Chapter Text
It’s a normal Tuesday morning. Giyuu’s phone livens, screen brightening as a loud, irritating default alarm tone wails through his room, waking him. A single hand emerges from a curled up mass of blanket, sliding around the bed until it finds the phone, promptly turning it off. A groan, and Giyuu is pulling the blanket down so that he can peer through cloudy, sleepy eyes at the window, catching the morning rays of sun peeking in through the blinds. Groaning again, he sits himself up, flattening his hair with his hands as he yawns.
Throwing his legs over the edge of the bed, he stands, stretching, before shuffling over to the old, rickety set of wooden drawers that hold his clothes. Blindly reaching into a few drawers, he pulls out a shirt, jeans, and socks, tossing them onto his bed. Moving on muscle memory, he discards his sleep clothes, languidly pulling on the fresh ones afterwards.
Unplugging his phone from the wall, he then shuffles into the bathroom. Rubbing his eyes, he allows himself a peek of post-sleep Giyuu. Dark bags hang beneath his eyes and his hair sticks up in more places than one, his ponytail having loosened in his sleep. He looks dead, but all he can bring himself to do is run his hands through his hair a few times before tying it back again, making himself look just a smidge more put together. Reaching for the toothpaste tube sitting on the sink, he blinks as he holds the empty container.
“Fuck,” he mumbles, tossing it into the trash bin. He forgot to swing by the store after school yesterday. Grabbing a handful of tap water, he swishes it around in his mouth for a few seconds, wondering if it’s even doing anything. Spitting it out, he wipes his mouth and shuffles back into his room.
Picking his backpack up off the ground, he throws it over his shoulder as he slips his old, dirty shoes on. Exiting his room for the last time, he shuts his door, hopeful that his mother won't go through his stuff again.
Stepping quietly down the hall, he relaxes when he hears soft snoring coming from the living room. Turning a corner, he spots her on the couch, face squished against a pillow.
Heading into the kitchen, Giyuu opens the fridge, reaching for a cup of yogurt to stash into his backpack. Feeling ready, he ensures he has his house key before leaving out the front door, locking it after him. Not like it matters. His mother will find some way to leave it unlocked like usual, and he’ll just stroll in after class.
A sunny Tuesday, it proves to be. Birds sit high in one of the only left living trees on the street, chirping and singing. Very few clouds litter the sky, opening up a sky of deep blue, lightening with the morning. Dew rests upon their dirt lawn, the few weeds that spring up happy with the moisture.
Stepping down the steps, Giyuu heads off, his destination being school, where he’ll have a normal Tuesday. And he won’t forget to go to the store on his way back from class.
◇
Scratch that. Today is not a normal Tuesday.
When he finally made it to campus, everything still seemed ordinary enough. A few kids lingered at the front gates, sliding joints beneath their jackets, giggling inconspicuously to each other. Cars pulled up to the front curb, dropping other kids off that waved happily to their parents, exchanging pleasantries and “I love you’s”. Giyuu walked past it all, past the nerds playing Magic: The Gathering on the floor and the few dance girls already loudly chewing gum as they gasp at some sort of story the other tells. A chorus of “what a bitch!” could be heard echoing down the halls.
Stepping into his first period class, Shinobu sat at her desk, surrounded by her very giggly friends. Passing him a quick side eye as he sat down, she scoffed quietly, but loud enough for him to hear. He set down his backpack and rested his head on his desk, closing his eyes to catch a few extra minutes of sleep before class began.
So yeah, everything was normal. Until the bell rings, and the shuffling of feet has stopped, signaling to him that everyone was finally in their seats. Giyuu figured he could sleep through the morning announcements, he never really paid much attention to them anyways. Plus, he was finally drifting off. But his teacher begins speaking, and his interest is piqued.
“Good morning, today we have a new student.”
Giyuu doesn’t really care about learning the names of the kids in his class, but a new arrival in the middle of the school year? Removing his head from the comfort of his desk, his eyes adjust to the light before settling on the boy standing at the front of the room, right next to the teacher.
“Sanemi Shinazugawa,” is all he states when all eyes turn to him. Silence falls over the room.
He has white hair and scars littering his skin that match the color. His eyebrows are drawn together and his lips are tugged into a deep frown. Adorning his body is ripped black jeans and a band shirt that’s hardly readable with a big, messy font. Crossing his arms, he glares at the sea of students, challenging them with just his gaze alone. Somewhere behind him, he hears a girl mutter something to one of her friends, who gasps in return.
“Shinazugawa, you can sit next to Tomioka. Tomioka, please raise your hand.”
Huh? The scary dude is sitting next to him?
A quick glance around the room shows Giyuu that there are other open seats in the class, and he was chosen as the lamb for the slaughter. What the fuck?
Raising his hand, the new guy's eyes lock to his almost immediately. All he can do is blink dumbly. Shinobu snickers to herself nearby, and he resists everything in himself that wants to tell her to go fuck herself.
It’s honestly a little scary, the way the boy stalks towards him, steps loud and eyes looking angry. Is he going to die?
But he just slumps into the seat beside him, wordlessly, without so much as another glance his way. Slowly retracting his arm, Giyuu stares at him for a moment before turning to pull his things from his backpack.
When Giyuu has laid out his things, he notices the bareness of the desk beside him. The scary guy just sits, eyes forward, arms still crossed as he slouches in his chair. A sad thought crosses his mind. Maybe he doesn’t have any school supplies. And well, Giyuu is a nice person, despite his mostly apathetic nature, and feels like maybe he could help this new guy out. He looks scary, but what if he’s just a simple, cool guy?
“Hey,” Giyuu whispers, and the new guy turns his head to look him up and down. “Do you need a pencil or something?”
Giyuu receives silence for a few moments, before Sanemi’s eyebrows furrow further and disgust is written on his face.
“Fuck off,” he spits.
Shinobu snickers again to herself beside them, and Giyuu is at a loss for words. Okay, awesome, not a cool guy.
“Well,” Giyuu draws out awkwardly, not really knowing what to do. Quiet, he should probably stay quiet. But of course, he doesn't do that.
“If you need anything just let me know.”
“Are you deaf?” Sanemi snaps back immediately, glaring at him some more, “I said to fuck off.”
Message received, loud and clear. Giyuu turns back towards his desk, ignoring the giant landmine beside him who is apparently set off by just simple conversation. This is going to fucking suck.
◇
Giyuu makes it to lunch without another freak out from the guy next to him. Sanemi had sunk lower and lower in his chair throughout their first few periods, which they, unfortunately, have together. Until the bell rang, and he was promptly shoving people aside to get out of the classroom. Giyuu wonders what crawled up his ass and died.
Telling himself it doesn’t matter, and that he would survive the rest of the year, he grabs his backpack and heads outside to eat lunch.
Behind the gym building like usual, his back slides against the wall as he meets the floor, drawing his knees to his chest. For a moment he just stares at the fencing separating the school ground from the neighborhood next door, watching as birds land on the poles and sing sweet songs to each other. It’s cooler back here, where it’s shaded, and quieter too, away from all the noise from the cafeteria and the lunch tables outside. Technically, he’s not supposed to be over here. Students aren’t allowed to wander campus during lunch, given that there’s been too many fights this year behind some buildings in particular. But he slips out from beneath his teacher’s gaze everyday anyways, retreating to a place he can breathe for a bit.
Sometimes, there’s footsteps nearby. Usually a teacher heading to their classroom, sometimes a sports student grabbing some equipment from the storage shed. But never have they grown as loud and as close as the ones he hears now are. They started quiet, normal, but now they’re just around the corner, and Giyuu freezes in place, praying that it’s not a teacher coming to harass him about the importance of socializing during their breaks.
A figure turns the corner, and he locks eyes with Sanemi, arms crossed, staring down at him. Giyuu looks back at him wordlessly, and it feels like they’re having a staring contest.
“Get lost,” Sanemi finally says after a few moments of sizing him up, and Giyuu sighs.
“I literally sit here every day.”
Sanemi scowls. “Does it look like I care?”
Giyuu sends him a confused look.
“There’s so much space back here, just sit down somewhere.”
Sanemi doesn’t respond, just stares at him as his face turns red. Uh oh. Giyuu can feel himself digging his own grave.
“I won't bother you if that’s what you’re worried about.”
You know when you make a decision in a video game, and you realize that you’ve picked the wrong dialogue option? That’s how Giyuu feels at the moment with Sanemi getting closer and squatting down to get on his level.
“You have some fuckin’ nerve,” he spits, and Giyuu silently accepts death. But nothing comes, and Sanemi just stands again, moving a few feet to the side and plopping down against the wall, mirroring Giyuu.
Giyuu is confused, even more so when Sanemi silently picks up a handful of rocks and begins throwing them one by one at the house sitting just across the fence signaling the end of campus. Each one smacks into the side of the building, bouncing off the wood and falling somewhere in the yard. Giyuu watches, transfixed at the action.
Just as he turns his phone on to distract himself, a man emerges from the house, an angry gaze pointed at the two boys sitting against the back wall of the gym. He stomps up to the fence, hitting it with his hands.
“Knock it off!” he yells, and Giyuu watches in slight horror as he witnesses Sanemi’s first smile of the day. The corners of his lips are tugged high, showing off a wicked grin as he raises his hand to send the man the bird.
The man stomps back inside, slamming his door, and Sanemi continues throwing rocks. His eyes eventually meet Giyuu’s and he sends him a questioning look.
“The fuck are you looking at?”
Giyuu returns his gaze to his phone, telling himself to stop triggering the guy, else he wants to end up flattened on the concrete with several bruises and possibly some broken bones.
Holding his knees closer to his chest, Giyuu scrolls through his phone, drowning out the snickers from beside him followed by the clinking of rocks against the fence and of a home with an angry man.
◇
After lunch is math, and Giyuu has sat in silence long enough. For the past twenty minutes, he and Sanemi have sat in awkward silence as the class around them discusses their math assignment, some disregarding it and gossiping instead. Actually, he doesn’t think anyone is actually working on it by now. He finished the worksheet a few minutes ago, and with nothing else to occupy his mind, he feels very aware of the presence beside him. Giyuu is one that enjoys silence, accepts it readily and marinates in it as long as he possibly can. But this– this is the worst kind of silence, and it’s putting him on edge. He figures that if Sanemi hasn’t beaten him to a pulp yet, he may be able to try one more time to connect with the guy before he gives up for good. They’ll be desk partners for the rest of the year, so it’s good to try.
Giyuu turns to Sanemi, and Sanemi side eyes him.
“Have you ever used the pythagorean theorem?”
“The fuck?” Sanemi questions, glancing down at the finished assignment sheet, “if you already finished just put my name on it and turn it in.”
Giyuu glances down at the paper. He already did. He looks back up, finding Sanemi’s eyes still on his.
“Do you, uh,” Giyuu starts, turning the cogs in his brain to try and find an appropriate way to start a conversation, “like the school so far?”
Sanemi looks less angry, more annoyed now. Hey, maybe that’s a step in the right direction!
“It would be a lot better if you stopped trying to fucking talk to me.”
Never mind.
Giyuu nods, turning away from his desk partner. Resting his head on his hand, he stares out the window next to them instead, deciding to stop trying with the guy. Taking a deep breath, he makes a mental checklist of all the things he needs to pick up from the store after class.
Maybe tomorrow will be better.