first of all, this is pretty much just dr from byakuya’s perspective except its not even fully dr bc its unfinished lmao. and second of all, yes the title is an unus annus reference
Byakuya Togami has never been what people called a “team player.”
In fact, such a mindset has been discouraged since the moment he was born.
Spending every waking moment of his adolescent life competing against his half-siblings, such a mindset had never even been an option. In his family, it was every man for himself; you were stupid to try a different strategy. They’d all had one goal—to become the sole heir of the Togami Corporation—and they‘d been willing to do anything to achieve that.
Anything.
That’s why, when Monokuma first explains the rules, he isn’t too worried. After all, he’s done this before. This killing game is strikingly similar to his father’s competition and he’s come out on top once, who was to say he couldn’t do it again? As a Togami, the sole successor at that, it’s unfathomable for him not to.
He can play this and win. He knows he can.
Initially, he considers being the first to kill. He‘s fully capable of doing so and getting away with it. Murder isn’t the ideal way for him to win, but if it‘s what he needs to do, he would do it. He’s done more shameful things for less. It would result in minimal casualties—although he couldn’t care less how many casualties there are if he wins—and it isn’t like anybody else matters anyway. Their collective worth is equivalent to the remains of a cockroach on the underside of his shoe, and they serve no purpose but to give him a higher position to acquire.
But maybe it would be more interesting to watch the game play out.
He could end it at any time he pleased, of course. It would be entertaining watching the other competitors break under minimal pressure. It would be an opportunity to observe them, allow himself more time to choose the easiest target and plan his escape. He doesn’t need any more time than he already has, but he knows people this low in the social hierarchy are weak anyway, he‘s at no danger.
So he waits, and it’s sooner than he expects before one of them is killed. Sayaka Maizono. Perhaps one of them wasn’t as weak as he thought.
But the sheer gravity of death doesn’t quite hit him until he watches Junko Enoshima die before his very eyes.
He’s been surrounded by death his entire life. Exile from his family was just as bad as it, if not worse, and the threat of exile had always been constantly held over his head. Watching his half-brothers and sisters spiral into despair even worse than his, sometimes to the point of suicide to avoid exile as he rose above them, it served as effective motivation. It had been easy to desensitize himself to it after enough exposure.
But he’s never seen it firsthand. Watched it happen.
Watched the life drain from their eyes, their skin pale by the second, the liveliness they once had die out.
He almost wants to mourn her death.
Almost.
Makoto Naegi does, the stupid boy, but Byakuya knows better. He knows there’s no time to mourn. He knows she got what was coming to her; she never should’ve disobeyed Monokuma if she wanted to survive, he’d seen a few of his half-siblings exiled for the same reason. He knows that mourning her death will only hinder his chance of survival—he can’t be weak now. After all, this is no different from his father’s competition. This is no different from exile.
At least, that’s what he tells himself, because he knows that if he starts feeling for the others too much, it’ll only lead to his own exile.
His death.
He can barely even look at her, much less touch her.
So he doesn’t. He brushes off Junko’s death as well as he can, repairs his stiff demeanor, paying no mind to how cold he might appear to his competitors. If he shows any weakness at all, his chances of being targeted spike, and it’s in his best interest to make it easy for himself should he choose to leave.
During the investigation, he works alone. He sees no reason to work with anyone else, considering the only one he can trust and rely on with full confidence is himself. Besides, it’s easier than he expects; years of blood, sweat, and tears have gone into being the top student in every school he’s been to, despite the common belief that he’s never worked a day in his life, and it comes in handy when he’s tasked with solving a murder.
It’s easier to inspect a dead body when he doesn’t have to watch it die.
The trial is fairly easy and it surprises him how slow and stupid the majority of his competitors are. Do none of them realize their lives are at stake, or are they just choosing to be idiots? He notes that Kyoko Kirigiri, Celeste, and—oddly enough—Makoto seem like the smarter ones, perhaps he can use one of them to his advantage. The others seem to lack an expected number of brain cells, save for Yasuhiro Hagakure, whose idiocy is on a separate astral plane light years far below them all, and especially below Byakuya. Unsurprisingly, the trial ends with his conclusion correct and Leon Kuwata declared guilty or, as Monokuma calls it, blackened.
Nothing could’ve prepared him for the punishment.
Although his father wasn’t exactly kind when it came to exile, he certainly didn’t take pleasure out of it.
At least, not as much as Monokuma does.
They’re forced to watch as the bear drags Leon out by his throat, kicking and screaming, desperate to live. Every baseball that pummels him brings a louder scream, a bloodier floor, and an almost overwhelmingly-larger challenge to get through this without showing any weakness or sign of defeat. If he does, there’s no doubt it will be taken advantage of.
But not even he can bring himself to say anything when it’s finally over.
