Chapter Text
8/12/18
5:25
Dear diary, today was stressful. Hoshi kept teasing me. It's not like playful teasing, but rather harmful teasing. He kept bringing up Tsutako and her death, my insecurities, my scars, and my overall appearance. I wish he could learn how to shut up every once in a while.
Earlier, before I could leave the school campus, Hoshi came up to me. He told me he was sorry and wanted to meet at the top of the mountain where Tsutako was buried. I was skeptical at first, but I agreed. He told me to get there at six, right when the sun starts to set. It's five thirty right now, so I should be leaving. I'll write what happens tomorrow on the next page.
-Tomioka Giyuu, 5:30
Giyuu closes the book and stands up from his chair. He quickly checks himself in the mirror and grabs his phone. The screen lights up automatically.
"Five percent? Really..."
Giyuu sighs and grabs a charger. He plugs in his phone and walks towards his front door. Giyuu grabs a jacket from a hanger and his keys. He slips on his shoes and exits his apartment. He walks down the stairs, out of the building, and starts a small journey to the mountain.
It takes him thirty minutes in total. Five minutes getting to the mountain and twenty-five minutes hiking up. By the time Giyuu is at the summit, he's breathing heavily. The sun began to set when he was halfway up, so Giyuu worried he might be late.
"Finally! You're here!"
Giyuu wipes the sweat from his forehead and sees Hoshi and two other boys. Giyuu nods, "Sorry for being late."
Hoshi waves his hand, "It's no problem. Come here. We have something to say."
Giyuu hesitantly walks to Hoshi. Hoshi smirks, and when Giyuu is close enough, he grabs his wrist and slams Giyuu's body against the mountain rail. Giyuu's eyes go wide, "Hoshi-!"
Before Giyuu could finish his sentence, a hard punch was thrown to his face. The impact was so hard that Giyuu's body turned to the right. Giyuu opens his eyes and sees the edge of the mountain. He trembles, knowing the only thing that saved him from falling was a rusty rail.
Hoshi scoffs and kicks Giyuu's shins, "Fuckin' dumbass. You really thought I would apologize?"
No, that is what Giyuu's thinking. Hoshi looks down at Giyuu and delivers another kick. Giyuu falls to the ground and grips the dirt beneath him.
"What're you waiting for? Beat his ass!"
Giyuu looks at Hoshi, who motions his friends to beat him. Without missing a beat, Giyuu becomes a punching bag. Punches, kicks, and stomps were sent to Giyuu's body. He coughs and wheezes, bruises already forming on his body.
Giyuu covers up his face and curls into himself. Tears are forming as Giyuu helplessly clutches his head.
Crack!
Everybody pauses. Hoshi raises an eyebrow and looks at Giyuu's leg. It's bent and had snapped. Giyuu looks between his arms and sees his left leg bent at a weird angle. Giyuu's expression quickly changes from scared to horrified.
Hoshi scoffs, "So what if something cracked? He's not going to tell on us; he never has!"
Hoshi continues to stomp on him, and soon, his friends follow. The pain begins in Giyuu's body again. A few minutes pass, and Hoshi hauls Giyuu's limp body up. Giyuu stares at Hoshi and Hoshi smirks. Blood is dripping out from Giyuu's nose, and bruises surround his face.
Hoshi throws Giyuu's body against the rail and holds him there. Giyuu doesn't put up a fight, knowing it will only lead to worse things. Hoshi snickers before letting go of Giyuu and sending more punches.
Giyuu weakly blocks himself, but Hoshi and his friends don't stop. Giyuu feels his body moving back despite being against the rail. A moment of realization crosses his mind, and Giyuu starts to panic.
"Wait, wait!"
Giyuu pleas and tries to stop the three boys. None of them listen, and they keep hitting him. Giyuu desperately attempts to get them to hear, but nobody does.
Hoshi laughs wickedly and sends a hard kick to Giyuu's stomach.
A loud snap makes everybody stop again, everyone except Giyuu. Before he can stop himself, Giyuu falls backward and slips off the edge of the mountain. A small gasp escapes Giyuu's mouth as he falls.
Hoshi and his friends stay still with their eyes wide. Even as a distant splat sound echoes through the sky, none of the boys move.
It only takes a few moments to register everything. Hoshi slowly approaches the broken rail and looks down. A small, lifeless figure at the bottom is barely noticeable—Hoshi's face shifts from shocked to scared and angered.
He turns around and sees his friend's terrified faces. Hoshi stutters, "Y-You fuckers! You won't say anything, right?"
Hoshi stares at his friend, who says nothing. Hoshi scoffs, "If you say anything, I will take you both down with me!"
He storms off, leaving his friend behind. One of the boys lets out a shaky breath and silently leaves. The other friends stand in one place, still in shock and confusion. Eventually, the boy turns around and starts to walk down the mountain. As he walks down, he hears a scream from the bottom.
He walks down the mountain faster, already knowing why the scream happened.
It doesn't take long for news to get around. Multiple news channels spread the stories about the dead body found at the bottom of the cliff. The reporters say that it's most likely not a suicide, as the body has fresh bruises, and his shoes one.
The reporters share the identity of the body, and they share their respects to Tomioka Giyuu.
Most news hasn't gotten to the students of Kimetsu High, so when Giyuu wasn't in any of the classes, some students sent worried glances to the empty desk.
Many students didn't notice or didn't care. Only a handful were worried. Shinobu was one of the handful of students.
"Stupid idiot! He should've said something if he said he wouldn't be here!"
Shinobu angrily sends messages to Giyuu, but none of them are seen. Shinobu eventually pockets her phone and stomps away to her next class. Shinobu arrives there quickly, and she sits down at her assigned seat. She puts down the needed books and spreads them neatly on her desk.
As she lifts a book, a paper lays under it. Shinobu raises an eyebrow and grabs it. She unfolds it and realizes what it is. It was a note Giyuu had given her a few days ago. She promised to read it, but she forgot. Shinobu hums and reads the letter out loud in her mind.
8/7/18
To: Kocho Shinobu
Shinobu, I saw Rin earlier, and I think I'm developing feelings for her. I'd like your advice so I can become friends with her. Please don't make fun of me for this.
-Tomioka Giyuu
Shinobu smiles and puts down the paper. She notices a smaller note on her desk. "Hm? It must've been under this note."
She grabs the smaller piece of paper and opens it.
8/7/18
Hoshi just asked Rin out on a date. He saw me writing the previous note, and he laughed at me. Please forget anything I wrote on the last letter and throw it away.
-Tomioka Giyuu
Shinobu frowns and scoffs, "Stupid Hoshi."
She quickly grabs the notes and puts them in her pocket. The teacher enters the classroom just as Shinobu takes her hand from her pocket. Soon, all of Shinobu's worries are wiped away by a boring math lesson.