Chapter Text
“Oh, Byakuya!” Makoto’s head peaked around the corner of the door, not having to knock since Byakuya had left it open on purpose. “You wanted to talk to me?” He asked as he tilted his head to the side, a big smile on his face.
Byakuya nodded, looking over at the other boy from where he was sitting on the edge of his bed. There was a book next to him, though it was obvious he hadn’t touched in a while. At least, for him- maybe Makoto hadn’t noticed it yet.
He hadn’t been able to read, not with what was coming. With what he had to do. Because while he knew that everything would go on as normal, Byakuya still couldn’t help but feel… something.
It wasn’t nervousness- of course not. He wouldn’t get nervous just because of a simple thing like this. No. It was something else… something that was hard to explain, that was all.
He nodded, looking up at Makoto. “Yes,” He answered before gesturing to the chair opposite of him. “Sit down.”
“’Course!” Makoto responded, still with that big smile on his face. “So, what did you want to talk about?”
“Well…” Byakuya began before having to pause, the words suddenly getting caught in his throat. His body was betraying him, displaying emotions he wasn’t even feeling. It took him a few moments before his traitorous body would let him talk again. “You are always telling me to ‘talk about my feelings’, so that’s exactly what I’ll do. Or rather, a lack of feelings.”
There. He had said it. Maybe not directly, but it was a confession nonetheless.
Makoto’s eyes narrowed in confusion. “Huh…?” Apparently, the confession was far from direct enough. “Lack of feelings?”
“Yes.” Byakuya nodded, ignoring how his breath hitched slightly. “I do not experience any kind of romantic feelings. Neither towards women nor men.” That was as direct as he could get- there was no way Makoto didn’t understand what he was saying.
“Oh…” Was Makoto’s response, his confusion immediately getting replaced by a big grin. “So, you’re… asexual? That’s the word for it, right?”
“Aromantic,” Byakuya corrected with a small shake of his head. “Asexual is the lack of sexual feelings. And while that is true as well, it’s not mutually exclusive with being aromantic.”
Makoto let out a soft laugh. “Ah, right. Chihiro told me that before-” He then paused in the middle of his sentence. “Oh, Chihiro! He’s aromantic too I’m pretty sure.”
“He is?” Byakuya asked, his head cocked slightly to the side. He… hadn’t been aware that any of his classmates were the same as him.
“Yeah! He talks about it sometimes I’m pretty sure. Enough about that though.” Makoto’s smile then turned softer, a bit less overbearingly bright. “It’s good that you have discovered this though. And told me. Things like these can be… hard to say.”
Byakuya scoffed. “Oh, please. This is far from hard,” He said as he turned his head away from the other boy.
As if.
It totally hadn’t been hard for him to utter those words, to ask Makoto to talk. He was Byakuya Togami. It was just that… some people didn’t believe people like him existed or called them inhuman. It was idiotic as could be… and maybe he had thought for a small moment that Makoto could have been one of those idiots.
At that, Makoto laughed. “Heh, of course. Nothing is hard for you.” He then paused again. “But even if it isn’t hard for you, it’s still good that you did it.”
“Yes, yes.” Byakuya rolled his eyes, ignoring how a smile was threatening to form on his face. “Now, shoo. I need to make some further arrangements.”