The sound of your alarm went in one ear and out the other...again.

You went to hit the snooze button for the third time, until you remembered.

Shit.

Giyuu was coming in about 15 minutes.

You bolted out of bed and ran around the house, trying to cram your entire morning routine before he arrived.

As you slid on a pair of sweats and a hoodie, you thought about texting him, after all, you didn't even know what the plan was, where you were going etc...

And there was no way in hell you were letting him come here.

Your thoughts were interrupted by a gentle knock at the door.

For fucks sake, why is he always so punctual to everything...

You took a deep breathe, and slowly headed to the door, before opening it in one swift movement.

"Morning sunshine," he said stoicly, taking notice of your appearance and tired expression, as he held two cups of coffee in his hand.

"How did you know..." you responded sleepily, grabbing the cup from his right hand.

"You've always been like this," he began "ever since we were kids,"

He was not wrong.

You were not a morning person.

You took a large sip of the coffee as you sluggishly dragged your feet a few paces behind Giyuu. He approached an elevator, and pressed the button allowing it to open. You stood next to him, still clutching the drink you so desperately craved.

As you entered the elevator, the well-known awkward silence arose in the air once more.

"Tomioka..." you said, still slightly comatosed.

"L/n..." he echoed back.

"Where are we actually going?"

"My apartment." he stated, before taking a sip of the coffee he also had in has hand.

I beg your pardon.

You almost dropped the cup.

"You don't live here on campus?"

"I used to," he started "but I started saving for my own place a couple of years back and moved in recently,"

"Is it nearbye?" you leaned against the wall of the elevator.

"About a ten minute walk," he started, before shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Kinda near the park where we first took the photos and you were too scared to even talk to me," the corner his mouth twitched.

You whipped your head round, only to be met with the side of Giyuu's face, which was staring straight ahead.

"I wasn't scared! Just...apprehensive,"

"Sure L/n," he glanced at you from the corner of his eye, as the elevator came to a halt and opened its doors.

You finished your coffee and quickly chucked it in a nearbye bin, trying to keep up with Giyuu's walking pace.

"I'm glad you've finally realised that I'm not gonna bite your head off or destroy anymore of your precious paintings anytime soon," he said, as you continued walking down a path you've recently become more familiar with.

You just looked at him, mouth agape, unsure of how to respond.

"Cat got your tongue?" the corner of his mouth twitched, once more.

Instead you just sighed, somewhat lightheartedly and in disbelief before you continued walking alongside him.

Shortly later, you approached a rather tall apartment complex to which you assumed was where Giyuu lived, he opened the first set of doors and allowed you pass through before him.

"second floor," he said, as you walked inside towards a flight of stairs.

You got to the top and Giyuu pulled out a small key from his pocket.

He placed it inside the keyhole, turning it gently until he a heard a soft 'click'.

It was still slightly empty and filled with boxes, which you nearly tripped over. The overall colour scheme of the place was quite dark, but it was, to an extent, cozy.

A more comfortable silence arose in the air as you admired the row of plants on a nearbye windowsill and the long array of books that sat on an unusually tall bookshelf.

"Can I get you anything to eat or drink?" he asked as you admired said bookshelf.

"Just water is fine,"

You made your way over to the kitchen where Giyuu was grabbing a couple of glasses from a large cupboard above the sink.

You watched as he gently placed them on the counter and took out a water jug. He carefully poured its contents into both glasses before calmly handing one over to you.

Giyuu would never admit it out loud but something about your company was almost comforting in a way, eventhough a part of him was just trying to be civil for project.

However, he was also no longer fighting the urge to throw things at you or dump buckets of paint over your head every time you spoke.

But at the same time seeing you tugged at his heartstrings a little.

Both of you carried a lot of emotional baggage. And your heart still grew heavy when you thought about it. Afterall, both of you said and did some pretty awful things to eachother.

Particularly when you became teenagers and family and friends began to compare the two of you.

"Why can't you get good grades like Y/n"

"Why can't you be happier like Y/n,"

Your personalities clashed and what had started off as childish bullying was on the path to becoming more serious.

But that was then.

Now, he had matured.

You had matured.

And maybe, just maybe, the differences between you, was something you could learn to work around.

❥︎

He leaned against counter as you finished the glass of water and placed it down.

"What's the plan then Tomioka?" you sighed, yawn escaping in the process.

He gave a suggestion on how he wanted to edit the photos, he clearly knew what he was talkng about so you didn't question him, but instead fiddled with the string of your hoodie and muttered words of agreement under your breath.

As he left to grab his laptop, you to the opportunity to carefully slide out a beautiful black matte coloured chair from under the kitchen island.

He returned shortly, sliding himself in the seat directly next to you.

You watched as his fingers glided across the keys of his laptop, which just like the chairs, was also matte black except had the logo coated in gold, giving it an almost expensive feel.

"Do you remember when our professor said our portfolio is actually due in for?" you asked, partially deep in thought

"First week of January," he responded, as his laptop loaded up a software made specifically by the University.

"Oh okay, so we have ages then,"

"Yeah I guess, but I have a lot of deadlines leading up to Christmas so I kinda just want to get it over with asap,"

"I don't think we should rush it though. It'll just make the whole project more difficult and stressful," you suggested.

"I didn't say we should, L/n." the tone of his voice changed.

"I know, but I'm just saying I don't think it's a good idea to try and cram 3 months worth of work in 3 weeks, just for the sake of 'getting it over with' "

His jaw clenched slightly but you continued talking.

"Especially when its worth 30% of both our grades,"

An irritated sigh escaped his lips and he responded by turning back to his laptop.

And once again, that infamous awkward silence you both knew too well made itself presence.

You contemplated saying something, you had been sitting in silence for nearly 15 minutes now, with Giyuu developing the photos and you designing the actual portfolio and mapping out its colour scheme and layout.

Giyuu spoke, suddenly.

"Am I allowed to send you what the photos look like so far or is that rushing ahead too much?" he said, a hint of bite behind his voice.

You pinched the skin between your forehead.

"You know I didn't mean it like that Tomioka. It was just a suggestion to help manage our time better, plus I just don't think it's fair that I have suffer just because you have a shit ton of deadlines that you can't manage..."

He snapped back again.

"Yeah well some of us don't have the pleasure of being so carefree with our time because some of our degrees are actually worth- "

He cut himself off as a wave of realisation rushed over him.

He didn't really mean it, truth be told deep down he actually admired your art, it was a heat of the moment thing that slipped out.

But it wasn't something he could just casually take back.

You heart sunk, and out of both sadness and frustration, you grabbed your things and began walking towards the door.

He yelled after you, apologising as frantically as he could, but you ignored him, as you left his apartment, quickly making your way down the three fairly short flights of stairs before exiting the complex and being engulfed into a warm but slightly crisp wave of fresh air.

❥︎

a/n: 🙊