(I like this photo of Tanjiro. This was how I envisioned his hair throughout the entire story ^,^ )

Your pulse thumps in your ears, adrenaline pumping through you and spurring you on to charge up the stairs, using the railing as leverage to pull yourself up faster. Sparing a glance over your shoulder at your friend chasing after you, you yelp giddily when he reaches out to grab you by the arm, just barely yanking it away in time.

At his failed attempt, a breathless laugh bursts from your lungs, nearly taking away what energy was left to keep running

once you were met with the second floor, you stumbled over the tip of your shoe hitting the floor at an angle, but the excitement rushing to your brain had you quick to realign yourself

Deep down, you know Sabito is a lot faster than you by default. But you don't intend to win; you want to feel the thrill of getting caught, and the possibilities of what could happen next

Once again, you decide to look over your shoulder at Sabito, neglecting to watch where you were going, and before you could process the sound of a classroom door clicking open, it is followed by the thwack sound of a boy knocking directly into you with loads of paper in his hands.

"UHFF--!" you reel backwards, flailing your arms to steady yourself, but falling right back onto your haunches anyway and sliding backwards from the force of the blow

The other, who had been rushing out of the classroom before he bumped into you, had hit the ground in unison with you, the stack of papers now strewn across the floor around him as if he'd been struck by a tornado

You rub your head and squint over at your unfortunate peer, bristling at the sound of Sabito's footsteps coming closer and skidding to a halt when he caught sight of the scene.

You know the ginger is behind you, but he has fallen uncharacteristically silent. The tension in the air had become so thick you thought you could reach out and grab it with your bare hands. suffice to say, the moment between you and Sabito was definitely ruined.

"Ahh... my fault" you mutter, getting on your hands and knees to gather up the loose paper "lemme help you"

You still haven't looked upon the face of the student, mildly confused as to why nobody was speaking. It was starting to become a little unnerving to say the least

"You kept it."

You froze at the familiar sound of Tanjiro's voice spreading warmth underneath your skin, as it had once done so long ago. You didn't dare take your eyes off the floor in front of you, unsure of how to react to him

"The chain, I mean. You kept it." He repeats, holding it up in his hand; it must've slipped from your pocket on the way down

He hands it to you and you take it from him gingerly, risking a glance at his face

He has pale, glowing skin and big red-brown eyes like a deer in the headlights. His maroon colored hair, which he often let fall at his shoulders and spike out all over the place like a lion's mane, is now tied back, but no less wild.

Those red eyes that match his deep red hair...how strange, and beautiful, you thought. It was almost like you were meeting him again for the first time

Tanjiro's eyes blink wide open, and his lips part as if he were about to say something else. Behind you, Sabito moves forward and, surprisingly, holds out a hand to the red-haired boy

"That was quite a fall you took there, Kamado" He says, and you wonder if this is the first time Sabito has ever addressed him by name "But it seems you've got a hard head."

Tanjiro's eyes pass over Sabito's, and then yours, and he takes Sabito's hand with some hesitance

"...So I've been told." He nods

Sabito pulls the boy up to his feet while you sit there looking dumbfounded at the fact that he helped Tanjiro stand first and not you. You're even more surprised that it takes a moment for them to let go even after he is standing

You observe the both of them from your spot on the floor, practically paralyzed with fear at the off chance that Sabito might pummel the boy right then and there with no warning. When the two of you grew up together, that was the kind of guy that he was. Chivalrous only if he saw an individual worthy of his respect. And they wouldn't want to know what would happen if he thought they weren't.

Much to your relief, though, Sabito seems to catch on to your concern for the other and offers you a reassuring nod before turning his attention back to the conversation at hand. You sigh and rise to stand with them, dusting yourself off with one hand and holding the stack of paper in the other

"I was actually hoping I'd run into you somehow," Sabito clears his throat awkwardly "We got off on a pretty bad start this year."

"I'll say." you cross your arms

Sabito elbows you in the side to get you to shut up. Somehow, it works.

"And, ah..." He visibly tenses up "you're new and stuff, so...it wasn't right. For me to try and run you out like a stranger."

Tanjiro looks uncertain of what is going on, and you are too. A lot of things are happening in the same day--first you got to kiss your best friend, and now he's apologizing for the way he treated someone in the past? This can't be real. Surely this is an oddly specific daydream and you're going to wake up any minute now

But more than that, You're surprised by how sincere Sabito appears. Like he isn't just apologizing because his friends wanted him to. He's doing it because he wants to as well

"So, I guess what I'm trying to say is," Sabito puts his hands in his pockets and shrugs "M'sorry.."

Tanjiro maintains a confident posture and eye contact with the boy in front of him, and nods sharply

"All is forgiven." He says, and your heart jumps with hope. But, he doesn't look at you until he is finished speaking. You hope this doesn't mean his forgiveness has run dry after Sabito

"I should be going now. I have to get these to the copy machine."

"Oh! Right." You chuckle nervously and hand him the papers

Tanjiro's answer was so short, it was almost dismissive—there's just no way that was all he wanted to say to the two of you. Could it be that he's still angry with you? But that was impossible, because you could swear you saw something spark in his eye when he picked up the old gift his mother had passed on to you. If there was something more that he wanted to tell you, you hoped he would just up and say it soon. You're getting pretty tired of having to guess what people are thinking

He takes his leave and makes his way downstairs, and you and Sabito walk off casually as well, silently hoping that the awkward tension would fade away soon

After arriving at 2-B, you heave one half of the thick stack of textbooks into your arms with a weary groan, and Sabito takes the other with a bit less of a struggle. You complained a lot about how heavy they were, and wondering why there wasn't a cart laying around somewhere to load them onto like there should have been.

At some point, the conversation leads to Kanae, and then lunch break. You didn't realize you were ranting at first until you stopped to question Sabito

"Hey, yknow what—why DID you sign up for that crap anyway?"

"Why not?" Sabito mumbles in amusement

"Because I don't wanna go!" You snap in bewilderment "It's stupid! All they're gonna do is try to make us feel bad for something that isn't even our fault!"

"How do you know that's what they'll do?"

"I can just tell."

Sabito arches his brows in concern, and it nearly causes you to stumble under the weight of the books

"You're kind of a brat, yknow?" He states matter-of-factly

"IM a brat??" You scoff "I can't even count how many temper tantrums you've had on both hands!"

"At least I don't cry like a baby all the time."

You grit your teeth in anger what the hell?! Didn't you like me just a minute ago? Make up your mind.

Sabito then leans over you to press a quick kiss to the side of your face, and the contact leaves a tingling sensation in your cheeks. You want to swat at him, but can only shake your head vigorously as if to shake the kiss itself off of your skin. He just laughs at this

"I didn't say you could do that!" You grumble

"Sorry" he replies with no sincerity

"...anyways, I think the real reason you don't wanna go is because you're all scared and jumpy around the new kid. You did something you regret, didn't you?"

You avert your gaze to hide the bashful smile trying to creep its way onto your features  "Who Can say?"

Sabito continues "I know how you get when you're apologetic. You make it so obvious, who wouldn't be able to tell anyway?"

"I've got to admit, I can't really say I like the idea that the two of you have got history," he sighs "but...this isn't about him. It's about you, and what happened to us. His role in our story is so minuscule, I don't even think about him."

You purse your lips at that last part, instantly feeling bad that he would say something like that. But, honestly, it was true

"Don't get the wrong idea, I think the guy is okay but," he yawns "you'd have to be living in one hell of a delusion to think he has any right to place judgement on us. Especially on you."

Oh Sabito, if only you knew the half of it. Then maybe you would judge me, too

"I think you should come with me no matter who is there. I'm honestly pretty curious about it,"

"So what do you say?"

You tilt your head to one side and ponder his question. A lot of things come to your mind; Genya's tears, Kaigaku's mocking laughter, Tanjiro and how much he cared for you. Damned Tanjiro, how he somehow always wormed his way into your thoughts, even when you were trying to just think about what was important. He was always so patient with you, even more so than Sabito, Makomo or anyone. Was it really fair to just discard him, like Sabito was trying to do?

You just hoped that whatever was in store for you later today, you could handle it just like you'd handled every other calamity that befell you. But only time would tell.

"Yeah, alright. I'll go."