Life at the Future Foundation was… hard to get used to at first.
Of course, it was nice to have a place to sleep and food on a regular basis, as well as an air purifier and not having to constantly keep a knife on you— Enoshima hadn’t been lying when she’d told the survivors the outside world was barely habitable. She was an evil psychopath, but at least she was an evil, honest psychopath.
They’d only been out in the world for a few weeks before they’d been found, but it was long enough for them to decide that they never, ever wanted to go back there if they could help it.
Even so, life at the Future Foundation was strange. The rooms they stayed in weren’t like the dorms in Hope’s Peak— but even then, they made Naegi feel uneasy. He’d spent every night there with his door locked tight, save for the first three nights, when he and Asahina had ended up falling asleep together in her room.
Sometimes, it was nice to have some company. Even if you weren’t entirely sure they wouldn’t murder you in your sleep. (Well, Naegi knew Asahina wouldn’t do that, but after what they’d been through, it was an understandable suspicion.)
The six had said goodnight moments ago, and Naegi’s footsteps echo in the hallway as he walks to his room. The members of the future foundation were still wary of them, and kept their distance; they thought they were dangerous, that they’d be like their classmates and kill all of them.
It’s not a totally unfounded fear, Naegi thinks to himself as he fiddled with the room key in his pocket, but, still. It kinda sucks that they don’t trust us.
He unlocks the room, letting himself in and kicking off his loafers. He loosens his tie and shrugs off his blazer— it’d been so long since he’d worn something other than his hoodie and jeans that the Foundation-issued suit still felt odd on him. His shirt sleeves are rolled up, as he has the body proportions of a 12 year old, and he decides to keep them that way as he’d like to be able to use his hands.
He flops onto his bed, feeling sleep already start to overtake him. Today hadn’t been much of anything, mostly just the Six filling out paperwork the actual workers were too important to do. Still, the coffee machine had broken at around 7:30 PM, meaning they’d been running on fumes since then. Naegi’s eyes droop, his body curling over itself—
Knock, knock, knock.
“Huh?” Naegi mumbles, squeezing his eyes shut. “Ugh. Hold on, I’m coming.”
He fights back a yawn as he sits up, stretching his arms up.
Knock, knock, knock.
“Jeez! I’m coming!” he repeats, walking over to the door and pulling it open.
Much to his surprise, he’s met with the last person he’d expected to open the door to— he’s immediately being towered over by an exhausted, depressed-looking Togami.
“Oh!” he can’t help but say, “Oh, Togami. Hi. Can I… can I help you?”
Togami pinches the bridge of his nose, refusing to look Naegi in the eye. “I’m coming in,” he declares, pushing past Naegi into his room.
“I- Oh. Okay,” Naegi is caught off guard, obviously, but this is Togami; he's not sure what else he should have expected. Togami looks around his room, but surprisingly, there is no distaste on his face. I suppose mine probably looks the same as his, Naegi thinks.
“Do you want tea, or a snack?” he asks, walking over to the tiny kitchen the Foundation had included in their rooms.
“No. I’m fine,” Togami says curtly, sitting in the chair by Naegi’s desk. He crosses one long leg over the other, his hands braced in his lap.
“Oh. What… what do you need?” Naegi finally asks, examining the taller boy.
“I never got to thank you,” Togami replies, his blue eyes shifting around the room almost… nervously.
“T-Thank me? For what?” Naegi puts on a kettle of water for himself, busying himself so he doesn’t have to face the heir. Togami stands from behind him, beginning to pace around the room.
“During the investigations. You always managed to keep your cool and not be a total nuisance, which can’t be said for all our classmates,” he scoffs, “and I think that is why we survived, Naegi.”
Naegi mulls over the words, his hand hovering over the kettle. The words may seem harsh, but he knows it’s a compliment from the heir— much to his embarrassment, he feels his cheeks turning pink. “Well. I had to,” he says, “for everyone’s sake.”
“Look at me,” Togami demands, his tone enough to send Naegi whipping around to look at him. “I need you to understand how important you were to us surviving. You were the only one other than me who wasn’t a complete moron, and I never thanked you for that.”
Naegi’s chin has somehow made its way between Togami’s thumb and forefinger, their faces roughly a meter apart.
“Oh,” Naegi whispers, his face red. “you… You're welcome, Togami.”
“Call me Byakuya,” the blonde boy says, “...please.”
Naegi is 90% sure he’s never heard him say the word please before.
“Okay,” he smiles, “And thank you, Byakuya. You’ve gotta give yourself some credit too.”
“Believe me, I do,” Buakuya deadpans, “I know perfectly well that I’m the reason those pigs survived. But, I suppose you helped.”
Naegi can’t help but laugh at his antics. Some things just never change, he supposes.
“And also, I need to tell you,” he continues, looking away from Naegi’s face. “When I thought you were going to die, when you almost got executed, I… I cried for the first time in years.”
Naegi’s eyes widen, his entire face burning.
“Byakuya-“
“I was- I didn’t want to lose you. I don’t know why, but the idea of you dying was so terrifying to me,” he looks ashamed of himself, as if watching someone you know die is something to not react to. “I suppose you’re the first real friend I’ve had in awhile.”
A tear rolls down Naegi’s cheek as he listens to the taller boy talk. He knows it’s best to shut his mouth for now— Buakuya’s eyes are the softest he’d ever seen them be.
“Maybe it’s silly, but I was- I was afraid of losing you. My... friend. I needed you here, and I still do,” his voice is wavering now, and Naegi swears he can see tears beginning to brim in his eyes, catching in his long eyelashes. “I’m being ridiculous, good lord.”
“Hey, no,” Naegi blurts, “you’re not being ridiculous. You’re being human. I know you’re like emotionally stunted and all that, but it’s okay to feel things.”
Byakuya’s face is slowly turning pink, blush spreading across the bridge of his nose to his cheeks. “I shouldn’t have dumped all this on you.”
Before Naegi can stop himself, his arms are wrapped around Byakuya’s waist, hugging him tightly. The heir makes a small noise in the back of his throat, and maybe hugging him was a bad idea— but soon Naegi feels his arms around him as well, pulling him into his chest.
Byakuya smells like leather and old books; it’s a comforting smell, and Naegi breathes it in happily. Byakuya’s nose is buried in his hair, and he’s shaking as he holds Naegi close.
“I’m always here for you,” Naegi murmurs into his chest, “Okay?”
“Alright,” Byakuya replies, squeezing him tighter. “By the way-“
“I’m not gonna tell anyone about this.”
“That’s what I thought.”
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Heads Up 7 Up challenge!
i was tagged by @ghostnebula to post the last 7 sentences of my latest wip. trigger warning for minor blood/violence and a little bit of nsfw
“You know what I hate? I despise it when people underestimate me,” his hand unwinds from Richie’s, laying itself onto the table. “And for you to make the assumption that I’m a coward, that I’m afraid of losing a finger…”
“Eddie,” Richie’s hand grabs his shoulder— the blade of the knife rests against Eddie’s knuckles.
“I’ll chop all four of them off,” Eddie snarls, “I’ll fucking do it!”
His cheeks are flushed pink, and his eyes sparkle like a girl in one of those animated Japanese pornos; and despite the barbaric words coming out of his mouth, a grin spreads across his lips, his tongue almost lolling out of his mouth.
“Eddie, stop it,” Richie attempts to grab the knife before anything worse can happen. As soon as it’s in his hand he pushes a little too hard, and the blade slices through Eddie’s palm.
i’ll tag @princessdaddy @creamykaspbrak @aintguiltyy and @rosiethots !
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