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Chapter Text

Muichiro woke up that morning, he looked over to his left and saw that Yui’s bed was already empty. He groaned, he did not want to go back to school today.

He rolled out of bed and looked at the time, 6:14, great, he thought, plenty of time before he had to leave. He grabs him school uniform and throws it on before brushing his hair quickly.

He checks the time again, 6:27, he should really go get some breakfast. Yui is going to yell at me any minute now… he thinks, “Muichiro get down here!” I’ll be damned. He walks downstairs and sits at the table.

Yui looks stressed as ever, he’s making some breakfast and mumbling about how Mui takes forever, “Hey Yui…” Muichiro waves at him. Yuichiro sets down a plate of food for him. “Listen it’s about a 20 minute walk so we better eat up, it’s 6:30 already.” Muichiro rolls his eyes, they have 40 minutes, what’s the rush?

Yuichiro spins around as if sensing he rolled his eyes, “Muichiro we’re the youngest of our class, it’s also the first day of our first year, we’ve got to get there early for a good impression.”

”yeah, yeah, whatever…” Muichiro says, Yuichiro just glares before starting to eat. Muichiro starts to eat when he gets a message from Tanjiro.

Tanjiro: Hey, first day, crazy right?

Muichiro: Yeah, I’m exited, Yui is stressed though

Tanjiro: Don’t worry, we’ll get through it!

Muichiro: Of course, see you at school!

Tanjiro: Alright, have a great morning!

Yuichiro looks at Muichiro, “Are you texting Kamado again?” Muichiro nods. “Alright, at least you know someone”

They finish breakfast and grab their bags, 6:58, they walk out the door. The walk is pretty silent, as they turn the first corner Muichiro decides to say something.

”So Yui… We haven’t really talked about our schedules have we? I’ve got Mr. Iguro for home room.” Yui nods, “Cool I guess, I’ve got him too.” Mui smiles, “great!”

Yui smiles a little bit from his brother’s reaction, he’s so innocent he hopes he’ll do well in high school.

They arrive at 7:20, walking in past the front gates, they marvel at the size of the building, Muichiro has to resist grabbing his brother’s hand, they’re not 5 after all. They see Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Inosuke standing together.

Muichiro runs over to them, “Hey Tanjiro!” He grins, Tanjiro waves back. They all talk for a bit before exchanging schedules, “Hey look Muichiro, we’ve got math together.” Tanjiro points out. To Muichiro’s sadness he’s got to face history and science by himself, not even Yui shares those classes with him.

Chapter Text

First period bell rings, Muichiro waved goodbye to his brother. He wanders before finding his math classroom. He spots Tanjiro and sits next to him. He looks around and sees a few other students, one boy with flame colored hair, a girl with two hairclips that looked like butterflies, and a few other kids. 

Mr. Shinazugawa walks in. Muichiro looks at him, his open collar and bloodshot eyes. This guy is freaking terrifying!

”Hey class, I’m the math teacher here, the name’s Mr. Shinazugawa. Let’s get right to it, I don’t want to do any of that icebreaker bullshit, so just say your name.”

The kids go around saying their names, flame hair speaks “I’m Senjuro Rengoku” a few more people speak before it’s their turn, “I’m Tanjiro Kamado!” Muichiro plays with his hair for a second before saying “I’m Muichiro… Tokito” butterfly hair clips speaks a minute later, “I’m Aoi Kanzaki.”

The teacher nods, “Alright, our first unit will be quadratics…” Muichiro spaces out after that, taking in information but not completely paying attention. He hadn’t realized he absentmindedly folded his worksheet into a paper airplane before he here’s Mr. Shinazugawa yelling.

”Hey! Muichiro! Stop turning your fucking math assignment into a dumbfucking airplane! You better unfold that shit now before I throw your ass out the damn window!”

Muichiro jumps in his seat and quickly unfolds it. “S-sorry sir, I won’t to it again…” “You better fucking not.”

Muichiro wants to scream, why can’t he just focus? Why can’t Yui be here? How did he already make his teacher mad? Tanjiro pats his shoulder, “Hey, Muichiro, it’ll be fine.” He can’t help but smile when he looks at Tanjiro’s eyes, he means it, he truly does.

He finishes his work as the bell rings and makes his way to art class, this has to go better… right?

He steps in, feeling calmed. He sees flame hair again, what was his name? Senjuro? Whatever, I’m not here to become best friends with everyone, I just need to get through this day. He sits down as Mr. Uzui walks in.

”Well hello, this is the flashiest class you’ll have all year! I’m Tengen Uzui, your flamboyant teacher!” Muichiro smiles a little bit, barely noticeable, this guy is so much better than Shinazugawa.

Mr. Uzui looks at flame hair, “Your Kyojuro’s little brother aren’t you?” Senjuro nods and smiles. “Well class, today you may do whatever you desire, make a flashy art piece!”

Muichiro grabs some paper and starts folding, the world goes quiet, he is in his own world now, him and the paper. Before long the bell rings and he has to leave. He checks his schedule: Home economics. What the hell is home economics? He was not excited for this class.

He walks in and sees Zenitsu, who is shaking violently and looks like he’s about to start crying. Muichiro sitting behind him, he doesn’t want to deal with this right now but Zenitsu turns to him. “Shinazugawa is flipping terrifying, help me!!!” 

Muichiro doesn’t care, Zenitsu is more of Tanjiro’s friend anyways. Why should he care about this crybaby and his math class experience? He does admit that they both agree Shinazugawa is terrifying.

The bell rings again, signaling the start of class. If he’s being honest, he did not pay attention at all, Zenitsu was mumbling the whole time and Muichiro did not give a shit about the class in the first place.

Muichiro walks to the cafeteria, the classes here are tiring, each is a hour long, it’s already 12:45. He’s thankful that lunch is 45 minutes, he just wants nothing more than to sleep.

He meets Yuichiro and Tanjiro, along with his group of friends who Inosuke calls ‘Kamaboko Squad’. They sit down at a table and start eating lunch. Muichiro sits next to Yuichiro, they’re both silent as a dead body.

Everyone talks for a bit before settling into silence. Muichiro looks at his schedule again, he’s got biology and then History, finally ending the day with English. Three academic classes in a row? This will be hell…

Chapter Text

Muichiro finished up lunch before saying goodbye to his friends. He watched Yuichiro walk away. 

Muichiro walked with Inosuke to biology. The classroom was pretty, there were flowers everywhere. He saw Kanae, his teacher. He decided to sit in the back of the classroom. Man he was tired.

As the lecture of class went on Muichiro was finding it hard to stay awake, he would blink for second, snapping awake. He looked at the clock… Only ten minutes have passed… Muichiro plays with his hair for another five minutes before he drops his pencil.

Big mistake, he leans down and as he grabs it his head rests on the table, it feels so comfortable…

He feels his eyes shut, he really shouldn’t, but it feels like he can’t open his eyes again. He lets them stay closed, he knows this is bad.

Next thing he knows he’s being smacked on the head, and then someone pours water on him. He falls out of his chair.

All eyes on him.

He feels it.

Inosuke stands over him. “Muichiro, don’t fall asleep in class!”

He blinks. He fell asleep? He looks at the clock, only five minutes until class ends. Then it hits him: he slept for forty minutes, the entire class basically.

His mind races with thoughts, he’s snapped out of it when his teacher walks over to him. “Tokito, would you like to explain why you think it’s acceptable to sleep in my class?”

His ears feel like they’re on fire, thank his long hair, it covers them. “I’m sorry-“ he mumbles, it’s like he forgot every word, he can’t come up with a reason. She looks at him, clearly unimpressed.

”Young Tokito, if this happens again you’re getting a detention” He nods, the bell saved him from any more embarrassment.

Muichiro sighs and picks up with bag, walking across the building to history. This is why I don’t make friends, they just screw up my life!

He walks into history right as the bell rings. He sits in the first open seat he finds. Muichiro looks up, he sees Mr. Rengoku. Hey, that’s flame hair- uh Senjuro- brother! 

“Hello class, I’m Rengoku, your history teacher!” Everyone nods. “I’ll be taking attendance now, please listen.”

”Sabito”

”Here”

”Kanao”

”… here”

“Genya”

”Here”

”Muichiro”

”Here!”

After about 14 names are called they start class. “Alright kids, we’re going to start off with a project for this unit. I’ll assign random partners, and then a random country the group has to make a presentation on. These are due this Friday. That gives you 3 class periods to work on it.” Everyone nods again, seems interested in the project.

Muichiro? Not so much.

Group work was not his thing, and presenting was another thing he was terrible at. This class was already seeming to go south…

Rengoku started naming the groups:

”Kanao and Sabito, you’ll be doing France.”

”Muichiro and Genya, you two will do Costa Rica.”

Muichiro looked at Genya then back at his table. Genya walked over and sat next to him. “Nice to meet you Tokito.” Muichiro nodded, “Nice to meet you too…”

Chapter Text

“So… Tokito, how do you want to spilt the work?” Muichiro frowned, he wasn’t used to this question. “I don’t care” Genya looked at him, “well okay we’ll just each do half the assignment.” Muichiro nodded. 

As he worked he would glance at Genya, who was working away. Muichiro enjoyed the fact his partner wasn’t talking the whole time, made life easier. Class came to and end and while they were packing up Genya looked at Muichiro, “This is a big project, do you want to meet in the library after school tomorrow?” Muichiro raised his eyebrows, this was a first. He nodded hesitantly but when Genya grinned Muichiro found himself smiling slightly. “Well Tokito I’ll see you tomorrow!” Genya waved to him as he left the classroom.

Muichiro felt his ears getting red, why is this kid trying to be so friendly? Muichiro shrugged and walked out of the classroom. He had to find his English class, then he could go home finally. 

He walked around for a bit before finding the class. He walks in and sees Yui, whom he runs to and sits down next to. “Yui! How’s your day been so far?” Yuichiro looks at him and shows the faintest sign of a smile, “It’s been pretty good, you?” Muichiro grins, “I’ve had a good day, aside from math and science…” Yuichiro nods, Muichiro doesn’t need any vocals, conversation is over.

Their teacher, Goto, starts teaching, Muichiro finds this class interesting but he’s finding that he keeps thinking about Genya, which makes no sense. 

Keep it together Muichiro, it’s just someone who was nice to you, like Tanjiro! Ughhh…

The bell rings and they’re free from school. Muichiro and Yuichiro make their way home, another silent walk.

~~ Genya ~~

Genya sat outside on a bench, he was waiting for his older brother to finish up so he could drive him home. He’s about to start walking when someone hits his head, he looks up and sees his brother, “Hey ‘Nemi” Sanemi looks at his brother, “ready to go home Genya?” 

They get into the car, Genya looks at his brother, “any interesting things happen today?” Sanemi shakes his head, “Nah, pretty smooth first day of school, you?” “I’ve got a history project, I’m working with this kid, Muichiro.” Sanemi looks at him, “that kid? I have him first period math, folding my damn questions into paper fucking airplanes!” “He’s not that bad ‘Nemi, he works hard.” Sanemi rolls his eyes, “Sure he does…”

They arrive home and before Genya goes to do his homework he tells Sanemi something, “Hey I’m staying at the library tomorrow to work on my project with Muichiro.” Sanemi glares, “Alright then, I’m not waiting for you.” Genya nods, “noted”

Chapter Text

Muichiro woke up that morning, it was his second day of high school, he was tired, but it didn’t matter because today he’d be staying after with Genya, and sure, it was just for a project but thinking about it made Muichiro happy. He looked over at the time, 6:03, plenty of time to get ready. Muichiro hopped out of bed and grabbed his uniform, he liked the dark grey on it. After brushing his hair he went downstairs.

“Hey Yuichiro.” Yuichiro looked over, “hey, help me make breakfast.” He nodded, “alright.” He started to chop up vegetables. As he cut he thought about the project and his friends. He wasn’t completely paying attention to what he was doing, well to be honest he wasn’t paying attention. Not one bit. He snapped back into reality when a sharp pain shot through his hand, he had accidentally cut right into his palm. The cutting board and knife were red with his blood, his hand was soaked and he almost passed out just looking at everything. He felt his vision starting to waver when he saw Yuichiro turn around and yell something, although he couldn’t hear it. He felt his knees buckle, and then he realized that he was falling, the knife still in his hand.

Muichiro woke up about 40 minutes later, it was 6:52 according to the clock that he was staring at. He looked around and saw Yuichiro talking to himself. Muichiro looked down at his hand, maybe it was just a bad dream? That hope was extinguished when he saw the bandages wrapped around his palm and wrist. Had he cut his wrist? He didn’t really remember. Muichiro sat up, his hand had a dull pain and he felt really tired. “Yuichiro?” His brother turned around, a small almost nonexistent smile on his face when he saw his brother wasn’t dead. “You’re okay, good, I was worried. Do you want to go to school today?” Obviously Muichiro said yes, if he didn’t he would let Genya down- and he would miss important classes. Yuichiro nodded and they left for school a few minutes later. 

Their walk was silent and when they arrived at school Yuichiro told him one thing before going off, “During lunch go to the nurse to change the bandages.” Muichiro nodded before entering the school. He didn’t want to deal with people today so he went to the quietest hallway he knew and sat in a corner. He just wanted to sleep, he didn’t feel like doing anything else. His body felt sluggish and so did his brain. He was drifting off when he felt someone shaking his shoulder. He looked up and saw Genya. “Hey, you okay?” Muichiro blinked a few times before nodding. “You sure? You look like you didn’t sleep, it’s fine if you just want to go home after school. You don’t have to stay and do the project.” Muichiro shakes his head, “I’m fine I’ll stay after.” Genya nodded, “okay, the bell is about to ring so let’s go to home room. Muichiro nods and stands up, he has absentmindedly kept his bandaged hand in his pocket. They walk down the hallway before going their separate ways.

School that day was slow and when lunch rolls around Muichiro was sure he was going to fall asleep again in science class. He sits down to eat but he doesn’t have an appetite, he keeps remembering his bloody hand and the knife. He wants to throw up. Muichiro ends up just sleeping during lunch, Tanjiro leaves him alone. He fights to stay awake in science and since he doesn’t fall asleep it’s a win. Finally it’s history class, Muichiro feels more awake than he has all day.

Him and Genya sit together and work on the project, occasionally talking about it. Muichiro keeps his sleeve pulled up around his bandages, not wanting Genya to see them. Class comes to an end and Muichiro says good bye to Genya, knowing he’ll see him in an hour, which makes him happy. Muichiro heads to English class and sits next to Yuichiro. Class is boring as ever but Muichiro doesn’t mind, he’s going to get to hang out with Genya! Finally the bell rings, “hey Yuichiro, I’m staying after at the library to work on a school project.” Yuichiro nods and leaves school. 

Muichiro practically runs to the library and finds Genya sitting at a secluded table in the corner of the library. “Hey Genya!” Muichiro waves, not realizing he used his bandaged hand until he sees how Genya is looking at him. “What’s wrong Genya?” He asked, confused. “Your hand, what happened to it, how did I not notice in history- or this morning.” Muichiro frowns, “it’s fine I just had an accident this morning” “It sure as hell does not look fine, you do realize the bandage is kinda red right?” Muichiro looks at his hand, Genya isn’t lying. “I’m fine really, it barely hurts.” Too late, Genya is already rummaging through his bag until he finds bandages. “Here, my brother tends to get cuts a lot so I keep these with me, let me redress the wounds.” As much as Muichiro wants to decline, he knows it’s probably a good idea too. 

He sits down next to Genya and lets him unwrap the bandage, it’s then when he realizes how bad the injury is, he nearly throws up looking at it. Genya notices, “you can look away, I’ll bandage it.” Muichiro nods, but the second Genya touches it he pulls his arm away in pain. Muichiro feels tears starting to form in his eyes, he hadn’t realized how much it hurt earlier because he had passed out. Genya looks at him, “Listen, I know it hurts but if it isn’t cleaned it could get infected. That hurts more, I can send you to the nurse if you want instead.” Muichiro shakes his head, going to the nurse is not what he wants to do. He brings his hand back out of his pocket and lets Genya bandage it. The pain is sharp, and Muichiro has to resist pulling away his hand, he cries. He doesn’t even realize Genya finished until he feels someone hugging him. He is shocked to find Genya embracing him and letting him cry into his shoulder. He doesn’t know how long they stay like that, but he does know the pain starts to be dulled.

Chapter Text

Muichiro slowly pulls out of Genya’s embrace and wipes the tears away from his face. He looks up at Genya, who gives him a small smile. “Sorry I don’t know what happened…” “It’s all right Tokito, I’m just glad you’re okay.” Muichiro felt his ears getting red, “I’m fine now I think. Should we start working on the project?” Genya shrugs, “if you want to, I understand if you wouldn’t want to.” Again, Muichiro is confused, why is he offering not to do the project? That’s why we stayed after. Genya laughs slightly at Muichiro’s confusion, “you good?” Muichiro nods slowly, “Yeah, I’m good.” Genya nods, “okay then, I’ll get to work you can just relax if you want. In case your hand still hurts.” With that he pulls out his computer and starts to work, leaving Muichiro to sit there. This is when he realizes how tired he actually is, Muichiro feels himself drifting off to sleep. Genya looks over at him and pulls Muichiro closer to him, letting him rest his head on his shoulder. 

Muichiro woke up later, he looked up at Genya, who was working on math homework right now. Muichiro didn’t want to move, he was quite comfortable but he knew he should probably get ready to go home, it was almost 4:00. With that he pushed himself off of Genya’s shoulder. “You’re awake!” Muichiro nodded, “yeah, sorry I fell asleep.” His friend shrugged, “whatever, judging from those cuts you lost a lot of blood this morning.” Muichiro couldn’t help but smile, he had found someone who genuinely cared about him. “Thanks…” Genya smiled, “no need to thank me, I just hope you heal right.” Muichiro nodded, he could feel his ears and face getting red. He looked down to hide it, pretending to fiddle with his backpack. He felt someone tapping his shoulder, he looked up, Genya was grinning, “hey, here’s my phone number.” He says while putting a piece of paper in Muichiro’s hand. Muichiro looks at the paper then back at him, this is the first time anyone has done this. His phone just has Yuichiro, his parents, and Tanjiro. Even then, Amane had made him ask for Tanjiro’s number. Something about getting friends or something. But this was the first time anyone had offered. Clearly his face was very amusing because Genya laughed, “You look like I’ve confessed I love you or something, it’s just a few numbers.” Muichiro nods, but he can’t stop himself from hugging Genya, who is surprised by this act. “What- Tokito are you okay?” All he can do is smile, he pulls out of the hug and tears are rolling down his face. “I’m sorry, did I do something wrong!?” Now it’s Muichiro’s turn to laugh, “Quite the opposite actually, nobody has ever been so kind to me, or given me their number.” Genya frowned, “Well those people are idiots.” They laugh before Muichiro gets a text from his brother telling him he should start heading home. “Genya, I have to go, I’ll see you tomorrow!” He waves as he runs out of the library.

~~ Genya ~~

He smiled as Muichiro left the library. He knew his face was probably completely red, there was something about Muichiro that made him feel like he could do anything. Well I suppose I should get going as well. He stands up and starts walking to the entrance. He looks down the street and sees Muichiro walking, he smiles and continues on his way. He’s tired, but his house is a thirty minute walk so he heads to the public bus instead. It’s getting dark anyways. He waits at the bus stop for 5 minutes before a bus comes. He gets on and sits down. Watching the city go by makes him feel better. After 13 minutes he arrived at the stop that was just down the street from his house. All he can do walking home is think about Muichiro, how he hugged him, when he fell asleep on his shoulder. He had always taken the kid to not be that kind of person, but he didn’t care. He would cherish those memories. He was sad that it was Thursday, that meant their project was due tomorrow and that meant they’d lose their excuse to hang out together.

Genya pulled out his keys and opened the door to his house. Sanemi was lounging on the couch eating dinner, “Hey Genya.” “Hi ‘Nemi.” Genya walked into the kitchen and grabbed the remaining food from his brother’s dinner. He then went upstairs to his room and sat on his bed while he ate. He got a text message, normally he wouldn’t care, it was probably Inosuke or something but he felt like he should check his phone. He saw it was a number he didn’t know but the message cleared things up for him.

?: Hey, its Muichiro

Genya: hi!

Muichiro: Do you want to meet at the library tomorrow?

Genya: yeah sure

Muichiro: Cool! See you tomorrow!

Genya: Yeah, see you tomorrow

Geyna couldn’t help but smile, he’d get to hang out with Muichiro again! 

Chapter Text

Genya woke up that morning happy, it was Friday first of all, and second, he would be spending time with Muichiro. He grabbed his uniform and threw it on. He went downstairs and grabbed some breakfast. Perhaps if he was fast enough he’d be able to see Muichiro before school started. Sanemi looked up from his phone, “what’s the rush Genya? I’m not leaving when you're ready, we leave when I’m ready.” Genya doesn’t look at him, he was focused on making breakfast, “I’m walking to school today.” Sanemi snorts, “All right, whatever.” Genya looked at the time, 6:45, he should go. With that he runs out the door with his backpack slung on one shoulder. As he walks he admires the world around him, he finally arrives at school, its 7:18. He’s never this early, Sanemi always comes at 7:25 or later. He looks down the street and sees Muichiro walking next to his brother. They look the same aside from the fact that Muichiro is clearly more excited than his brother. 

Genya waves and Muichiro waves back, says something to his brother, and runs over to Genya. “Hey Genya! How’s it going?” “I’m good, how’s your hand?” Muichiro shows his hand, “it still kind of hurts, but the wound hasn’t reopened which is good right?” Genya nods, “yeah it is.” They walk into the school together, Muichiro talks about how he has a science quiz today and is worried he’s going to fail because he was basically asleep in both of the classes. Genya listens to him, he would’ve never thought that Muichiro would open up like this. Two days ago all they had said to each other was like 10 words. Now he was talking like they had known each other for a long time. As they walk their hands briefly brush against one another, Genya feels Muichiro’s warmth, and has to stop himself from taking his hand in his. They arrive at Muichiro’s home room, “Hey, Muichiro, do you want to eat lunch with me? I could help you with science maybe?” Genya knows damn well how red he face is and it only becomes redder when Muichiro agrees, “sure! I can help you with stuff too!” Thankfully the bell rings and saves Genya from turning red as a tomato. Muichiro waves and walks into his home room. Genya turns around and walks the other way. He spots Muichiro’s brother from the corner of his eye and realizes he’s staring daggers into Genya. 

~~ Yuichiro ~~

Muichiro sits at his desk in home room, he’s grinning. What the hell is happening to my brother? Yuichiro walks over and sits next to him. He’s praying his brother doesn’t start talking but of course he does, “Yui! I’m gonna eat lunch with Genya today, then we’re also gonna hang out after school!” Yuichiro rolls his eyes, “Alright.” Muichiro tilts his head, “Have you made any friends Yui?” Yuichiro scoffs, “I don’t need to, they just distract you.” Muichiro shrugs, “I don’t know, Genya’s gonna help me catch up on my science work.” Yuichiro nods, “Okay. Just don’t put all your time into him and forget about yourself.” Muichiro nods. I swear if this Genya guy screws up Muichiro’s life I’ll ruin his. 

~~ Muichiro ~~

He gets to math class, they’ve got a quiz today. Muichiro has always been good at math so when he gets an A+ on the quiz he’s happy, Tanjiro got an A. They compare answers and Muichiro helps Tanjiro know why he got questions wrong. “On this one you dropped the negative sign, if you hadn’t done that you would’ve gotten it right.” Tanjiro sighs, “oh well, at least you got a 100! That’s great Muichiro!” He smiles, Tanjiro was a real nice guy.

Muichiro heads to art class. He grabs some paper and folds it into an airplane, like his brother taught him to. He then throws it, it soars through the classroom and hits the wall on the other side. “Who threw that? It was quite a flashy airplane, and a well made one at that!” Muichiro slowly raised his hand. “Great craftsmanship young Muichiro!” Muichiro nodded at Uzui’s comment. The bell rang again, he headed to home economics, which he could not care less about. He ended up just staring at the clouds out the window the whole time. 

Finally it was lunch time. He walked into the cafeteria and found Genya. They walked to the quiet hallway where Muichiro had hidden yesterday. They sat down right next to each other, their shoulders almost touching. Genya pulls out his notebook and shows it to Muichiro, “This has the basic notes from the past two days of class, if you memorize this you’ll probably pass the quiz.” Muichiro nods, and he starts reading the notes. They sit there in peaceful silence for 15 minutes, Muichiro reading and Genya quietly taking small bites of his lunch. Muichiro closes the notebook, “alright I think I know the material.” Genya smiles, “good.” Another 30 seconds of silence, “How’s your hand doing?” “Fine, it’s just some pain whenever there is pressure.” Genya reaches over and takes Muichiro’s bandaged hand in his, “Do you mind if I look at it?” Muichiro shakes his head, “I don’t mind, I trust you.” Genya smiles a bit and unwraps the bandages. This time Muichiro knows not to look at the cuts, he’ll just want to throw up. He buries his face in Genya’s shoulder and lets him do whatever he needs to do. After a minute or two he feels Genya wrapping up his hand and wrist. Genya lets go of his hand and that’s how he knows it is done. He looks up at Genya, their noses are only a few inches apart. After realizing how close they were Muichiro pulls away, “Thanks Genya” his ears are red and he stares at the floor, “no problem.” Both of them sit in silence, not knowing what to say. 

Muichiro leans back against the wall and looks at the ceiling, tracing patterns with his eyes. When he looks over again Genya is just doing math homework, Muichiro watches him do it, he laughs. Genya looks up at him, “what?” Muichiro smiles, “you’re doing it wrong, with that type of equation you have to use distribution to get rid of the parentheses.” Genya frowns, “oh… no wonder I’m failing math class…” “you’re failing?” Genya shakes his head, “no I’ve got a B- in the class but according to my brother I’m failing because math is the most important subject and I don’t have an A+.” Muichiro shrugs, “your brother sounds like my brother, he’s always so hard on me for no reason.” “That’s how they are, isn't it…” Muichiro helps Genya with his math for the last few minutes of lunch. 

Chapter Text

Muichiro walks to science class. He sits down and watches as the quiz is passed out. The second he looks at it everything leaves his brain. What the actual fuck is this- man I’m screwed. Thousands of thoughts went through his brain; however, the one that was the loudest was how he and Genya studied. He has to do well. His brother will be mad if not, he’ll undoubtedly pin this on Genya somehow. Muichiro hadn’t realized that he had started scratching at his bandages until he looked down to start answering. He saw that they were a tad bit red. Muichiro wanted nothing more right now than to be with Genya, he was going to fail this class, he just reopened the cuts, everything was falling apart. He hadn’t checked the time, his mind was spiraling, but then he heard it, “you have 15 minutes left of class.” Oh shit! He had to start answering questions, he hadn’t even written his name. Thankfully the quiz was all multiple choice, he would not have been able to write coherent sentences, he just thinks about lunch and how he studied with Genya. With five minutes left he walked up and turned in the quiz. When the bell rang he got up to leave, Kanae handed back everyone’s quiz as they left the room. Muichiro was not checking it, he would rather burn it in a fire, or rip it in half. He shoves it in his bag and heads to history class.

He sits down next to Genya. Mr. Rengoku speaks, “Okay class, today is the last day of the project. I will let groups go into the hallway to practice presenting.” Genya and Muichiro go into the hallway, they go back to the one they ate lunch at, it was very close to Mr. Rengoku’s room, and Genya had told him where they were going. They sat down. Genya spoke first, “Muichiro, you look like you’re about to cry… are you alright?” He shook his head. “Do you want to talk about it?” Before Muichiro could stop himself he was explaining how his thoughts spiraled, how he probably failed the quiz, how he made the wound reopen, how none of the studying helped. Genya looked at him, “Have you even checked what grade you got on the quiz?” Muichiro opened his mouth before closing it and shaking his head. “Well maybe we do that? I bet you did better than you think.” He nods before taking out the crumpled quiz. Genya looks at it and smiles, he shows him the paper, up in the corner he sees the grade: 92/100. “Muichiro, that's an A-! I knew you would do great!” Muichiro smiles for the first time since lunch, he made Genya happy, and he got a good grade. 

After a minute Genya’s smile faded, “didn’t you also say you think you reopened your cuts?” Muichiro nodded, he was ashamed. “I didn’t mean to I- it just happened.” Genya nodded, “I take it you don’t want to go to the nurse to get them cleaned?” Muichiro laughed, “not really, but I’m aware that I probably should.” Genya nodded, “I’ll come with you.” Instantly Muichiro’s chest felt lighter, it would be easier if Genya was there. Genya jumped up and Muichiro followed. They told Mr. Rengoku and walk together to the nurse’s office. After explaining their situation Tamayo started to clean Muichiro’s cuts, which hurt like hell. After what felt like an eternity in that office he and Genya walked out, it wasn’t until then that Muichiro realized he was holding Genya’s hand. He looked down at their hands, Genya followed his gaze. “You grabbed my hand while she was cleaning your wounds, it felt like you were going to break my fingers.” Neither of them let go of the other, so they just walked back to their hallway hand in hand. 

After practicing presenting a few times they both felt confident in their abilities. They worked on the finishing touches of their project. “What do you think we’ll learn about next in history?” Genya asked, “I dunno, this project just seems to evaluate our team working and presenting skills.” Genya nods in agreement, “hopefully he doesn’t change the seating arrangement.” “Yeah that would suck.” They both walk into class and finish packing up and cleaning. The bell rings and they wave goodbye, knowing they’ll see each other soon enough. Muichiro sits next to Yuichiro, “how’s it going Yui?” “Fine.” “That’s good, I got a 92 on my science quiz and a 100 on my math quiz.” Yuichiro nods, “science could be better.” Muichiro sighed, it was an impossible battle with his brother. “How’s your hand?” Muichiro raised his eyebrows in surprise, he didn’t think his brother cared, “it’s fine, I went to the nurse today to get it checked.” Yuichiro looks at him, “I told you to do that yesterday you idiot.” Muichiro sighed again, he can’t ever do things right. Thankfully class starts so he’s free from his brother coming after him. Today they’re assigned to write about the last time they experienced something happy. Muichiro started writing about how Genya had helped him study for his science quiz. He was done in 10 minutes, handed in his assignment and took a nap for the remainder of class. He woke up when the bell rang, signaling school was over.

Chapter Text

Right when the bell rang Muichiro jumped up and ran through the hallways. He weaved through the crowd of students. After a minute he ran into the library, Genya leaning against a table waiting. “Genya!” He looked up, grinning, “hey Muichiro, how’s it going? You’re clearly in a better mood than earlier.” Muichiro nodded, “well duh, I’m with you now.” Genya’s face felt warm, “You want to go out- like to a park!” His face was burning. “Sure, it’ll be nice to get some fresh air.” They walked outside, there was still a trickle of students leaving the building. They took a left and headed to one of their town’s public parks. As they walked their hands found one another, Muichiro’s bandaged hand in Genya’s. As they walked Muichiro pointed out different cloud formations to Genya. 

They walked into the park, it was nice and peaceful. After walking up the hill in the center of the park they sat down next to each other. The park itself had a bunch of forest on the hill, the birds chirped and that was the only noise, other than cars rumbling in the background. “So Genya, what do you want to do?” Genya shrugged, “I dunno, we can just enjoy each other's company or something.” Muichiro opened his backpack and pulled out a few pieces of paper. He started to fold them, Genya watched, “grab a piece, or are you just going to watch my expert craftsmanship?” With that he grabbed a sheet and started folding alongside him. After a few seconds Muichiro threw his plane, it glided over the trees and out of sight. He glanced over at Genya, whose jaw dropped, “how are you so good?” Muichiro smiled, “my brother taught me, well my father taught him but before he left we all did it together.” Genya nodded, “That’s nice, I’m glad your father taught you it…” Muichiro nods, “I rarely see him anymore, he’s always working.” Once again Genya nods in agreement, “Yeah I just live with my older brother, my dad, he’s out of my life we’ll say, and my mom passed away…” Muichiro turned to look at him, “I’m sorry, I understand though, my mom’s been in the hospital for years now, she’s sick. My dad works tirelessly to pay the bills.” They both sit in silence for a minute, neither one knowing what to say. Genya breaks the silence, “well, we’ve got each other now.” He takes Muichiro’s hand, “I’m glad we met each other.” Muichiro smiles, “Same here, I wouldn’t change one thing about these last few days.” Genya raises an eyebrow, “you cut your hand open, you wouldn’t change that?” He shakes his head, “nah, meeting you was well worth it. I’d do it a hundred times for you.” Genya is clearly blushing at this point, but Muichiro is too.

As they sit Muichiro rests his head on Genya’s shoulder. Once again they’re in peaceful silence, each of them in their thoughts. Genya pulls Muichiro closer and keeps his arms wrapped around him. Muichiro looks up at Genya, who looks down at him, they’re close now, like they were in the hallway. They both look into each other’s eyes, realizing they both want the same thing. Genya leans down and he feels Muichiro wrap his arms around his neck. The distance between the two of them disappears as their lips meet, barely at first but then they become comfortable. They pulled away after a few seconds and Genya rested his head atop Muichiro’s. “Muichiro I like you… like a lot.” Muichiro laughs, “I like you too.” Muichiro looks at Genya and they kiss again, this time more passionately. When they break apart they’re both smiling, and Genya is blushing. They both look at each other, and Muichiro speaks first, “I guess we’re dating now?” Genya nods, “yes, definitely.” He stands up and pulls Muichiro up with him. They both grab their backpacks and start walking out of the park, their hands intertwined.

Chapter Text

What. The. Fuck.

What had Yuichiro just witnessed? What the hell?! He had just witnessed his brother kiss Genya. They had known each other for what, 3 days??? Damn what the hell. His brother fell fast apparently, and so did the other kid. Now all Yuichiro could do was think about his brother 3 days ago, the brother who had said he didn’t need friends. The one who had said school was just something he needed to get through. Yuichiro stayed in his tree watching, even though he was a whole range of emotions. Angry because his brother was stupid enough to do something like this. He was tired as well, when this relationship goes to shit who’s going to have to deal with a heartbroken Muichiro? Yuichiro, he was going to be cleaning up this mess. 

But there was one thing Yuichiro did not want to accept, the small part of his mind that was happy for Muichiro, happy his brother had found someone who made him feel good. Yuichiro couldn’t accept that part of him, he had to make sure his brother was ready for the real world. He looked up and saw Genya and Muichiro walking out of the park. Yuichiro knew he should follow, make sure Genya doesn’t fuck up, for some reason though his body felt like lead. Unmoving from the tree. Maybe I should just let it play out…? 

He watched helplessly as the two of them left the park. Even when it started to rain, Yuichiro didn’t move. He was too tired and his body didn’t obey. He’d spent too much energy on his brother, he’d forgotten about himself. Quite honestly he would’ve fallen asleep on the branch had thunder not clapped. 

He fell off the branch. For a good second he didn’t realize what happened, but then he snapped back to reality and grabbed part of the tree. After making it down safely with minimal cuts he started walking home.

Chapter Text

As the two of them left the park it started to rain a bit. At first Muichiro didn’t mind but after a few minutes in started to pour. His long hair got plastered to his face and his clothes were sticking to his skin. Genya wasn’t doing much better. The two of them walked for a bit before they decided to go their separate ways. 

“You should probably go home, there’s no point in you getting sick along with a messed up hand.”

Muichiro shrugged, “I suppose, my house isn’t that far… will you be alright?”

Genya grinned and nodded, “Of course, I can take public transportation you know?”

The two laughed before saying their goodbyes. Muichiro’s home was a few blocks away and as he walked he heard footsteps behind him. He turned around and saw none other than his brother running after him. It was quite the scene, his brother was soaked and looked like he had fallen out of a tree? Shouldn’t his brother have been home before him?

“Muichiro! We need to talk!” The boy stopped in front of him.

“What do you mean? Like about school?”

“Do not act stupid right now!”

“I’m not! I don’t know what you're talking about? Did you fall out of a tree or something? You look like a mess”

The boy scowled, “Yeah I did actually”

“Why-”

“That’s not important why I fell out! What’s important is what I saw”

Muichiro tilted his head, “Did you see a really cool bird and fall out from excitement?”

His brother seemed quite angry and pointed an accusatory finger at him, “Shut it! I saw you kiss that tall weirdo who you keep hanging out with” 

Muichiro stared at him, “…Well, I can live my life right? Why the hell do you care?”

Yuichiro’s anger left his body, he just stared right back at his brother. He looked down before looking back at him. 

“I don’t want you to get hurt.”

The two of them stare for a bit. Muichiro finally speaks up.

“So you’re not actually angry?”

“No”

Without thinking he steps closer and hugs his older brother. The other hugs him back.

“I’m sorry”

“Don’t be”

———————————————

The two of them were at home. They had both gotten changed out of their clothes and into fresh ones. It was like any other afternoon but the two felt closer in a way. Muichiro sat at the table as Yuichiro was in the kitchen. Normally he would help but after the whole hand incident Yuichiro barred him from even stepping foot in the kitchen.

“How’s the math homework going?”

“Boring as ever”

Muichiro heard a quiet laugh from the kitchen and looked over. His brother was definitely smiling.

“How ‘bout you do this stupid math for me” 

Yuichiro shook his head, “I’m making your lazy self dinner.”

Muichiro frowned before returning to his very monotonous math homework. 

As he finished up the work Yuichiro came out with their dinner. It was Muichiro’s favorite dish and he was quite happy to be able to enjoy it with his brother. The two of them ate peacefully without much talk.

After they finished eating them both headed to bed. Muichiro brushed his teeth and then went back to his room. He said a goodnight to his brother before laying down in his bed. 

Tomorrow will be a great day

With that final thought he fell asleep.