NO, THAT'S WRONG! ~~Naegami~~

Chapter 10: I'm Sorry

Byakuya looked at himself in the mirror. Much as he hated bragging, he had to admit: he did look good. He'd packed this suit especially for an occasion like this, and he was very glad to see it was exactly as good as he'd hoped. He was secretly quite excited for the party, but he'd be damned if he let anyone else know that. He was going for a "Fashionably indifferent" type of vibe, one that would allow him to do the things he enjoyed at the party, whilst still keeping those walls up. He just hoped that Naegi wouldn't be there. That would make things... very complicated. But enough thinking. It was time to go to Enoshima's dorm room, which was apparently where the party was taking place.
   The party was already in full swing when he arrived: people dancing to music blasting out of speakers, red paper cups already strewn about the floor, and a distinct smell of vomit coming from the bathroom. Asahina spotted him when he walked in and bounded over to him.
   "Byakuya! I'm glad you could make it! Sorry, it's kind of a mess... but I'll clean it up!" she said with her customary smile.
   "There doesn't appear to be any need for that. Look, that Ishimaru boy is already tidying up everything."
   "Oh! Well, in that case, I'll get back to dancing! You should join in too!"
   "Me? Dancing? Over my dead body, Asahina." Byakuya said dismissively and walked away. Strangely, the music was so loud he could hardly hear it. It was almost as if his ears couldn't be bothered to register that loud of a sound, so they reduced it to background noise. He went over to the punch bowl, sniffed it to make sure nobody had spiked it (it was unlikely in a school environment, but not impossible) and poured himself a glass. He took a sip. Sour and artificial tasting. Just how he liked it. Byakuya let a small smile form over his lips, and he surveyed the room to see where he could go next. Then he locked eyes with the one person he'd been hoping to avoid.

***

Togami's icy eyes bored deep into his own, almost like he was trying to extract something from them. Makoto shivered. Why couldn't he escape this boy? He'd come to this party specifically because he hadn't thought Togami would have been interested in attending. But, he supposed, last night showed that he didn't know Togami as well as he thought he did. Makoto felt himself begin to shrivel under the blonde's intense gaze, but he forced himself to stay upright. Togami would not ruin his night. He walked over to the punch bowl.
   "Naegi, I-" Togami began.
   "I don't want to hear it, Togami. Leave me alone." Makoto responded with much more calm than was present inside him at that moment.
   "I just wanted to explain myself. Can't I do that?"
   "I don't wanna talk, Togami. I just wanna dance, ok? Can you just let me do that, without taking over my entire night. Not everything has to be about you, you know." Togami looked at him, wounded. Good, Makoto thought, you understand a fraction of what you did to me.
   "R-right, ok. Sorry, Naegi."
   Makoto walked away without another word.

~~~

A few hours passed, and the velvety cover of night had thrown itself completely over the sky. The part had thinned out slightly as well, with people like Ishimaru and Kirigiri disappearing back to their rooms, either to study or for the simple reason of just wanting to leave. There were a total of ten people remaining: Himself, Hagakure, Enoshima, Asahina, Kuwata, Celeste, Yamada, Owada, Fujisaki... and Togami. Why wasn't he leaving?
   "Alriiiiiight! Now that the losers have left, let's play a game!" Enoshima called brightly from her position on the bed.
   "Do we have to?" asked Celeste irritably. "I'd rather not be pulled into your childish competitions, thank you very much."
   "Sorry, if you wanted to leave, you should have done that aaaaaaaggggggeeeeessss ago. I'm bored now. What do you wanna play? We could go classic party game and play Truth or Dare. Or we could play Spin the Bottle? Or maybe something else."
   "Truth or Dare sounds fun!" Asahina said, and they all sat down in a circle.
   "Sooooooo..." Enoshima began, "I'll go first. Hmmmmm... Celeste. Truth or Dare?"
   "I have to participate? Ugh, fine. I suppose I'll go with... Truth."
   "Have you ever cheated in a gambling match?"
   "I haven't needed to. I'm programmed with the best luck possible, so I've won every game without needing to cheat."
   "Ugh, boring. Anyway, it's your turn. Pick someone! Do it! Do it! Do it!"
   "Fine, fine. Kuwata, Truth or Dare?"
   "Do I look like a pussy to you? I'll take Dare, obviously." Kuwata said confidently, though his eyes slid over to Hagakure to make sure he was watching.
   "I dare you to ring Toko's doorbell by throwing a paper cup at it. Are you ok with this?" Kuwata laughed.
   "'Course I'm ok with it. I could do that in my sleep." He opened the door, wound up, and released a mighty pitch that shot across the hallway and hit the doorbell. He quickly shut the door and turned around grinning, barely holding in laughter. They quickly all descended into a fit of giggles. The game went on for a long time, until,
   "I pick Togami!" Hagakure said confidently. Togami's head snapped up sharply.
   "And what makes you think that I'm playing?" He sounded disinterested, almost like he'd been spacing out.
   "Come on, Togami, if I have be a part of this nightmare, you do too." Celeste said with a smile.
   "Fine."
   "Hell yeah! Ok then, Togami, Truth or Dare?"
   "Dare." All of his answers were clipped and curt. It was hard to imagine he wanted to be here. So why had he stayed until this late?
   "Okay.... I dare you to...." Hagakure began, dragging out his words in an attempt to be dramatic.
   "Just get on with it, moron."
   "Fine, fine. Don't be mean! I dare you to apologise to Naegi about whatever fight you guys got into."
   What the hell?! Togami looked as shocked as Makoto felt.
   "What the- How the hell did you know about that?" Togami demanded, eyes sparking dangerously.
   "I mean, it's not exactly hard to spot. Yesterday, you two were all buddy-buddy, and today you're avoiding each other like the plague. Even a moron like me could figure it out."
   Makoto looked in embarrassed wonder at the faces of the other people in the circle, who were all nodding in agreement. Apparently it was that obvious. Togami looked like he was about to hit Hagakure, but he took a deep breath and replied calmly.
   "And what makes you think I should be the one to apologise? For all you know, Naegi could be in the wrong."
   "Byakuya, are you serious?" Asahina interjected suddenly. "Have you seen Makoto's face? That is not the face of someone who's fault the argument was. And also how do we know it's your fault? We've met you." Makoto looked away, face burning. Was he really that pitiful? He really hoped not. Togami cleared his throat, and looked across the circle at Makoto. He then opened his mouth and said two words that seemed alien coming from him.
   "I'm sorry."

Word count without A/N: 1232

A/N: heyyyyyy guys sorry about the wait ( I feel like I say that every update lmao) This chapter took the longest to write by far. I got like 900 words into a draft, then realised it was terrible so I had to delete it all. But I hope you enjoyed this slight change from all the angst in the previous chapters. I tried to include some of the other characters in this and the next couple chapters, but I don't really know if I did well or not... In any case thanks so much for reading! Be sure to tell me how I can improve, and thanks for 200+ READS HOLY GUACAMOLE WHAT THE CHOCOLATE MILK THATS AMAZING IT MEANS SO MUCH TO ME. Uhhh yeah so that's pretty much all I had to say. Alr peace.
—Winter