CHAPTER 5 - EVENT
Byakuya gathered people at the Elsinore Stream after sending out a message in the group chat. Makoto, Rantaro, Mahiru, and Taeko arrive.
"Alright, so... to begin, I'll precipice now that the things I need to discuss will... violently impair your vision of me." Togami says, but pauses. "Well-- I do know that I'm not well respected, so I'm not concerned."
"I'm also curious on why you think I gathered you here. Any theories before I say it?" Togami puts his hands on his hips. He shoots Mahiru a look though. Not you.
“Uhm, well....”
Rantaro makes sure to stretch that well as he exchanges glances between Togami and Mahiru. Okay. Keep your secrets. He puts on a coy smile.
“You and Naegi wanna get married and want Mahiru to be the priest. And I’m the best man.”
He chuckled.
"What-- no," Togami shakes his head.
"It's actually quite the opposite in... tone, I suppose." Togami says with a hum, rubbing at his chin and averting his eyes. "It's not something most people would want to hear coming out of somebody's mouth-- someone who they've been surviving with for the weeks we've been here."
He pauses, taking a deep breath, before looking at the others with a steely expression. "I'm not the Ultimate Swordsman." Togami confesses, fists clutched to his sides. "In fact, I'm proficient in most, if not all, weapons."
"My true talent is an assassin."
Naegi only frowns, tightening his grip around his rabbit. He stares at the ground with a sullen expression; supposes he's heard it before.
“...Assassin, huh?”
Rantaro swallows hard and tries not to make that scary face that’s really begging to come out right now.
“I can see why you didn’t want to be upfront about it.” Togami is his friend. Maybe he was just doing it for money’s sake or for the sake of his family. In that degree he can understand.
Togami nods.
"It's... complicated. But is is for my family." Togami says, pressing his lips into a thin line, hand nervously resting at the hilt of his sword. Not a very great place to put your hand after admitting something so deadly.
"They-- I was trained, since childhood. To be their killer."
Mahiru frowns, but it's concerned, worried. She has a big mouth, but she's ready to jump in if Togami needs, but...she probably shouldn't.
Togami licks his lips nervously. "I've told Koizumi and Makoto about it already."
"But it's a shock for... the rest of you."
Mahiru ducks her head. Sorry, Rantaro. Wasn't her secret to tell.
“Right. Right...To say that it’s a shock is really an understatement.”
Rantaro sighed and ran a hand through his hair. The private eye shook his head but he couldn’t be mad at them. He had a couple of secrets of his own, he understood the pressure of keeping them. “But why come out as Ultimate Assassin now? I’m sorry, but you look like the type to keep this to yourself until it’s really dire.”
"The motive," Mahiru says quietly, grimacing. Fuck them puppets.
He nods. "Truthfully, it is dire." Togami says with a shrug. "But... seeing as we're in a killing game, my survival rate has always been close to nothing-- even for someone with my caliber, and the--" Being cut off with Mahiru's voice, he nods. "Yes, the motive."
"I spoke to miss Traitor about the... motives. That they could be targeting specific people brought here." He says. "I suspected this one could be targeting me, in specific." "And I also suspected that because of the rooms in Elsinore Castle-- there's no possible explanation for them knowing who'd still be alive by now unless... they arranged it."
Mahiru visibly flinches at the 'nickname,' panicked for a moment as she hasn't actually told everyone yet. Thankfully, most of the people here already do know, but...Well. Maybe Togami told Naegi already. Maybe she doesn't have to explain herself a third time.
Togami did not, when they were talking, bring up the castle rooms thing.
"So...it's scripted?" She says, voice rising in slight hysteria before she forcibly lowers it.
Well, great. Taeko’s face scrunches, almost unconsciously.
“I’m surprised you waited this long,” She pauses. It lingers for a beat too long. “To tell everyone about this, I mean. That’s quite the talent. Honestly, I feel like finding that out would make people too intimidated to try killing you. Not the opposite,”
The words coming out of her mouth are more impartial than she had thought they’d be, and fiddles with the leather of her gloves. She hadn’t particularly thought that he was clean of bloodshed, with how he spoke of his talent. The fact that he was an assassin was..something of a shock, though.
There’s a tiny part of her brain that makes Taeko wonder why Byakuya wouldn’t tell her something like this, but almost makes her scoff. They’ve only been speaking to each other a month or so. This isn’t the sort of information you share with someone that distant.
Or maybe not, considering how Makoto and Mahiru don’t seem surprised at all.
“Well, why tell us now? I’d say this motive is optimal for you, considering him,” Taeko gestures vaguely to Makoto, “But you also aren’t the type to stoop to such a level,” Or is he? She’s not sure she knows anymore.
If her nails were exposed, she’d be inspecting them. As it is, though, Taeko just crosses her arms and sends Byakuya a raised eyebrow.
"I... am not." Togami shakes his head a bit hesitantly. "But considering the motive, it nearly hit me enough to do so, but... now I suspect they've scripted it on purpose." He gestures to Mahiru. As she said.
"A mere hunch-- It isn't like anyone else could've taken advantage of a motive aside from the ones who did, but perhaps that's the thing. Some people could've, but didn't. The ones who did... well, with all the preparation for those executions, it makes me wonder."
"I'm not here to start a conspiracy though-- I'm here to admit my secret. And I have." He says, picking at the end of his sword handle idly. "Truly, I didn't have a choice of telling you earlier, nonetheless."
He glances at Taeko. "My family knows by now-- they find out somehow, and it always happens. They always know when someone in the family has said too much, and that person is found dead quickly. Surely, now that I've admitted it to you all, I don't really..."
Ah, he remembers what Mahiru told him. "I just-- simply know that... even if they come for me, I won't allow myself to die on their whims." He says. "And if I succumbed to this motive, I'd either escape with a plus one and be killed, or... be executed by the puppets."
“....”
Oh fuck, he’s going to kill one of us isn’t he.
Rantaro bites his tongue. No. It’s wrong to think of that...But that’s the message he’s trying to convey isn’t it.
"We're not going to let you die on their whims," Mahiru corrects, looking at him seriously. "You're not alone in this. If we're breaking the script, we're breaking it together."
She crosses her arms, trying remain unaffected by the growing tension around the group.
"None of us are going to die on the game maker's terms or anyone else's." Bold of a traitor to say, but okay.
Byakuya just nods.
He hates hearing him say it; he's doomed to death, but Naegi doesn't want to accept it... he just can't accept it. He pulls his bunny up to his chest, frown etched onto his face.
"Exactly what Koizumi-san said... Byakuya, I know we're gonna figure something out..." His voice is weak, and embarrassingly enough, unsure-- but he has the faith... surely, he does.
Rantaro looked at the ground and sighed. He’d take a bullet for the people- no, friends around him. He knows he’ll be okay but they’re all he’s got to lose. Amami takes a deep breath, digging his foot into the ground.
“We’ll...We’ll be fine.”
“If you know that much about your family’s methods, I’m sure you could find a way to avoid it. Better to fight than perish like a dog at the hands of the puppets.” Because as much as Taeko cares about him, she’s not going to let him kill the rest of them just to escape. Sorry buddy.
"And-- you will be fine. Everyone here is going to be fine, I just supposed it'd be better to... let it be done. I am going to fight."
He grips his sword handle, pulling it from it's sheath-- that's not the bamboo sword he typically held, that was... it had to have been taken from his room in the castle.
"To the very last breath."
He turns the sword on himself.
SHNK--!!
He collapses to his knees as it spears through his abdomen.
"Byakuya-" Mahiru is over by the swordsman's side before she realizes where her feet are taking her. She's holding back something like a scream, like a sob, but what really comes out is a half-anguished, half-angry "What the fuck?"
“You idiot,” Taeko hisses, running to his side. “What are you- you-“ She’s panicking. Oh boy.
"BYAKUYA!--"
Naegi screams, dropping his stupid rabbit and he rushes to his side, eyes wide in a horrified expression. He drops to his knees next to him, hands shaking and he wants to do something, but he doesn't know what-- how to--
There are tears streaming down his cheeks, he didn't even notice when they had started to overflow, but they aren't stopping. "W-What do I--"
“T- TOGAMI!”
Rantaro is too in shock to move at first but he quickly shakes out of it once the others are surrounding him.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck-
“We need to take him-“
Oh fuck the nurse is dead.
“W-we can’t take it out. The. The blood loss—“ Taeko’s mouth is barely forming words, and her hands are fluttering. “Do you think Iruma-san’s room has medical supplies in it?”
Togami coughs, blood spilling from his chin and splattering droplets onto the grass below. He's basically keeling over by now- shaking as he grips the sword handle with all his might-- fuck, the blade is pierced straight through him,
"I-It hurts--"
“Y-Yeah! But were going to have to be quick about it!”
Rantaro pushes Naegi out of the way and tries to carry Togami, arms wrapped under his armpits.
“Someone take this feet! Now!”
"You said-" Mahiru hiccups, and oh, she is crying, isn't she? She's absentmindedly holding onto Byakuya's shoulder, as if that would do anything. "You said... you'd try to survive. We'd help you."
This dumbass, this fucking dumbass—
Taeko pathetically tries to grab under his like. Leg. She’s not really strong enough. “Naegi-san, please—“
He's gritting his teeth, eyes squeezed shut as the pain becomes unbearable-- this is what dying feels like, doesn't it? Except he's not cold, his body feels like it's on fire.
"N-No," He grunts out, blood abstracting his speech. "Just let me-- let me just, I want to die here,"
He can barely move, but he has to do something, doesn't he? Even though his limbs feel like stone, moving hurts, he can barely breathe-- he does as he's asked, blinded with tears, he goes to Taeko's side to grab his legs.
"Byakuya, please--"
Rantaro gritted his teeth and started lifting him. If he’s talking that means he’s still alive.
He's kicking and struggling-- he doesn't want to be carried.
"LET ME DOWN," He shouts.
Taeko yelps.
“Koizumi-san, I feel as if we’ll need your help—“
He's using all the strength he can to hold him down-- he hates it, hates hearing his shouting and feeling him struggle like that, it hurts but he...
"PLEASE, l-live for me, please--" His voice wavers into a soft sob, begging and shivering... he can hardly think.
"Just let me--" He lets out a yelp of pain, more blood spilling from his lips as he grits his teeth. He slaps weakly at the hand in his hair, tears and blood staining his face.
Mahiru's brain is racing, as she tries to reconcile their conversation the other day with what's happening right now.
"P-" She starts, and stops. "Put him down. Put him back down. Gently."
The tears are flowing freely now, but she doesn't bother to wipe at them.
"If you- If he keeps struggling in your grip he'll fade faster."
Taeko lowers him, slowly. “Should I— go back to Iruma-san’s room? See if there’s anything there?”
Mahiru nods roughly.
Well. She hasn’t run in a while, but now is probably a good time.
"Don't leave," He orders Taeko weakly.
“Oh Jesus Christ-“
Rantaro groaned and was about to go faster when Mahiru came into frame. He follows along with Taeko.
“Y-Yeah...”
God, he’s not ready for this. Oh god. Oh fuck.
Taeko lets out a huff, but it’s strained.
“I have half the mind to ignore you, Byakuya-san,”
"I want you here when I--" he grunts in pain, breathing becoming weak as he lies down against the grass.
No, he doesn't get to lie down. Mahiru won't let him. He has a FUCKING SWORD IN HIS MIDDLE!
Taeko glanced back at Rantaro, then back at Byakuya. She..
“Amami-san, you go on ahead. I’d just slow you down anyway.” She’s still kinda pissed at Byakuya, and she refuses to let him die but. Just...just in case.
Mahiru, with touch as light as a feather and as frantic as a bird, tries to position Togami so that the fucking sword in his abdomen doesn't move anymore. As long as they don't take it out, he shouldn't...bleed out, probably. But he can't leave it in there forever.
He's hesitant, before lowering him as well-- but he still stays right at his side, shoulders shaking as he sobbed over him; he feels utterly useless, useless, but he doesn't know what he can do... what he possibly could do, his love is fading so quickly right in front of him and all he can do is--
"Please," it comes out wretched, tearful and miserable. "Byakuya, p-please..." Please what, he doesn't quite know, but all he can do is beg for him to stay with him...
Togami makes an annoyed noise, somehow, when Mahiru pushes him back up to a better position. Fine, then.
"It's fine," He says slowly. "I'm dying th'way I want to..." Togami says, hand moving up to wipe at Naegi's tears-- it only smears blood on his face. Ah...
He rests his own hand over Togami's, tears speeding up-- no, no, this wasn't meant to happen, they were gonna get out together and be happy together, show Togami he can live independently...
"It's not fine, it's n-not..." He sobs louder, leaning forward and nearly curling in on himself. His grip around Togami's hand tightens.
“Amami-san I swear to— Go. Now.”
"Don't,"
"GO!"
Rantaro grits his teeth, refusing to give up.
“Im going.”
He tosses his coat and Teako and ducking sprints for it.
"'s not going to help," Togami breathes heavily. "N-No--"
"You said you'd stay with us." Actually, that's not what he said, you just assumed.
Mahiru's voice is pathetically small. "You're dying the way you want to, but."
She balls her fists in the fabric of her shirt.
"What about what we want? What if we wanted to get to know you more? What if we wanted to protect you? You ever think of that?" It's selfish, but her voice rises with each question, fresh tears making it almost hard to see.
"You're always- deciding what's best for everyone, you stupid, stupid man." She chokes out a sob. There's no bite in her insult. Just despair.
"Why? We need you."
"I know," Togami speaks up weakly. "I know." There's nothing he can say now.
He just listens to Mahiru, ugly sobbing clashing with Togami's ragged breathing as he slips away... the noise is grating on his ears. Why did this have to happen? He just wants to go back; he wants to go back, if he could have done anything to stop this... but nothing is enough, is it?
He feels as if his heart is twisting in his chest as Mahiru speaks on, saying exactly everything that Naegi wanted to say, but was never strong enough to, never strong enough-- not enough to help Togami, to stop him, to...
"I... need you," he whimpers out wretchedly after Mahiru finishes... he wants to look away, to run away, but he can't do that now. He can't do anything.
"I-I'm sorry," He mumbles, unable to speak clearly anymore, eyelids heavy as he looks at Naegi with glossy eyes, before turning his gaze to Taeko. "F-For, for doin' this, for... 's for the best, I..."
Taeko’s hands hover uselessly, and the words wont unstick from her throat. The most she can do is grip Byakuya’s hand tightly.
“Don’t you dare say things like this— You’re not going to die, you’re not—“
Rantaro’s hair is all over his face and he’s pretty sure he’s lost a shoe on his sprint back to the Elsinore. He trips and fumbles as he reaches closer.
“Hey! HEY!”
"Even if it's despite what people want of me..." He says, growing weaker by the second. "Knowin' people... loved me in th' end was... nice..."
Togami begins to flutter his eyes shut, color draining from his face. He doesn't have much time.
A little more. Just a little more. Rantaro screams as he throws the bag over his shoulder and chucks it across to where they are before plummeting and eating dirt.
Mahiru could beg for Togami to stay, could call him an idiot some more, but what's the point?
"What do you want, Byakuya?" She asks quietly. "Anything. Anything and we'll do it."
...
...
There's the response of his ragged breathing growing quieter and quieter, until his eyes open a sliver to reveal foggy blue eyes to the remaining graduates-- the people he knew as his friends.
"Don't die..." He says quietly, lips hardly moving as they stain with his blood. "No more... turnin' on evr'yone. Remember th' humanity others have." He chuckles weakly. "It took m' ages t'refute that..."
"I don't regret to say that... I love you all."
...
His grip on Naegi's hand loosens, head tilting back as he goes limp.
Togami has left them.
Ah.
All he can do at this point... is grit his teeth, lower his head, and scream.
At the top of his lungs, all his sorrow and grief bubbling out with his voice... shaky with tears, an ugly sob, he can't do anything but scream. The noise hurts to hear, he hates hearing himself like this, but he can hardly think-- can hardly move, can't do anything but this.
Not again, not again—
Taeko can’t help it, when she starts to cry again.
To make matters worse, the duo shows up.
Sock is stomping to the scene as Buskin trails behind, the red fellow muttering "He just had to set this up, just had to...!" under his breath.
They're both at a distance away from the body, Sock's eyebrows furrowed in a fashion.
”You!”
Rantaro takes off his other shoe and raises it over his head as he gets closer to them.
"Ah ah ah." Sock waggles a finger.
"S-Sock... We can't possibly start a trial with this many witnesses..."
Instead of smacking Sock as he expects, he laughs harder than he’s ever had and waves it in front of him.
“You know what’s in here! Give me one fucking good reason I shouldn’t end your fucking game right now! Come on! I wanna hear it!”
"And we won't- unfortunately." Sock strains out, ignoring Rantaro.
"Sir Byakuya and his public suicide... Unexpected, but such a shame it's merely this simple!"
They’re not going to— with the body—
“Can we not bury it here? It was a suicide, not a murder. There’s— there’s no need for an execution.” Taeko’s words sound a bit nasally, but she’s holding back her tears surprisingly well.
Rantaro glares daggers into Sock. Say something stupid. Come on.
"Believe me, I would've executed him if I wanted to!"
"But I'm just tired to do so! It would be redundant, anyways!" Sock sighs out.
"No trial for him, boo to the hoo."
Taeko exhales a bit, the relief palpable. Sock and Buskin are still shitty, and she still hates them, but at least they’re allowing them this.
It hurts, but she’s still thankful that Byakuya decided to do it in front of all of them. The circumstances around his death are clear.
“Boo to the hoo-“
Rantaro points his shoe at the puppet like Togami would have with his sword.
“I can fucking end your career right now and give your game a shitty boo to the hoo ending, fucker!”
"Amami-san, not now." Mahiru raises her voice just loudly enough to be heard, not moving from Naegi's side and Togami's...corpse. "Please just come...help us with him. So we can bury him." She's not actually sure how they're gonna do that, but...
"Ah, you're burying him? Less work for I!"
"I'll let you do whatever for the night. Mourn, cry, bury, whatever. If his body is still here, we shall deal."
"Just. Yeah." Sock says in an exasperated tone.
Mahiru makes a mental note of how flustered Sock seems to be by this situation, but lets it go for now.
"Just go." She says to the puppets, not even bothering to look at them.
The both of them leave on your command.
SURVIVING STUDENTS GRADUATES
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