!Highschool Omake!

Popularity of Valentines


It was a morning like any other; the Sun was up at four am sharp and by the time she got ready, the sky was well past its stage of bluish-pink awakening.

Soft music played in the background as Miyasha danced around in the kitchen while preparing her and the twins' tiffin.

Currently, she was humming the chorus as she packed her own lunch box, covering it in a paper napkin as well as a plastic bag before inserting it in her laptop bag.
Meanwhile, for the twins' lunch, she packed them into boxes and left them in the oven to keep them warm.

The leftovers were carefully gathered into a bowl and left on the table, covered, with some cut fruits, milk, and a note stating that they were for Shigeno.

"Oh wait," Miyasha almost stumbled as she rushed back to get a sticky note that she could leave on the oven — after all, she didn't want a repeat of the last time when the twins forgot their boxes and left for school.

A tired sigh left her lips as she stuck the bright pink note on the oven; today was her turn to cook lunch for everyone since the two brunets had all their classes in the afternoon — quite unlike her, who had to stay in the school for the whole day.

Why did she want to be a counsellor again?

"To help kids, Miya," she answered herself almost sarcastically, "To help kids! And yet, I can't even help myself properly."

With a huff and a shake of her head, Miyasha looked around one last time as she recounted all she was supposed to do for the morning.

"Oh wait, my bag—"

One minute and one laptop bag later, which she made sure she had in her hand this time, Miyasha proceeded to finally leave the house.

She waited in front of the gate of her house as her eyes eagerly roamed around to spot the familiar mop of raven hair — her lips stretching into an involuntary smile as she found him soon after, walking towards the direction of her house.

"Good morning, Tomioka-senpai!" She greeted him loudly, "I hope you are doing well, this morning."

Giyuu nodded briskly to her greeting, offering some of his own quietly as they started their daily walk to the school.

His eyes looked around for any lurking figures before it set onto her heavy-looking laptop bag. However, before he could say anything, Miyasha loudly interjected.

"Don't even think about it," her playful expression greeted him as he looked down at her face, "I can carry—"

"It looks heavy."

"I told you I can carry it!" She huffed at him, making his eyes briefly look down at her lips before he quickly diverted them, "And no, it's not that heavy — do I have to repeat this every morning?"

"Not if you let me carry it."

The look that she fixed at him made his lips twitch while she dramatically sighed at his antics.

"You are so stubborn, senpai," Miyasha shook her head in amusement as she readjusted her bag on her shoulder, "I swear to Lord if I knew you were this determined with such small matters..."

"Then, what?" Giyuu asked softly, his blue eyes pinning her for the truth — was she regretting her friendship with him? He completely understands if she did.

"I would have kicked your ass straight to the school from here and walk alone," she huffed as her bluish-violet ones met his surprised blue ones, "Don't look at me like I can't do that, because I sure can and I will if you continue pestering me like this."

Giyuu stared at her for a few more seconds before diverting his face in the other direction.

"Hey, stop laughing at me!"

"I'm not."

"You just turned away— you so are!"

Giyuu covered his face as the shorter female changed sides to look at him; the whole affair making him smile uncontrollably as his companion kept trying to peek onto his expression.

"Stop it," he bluntly said before adding almost cheekily, "You are too short to peek anyway."

The betrayed expression he was awarded with made him huff out a laugh loudly before he was assaulted with a smack on his arm that sounded more painful than it actually felt.

"How dare you!" Her smile diluted the anger she was trying to portray through her light smack on his arm, "I'm not short! I am just born in a taller world, that's it!"

"Yes, I understand," he replied simply, feeling his amusement grow as the female beside him simply shook her head.

"Such disrespect," she huffed as her wisteria-coloured eyes met his, "I will never forget this, senpai. Never."

"I'm sorry."

"As you should be," Miyasha chuckled as she jokingly narrowed her eyes while she walked beside the taller male.

She couldn't help but smile when she looked at him again; his eyes looking around them almost absent-mindedly while his expression looked a lot brighter than before — something, that made her quite proud of herself.

Don't get her wrong — her height wasn't something she particularly cared about, but if it made Tomioka smile and lighten up in the morning? Sign her up!

Besides, she made sure he knew it was all in good humour — something that she had to literally explain and low-key teach him as he looked over almost guiltily at her when she joked back the first time.

But now? It was all good ol' bantering — something that she enjoyed immensely with him and maybe, just maybe, craved a bit.

It's nothing weird, right?

Miyasha smiled again as she thought about the past few weeks — since the evening Tomioka had offered to walk to her school, they had made quite a ritual out of it. One that she quite surprisingly didn't mind much.

Despite the downside of having to get up even earlier than before.
But, then again, she didn't mind that now either.

"Good morning, Urokodaki-san," she greeted the school janitor as they entered, a genuine smile spreading on her lips as the kind old man greeted back and they had their usual small talk.

Giyuu watched as Miyasha greeted the staff kindly as they walked down the hall — her greetings brightening everyone they were passing by.

His chest warmed in a way he was quite familiar with now as he watched her interact kindly with others before they reached her office; his hands almost itching to reach out to her as she bid him farewell and went inside.

He lingered a few minutes outside her office, feeling almost hesitant to leave before he forced himself to — he had work to do and the students would be arriving any minute now.

Not to mention, he almost smiled as his thoughts went back to her, it's not like he won't meet her again at the end of the day — or during lunch, for the matter.

Damn, he couldn't help but look forward to that.


Miyasha took a deep breath as she softly closed the door to the Principal's office behind her, the pressure she felt for the past few weeks slowly decreasing with each passing minute as she walked through the hallway.

Takami was finally removed from the custody of his parents, after weeks of surveillance and background check from both the sides of the police and the child protection services.

The news about it came very abruptly and recently to her knowledge; especially considering that she didn't get to hear anything about it until Takami suddenly stopped coming to school. That was when Oyakata-sama confirmed that his name was asked to be temporarily withdrawn from the school register due to his sudden change in residence.

And it wasn't until today that she got the news from Yamagata that Takami was safe and healthy — and so was his mother, who was relocated to a shelter before leaving for her parent's house.

As the news went, Takami's father was abusive to both his wife and the child, resulting in him being arrested soon after the investigation was completed and strong evidence were collected.

However, the childcare services deemed the mother to be unfit to take care of the child — at least for the while due to her apparent mental as well as financial state.

This led to Takami being transferred under the childcare services for his own protection; from both his abusive father and his uncertain legal situation. Currently, he was living in an emergency foster home that Yamagata was in regular contact with.

It set Miyasha's nerves at ease that Takami was provided with the help he needed and deserved; something that she wished she could have contributed personally to, honestly.

She took another deep breath before taking the stairs for the staff room upstairs; during her meeting with Oyakata-sama, she was asked to hand Giyuu some files along with the task of informing him that he was asked to meet the principal in the office at the end of the day.

She hoped it wasn't for anything bad though; but, then again, she didn't get any negative report from Oyakata-sama about Tomioka's status as a teacher either, so she'll assume that the Board were satisfied with his current approach with the students.

Miyasha paused as she noticed a few students running around in the hallway, making her shake her head before turning to tell them not to do so. Unfortunately, before she could do that, the said children bumped into another teacher; resulting in papers and books flurrying over from her hand to the marble floor.

"Hey, stop running, please!" Miyasha yelled out as she crouched down to help her fellow teacher, "It's not only rude to do so, but can also be dangerous!"

"Ah, gomene, sensei," she heard them chorus before two more sets of hands joined to help her and the other teacher collect the books, "We are very sorry."

"Ah, it's okay," Miyasha watched as the taller female gave them a gentle smile while they handed over their collected pages, "But please don't run like this, alright? There are younger kids on this floor too."

"Indeed," she added to her taller colleague's words, "Not to mention, you wouldn't want Tomioka-san to scold you now, would you?" Miyasha suppressed a smile when she noticed both of the children shaking their heads vigorously, "Good. So, shoo now! Go to your classes and please try to do so while not disturbing others, yeah?"

The smile playing on her lips remained so as she watched the kids stumble back to their class — thankfully, not running this time.

"Thank you for your help!" the taller female smiled kindly at her as she collected the rest of the papers from Miyasha, "I am Kocho Kanae, the biology teacher. And you...?"

"Sarota Miyasha," she offered her hand gingerly as a greeting, which Kanae accepted without hesitation, "I'm the new counsellor for the academy. Nice to meet you, ma'am."

"Oh," pale violet eyes shone with recognition as she looked down at her in a new light, "You are the counsellor? I've heard a lot about you from Rengoku-san and Uzui-san — oh, and from Kinomiya-san too!"

"Ah," Miyasha felt a bit lost for words as she let out an embarrassed laugh, "Didn't know I was this popular, damn. I hope it's all good things? If not, then I might have to give some stern talk to a few people."

That made Kanae chuckle as they started walking down the hallway again, "I assure you, it is all good. I'm glad I got to finally meet you, Sarota-san."

"The feeling is mutual here, Kocho-senpai," she replied softly before adding, "Also, I hope you don't mind if I ask you to call me by my given name, eh?"

"Oh, why not," Kanae gave her a sweet smile, "Please call me by my first name as well, Miyasha-san."

"Thank you, and I will."

Both the females chatted a bit more as they walked through the hallway; Miyasha helped Kanae organise the cluster of papers and notes in her book as they discussed more about their students and subjects.

"Miyasha-san," Kanae asked as they almost reached the staff room, "I hope it isn't too intrusive but, what is your current age?"

"Ah, I'm eighteen, senpai," Miyasha answered amiably as she adjusted the files in her hand, "And don't worry, it's not an intrusive question at all. Many people have asked about my age since I started here, due to the very fact that I look young enough to be a student myself."

"That I can't deny," the taller female agreed with her smiling pale eyes, "However, it is quite impressive that you have become a counsellor at such a young age, Miyasha-san!"

"Technically, I am not one yet," she corrected her senpai, making the said female look at her in question, "I have actually only completed my Bachelors in Psychology and am currently doing my Master's in counselling. So, technically, I am not yet a counsellor but only an intern, if that makes sense."

"Wait, you are still studying?" Kanae's eyes widened in surprise as she slowed down involuntarily, "But I thought you had to be here in school all day...?"

"Oh, that I am," Miyasha confessed, "I am actually doing my M.A. online, so it's not much of an issue doing the internship side-by-side."

"That must be quite hard."

That made the younger of the two chuckle as she wholeheartedly agreed, "That it may be, but I have to do it either way to become a proper counsellor and due to it being a part of my credit course. Besides, Oyakata-sama seemed quite keen on hiring me as the official counsellor too, once I finish my Masters, so that's something to consider, I guess."

"Ah, that's why Oyakata-sama introduced you as the counsellor," upon Miyasha's questioning gaze, Kanae smiled and explained further, "Most of us teachers are not aware that you are here for your internship, Miyasha-san! We were told you are here as an official counsellor for the academy and a part-time nurse — that's why I was confused when you said you were on an internship here."

"Ah, that makes sense, I guess," Miyasha chuckled, "To be honest, I'm not even actually practised in proper medical science to be considered a nurse. I mean, the only things I am familiar with are some basic courses of first-aid that I took when I was younger."

"Ah, you are very talented, Miyasha-san!" Kanae's sweet smile almost made the younger female blush as she continue, "To know enough to be able to help children both mentally and physically? That's amazing! And it's quite impressive how you completed your Bachelors so early, too."

"Oh, uh, I actually completed my school early, not college." The shorter girl confessed somewhat shyly.

"Eh? You can't skip years in college?"

"I... don't know?" She frowned as they entered the staff room, "I mean, I was allowed to skip a few grades when I was in school but was made to sit through every semester in college, unfortunately."

"Ah, and when did you finish your school Miyasha-san?" Kanae asked politely as they beelined towards her desk.

"Mm, when I was fourteen, I think? And I finished my Bachelors at seventeen."

"Oh, wow," pale violet eyes sparkled with admiration as she turned to her, "That's amazing! You are very smart, Miyasha-san."

"Y-You are too kind, Kanae-senpai," Miyasha felt unnerved by the number of eyes she felt on herself, "Anyway, thank you so much for the chat and it was lovely meeting you, senpai!"

"The pleasure was all mine, Miyasha-san," the younger female felt her heart skip as Kanae lightly hugged her, "Please do come upstairs more to talk to us! Maybe we can even visit someplace to eat next time, hm?"

"W-Why not," Miyasha tried clearing her throat as she felt herself flush, "Thank you so much for the kind offer, Kanae-senpai. You can, uh, also visit me at my office sometimes, if you want?"

"I will!" Kanae stepped back from their hug, "Thank you for walking me to my desk."

"No issues," the shorter female relayed before the building suddenly shook under their very feet, "Wha—"

"Careful, Miyasha-san!" Rengoku interjected from his place right beside Kanae's desk, "Or else, you'll fall because of the explosion of art!"

"I— what?" Miyasha finally took some time to notice the teachers either standing or sitting on their desks; almost all of them looking tiredly towards the ceiling. That's when the building shook again, making Miyasha clutch the desk in front of her as Rengoku held her arm to help her stabilize.

"Uzui's at it, again." Giyuu's voice made her turn over quickly as intense blue met her bluish-violet ones, "Are you okay?"

Miyasha mutely nodded as Rengoku added his two cents, "Mmhm, art is an explosion!" He exclaimed loudly, finally releasing her arm once he made sure she wasn't going to fall down any time soon, "It seems like it is, anyway."

"Wait," Miyasha couldn't help the disbelief and amusement colouring her voice, "You are telling me that Uzui-senpai is doing this? Like, literally blowing away the building in the name of... art?"

The chorus of 'yes' and all its variations made her laugh out loud while she adjusted the files in her hands once more.

"And Oyakata-sama is fine with this?"

"He is!" Rengoku answered honestly as his red-gold eyes looked her over, "You can ask Tengen for his technique! He'll be glad to teach you."

"I might one day," she jokingly agreed as she finally turned towards Giyuu, who was quite openly staring at her by this point, "Anyway, here's the files I was asked to give you, Tomioka-senpai."

"Oyakata-sama?"

"Hai," her voice lowered considerably as she leaned at his desk, "Had a meeting with him regarding Takami, today. Anyway, Oyakata-sama was asking to meet you at the end of the day, alright? Don't forget to go to his office once, before coming to meet me."

Giyuu nodded as she finished and was about to say something when someone loudly interrupted him.

"Hey, who are you?" The white-haired guy sitting beside Kanae interjected, making Miyasha blink in confusion as she pointed to herself, "Yes, you, the new girl."

"She's Sarota Miyasha," Giyuu replied without a moment's hesitation, making everyone turn to him in surprise, "The academy's counsellor who was appointed a few months ago."

"Um, yeah," Miyasha tried her best to flash them a smile that she hoped didn't come out as awkward as she currently felt, "Nice to meet you, uh, senpai?"

She didn't get time to dwell on the frowning expression the white-haired male was fixing on her as her attention snapped back to Giyuu when he turned to her and asked her if she wanted to talk about the meeting with Oyakata-sama.

"Oh," her smile relaxed at his kindness, "No, I'm fine, trust me. It's mostly resolved anyways and, uh, maybe later?" He nodded understandingly as she brushed past him towards the door, "And sorry for not being able to have lunch with you today, senpai. Got called to the Principal's office during that time and got some paperwork on my hands — I promise I'll make it up to you later."

"It's alright," Giyuu dismissed it almost instantly, making Miyasha smile softly.

"Yes it is, but I'll do it either way. So just accept your defeat, yeah? Thanks." She jokingly replied before bidding her farewell — essentially leaving all the teachers in the staff room curious about her presence and relationship with Giyuu while the said teacher himself sat around, obliviously looking forward to the end of the day.


Miyasha's eyes watered as she stretched; the popping of her joint making her roll them once more as she could almost feel her eyes drooping from tiredness.

Today was a tiring day — both mentally and physically, with all the paperwork she had to fill regarding Takami's case along with organising her file section once again to find the papers related to the students who had approached her today regarding their anxiety.

Honestly, it broke her heart to see so many students feeling anxious and isolated due to the pressure of studies and problematic families.

She hoped she could help them just as how Shigeno helped her.

Her laptop beeping made her attention snap back to the present, a frown immediately forming on her face as she read the error notification.

"Wait, why? I just saved the file—" The symphony of typing filed the quiet room while Miyasha typed in the commands, her mind numbing everything in her near vicinity as she concentrated on her work with a good amount of frustration on her part.

That was why she failed to hear the series of knocks on the door when Giyuu arrived.

Meanwhile, the said gym teacher frowned as he knocked again politely — his mind reeling with thoughts of the shorter girl and if she had left before him.

However, despite his pessimistic mindset, even he knew that was unlikely as the two of them had created an unintentional habit where she waited for him in her office while he made sure the school was empty before the two of them departed for the day.

And if she was busy, then he came knocking to her office as he waited for her to gather her bearings; sometimes even helping her in that endeavour as any friend would do.

Or someone interested in her.

Giyuu quietly sighed as he waited for a few minutes outside her office, wondering what his overall stance was on his feelings.

He knew he liked her and that feeling was... well, unlike he ever had any before. He liked her presence, her company, her chats, her smile, her—

Another sigh escaped his lips as he pinched the bridge of his nose. This matter was definitely becoming troublesome.

Though, he mused silently as he finally decided to open the door and just go in, he couldn't help but indulge himself even more in his feelings — especially when she genuinely smiled at him.

He liked the emotions he was feeling.
Even more so, he liked how he was when he was with her.

Although, at the present moment, she didn't seem to notice him when he opened the door to her office — and none so quietly either, but he couldn't exactly blame her with how she was focused on her laptop.

Giyuu found it quite endearing too, with how her face scrunched up when she was completely focused.

However, he worried a lot about how immersed sometimes she was in her own self to not notice her surroundings — something that he came to notice a lot as he walked her home for the past few weeks.

Even now she hadn't quite noticed his presence as Giyuu leaned over her shoulder to see what she was doing in her laptop — an act that put him almost in touching distance to her.

That's why it shouldn't have been a surprise for him when she leaned back and turned because he knew that would happen — however, he didn't anticipate their faces being so close that he could feel her breath on his.

Or their lips to be so close that all he had to do was lean in to kiss her.
And God, did he want to do that when she spoke.

"To-Tomioka-senpai?" Miyasha hated how breathily her voice came out as she tried her best to not look as flustered as she felt.

She was quite immersed in her work when she felt someone's breath on her neck, making her turn around instantly and meet with the intense blues of his as Giyuu stared down at her coolly.

They stared at each other for a few moments, their breath mixing together in a warmth that almost matched the ones they felt on their cheek.

Miyasha couldn't help but peek at his lips in between their strangely intimate moment — they were so close and he smelled so nice.

She could almost see him leaning in a bit and—

The sudden beeping from the laptop cut through the quiet, intimate moment, making the couple freeze in their movements as the beeping grew louder in intensity.

Or was it more in their head as their heart almost beat out of their chest at the surprise of it?

Giyuu was the first one to move away; giving Miyasha some space to finally turn over and work on the source of the stupid beeping — that was a completely different thing that she couldn't bring an ounce of her concentration to actually focus on the task at hand as she was busy trying to suppress her blush.

Lord, she hated how flustered and flushed he left her and yet he himself looked as cool and composed as ever.

Ironically enough, the said cool and composed man had his back to his crush as he attempted his best to calm himself down while he rubbed his warm face.

Giyuu couldn't believe what he had almost done.

Even more so, he couldn't believe he didn't do that. Was it a bad thing he low-key felt disappointed at not kissing her?

He silently took a deep breath as he tried to reorganise his thoughts back into a safer area — this was not a good place to get excited, nor was it a good thing to think about the possibilities of what could have happened.

Because God knows it could have gone to a worse ending too.

That thought sobered him up real quick. He didn't want to lose what he had with Miyasha — God forbid he couldn't even think about not having her as his friend anymore. Not having her in his life made him feel numb, scared.

"Sorry," His voice came out graver than he thought it would, "I shouldn't have stood there."

"O-Oh, it's okay," Miyasha directed a soft smile at him as her heart calmed down a bit, "I should have been more aware when you entered — in fact, I'm sorry I didn't notice you before that. I must have missed your knocks because of my stupid laptop—"

He watched as she rambled on about her laptop and the error it kept showing while she tried to download some files from the database, his attention completely on her yet not as he kept wondering what could have happened if had leaned in and kissed her.

Would she have reciprocated it? Or would she have been disgusted by him?

His mind leaned towards the latter but when she got up and casually touched his arm to smile and thanked him for waiting for her...

His heart told him it could very well be the former.


The Sun was almost down the horizon by the time Giyuu and Miyasha started their journey back; their idle chats gradually covering up the impending awkwardness of their almost kiss.

And while the incident wasn't actually acknowledged as what it was by the participants of the said incident, it still did keep playing in the back of their minds as they talk about everything and nothing.

"Oh, Miyasha! Tomioka!" Rengoku's voice came as a surprise to the couple when they paused on the sidewalk, their eyes trying to find the source of the voice before noticing him across the street from them, "Did you just leave the school?"

"Ah, yes," Miyasha answered directly as her eyes spotted Uzui standing behind the history teacher, "I and Tomioka-senpai normally leave school last. What about you two? Waiting for someone here?"

"Nope," Rengoku replied enthusiastically as he watched his colleagues cross the road and approach them, "I was waiting for Tengen since he had his art room to clean before leaving!"

"Now that sure must have taken a lot of time," violet eyes shone with mischief as she looked at her maroon-eyed friend, "Especially after blowing up the whole part of that building, eh?"

"Blowing up flamboyantly, you mean?" Uzui replied with equal mischief, "Because that was how it was! Art is an explosion and just like an explosion, one should not hesitate to express their talent and emotions through art!"

That made Miyasha chuckle while Giyuu looked impassively at Uzui — the art teacher was eccentric at best and pyromaniac at his absolute worst. His craving for chaos made Giyuu feel wary of his intention at times; especially when he looked like he knew something that he thought others didn't.

Just like how he was staring at him and Miyasha right now.

"So, where are you two going?" The silver-haired male asked to which Miyasha shrugged and relayed they were walking their way home, "Wanna walk down with us to the train station? Won't be that far either way."

"Oh, you both travel by train?" She asked before adding, "And yes, why not! It's on our way too, so you can join us, I guess. I hope you don't mind, Tomioka-senpai?"

Giyuu shrugged in reply — what could he say anyway? With that soft voice and hopeful expression of hers, he could never deny her anything.

With that being decided, the four of them started walking towards the station; their conversations ranging from idle chats about their classes to their students and their odd behaviours.

"Ah, today Agatsuma and Kamado came to ask me about what I do to be popular in the academy," Rengoku admitted, making Miyasha pull a face while Uzui and Giyuu chimed in how those two approached them too, "Oh? They came to ask you too?"

Giyuu nodded before adding, "They wanted to know how I get chocolates on Valentine."

"Heh," Uzui huffed out a laugh, "Preparing early, I see!"

"Wait, you can give chocolates on Valentine?" Miyasha asked tentatively, before explaining further, "I mean, I thought most of the schools didn't allow all that? Especially giving chocolates to the teachers."

"The key term is 'most', Miyasha," the art teacher pointed out from the front as walked beside his fellow blond teacher who added, "In Kimetsu academy, it's allowed as long as you don't miss your classes."

"Oh, that's interesting," the sole female among the four nodded, "Wait, those two came to ask you three about valentines, right? Was that because you three get the most chocolates or...?"

"Of course we do!" Uzui didn't hesitate to claim his glory as he turned around to face her, walking backwards casually as he held Rengoku's shoulder for some kind of safety, "Or at least, I do! I received fifty-seven chocolates this year alone."

Miyasha looked at him in amazement before Rengoku added his own count — twenty-eight chocolates.

"Oh, wow," Miyasha looked at them in a new light, "You guys are quite popular, damn. And what about you, Tomioka-senpai? How many did you receive?"

She turned to the teacher beside her who gave them an impassive shrug, "Don't remember."

"Dude," Uzui almost looked irritated with him before Rengoku cut his friend off.

"Thirty-one!" The history teacher blurted out the number in a gracefully concealed haste, "I think you received thirty-one this year, Tomioka!"

"Maybe."

"Wow," Miyasha repeated her words of amazement as she looked at the men around her, "I just, damn. You guys are way too popular among girls, I swear. How do you even reply to those chocolates anyways?"

It was Uzui who shrugged this time as he replied, "We don't. The chocolate giving tradition doesn't need to be reciprocated. Also, these aren't confessions, just chocolates given to those whom you admire."

"Oh wait, that makes sense," the shortest of the group chuckled as she mused, "This all sounds crazy to me still, since I'm not used to it, honestly. I wonder if the twins would get such high numbers too, the next Valentine."

That comment got Uzui fired up with playful competitiveness, "Hah! It still wouldn't be more than me!"

"Ume!" Rengoku supported his friend's words, making Miyasha chuckle at their dynamic.

"I'll pray for you then!"

That got another round of teasing and laughing between the four of them as the train station came in the plain sight of the group.

"Say, Miyasha," Uzui started, "What do you think you would do to gain popularity in the academy?"

"Popularity?" Miyasha asked with a frown as she paused to think about it once, "I... don't know? I mean, I never exactly cared about it much, so I can't say I can give you a proper answer. But maybe being kind, friendly and helpful would help?"

"Hai!" Rengoku immediately agreed, while Uzui waved off her answer as he considered it a 'boring' one, "Helping others can always gain you some good friends!"

"Hah, I'm not asking about friends, Kyojuro," Uzui pointed out as he leaned on his friend a bit, still somehow walking backwards as he turned to the shorter female, "And what about love, Miyasha? What do you think about that?"

"What do you mean what I think about that?" Miyasha asked with amusement, "I mean, it's ju—"

Uzui felt his heart skip when two pairs of hands stopped him from walking and pulled him forward — making him almost crash down on a five-foot-something female who was looking at him with a wide-eyed expression.

"Whoa, are you okay?" Her voice betrayed how concerned she felt, her concerns were also echoed by the history teacher as they helped him stand back up, "Are you hurt anywhere?"

"No, I'm fine," the art teacher replied gingerly as leaned back on Rengoku like before, "What just—"

"What do you mean what happened?!" Miyasha outright yelled at him, "You almost fell down the road and didn't see the crossroad! Stop walking like that and look forward, now!"

"Geez, yes, mum," Uzui jokingly replied as he followed her instructions, his maroon eyes dancing with mirth as they met the red-gold ones who were shining with amusement too, "Just, don't spank me please."

The face that Miyasha pulled at his teasing made the art teacher wheeze while Rengoku elbowed him in the chest, "We shouldn't talk like that to a woman!"

"Nah, it's alright," Miyasha replied casually before adding, "I mean, I wasn't disgusted or anything; just surprised that Uzui-senpai was a masochist, that's all."

All hell broke loose at that comment as Rengoku almost cracked his neck to look back at a smirking Miyasha while Uzui wheezed more and leaned over his blond friend.

Giyuu, on the other hand, raised an eyebrow at her; making her blush slightly as she gave a shrug in 'what can we do, eh?' way.

"I'm not a masochist, for the fact," Uzui pointed out as they reached the train station, "But I don't think you'll be interested to find that out now, would you?"

He noticed, with no less amusement, the two heated glares he received upon his flirtation while the female replied with the same zealous attitude as his.

"Nah," she waved him off casually as her eyes glinted with mischief, "I can already see that in the way you walk and talk, senpai. If I ever wanted to find out, we wouldn't have been talking about it."

"Mi-Miyasha-san!" Uzui almost lost his shit at Rengoku's stuttering as the history teacher glared at him with a slight blush, "You shouldn't say such indecent things so loudly."

"Yes, you shouldn't," Giyuu added as well, his face twisted in a scowl that was directed at his silver-haired colleague.

"Eh, true," she gave a non-committal shrug, "But it's not like I said anything indecent — I mean, until and unless you guys interpreted it in that way."

The playful wink she gave to the three made two of them blush and the other one completely loses his shit in the middle of the road.

"God, Miyasha," the huge hand of the art teacher clapped her shoulder as she almost buckled at its unexpectedness, "That was amazing! Never knew you were experienced in this field."

"Eh, blame the books I read," Miyasha admitted without any shame, making Uzui laugh loudly as she continued, "And trust me, I can keep up with you just fine~"

"All night long?" Uzui asked with an evil grin that was mirrored by the shorter female.

"All night long."

"Enough." Rengoku and Giyuu ordered in unison, amusing Uzui and Miyasha to no end as they exchanged a mischievous look before they dissolved into laughter.

"The last comment was very indecent!" Rengoku claimed with a slight disappointed look, which was essentially neutralized by the still lingering blush on his cheeks, "You shouldn't make such comments in public!"

"And it wasn't left to interpretation, like you said earlier," Giyuu pointed out, his own cheeks flushed with a blush that had almost already faded, "It was direct."

"And you imagined it?" Uzui egged on, making Rengoku elbow him again.

"Okay, enough, we need to go now—"

"Wait," the art teacher almost pulled the history teacher back with a force that made the both topple over — further amusing Miyasha as she covered her smile with her hand.

"You are making a scene," Giyuu bluntly pointed out, which was promptly ignored by Uzui as he proceeded to ask her the answer to his previous question about love.

"Oh, uh," she stumbled upon her words as three sets of eyes focused on her, "I am not sure but, I think love is... care and effort? As I said, I've never been in romantic love, but from the love I have given and received from the people dear to me, I think it's more about how much you care for a person and are willing to put in the effort for them. Again, love means different things to others, so, yeah."

"That's a good answer actually," Uzui rubbed his chin as stated that, his statement immediately supported by both Rengoku and Giyuu, "But what do you think you'll do to get it?"

"As in, getting someone's love?" He nodded to her question after which she hummed and answered, "I don't know, just be myself? I mean, you can't force anyone to love you, so the best thing is to just be yourself and care for them."

"Ume!" Rengoku nodded, "I agree! You should also confess and let the other person know about it! Communication is the key to any relationship!"

She agreed to his assessment before Uzui decided that he was done with his questions and booked it out of there — dragging Rengoku alongside him who waved them goodbye.

Miyasha looked at them amusingly before she and Giyuu left to their original paths — her mind reeling with thoughts of the conversation they just had along with the incident in her office.

It made her realize how much their dynamics had actually changed, now that she took time to notice — Giyuu seemed way more comfortable with her now, to the point of being okay with casually touching her.

The problem here was that she didn't mind those touches either — in fact, she almost, well, liked them.

Was she... interested in him?

"Thinking about something?" Giyuu asked quietly as they entered the familiar neighbourhood.

"Nothing just," she hesitated to speak her mind, deciding to instead lie through as she was not yet ready to have this conversation with him, "I was just wondering about the next year's valentine's and all."

"Hm? What about it?"

"About how serious Uzui-senpai was with the chocolate receiving competition," her lips tugged into a smirk as she continued, "I mean, maybe I could participate too since I wasn't there for this year's, what do you say?"

The blank look Giyuu directed at her made her huff out a laugh, "Hey, don't look at me like that! Maybe I can convince some girls to give me chocolates too! Who knows, maybe I'll end up breaking your record at least~"

"Maybe," he replied as dryly as a person could, making Miyasha pout as they walked down the road and shifted to some other topics to converse on.

Ironically enough, Miyasha did end up getting the most chocolate out of all the teachers — a whole sixty-nine of them.

Uzui wasn't even salty about it since the number of chocolates amused him till no end, which was shared by the Kinomiya twins as well when they made sure to recount twice to confirm the number.


Heya!

How is everyone? I know it's been a while I updated and I'm so for being MIA ^^;; It's been a few busy months for me and I'm still trying to cope up with stuff before turning back to my fanfics.

Beyond that, I'll try my best to update the next chapter (and start the next arc) by the next two weeks or so. For now, please have a bit patience with me and let me know how did you like the new season of Demon slayer!

Also, y'know what? It's low-key weird to show the proper stages of crush in this AU while in the original they are oblivious as shit. Like, of course, they are different from their AU versions but Lord it makes it hard for me to slow-burn their love in this version.

Also, I know not many read these chapters but either way — do you want me to show some spicy scenes in this setting of AU too or just in the main story? Since there is gonna be eventual smut and all, should I show bits and pieces for this version of AU too? Please leave a review to let me know.

Lastly, thank you so much for all your reviews! I have read a few of them but haven't gotten around to writing the replies, so please wait until the next chapter!