"THANKFULLY NO ONE...

caught this on tape. what in the world were you thinking?!", kaori lectured.

the parents of sukuna and suzuki were invited to talk with the teachers in separate rooms, as it turns out that inumaki's film did indeed come in handy.

sukuna didn't seem the least bit concerned, as he slouched in the chair that he was forced to sit on.

     "mah~ to be fair, your son was just defending one of my other students. so hitting her was—"

     "AND IT WAS A HER?! A GIRL?!", kaori gasped.

"jin, look at YOUR son! LOOK AT HIM!"

the pink-haired adult sweat-dropped, as he attempted to calm his wife down.

     "but they were being really mean to aoki-senpai. they purposely spilled water on her apron and made her pull all-nighters to work on the costumes by herself. plus, they even said that she slept with coach to get the manager position!", yūji chimed in.

     "aoki? you mean...they were bullying cute little chiyo?", kaori asked.

     yūji nodded, "yeah".

     glancing over at her grumpy son, kaori had instantly calmed down.

     "I see...", she muttered.

     "it's not my fault", sukuna grumbled, "getō-sensei said that I should value gender equality".

     getō, who was just minding his own business in the teachers' lounge, had choked on his coffee.

     "I didn't mean—never mind...", he sighed.

     "you didn't do anything wrong, sukuna", kaori said, flipping sides like a coin.

"I know. I'll face my puni—wait, what?"

even gojō was somewhat shocked at the woman's sudden change of heart.

"so, is there anything else that we need to discuss about, gojō-san?", kaori asked.

     "umm, not really...", gojō shrugged.

     "great! then let's head home".

     the woman then slid open the doors, revealing chiyo, who was anxiously waiting outside, as she felt that this was partially her fault.

     "chiyo! I was just about to look for yo—"

     "I-I'm so sorry mrs. itadori!! I-I didn't know that things would turn out like this. please don't blame sukuna! I'm really really sorry once again!", chiyo bowed, as she suddenly felt a gentle hand lift her head.

     "chiyo, sukuna is old enough to account for his own actions. and plus, I'm glad that he stood up for you. you shouldn't blame yourself over something like this", the dark-haired woman comforted.

"I...", chiyo could only nod, as she felt her sight blur again.

"t-thank you", she choked out.

"of course sweetheart! now, would you like to join us for dinner? I'd hate for you to say no".

agreeing, chiyo suddenly met the gaze of sukuna, who was still in his white kimono and had black lines painted all over his face and wrists.

only now noticing the boy's getup, chiyo could only stare.

"you changed", sukuna noticed, not willing to openly ask if the girl was alright in front of his family.

"y-yeah...the costume was wet and I didn't want to catch a cold so..."

humming in acknowledgment, the itadoris led chiyo home, as sukuna instantly changed as well and washed off all the makeup.

returning to the living room, sukuna cringed at the sight of his mother showing chiyo his and yūji's baby pictures.

"this is jin holding the twins. aren't they cute??", kaori asked.

"h-hai! very", chiyo quietly agreed.

"and this is the boys' first day of kinder".

"how adorable!! I love the stars as the backdrop", chiyo mentioned.

"mhm! now look at this one. it was for their seventh birthday. handsome little brats, aren't they?", kaori chuckled.

chiyo awed at the twins in their little suits.

"and this is them with chōsō. you've met him over the summer already, right?"

"yes ma'am. he was very nice", chiyo smiled.

     "good good. he may look a little mean at times, but he's just introverted", kaori explained, as sukuna had promptly snuck up behind the two and snatched the photo album out of his mother's hands.

     "hey! we were looking at that!", the dark-haired woman complained.

     "chiyo, come here", sukuna commanded, to which the girl had excused herself and left with the pink-haired boy.

     leading her into his room, he shut the door and offered her to sit at his desk's chair.

     "i-is that...the notes that I gave you??", chiyo noticed, for the bulletin board also had a picture of the two from the beach.

     'ah shit. forgot about that', sukuna internally cursed.

     "that's besides the point. why didn't you tell me that those girls were being bitches to you?", sukuna questioned.

     "I-I...it just...slipped my mind? I'm...sorry...", chiyo sighed, looking down at her hands that were just sprawled across her lap.

     "and plus...I didn't want to worry you or anybody else".

     chiyo could not only see, but hear sukuna inch closer, as he lifted her head by tilting her chin upwards.

     "you shouldn't feel like a burden. we're all more than willing to support you. if you're feeling overwhelmed, tell someone. doesn't have to be me, as much as I'd like for you to come to me with all your issues".

     chiyo's eyes widened at the confession, as she felt her throat dry. not wanting to look weak in front of sukuna, she desperately wanted to hold back her tears. however, this week had truly taken a toll on her and perhaps caused a little more harm than just fatigue.

     sukuna had then snaked his hand to the back of chiyo's head, pushing it forwards as it forced the girl to press her face against the first-year's abdomen.

     "you can cry. I won't look if it makes you uncomfortable", he mumbled, as chiyo had allowed her tears to wet the boy's shirt.

     sukuna soothingly combed through chiyo's hair, not saying a thing as he allowed her to sob out all the stress that she's been holding in.

     the pink-haired boy wanted to let her know that he was someone that she could lean on; fall on.

     and chiyo understood that very well through his actions.

     "we're sorry, aoki-san!!", the girl's classmates all apologized.

"i-it's alright, really!!", chiyo awkwardly smiled, as she noticed that suzuki, nakamura, and mikan didn't even dare to look in her general direction.

for the rest of the week or so, her classmates had offered to help her do cleaning duty since they knew she had basketball practice. some even presented their lunches to brush away their guilt.

chiyo internally felt a little better, until she had noticed that sukuna didn't bring her lunch or at least tell her that he wasn't going to like usual.

not wanting to annoy the boy, she didn't bother texting him, as she'd just wait until basketball practice after school.

"ah, sukuna's sick today", yūji informed.

"s-sick?! is he okay??", chiyo worried.

     "yeah, he's just more grumpier than usual. and since our parents are out on their anniversary trip, I'm stuck taking care of him", yūji sighed.

"um...if it's not too weird...I-I can come over and take care of him?", chiyo offered.

"really?! that'd be great! I can walk you home so that you can grab your things before we head over to my house", yūji smiled, causing chiyo to become confused.

"grab my things...?"

"yeah! aren't you gonna stay the night?"

"s-stay the night?!"

     "yep! so—"

     "YŪJI! PRACTICE IS STARTING!", yoshino reminded, to which yūji had just waved goodbye to chiyo before running off.

     'as long as I don't tell mama, no one would know...plus, I'm just going over to take care of sukuna. nothing else!'

     as soon as practice ended, yūji and chiyo did as they had planned and entered the silent house that usually seemed brighter and warmer.

     "help yourself. there's a guest bedroom and bathroom right around the corner", yūji pointed, as he informed the girl that he was going to go take a shower first.

chiyo set her things down and started to make some rice and miso soup, something she knew she wouldn't screw up.

     once yūji reentered the dining room, he noticed a bowl of rice and soup with some kimchi on the table. however, chiyo was nowhere to be seen.

     "wow! looks good", the boy smiled, as he feasted while chiyo had knocked on sukuna's bedroom door.

     "go away", he grumbled, thinking that it was his twin.

     "a-ano...sukuna, it's me...chiyo".

     the girl slightly flinched upon hearing rapid footsteps inside the room, as the door had then aggressively swung open revealing a surprised sukuna with a rouge tint across his face.

"why're you here?", he asked, not meaning to sound rude or anything.

"I heard you were sick, so I...offered to take care of you?", chiyo unsurely answered, as sukuna glanced down at the tray of food that he assumed chiyo had made.

letting the girl in his usually neat room that was now littered with clothes sprawled across the floor, sukuna kicked aside some of his belongings to make space on the floor.

however, chiyo had taken a seat on the edge of his bed and balanced the tray of food on her lap.

"you shouldn't eat sitting on the ground. you're still sick", she explained.

crawling back onto his bed, sukuna was about to take the tray off the second-year's thighs before the girl had mixed the rice into the soup.

scooping a spoonful of warm rice, chiyo used her other hand to cover the bottom of the utensil so that nothing spilled.

"are you feedin—"

the spoon was kindly shoved into sukuna's mouth, dutifully shutting him up, as he chewed with a confused expression on his face.

"I'm sorry if it tastes a bit bland. it said that people who are sick should have more of a mild palate", chiyo smiled, as sukuna just hummed.

     he supposed that he didn't mind his crush feeding him while he was sick. perhaps this was his sign to get sick more often.

     'maybe I should purposely get punched in the face so that she would help me...', sukuna deliriously thought.

     chiyo took a napkin and dabbed the corners of his mouth, as she instructed sukuna to lie back down. before leaving, sukuna had whispered for her to stay.

     "at least until I fall asleep", he pleaded.

unable to say no, chiyo placed the tray on sukuna's desk, as she kneeled on the floorboards, holding the first-year's hand.

it wasn't until thirty minutes after that chiyo had confirmed that sukuna was dead asleep, for his breathing had steadied.

     laying her head on the bed, the second-year marveled at how peaceful sukuna looked, for he usually almost always wore an irritated expression.

     without his brows furrowing, the girl was able to focus on his other features: like how his dark lashes were actually quite long, his sharp features that helped differentiate him from yūji, and his fluffy pink hair that made chiyo want to run her hands through it.

growing a little tired herself, chiyo's eyes drooped as she brought her face closer to sukuna's.

     placing an ever so gentle kiss on his forehead, chiyo had whispered a, "get well soon", before slipping her hand out of sukuna's and stealthily leaving.

     upon closing the door, sukuna's fingers twitched.

     without even opening his eyes, the boy's fingers stiffly grazed against the skin that chiyo had blessed.

     "chiyo..."

     AUTHOR'S NOTE: sukuna can be so pretty at times,,

     credits: @gigi_strwbry || instagram

     notice how the chapters are named: SPRING leap, SUMMER confessions, FALL on me — next up?