"GO ASK HIM", MAKI URGED...

     standing outside classroom 1-a, as chiyo peeked into the room. still hesitant, the blonde girl watched the first-years file out of the classroom with only a few glancing at her and maki.

     "excuse me, but may I help you?", one of the girls asked, for she was most probably the class president of these students.

     "ah...yes, umm...is itadori-kun here?", chiyo mumbled out.

     "by itadori, do you mean sukuna?", the girl questioned.

     "yes, sorry for not being specific!"

     the dark-haired girl simply chuckled, "no worries! and as for sukuna, he's napping in the back of the classroom. I advise you not to wake him, for the last person that did that, well...I won't go into detail".

     "o-oh, thanks", chiyo nodded, as maki just decided to wait outside, texting mai where she was.

chiyo quietly trudged towards the sleeping itadori, debating if she should tap his shoulder or just call out for him.

"umm...itadori-kun?", chiyo softly mumbled out.

sukuna looked so peaceful, leaning against the knuckles of his right hand, as the window was pried open per his request.

the spring breeze gently ruffled the male's pink hair, as it also brought in a sakura petal that had just coincidentally landed on top of the boy's head.

     leaning in a little, chiyo's nimble fingers plucked the petal out of sukuna's hair, which in turn resulted in the boy awakening.

     "what are you doing?", sukuna questioned, his voice slightly husky due to his afternoon nap.

"a-ah, sorry!! I didn't mean to disturb you, b-but I was just wondering if...if..."

     "are you always this shy?", sukuna questioned, to which chiyo's fingers that were interlaced together had separated with a twitch.

"I-I guess..."

sukuna sighed, as he rubbed his temples.

'no wonder that white-haired geezer wanted me to help her boost her confidence. at this rate, she won't even be able to look her crush in the eye'.

"anyways, what'd you come here for?"

"oh! I...umm...was thinking that maybe w-we could walk home together?? to...talk about our field trip...what we should make and...and...yeah..."

chiyo's head slightly dipped with every word that she spoke. she couldn't help but tremble at the thought of being rejecte—

"I can't", sukuna bluntly replied.

hear that shattering? yeah, that's the sound of chiyo's heart.

     "oh".

     sukuna raised a brow, as he pulled the empty chair beside him closer to his desk.

     "it's because yūji's doing his stupid remedial lessons. he's adamant about me waiting for him", sukuna explained.

     'oh. that's a bit more reliving. I thought he said no because he didn't want to walk with me', chiyo slightly smiled.

     "so if you want, you can sit here and we can talk. and I can walk you home later. or, we can talk another day", sukuna casually offered.

     "I-I'll stay, if you don't mind", chiyo answered, before excusing herself to go tell maki her plans.

     witnessing the green-haired girl shoot sukuna a warning look, maki finally left to go meet up with mai, as chiyo excitedly took a seat beside sukuna.

     "so...what do you like to eat, itadori-kun?"

"first off, refer to me as sukuna. none of that honorifics shit either. it's weird", sukuna stated.

"and second off, I don't particularly care. I don't have any allergies to any sort of food, do you?"

chiyo shook her head, as she was about to ask where they should meet to exchange lunches, before sukuna had gotten to it first.

"since it's a field day, let's meet under the oak tree next to the hakuzen tower", sukuna suggested.

"o-oh, okay!"

     "are there any more concerns regarding the school excursion?"

     "no", chiyo softly answered, still not daring to meet sukuna's eyes.

     "great. now let's talk about that crush of yours".

     "d-do we have to?", chiyo squeaked out, the tips of her ears tinting red, as she stared at her oh-so-interesting lap even more.

     "I mean, it'd help if I knew who he was so that I could force you to—I mean, encourage you to confess. the sooner we get this over with, the less we'll have to bother each other", the pink-haired male bluntly explained.

     "oh, right...", the second-year dejectedly murmured.

     "umm...he...he's...", chiyo thickly swallowed, as she tried to find the right words.

     'should I lie to him about who it is? I can't just...I can't just tell him that it's him! if so, who should I say? I barely know anybody other than maki and mai...'

"never mind. you don't have to tell me. I get that it can be hard confiding in a stranger, so can you at least tell me how you two met? or what made you notice him?"

     "w-well, he actually saved me from a couple of upperclassmen...I-I wasn't really feeling myself that day, and some upperclassmen were poking fun at my tired face", chiyo slightly pouted, reminiscing on the day that she had spent the entire night working on a project all by herself, since her group-mates weren't pulling their own weights.

     "and then he just showed up and tripped them!", she lightly laughed.

     sukuna's lips twitched at the sudden change of chiyo's expression. the story was also slightly bewildering.

     "he sounds like a dick", sukuna insulted.

     chiyo bit the bottom of her lip, as she slowly nodded her head in agreement.

     "yeah, people tend to tell me that when I tell them who I like", she softly chuckled, earning an amused hum from sukuna.

     "so why do you like him then? just because he helped you that one time?", sukuna inquired, trying to get a grasp of what he should do to help boost chiyo's dependence.

"i-it's not just that!!", chiyo denied, as a haste smile followed.

"it's also because of the way that he holds himself. it's...very admirable. it's the way that he doesn't care what others think, and stands up not only for himself, but for his friends. he...he inspires me to want to be confident like that as well...", she said, almost whispering the last part.

sukuna took in the genuine sight before him. there she was, bashfully smiling at her relaxed fingers as she rambled about her crush. with such honest eyes and such pristine emotions, no one would be able to doubt the girl for what she has said.

     "umm, sukuna? are you alright?", chiyo worried, snapping the pink-haired boy out of his trance.

     "ah, yeah. I was just thinking...maybe you should start by making yourself known to him. try saying hi or just greeting him while you pass through the hallways or something", sukuna advised.

"y-yeah? I'll try that...", chiyo timidly agreed, as she pinched a piece of her hair and started twirling it back and forth.

"let me know how it goes I suppose. now do me a favor and wake me up once the clock hits 5:30. that dumbass should be done by then", sukuna informed.

     chiyo simply nodded, as she watched sukuna lay his head onto his arms, his face facing towards the window.

     feeling slightly awkward, the second-year decided to stealthily push in her borrowed chair and instead use the one that's meant for the desk in front of sukuna's.

     turning the chair around, chiyo took a seat once again and boldly placed her arms on sukuna's desk as well — laying her face in the direction of the back of the first-year's head.

     sighing, sukuna switched sides, as his half-lidded eyes suddenly widened upon seeing chiyo so close. the girl was no different, for her hazel eyes met sukuna's deep crimson ones for the first time ever.

     straightening her posture, chiyo immediately apologized, claiming that she was just planning to rest as well.

     shuffling upwards, chiyo faced forwards and laid her head down in embarrassment, as she prayed that sukuna couldn't hear her rapid heartbeat.

     sukuna habitually raked through his hair with his fingers, as he pressed his palm against his lips. his fingertips rested on the side of his sharp face, as he glanced out the window to enjoy the serene scene of the cherry blossom trees.

after all, he needed to look at something calm to suppress the sudden skip that his heart had rudely decided to do.

'ah shit. now I can't sleep'.

"HEY SUK—"

a hand suddenly slapped over yūji's mouth, causing the boy's fight or flight instincts to heighten. actually, just his fight instincts.

     "relax. it's just me, stupid".

     "what the hell? why'd you do that?", yūji huffed, as sukuna wiped the "germs" away on his brother's school uniform.

     "shhh", he shushed, pointing over at the second-year who had unconventionally fallen asleep.

     "why's she here? you didn't make her cry, did you? I'm gonna go home and tell mo—"

     "shut up", sukuna lowly threatened, glaring at his twin.

     "just go home without me first. I need to walk her home".

     "wow. you being nice? what happened while I was in remedial lessons?", yūji scoffed.

     "I'll beat you up", sukuna snarled, clicking his tongue in annoyance, as he egged yūji to exit the classroom.

     "it's just payback for helping junpei", the older twin vaguely explained.

     "mhmm", yūji hummed, "why don't we both just walk her home then? I want to repay her too! did you forget that junpei's also my friend?"

     "sure, whatever. suit yourself", sukuna grumbled, as he gently tapped chiyo's shoulder with the back of his hand.

     chiyo stirred awake, as sukuna softly snorted at the petite pile of drool that was soaking the edge of the girl's sleeve.

     realizing where she was and what was going on, chiyo hastily straightened herself and wiped the corner of her mouth with shame.

     "s-sorry! I know I was supposed to wake you up and—"

     "aoki-senpai! did you sleep well?", yūji interrupted.

     "o-oh, yūji-kun! you're finished", chiyo noted.

     "yep! now let's walk you home. I'm hungry and tired!!", the boy yawned.

     "h-hai!"

     AUTHOR'S NOTE: obviously sukuna's gonna be a little nicer in this fic, since he's not a heartless bitch-boy curse👺