Byakuya shook his head, stuffing his handbook back into his pocket.

"Or more importantly, what did they try to find?" I asked, quickly turning to leave the bathhouse. 

"What did you do?" I asked, holding my handbook out. "What's this new rule about?"

"Where were you guys?" Hina propped her hands on her shoulders. "You said you were okay to investigate!"

"I was! Uh, am! We were investigating! So, who tried to break a door down?"

"No one," Sakura said, "The fourth floor has several locked doors, so Hiro thought about having me break them down".

I pinched the bridge of nose, huffing an irritated sigh. "Next time, act. Don't speak, just act. Monokuma can't really do anything if you don't allow him time to".

"That didn't work out for Junko, did it?" Kirigiri said. "And you're not exactly the pair I would take advice from".

"Pardon me?" I scoffed. "Look, I know Byakuya and I haven't been the most cooperative-".

"Less than cooperative. Disruptive and a potential risk to all of us". Kirigiri crossed her arms, stiffening her already confident posture.

I rolled my eyes, "Traître obstinè".

"Um...what did you find?" Makoto asked, avoiding Kirigiri's abrasive glare.

Byakuya and I stood in silence. Tapping the spine of the sketchbook, I glanced around at everyone's anticipatory expressions. I wasn't sure what had crawled under Kyoko's skin, but I was starting to tire of her petty mystery game. "Sorry, Naegi, but I feel like I would be disrupting your groundbreaking investigation".

"You're going to turn on those who've helped you?" Kirigiri asked. "Say you two did escape, could you live knowing you betrayed us, your friends?"

"I didn't think friends blackmailed each other," Byakuya shifted closer to me, resting a hand on my shoulder.

"And I didn't think boyfriends manipulated the one they claim to care for!" Hina jumped in.

Clenching my fists and eyes shut, I took a deep breath. "Enough," my voice bellowed through the hall. "You should all take a bath and calm down. If you need me, I'll be in my room". I didn't bother to wait for the hint to click in their minds; Byakuya and I were quick to take our leave. 

"What the hell was that about? She accuses you of pushing me down the stairs and she's blaming us for being troublesome?" I ranted, pacing around the room. Byakuya watched me closely and waited for me to finish flailing my arms in anger. "I mean, did you see the looks on everyone's faces? Even Naegi was trapped on her side and she's clearly mad at him".

"If you're this upset, why did you help them?" Byakuya crossed his legs, adjusting himself in the desk chair.

My shoulders sunk, "Because....I couldn't live with myself if I let them die for our sake. They've helped me every time I was in trouble".

"She...wasn't wrong about that, but I wouldn't think they would guilt you into changing sides due to that fact".

"This isn't about sides! Why are we still dividing each other when we all want to leave?" Leaving this massive cell...imagining what might lie beyond the steel door. "The Tragedy," I muttered, sinking onto the mattress. "What do you think is happening outside?" I asked. The timeline and description of the event matched too well with what resurfaced in my mind. "Is there anyone outside trying to get us out?"

Byakuya sat in silence. His gaze was unfocused, "Do you recall any memory of the Tragedy?"

"I...," the words danced with hesitance. "Burning buildings. People jumping to their deaths," I intertwined my trembling hands in my lap. "And so...so many bodies. The stench of smoke and blood". Wet droplets filled the crevices of my hands. Thinking back, the motives and memories started to make sense. "Oh god, those videos....my parents really are dead. What about the other students? What happened to the headmaster?" The questions began to spill over, the realization felt like a sledgehammer to my chest. "Damn it, Kuya, how did all this happen?" My head hung in one hand while I gripped onto Byakuya's hand with the other.