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Genya had been awfully quiet this morning, not that Sanemi minded the silence but by now he was usually rambling and even eating with his mouth full of food —which Sanemi was always complaining about— and talking non-stop about homework, other teachers or his favourites subjects and whatever he liked at the moment. This silence made Sanemi suspect his little brother was onto something. And he wasn't far away from the truth.
When Sanemi finished his coffee he got up from the kitchen table to clean the coffee cup in the sink. “Can Tanjiro stay this afternoon?” he heard Genya asking behind him, which almost made him drop the cup.
“You mean that menace of a boy who always talks too much at class?”
“Nemi!” the older Shinazugawa turned to look at his brother.
“No, really, him? I’ve done so much for you and you repay me with extra hours with my worst student after school?”
“Don’t be that dramatic.” Genya said, rolling his eyes. “Besides, he is a top student in your class!”
“That’s the worst part,” the white haired man said to himself. “Since when are you two that close anyways?” He had seen the too-smiley boy running around the school hallways and, occasionally, screaming Genya’s name —that loudly kid—, but his brother always looked shocked or even slightly bothered by Kamado’s approaches. That was part of what made him reluctant to like the redhead. Had he misunderstood it?
At that question, Genya dropped his gaze at his cereal, moving the spoon without eating anything and avoiding his brother’s eyes.
“He's helping me with homework.”
“I can help you with homework.”
“Am I allowed to have people my age around?” That, plus the fact that Genya wasn’t very friendly and struggled at making friends at first —Sanemi still felt bad about him for having to start again in a new high school, and as the teacher’s little sibling nonetheless— made Sanemi rethink the negative he was about to give his brother.
“Ugh, fine. He can come home, but I don’t want to hear him.”
“He’ll be a ghost.” Genya assured, fully convinced he wasn’t going to be able to keep that promise. Sanemi knew as well.
“Finish that, we have to get going.”
“Yes, Mr. Shinazugawa.” Genya mocked him, but the little smile on his brother's face was worth it.
Or so he thought.
It was only the second period and he was already losing it. And it was thanks to a little boy with too many questions, he even dared to correct him on a problem’s solution, and the fact that the boy was right didn’t make it any better.
Sanemi couldn’t stand thinking he was going to have him at his house in about four hours.
“What’s that large face for?” A plane voice asked him. He was no longer alone in the teacher’s room and looking at Sanemi was nothing less than Giyuu Tomioka, what a lucky chance.
“Tch, why do you care?” he said, returning to his sandwich and thoughts. Tomioka just looked at him with a face that said I don’t care and didn’t ask anything else from Sanemi. At least their interactions had moved from hostile to – in the last year. The P.E. teacher walked towards his bag and looked for his food in silence. After a moment he got out an onigiri and a bag of ohagi, the man turned to Sanemi and offered one of the sweet rice balls.
“I made too much.” Tomioka said, simply.
“Again?” The blue eyed man nodded and Sanemi accepted it, not wanting to look ungrateful —he also liked ohagi very much—.
They sat in silence for a long moment, just eating, while Sanemi kept thinking about his brother’s friend. It was obvious he didn’t like the kid but he could also see that Genya had been more open lately and step by step his little brother left his always bothered expression and had become more talkative in class, according to the other teachers. Genya had also told him he was eating regularly with a new group of students. He was making friends, and in the way he was also building a better relationship with his brother after the rough times they both went through after his father finally left the family. He couldn't help but think that maybe this small group of friends Genya was building had a lot to do with his brother’s good moods. In the end, Sanemi had seen Genya grow up and become a quieter kid every day, living in a house like theirs where talking too much or complaining could end in an ugly fight had made numbers on them, sometimes in opposite ways. Sanemi ended up having a heartheated temper, who snapped at anything he felt like a threat but also defend what he thought was right no matter the way, Genya had a low profile and while he wouldn’t say his brother wasn’t passionate, he was better at hiding it, almost tried too much.
All of this had ended in both of the Shinazugawa brothers fighting at home after they both moved together. But not one time had Sanemi regretted his decision, he was determined to make up for every mistake he could have made with his little brother, and it was working as far as he knew. Accepting his friends —especially that one— was just a little price he was ready to pay to see his Genya feel confident in himself again. If there was someone Sanemi Shinazugawa would move the word for it was his brother.
“Giyuu” he said suddenly, surprising the other teacher and himself by using his first name. “Do you know Tanjiro Kamado?”
“Of course.” he answered, and Sanemi thought he noticed a bit of fondness in his tired tone. “He’s talented.”
“Mmm. And a pain in the ass.”
That made Tomioka… smile? It had to be a vision. “Sometimes.” At least he agreed with him on something. “But” Giyuu continued, “he’s a good kid.”
Sanemi made a guttural noise that seemed to be entertaining to Tomioka. Damn.
“Why”
“He’s too close to Genya.”
“Is that something bad?”
“I have to face him outside of school.”
“Ah” he seemed to understand. “One time I gave him my number because he had class related questions and he hadn’t stopped sending me memes I don’t understand.” That was probably the most talkative the quiet man has ever been, at least with Sanemi.
“Insuferable.” He said. “Why haven’t you blocked him?”
“Sometimes they’re funny.”
“Ugh” He complained, “being an older brother is so hard, the things we do for them... don’t you think so?”
“How would I know? My sister is the one with endless patience.”
He wasn’t aware Giyuu Tomika was a younger brother, but now that he knew he felt it made sense. Was also being so shy in younger siblings nature or it was just a happy coincidence?
“Don’t you have any suggestions?”
“Me? You want advice.”
“I want advice,” he repeated, a bit surprised himself.
“You sure are desperate.” Sanemi felt offended at that, even if he had the feeling the insult wasn’t directed exactly at him. “Take a long breath,” he finally said. And after that “Ignore the kid,”. And that’s why no one asked for Tomika’s advice.
“Very useful.” he sighed, and looking at the clock he saw his next class was in less than five minutes. Sanemi took his things and moved outside the room and without turning around he made a little goodbye sign to the other teacher. “Thanks for the ohagi.”
“Sanemiii!” Genya’s voice sounded far away from him, who was standing next to the car, and when he looked at him he was met with his brother running to the car and a second boy following him. “Wait, wait.” Genya said, fighting for his breath when he got to the car.
“Hello, Mr. Shinazugawa!” Said the Kamado kid with a big smile next to him, his breath as easy as if he would have been walking toward the car.
“You’re late.” Was his only answer. “I was about to go.” He wasn’t.
“Sorry, we got caugh-”
“It was my fault,” said the redhead. “I asked Genya if he could wait for me as I asked a friend to go with Nezuko to our house. I didn’t want her going alone.” What a nice fucking gesture, it irritated Sanemi for no reason, besides, Tanjiro kept smiling brightly at Sanemi.
“Okay.” He simply said, opening the car door. “Get in the car.” He had been tempted to refuse to drive his brother’s friend to their house, but it was too cruel —and a little bit childish. So he waited until both boys were seated in the back seats with their belts on before he turned the engine on.
He usually asked Genya about his day on their way home, but this time he drove all the way in silence while the two boys were talking behind him. He couldn’t hear a lot but once or twice he’d heard his brother laughing at something the other boy had said. It made him want to stop the car and demand him to tell him the joke, but it might have been a bit excessive. And it was nice hearing Genya laughing so freely, anything that made him make this kind of sound couldn't be so bad.
They got home in about ten minutes and the boys walked upstairs to the second floor to do their homework at Genya’s room. Surprisingly, he didn’t have to ignore Kamado that much, indeed, he barely noticed he was there.
At 5pm he noticed none of the kids had gone downstairs and thought they might be hungry, so he put some onigiris and tea in a tray and went to his brother’s room, opening the door with his free hand.
“I thought you might be hungry.” He started saying, and then noticed the boys closeness, they both were sitting on the floor with his notebooks spread in front of them, Kamado’s hand on his brother’s tight as he was explaining something to Genya. And it could be anything really, but his brother’s face was red enough to make him suspect.
“Oh, thank you! It was very nice of you.” Said Tanjiro to Sanemi, unaware of the older man's stare. The boy moved to clean the floor and make space for the food and Sanemi took the chance to put it, purposefully, between his brother and the redhead.
Genya was still looking at him, his face a little less red than before, but it was clear he was fearing some kind of reaction, “Ah, Nemi…”
Then he took a long breath. “Enjoy the food.” The line was delivered too cold and quick but it was better than his initial thought, throwing that damn kid through the window. Sanemi got out of the room, without closing the door, “And doors open.”
“Okay! Thanks again!” he heard Tanjiro saying behind him. Too cheerful for someone who was about to have a surprise math test the next day.
Overall, he handled it well. He took his homework corrections to his own room, closer to Genya’s, and ignored the boys in the other room. Or tried to. He convinced himself it was nothing, boys these days were a lot closer between them. It didn’t mean anything, it was just a touch. When the thought didn’t leave his mind he took his phone, looking for a contact he wasn’t even sure if he had. It was there.
Sanemi pressed his phone to his ear, he didn’t know if his call would be answered, but after a few rings it was. “The ignoring isn’t working,” he muttered.
Giyuu’s calm voice came through at the other side “Is he too loud?”
“Worse,” Sanemi snapped.
There was a faint sigh on the other end. “How can it be worse?”
“They’re too quiet.”
That made Giyuu pause. Sanemi could hear the faint hum of static between them, the weight of unspoken questions.
“Too quiet?” Giyuu finally said.
“Yeah,” Sanemi growled. “Suspiciously quiet. And I saw Kamado touching Genya’s leg.”
Giyuu’s tone didn’t change. “I’ve heard you could go to jail solely for that.”
Sanemi stopped pacing. “Was that a joke?” he asked, half incredulous, half annoyed. “Because I’m not in the mood for jokes. I’m telling you, they were too close.”
“Shinazugawa,” Giyuu said evenly, “are you afraid of your brother being affectionate with his friends?”
“No?” Sanemi replied, though it sounded more like a question than an answer.
“Then let them be,” Giyuu said. “If it helps you calm down, I’ve heard Tanjiro’s a really decent guy.”
Sanemi frowned. “Who said that?”
“People I talk to,” Giyuu replied.
That earned a dry snort from Sanemi. “You talk to people?”
There was the faintest pause before Giyuu said, “Alright. Have a nice afternoon.”
“Wait, no—don’t hang up!” Sanemi’s voice softened suddenly. “Sorry. It was just a joke. Thanks.”
“You’re welcome,” Giyuu said. “And stop worrying. At least they’re sixteen.”
The line went dead with a soft click, leaving Sanemi standing there, phone in hand, unsure if he’d just been comforted or laughed at.
It was around one hour later his brother appeared at his room’s door.
“Hi”
Sanemi looked at him with only one question in his mind, “Is Kamado leaving.”
“Yeah, about that… Is storming outside.” Sanemi turned his face to the closed window, how could he not notice. It was, in fact, raining so strong he could barely see through the glass. “I was wondering if he could stay for dinner…”
Sanemi looked at Genya with an exasperated glare, but both of them knew he wasn’t sending Tanjiro home under this storm. “Your friend can stay until it stops raining.”
“Okay. Thank you.” he said, but didn’t leave the room.
“What else?”
“Em, before… it wasn’t, we’re friends…” Sanemi supposed his accusative glare —and the three or four times he managed to pass next to Genya’s room in the last hour— had made his brother worry about him taking the wrong idea. Whatever that was. He refused to make his brother feel bad about it, especially when this was the first time Genya brought someone over.
“It’s fine, I’m glad you’re comfortable with your new friends.” he said, trying to pay attention to the voice in his head —who sounded too much like a certain black haired man— saying he had to stop making up weird scenarios.
His answer granted him a little smile from Genya and he approached to touch his head, the younger protested at the gesture. “It’s good seeing you smile.”
“Stop that,” Genya said, taking his hand off of his hair, “you’re creeping me out a bit.”
Sanemi snorted at him. “Whatever” he answered. “What do you want for dinner?”
But in the end, the storm didn’t stop after dinner, if not it turned worse. Sanemi was planning on driving the other boy home —he wasn’t letting him walk behind the water despite his dislike of him— but it got bad enough for it to be dangerous as well, so he ended up offering to let him stay for the night. He even called his mother to tell her himself and make sure she didn’t worry.
“Yes, Mrs. Kamado, he will be fine. They can come with me to the school tomorrow… It is no problem, really… yes, I can pass you with him.” he said, giving Tanjiro his phone, who kept giving details to her mother with a cheerful tone.
“Wow, brother, you look like an adult.”
“I am an adult, Genya.” he replayed, with a death glare that wasn’t doing much on his brother lately. “Go to your room before I change my mind.”
He went himself to one of the closets and was able to find an extra futon.
“Oh, Mr. Shinazugawa, this is your phone.” “Thank you for the dinner, and for letting me stay.”
He took his phone off of Tanjiro’s hands, “Yeah yeah, don’t need to.” “Kid,” he wasn’t sure of what he wanted to ask. “I wasn’t aware you liked spending time with Genya” it sounded like a judgment, he didn’t mean it was weird anyone liked to be with his brother, but-
“How could I not?” the boy said, and his voice was so genuine Sanemi almost felt bad for ever doubting him. Almost. Tanjiro softened his voice a bit, “Genya is amazing.”
And yes. Sanemi couldn’t agree more with that affirmation. For a moment he saw the younger boy in a different light, anyone who appreciated his brother as he deserved had his respect granted. At least until the next morning.
He wasn’t letting the redhead know, anyway. “You can take this,” he said, handing him the futon.
“Thanks.” he smiled for the… who knows which number time, and finally left upstairs.
Sanemi’s phone buzzed in his pants and he found an unexpected message.
[Giyuu]
Little problem solved?
He wished he could answer that question with a yes. It was never that simple.
[Sanemi]
Under control. For now.
[Giyuu]
Glad to hear.
Goodnight ☺️
Sanemi looked one, two times at his phone screen as if he couldn’t believe Giyuu knew how to use emojis. And why was he using this with him. He decided on going to sleep, enough weird things for one day.
When he woke up a bright sun was welcoming him from the other side of the window and he saw it as a good sign. He liked waking up earlier than necessary so he let the teenagers sleep for a bit more time. He wasn’t much of a cook, but he knew what Genya liked: rice, eggs and miso soup.
He set three bowls on the table before realizing what that meant. Three. His jaw tightened for a moment, but he didn’t change it. When the food was ready he headed upstairs to wake them. The door to Genya’s room was half-open, and he pushed it softly.
The sight that greeted him stopped him cold. Genya was there, still asleep, his hair a mess as usual. But right beside him, tangled under the same blanket, was Kamado. One arm over Genya’s chest, his face soft and peaceful in the morning light. Sanemi stood there, caught somewhere between disbelief and complete shock.
He cleared his throat loudly. Nothing.
He did it again. This time, Genya, blinking, still sleepy. “Nemi…? What’s wrong?”
“What’s wrong?” Sanemi repeated, voice low, incredulous. “You tell me, kid.”
Tanjiro sat up then, hair sticking out in all directions, still half-asleep but already smiling. “Good morning, Mr. Shinazugawa.”
Sanemi blinked. “...Yeah. Morning.”
There was a pause. Tanjiro looked genuinely pleased to see him, like he hadn’t just committed a crime against decency in his own house. His brother had the decency to at least look embarrassed, avoiding his eyes at all cost.
“I made breakfast,” Sanemi said finally, because what else was he supposed to do? “Come eat before it gets cold.”
Tanjiro nodded, unbothered. “Thank you.”
As Sanemi turned to leave, he muttered under his breath, “You better not expect an easy perfect grade, Kamado.” He was making this test the most difficult the boy had ever seen.
[Sanemi]
How bad is having a student as your archenemy?
[Tomioka Giyuu]
It’s too early for this.
And then:
Wanna discuss this over lunch break? I made too many ohagi once again.