Work Text:
The bell had rung, yet Byakuya Togami was the only person in his classroom.
He had been reading for a long while, glasses poised towards the edge of his nose as he gazed down at the neat manuscript before him. It was some kind of self-improvement book focused on stress relief.
As if he was going to finish the thing.
He never was the type of person to enjoy such dull writings. Historical and science fiction novels were always his favorite.
His boredom was only broken by the sound of the door of the classroom opening. It was only, what, the fifth day of school and someone was already out to get him? He figured assassins roamed the halls, but never thought his high school career would come to an end so quickly.
But the person who stepped into the room was no assassin. They held no weapon in their hands, and certainly couldn't have fit anything into their pants pockets; it seemed as though their thumbs were the only things able to slip inside their skinny jeans.
Byakuya's gaze slowly drifted towards the person's face, pushing his glasses up along the bridge of his nose.
Oh.
It was him.
"Hello, Leon."
The redhead waved back semi-awkwardly. "Heyo." He cast a glance into the hallway, then shut the door behind himself. Byakuya raised a brow. "What do you need?" With a shrug, Leon slowly sauntered over to the other. "Nothing, really. I just saw that you were still in here through the window on the door, so I, uh... figured I'd pop in. Say hello." He nodded, sitting comfortably on the desktop the next desk over from where Byakuya was. An audible groan came from the heir as he stood, looking displeasured. "Well, you've said hello. Now I'm saying goodbye."
Leon seemed particularly hurt by this.
"It's better than you leaving without a word like last time," he scoffed, kicking a foot out to lightly tap at Byakuya's desk.
The blond looked down at him, mortified. "What? I told you plenty of times that my schedule was getting busier, don't- don't say things like that."
"You said you'd be busy, not that I wouldn't see you in-person for the next ten fucking years."
"Leon-"
"Don't 'Leon' me. I know you're a busy man, but you drove down my street to get to the path of your fucking castle every day, and you couldn't take fifteen fucking seconds to write down your name and number for me? Hell, you could've even asked me for my house or personal number, and I would've been able to give it to one of the shitty guards that stood at your gate 24/7!
"You blocked me out of your life for ten years, Byakuya. I didn't have any fucking- I didn't have anyone else but Kanon and the boys on my team, and Kanon was constantly harassing me, the boys were always leaving me outta shit because they thought I was a showboat!
"I had no one to play games with but myself. You have any idea how many times I pretended to die when I played pretend, hoping the knight would come and save his king?!"
Leon's head flicked up, staring at Byakuya with eyes that watered waveringly, as if he was ashamed to be getting emotional.
"Too fucking many. But you never came."
Leon's eyes drifted towards the ground, and Byakuya stared at him with a nearly slack jaw. No one had spoken in this tone with him for a long, long time.
And for once, he wasn't angry that he was being yelled at.
His hand shakily finds his desk, and Byakuya sits back down in his chair. A time much too long passed before Byakuya could reply. He hadn't tried to block him out. It was necessary for him to succeed... for him to survive in his family's cruel ritual. "I never meant to cause you any harm," he finally murmured. "If I'd had a choice, I would have most certainly kept you by my side as I'd progressed through the trials I faced. Just because I had people constantly around me doesn't mean that I wasn't alone. I had no one to make me happy like you did. Even if I'd had a rough time during my lessons that day, you were there to make all of that pain dissipate. But when I shut you out, I could practically feel the weight of my life settling onto my shoulders. I tried desperately to find a way to contact you. I'd watch you fight invisible monsters through my window and shout out to let you know I was there, I tried to make a paper airplane with a note, I tried so, so hard to try and find anything that would work." Byakuya nibbled on the inside of his cheek. "But all of my efforts fell to the wind."
Leon looked up at Byakuya, a tear slipping down his cheek.
He'd... tried..?
Maybe if he'd looked up from his tiny yard and into the far-off window of the boy in the castle across the way, he would have been able to see him, even if only for a fleeting moment.
"I had to scour the internet to find videos of your games. If I was lucky enough, I could watch you play live, but those weren't until two years ago or so."
Byakuya turned his head to the side, feeling his face flush with emotion.
"If I can promise you anything, it is that I did truly try. If you don't believe me, that's fine, I don't care. Just know that I... I missed you. Just as much as you missed me."
He laughs, the sound choking in his throat as he kept his head turned away. The heir continues in a more raspy tone, "As soon as I saw your name on the list of new students, I was filled with an emotion I hadn't felt in years, Leon. Ten long, long years." He shook his head, placing his forehead into the palm of his hand as his shoulders jumped every so often.
...
He was crying.
Leon reached out a hand to him, and although Byakuya first flinched out of instinct, he soon relaxed and let the other rub his back. He turned in his chair slowly and met eyes with the baseball player, whose eyeliner was running down his cheeks despite the sad smile on his face.
His eyes were glistening with an indecipherable combination of glee and regret that the heir was confused by.
Then again, when had he not been confused by this man? He'd been confused ever since the first day they'd met, and with every mystery he solved, Leon brought a new one to the table. The boy was a tangled mess of emotions and facets that Byakuya had always found himself drawn to. His life was cookie cutter; Leon's was not. How was he to deny the fun that Leon's presence was always sure to bring?
He didn't understand, but he wanted to.
Leon leaned forward, bringing Byakuya into a swift hug, standing up and bringing the other with him. He set his forehead against the space just over Byakuya's shoulder.
This is what he'd missed. The straightforward, blunt attitude of his best friend. Everything had always been so clustered for him, but when Byakuya was around, it felt as though he was free. As though he was protected.
Safe.
He knew he'd never lose his way with the heir around. How could he?
Byakuya knew what had to happen and when it should happen.
He was the smartest man Leon knew, and he'd missed having Byakuya's wit and sharp tongue to keep things fresh but not chaotic.
Leon swallowed thickly, trying to not let himself burst into inevitable tears. "Y-y-you've grown a lot, man..."
Byakuya snickered, murmuring back into Leon's hair, "I've always been taller than you."
Leon's hands gripped the fabric on Byakuya's back.
The two of them shared their moment of peace, eventually finding themselves in sync with each other's breathing, the rhythm of their equilibrium familiar to both.
"I missed you, Byakuya."
"I missed you too, Leon."