[[hey Outsider readers, been a while hasnt it? ;>  I felt horribleee leaving this story unfinished, and Im about to have some reallyy busy stuff going on in my life next month, so I decided to try and piece together the final scraps of this story for all of you. Thank you for sticking it through to the end with me, I appreciate all your comments and support! <3 enjoy]]

Wednesday Morning, 7:00 AM

        You roll onto your back, blinking away sleep only to be greeted by a bleary grey sky through the window across from your bed. After everything that's happened, daily routines don't feel so normal anymore--waking up feeling refreshed, your mind running through an imaginary checklist of things that needed to be done and grasping at essentially nothing, was alien to you. And yet you still felt that growing tension bubbling in your gut, telling you that something had to be wrong, because everything was going much too right.

It's 7 in the morning, and your alarm is about to go off in 5 minutes. This is your first time waking up before it.

You groan, using the free arm that had been dangling off the side of your bed to prop yourself up and take in your surroundings. You even decided to give yourself a minute of time for a breathing exercise that Rengoku's father had taught you in his martial arts class to help you get on your feet.

"inhale for seven..." you mumble, sucking in a deep breath and caressing the furred back of the stuffed rabbit plushie in your arm "exhale for eleven.." and out that breath came again after just seven seconds. You repeat this twice, and your heart beat slows, and just for a moment time stands still.

"and, up we go" you manage a small smile while getting out of bed, then fix up the bedsheets and place the rabbit neatly in the center where it would be comfortable. It was a gift from Sabito, afterall.

Across the room, the sight of your skateboard left untouched for so long tugged at your heart just the tiniest bit. A lot of things seem to remind you of the past nowadays, even things that shouldn't be sad.

Once the alarm finally went off, you began going about regular tasks in preparation for school and didn't really get much small talk in with your parents but, that was okay, you'd talk to them later.

You don't give it much thought, but after changing into your uniform, you slip the silver keychain Tanjiro gifted to you months ago into the breast pocket of your shirt closest to your heart. You'd never placed it there before.

 Everything felt just fine until your phone buzzed and you read the text message on the screen.

Sabito🙄: I'm outside :)

Your eyes blow wide at the message, and a strange fluttery feeling fills your chest

You shut your phone back off and pace over to the window with haste, catching sight of the peach-haired boy. He's waiting for you by that same tree where you swore you would do anything to protect him and Mako. Idly, you wonder where she is right now. If you could somehow send her a message through your brain and telepathically connect, you'd tell her that Sabito was doing just fine, and that he's waiting for you downstairs. And that it isn't the same without her waiting there too.

You flung the window open and caught the gentle breeze that slightly tussled your hair out of place as it blew by

"SABITO," you call "UP HERE"

His head shot up to catch your eye

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" You ask

Instead of yelling back, Sabito pulls his phone out of his pocket and sends you a message. You're quick to grab your phone as well, mostly out of mild embarrassment.

Sabito🙄: I'm here to walk u to school. Let's go quick, b4 Sanemi shoves a fraction up your ass or smthing

You snort at the crude joke

You: U should be at home resting

Sabito🙄: No. I want to be with you, even if it's school, I don't care.

You: Alright, settle down Romeo 💀

Sabito🙄: I'm serious. Come downstairs.

You purse your lips and stare at the phone for a few more moments before tucking it in your backpack and hopping down the stairs excitedly. You kick your shoes on and bid farewell to your parents, who acknowledged you with mild amusement. No questions needed to be asked to know who you were running out the door to get to.

After stepping out into the crisp, chilly morning air, Sabito whisked you away and walked you to the bus stop, where the two of you rode the bus to school that morning. It was a relief not having to talk him out of doing anything too crazy for the time being. In a way, it seemed like he was starting to care about himself a bit more. You hoped that was the case.

You and Sabito part ways for your first classes of the morning, so you don't get much time together by the time actual school starts. But, the strange thing is, as you're walking down the hall to Third period, you feel an odd presence, like the dark-haired individual who'd been following you at school before.

Your shoulders tense. You want to turn around, but what if they hurt you?

Why were you still thinking this way?

As soon as you make a left to get to the stairs, a firm hand on your shoulder stops you in your tracks.

You froze mid-step, and your blood ran cold. Had you somehow done something to upset yet another person? You were ready to fight this time, if so.

But when you turn around to meet the eyes of the follower, you are stunned to see Genya's hardened expression. A tensed brow, a scalding stare, and...a twitching lip. A mixture of so many emotions must have passed through him in that very moment, because he's hard to read now. You clench your jaw and swallow hard, waiting for him to say something.

Instead, a few stray tears fall freely from his catlike eyes. Though his chest wants to burst, Genya tries to keep his breathing even so he can get the words out that he wants to say.

"Genya..?!" You exclaim at the sight of the tears "What...why are you crying??"

He simply shook his head and wiped his eyes with one sleeve. You felt awkward seeing him like this, given the status of your strained relationship with him. Still, it was real. He was breaking down right in front of you.

"Im sorry." He mutters "it wasn't right..what we did to you. I did it all for Makomo. Everything"

You swallow hard. What does he mean by everything?

"Please just read the letter that she gave you. It'll explain everything" he sighs and wipes his tears away with his fist

You stare blankly for a long moment, wondering whether or not to forgive him. How could you even forgive him without knowing what he had even done? Aside from chasing you around the school, you weren't sure. Still, you nodded reluctantly

"I'll see you later, Genya." You reply wistfully, ducking away before making an escape to class

During Literature, the class is reminded of the free therapeutic seminar organized by the new health counselor Kanae, which starts today during lunch break

While the droning voices of Kanae and Gyomei fade into white noise in the back of your head, you sit with your jaw resting on the palm of your hand, nibbling shamelessly on the metal part of your number 2 pencil.

In your trancelike state, the faint voice of someone calling your name prods at the back of your mind like rats running around in your ears. You grit your teeth down harder on the pencil

"(Y/n)! (Y/n)!" The deep, gravelly voice insists, pulling up a seat to plop down next to you "helloo! Earth to dumbass"

You narrow your eyes at Kaigaku, who appears to be drawing a lot of attention to himself just by being there. By this point, he's an official student at the academy, though it doesn't make him look any less out of place. In compliance with the dress code, Kaigaku's signature wifebeater tank top is replaced with the school's long-sleeved black  button-up, which was now bursting at the seams against his muscular frame. 

"Are you deaf? The teacher is talking right now." You shot back in disbelief, wondering how he could so unabashedly disrupt class with such foolish utterances. He simply basks in the attention.

"So what?" he raises an eyebrow at you "and anyway, aren't you supposed to be nice to me or something?"

You scoff at him incredulously, wanting to hit him with some kind of witty response, but you decided against giving him the satisfaction of pissing you off. Instead you shrug and roll your eyes, returning your attention to Mr Himejima

Coincidentally, Kanae was just wrapping up her announcement with a silent bow. You hadn't noticed before until you looked up that a clipboard with a sign up sheet was being passed around the room, and to your surprise, several people seemed interested in attending this seminar she was holding.

Your eyebrows arch upward when you catch Sabito's eye, who is sitting diagonally from you, when the clipboard makes its' way into his hands. He signs his name...why?

Finally, it reaches your table and you stare at the dauting list of names. You chew on the inside of your cheek at the sight of Tanjiro's name from a previous class towards the top of the list.

You couldn't do it. You drop the pencil in your hand and look away, handing it to Kaigaku

"Huh? What is this for?" Kaigaku rumbles in confusion "What's a seminar?"

"It's like a discussion...she's trying to get people to talk about their feelings or something, I don't know." You surprise yourself at the fact that you even graced him with an explanation

Kaigaku seems to mull it over in his head, squinting at the page before shockingly signing it himself. You must have been staring at him in shock because he meets your eyes with a glare after passing on the clipboard

"What? The first page says there'll be snacks." he shrugs "who would pass up an opportunity like that?"

Of course he would say that

After everyone has looked over the details on the papers and handed them back to Ms Kochou, she bids thanks to the teacher for his time and makes a swift exit, walking with purpose like she's got somewhere really important to be. Some part of you could really admire her for that. 

Mr Himejima then clears his throat, calling the attention of his students back to him with a faraway look in his sightless grey eyes. He seats himself at his desk, propping his elbows up and holding a rosary in prayer position between ginormous hands.

"I need a volunteer to go upstairs and retrieve my textbooks from classroom 2-B. It should be close by to Uzui's art room." he states plainly 

Before he can finish explaining, your hand shoots up into the air enthusiastically. You were desperate at this point to find any reason to get away from your annoying 'shadow', even if it meant lugging around a bunch of hefty books down a flight of stairs.

"Me!" you add, realizing he can't see you

"(L/n).." he nods "those textbooks are really heavy, and there are quite alot of them. You should take with you another classmate of your choosing."

Sabito is already out of his seat by the time you start to get up, and the two of you share a knowing look. Though school itself tended to be rather dull overall, there were small moments of freedom, like these, that strangely filled you with excitement. The prospect of getting a chance to chat alone in the halls with Sabito has you light on your feet.

"I'll go with her" He chirps to the teacher, quick to link his arm around yours and tug you away towards the door like a puppy anticipating a walk. You purse your lips together to suppress a laugh at his behavior until the both of you are a few feet out of the range of the deadly silence that gripped the Literature classroom

"You're such a goddamn nerd!!" You burst out, shoving the larger peach-haired male off of you playfully

"Hey..!" He quirks a brow at you and starts jabbing you vengefully at the waist, drawing a fearful squeal out of you at the sensation and causing you to arch away from his devious hands--you had always hated when he poked that spot "You're the one who's obsessed with me, crying over me and begging me to get better, and I'm the nerd? Huh?"

Your cheeks grow hot and you roll your eyes indignantly at his words "Watch it, smartass. I'll send you flying down those stairs if you keep talking. And then what? huh?" you add, mocking his earlier tone

"Aw man, she's cranky againn.." Sabito relented, shoving both hands in his pockets and averting his gaze to the ceiling 

"I'm not cranky." You narrow your eyes at him

"If you say so." He lilted, clearly amused by your determination to deny his claim

While the two of you walk side by side through the hall, it doesn't take long for Sabito to think of a new way to bother you. He lowers his face to your level and starts blowing air at you, and each time you swat him away, he dodges just in time to evade your attacks

"Leave me alone!!" You scoff "Can't you just be normal right now?"

"Not when you're this fun to mess with." He admits, his already boyish grin pulling even further into a smirk

"What are we, grade schoolers?" you quipped "you got a crush on me now?"

You halt in your tracks and your heart nearly skips a beat when Sabito moves to block your path, looming over you so closely that his chest nearly bumps into you. You slowly look up to meet his eye, dropping whatever smug look you'd previously had on your face at the joke you made when you thought you'd 1 upped him

"Yeah. I do." He states proudly "Something wrong with that?"

"Crushes are for babies." you lie, backing up into a nearby wall. But he doesn't let up, following you until the both of you are in a compromising position that would probably have you screaming in embarrassment if someone were to walk by at this moment

"Really?" He teased "so you don't like me back?"

"I didn't say that." You tear your eyes away from his unwavering lavender gaze and gulp audibly

A moment of intensity passes between you, of you with your back pressed against the wall with your childhood friend's chest pinning you there. Strangely, you didn't want to move; in fact, you found yourself hoping he would do something, anything to prove himself. But knowing Sabito, he wouldn't make a move until you gave him a sign

This a good enough sign for you? You thought to yourself as you wrap your fingers around his shirt collar and yank him down to eye level with you 

"Just do it Sabito. I dare you. I dare you to kiss me right now" you blurt out, and the tips of your ears become unbearably hot at your own actions. What are you doing right now?!

"Right now..!?" His cool-headed act falters at your sudden boldness

"Yes. Just hurry up before I change my mind!" 

He casts a quick look over his shoulder, but the hallway is silent apart from the two of you. And you figure that the teacher will be expecting the two of you back soon anyway, so you might as well get on with it. With a soft exhale through his nostrils, Sabito returns his now half-lidded eyes to you, his expression dropping from initial shock to a more serious one

Sabito then dipped his head down into yours, and the familiar brush of his lips against yours entice the both of you, reminiscing about an earlier time which the opportunity to share an intimate moment like this one had been missed

And then his mouth is on yours, and his warm breath fans against your skin. It's brief, only lasting a few seconds before he pulls away just an inch to look at you, but it feels like a dream.

 No matter what happened, Sabito has always been able to help you forget your troubles even if for just a fleeting moment like this one; something about those peachy locks, and lavender irises, and the way he kept you close under his watch like he knew you had something special that he couldn't get anywhere else. 

the two of you seem to stare at eachother in awe as if neither of you can believe what just happened, and then, as Sabito starts to go in for another one, you release his shirt from your fist and duck out of the way, shooting him a sly grin that shakes him out of his stupor

"Hey, I'm not done with you yet..!" he stands fully upright, moving to follow after you

"You want another one?" You laugh, bracing yourself to run and hoping you could get him to chase you "hmm...me too. It's too bad you'll have to work for it."

"work for it?" he raises both eyebrows with interest "Oh, you're on."

"Catch me if you can!" You call, making a dash for the stairs and heading straight for room 2-B