‧₊ ᵎᵎ 🦋⋅ ˚✮
Later that evening, after the laughter and teasing had finally died down, the group parted ways outside the restaurant.
The evening air was cool, the sky a soft navy shade dusted with stars, and the streetlamps cast a golden glow over the sidewalk.
Shinobu lingered behind, her steps slower than the others as she stared quietly at the pavement.
Giyuu noticed.
He didn't say anything at first-just stayed beside her, walking with the same pace until it was just the two of them, a few steps behind the rest.
“I think”
Shinobu said softly
“They're never going to let us live that moment down.”
“They won't”
Giyuu replied simply, voice calm.
She chuckled under her breath, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
“You wiped my mouth like we've been married ten years.”
"Did I?"
He asked, the faintest edge of playfulness in his voice-barely noticeable, but it was there.
Shinobu glanced at him from the corner of her eye.
"Don't act like you didn't know what you were doing."
They stopped near the front of her dorm building.
A soft wind blew past, rustling the trees nearby and making her butterfly hairpin shift slightly.
She turned to face him fully, arms crossed-like she was bracing herself for something.
But then, without a word, Giyuu reached for her hand.
His fingers were warm as they curled gently around hers, rough palms brushing her knuckles.
She blinked, surprised, but didn't pull away. Instead, she watched as he lifted her hand slightly, then slowly ran his thumb across the back of it in small, tender circles.
"I meant what I said"
Giyuu murmured, finally looking up at her.
"I want to be better."
His eyes were softer now-deeper, like the ocean after a storm.
And his lips, so often a neutral line, curved upward ever so slightly into the faintest smile.
Shinobu felt her chest tighten.
The wind might've been cold, but his touch was warm. Steady. Honest.
"Then keep doing what you're doing,"
She whispered.
"Because it's working."
Giyuu chuckled softly, the sound low and warm in the cool night air.
He slipped his hands into his pockets, exhaling deeply through his nose like the weight he'd been carrying for days had lessened, even just a little.
The faint curve of a smile still lingered on his lips as he looked down at Shinobu.
She tilted her head at him, raising an eyebrow with an amused expression before a soft chuckle escaped her lips.
Her eyes still held a spark of something unspoken-something slowly unraveling between them.
"Let's call it a night, for now"
She said, her voice gentle yet final as she shifted slightly on her feet.
Giyuu nodded once, quietly.
"Yeah... for now."
They didn't move right away, both lingering in the silence like neither of them really wanted to leave first.
But eventually, Shinobu turned toward her dorm, her steps light and unhurried.
Giyuu watched her go, his gaze lingering on her back until she reached the door.
Just before disappearing inside, she paused, glancing over her shoulder one last time.
Their eyes met.
"Goodnight, Tomioka-san"
She said with a small smile.
"Goodnight, Kocho"
He replied softly, and for once, it didn't sound formal.
It sounded like something more. Something growing.
And as the door clicked shut behind her, Giyuu stood there for a moment longer, still smiling to himself, before turning and walking off into the night.
As Giyuu walked under the soft amber glow of the streetlights, the faint buzz of his phone chimed in his pocket.
He slowed to a stop and pulled it out, expecting maybe a message from Tengen or one of the guys but what he saw instead made his steps pause altogether.
There it was. A message from her.
Shinobu.
His brows lifted slightly as he opened it, heart skipping without permission.
The first thing he saw was a photo—Shinobu, sticking her tongue out playfully at the camera, her hair a little messy from the night breeze, her butterfly clip still in place.
It was blurry, probably taken in a hurry, but unmistakably her.
Beneath it was a message
“Take care, loser.”
Giyuu blinked, the corners of his lips curling into a quiet, almost disbelieving smile.
His thumb hovered over the screen, not quite typing back yet, just staring at her message.
It wasn’t dramatic, it wasn’t overly emotional but it was just her, in the way only Shinobu could be.
Sharp. Soft. Warm. Familiar.
He locked his phone and slipped it back into his pocket, but the smile didn’t fade.
“Yeah”
He muttered under his breath, resuming his walk with a lighter step,
“You too… pest.”
Giyuu walked a few more steps down the quiet street, the glow of a convenience store up ahead flickering slightly beneath a nearby street lamp.
The message from Shinobu still lingered in his mind, making his chest feel both tight and oddly light.
He slowed his pace, reached into his pocket, and pulled his phone out again.
His thumbs hovered over the screen for a moment before he opened his messages and clicked on Tengen’s contact.
He started typing:
TO: UZUI TENGEN
Meet me near the convenience store.
He stared at it for a second.
He pressed send, then tucked his phone away with a quiet exhale.
The next morning
The golden morning sun streamed gently through the curtains of Shinobu’s dorm room, casting a soft glow across the tidy space.
The scent of floral mist lingered in the air as the sound of light laughter and soft brushes against skin filled the room.
“Hold still, Shinobu-chan”
Mitsuri said sweetly, carefully dabbing a bit of blush onto Shinobu’s cheeks.
She leaned back, tilting her head as she admired her work.
“Perfect! You look so pretty, it’s almost unfair.”
Shinobu chuckled softly, sitting cross-legged in front of the vanity.
Her lavender eyes watched Mitsuri through the mirror, the warmth in them undeniable.
Her hair was half-tied and curled at the ends with a butterfly clip, strands softly framing her face.
She wore her uniform—clean, refined, and effortlessly beautiful.
“Are you sure it’s not too much?”
Shinobu asked, tilting her head.
“No way!”
Mitsuri shook her head dramatically, her curls bouncing.
“It’s graduation pictorial day. This is the moment we immortalize our youth, our charm, our pain from calculus class!”
Shinobu laughed at that, carefully applying gloss on her lips.
“You’re dramatic even this early in the morning…”
“I call it passion!”
Mitsuri giggled, twirling a strand of her pink-and-green hair.
Their room was cluttered with opened makeup kits, curling irons still warm, scattered bobby pins, and discarded outfit options.
A framed photo of their entire friend group from prep school and a picture of her and Mitsuri rested near the window sill, a quiet reminder of how far they had come.
“I still can’t believe it’s almost over,”
Shinobu said softly, her smile faltering just slightly as she stared into the mirror.
“Everything went by too fast…”
Mitsuri’s expression softened as she looked at her best friend.
“We still have today, and prom… and maybe something even sweeter after that.”
Shinobu raised a brow.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Mitsuri only giggled in return.
“You’ll see.”
As the two girls gathered their things and gave one final glance at their reflection, Shinobu exhaled deeply and smiled.
She wasn’t sure what the day would bring but for once, she was okay with not knowing.
At the boys’ dorm, the morning was anything but peaceful.
“Where the hell is my hair wax?! This isn’t even styling—it’s just existing!”
Sanemi barked, ruffling his already tousled white hair in front of the shared mirror.
“Maybe if you didn’t punch your drawer last night, it wouldn’t have flown under your bed”
Obanai mumbled flatly, dabbing translucent powder onto his face with intense focus.
“LOOKING GOOD, BOYS!”
Boomed Rengoku, fully dressed in his crisp school uniform, already striking poses in front of the mirror.
“Today, we shine!”
Tengen was sprawled on the floor, holding his iPhone above his head as he snapped dramatic 0.5 shots of himself and everyone else.
“This one’s captioned: Morning madness but make it flashy.”
“Delete that.”
Sanemi snarled as he glared down at Tengen.
“If that ends up on your story, I’m cutting the Wi-Fi.”
“Too late”
Tengen winked.
“You’re already trending in my close friends list.”
Meanwhile, Giyuu sat on the edge of his bed, his uniform already half-buttoned as he ran a brush slowly through his damp hair, trying to tame the slight waves.
He remained quiet, focused but not unaware.
“Tomioka”
Tengen said suddenly, flipping the camera toward him.
“Smile, come on. It’s not your funeral.”
Giyuu didn’t even look up.
“You’re holding the phone upside down.”
Tengen paused, checking the screen, then shrugged.
“Art.”
Obanai let out a sigh.
“We’re going to be late if Shinazugawa keeps trying to fight his own reflection.”
“I SWEAR THIS STRAND NEVER EXISTED BEFORE—”
“Shinazugawa”
Rengoku said calmly, adjusting his tie with proud finesse
“Let your hair be. It’s part of your spirit!”
As the chaos whirled around him, Giyuu buttoned the last of his uniform, stood up, and finally glanced at the mirror.
His reflection stared back—neatly dressed, hair fixed, but there was still that tension in his eyes.
‘One photo day closer to the end’
He thought quietly.
Then, grabbing his blazer from the chair, he muttered.
“Let’s go.”
The school campus buzzed with energy, laughter, and a touch of bittersweet chaos.
Students filled the courtyard, dressed in their neatly pressed uniforms, some taking selfies near the flowering trees, others signing each other's yearbooks and blazers with heartfelt messages and inside jokes.
There was an unmistakable sense of finality in the air, a mixture of excitement for what’s ahead, and nostalgia for everything they were about to leave behind.
The boys had arrived first, standing near the gym steps while waiting for the pictorial lineup to begin.
Tengen was already posing in front of the lens of Rengoku’s camera, tossing peace signs and pointing dramatically into the sky.
“I’m not even sure this is for the yearbook anymore”
Obanai muttered, arms crossed.
Sanemi, fixing his collar in the reflection of a classroom window, scoffed
“Better him doing that than bugging me to take mirror selfies again.”
Giyuu, however, wasn’t paying attention to any of them.
He stood a few steps behind, hands in his pockets, the faint breeze brushing the hair across his forehead.
His dark eyes, previously calm, suddenly widened ever so slightly.
From across the courtyard, just past the low buzz of the crowd, Shinobu appeared.
She walked with Mitsuri by her side, both girls laughing softly at something only they could hear.
Shinobu’s uniform was crisp, and her hair was curled at the ends neatly adorned with her familiar butterfly clip.
Her features were soft yet striking beneath the morning sun, her skin glowing with natural warmth.
She didn’t seem to notice him at all.
And for a second, it felt like the world slowed down around Giyuu.
His breath hitched in his throat.
He had seen her countless times. On the court.
At night under fluorescent lights. In moments filled with tension, laughter, and fury.
But somehow, today she looked different.
She looked like the ending of something precious.
“Hiii! Ugh, we thought we were late!”
Mitsuri said brightly, clinging to Shinobu's arm as they approached the boys.
Her voice carried over the excited chatter of other students, catching the group’s attention.
Obanai turned to look at her and froze for a second, a visible flush creeping up his neck as he caught sight of her.
Her soft curls bounced with each step, her cheeks were dusted with the perfect shade of pink, and her uniform hugged her just right.
He blinked, completely taken.
“She looks… perfect”
He muttered under his breath, quickly looking away when she beamed at him.
But while everyone was reacting to Mitsuri’s dramatic entrance, Giyuu had only one person in his line of sight.
Shinobu.
She stood just beside Mitsuri, her posture casual but poised, her fingers brushing a strand of hair behind her ear as the breeze danced around them.
Her hair had been curled ever so slightly at the ends, soft waves that framed her face gently.
Her lashes looked longer than usual, fluttering as she blinked at him, deliberately slow.
Her lips held a subtle rosy tint, and when she smiled, it wasn’t coy. It was deliberate.
A smirk tugged at the corner of her mouth as she caught him staring.
“Take a picture, Tomioka-san. It might last longer”
She teased lightly, her brows raising in challenge.
Giyuu didn’t look away, but a faint smirk did curl on his lips.
“Didn’t need to. It’s already burned into my memory”
He said quietly, almost as if he didn’t mean to say it out loud.
Shinobu blinked, the smirk on her lips twitching, threatening to turn into something softer.
“Cheesy”
She said, looking away for a moment to hide the slight color blooming in her cheeks.
“Maybe”
Giyuu replied with a small shrug, still smirking.
“But not wrong.”
And for a brief moment, everything else, just blurred into the background.