Pick Your Poison (Rengoku/Sanemi/Giyuu x Reader)

Back By Unpopular Demand: Me

Aoi's parents were nice enough to let (Y/N) borrow the laundry machine to wash out the grass stains and mud from her clothing, as well as give her a little ziplock bag of rice to let her phone recover from its nighttime dip. Unlike a student, she did have to leave a little earlier than her host, so she bid a proper farewell and thanks.

"Ms. (L/N)..." Aoi paused at the door, eyes following the woman as she trudged up the hill. She didn't know much about the outsider, but that didn't help quell the twisting sensation in her gut. She wouldn't tell anyone what happened, right?

Incorrect. (Y/N) is very much on a mission to harrass that stupid mean counselor. But first, she needs to get her keys back before she forgets. The walk back was much longer than she remembered, retracing her steps adjacent to the creek in hopes of finding the exact spot the tussle was. Then it occurred to her, how the fuck was she going to find it in the first place? She doesn't remember anything really specific about where it was, and her keys were small, so the chance of finding them? Very miniscule. "God, nothing is going well for me this week."

Out of the corner of her vision, something purple jutted out from the sea of greens and yellows and she jogged over for a closer look. The wisteria branch she picked! It must've fallen out with the keys, both of which weren't very secure at all. Carefully descending the little slope, she leaned over to retrieve her flowers and search the area for those jangly fucks. It didn't take too long to find the little bastards in the creek, metal didn't easily blend into the rocks there. Once she fished them out of the water, it wasn't too difficult to hike her way back up from whence she came and continue on her way towards the school.

Her fingers twirled the little flower branch in her hands, admiring the individual blossoms extending their gentle hellos. Maybe she's gotten herself a little good luck charm amidst this mess. Heaven knows she needed it after the past two stressful days. Her joy didn't last too long, however, as she arrived at the school gate far too early for her liking. Granted, she was right on time. Despite her budding distaste for this routine, she forced a smile before her raven headed colleague."Good morning, Mr. Tomioka."

His eyes shifted over her outfit, eyebrows creasing ever so slightly as he circled her. " Ms. (Y/N). Isn't that what you wore yesterday?"

"I didn't get to unpack last night. These are freshly washed, so there shouldn't be an issue." Unlike with him. The scoundrel, he scrutinizes her, but when it comes to his own work? Ha! He sucks! He's so a hypocrite!

" 'Freshly washed.' " He paused his motions. While she was about to question it, a hand brushed against the back of her leg and all that came out was a yelp as she leaped out of reach. Eyes wide, she kept a hand over the area he just stroked. What the hell??? What was his problem??? Seeing his nonchalant behavior, alarmed (E/C) eyes fell to the item pinched between his fingers, a damp leaf. Must've been from her detour in the creek. Heaving her relief, she stood straight again. Giyuu either didn't care to comment on her suspicions, not when he was innocent anyway. She was too, however. Leaf aside, the faint scent of soap was enough to convince him of their cleanliness.  Letting the frond fall, he returned to his post. "There was a leaf stuck to your clothes."

"Oh. Actually, nevermind that. Giyuu-"

"Tomioka."

"Mr. Tomioka." (Y/N) paused, teeth grit to resist the urge to frown. "What are the policies of staying after school hours?"

"When the school is closed?" He fell quiet for a moment before returning her gaze with a sharp glare. "There are none. No one should be in the school when it's closed. When the gate is shut, absolutely no one should be within its borders. No student, teacher, or trespasser."

"Trespasser, huh?" Her eyes narrowed, peering at his own. The gaze didn't seem to alarm him, and he stepped away to signal the end of the conversation. Too bad she wasn't done with him just yet. "A student isn't a trespasser, you left Aoi to walk home by herself in the dark!"

"Aoi?" He paused and turned again, azure eyes shifting in thought. "She wasn't going home alone. She said a friend was waiting for her nearby."

"Well that isn't true, that-" (Y/N) paused. Right, Aoi didn't want to talk about it. "I mean what if that wasn't... true. No, I mean, isn't it better for her to wait where it's safe, like the school?"

"No, she would be alone there too. I was leaving. I'm not going to keep her all night when she says she has friends waiting." His eyebrows knit together, obviously fed up with the conversation. His footsteps left her wholly unsatisfied, with a taste of bitter defeat in her mouth. But that wasn't supposed to be the case! Aoi almost got hurt because of his insolence! But she wanted to respect her wishes. Her swears to the hippocratic oath, some old words from long ago that she once held to heart sway her to this very day, and she keeps her mouth shut. 

"You're standing in the way." A gruff voice drags her attention away, and (Y/N) feels her eight hours of sleep drain from her body in one go.

"Go around me."

Sanemi did just that, circling around to see the roadblock's face. She couldn't tell if he was surprised or amused by her deadbeat expression, but she had no will to find out. "It's only been a day, how are you already so tired?"

"I dunno. Still adjusting." Brushing the topic away, she continued to trudge onwards to her office to nap or something. It's not like she's always so languid and useless, moving is a lot of stress, and a new job is a lot of stress, and meeting new people is also stressful. Can you understand her pain now?

"I would have thought it was Giyuu." He faced the stoic teacher clad in blue before returning his attention to the burnt out nurse before him. "You were arguing with him about something within the first twenty four hours, that's a new record."

"Mmh." (Y/N) grumbled, still tasting utter defeat on her tongue. "Well, it's no one's fault anyway. But you agree, right? You shouldn't send kids home after dark all alone."

"Well, yea. The town's been a little wary lately. Everyone's advised to be home before the sun sets. There's some cases of people running away and things." His mouth thinned to a line, contemplating his next words. "I don't want to alarm you, this town is great and all, but it's best to just not be out so late. Weird things happen when the sun goes down."

The new information didn't really help her understanding of this weird little town, but she would have plenty of time to get accustomed with it. Accompanying him to their rooms, (Y/N) decided to fill in the silence with some small talk. "So then, are you going with your brother to the shooting competition?"

"I already talked about it with the boss, so yea." Like an ass, he didn't leave much room for the conversation to be continued, but it did leave her with a small sense of confusion. It would be rude to point it out, but was he less hostile than yesterday? No, that was just because she caught him at a bad time, he seemed calm beforehand. "An old student is going to be substituting, so I don't have to worry about the class."

"Well that's good, I hope you have a fun time then." She paused in front of her office, realizing he just walked her all the way over despite his class being so far away. "Thanks for making sure I don't get lost on the way."

"Oh I wasn't worried about that, I was worried you would fall asleep on your way here." He shrugged it off, adjusting his indefinitely popped shirt collar before pivoting to leave. "Don't need you sleeping on the job on your first day."

"Ahahaha yea..."