Naegami - Responsible

Eleven: Forgiveness

Byakuya was still crying when school staff arrived on the roof. Thankfully, they weren't paying him any attention. The second they saw Makoto, though, they grabbed him and tried to haul him away.

"Just where do you think you're going?" Byakuya got to his feet and stepped forward, trying to look menacing as he rubbed his eyes. "Release him at once. He's been through enough already."

"No can do, pal," one of them responded. "He's a danger to himself. We've gotta take him away until his mental health has stabilized somewhat."

"Do you have no idea who I am? I am Byakuya Togami, and I am telling you, let him go."

The teacher's look was almost sympathetic. "Sorry. Our hands are tied here. If a student starts exhibiting suicidal behaviors to this extent, we've got no choice but to send him away until he's better."

The tears Byakuya had been trying to suppress came to the surface again. "No! I almost lost him just now. I am not letting the likes of you take him away from me again."

Meanwhile, Makoto's face had gone completely blank. He stared down at nothing, not resisting in the slightest as he was being dragged away. "It's okay, Byakuya..." he murmured. "I deserve it."

"We've been over this!" Byakuya wasn't very strong, but he somehow managed to push the teacher holding him out of the way to grab Makoto by the collar. "Stop blaming yourself, damn it! Stop! You don't deserve any of this!"

Makoto gave him a smile that made his heart break for what felt like the hundredth time in minutes. "Please, Byakuya. Please just let me get what I deserve."

"No... no!" The dam broke, and suddenly he was sobbing, reaching out for Makoto as he was dragged away, knowing that he was making a scene, not caring. "Makoto, come back... come back..."

A security guard hit them on the head, and the two of them dropped to the ground.

Makoto woke up in a hospital to the sound of Byakuya verbally abusing a young nurse just outside his door. "I was just there, damn it! He never jumped, he's completely fine, so just let me talk to him!"

"Sir, we don't know what state he'll be in –"

He smiled, laying back and letting the familiar tone of righteous fury in the heir's voice guide him back to sleep.

"Looks like you've had some crazy times since I saw you, huh?"

His heart stopped. That voice...

He looked over, and lying in the next bed was the girl he had been torn up about for months, the girl who he destroyed. Sayaka Maizono, looking at him. Smiling.

"Sayaka?" He sat up so fast he hit his head on the baseboard of his cot, and Sayaka giggled. "What the... since when..."

Sayaka shifted slightly, and Makoto noticed her wince as she did so. He realized the pain she must be in, how much she must be pushing herself just to look at him. Even so, she kept on laughing. "Looks like you haven't changed too much, huh?" Then her expression grew serious, and Makoto braced himself for it. For the scorn he knew he deserved, for her to beat him over the head with the life he ruined.

"What are you doing here? This is the suicide wing."

Makoto blinked. "Oh... yeah. This is a stupid question, but you're not doing anything in the next few hours, are you? This might take a while."

Sayaka stared at him. "Okay. A lot has happened while I was asleep, apparently. So you're dating Byakuya now?"

Makoto blushed. "I mean, I don't know if he wants to make it a thing – like, a real thing – but I think I do."

"Huh." She lay back, staring up at the ceiling. "Never would've put you two together. You're full of surprises, Makoto."

Then Makoto realized he had never apologized. He sat up, looking at her with concern. "Sayaka, I'm so sorry. I did this to you. You said it yourself, it was my fault you jumped. I can't ask you to forgive me, but..."

"I forgive you."

The words were like a dagger in Makoto's heart. "What?" he whispered. "Why?"

Sayaka smiled sadly. "I... I was working through a lot of stuff when I met you. When you showed me everything I was missing, I realized how fake my life was. If I were stronger I would've talked to somebody about it, or maybe even quit being an idol all together... but I wasn't, and I didn't. I took the easy way out because I wanted a fresh start. Do you believe in reincarnation?"

"Huh?" That was a question Makoto hadn't been expecting. "Uh, I guess I never really thought about it before."

"I do. I think that when we die, we get a second chance. We get to live a different life as a different person. That was what I wanted. And hey, if it didn't work, and reincarnation weren't real..." She shrugged. "I'd still be able to escape. But none of that really matters. You've been blaming yourself, and now the whole school blames you, but it's really not your fault. I promise you, it's not. Aw, don't start crying!"

Makoto, who had been about to start crying, looked over at her. She was still staring at the ceiling. "Wait, how did you – oh yeah, you're psychic. I've got to stop falling for that."

Sayaka giggled. "I wouldn't say you're falling for it. You've just got a very easy-to-read mind."

Byakuya burst into the room. "There you are!" he shouted. "You plebian, do you realize how long you've kept me waiting? This is what I get for falling for a suicidal idiot, I suppose."

He stopped when he saw that Makoto was crying. "Oh, don't be so sensitive," he said, but he was looking away in embarrassment as well. "Although I suppose it was presumptuous of me to assume that you'd be in a perfect mental state after all you've been through."

Then he noticed Sayaka, and his face screwed up in fury. "You... do you have any idea what you've done to this man? You've destroyed his life! Do you realize how much has happened to him since the selfish, foolhardy suicide note you left?"

"Byakuya!" Makoto said, upset. "She's been through a lot too, okay? She's trying to figure herself out. I love you but you need to back off."

Byakuya looked like he wasn't going to let this go, but one look at Makoto's stressed expression, and he just sighed and said, "Fine. I must concede that you can't be blamed for everything that's happened. Now come on, Makoto. You've been discharged."

"Huh?" Makoto looked at his boyfriend in confusion. "Wait, why? I thought I was going to be transferred to a mental hospital or something."

Byakuya smirked. "Don't underestimate the Togami family. What exactly do you take me for?"

Makoto leapt up from his bed and rushed into his arms. "Thank you! You're the best, Byakuya."

"Yes, yes." Byakuya absently wrapped his arms around him. "Now come on. We're about to be late for school."

The smile dropped off Makoto's face. "Wait... what?"