Truth, Perjury, and Sacrifice

Remembrance & Return

Byakuya opened his eyes and was greeted with a blinding light. "Where am I?" He glanced around. The room seemed to be a living room, but the color was flushed with an eerie white light.

"Long time no see, Togami," a familiar fake French accent said. Celeste waved from the couch, sitting with perfect posture, and smiled. Byakuya's jaw dropped slightly. Celeste held up her hand, "I'll spare you the impossible nature of this encounter. Yes, it is truly me, and no, I am not alive."

"So, this is...where exactly?" Byakuya asked.

Celeste sighed, still smiling, "I think you know where. Do you remember what happened? That girl has caused you quite some trouble." She laughed as if it were just another average day.

His hand flew up to his chest, in search of the bullet wound. To the right of his sternum was a hole. When Byakuya pulled his fingers away from the window, there was no blood, yet he could feel the warm, slick nature of the thick liquid residing on his skin. "A sniper shot me. No, a sniper shot...Karen! Where is she?"

"I'm not sure. She must have been sent to meet someone else." Celeste stood. "For you see, you are in quite a pressing situation. You must decide to stay or return to the others."

"But why can't I talk to Karen then? If we're both here, then....does it really matter?" Byakuya muttered.

"Perhaps that's why you cannot see each other. This is your life, not hers. You need to decide if it is your time to depart." Celeste took Byakuya's hand. "But before you decide, there are some people you have an appointment with." She guided him into the next room, where multiple figures sat around.

"Hey, Togami!" Leon greeted, waving. "Sorry about what happened, man. Getting shot must suck."

"Leon, really?" Sayaka slapped his leg. "Are you okay?" she asked Byakuya.

"I'm not sure." Byakuya's vision was still fuzzy around the edges. "What are you all doing here, anyway?"

"Hey, man, it's your afterlife, not ours," Mondo said, shrugging. "Deep down, you must have wanted to see us again." Mondo paused, taking a closer look at Byakuya. "Dude, you got fuckin' old."

"I'm only twenty-one!" The realization hit Byakuya in the gut. All the responsibility he had carried, the engagement, the life he had built in the past year, he was...young for all of it. They had lived the past year and a half as any other adult would. No wonder the directors at Future Foundation had such a difficult time treating them appropriately. Byakuya reached for the ring on his finger, sighing in relief that it was still there.

"I can't believe you two followed through with it," Sayaka approached Byakuya. "Can I see?" She pointed to the simple band. He lifted his hand, Sayaka hesitated in holding Byakuya's hand, but her giddiness couldn't stop her. "Just a place holder, huh?"

"How could you possibly know that?" Byakuya asked.

"Duh, silly, we check in from time to time." Sayaka released his hand. "I'm a little sad we didn't get to hang out more. Karen always talked about you and how considerate and sweet you could be. No matter how angry she was at you, you could just tell, you know?"

"But she really knows how to push people," Leon mentioned.

Byakuya chuckled, "Yeah, she does. She can be bullheaded, headstrong, gullible, and just overall an overemotional mess." He turned his face away, "But I can't imagine a day without her."

"I'm sure she feels the same way," Mukuro said, leaning against the door frame. "I can't tell you much, but I can tell you that if you died, she would take Junko's place."

"Where is your demented twin?" Byakuya asked.

Mukuro smiled, "Visiting someone at the moment. Speaking of which, you have more people to see." She pointed to the door directly across from her, to Byakuya's right. "Don't forget us, okay?"

Byakuya smiled, "I would never think of it." He waved goodbye to his classmates and stepped through the next door.

"Father?" Byakuya blinked in surprise. "Mother?" His parents immediately stood up, his mother ran up and pulled her son into a tight hug. "I...failed you both."

"No, don't think that for a moment," his father said. "You have impressed us from the moment that devil classmate of yours overran the world."

"But that doesn't matter anymore because you're here, safe, with us," his mother took Byakuya's hands in hers.

Byakuya took a moment to glance behind his parents and noticed every one of his siblings sitting and standing around the room. Although he wasn't familiar with most of them, Byakuya still wandered the room and made small talk with each of them. "Byakuya?" A voice said behind him. His older sister, Shinobu, stood in amazement. She opened her arms to reach for a hug, but stopped herself, unsure of what was acceptable in the situation. When Byakuya allowed for her to continue, Shinobu happily latched her arms around her younger brother. "You shouldn't stay long. That only makes it more difficult," she whispered. Shinobu released Byakuya and took a step back.

"I should've known," his mother said, smiling sadly. "You're not going to stay, are you?"

"I can't. I have people expecting me. I need to make sure that Karen is okay." Byakuya said.

"We understand," his father said. "Besides, you still need to have-."

"Ah! Father, you can't tell him that!" Shinobu held her hands up to their father's mouth.

"Oh, right, my apologies." Their father grinned. "Ah, then I'll say that you have important people to meet in the near future."

Byakuya nodded, noticing the door behind his parents. "I suppose it's time for me to go." He gave Shinobu one last hug, "Thank you for all that you've done for me." His mother took the next chance to steal another hug. This left Byakuya and his father standing in front of one another; however, when Byakuya extended a hand, his father took it and pulled his son into the only hug Byakuya could ever remember receiving from this man.

"Never let her go, son. You have decent friends and a wonderful woman at your side. Keep them close." Byakuya's father released him, giving his son a slight nudge towards the door.

Byakuya's eyes flickered open. The cold, incandescent lighting made him recoil and blink. Slowly turning his head, a few figures motioned towards him. "Hey, you're finally awake," Makoto said in a hushed voice. "You're in the hospital and just got out of surgery. How are you feeling?"

Byakuya groaned, "Surgery?"

"Yeah, they had to remove the bullet from your chest. They said the shock of everything is what made you pass out." Makoto said.

"Others?" Byakuya asked.

"Uh, most of them are out pursuing the shooter and the students. But Kyoko, Nagito, and a few others are waiting for Karen to get out of surgery."

"How is she?" Byakuya tried to sit up, but stopped once he felt stitches tugging.

Makoto hesitated, glancing out into the hall. "She's...been in surgery for a couple of hours now. The damage was pretty bad. We don't know how she's doing yet."