Nightmares - naegami

Chapter 18

CW: THH second trial (some trials can be triggering for some people, for example the fifth trial in SDR2 is quite distressing for me, so I'll put CW for them all)

"Byakuya? You did this?!"

Byakuya tensed up, his arms crossed. He stared at the small, brown haired boy who was looking back at him in shock. "You killed Chihiro?!"

"What do you think, Makoto?" Byakuya responded. He was trying to keep his face almost emotionless, and honestly doing well, but it still hurt. It hurt a lot. But he couldn't show it.

Makoto's voice shook as he explained. "You were the only one who could've faked the murder scene, you're the only other one who knew what a Genocide Jack murder scene looked like apart from the murderer herself because of the books we know you read, and Toko's already confirmed that she wasn't the one who did it because of the differences she pointed out to us."

"Sorry to interrupt lil' man, but Toko could never kill anyone, the murder shit is alllllll me!" Syo yelled from across the room.

"Huh?" Makoto said numbly.

"We're not the same person, dipshit, get it in your tiny head you lil bitch!" She cackled. "Toko can be fucked up sometimes, but I don't think she could kill a man!"

"Oh, uh, yeah..." Makoto continued. "Anyways... you killed Chihiro, wrote Bloodlust on the wall with her blood, and tied her up to try and frame Genocide Jack for what you did. Togami, you killed Chihiro!"

Byakuya winced and bit his tongue. It hurt a little to hear Makoto use his last name. He didn't want to say anything else, incase he misspoke and they somehow gained more evidence against him.

"You're sure it was him?" Kyoko suddenly spoke up.

"Huh?" Makoto gasped a little.

"I said, are you sure it was him?"

"What do you mean?"

"I have one bit of information no one has pointed out: how did Byakuya get into the changing rooms in the first place?" As soon as she said that, the room went silent. She turned to the Ultimate Heir. "So, how did you get into the girls changing room Togami?"

"I... I'm not actually sure. I saw someone leave the room so I went in to see what had happened and... decided to have some... fun. I thought it would be interesting," Byakuya explained.

"And you didn't feel the need to explain this sooner?" Makoto called out, upset. Byakuya glanced at him and blinked very purposefully. He would explain to Makoto after the trial. He couldn't explain his reasons right now, but he also couldn't let Makoto hate him.

"No, I didn't, because I knew you'd work out that it wasn't me, and no one believe me if I tried to explain myself," Byakuya said, annoyed.

"Well, I have another piece of information that I don't think anyone here has worked out," Kyoko continued. "Would you like me to explain?"

"Just say it," Byakuya sighed. Makoto wasn't meeting his eye.

"There's something else I discovered while I was searching the body," she started. "We all thought Chihiro was a girl, right? But in my searching, I found out that she, or should I say he, is actually a boy."

"WHAT?!" the whole class gasped. Byakuya was shocked. How did this get past him? How had no one noticed?

"How do we know you're telling the truth?" Makoto asked nervously.