Chapter Text
“ah! president tomioka and vice president kocho are so dreamy!”
“they both look good together! i wonder if they are a couple?”
“they have this regal vibe to them, it wouldn’t surprise me if they were already dating!”
those were some of the phrases that shinobu and giyuu heard whenever they walked together to the student council room. as soon as they entered the room, shinobu makes giyuu his tea, knowing how exactly he likes it.
“kaicho, do students saying those things bother you?” shinobu asks with her usual calm and collected face.
“no, they don’t. do they bother you, kocho?” giyuu replies, also with his usual calm face.
but the truth is, neither of them were calm inside.
kocho shinobu, the heiress to the kocho empire. her family owned the majority of the hospitals and corporate offices in japan. raised in a prim and proper environment, an outstanding student and woman in general. no way in hell she’s confessing first.
tomioka giyuu, one of the few scholars in the hashira academy, climbed his way up the ranks. became the student council president despite being what they classify as a “commoner”, rank one in academics. he wants shinobu to be the one to confess to him.
both of them knew they had feelings for each other, but both didn’t want to lose. in this game, whoever confesses first loses! this has been on-going for three months, ever since they were elected in the student council.
their student council currently consisted of four people: second year high school students giyuu and shinobu, first year high school secretary kamado nezuko, and first year high school tokito muichiro.
only the president was elected by the students, the rest were recommended by the principal for their performance, with the president also playing a crucial role.
it was because of giyuu that shinobu finally gave the student council a chance. she was already active in different clubs, but refused the student council as she found it a bit challenging to be with people all day. it wasn’t until giyuu asked her to be his vice president that everything changed.
“nezuko and muichiro-san should be here any minute. we have a meeting with principal ubuyashiki in a while.” shinobu says with a smile, preparing her clipboard and pen, oblivious of what will come next.
the moment nezuko and muichiro entered the student council room holding hands, it was as if time stopped. what the hell? why were those two children holding hands? (they were just a year younger than them, but still, in their eyes, they were children)
“muichiro-san…” shinobu said in shock, were their eyes betraying her? surely she’s hallucinating.
“we are dating!” nezuko exclaims happily.
dating.
dating?
dating!
holy shit. two members of the student council were dating!
“nezuko? is this true? since… since when did this happen?” giyuu was equally shocked, but most of all, they felt like utter fools! they have been beating around the bush for three months, and these children—! how were they able to confess their feelings for each other and date freely? how on earth?!
“i have liked her since childhood.. she’s the younger sister of tanjiro after all.. we are neighbors.. it just happened.” muichiro answered politely.
shinobu couldn’t believe this. was it that easy? she refuses to believe it’s so easy to confess! have they not considered the societal implications of their relationship? this can make or break the student council!
giyuu was speechless. these people were younger than him, not to mention nezuko being his cousin, they just started dating as if it was so easy! where was the struggle? where were they trying to outsmart each other just for the other to confess? did nezuko also stay up late thinking about how to reply to muichiro’s first message? did muichiro meticulously buy heart shaped donuts in an attempt to make nezuko eat it and blush about it?
“since when was this happening?” shinobu asked, her eyes twitched, a sign that she was also in disbelief. not only are they shocked at how easy it was for them to date, they were also shocked by the fact that they didn’t see this coming!
both shinobu and giyuu pride themselves as being smart not only in academics, but also in perception about their environment! how come they never seen the two desperately hide their feelings for one another only for it to be painfully obvious?
they both didn’t want to accept the truth — confessing was easy. but it’s not easy if you are kocho shinobu, the heiress to the kocho empire, and tomioka giyuu, the student council president!
“but don’t worry, we will make sure everything stays the same, other than holding hands, you have nothing to worry about!” nezuko says with a smile.
wrong.
both of them were going to worry about this.
they were just grateful that there was some kind of emergency meeting that principal ubuyashiki had to attend, because they would not be able to listen to the meeting properly after knowing that life changing information.
if you were to ask shinobu, the only time she would have imagined members of the student council dating each other would be her and giyuu! she never thought this day would be even possible. she has to step up her game.
no way in hell! giyuu should be the one to step up his game!
the family car picked her up and she thought it was going to be another boring day in their big empty house, but she was wrong. her elder sister is here!
“nee-san!” shinobu ran to her with a tight hug. the only person who truly understood her was her elder sister, who was also the heiress to the kocho empire. kanae was to inherit all their corporate companies, and shinobu were to inherit all their hospitals.
as her elder sister married early, she was already living with her husband, shinazugawa sanemi, who is the heir to marechi corporation, the biggest company supplying firearms and weapons to the government. they also met in the hashira academy, and got married without permission as soon as they turned nineteen.
kanae was four years older than shinobu, with her being twenty-one currently, and shinobu being seventeen. if she was going to be honest, she also wanted to follow in her footsteps and marry someone secretly. but ever since kanae broke free from their parents’ control, they have been more controlling over shinobu, especially when it comes to boys and relationships in general.
that is one of the reasons she just couldn’t confess to giyuu outright, she wants to save him from her family’s harshness and judgment. while she did originally have that same mindset of only wanting to be with people in her own league, meeting giyuu changed that. he was the most hardworking person she knew, and deserves to be where he is right now, as he did that all by himself compared to most students that have their families wealth to back them up.
“i had some free time so i dropped by. how are you doing?” kanae asks her with a smile. the kocho sisters had opposite personalities, kanae was more outgoing and a social butterfly, while shinobu was more introverted and closed off. regardless, they both loved each other as they are the only ones who can truly understand each other.
“have you confessed to tomioka?”
shinobu could feel the blood rushing to her face, “nee-san! not too loud… they might hear you… and they’ll go crazy and have him investigated!”
the whole night (after doing her homework), the kocho sisters shared what was currently happening in their lives at the comfort of shinobu’s room. she told her sister about the revelation today, how nezuko and muichiro shocked them both.
“hmmm… i know why you are holding back, but do you know why tomioka is holding back? he’s also not confessing to you?”
truth be told, shinobu didn’t really know why they didn’t want to confess to each other straight up. she doesn’t even know who, what, and why, they started to play this game of whoever confesses first loses. was it a pride thing? was it because of societal implications? was giyuu just not confident enough? but regardless, shinobu desperately wants giyuu to confess. they already have feelings for each other, what the hell were they waiting for?
meanwhile, giyuu came home to an empty home as his father urokodaki was out working late and his older sister tsutako was also working late nights. he was used to their house being quiet, but he looks forward to weekends the most, as that’s when the three of them would eat dinner together and bond.
giyuu took a shower and afterwards laid down at his bed, with one thing constantly on his mind: nezuko and muichiro are dating!
his younger cousin got into a relationship before him, not only that, it seemed like they both weren’t concerned about this at all. was it that easy? he doubts it. there’s a lot of things that need to be considered when it comes to a relationship.
was it because they didn’t care about the societal implications of their relationship? the kamados were a relatively wealthy family as they supplied coal for all factories in the country, and the tokitos owned multiple chain restaurants across the country, both of them were in their own leagues in terms of wealth.
how he wishes he was also on pair with shinobu.
he’s not one to feel bad about their financial status, as they are living comfortably. there is a roof over his head, they are able to support the other fifty percent of his tuition in the hashira academy, and his allowance is more than enough for him. they are wealthy and comfortable, just not to the kocho empire level, where their name is established and their wealth was unimaginable.
he’s probably a commoner in the eyes of shinobu’s family. that’s the reason he strived to be the student council president, he wanted to be a man who is worthy of being able to stand beside her, and so far he’s doing a job. his academic rank is also one of his strengths, as he ranks first, and shinobu ranks second. but truth be told, he often loses sleep just to study and maintain that. but he won’t have it any other way — he wanted to be the perfect man for shinobu.