The shadows of the trial room crept close around Togami, as he stood with Makoto in their own narrow pool of light. He could see the lines of the other boy's face, hollow bruises beneath his eyes that demonstrated the suffering he'd endured. Twisting scrapes of injuries and ugly gashes across pale skin told of the execution he'd so miraculously survived, and just how narrowly tragedy had been avoided. Physical evidence of wounds couldn't be faked, surely it had to be real.
But as he looked, searching desperately for some proof he didn't understand… the darkness pressed closer still, wrapping round and round them to drown out the rest of the circle. He knew, far in the back of his mind, that the girls still stood around him, watching with cold, judgmental eyes… but his awareness couldn't stretch across that infinite distance to comprehend them. And if there were other observers further beyond, in another world past the dark camera lenses… they didn't matter. They couldn't reach him.
The only other person in the world sat in front of him, small and fragile and still. Makoto Naegi, the boy he'd so unexpectedly come to care for, the innocent light in the darkness that he thought he'd lost forever… Makoto's sheer existence seemed to spread and fill the world around him until nothing else remained.
Had this boy hurt him? Could kind, gentle Makoto really be the one who'd put so much despair into motion?
And if he had… did it change anything?
Makoto had brought warmth into his life, smiles and brightness and hope for a different kind of future than he'd ever imagined. He'd done that, no matter what else had happened. That warmth existed inside him, living along with his every breath. Darkness might have swallowed the rest of existence beyond the narrow span of space they shared, but here and now, Makoto's light was real.
And maybe… maybe his light could only find its way in the midst of the darkness. Maybe the nightmarish game had been as much of his feelings for Makoto as the blissful dream of their stolen moments together. Maybe it had all been tangled together from the start.
And if so… how could he not be grateful for it all? He could still feel the brilliant joy that burst through him moments ago, when he'd realized that Makoto really had returned so wonderfully alive… and he would never have been so happy without the misery he'd lived through first.
He would never have clung so fiercely to Makoto's gentle kindness, if they hadn't been in a situation where that kindness seemed so out of place. The impossible beauty he'd found in the other boy's soul would never have shone so brightly to his jaded eyes without the glaring contrast of selfish cruelty that the killing game brought to the surface. Without both the light and the dark, who could say if he would have found his way to Makoto?
How could he not be happy with all that had happened, if it led him to stand here with the only person in the world who mattered?
Maybe that was the point. Maybe he'd had to endure that soul-crushing day of believing that Makoto was gone, so that he could really understand how important it was that he stay alive. Maybe this experience, as horrifying as it had seemed at the time, had been what he needed to see… if he wanted to be with Makoto.
Because he did. Even now, even with so many questions running through his head, even with doubts and fears snaking deep into his heart, that one certainty never altered. He wanted to be with Makoto. No matter what that meant.
One of his hands stretched out, slow but steady, never trembling even once as it crossed the space between them to settle against Makoto's cheek. Even with his fingers bandaged, Togami could feel the faint warmth of skin, marred by jagged edges of scratches and wounds. Good and bad, he could feel them both… and he could embrace them both, as long as that meant he could stay here at Makoto's side.
He looked down again, letting himself drown in the bottomless hazel eyes before him. Makoto hadn't said anything this entire time, even when everyone spoke against him. He'd let his boyfriend fight on his behalf, never once stepping in no matter what he'd heard. What had he been waiting to hear?
He had only one promise left to offer.
"I love you. No matter what."
And Makoto looked back up at him, eyes focusing on his face for the first time in far too long. Togami stared into that face, and it felt like he was really seeing the boy who'd stolen his heart for the first time. He'd thought that he'd known Makoto had shown him the extent of emotion that existed in the world… but until now, he hadn't grasped just how far the lesson went. He hadn't understood what Makoto really wanted from him. But now… now he did.
Life blazed back into those bright clear eyes. Fingers curled into a fist at the edge of the chair's armrest. Lips parted in a gasp of breath and cried –
"No!"
