Chapter Text
- Will You Be My Valentine?
“Heyy, Shinobu!” Mitsuri called from down the hallway. She pushed her way through the crowds of people, beaming as she reached Shinobu’s locker, practically bouncing with excitement. Shinobu turned to her, watching as she panted, her hands on her knees.
“What’s up?”
“I-” Mitsuri stopped herself, looking around, as if not sure this was the right place to spill the tea she had been so wanting to. “Let’s go outside.”
“So? What’s the big deal?” she asked Mitsuri as they sat down on the stone steps from a secluded back area of the entrance to the stairs.
“I asked Iguro out for our Valentine’s ball!” she blurted. Shinobu blinked at her, before the information sunk in.
“Oh my. What did he say?” she asked, a broad smile on her lips.
“You won’t believe it! He said yes!” Mitsuri squealed, hiding her face in her hands.
“Girl, congratulations!” Kanae piped in, popping her face from behind the wall from the stairs.
“Yeah, we’ve so been waiting for this.” Tsutako Tomioka added kindly, joining Shinobu’s sister from behind. Mitsuri looked up, then mumbled a thanks as she buried her face under her hands again. Shinobu rolled her eyes and shot them a look to leave them alone, before patting her friend - who was dying of embarrassment- on her back.
“I am so proud of you.” she smiled.
“He’s going to look so good in a suit!”
Speaking of Valentine’s…There was one person that came to mind. Shinobu sighed as she stared at the back of his head during history class, wondering how she ever came to like the infamous depressed emo guy. Honestly, there were better guys than him, so why…Giyu Tomioka? Well, maybe there weren’t any better guys. Perhaps she really had no choice but to like him because all the other guys in this school were perverted idiots. Yeah, that must be it. She sighed again. What was she even doing?
She did wonder how he would react if she asked him out for the school’s Valentine’s ball. Would he just reject her without a single change of face? That wouldn’t be surprising, since his lack of interest in girls was obvious. But, as Shinobu turned around on her bed, it wouldn’t matter if he rejected her in her sleep, because her asking him out, or vice versa -because it never hurts to imagine- would definitely not happen. She’d bet her past life on it. So Shinobu could endure the pain of rejection in her dreams. After all, being a masochist -that was a lie, she was an extreme sadist- she could endure a little heartbreak, couldn't she?
“Yo dude, the Valentine’s ball is coming up. You got a Valentine yet?” Sabito asked Giyu as he slung his arm around him and sucked a lollipop too cute for him. Giyu stared at it.
“Did Makomo give you that?” he asked, ignoring his question.
“Huh? Oh, this? Yeah.” Sabito popped the candy out of his mouth and twirled it in the air, sighing. “If you want one, I’ll ask her when I see her. Memorize the brand this time so you don’t keep bugging me for one again though.” Giyu nodded. “So? Do you have a Valentine?”
“No.” he replied, still looking at the lollipop.
“You sure you’re going to be alright if I go off with Makomo to dance?” Sabito asked, a bit of concern in his eyes.
“I’ll be fine.” Giyu replied curtly. Sabito sighed.
“Y’know, it wouldn’t hurt to get a girlfriend.”
“I guess.” Sabito smacked him in the head with a notebook he had apparently been holding.
“You’re hopeless. What’s that thing with Kocho going?”
“She’s not my girlfriend.”
“Well, I know that, dummy. How’s your crush on her going?”
“She’s not my- I don’t know.” Giyu shrugged sadly. “I think that guy Doma has a thing for her.”
“So you gonna let him steal her?”
“I mean…she was not mine to begin with, so it’s technically not stealing.”
“But you don’t wanna see him dancing with her at the ball, right?” he asked, more gently. Giyu blinked. He didn’t want to see Shinobu Kocho dancing with Doma, but he did want to see her in a dress. A prom dress at that. She’d look amazing. So that meant he half wanted to see Shinobu with Doma at the ball, right?
“Of course not, you idiot.”
It was raining hard. Shinobu sighed. It was dark and late, due to her taking extra night classes, so the puddles were dark and reflecting only neon lights of the signs from the building across. Kanae had promised to come soon with her car, but at this hour, there’d be a lot of traffic, and it wouldn't be surprising if she arrived half an hour later than she promised. Shinobu stood watching the rain fall rhythmically, thinking about how repeated patterns like this could make someone crazy, that she didn’t notice that somebody had stopped next to her. She snapped out of her daze and looked to her right, blinking at the guy. Giyu turned his head as he noticed her gaze on him, and blinked back.
“...Tomioka. Hello there. How are you going to go home in this rain?” she added as he didn’t respond to her greeting.
“I’ll have to get wet.” he said as he stared up at the sky.
“Right. Don’t you have an umbrella or something?”
“No.”
“Hmm.” she nodded, and they watched the sky in silence.
“Say, Tomioka, do you have a Valentine?” she asked, breaking the usual awkward silence that seemed to follow him wherever he went. “Everyone seems to have one. Apparently Kanroji succeeded in asking Iguro out and the middle schoolers have had a lot of love drama these days. Even my sister’s going with that kid Shinazugawa.” Shinobu crumpled her nose at the mention of him.
“I don’t have one.”
“I see…” she paused. She internally sighed at his poor communicating skills that still hadn’t changed. They stared at the sky some more, as if somehow looking at it will make the clouds uncomfortable enough to part, revealing a bright, sunny day.
“...If that’s true…will you be my Valentine?” Dang it. This wasn’t supposed to go this way. Shinobu had clearly told herself that she would never do this, that nothing would happen even if she did. But gazing into his wide, surprised blue eyes, she couldn’t bring herself to take it back.
The rain pattered aggressively down.
Giyu didn’t know what to say. His heart hammered in his head, and he wanted to say yes but... Why would…why would somebody like her ask for somebody like him to be their dance at the Valentine’s ball? What was anybody supposed to do in this kind of situation? Was he supposed to say yes, or refuse her for the fear that she might change her mind? He half-expected her to take it back, laughing as she asked if he had really fallen for that. He waited expectantly, but she just stared into his eyes. Damn, her eyes were beautiful. Just that shade of purple that he liked. Or maybe he just liked them because they reminded him of her eyes. He parted his lips to say something, but closed them, not knowing what to say, before he blurted out;
“Sure.”
Oh no. She was going to take it back now. But Shinobu’s wide eyes only seemed to grow wider before a car honked, and its lights shone at them. She snapped her head to the car, before muttering something under her breath.
“I-, well then, see you later, Giyu!” she said quickly before she hurried off towards it, slamming the door behind her, leaving Giyu staring after her.