' I'm content with a bit of your love, the bit that you have hidden, the bit no one's ever wanted; I don't really care about it, no.'

"HOW?! WHA…" Giyuu felt all color leave his face as Sabito broke down in laughter.

"AH, GOD! JUST WHEN I THOUGHT YOU'D DIE A VIRGIN!" he slapped his back bringing back the color to his cheeks, then walking by him to get to the bathroom.

"I … wasn't a virgin before this and you know that!" he rushed to close the drawer even though his friend wouldn't be able to see a thing behind the bathroom's closed door.

"That doesn't count! You never took any of them home!" he had to remind him of all of the multiple mistakes he'd made in his younger years? Giyuu wasn't proud of any of it, in fact, he was trying to get as far away as possible from all those memories, just like Sabito himself had told him to.

They had done things they didn't dare speak about, things nobody would've thought two kids like them would even dream of doing. It started as a thirst of vengeance, wanting to become strong to destroy the ones that had destroyed their families. But then, within the under worlds it's so easy for anyone to get lost in vice; specially for teens who lacked all forms of maturity.

"… And seeing you get this flustered about it, makes me think this is by no means any type of one night stand, hah, who is she?" he came out of the bathroom with still that mocking expression on his face, ripping those ugly moments away from his mind.

'Gulp…' Giyuu swallowed with difficulty sitting down on his bed, trying to realize if he'd actually dare to make such a confession out loud, to his best friend, who always counted on him to be the best man, to grow up… make better decisions, after everything they'd done wrong.

"… we haven't seen each other in years and this is what you want to talk about?" for the first time since his arrival, his gloomy expression came back to his face in an attempt to mask the anxiety this conversation was building up inside his chest.

"Uh-huh, that answer confirms what I expected, this is some juicy stuff you're hiding; I'll bring in the truth potion." He pointed to the cup in his hand then disappeared out into the kitchen, Tomioka really thought he could keep any secrets from the man he grew up with… one would think maybe, after all those years… but some things never change.

"Sabito! I'm not… ready… to talk this over with anyone" he followed him right after, trying to stablish the weakest limits with him.

"Why?! … it's not like it's…" the peach haired man quickly lost his half smile while pouring his second cup of sake "no, dude, tell me it's not…" he suddenly looked too serious and Giyuu broke in sweat, had he been that obvious? Was it to be expected? Were there only so few reasons for him not wanting to talk about who he was being intimate with?

"I-I swear I never thought something like this would happen! It was too fast and then… it was too late and sh...!" he wasn't making any sense surely but Sabito was already heading for the worst of scenarios.

…

"IT'S A GUY?!" his best friend frowned so hard he could've broken his eyebrows. But giving the black haired one a break to catch his breath.

"No!" his eyes went blank at the suggestion and he sat down on his high chair to bury his face on his hands

"I mean, man, I wouldn't judge you, you're still my brother all the way and through but… It's kind of unexpected…" kind of?! Since when had he had those suspicions about him?!

"IM. NOT. GAY!" Giyuu said in the loudest of tones trying to avoid sounding rude.

"Well, I'm fucking glad! Otherways you would've confirmed what the idiots back in the neighborhood used to say about us…" he set his elbows down on the table and quickly drank up his sake, making his friend feel the need to drown those thoughts in alcohol as well.

"It's … bad, though…" he gave up, rightfully knowing his best friend wasn't one to drop his searching for answers.

"I'm seriously hoping it's wrong that I'm scared…" Tomioka could almost feel another round of Sabito's legendary slaps already across his face. He sighed and pouring himself not one, but three cups of sake that he chugged down as if they'd been medicine, he finally felt numb enough to admit…

"…It's a girl from work" he felt defeated, ashamed, perverted… an imbecile written in all capital letters.

Silence

More silence

And then…

"PUAHAHAHA GOD DAMNIT, YOU'RE SUCH A DRAMA QUEEN!" Sabito laughed up in glee again, surely the pale man sitting in front of him would get scolded the next morning because of all the noise they were making at that time of night. "OH, IT'S SO BAD! You're breaking corporate rules, so immoral! You deserve to go to hell… c'mon, says a guy who has stabbed, stollen, and almost died on the streets of Tokio before even turning 20, for real?"

"No, you airhead! SHE'S A FREAKING STUDENT! SHE IS MY STUDENT!" he looked at him dead in the eye having to push his upper body up from the table not to fall face flat on it.

"… well, shit, so she is…" the purple eyed one finished his drink almost unbothered "is she… uhm… younger than 15?" he grimaced a bit at the thought.

"HEAVENS, NO!" like that made the situation any better "…she's 18! But I work with her older sister, God, this… sounds a lot worse out loud" he ran a hand through his face trying to wipe off some of the sweat.

"Aha! But like why, then? Is the bigger one ugly?!" they must've definitely gotten tipsy so soon because of the emotion, not as much from the sake.

"NO! I… it's not... Are you even listening to yourself?!" the blue of his eyes made such a humourous contrast with the slight blush of his face.

"Yeah, I am listening to all of this, that's why I'm asking" he wouldn't even have admitted to himself he was having fun with such talk "Who's she? I want to see the face you're willing to become unemployed for…"

Giyuu wondered if he actually kept any pictures of Kochō in his phone… ah, right, their chat. He was careful enough not to let him see any of their frisky messages there while amplifying her contact pic.

"Oh, she's such a peach, look at those eyes…" He took the phone away from him, amplifying rather his disgrace this time. Sabito opened the photo gallery very nosy and carelessly.

"Don't open… damn, fine! You know what?! I don't make myself responsible for the kind of content you'll find there, alright?!" He felt there was no more remedy than chugging the liquor down from the bottle, making his cheeks now turn into a bright red color.

"Things like this?" he raised his eyebrows while pointing to a picture of Shinobu poking his cheek happily, while he had the deadliest of stares dedicated to her. "Yeah, it's bad, she gets on your nerves…" Sabito chuckled.

"You… have no idea… I don't even know how we let it get this far…" the bottle was removed from his hand before he finally let his head rest on the table, finished.

His best friend stopped after finding a picture of her kissing his cheek while they laid on bed, naked, for what it seemed…

"Now you gotta spill it out, and I by no means mean the sake…" he also felt the need to get even more numb to have that conversation, but this clearly troubled the man scattered on the table, and he needed to know why… aside from the obvious.

If Tomioka had learned anything in therapy, was that things that weren't talked about, couldn't be solved.

"… well, it started when… I decided to teach them … self defense…"

Mitsuri went all and out on how her parents had given her an ultimatum with chemistry class before hiring a tutor if she failed the upcoming test. Shinobu barely let out quiet replies as she toyed with the corner of her activities calendar, her eyes going on and off the paper, but her thoughts lingering around the idea of, after so much and so long, there was someone who made her feel protected.

Suddenly, three red dots that had been marked a month before caught her attention, reminding her she'd need to refill her birth control soon. After all she'd told Giyuu they were safe, she couldn't be careless about anything regarding their meetings, or it would be over for them.

Sometimes she couldn't believe about how the events that had led her to having a secret relationship, physical, with her P.E teacher…

Any girl would have given anything just to stand a few steps closer to Tomioka Giyuu… and if she was being honest, perhaps no one more so than herself.

The memory of that day came back to her with an almost ridiculous clarity; by destiny's wish, her teacher took their reading class outside that day, one of those things that never happened again ever for the rest of the school year, in the garden right next to the school's sports court.

Tomioka sensei started just teaching first year of high school, and boy, were they a handfull. A bunch of new students had joined Kimetsu Academy for that year; out of the usual for any other school, Ubuyashiki principal's main focus was to take in children with difficult home situations, any it might've been; also offering spots for jobs once they'd graduated to continue to help them untill needed.

She'd learned bits and bits about her younger sister and cousin's new classmates, although Aoi had done most of the talking.

Hashibira Inosuke was a troubled only child, he was known to run around the halls of his previous school with his shirt undone and… wearing a boar mask? Causing his teachers furious outbursts. Yeah, definitely Kimetsu material.

Then Agatsuma Zenitsu had bad issues with anxiety, he was scared of absolutely every and anything… except for: women. He'd gone from school to school trying to be shaped into a respectable and calm member of society, they all failed. His grandfather, about to give up finally found their school and made it his last bet at turning the blond boy around.

Finally, the Kamado children, Tanjiro and Nezuko, came from a big, big family; they had five younger siblings, similar to Aoi's situation, she had three more cousins aside from her: Sumi, Naho and Kiyo. With so many children to look after, a private education was out of the papers, so they understood personally why they joined the academy.

As for the Kochō sisters themselves… the main reason they started studying at Kimetsu years ago was because their parents, being conservation research biologists, had to travel a lot. So, within the school's walls they could count on having a family of teachers making sure they were always well… and that was very helpful for them, after the inevitable happened… One day, their parents just never returned from their trip.

The yelling coming from the sport's court didn't only distract her from her own thoughts but the rest of her own class too; they all had to turn to see what the fuss was about. The three young boys giving his teacher more trouble than expected.

Kamado wouldn't take his earrings off, Agatsuma swore his hair was naturally blond and Hashibira… was, again, running around almost shirtless and wouldn't keep the boar mask off; Shinobu was particularly amused by the last crazed teen, he was the absolute worst of the three.

She couldn't help but notice how annoyed Aoi was at the fact they wouldn't let their teacher continue on with their class, Kanao just stood by her shily with a little entertained smile on her face; 'she finds it funny too', the purple haired girl told herself, 'I hope she can make new friends…'

Giyuu suddenly decided enough was enough and he thought of the only way of stopping the three new troublemakers, and how Urokodaki sensei made clear would be used as a last resort: physical discipline.

Nobody, not even Kochō looking from afar, noticed when it was that he took a bamboo training katana from the basket and with a quick and imperceptible movement all of them were on the ground, quiet and still. Tomioka sensei hadn't even open his eyes to take them down.

"… and until you all follow the school's rules, this is how you'll be received in my class" Kamado Nezuko quietly braided her orangey tips so they weren't as noticeable, she doubted her teacher would apply the same method on her but, the point had been made with her brother on the ground, still trying to catch his breath.

"That… was…" he began saying raising his hand "AMAZING, TOMIOKA-SENSEI! TEACH US HOW TO DO THAT!" you could've seen the bright shine in the boy's red eyes even from kilometers away as he jumped up excitedly.

"Yeah, bit of a coward's move having a weapon on you and taking us down unarmed!" Hashibira had some nerve, but it was enough to make him get up and remove that silly mask.

"…no, I already learned my lesson, I'll come in bald tomorrow" Agatsuma whipped still on the floor "… but I'll look like a fool and not get any pretty girl's attention! THAT'S WHY YOU DON'T BELIEVE ME, UH?! YOU WANT ALL OF THEM TO BE LOOKING AT YOU! THAT'S WHY YOU KEEP YOUR HAIR LONG?!" he yelled coming up from the ground looking, almost, unharmed; man, the Kamado boy still had some hope but the other two boys were staying rotten apples "I'm not letting that happen, I'm in for the fight too! … Isn't that brave coming from me, little Nezuko?" he got all flushed trying to get close to the Kamado sister.

The teacher had to remind himself why the hell had he taken the job to start with, ah right! Because at some point of his life he was a menace to society like them… and he was only able to be set straight after receiving a few, both literal and figurative, bumps in the way.

"Fine, let's make this interesting then…" he walked over to the basket once more and left the katana he'd used there for a bit as he pulled down the zipper on his blue sports jacket, leaving him only in his white undershirt.

Again, making all eyes around be on him, this time what was the loudest in kilometers was his well-formed body. And everyone, including Shinobu could've enjoyed the sight if it hadn't been for: his perceptivity … and the merry sounds escaping from her female classmates' mouths. "Ladies… your class is happening in the other direction." Again, he didn't even look back at them.

'My, how conceited.' Kochō rolled her eyes at the statement while Mitsuri blushed happily beside her, being ashamed for staring at the young teacher, but that wasn't unusual from Kanroji… she fell for anyone. However, their class wasn't tempted to lose focus again after that sort of exposure.

"… if these knuckleheads want to learn to use a weapon, you'll be taught." he explained to the rest of the class "…you will be the unfortunate first group…" he picked up three more bamboo swords with one hand and threw them for them to catch before anyone could even blink. Kamado caught it easily, Hashibira was flashy enough to catch it between his feet while going on a handstand… and then Agatsuma let his face try to catch it before it fell on his hands.

".. if anyone can manage to even scratch me, you'll be allowed to come to my class looking like the lunatics you are…" alright, bit hypocritical, he'd been some sort of gangster when he was their age; but kids those days with earrings, and colored hair and… animal masks…? times were just becoming too weird for Giyuu to handle. "You'll have half of the semester to try, we'll be training until you're shapely enough. But I'll be pushing you harder and harder each time. Are you all still in, then?"

That would've been problematic for any other teacher, nobody would've dared to tease the youngest high schoolers like that… he was indeed bold, suddenly she'd had lost all interest in her own class; no matter how hard Tomioka sensei had shamed their previous actions. The P.E teacher was making his class an adventure! She wanted to know what was going on there more than she wanted to keep reading Emma Bovary's shallow drama…

She turned her body slightly to give her a chance to appreciate the other view carefully; it seemed that the younglings had accepted their fate, much to the blond boy's disgrace. Just a slight change of position to get her even more invested in a scene that, she didn't know yet, would cause her many troubling sensations in the days to come…

Tomioka sensei's movements were … mesmerizing, like the changing tides of the sea; at first methodic and smooth, then quick and ruthless, always precise, his neutral expression never changed…

'He's hiding something', if anyone knew about a permanent poker face, it was Kochō Shinobu. But her's was just a slight smile, because Kanae had asked her to keep smiling even after everything they'd gone through.

His eyes didn't have any sparkle but rather a deep enticing blue to them, that created a hypnotic environment to anyone who saw… then, Shinobu felt a strange tightness of her chest when noticing how his hair floated in the air, it was uncommon for a high school teacher to keep it so long, but it looked so shiny… following every movement of his… toned… strong… manly body…

'Oh, damn.' That was it, she'd tasted blood once before … and now abstinence and teen hormones were making her have indecent thoughts about a teacher!

The new teacher that was making all of the girls in school drool over him; fine, now she understood why, but she just couldn't let herself be taken over by those ideas… she did try to look away from him, but every turn he took made her feel like she was drowning in a stream impossible to resist.

She didn't notice her teeth found her lower lip when her eyes focused on a specially visible spot of the teacher's neck, she imagined for a brief instant how the heat of his skin would feel against her fingertips… maybe a bit of a rusty sensation as well? She obviously had a type for men that were strong… and powerful, just like… like… that one boy with colorful eyes…

"Kochō san, would you mind reading next?" oh, so she'd got caught, fine. What her teacher was forgetting was that she was always ahead of everyone else.

"… Deep down, all the while, she was waiting for something to happen…" She even cleared her throat before continuing the reading right where the previous student had finished. "Like a sailor in distress, she kept casting desperate glances over the solitary waster of her life, seeking some white sail in the distant mists of the horizon…" She couldn't help but glance again at the scene unfolding in front of her, the black-haired man that had hypnotized her swiftly bringing all three students to the floor barely touching them…

"She had no idea by what wind it would reach er, toward what shore it would bear her, or what kind of craft it would be – tiny boat or towering vessel, laden with heartbreaks or filled to the gunwhales with rapture…" Shinobu had a talent for narrating stories of course, but this time she wasn't intentionally giving a tone to her reading, she was just… feeling… what Emma Bovary felt; and it captured the attention of all students that were as bored as her just seconds ago.

And when she imagined the ships described in the book, she could even feel the waves moving her body; shaking her but not waking her from the lightheadedness of the endless sea, rocking an abandoned little boat on the deepest of blues, the loneliest… like the eyes calling to her across the field.

Although he wasnt even looking at her, how could she feel flooded by the fury of the ocean when he was miles away from her? "…But every morning when she awoke, she hoped that today would be the day…" she wanted him to look at her, to give her just the slightest of hints that he could sense some of the magnetism she was so abruptly experiencing.

"… she listened for every sound, gave sudden starts, was surprised when nothing happened; and then, sadder with each succeeding sunset, she longed for tomorrow…" the bell rang suddenly, making her classmates let out a disappointing sigh, finally making her get down to her senses.

"Just when it was getting good, uh? I love this book but nothing matches your reading, Shinobu-chan! You literally made me feel like we were all waiting for something to happen!" Mitsuri bounced at her side, equally captivated by the power of Flaubert's words. The purple eyed girl didn't dare yet to look up at anyone just yet; she was trying to understand what was happening inside her mind.

She was a bit sweaty and too self-conscious, all caught up in Tomioka sensei's energy, like it was pulling her to become her only thought…

"I know what we were all waiting for…" she regained composure and smiled calmly, as always "It's recess time!" she decided not to make a big deal out of it, the girls stood up and made their way back inside the school building.

It was just a simple girly crush, any woman got them at any point of her life, this didn't have to be different! …After all that she'd been through "in the name of love", there wasn't anyone who could possibly catch her eye like that again; it was too soon… she wasn't over it, she needed time to come back to her senses after everything…

Indeed, because she couldn't be by no means falling for a teacher! It was the most cliché type of crush any girl could have, and she wasn't just any other girl; she was top of her class, student council president, future doctor Kochō Shinobu, and she knew better. Specially after… her first boyfriend, she had, for sure, learned her lesson to be careful around older men and to always listen to her reasoning before her heart.

"Shinobu…!" Mitsuri tried to warn her friend before crashing into someone that was trying to get into the hall at the same time as them, hell, she was overthinking again.

"I'm sorry…" she said emotionless trying to hide the shame of not paying attention to her direction while walking, but the gods were being extra caring with her that day, she felt a lightning bolt sensation when she looked up to confirm who'd been the victim of her carelessness. "T-Tomioka sensei…"

She'd for sure manifested the next move the man made, she felt the world stop for a split second when his deep orb eyes turned to look at her, still motionless, but finally looking to her own, setting the little boat that was her heart in motion with the wavy blue of his stare on her; it might've been her own clumsy, childish daydreaming telling her this, but perhaps... the teacher also stood beside her a little longer than he should have?

Giyuu on his side was trying to remember if he'd ever met that particular student before, how did she know his name? no, she hadn't been to his class, though she looked rather young compared to the rest of his classmates. Those purple eyes, they were too big and too bright… he would've recognized them easily if he'd seen them before… he gave his eyes a few more seconds to linger and give him any hints of who this girl was.

"Please watch your steps next time, Kochō-san" impossible, he knew who she was?!

"Uh, one would think that being so much taller than me, sensei, you could've seen me coming first!" she simply tucked one of her purple-tipped locks behind his ear with a haughty expression, and quickly walked away, not even bothering to look back to him one last time… she couldn't let anyone see how affected she was from that interaction.

"S-sumimasen, Tomioka sensei!" she Kanroji behind her offering the formal apologies that would never come from her own mouth, she even slightly bowed down to him before running after her. Shinobu's ears were ringing and she almost sprinted back to their class so no one could see the faint blush her cheeks were starting to show; the students would bother her nonstop already if they'd seen the incident, it would've been a nightmare if they noticed she was feeling awkward after it!

None of the two even tried to turn to confirm that the man had, in fact, stood stuck in place, trying to understand what had happened during that attempt of a conversation. The student had given him attitude?! His comment had been made only in order to avoid any other potential accident for her, did she take it the wrong way? Boy, there were indeed colorful high school students in Kimetsu, who would have thought, during his own school years everyone was much more boring… like himself; he tried his best to shake off his doubts as he headed to the teachers' lounge.

But the middle Kochō sister was nothing like the others, Kanae sensei and young Kanao shared more than similar names: their rather reserved attitude. That was the first time Giyuu had had a taste of everything Shinobu was, and try as he might… he never managed to forget get the image of her sparkling yet dark purple eyes, and that unique lilac butterfly pin flapping its wings as she fled away from him…

Giyuu then started to give his own version of the events …

It was at the beginning of the second trimester for the seniors class, he'd just started teaching them that year, he had a trial during the first months of that school year thinking that maybe the oldest students wouldn't need him to sparkle up his class in order for them to take it seriously… he was wrong. It sometimes seemed only Kochō cared enough about performing well in every class.

So he had a planning session and thought to himself, what would've he liked to learn when he was their age… or maybe younger?… well, not every student could have related to his rather torturous past, he certainly hoped; but being young didn't make them any less vulnerable to the evilness of the real world. And they were about to graduate and have even more blows thrown at them; he knew, each member of the student body had their own traumatic story to tell. Some were orphans, others had complicated family situations, others were problem children and a few others suffered from all three in one lifetime, like himself. And still he was also aware that having experienced so much heartache at a young age wouldn't prevent any more trouble from getting to them.

He talked it over with his supervisors and they thought it was a good idea, maybe even needed with the state of society in current times, human beings were still so violent; they even appreciated the fact he'd get so involved in trying to keep the students safe inside and outside the school. So he arrived a certain morning fixed on his objectives for the rest of the school year.

"Morning, everyone" he greeted them without showing any sort of attitude besides firm decision. Shinobu didn't enjoy not being able to read his emotions, she thought she was an expert in the field of the implicit and explicit, but Tomioka sensei was just a mystery.

"Good morning, teacher" they replied in unison but equally unexcited.

"I've prepared a different type of class for you today, that I hope will be useful but also… never needed" there was the drama factor the little rascals wanted to put some will to the subject. The surprised gasps around the class didn't wait too long to invade the atmosphere, he got then where he wanted. "I'm going to teach you all self defense today. Because it's important to keep yourselves safe, you never know what might happen outside safe zones and you all being young are at the mercy of any sort of criminal, you might get robbed, you could get kidnapped, hell you could be followed around by a pervert anywhere…!"

"Are you refering to Agatsuma Zenitsu from the second year right now?" Shinobu spat that out while raising her hand without a hint of remorse.

…

"… yes" he sighed showing a defeated grimace.

"Eh…? he didn't even stutter…!" Mitsuri whispered to her best friend losing all color on her face.

"His reputation has been burnt to the ground" she agreed almost unbothered, but some veins were starting to show on her forehead in contrast to her permanent grin… hoping the blond kid wasn't getting too close to Kanao or Aoi…

"Kids, being alive is being vulnerable in this world… if im not wrong most of you have had a taste of how cruel life can be. But we're all lucky to be standing here today…" he removed his sports jacket much to the butterfly girl's despair, forcing her too try to look away not to get swoon by the look of his skin like she'd gotten that first time she stared for too long.

Her plan failed as Kanroji's gasp caught her attention and forced her to see what their teacher was trying to demonstrate: scars on his arms, some with a pattern, some scattered, bigger and irregular. Most of the class understood he'd been injured before, but only Shinobu with her early medical training could've noticed a deeper, darker, meaning to the marks… some had a pattern… some were self-inflicted.

"Everyday is a second chance at life, and you'll need to make choices to keep yourselves alive and well, they'll be hard choices. You need to be prepared; heavens forbid you every find yourself in a life or dead situation but if you do… we'll make sure you'll put up a fight." He didn't even had to redirect his stare to know who was raising her hand again "Yes, miss Kochō?"

"Are we being graded on our combat ability, resistance or planning skills?" Tomioka sensei might've been annoyed by her questioning as no other classmate of her would dare to address the matter so directly, but she was honestly asking from a place of concern… she was the shortest, and physically, weakest of the class!

"You'll learn a couple of techniques and be graded on your ability to choose and use them…" Giyuu started to set up the combat mats on the floor.

"And what if some of us don't have the bodily conditions to take down and opponent bigger than us?"

"That's what the class is for, miss Kochō… and since you're so eager on the matter; you'll be the first participant of the demonstration" with that request he'd sealed their destiny without even knowing. …what could've been a sign of the downfall of his limits was the whispers of the teenagers that filled the class once again, clearly favoring their sensei. Still Shinobu stood up with no resistance, taking her place on the training mat, in front of her teacher; maybe trying to show that she wasn't intimidated. "You'll find in combat, strength is required… but tracking course of action and reaction is essential…"

It was a fun sight to see for sure, the young student could tell by the blush shown by a certain pink haired girl who was also trying to hide a joyous smile from showing. Giyuu was much taller and tonned than her, but Shinobu's energy was much more daring, as always, if anyone else had stared into her eyes, they would've noticed she was preparing to prove something.

"Do you consent to this, Kochō san?" he briefly asked positioning himself behind her, making her feel rather feverish but no one knew except herself…

"It's not like I got other options, sensei" her tone was unaffected by the obvious sarcasm in her response; she was always serious business, but the teacher thought to himself she might find much benefit from his class given the difficulties she'd pointed out herself.

"First lesson, whenever you find yourselves alone: sharpen your senses, the environment will give you clues to start thinking about your movements. Regularize your breathing, total concentration. If you get distracted, your opponent can easily knock you down… you breathe from the diaphragm, never from the chest" a slight touch from his hand crossed her abdomen up to her chest, making her suppress a shiver. She felt a slight change of position from her "opponent". "How far am I from you, Kochō san?"

"Bit less than three feet…" she tried to answer with a stable tone but she was, much for her own surprise, having a hard time keeping herself unbothered.

"How about now?" Shinobu managed to regularize her breathing as she felt him move further back from where he'd been.

"Around ten feet… and to my right!" she grinned as she pointed her index finger in his direction, without turning her head even a little. Although she quickly lost her composure again while feeling the teacher almost breathing down her neck once more, half a second after he finished speaking.

Without losing her classic smile, she decided to change the strategy since just normalizing her breathing wasn't enough to calm down. Just as the sensei had said: 'complete concentration, sharpen the senses'. The medical logic behind that was making the mind focus on things of the environment to drift away from thoughts and anxiety.

"… now, the most common attack would be from the back, they'll try to immobilize you…" the first ever contact her own hand made with his skin was her right hand catching his moving arm; feeling it lose she chanted her victory to herself, her elbow found his ribcage to everyone's surprise. Time for her final, and own, move: butterfly dance. As his body tittled to the right she turned to face him and gave three strategic blows to bring him down without hurting him… too much at least, shoulder, chest, lower belly. And then she caught her breath, the silence becoming overpowering, aside from the slight thud Tomioka sensei's body made when falling to the mat.

…

" … I guess another point to be made is to expect the unexpected…?" she hovered a hand over her mouth trying to contain a giggle coming up from seeing Giyuu's shocked face looking at her from the ground. 'Gosh, he's so cute!' she couldn't help but offering her left hand to help him up.

It had to be Kochō… his mind echoed his own words from minutes ago: one had to make choices and he'd chosen wrong, and he already knew. He had a sudden flashback from last school year when another student had managed to catch him off guard and scored a point to herself, and her whole class, another butterfly sister…

"I didn't expect less from you, Kochō san… your younger sister's sharpness is unmatched too, you've taught her well" he had to give it to her while coming up from the mat, without any evident signs of him feeling pain. Shinobu didn't take too long to understand what he'd meant by that unusual reply, because that day had been burnt into her thoughts...

So, it had been Kanao, she'd been the one who had managed to even scratch their sensei, and since then Tomioka san didn't bother her sister's classmates about their looks again. She would have liked to have heard that outcome from her sister's mouth; still she was excited to know that the little girl had benefited from the brief training they had shared together.

"What training have you received before, miss Kochō?" he noticed they were still holding hands and let hers go before it was awkward.

"Uhm nothing formal, sensei… I studied gymnastics with Mitsuri-chan when we were younger…" Kanroji waved at them when hearing her name "and… I'm medically trained so I know enough about bodily anatomy to guess where to target…"

"Impressive" not only she hadn't been formally trained, but she'd developed her own combat technique using her own skills and knowledge, everytime he came across Kochō Shinobu she proved even more: she was something else. "I'm surprised you don't trust your own abilities enough… you've just taken down someone bigger than you, Kochō san, action and reaction…"

There, she lost all poise then, he had praised her, in front of the whole class… well, yes, she'd taken him down but that wasn't because she could match his skills, it was because he hadn't expected her attack…

"Strength is not only about body mass or height, miss Kochō, it's about pushing yourself to the fullest potential when you must… and being brave." He must've read her expression, she was being careless… but when she raised her eyes to meet his, she couldn't bring herself to feel ashamed anymore, he grinned… not even slightly bothered at being taken down by his student.

"I hope you learned a thing or two from Kochō san's wonderful participation, but it won't be that easy from now on… who wants to come up next?" Shinobu stood beside him for two reasons, trying to take in the gentle words he'd just told her the calmest way possible… and also not to leave him alone in front of the class after such a scene… "how about… Kanroji – San?" damn, the man really didn't have a clue...

Mitsuri hesitated to come up, during the first months of the school year she'd tried to be more delicate to avoid making herself look too bold in front of her classmates, male classmates to he honest. Her best friend had told her that was plain ridiculous, and whomever liked her would have to like her real self and not the "damsel in distress" act she put on. Still, she didn't want to have issues with their sensei and got up with a frown. Kochō looked up at their teacher again and felt him relax watching the pink haired girl walk to meet him shyly… oh, she was going to have a blast in this class.

The shorter girl walked next to her purposely and high fived her discretely "You show him what you're made of" she winked proudly at her friend, making Mitsuri smile on that little bit of confidence she'd build up.

…

Mitsuri wasn't really able to anticipate Tomioka sensei's movements, like her friend did, but she did quite well at blocking and using defensive techniques, by the time the class was over both girls could notice the practice had made him break a little sweat, and they both giggled at that.

"Guess we indeed have skills to work on, uh sensei?" damn, again that turned out with a bit of a sarcastic tone she didn't really mean to use.

"… well, I'm glad you two aren't totally defenseless" he certainly hadn't expected that day's outcome, specially because his students hadn't been putting much effort in his class. Kochō again let a swift little laugh escape her rosy lips.

"Ah! I just gotta document this, get in, Mitsuri-chan!" the pink haired girl hesitated getting that close to their teacher after the events of that day, but seeing Shinobu be so careless about it, she let her guard down and posed to the selfie her best friend was getting ready to take.

"Kochō-san, no phones are allowed…" he didn't have time to finish her scolding because his student had already taken like ten pictures of them.

"Not during class, sensei, but it's already recess time!" she winked at him with such confidence and calm, abruptly contrasting to her attitude at the beginning of class, which would have made anyone not accustomed to the unstable mannerisms of the young butterfly dizzy.

"Yay, all this activity made me starved! Quickly, Shinobu-chan! Mom packed some ginger just for you!" anyone who tried Mrs. Kanroji's food would've rushed right after Mitsuri having said that, but not her… not today, unfortunately. And with what the purple haired girl was about to do, she couldn't have eaten a single bite from the knot forming in her stomach.

"Run along, Mitsuri-chan… I have to ask… sensei something…" her friend could stop herself from gazing at her wide eyed, then showing a suspicious grin and slowly turning around to give them some space. Shinobu took a deep breath before stopping her teacher on her tracks with a less than decent request. "Sensei!"

"I assure you, you'll do just fine with the class, Kochō -san" he didn't even look back at her, how rude. But he probably was exhausted as he was chugging down water like his life depended on it.

"You said you want us to learn strategies to keep ourselves safe in dangerous times, right?" she crossed her arms to her chest.

"Hoping you'll never find yourselves in that situation, yes…" he finally turned around to face her, making her regret her wish that he'd do that just seconds ago.

"Well… then… as you mentioned before… physical violence is not the only threat one can be… submitted to…" Shinobu didn't talk about it, Shinobu rather everyone would forget about what other great tragedy had happened to her in the span of one lifetime, the one no one ever talked about openly. But Tomioka sensei was impenetrable, and she wasn't strong enough to take a man like him down with just scheems, she'd been lucky one too many times, however there would come a time when she couldn't rely on fortune anymore… She would've committed her own parents' mistake if she did.

…

"…Is… is someone threatening you… or forcing you to do things you don't want to, Kochō-san?" Giyuu felt his blood about to boil up, she was just a young girl, who kept herself out of trouble. Sure her attitude was insufferable once in a while, but what she was implying was a hellish situation…

"Not… currently, sensei" she tried with all her might keeping herself strong while muttering those words… she'd already done the work, therapy, speaking out, filling a complaint, keeping herself away from danger … that hadn't been enough, there was times when she woke up in sweat still feeling the unwanted touch of those cold hands on her tense body.

" … how can I be of assistance?" pathetic, it sounded just ridiculous to be asking this of a teacher, still her options were limited, and she would do just about anything to avoid such thing from happening again.

" I … need… to learn how to… respond to…." they both synchronized a nervous sigh, anticipating the words that were about to come out of the younger girl's trembling lips.

…

"… a sexual assault…"

"I'm content with a bit of your love, whatever you have saved, whatever you have forgotten about, that's what I'll keep"

Hello, dreamer here again! Apologizing for taking over … three months?! To upload this hehe, well I just graduated college so… some of you might understand I've had lots on my plate.

Anyhow, I guess I should trigger warn anyone reading this again, as I was writing the last part my initial plan of one part of Shinobu's back story took a turn, an impressive but very metaphorical one. Yes so… some mentions of r.a.p.e might come up in the following chapters. Oops.

Oh! Btw, the scene when Giyuu asks Shinobu's class not to stare HAHAH is a true story … that happened to me! Back in second year of high school, a new elementary school P.E teacher was rumored to be hella cute and me and my friend just wanted to take a peek and see what the fuss was all about! Hah! He immediately lost points after telling us what you already read… with me at least haha.

As always thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy the story as much as I am enjoying writing it.

Dreamer, over and out!