Chapter Text
The man screamed, pleading for his life, a blade cutting effortlessly through his throat.
As he bled out on the floor, his killer stared at him with pity in his eyes. The disgust had long since vanished, it wouldn’t do him any good to be disgusted and puke every time he did this. He had learned his lesson.
How it came to this, you ask?
It all started a few months ago, when-
“Why is our apartment on fire?” came a voice from his earpiece that Makoto used to be in contact with a partner while on ‘missions’.
“Fire? I don't know anything about tha-”
Wasn’t there something he was forgetting? Something at the back of his mind… urging him to remember… Ah!
Oh god, the oven !
“Shit.”
A sigh could be heard from the earpiece.
“God fucking dammit Makoto.”
7 months ago…
“This is the 5th time this month you’ve been late to a meeting,” Byakuya declared to Makoto as both of them walked out of the meeting room, Byakuya calmly browsing over some documents.
“Luckily it’s only 5 times this month! Imagine if it was 26 like last month!” Makoto responded with a small nervous laugh as he tried to carry his own documents with him slightly behind Byakuya.
Byakuya suddenly stopped and turned to face Makoto, his eyes screaming murder.
“Makoto, November started two days ago.”
“I know! But still!” Makoto replied in a hurry (for some reason). “It won’t happen again! I promise.”
Suddenly, Byakuya stopped, clearly annoyed. Makoto stopped as well and started looking at him, a bit scared due to past experiences with annoyed Byakuya.
“One chance.”
“H-huh?!”
Byakuya glared at the trembling Makoto behind him.
“Next Tuesday, in the 3rd-floor meeting room, at 10 am. Be on time and I’ll overlook these... ‘mistakes’. Be late and you’re fired.” He said, clear venom in his voice and started walking towards his office.
Makoto was frozen in dread. Fired? He couldn't afford that!
“B-but..!” Makoto tried to reason, but couldn't get any words out of his mouth.
“No buts! Arrive late to that and consider searching for a new job!” Byakuya yelled angrily as he fastened his pace towards his office.
Makoto could only watch in terror as he rounded the corner and left Makoto alone in the hallway.
Later that evening, in the Naegi household/apartment.
“You’re going to lose your job?!” Komaru yelled from the living room sofa as Makoto walked in while untying his tie.
“Not yet. If I’m late once more, then I will.” Makoto said surprisingly calmly while walking to the kitchen to eat some leftovers. Finding them on top of the stove, Makoto grabbed a plate and joined Komaru on the couch.
“Then, why not trying, not being late?” Komaru sassed him as she took the TV-remote to her hands and started browsing the TV.
“As soon as you start getting better grades and get a job, sure,” Makoto sassed back as he consumed his food like a hungry bear.
Komaru stared at Makoto with a fake surprise, “Are you implying what I think you are? That I can’t get a job? You should know better Sir. “I-only-got-a-job-because-of-my-friends”.
“Yeah, but at least I showed up to my boss in a suit and not in a T-Shirt and a skirt while being 20 minutes late,” Makoto shot back, knowing that he got the last laugh.
“It was hot and the buss that I normally take was late! It wasn’t my fault!”
“I know, just teasing,” Makoto hummed mouth full of food.
They both fell into a comfortable silence after that, Komaru’s attention captured completely by some anime that was airing, while Makoto just ate while planning his alarms for tomorrow. It wasn't for long though, as during the episode Komaru managed to fall asleep. Snoring softly as her head rested on Makoto's right shoulder. Makoto left out a small sigh and softly placed Komaru’s head on some pillows before heading to their shared bedroom (money was tight and both of them had separate beds,) and making some final checks on his alarms.
Eight alarms on phone, all of them 10 minutes away from each other on the loudest setting? Check!
Two manual clocks with both of them being right on his ears and both of them ringing at the same time? Check!
Everything was according to plan! And he had even informed Komaru to wake him up before leaving for school as a backup method.
For the first time in a year or so, Makoto went to bed with confidence and a smile on his face.