𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫 [[Kimetsu Academy au]] (fem reader)

≋39≋

(I like this photo of Tanjiro. This was how I envisioned his hair throughout the entire story ^,^ )

Your pulse thumps in your ears, adrenaline pumping through you and spurring you on to charge up the stairs, using the railing as leverage to pull yourself up faster. Sparing a glance over your shoulder at your friend chasing after you, you yelp giddily when he reaches out to grab you by the arm, just barely yanking it away in time.

At his failed attempt, a breathless laugh bursts from your lungs, nearly taking away what energy was left to keep running

once you were met with the second floor, you stumbled over the tip of your shoe hitting the floor at an angle, but the excitement rushing to your brain had you quick to realign yourself

Deep down, you know Sabito is a lot faster than you by default. But you don't intend to win; you want to feel the thrill of getting caught, and the possibilities of what could happen next

Once again, you decide to look over your shoulder at Sabito, neglecting to watch where you were going, and before you could process the sound of a classroom door clicking open, it is followed by the thwack sound of a boy knocking directly into you with loads of paper in his hands.

"UHFF--!" you reel backwards, flailing your arms to steady yourself, but falling right back onto your haunches anyway and sliding backwards from the force of the blow

The other, who had been rushing out of the classroom before he bumped into you, had hit the ground in unison with you, the stack of papers now strewn across the floor around him as if he'd been struck by a tornado

You rub your head and squint over at your unfortunate peer, bristling at the sound of Sabito's footsteps coming closer and skidding to a halt when he caught sight of the scene.

You know the ginger is behind you, but he has fallen uncharacteristically silent. The tension in the air had become so thick you thought you could reach out and grab it with your bare hands. suffice to say, the moment between you and Sabito was definitely ruined.

"Ahh... my fault" you mutter, getting on your hands and knees to gather up the loose paper "lemme help you"

You still haven't looked upon the face of the student, mildly confused as to why nobody was speaking. It was starting to become a little unnerving to say the least

"You kept it."

You froze at the familiar sound of Tanjiro's voice spreading warmth underneath your skin, as it had once done so long ago. You didn't dare take your eyes off the floor in front of you, unsure of how to react to him

"The chain, I mean. You kept it." He repeats, holding it up in his hand; it must've slipped from your pocket on the way down

He hands it to you and you take it from him gingerly, risking a glance at his face

He has pale, glowing skin and big red-brown eyes like a deer in the headlights. His maroon colored hair, which he often let fall at his shoulders and spike out all over the place like a lion's mane, is now tied back, but no less wild.

Those red eyes that match his deep red hair...how strange, and beautiful, you thought. It was almost like you were meeting him again for the first time

Tanjiro's eyes blink wide open, and his lips part as if he were about to say something else. Behind you, Sabito moves forward and, surprisingly, holds out a hand to the red-haired boy

"That was quite a fall you took there, Kamado" He says, and you wonder if this is the first time Sabito has ever addressed him by name "But it seems you've got a hard head."