Archive of Our Own ^beta

Byakuya was, regrettably, not a morning person. For all his strengths (and as he would be sure to tell you, they were vast), he could not for the life of him get used to waking up at the God forsaken hour of 7:00 am each morning for breakfast.

He groggily blinked the sleep from his eyes, glaring forwards blankly at the wall. He reached up a pale hand and ran it through his hair to brush it out, smooth and straight and perfect, just like him. It felt a little oily. He felt filthy. He wanted to take a shower, but it was 6:58 already and he did not want to show up late for breakfast. Hmph. It probably looked fine. He wouldn’t know.

The blond pushed himself out of his bed and stood and stretched on long legs before making his way to the bathroom in his dorm. He brushed his teeth. He gazed at the mirror in front of him. Felt his eyelids get heavy as he watched the toothbrush floating in front of him…

He didn’t realize he had begun dozing off until he tripped forwards, knees knocking against counter and toothbrush clattering onto the counter. A mouthful of tooth-pastey water dripped onto his black shirt. He huffed through the foamy water in his mouth. He might end up being a little late to breakfast after all.

He changed quickly- not too quickly, he wanted to look at least half presentable. He was a Togami, after all- And left his dorm for the dining hall at a probably mostly reasonably late 7:08. He stalked through the halls, glaring with dark circles under his tired eyes and grasping his cloak fluttering behind him. It was very cold in this school. Or maybe he was just hungry. Hm. He wasn’t particularly looking forward to another unsatisfying breakfast of pig’s blood, but. It would have to do, he supposed.

The dining hall was busy enough that no one noticed when he entered the room 10 minutes late. There was a group of students gathered in the center of the hall. They were… chanting. It appeared that foolish wolf-man Mondo had challenged Leon to see who could eat more waffles. He noticed Taka off to the side, weeping about the mess of syrup and crumbs on the floor. Or, he was pretty sure the angel was sobbing. It was hard to tell with his mess of eyes and faces and limbs… It was far too early for all this, in Byakuya’s objective opinion, but he had to admit he was grateful for the distraction. Of course, self conscious is not a phrase that at all describes Byakuya Togami, but he’s never much cared for the looks he received while consuming his meals. He stalked over to the kitchen in the back of the hall and grabbed a pack of blood from a refrigerator and looked for a table to sit at. None of the tables were completely empty, but that was typical. He scanned the room for the emptiest available corner.

Unfortunately, his plans were foiled when he made eye contact with the short boy sitting at a crowded table near the center of the room. When the brunet saw him, his green eyes widened and he waved him over excitedly. Hm. That boy was always trying to make friends with his classmates, despite being so different from them all. He still didn’t quite understand why they allowed humans here in the first place. Well. If the boy hadn’t learned to stay away from him yet, perhaps he ought to speed up the process. The sight of the vampire eating his meal might dissuade the boy from pursuing any further acquaintance with him...

“Byakuya! Come sit with us!” He sighed and resigned himself to walk over to the table. Several of his classmates were at the table- Celeste and Kyoko sat on either side of Makoto, along with Hina, Sakura, Sayaka, and Hiro- He sat in the open seat across from the boy who had so foolishly summoned him. Sayaka and Hiro seemed to be engaged in some sort of arm wrestle, for whatever reason. He thought that a cyclops ought to have no trouble besting a half-bird in terms of shows of strength, but Maizono was clearly holding her own. Hina and Sakura were focused intently on a plate in front of them- they appeared to be trying to build some sort of structure out of sausage links, oatmeal, and bacon. Byakuya was already regretting his decision.

“Ah, good morning, Byakuya.” Celeste shot him a sickeningly sweet grin. The other vampire was holding a packet of blood in her perfectly manicured hands. Kyoko nodded at him politely, but said nothing. She continued sipping her piping hot cup of black coffee. Just the thought of the bitter taste was almost enough to make Byakuya wrinkle his nose.

“G’morning, Byakuya,” The pathetic boy said through a mouthful of rice. Byakuya could only glare at him tiredly. It took every ounce of strength not to walk away.

“I noticed you arrived at the dining hall rather late, Byakuya. Are you feeling alright?” Celeste asked with an innocent tilt of her head and a malicious gleam in her eyes. Byakuya shifted the focus of his glare to her. Of course she would notice.

“Oh, yes, well.” He pushed his glasses up by the bridge. “I suppose I lost track of time. I recently discovered a fascinating book about- well, I won’t bore you with the details. In truth, I wasn’t particularly hungry. It must have slipped my mind.” A lie. Byakuya was very hungry. He was growing increasingly tired of the filthy animal blood provided by the school, but there wasn’t exactly much opportunity to feed at a place like this, and he certainly didn’t intend to ask for help.

“How about you? You look awfully pale. Have you been getting enough blood?” Trutfully, despite her ghost-white complexion, Celeste looked remarkably well fed. There were no dark circles under her crimson eyes, which shined brightly. Strange. He wondered where she was getting her blood from. Not that he really cared.

To his disdain, Celeste just smiled and brought a hand up to her mouth to feign surprise. “Oh, do you think so?” She giggled. “I just have a naturally pale complexion, I suppose. Isn’t it wonderful?” Hmm. Dodging the question.

There was a gentle clink of mug placed on table as Kyoko set her coffee down. “I think it suits you much better than it does Byakuya.” She turned to look at him blankly. “You look ill.”

“Urk-” Byakuya started, grasping for some indignant response. Celeste cut him off with a delighted hum.

“Oh, thank you, Kyoko.” She clasped her hands together and beamed. “Oh, would you mind passing the coffee?”

Byakuya sat in stunned silence as Kyoko passed the coffee pot over the boy who only seemed to be half listening (he was scarfing his fish down like some sort of animal. Disgusting.) to Celeste, who took it with an appreciative nod and poured her own cup of steaming black coffee. She took a sip. No cream, no sugar... These people dumbfounded Byakuya, truly.

Several moments of silence passed before the blond felt he could speak. “Mm. I may be a little tired. I was up late last night reading,” he finally said. Celeste stared at him through narrowed eyes. She didn’t look convinced. Well, that wasn’t his problem. He picked up the blood pack on the table and bared his teeth.

It was at this moment Makoto finally looked up from his meal. Good. “Mmm, hey, Byakuya,” He paused to swallow the food in his mouth. “We were gonna meet up at the library after school to study for that algebra test tomorrow.” Brought another forkful of food to his mouth. “Mmph. You should totally come,” he said through the rice.

Kyoko turned to look at Makoto. “We didn’t agree to invite him,” she said bluntly.

“What? I thought it was like, a class thing?” He looked confused.

“Ah, yes, well, it is,” Celeste said in between coffee sips. “But no one likes Byakuya.” She smiled sweetly. Byakuya noticed her blood had vanished. She must have drank it quickly. Perhaps she was hungrier than he had thought.

“Oh.” Makoto clicked his tongue thoughtfully. He didn’t even try to deny it. “Well, maybe he’s not the most sociable, but doesn’t it seem a bit cruel not to invite him, at least?”

“I’m right here, you know,” Byakuya said flatly. He didn’t really care. It amused him how easily they were able to talk about him right in front of him. The behavior of the 99% could be fascinating, at times. “No matter, I do not wish to attend your commoner gathering. I don’t need your assistance; I’m perfectly capable of studying on my own. You all would only weigh me down.”

Kyoko snorted. Makoto frowned. Byakuya bit into his blood packet.

“It’s not like,” Makoto hesitated for a moment. “I’m not saying I think you need help. I just think it’s good for us to hang out. To get to know each other. We’re gonna be stuck together for the next four years, You know. Might as well get used to it.” Byakuya was pretty sure that was supposed to be a joke. He glared on and drank the blood quickly. He let the metallic taste wash over him. It was good. It was cold. It wasn't nearly enough. “We can all help each other. I wasn’t trying to say you didn’t know what you were doing. But if you’re so confident, I’m sure there are lots of people who could use your help. I still can’t really wrap my mind around all the formulas and stuff.” he trailed off.

Byakuya huffed and paused in his feeding, lowering the blood from his fangs. He could feel blood dripping down from his mouth. “So you only intend to leech off of my superior knowledge?” He hoped he looked off putting.

Celeste looked at him with open disgust. Of course she would somehow manage to feed without getting any blood on her face… The brunet stared at the blood streaming down his chin. His mouth was open slightly. “I… uh…” Byakuya was pleased he had caught the boy off guard. “N-no,” A pause. He looked back down at his mostly empty plate. “You know that’s not what I meant,” He finally said, a little more firmly. “Just think about it, ok?”

“Hmph.” He said nothing else. He brought the half empty packet back to his mouth and continued drinking. He stared at the boy intensely, as if challenging him to meet his gaze. He seemed very interested in his plate, for some reason.

“H-hey, Makoto? You ok?” It seemed Hina had finally decided to stop playing with her food. “You’re like, as red as a tomato. Did you eat too fast?” She leaned forward dramatically. “I know this food is good, but you gotta pace yourself!”

Makoto looked back up to meet her wide, worried eyes. “Oh, yeah. You know me. I just bite off a little more than I can chew sometimes.” He laughed at himself there, maybe a little forcefully. Hina giggled alongside him. Everyone else watched silently.

Byakuya finished the blood and placed the empty bag down in front of him.

“Um,” Kyoko finally said, breaking the awkward silence that had settled at the table. “I suppose I don’t mind either way. Come. Or don’t. Wipe your mouth, though. You look like a wild animal.”

Byakuya repressed an angry hiss. He was better than this. He nodded politely and elegantly wiped the blood away with a napkin. “Very well. I suppose I’ll consider your offer.” He stood up from the table. He hoped no one noticed the way he wobbled a little. He was still so tired. His meal hadn’t helped much... “I can’t imagine a better use of my time than helping you commoners with your math homework,” he muttered dryly. “But if you’re all so desperate for my attention, then who am I to deny you?” His voice dripped with malice. He turned and stalked away before anyone could refute him.

The rest of the day dragged on. His classes were easy, but boring. And he was so tired. He had trouble keeping his eyes open. He noticed his hands shaking throughout the day. He felt so weak. He disgusted himself, truly. He hoped he didn’t look as pathetic as he felt. But if he got any strange looks due to his erratic behavior, he was far too tired to notice.

He sat now in his history class. It was the last of the day. He stared at the clock. He had only been here for twenty minutes. It felt like hours had passed.

He was generally fascinated by history. He enjoyed all of his classes, really. Naturally, as a Togami, he enjoyed learning and was always at the top of the class. He just… he was having a hard time focusing today. And yesterday. And the past several days before that.

… He needed to find some blood from somewhere… He didn’t feel like himself. He didn’t feel much like a Togami now at all. He mostly just felt like sleeping for a few hundred years.

Well, that was a problem for later. He could probably find a solution on his own, anyways. He felt fine, really. Nothing a power nap couldn't fix…

Anyways. Makoto’s little class study session was going to begin shortly. Hm.

The boy had seemed rather put off by the blood drinking, which pleased him. It hadn’t been quite enough to dissuade him from inviting him, but. He felt he was making progress. Perhaps, if he attended, he could show Makoto that including him in his silly little ‘group bonding’ activities was a mistake. Nip it in the bud, so to speak. Yes: by indulging the attention of that foolish boy, he would quickly learn that it was best to leave him alone.

Byakuya was disrupted by an all too familiar irritatingly shrill voice. “M-master…” A deep sigh. Byakuya turned to glare at the gorgon girl behind him. “Y-you… look, a little, umm. Pale. And shaky. And l-like your eyes are about to pop out of your head, and….” The snake-haired girl couldn’t meet his eyes, it seemed. “A-are you alright..?” She stared down at her clasped hands resting on the desk.

He had been hoping to make it through this class without speaking with Toko. Oh, well. “Obviously, I’m perfectly fine. It must be your commoner eyes playing tricks on you.”

The other girl huffed. She looked annoyed, but her voice still shook. “O-oh, yeah. Like you could do much better. Y-you can’t see what you look like at a-all.” Finally, she looked up at the blond boy. Her emerald green hair-snakes twisted and writhed around her. “But…of course you look b-beautiful, as always, Master. And sickly. Y-you can do both. You pull it off pretty well, actually….”

“Would you stop talking?” Byakuya turned back to face forwards to block out the sight of her. Looking at all those snakes, moving around on their own, gave him chills. He hoped they wouldn't try to bite him again. The snakes or the girl. “I quite literally couldn’t care less what you think of my appearance, Fukawa.”

“Hmph. S-someone’s hungry….” Byakuya could practically hear the grin on her mouth as she continued. “I’d offer to let you feed on me… heh heh… Too b-bad my blood is poisonous…” Somehow, he didn’t think she sounded all that torn up about it. “Oh well, i-isn’t it more fun if you have to take a risk a-anyways? Y-you’ll probably be fine, as long as you feed from the right side…” She sounded a little too excited at the prospect. Byakuya didn’t even want to try to guess what she might be imagining right now.

“Fukawa,” Byakuya growled, turning back to face her with a new ferocity in his glare. “Frankly, I would not feed on you if you were the last person available to me.” Hmm. Maybe that would turn out to be the case, after all. He hoped not. He didn’t much want to die. “You are a commoner. I don’t drink commoner blood. And you reek of garlic. Do you ever brush your teeth? Just being this close to you makes me want to gag…”

Toko recoiled. ‘H-hey! I’m only trying to help you… It’s not my fault they were serving breadsticks for l-lunch… Those things are irresistible…”

Byakuya could only glare at her blankly. His classmates dumbfounded him, truly. Then, she leaned forward on her desk and opened her mouth to keep talking to him. The stench of garlic made him flinch.

“Toko Fukawa.” He hissed at her. He only has so much self control, after all. “I swear on the Togami name I will make it so that you are never able to publish one of your putrid books ever again if you do not leave me alone right now.

The snakes on Toko’s head seemed irritated by that- they all stopped their aimless meandering to gaze at him icily- but only the girl herself hissed back. She rocked back to sit up straight in her chair. “F-fine, be like that. I w-was only trying to h-help… Y-you may be hot, but you still look like a w-wreck…”

Byakuya turned to face the front of the classroom once again with a satisfied sigh. Listening to his instructor droning on about the Invasion of Normandy was far more appealing than conversing with that girl and her snakes. He tried not to focus on how not exhausted he was.

In the end, he decided to attend the study session. He was fully prepared for the upcoming test, of course, and he had no intention of helping the others, but he hoped to send the message to his classmates that he wished to be left alone. He could probably show up for a half hour or so, make a scathing remark or two to sour the mood, and then return to his dorm to sleep.

Ack. Just the idea of interacting with all of his classmates in such a… social setting was draining. Even so, when the bell rang to signal the end of his last class of the day, he reluctantly made his way over to the library.

Much to his disdain, his classmates were, in fact, present. Hmph.

They were all clustered around the large table in the center of the room. Taka sat at the table with an impressively large stack of notes. He seemed to be explaining them to Chihiro, Mondo, and Hiro, who were all huddled around him. Chihiro was listening intently, jotting down their own notes in their almost too-perfect handwriting. Mondo leaned over Taka, hands resting on his shoulders(or where he assumed his shoulders were) as he glared at the notes before him as if he thought it might help him understand. Hiro was staring at the two of them with a strange look on his face. It didn’t look like he was really paying attention.

Sayaka and Leon sat across from them. Sayaka seemed to be walking Leon through a problem. Leon was flicking pieces of lead across the table through Hifumi. The ghost was far too invested in his manga to notice.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Hina and Sakura entering the library with large plates of food. Fruits and cookies and, of course, donuts. He guessed the two of them must have made snacks earlier today. He was pretty sure there was no food permitted in the library… Oh, well. He was sure Taka would say something. If he ever noticed.

Celeste and Kyoko sat together at a table off to the side. They seemed to be arguing over the correct answer to a problem on their study guide. The two of them seemed pretty fired up… best not to get involved, he decided. Not that he had any desire to help either of them.

Byakuya was almost impressed that Makoto had managed to convince everyone to show up. And on time, too... Of course, the boy himself was not present. Hm. What a hypocrite.

Byakuya scanned the room once again. Everyone seemed rather invested in what they were doing already, and he had no desire to converse with any of them. He found an empty little table where the lighting wasn’t too dim and sat down. He might as well use this waste of time to finish today’s homework, at least.

And so he pulled out his folder and sifted through it until he found the essay he had begun earlier today. He could probably knock this out within the next little while and then leave this God forsaken place.

For some reason, though, he was having trouble focusing. He kept glancing up at the door. He couldn’t imagine why. Maybe this fatigue was causing him to slip into paranoia…

Finally, he spotted Makoto and Toko walk into the library. They were 8 minutes late… He supposed commoners had no respect for punctuality. They were so uncivilized, the lot of them.

He briefly wondered why they were entering together. Shouldn’t Toko have been behind him…? Well, it didn’t matter. He turned back to the empty sheet of paper in front of him. Had he really not written anything this whole time..?

Byakuya put pen to paper and started writing, though he was having trouble coming up with anything coherent. He probably just needed to start, then he would be able to finish easily, as he usually did.

Just as he began to focus, a rustling noise broke him out of his thoughts. He looked up. Wide human eyes met his. “Hey, Byakuya. Watcha doing?”

Byakuya huffed and dramatically put his pen down. If Makoto noticed that he had been interrupting him, he showed no sign. “Naegi,” he greeted.

When Makoto realized he wasn’t going to answer his question, he kept talking. “That, uh. Doesn’t look like math.”

“That’s because it isn’t. Maybe you’re smarter than I thought you were,” Byakuya deadpanned.

Makoto plopped down at the chair across from him. So much for working alone…. “Ok… well, uh. This is a math thing. You know.” There was an awkward silence for a moment, just bright green eyes staring into dark, tired, blue-gray ones. Then Makoto started digging through his backpack. “You can do whatever you want, but, I was wondering, uh. You said you understood this unit? Like, you know how to factor all those quadratics and stuff? Cuz, uh. I’m a little lost, heh..” he pulled a crumpled sheet of paper out of his backpack. Byakuya severely hoped that this boy didn't just stuff all of his papers in there…

.. Well. He had said he wasn’t here to help, but. If he did, Makoto might leave him alone and go bother someone else…. “Let me see.” He took the paper and looked at it. Read the numbers through narrow eyes, and- “Give me a pencil.” He reached out a hand and waited for Makoto to scramble to hand him a pencil. It was old and dirty and dull and.. had bite marks. Byakuya took a deep breath. He didn’t have the energy to deal with that right now. “Look here,” He said, and began writing. He worked through the problem. He looked up at Makoto after each step to make sure he followed. (He typically didn’t- whenever he looked at him with that confused face, he explained what he had done. The boy would stare for a moment then nod. Byakuya went on.)

Byakuya circled his answer with a neat stroke of the pencil. Makoto stared at the paper. “Heh. You make that look pretty easy. I thought you might have been exaggerating this morning.” He looked back up at the vampire with a grin.

Byakuya leaned back in his chair and glared. “What, so you were testing me just now? He spoke coldly.

Makoto flustered. “W-what? No, I really am pretty clueless when it comes to this stuff. You’d just have to take one look at my grades to figure that out.” He laughed, as if grades like his were something to laugh over. Byakuya didn’t understand how he could be so careless. “I was just wondering. I feel like, you know. Someone like you can’t be good at everything, right? So maybe the thing you really suck at is math. Well, I guess I’ll have to keep looking.” He smiled brightly. Byakuya couldn’t bear it.

“Why did you come here with Toko?” Byakuya wasn’t quite sure why he had asked. It had been bugging him. That genuine smile was too much. He wanted to get out of here. “You were late.”

“Oh, well we usually go to the courtyard together after school on Tuesdays,” He said, as if that was any explanation. When Byakuya said nothing, he kept speaking. “We like to read together. It’s kinda like.. A book club thing?” He stretched back in his chair. “So I guess I went to go to the courtyard after class, but she wasn’t there, because she came here, which was like, where she was supposed to go, and I just forgot, so I was waiting there, and she wasn’t showing up which was super weird, but eventually she realized I must have forgotten and she came back to get me, but before we left I had to give her back her book that she let me borrow because I’ve had it for like, way longer than I think she meant for me to have it and I didn’t want to spill any ramen on it cuz it’s a miracle I haven’t already-” Makoto went on. Byakuya watched his eyes as he spoke. They were so expressive, widening and narrowing and shining a bright, beautiful green through long lashes-

Byakuya scoffed. “Only you would forget about the gathering that you planned.” He crossed his arms and looked at Makoto judgmentally. He hadn’t known that the two spent so much time together. Sometimes he forgot that Toko had any life outside of him, based on the way she spoke… “I.. didn’t realize the two of you were so close,” He finally said.

Makoto gave him a weird look. “Huh?” he reached up a hand to scratch his head. “I mean, yeah. We’re friends?” He lowered his hand to play with the string of his sweatshirt. “My sister is actually a big fan of hers. When she found out I was going to go to school with Toko Fukawa.. Heh, I think she was a little… jealous, to say the least. I’d never read any of her stuff before. So I started reading some of her books before I came here, because I felt bad, I guess… And what do you know, turns out the ultimate novelist is a pretty good author. Makes for a good conversation starter, too.” Makoto was looking at the ceiling with a smile on his stupid, perfect face, talking about Toko Fukawa. Byakuya repressed the growl forming in the back of his throat, because there was nothing good to say about Toko, and not because it bothered him to see the boy talking about her like this.

“Hm. You seem to think pretty highly of her.”

“Well, yeah.” Makoto said, a funny look on his face. “I mean. That’s kind of a silly question. Of course I think highly of the ultimate writer. I think pretty highly of all of you guys. You guys are ultimates, you know? It’s kinda weird, being surrounded like people like you.” He leaned forwards onto his elbows resting on the table. “It’s still super weird just… going to school with you guys. Seeing you every day. Most of you guys are famous. I never imagined I’d meet anyone like you guys in all my life, not to mention live with them…” Makoto bounced his foot absentmindedly.

Byakuya was caught off guard at how easily he admitted something like that. Of course he knew he was exceptional. Of course Makoto would think highly of him. But hearing him admit his admiration so openly felt strange.

Byakuya looked down at the table. His heart fluttered. He felt dizzy. He wasn’t sure if those two things were related. “Naturally. I expected you to think highly of me. I don’t consider myself on the same level as Fukawa, though.”

Silence. Makoto looked conflicted. Somewhere between trying to defend Toko and too tired to continue the conversation in this direction.

Byakuya shivered. It was unnaturally cold in here. He pulled his cloak closer around his shoulders.

Makoto’s eyes narrowed. He studied Byakuya for a moment. “Are you ok?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, come on,” the brunet retorted. “You look terrible, Byakuya. You know, if you’re sick, you can take some time off. I could probably take an extra set of notes for you or something.” While he spoke, he picked up the pencil on the table and started spinning it in lazy circles.

“Do you really think I want notes from you? You were just complaining about your wretched grades.”

“Ok, yeah, they probably wouldn’t help you very much… but that’s not my point! You seriously look terrible, Byakuya.” Byakuya didn’t like the worried look on the other boy’s face.

“Thank you, Naegi,” Byakuya said dryly. “I’m sorry if my appearance offends you. I might try to fix it, if I had any respect for your opinion of me.”

“Ouch, ok. I mean, like, you look good, obviously, but you seem kinda out of it. And you have for the past few days, and it looks like you’re only getting worse, so I just think you ought to stop pushing yourself so hard, is all.”

Byakuya stared at him blankly. Because he was hungry and having trouble focusing at the current moment. Nothing to do with being affected by Makoto’s open concern, because he was not affected at all by the boy or his empty words.

Makoto narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. “Is it vampire stuff? I don’t know that much about vampires, to be honest… Is it, uh, too bright in here or something? Did you accidentally eat some garlic, maybe?” His eyes widened suddenly. “Wait, is this a sensitive subject for you? Should I not bring up the vampire thing?”

Byakuya blinked slowly. “W-what? I don’t have an issue with you acknowledging that I am a vampire, Naegi. If that’s what you’re trying to say.” He almost wished he could understand what was going on in that dull head of his.

“Y-yeah, ok, that makes sense. Sorry. I’m not really sure how all that stuff works. I’ve never really known a monster before. I’m still trying to figure it out.”

“Hmph.” Byakuya glared at the wall. “I’ll never understand why they would allow someone like you to attend a place like this.” He said it thoughtfully. “You shouldn’t even be here.”

Makoto shifted in his seat uncomfortably. “I couldn’t tell you,” He said. He put the pencil back on the desk and placed his hands on his thighs. He looked upset. Maybe a little angry. “I-I know I’m not like you guys, ok? You don’t have to…” The boy looked up at the ceiling. Took a deep breath. Let his shoulders drop. “I don’t know, either, to be honest with you. I didn’t even sign up for the lottery thing. I guess I was just automatically put in? But, I mean, when they told me I had been selected- That’s a once in a lifetime opportunity, you know? It’s a once in a million lifetimes opportunity.” His words were light, his distracting green eyes shining once again. Byakya figured this probably weighed on him more than he wanted to let on. Well. Not his problem.

“I didn’t mean to- I mean, you’re here, and I suppose there’s nothing we can do about that now… Only, I fail to understand the purpose of the lottery in the first place,” Byakuya said simply. “Well. I suppose you’ll have to work a little harder to keep up with us, is all.”

Something in Makoto’s smile changed, there. He hummed lightheartedly. “That’s the plan, I guess,” he said determinedly.

“I would expect nothing less.” A faint smile. Or maybe a slightly lesser frown.

They trailed off into silence. It wasn’t quite as awkward, this time around. Byakuya wouldn't use the word comfortable, but. Maybe the other boy would. He looked pretty comfortable right now, leaning back in his chair with his terrible posture, hands stuffed in the pockets of his baggy sweatshirt. He hummed some irritating tune softly and tapped his disgustingly red tennis shoes against the hard library floor. Leaning back like this, head tilted to look up at the ceiling, much of his neck was exposed. From the crook where his jaw met his neck, down to his collarbones right above the neckline of his too-large sweatshirt…. He looked warm.

…What?

Much to his horror, Makoto seemed to notice his staring. He leaned forward in his chair to meet his eyes. “Ohhh. Have you not been eating enough?”

…Why was that his first reaction..? “O-of course I have. Didn’t you see me eating this morning?”

Makoto inexplicably turned red. “Y-yeah, I definitely saw you…” He looked off to the side. Which was good. Byakuya had wanted to make him feel uncomfortable. His reaction didn’t bother him at all.

“...But, I mean. I already told you, I don’t know anything about vampires. I don’t know how much blood you need.” A pause. He placed his hand at his neck absentmindedly, which was definitely not distracting at all. “Is it something about the blood they serve here? Like, is it not as good because it’s not fresh? …Where do they get all that blood from, anyways?”

Byakuya was getting irritated by the boy’s neverending questions, which is the only reason he decided to tell him the truth. “It’s animal blood. It isn’t quite as effective.”

Makoto narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. “As what? Humanoid blood?”

The taller boy rolled his eyes. Must he spell everything out for the other? “Yes, Naegi.” A huff. “Animal blood is sustainable for a little while- It’s certainly much better than going long periods without feeding- but, I suppose, you can’t exactly survive on it forever.” Byakuya crossed his arms and looked away.

“Oh. So you just,” Makoto shuffled around in his seat. “You just need blood from one of us? And you’d be fine?” There was an unreadable look in his wide eyes.

“Of course not. There are other ways to get blood, you know. I don’t need to rely on commoners for things like that.” He still wasn’t able to look at Makoto. He looked too warm. Too soft.

Makoto looked upset at that. He crossed his arms and glared at the boy who would not meet his gaze. “Oh, come on, what difference does it make? You’re obviously not doing too hot right now. Are you really so stubborn that you’d let yourself starve to death when there are people who want to help you right in front of you?”

Maybe he was. “Stop talking, Naegi. People are trying to study, in case you haven’t noticed.” He looked around the library. Everyone was focused on what they were doing.

Makoto took a deep breath and bit back another angry remark. He looked especially upset now, for some reason. “..ok, fine, I get it.” He looked down at his hands resting on the table thoughtfully. He opened his mouth once or twice, as if he couldn’t decide whether or not to speak.

Byakuya watched him boredly. He watched him fidget with his hands. They looked so warm. He could almost imagine the blood streaming through them…

“I’m right here. You could feed on me. You don’t even have to ask for help, or whatever. I’m asking you for something right now. And I’m, uh. Full of nice, tasty blood? ” He smiled awkwardly. The shorter boy couldn’t quite look him in the eye.

Byakuya stared at him critically for a long while. He hoped it wasn’t as obvious as he felt it was that he was thinking so hard about the offer.

Makoto kept going. “Mmmm..? Umm… yummy, warm, metallic blood! Think about how good it would feel to have some blood in you! Haha…” He fingered at the collar of his sweatshirt nervously, fully betraying any confidence he was hoping to exude.

…Was he doing this on purpose? Byakuya bristled. He felt warm, all things considered. Maybe if he wasn’t so hungry his face would be red right now. He stood up, leaning onto his hands on the table. “I’ll let you do whatever you want if you stop talking like that.”

Makoto stopped fidgeting. He craned his neck up to look at the taller boy towering over him. “R-really?” He clasped his hands together. “I mean, uh, y-yeah, ok. I promise I’ll shut up.” A nervous smile.

“Tch. Hurry up and come with me, before I change my mind.” He stalked away from the table, not stopping to watch the boy scramble to his feet to chase after him. He was glad to be leaving. The distant sound of chatter from his ‘studying’ classmates was starting to give him a headache.

Bykuya went to leave the library, but he was stopped just by the door by a deceptively sweet voice. “Byakuya? Leaving already? Where are you off to so soon? And with our dear Makoto…” The blond stopped walking to glare at the other vampire.

“Celeste,” Byakuya said simply. He tapped his foot impatiently. “I told you I had no need to be here. I so generously made my appearance so as to help any of the commoners that needed my assistance, and now I will be on my way.”

Celeste narrowed her eyes. Next to her, Kyoko was silently reading out of a textbook and sipping on a hot cup of coffee. Another one..? Byakuya felt it was far too late to be drinking coffee (although, there was never a good time to be drinking coffee, really). “Ohh,” Makoto chimed in, “You aren’t gonna come back?”

“I-I wasn’t planning on it… Were you?” This boy really had no idea what he was getting himself into. If he weren’t so tired, he might feel bad.

Makoto tilted his head. “Uh… I guess I didn’t really think about it… H-how long do you think it’s gonna take?”

The blond looked at the other two out of the corner of his eye. Celeste looked at him with a questioning gaze, and Kyoko looked uninterested, but he knew they were both listening closely. This was not a conversation he wanted to have in front of them. “Naegi, you really ought to think about the consequences of your actions before you agree to do something. Like I said, if you don’t hurry up, I am going to change my mind.” With that, he turned and left the library before he could be stopped again. He heard Makoto say something about looking for a misplaced textbook before running up to fall in step with the vampire.

“Heh, sorry about that,” Makoto said through strained breaths. He didn’t sound particularly sorry. “But, uh. How long exactly is this supposed to take?”

Byakuya continued walking forwards; he did not look at the human beside him. “Mm. Not very long. I only thought you might be tired afterwards.” Makoto made a strange little squeaking noise, as if he had tripped. Byakuya glazed over at the boy, who was taking short, quick steps to keep up with Byakuya’s long strides. “Because of the blood loss, yes? I figured you would want to rest, but I don’t really care where you go when we’re done.”

“Yeah, yeah, ok. I didn’t really think about that part,” He replied quietly.

“You… didn’t think about blood loss when offering to let a vampire feed on you..?” A long moment of embarrassed silence. “You’re more thoughtless than I could have ever imagined…”

“Oh, come on, couldn’t you just try to be nice? Just for a little while?” The brunet teased. They reached the stairs, and Makoto jumped down them two at a time.

“...No.” Byakuya followed elegantly behind him.

Makoto chuckled. “Ok, fine, I guess I was asking for a little much there…” He trailed off, and they turned the corner. “Oh, yeah, I meant to ask,” He landed at the bottom of the stairs with a little twirl and stood at the base waiting for Byakuya to catch up. “Where exactly are we going?”

Byakuya reached the bottom of the stairs and the two began walking side by side again. “I was going to take you to my room. We won’t be disturbed there. If that’s alright with you,” He added dryly.

“Oh? Yeah, that’s fine with me,” Makoto said a little too quickly.

They were silent the rest of the short walk to Byakuya’s room- when they arrived, the vampire swiftly unlocked the door and held it open for the other boy to shuffle in before finally locking it behind them. He looked back at Makoto, who stood awkwardly in the center of the room, eyes flitting back and forth as he surveyed his surroundings until he finally met Byakuya’s eyes. “Uhm,” he said. He looked down. He looked far less confident that he typically did.

Hmph. Such a directionless boy. “Go sit on the bed. We can’t have you falling over and cracking your skull open,” He huffed.

Makoto wordlessly turned and hurried to sit on the edge of the bed, legs dangling off the side and hands clutching the sheets on either side of him. He looked nervous, now, as if he had only just realized what he had gotten himself into. He did not let this concern him. The boy had done this to himself.

He took a deep breath and walked over, carefully climbing on the bed and kneeling beside him. “Come here. Give me your hand.” Makoto turned and pulled his legs up and sat on them, mirroring the vampire across from him. He gave him a funny little smile as he reached his hand out- Byakuya took it and turned it over in his hand to get a clear view of his wrist.

His hand was far warmer than he had expected, probably in part because his own was so cold. The realization that fresh, human blood was right here in front of him- it made his mouth water, just a little. Just a little.

Byakuya took the hand in his hand and began to bring his up to his mouth, resolving himself to finally drink the warm, delicious blood from the other’s wrist-

Much to his surprise, Makoto started moving too- but instead of bringing wrist to mouth, he leaned his whole body forwards so that his chin could rest on Byakuya’s shoulder. The taller boy was suddenly very aware of how close they were, with the brunet’s hot breath against his neck.

“What are you doing,” Byakuya managed to get out. Soft, messy hair tickled his nose as he spoke. He was thankful Makoto couldn’t see his flushed face from this angle. “Huh? Weren’t you ready to feed?” He shifted a little bit so he could look up. “This is how you do it, right? You bite my neck, or whatever?”

Frankly, Byakuya was tired of explaining things to this incompetent boy. He seemed more than willing to do it this way, and the only reason he had initially decided to feed from his wrist was to avoid an awkward situation, but it looked like they were already here, so. It’s not like he had any preference either way... “I’m surprised you even knew that much, at this rate.” He clicked his tongue and looked up at the ceiling. The warm body pressed against him made him feel dizzy with hunger. He could feel the boy’s heart beating this close. He wanted to get this over with very badly. “I only thought that you seemed quite fond of this sweatshirt. But if you have no issue with bloodstains, we can proceed.”

“Agh!” The other boy leaned back. “I didn’t even think about that! Wait, ok, let me take it off really quick,” Byakuya watched the ceiling while he took off his blazer then pulled his stupid green sweatshirt up off of his body. He promptly threw the both of them on the floor (so much for being careful with the sweatshirt) and looked back at Byakuya. Something about making contact with Byakuya’s cold, emotionless gaze seemed to make Makoto nervous- he looked at the wall and his cheeks reddened. He crossed his arms in front of his bare chest. He didn’t like that self conscious gleam in the other boy’s eyes; it didn’t feel quite right.

“W-what about you? You don’t want to get blood all over your fancy clothes, do you?” Makoto chuckled weakly, as if he was trying to make a joke that didn’t land even to himself. He looked much smaller without his sweatshirt on, somehow.

“My clothes may be more expensive than someone like you could comprehend, but I also have plenty of money. A stained suit is nothing to me,” Byakuya said dismissively. “And it’s particularly cold in here.”

“N-no it’s not! I’m burning up here! You’re just saying that because you don’t have any blood in you. Which is about to change.” The boy’s exasperation seemed to outweigh his embarrassment, at least. He let his arms drop to brace himself on the bed. His skin looked soft and smooth. There were two pink scars on his chest. For a split second, he felt the urge to trace them with his fingers, but he quickly expelled the thought.. Not that he was particularly paying attention. “You’re going to be super hot in like, two seconds.”

Byakuya let out an exaggerated sigh. “Would you stop complaining if I gave you a suit jacket of my own?” He only wanted to get this over with. He was certainly not concerned with the boy’s comfort.

That seemed to shut him up rather effectively. “Yes,” he said.

“Hmph. Very well,” he grumbled. He took off his own suit jacket and shoved it in Makoto’s face. The boy took it and put it on quickly, silently. Byakuya allowed himself to look at him now. He looked a little more sure of himself now- he looked up at Byakuya bravely. He seemed to be more scared then embarrassed, now. “Can we begin now?’ he asked impatiently. Makoto nodded, and Byakuya motioned him closer with a hand. “Come here.”

Makoto shuffled closer and rested his chin on the crook of his neck once again. He straddled Byakuya’s legs, sitting on his knees, one hand resting on his opposite shoulder. Byakuya rested a hand on the small of his back to get him to stop moving around so much. “Uhmm,” The boy said against his neck. "Is this gonna hurt?” He could feel his voice vibrating through his chest.

“Don’t you think that’s something you should have asked already?” He took his free hand and brushed Makoto’s hair behind his ear to get clear access to the neck. Makoto shuddered- he must have been colder than he was letting on. “It will sting, at first. I’m making a fairly deep puncture wound. But it should numb quickly. You may start to feel light headed. Try not to fall over while my teeth are in your neck. I shouldn’t have to tell you that would not end well.” Makoto’s shoulders tensed up at that. “Oh, would you relax? It’s going to be fine. I’ve been doing this my whole life, I know what I’m doing, Naegi. It will hurt less if you relax your muscles, anyways.”

Makoto did as he was told. “Yeah, ok, sorry. I’m not that scared, promise. This is just… weird.” He sounded troubled.

“Hmph. I’m going to bite you now,” he said dismissively. Makoto hummed in confirmation and Byakuya lowered his head, cradling the other boy’s face in his hand to bring it up to his mouth. Makoto let him move his head so easily- he was so vulnerable like this. He didn’t understand how the boy could trust him so easily. It would be so easy to kill him, right now, like this, with his throat quite literally in his hands…He could practically feel the warmth radiating off of his skin. He was weak with hunger and losing all sense of self control- Lips met neck for just a moment, the vampire took one last breath, and then he opened his mouth and sunk sharp, cold fangs into soft flesh.

Makoto let out a pained squeak. His hand on the other boy’s shoulder tightened. Under any other circumstances, Byakuya would have berated him for wrinkling his clothes- unfortunately his mouth was otherwise occupied. Well, he’d be sure to let him know later. He finally, finally began drinking, letting the sweet taste of fresh, warm blood wash over his tongue. “Hmmm,” he hummed into his neck. Perhaps he would be embarrassed about all this later, but for now, he was overcome with want, with relief. He hadn’t truly allowed himself to realize how hungry he had been, how weak his hunger had made him. He relished the feeling of warm blood flowing through him.

“Feels weird,” Makoto mumbled. His head felt heavy in Byakuya’s hand, as if he was nuzzling into it. He made little noises with every little shift, every twitch of muscle. Byakuya felt himself getting warmer as he continued drinking, strength slowly returning to his aching muscles.

On the other hand, Makoto seemed to be relaxing- his shoulders dropped, and he wrapped his free arm around Byakuya’ waist to support himself. “You’re so cold…” he murmured as he pulled himself closer to Byakuya.

Byakuya tightened his grip on the other boy- he didn’t want to be disrupted by him falling over- He sunk his teeth deeper for better access and shifted his hand to grasp brown hair. “Aah!” Makoto cried out. He gripped his shoulder tightly- Byakuya thought he might be trying to tell him to let up, but then the brunet only pulled his neck closer.

It was silent for many moments- only the sound of content hums filled the room. Byakuya lost track of time, for a little while, only able to focus on the taste of blood and the warm boy against him, until Makoto suddenly slumped against him, leaning all his weight on the blond. “Mmm a little dizzy,” he said softly.” Byakuya supposed he had been feeding for a while- he almost certainly had enough- but the fear of going without a meal for so long once again was making him desperate. He took a few more greedy gulps of blood. If Makoto had any problem, he made no indication. When he finished, he reluctantly pulled his teeth out of his neck. Blood welled up through the wounds, and the vampire lapped at the small holes to stop blood from trickling down. Makoto made a surprised, tired sound. He moaned softly- the feeling of air against exposed flesh must have stung.

Byakuya let the boy rest his head on his shoulder. He was leaning almost all of his weight around the taller boy now, arms still wrapped tightly around him. His breaths sounded a little strained, he thought. He absentmindedly rubbed little circles in Makoto’s back. The boy finally spoke. “...better?” He sounded exhausted.

Byakuya gently rolled strands of soft hair between his fingers. ‘Mm. I suppose so,” he said. He watched the slow rise and fall of Makoto as his breathing relaxed.

“Makoto?”

“Hm?”

“I hope you weren’t thinking of falling asleep here. Don’t you have somewhere to be?”

“Mm.. I’m tired. I’ll have time to study tomorrow. I don’t even have math until after lunch.”

“I told you this was going to happen.” He didn’t sound as annoyed as he had intended. “Get up, Naegi. You promised that you would return to the study session.” Despite his words, he pulled the boy closer, to get him to sit up straight. He let go of the handful of hair he had been grasping onto and trailed his hand around to hold Makoto’s chin. He pulled the boy up off of his shoulder and brought him up so that they were face to face. “Your study session, might I remind you. Don’t you feel that you have a responsibility to show up? You’ve been gone for a while…” They were awfully close, right now. He could probably count Makoto’s eyelashes if he wanted. Which he didn’t, obviously.

Makoto’s perfect green eyes were lidded. “Hmmm… I’m only going back there if you come with me..” He moved impossibly closer, closer. "Your eyes are so much bluer now... I didn't know that was something that happened." His eyes fluttered down from where he had been looking into the taller boy’s eyes, down at his lips. He reached a hand up to Byakuya's chin to wipe off the remaining blood. The warm hand lingered for a moment

Byakuya looked away. He was sure his face was turning red now- He turned suddenly to face the side of his bed and got to his feet. Makoto lurched forwards to where Byakuya had been just a moment before and fell onto his face. What a strange boy. “Fine. Come on, then, put your clothes back on.”

Makoto flopped on his side dramatically. He was beat-red “Y-yep. Ok. On it.” He slowly sat up and looked around the room for his clothes, as if he hadn’t been the one to toss them to the side. Byakuya crossed his arms and watched the boy quickly throw his sweatshirt over his head, then realize he sill had Byakuya’s jacket on, then go to take the sweatshirt back off, then get his arm stuck in the hole-

Byakuya watched him. He might have smiled softly, watching that foolish commoner trip over his own feet. Who’s to say? Makoto certainly wasn't looking.

When Makoto finally managed to dress himself, he handed the jacket back to Byakuya. He pulled it back on. It smelled faintly of the other boy. Which was disgusting. He would certainly go grab a new suit jacket, if he had the time, but he did not, and so he walked out of the room.

Makoto followed him out, and he closed the door behind him. The lock clicked. The hall was quiet.

“Thanks,” Makoto said after a while.

“‘Thanks’? For what?” He did not say that he should be the one thanking him.

“For letting me help you,” Makoto said easily.

Byakuya blinked. Then, he turned and started walking. “Hmph,”. He heard the frantic footsteps of the boy chasing after him.

“Allow me to give you some advice, Naegi,” he said, looking forwards.

“Hm?”

“You are far too trusting. I would think even you wouldn’t be foolish enough to offer yourself up to a vampire so readily. I could have killed you easily. Anyone in this school could kill you easily. Perhaps it is unwise to allow yourself to be locked up alone in a soundproof room with a monster?”

Makoto grumbled. “How can you even say that? I’m still here, aren’t I?” A hum. “I felt like I could trust you. You wouldn’t kill me.” He sounded so certain, somehow.

“That- That’s an awful reason. No, you can’t even call that a reason. There’s no way you’re going to make it out of this school alive.” He turned towards the cafeteria.

“Hey, where are you going?” Makoto followed him into the room without question.

“You’ve just lost a lot of blood. You ought to get some food in you. I should have brought something to my room, really.” He stepped into the kitchen. Makoto opened his mouth, but- “None of the ‘food’ those girls brought to the library are suitable. Real food, Naegi.”

Makoto smiled at that. “Oh. That’s pretty thoughtful, actually.” Byakuya felt a little queasy. He turned to open the fridge. Makoto leaned over his shoulder to look inside- Well, more on his shoulder. He didn’t quite reach that high. Byakuya stepped to the side. “Oooh,” He said, eyes lighting up as he found something that caught his interest- a bag of raw spinach..? He grabbed it.

“This stuff is good for blood loss, right?” The shorter boy asked as he tore the bag open. He didn’t wait for a response, though. Much to his horror, Makoto grabbed a handful of leaves and shoved them into his mouth.

“...that’s disgusting.”

“What, you don't like spinach?” he said through a mouthful of greens. He really needed to learn to swallow his food before speaking… “I love this stuff.” He jumped up to sit on the counter and took another mouthful. Byakuya looked at him critically. “Ok, well. If it bothers you that much, you can set something aside next time, and I’ll eat that.” Munch munch.

The blond raised an eyebrow. “Next time?”

“What, you’re going to need more blood, right? Don’t tell me you're going to keep being weird about it. You’re stuck with me now,” He said with a little laugh.

“Watch your words, Naegi. It’s not too late for me to suck you dry,” Byakuya sneered.

“Haha.” Makoto stuffed another handful of spinach into his reddening face. He chewed silently. Byakuya watched as the spinach disappeared right in front of him. “It feels like you’re still trying to scare me away. You know,” chomp, “I’m not scared of you. Obviously. We wouldn’t be here if I didn’t trust you.”

Byakuya looked at the clock. They had been gone for a while. “Are you ready to go back now?” Makoto looked at the mostly eaten bag of greens in his hand and shook it, as if that was an answer. “You can bring your wretched rabbit food on the way. We’ve already disregarded the library’s no eating policy, anyways…”

“Mmph.” Makoto pushed himself off the counter and began trotting away, and Byakuya followed.

The hallway echoed with the click-clack of expensive oxfords and the thumping of beat up converse. Byakuya’s jacket smelled of cheap fabric softener and ramen broth. The shorter boy chewed loudly.

“So,” Makoto muffled through spinach. “How often are you supposed to feed?” Crunch crunch.

“Not often,” Byakuya said dismissively.

“Oh, come on. I’m here for you. Whenever you need me. I don’t care. I don’t want you going hungry because you’re too stubborn to ask for help.”

Byakuya turned his head sharply. “That’s not what this is. I don’t need help. I have no issue asking for what I need.”

“Ok, then. Tell me how often you want to feed.” The bag crinkled in the boy’s hands as he dug for the last of his food. “There’s no point in not telling me. I can get whatever information I need out of Celeste, if I have to.”

“The typical vampire feeds two or three times a week. I have blood from the cafeteria. Would you leave me alone if I saw you once a month?”

“Oh, come on, that’s hardly anything!” Makoto ran up the stairs. “Why drink pig’s blood when I’m here?” He flashed him a goofy grin from the top of the stairs as he waited for the blond to catch up.

Byakuya narrowed his eyes. “You only have so much blood, Naegi.” He reached the top and the two kept walking. “Fine. once a week. It’s your blood.” Makoto’s arm brushed against his own. “Why you would be so eager to be drained by a vampire is beyond even me. I suppose a commoner like you would do just about anything to be so close to someone in the 1%...”

“Mmm,” Makoto hummed through the last of his spinach. He swallowed the leaves. “It’s not as bad as you’re making it out to be. I want to help you. I like spending time with you.” He sadly balled up the empty bag and tossed it into the trashcan by the library door. Despite his terrible form, he made it in. Hmm, lucky shot.

“Mm. Whatever, I don’t care what’s going on in that head of yours anyways.” He took a couple long strides to overtake the boy so he wouldn’t see his reddening face. He pushed open the library door and strode in. It was quiet and cold. He went to walk back towards his table from before. A warm hand grabbed his wrist and he turned to glare back at Makoto. “What.”

“Oh, come on. You can’t go back to that stuffy corner. Everyone is working together. You came back here, you have to actually be a part of the study session this time.”

He glared on for several moments before letting himself get dragged to the center of the room. “You ask so much of me,” he said defeatedly.

Makoto chuckled and threw a mischievous grin over his shoulder. “Oh, stop complaining and hurry over. It’s late and I’m getting sleepy..” He yawned and led him over to the table. Everyone was working through workbooks and worksheets, murmuring amongst themselves. Most of the food was gone. Hina was eating a particularly nice looking donut. Maybe he could take one while no one was looking…

“Hey, Sakura!” Makoto called across the table. The ogre looked up from her paper. “Yes, Makoto?” she asked kindly.

“Toss me a donut, please?”

Sakura nodded and carefully grabbed one of the last donuts off of the plate and tossed it in an impressively high arch over her classmates into Makoto’s hands.

“Thanks,” He hummed, tearing the pastry in half. He handed one piece to the vampire next to him. “They looked so good, I couldn’t resist. But I can’t eat the whole thing right now. Full of spinach,” He explained.

Byakuya glared at the donut. “I’m not eating this.”

Makoto shrugged. He took a bite of the donut half in his hand. “Mmph, that’s really good.” There was frosting on his mouth. Disgusting. Byakuya motioned with his hand and Makoto quickly rubbed the frosting off of his face with a little laugh.

They dissolved back into hushed silence. Mondo had fallen asleep, hunched over onto the table and making an almost impressive puddle of drool on his homework. Taka had a blindingly bright wing wrapped around his shoulders. Probably to block out the sound of his obnoxious snoring.

Chihiro was typing away at their computer. Sayaka leaned over their shoulder and watched with interest. She made little impressed sounds every once in a while. He wondered what they were doing.

Celeste and Kyoko had still been at their own table when they had returned, but now they too walked over to the large table in the middle. Kyoko sat in the empty seat beside Makoto, and Celeste next to her. “Makoto. Glad you made it back,” Kyoko greeted. “ And you, Byakuya. Celeste was just telling me that she did not believe you would return. Speaking of,” she looked at Celeste pointedly. The vampire begrudgingly handed over a wad of cash. Byakuya was almost more surprised to see Celeste losing a bet than he was concerned that they had seemingly been betting over him.

Celeste grumbled. “Oh, what? Betting isn’t the same as gambling.” Byakuya hadn’t heard that irritated tone from her before. Strange, it almost sounded like her accent faded away in that tone of voice... She kept speaking, more calmly this time. “It’s not like I can predict the future, after all.” She raised a hand to her mouth and giggled. “Anyways… Makoto, were you two able to find that textbook?”

“Huh? What textbook?”

Kyoko leaned back in her chair. “The textbook you two left to go find? You were looking for an awfully long time. If you needed it that badly, I’m sure someone could have lent you a copy.”

“Of course we found it,” Byakuya cut in.

“No, we couldn’t find it anywhere,” the fool said at the same time.

Toko (who had been watching them wordlessly from across the table alongside her disgusting, slithering snakes,) leaned forwards over the table, on top of the math work she had long neglected. “Huh? Master, don’t tell me you ran off with Makoto to g-”

“Brush your teeth, Fukawa,” Byakuya seethed.

Makoto chuckled, perhaps just a little nervously. “It was kind of funny, actually…” he started off, fidgeting with his hands as he spoke. “Turns out Byakuya and I were talking about completely different textbooks! So, uh, w-we found the one I was looking for, finally, but then Byakuya told me that wasn’t the right one, and so I had to go back and look everywhere I had already looked for the right one. We still never found it, though… But I really had been looking for that first textbook, so I guess it all worked out ok! Just my luck, huh?”

He was a terrible liar, Byakuya thought, but everyone seemed unbothered by his explanation, so he offered nothing more but a nod of agreement.

The group broke off into several quiet conversations as everyone went back to studying. It was almost admirable, they way they were all working so hard to reach the top, but he didn’t quite understand why they would choose to rely on each other. Didn’t they know school rankings were competitive? Hmph. Well, he wasn’t too worried about that. He was surely going to outscore them all by a large margin, anyways. Byakuya resolved himself to do some work of his own; he grabbed one of the textbooks resting on the table and opened it up. He supposed he could read ahead.

He could hear the faint scribbling of pencil on paper as Makoto worked through his math work. He hunched over the table; his posture was terrible. His handwriting was atrocious. Surely there was no way he was able to read that…..

Scritch-Scratch-Scratch-Scritch-

“That’s wrong.” Byakuya cut in before he could stop himself. “You can’t subtract them like that, you have to multiply it out first…”

Makoto glanced up. “Hm? Oh, yeah, heh. Thanks,” he said, marking through his work with a quick pencil stroke and starting the step again, correctly this time. There was a faint smile on his face as he wrote that had not been there before.

What a foolish boy. He ought to feel lucky that he was giving him the time of day… Well. For all the brain damage he may endure for being around these commoners, he had to admit he was feeling much better than he had earlier today. Hmm. One bird in the hand is better than two in the bush, or so they say….

The scratching stopped. Byakuya glanced to the side. The boy was looking at his paper through sleepy, heavy eyes. He seemed to be having trouble keeping them open. Byakuya sighed. He told him that this would happen… “Tired?” he said sharply, but quietly enough that only Makoto would hear.

The boy did not move. “Mmhm,” he mumbled. “Ack… I was feeling fine just a couple minutes ago… the feeling just kinda.. Hit me like a truck.”

He rolled his eyes, although he knew Makoto was not looking. “I warned you you would be..” The boy blinked. It looked like he was hardly listening. “Come here.” He lifted his arm to rest on the top of the chair. “If you fall asleep like that, you’re going to drool all over your paper. Which is something I think we would all prefer not to see. Or you’ll fall over and hit your head… We can’t have you losing any more brain cells, Naegi. It’s a miracle you’ve made it this far.”

“Mkay,” Makoto hummed, and he scooted over to lean against the blond. Byakuya rested his hand gently on the small of his waist. To prevent him from falling, the klutz. Hmph. Even though the difference wasn’t nearly as extreme, he still felt warm against his shoulder in the cold air of the library.

Perhaps he hadn’t quite achieved his goal of scaring the boy off. To be fair, he had severely underestimated his stupidity. To follow him into his room so easily, to allow him to feed without question when he could have so easily been killed… Well. He certainly could kill the boy. But now. He wanted- he needed him here, now. For the blood. Yes: that was right- Byakuya was only allowing him to get so close so that he could use him. There was certainly nothing else going on here.

…The boy had fallen asleep quickly. He had one arm draped over Byakuya’s chest, grasping onto the fabric of his button-up. He had to have a discussion with him about wrinkling his clothes…

He also snored. Not so loudly as to disturb the others, but enough so that he could feel the vibrations of his snoring in his chest. He glanced over at the clock on the far wall of the library… over an hour had passed since he had first arrived here. Much longer than he had been planning to stay…He tightened his grasp and shifted his attention back to the textbook. He could spare a few more minutes, he supposed. This chapter was particularly interesting. It would be a shame to leave this textbook here all alone before he finished reading….

Yes; perhaps he would stay for just a little while longer.