6 months earlier

"About your sisters wedding..."

Deep breaths.

Deep. Breaths.

"Yes?"

"Are you bringing... anyone? At all? I know you don't really date, but people have been talking, and who knows! Maybe you'll be next..."

You let her ramble.

"...And you know, sweetie, I just think it would be nice. You're at that age, and you've been so focused on your career, and this is a big event! And everyone will be asking about it -"

Lord have mercy.

You loved her and the rest of your family to death.

But everyone was always so caught up in everyone's business and you could already feel the pressure mounting.

The thought of going without someone by your side seemed impossible now.

You couldn't risk all the questions, the teasing, the disappointment in their eyes. Not when you were already dreading the event enough.

It's not that you didn't date. It's just that you'd had one relationship that more or less put you off the idea forever.

Plus, you had other priorities.

But at this point, getting hounded was suffocating.

So you said the most logical thing you could think of.

There was a brief moment of silence from her end

Then screaming.

"That's wonderful to hear, honey! Will he be coming to the wedding!?"

You winced at the enthusiasm in your mother's voice. This was not how you had planned for the conversation to go.

"Uh, yeah," you said quickly, trying to calm your nerves. "He's coming. He's just... really busy with work, but he'll be there."

"Well, we can't wait to meet him! I'll let you go for now, though. Love you!"

"Love you too!" You managed to get it before she hung up.

The first week of classes was a breeze.

A slightly heavy breeze that was on the verge of giving you wind burn, but still, you could've had it a lot worse.

You went over your research proposal a bit more with your mentor.

Cognitive Load and Decision Fatigue in High-Performing Individuals was the current title.

There was still so much work to be done, but you were definitely excited.

By the time you were done with your meetings and lectures for the day, your brain felt like it had been wrung out like a damp cloth. You had planned to grab coffee with Mitsuri, but a last-minute meeting had pushed her own schedule back, so you ended up heading home alone.

The apartment was quiet when you stepped inside, which wasn't unusual. Giyuu wasn't exactly the social type, and you figured he was either buried in his own work or avoiding interaction entirely. You toed off your shoes, stretched, and made a beeline for the couch, tossing your bag onto the floor beside it.

You had been messaging your sister a bit more, who seemed more excited about meeting your non-existent man than her own wedding.

You still had no fucking idea how you were going to pull that off.

Perhaps you should start a new life with a new identity on another planet with the aliens.

After much contemplating, you ended up going to the gym for a bit of light stretching.

Your stress levels were climbing slowly and you needed something to serve as a distraction.

The gym was mostly empty, which was exactly what you needed. You slipped into the stretching area, rolling out a mat and sinking into it a with a sigh.

You shifted into another stretch, pressing your forehead to your knee.

Maybe you could hire someone!

Though that sounded both expensive and humiliating. Or perhaps you could convince Mitsuri or Shinobu to find you a friend willing to play along. But then you'd have to spend the entire weekend pretending to be madly in love with a stranger, which felt like a recipe for disaster.

The sound of light footsteps in the gym interrupted your state of mind.

You turned your head, only to be met with black hair and some very defined biceps.

The black compression clung to his torso and the gray sweatpants hung loosely at his hips.

You had to forcefully stop yourself from staring.

He hadn't noticed you yet, and you weren't sure whether to leave or continue with what you were doing or awkwardly say-

"Hey?"

Fucks sake.

You glanced up, on the verge of having hear palpitations."Hi Tomioka,"

"Are you alright?" his voice was low, and he looked aloof, as always.

"Yep! Just fine! I'm just...thinking about...assignments and work,"

"I'll leave you to it then,"

He drifted off to the other side of the gym and for some reason you took that as your cue to skedaddle.

After power walking back, you hopped straight into the shower.

You quickly finished your shower and got dressed, hoping the cool air would help calm your racing thoughts. As you stepped out of the bathroom, you saw Giyuu's silhouette through the slightly ajar door of the kitchen. The quiet hum of the stove filled the space.

Great, now he was cooking again.

You hadn't eaten. For reasons the author isn't ready to reveal yet, but the food he seemed to be making did smell decent.

Trying not to overthink everything, you headed back to your room to get on with some work.

You settled into your desk, the hum of the kitchen still faintly audible from the hallway.

Fingers tapping against your keyboard, you tried to drown out the distraction and plunge into your research. Your brain went through the motions of reading, but you weren't absorbing anything. You sighed, rubbing your temples. It was going to be one of those nights where concentration was a lost cause.

A few hours later, you lifted your head up to glance at the clock.

It was already 9:45pm.

Should you eat something?

You could probably whip up something nourishing in about ten minutes.

You shook your head, returning to your laptop. You'll just push through, you told yourself. You could figure everything out later.

-

a/n: this book is unfolding nicely wouldn't you agree 🥰