Chapter 48: Day 44

Togami tapped his fingers against his desk as he glanced out the window. It was sunny, but the scenic view did little to ease his tension and irritability. Classes were dismissed for the day, given the chaos transpiring, and he watched as what he knew was a military plane flew overhead in the distance.

"Perhaps the last plane I'll see…" he thought to himself. "If we end up staying here the rest of our lives."

It hadn't been an easy decision, but it had been a necessary one. He couldn't leave his classmates behind, but, more importantly, Togami couldn't leave the love of his life behind. When Makoto said he made his choice to stay, that was the end of it. Togami had sent a letter to Aloysius informing his butler of his decision to remain behind the walls of Hope's Peak until the Tragedy subsided. He had sent the letter a week ago.

And Aloysius still had not responded.

The bell for classes rang despite the lack of schedule, and Togami sighed heavily as he pushed himself up to a standing position. He followed several of his classmates out into the hallway and turned left, deciding to head back to the dorms to speak with Makoto. He wanted to wait to inform his boyfriend of his decision once he met with approval from Aloysius. He knew his family would never agree to such an arrangement, but Aloysius wasn't family. He was Togami's only true ally outside the walls of the school.

So what was taking him so long?

He passed by several classrooms and noticed that the tv monitors were on in almost every single one, showcasing the events of the world outside. He ignored them all and walked down the steps to the next floor.

And that's when he noticed it. Other students were looking in his direction. He glanced up and saw a few step a little too far out of the way. One or two gave him a side view before passing him. He frowned but continued walking down the hallway. More students pushed past him. Some nodded to him. Others gave him odd looks. His frown deepened. What was going on?

And then a teacher approached him.

"Togami, I'm sorry."

Words he didn't understand met him, but before he knew what was happening, he felt himself be pulled into a nearby classroom. A television monitor on the wall was playing the news. The teacher began talking to Togami, stating that administration was reaching out, that they were seeing if the news was true.

But the words died out as Togami's gaze landed on the television monitor. His eyes widened. The image was a view directly in front of his family's corporate headquarters. He immediately recognized the colossal structure; he had been in and out of it more times than he could count when he was securing his position to be next in line for the Togami Corporation.

Except that the building was a different color. It was…red. And orange.

It was on fire. It was burning to the ground. Collapsing.

And the marquee at the bottom of the screen read "CONFIRMED: Togami Corp. CEO Found Dead, Others Unknown."

The teacher was still talking. Togami's vision blurred as it honed in on the screen. He read and reread the line at the bottom. "Dad…" He thought the word aloud. "No… N-No…"

It had to be wrong. Incorrect data. An erroneous report. It was inconceivable. His family was too powerful, too wealthy, too influential to be taken down by the chaos occurring. The council would protect themselves from the Tragedy. If anyone had the power to survive, it would be–

The flames of the building glowed brightly on the screen. The marquee updated itself to read "CONFIRMED: Togami Corp. CEO, Others, Found Dead."

His family. His corporation. His future. All burning on the television screen.

"Byakuya!"

The teacher was still talking. At the edge of Togami's vision, he saw her place a hand on his shoulder. He felt himself be pushed to take a seat. She was looking at him, but he wasn't looking at her. His eyes were glued to the television monitor.

It was impossible. It had to be a lie. He had sacrificed too much. He had made too much progress, laid out too much groundwork for his future in the company. He had taken out all of his siblings. Proven himself. Fought time and time and time again. The Togami Corporation was the one thing in his entire life he could rely upon. It was what he earned through all the sacrifices made.

It was impossible to lose now.

The teacher was shaking his shoulder. Looking at him. Talking to him. He registered none of it. He saw it, but he couldn't move. Couldn't speak. He just stared at the monitor. His chest tightened.

It was…

"W-Wake up!"

The sign on the front of the corporation building plummeted to the ground. The sound coming through the monitor of it crashing to the cement sidewalk felt like an earthquake to Togami. More people were approaching him, and he felt another hand on his shoulder. But all he could see were the flames engulfing the corporation. All he could see was the line at the bottom of the monitor.

It was…

His family was…

His future… All of it… Everything was…

A sudden, clear-cut voice shot through the haze. "I'm sorry, Togami Byakuya. Your family is confirmed dead."

Everything was gone.

"Byakuya!"

He opened his eyes yet saw nothing. He was in a dark room. He was lying down on something. He shot upright and gasped for air, feeling sweat covering his body. His breath caught in his throat. His eyes widened, and he looked around for a monitor. Any television monitor. Something to tell him that what he saw was a lie.

And the darkness that greeted him told him it was the truth. It didn't give him anything else to envision but the television screen showing the crumbling remains of his family's corporation. His mental vision replaced the surrounding darkness. All he could hear were the words from the reporter on the news. All he could see were those flames.

"H-Hey, hey!"

"No!" He leaned forward, clutching his head in his hands. His shoulders shook. "No, no, no, no, no!"

His family was dead. He closed his eyes, and the flames that had taken down his family's corporate headquarters burned behind his eyelids.

"No…"

The corporation was destroyed. The council was disbanded. Words that he never considered before now shot through his mind with such clarity that it made him nauseous. He could hear the individual voices telling him, repeating to him, that his future was now lost.

"It…"

His family was dead.

"Byakuya, take a deep breath. You need to breathe. Come on…"

The memory flooded back. More of it filled in. Wisps of color, sudden shocks of seconds of his life, all of it passed by in a flurry behind his closed eyes. A letter from the principal. A discussion in the office. A phone call with someone from the council. A consoling hug from–

"Look at me, Byakuya. Just, please, look at me!"

They were all dead. It wasn't just his father, though that was the only corpse he saw. His father's burnt body flashed across his vision. He groaned as his head filled with pain, the memories rushing back like a river bursting through a dam. The texts, the pictures, the confirmation from the other council members as they were getting wiped out. The rest of his family being confirmed dead only through dental scans. Burned alive.

"Byakuya, say something! Please, don't do this again!"

His family was–

"Byakuya, please–"

"They're dead!"

He screamed it with every fiber of his being. A shiver went through his entire body, and he inhaled sharply, as though suddenly recalling he needed oxygen. Panting heavily, shaking all over, he could only whisper the phrase, "They're dead… They're all dead…" He kept repeating the words over and over again, not knowing what else he could do. He couldn't move. He couldn't see. He couldn't hear. All he could think of was what that one phrase meant.

His whole life, his whole future, gone. All of the struggles against his half-siblings for a pile of rubble. All of the hardships for nothing. The lessons learned, the fights fought, the wounds endured, all of it. All of it. Every single–

"Byakuya."

He. Had. Nothing.

"Byakuya… Please…"

He gasped at the feeling of something cold against his bare shoulder. There was movement around him. Someone was moving. Something soft touched his face. He opened his eyes and realized someone had turned on the e-Handbook to create a source of light. He was sitting up in bed… In his dorm… With…

"Look at me."

The soft voice cracked through the whirling in his ears. He slowly looked up. Hazel eyes filled with emotion met his own. A hand caressed his cheek, and he felt that it was wet. No, the hand wasn't… That was…

"Byakuya..."

The light of the handbook was enough to illuminate their faces. Naegi's voice pierced through the despair that encased Togami, replacing its silence with the world around him. Suddenly Togami could hear himself gasping and choking for air. He could feel the tears streaming down his face. He could sense his body shuddering almost uncontrollably.

And he could see Naegi leaning forward, sitting in front of him on top of the blankets, one hand caressing his cheek and the other grabbing his shoulder to hold him steady. Reality cracked through the flames, the memories, the emotions. Togami collapsed forward and felt Naegi's arms wrap tightly around him. Feeling a hand bring his head forward, cradling him against Naegi's shoulder, he heard his boyfriend whisper, "I'm here for you… Take as long as you need."

And Togami did. He didn't know how long they sat awkwardly in bed, and he didn't care. He didn't care how weak or foolish or pathetic he looked. He was too overwhelmed to get a sense of what he was doing. He grasped onto Naegi as though his very life depended on it. He took ragged breaths that caused his entire body to shake. He dug his face into Naegi's shoulder, hiding the tears even from himself. He tried to choke out words only for them to die on his lips. A grief like nothing he had ever felt wracked his body.

He had nothing. Nothing to his name. Nothing to his standing. Nothing to offer to anyone else. And he had known. He had learned this before. What he saw was a memory of him learning that knowledge. And now, all the moments afterwards, all the fear, the terror, the despair, the hurt, the anger, the rage… He was now reliving all of it, all at once.

All the moments after, and yet… In that moment… When he had first learned…

His eyes shot open, and he froze as realization swept over him. "That was…"

"Byakuya?"

"That was… That had to have been…" Togami slowly looked up at Naegi, who was staring down at him with wide, concerned eyes. His brows were furrowed, and his lips were pursed together. His expression was a mixture of confusion and concern.

Togami wondered if this had been Naegi's gaze when he found the corporate heir in the classroom a year ago, when he had gone completely catatonic from the shock of his family's annihilation.

Naegi sighed heavily and ran a hand through Togami's hair. "It's okay," he whispered.

Togami shook his head. "It's not okay," he whispered back.

"But you're okay. We're okay. You… You're here, right? You can hear me?"

Togami swallowed hard and nodded. "Yes… I hear you."

Despite the circumstances, a look of relief swept over Naegi's face. "Good… I'm glad."

Togami sighed heavily as reality continued to ebb its way through the haze. He slowly sat up straight and wiped the tears away that stained his face. He needed to get out of this bed. He needed to wash up. He needed to…to…

The next thing he knew, he was standing in front of the bathroom sink and wiping his face with a towel. He had just finished cleaning the tears away when he saw Naegi standing in the doorway to the bathroom, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt with a smile and a bag over his shoulder. Togami realized he must have stood in the bathroom long enough for him to put something together. Time was escaping him. He wasn't focused. Naegi smiled warmly and held out his hand, and Togami saw he was handing the corporate heir his glasses. Slowly, with shaky hands, he grasped them and put them on, refusing to look at his disheveled reflection in the mirror.

"Do you trust me?" Naegi asked.

It was such an odd, random question that Togami could only rely on his instincts to respond. "Yes."

"Then get dressed real quick. Just something easy. We're going to go somewhere. Somewhere I don't think you've been yet."

"And where is that?" Togami's voice sounded so distant, so foreign, that he had to question if he was even the one asking.

Yet it must have been him, for Naegi's smile widened. "Just get dressed. One thing at a time."

Swallowing and wiping his face one final time, Togami slowly nodded. "Okay."