Backstory Part 1: The Annual Galas (First Meeting)
From when Byakuya was 6 years old, his father took all of the heirs to an annual gala (hosted at the Togami family mansion) to tighten business connections with large business leaders. His father, Kijo Togami, hopes to demonstrate to his offspring what their futures may look like and add further incentive for them to fight hard for the position of Togami head male. The oldest potential heir would have been 14, 8 years older than Byakuya (the youngest of the half-brothers). S/I’s mother is one of the aforementioned large business leaders invited to the event and takes young S/I there too.
As mentioned prior, Byakuya’s father pays no regard to him before becoming head male, so he is often sidelined for the other heirs and ostracised from the group. At the first gala event, 6-year-old Byakuya wandered into the Togami library located next to the main venue in hopes to do something productive. S/I (also 6 years of age) wandered into the library after her mother after being told she had ‘adult business’ to attend to and must entertain herself rather than being a bother. S/I is already in the room when Byakuya walks in:
F: “Oh, hello! Are you trying to not be bored too?”
B: “I suppose. I’m in here a lot.”
F: “Um… Okay then… What’s your name?”
B: “Byakuya.”
F: “Bee-ya-koo-ya!”
B: “It’s Bya – ugh, whatever…”
F: “I’m Freya Andreatides! Would you like to read with me, mister?”
B: “Couldn’t hurt.”
F: “How about this one? It has lots of pretty pictures, and there is a handsome prince that saves the princess too. My favourite!”
B: “No. I am above reading such filth. That’s a book for babies. I only read big adult books. How about… this one! The Great Gatsby, it’s one of my favourites.”
F: “I think we are way too little to read a big book like that…”
B: “Psh. I read way more grown-up books. It isn’t my fault you’re ‘uncultured’ and read baby books for worms! You think you can keep up, worm?”
S/I promptly cries after that. Byakuya feels rather ashamed and tries to hold her hand to cheer her up because “that’s what they do in books!”. She promptly accuses him of giving her the cooties, but they don’t stop holding hands (because they’re a bit funny). They become one and others first friend.
This gives them an early familiarity with each other. Having them meet before Byakuya is completely tied up with his family’s beliefs and is still young would make their connection a lot deeper. S/I knew who he really was and all the good he was before he became so calloused and aloof due to circumstance. S/I could be his first friend too, which makes her important to him in a way and connects his younger, more good-hearted side to her. They meet prior to getting their innocence ripped from them by the notions of success.
Byakuya breaks off their friendship when he was 11 as he no longer deemed friendship as important; his worldview began to twist from his father’s influence and the upcoming heir race, fully becoming the aloof and abrasive person he is presently. They only saw each other once per year at this event before Green Hills (Grade 8), where they saw one another on all weekdays thereafter.
Small Notes:
Byakuya has a really big vocabulary from all the reading he does, but when he was 6 his speaking skills weren’t on par (since he’s rather isolated). When he says bigger and more complex words, he tends to say it syllable by syllable (e.g., Pho - to - syn - the - sis; he says it a little slowly and breaks between each syllable).
S/I can’t say his name correctly. She says (Bee-yah-koo-ya). She has a lot of fun saying his name.
Little S/I draws pictures for him to keep and look at until they can see each other next year. Little Byakuya puts them up in his room but takes them down once he’s sworn on only being successful and human connection only gets in the way. He didn’t throw them out though. They’re folded up in a copy of “The Great Gatsby”, the book Byakuya first read to her when they met to ‘educate’ her on ‘superior taste’. He hasn’t read any of the book until S/I last was with him when they were young, the drawings acting as a bookmark to where they got up to before they had to leave. When they’re finally together at 16 and 17 respectively, he reads the last part to her.
S/I has undyed and very messy hair compared to her older self. Little Byakuya isn’t calloused yet and is rather unaffected by his father at 6. His only real understanding of people is from books and what his mother and butler tell him. He just tells her she’s pretty and looks like a girl from a book he likes. Okay, I might take this one away because it’s so silly, but I think it’s funny to have little Byakuya with barely any social understanding from being isolated his whole life saying she’s pretty.
