CHIYO WAS JUST ABOUT TO...

     head to lunch with maki and mai, before itadori had miraculously showed up outside her classroom.

"ah, yūji-kun! what're you doing here?", chiyo questioned, glancing around to see whether sukuna had tagged along with him as well.

and to her dismay, he did not.

     "oh, I'm actually here to deliver something to you", the nicer itadori stated.

     "something for...me??"

     "oi, chiyo! what's holding yo—oh, it's you", mai frowned.

     yūji decided to just momentarily ignore the zen'in twins, as he handed chiyo a bento box that she was quite familiar with.

     "isn't this..."

"don't tell anyone, but sukuna made this for you", yūji whispered, causing the blonde second-year to blush profusely.

"m-me? w-why me? does...oh god, d-does he know?!"

"huh? know about what?", yūji confusingly questioned.

"he just made it for you because he heard that you eat too much frozen food, and it's not good for your body. but he's also too much of a pussy to hand the lunchbox to you directly, so here I am", the pink-haired boy explained.

     "oh", chiyo sighed, thankful that he wasn't aware of her crush yet.

     "wow. never took him to be the cooking type", maki snorted, as mai nodded in agreement.

     "most people don't. they get too distracted by his scowl that seems to be etched onto his face permanently", yūji joked, earning a light chuckle from chiyo.

     "yeah, but it's cute", chiyo unintentionally muttered.

     "hm? what was that? I'm sorry I didn't catch that, aoki-senpai".

     "i-it's nothing!! just thinking about math...aha...umm...say, yūji-kun..."

"yeah?"

"as much as I'd love to accept this lunch...I-I have nothing to give in return. I'd feel really bad if I just leeched off of sukuna's food, you know?"

yūji could see where the girl was coming from, as he didn't like owing others either.

"mm, maybe write him a note", yūji suggested.

     "a note?"

     "yeah! like maybe write a short thank you note and leave it in between the bento box and the furoshiki (a beautiful fabric used to wrap lunchboxes for easy carrying and aesthetics)".

      "I...I can do that", chiyo smiled, as yūji bid the upperclassmen goodbye, before heading back to the cafeteria, where his friends were waiting.

"so, did you give it to her?", sukuna questioned, drinking a glass of milk, as yoshino was also curious.

"yeah, she begrudgingly took it", yūji casually replied, taking a seat and about to eat before his twin had interrupted him.

"begrudgingly?? what do you mean begrudgingly?"

"begrudgingly; like hesitant—"

"I'm not asking you for the definition, dimwit! I'm asking you why she hesitantly accepted it", sukuna proclaimed.

"maybe she's worried that you poisoned it", kugisaki joked, earning a glare from sukuna.

"it's probably because she feels that she doesn't have anything to give back", megumi guessed.

     "woah! how'd you know, fushiguro?!", yūji mused.

     "I don't know...I guess that's how I'd feel if someone started to just randomly hand me handmade lunches one day", the dark-haired boy shrugged.

     "aish! here we go again", kugisaki mumbled, rolling her eyes in the process.

     "as if you don't get confessions and lunches from your fangirls every single day".

     "it's truly out of my control", megumi muttered.

     "mhm~"

     "okay okay, let's stop bickering. the food's going to get cold", yoshino jumped in, to which the orange-haired girl had pouted before digging in.

     sukuna thought about what megumi had said, as he knew he shouldn't have listened to his mother.

     'ugh, fuck me...'

sukuna and chiyo were summoned to the teacher's lounge after school curtsy to gojō.

     "ah, my two favorite students!!", the white-haired teacher exclaimed.

     "hello, gojō-sensei", chiyo bowed, as sukuna just grunted upon seeing the white paintbrush.

     "so, how was the field trip? did you two enjoy each other's lunches?"

     "y-yes! sukuna's a very go—"

     the pink-haired boy smacked his hand over the second-year's mouth, stopping chiyo from speaking, as the girl's head started overheating from the closeness.

     "it was fine, so what's our next task?", sukuna asked, for he didn't want others to know about his cooking skills.

     "you best take your hand off of chiyo-chan before I smack you", gojō dryly laughed, to which sukuna had complied.

     "ah, sorry 'bout that", the male muttered beneath his breath, though chiyo heard it loud and clear.

     "anyways!", gojō loudly proclaimed, "your next task is to spend at least one day together on our upcoming school trip, which will take course over the first four days of summer break".

     "is this the school trip where we visit sumida city?! the city with penguins in their aquariums — near the tokyo skytree?!", chiyo elatedly inquired.

     "yep!! that's the one!", gojō smiled, to which sukuna had wondered what was so great about going to museums or aquariums.

he'd much rather go to an amusement park and ride the steepest rollercoaster there.

"yes!! I'm so excited! I love going to museums and aquariums. there's just so much to see and learn. it amazes me how the ancient pottery and such are preserved. and how the animals all—ah, I'm sorry...I'm rambling..."

'okay, so maybe they don't sound so bad...', sukuna mentally commented, his thoughts swaying from side to side.

"it's okay, chiyo-chan. I get where you're coming from", gojō comforted.

"so other than spending a day toget—oh".

chiyo suddenly realized what her teacher was plotting, for his grin should've been evident enough.

     'a day together...with sukuna! I need to pack some cute outfits for the trip', chiyo mentally noted.

     'I don't know what he's thinking about, but I really want to punch that smirk off his face', sukuna impulsively thought, staring down at gojō.

     "well, if you both don't have any questions, you two are dismissed for the day! have a great afternoon", gojō cheerfully smiled.

     "h-have a nice day, gojō-sensei, a-and thank you!"

     gojō simply nodded, as sukuna not-so-discreetly flipped their teacher off before exiting the teacher's lounge with chiyo.

the second-year tugged on the hem of sukuna's untucked shirt, as he swiftly turned around to see chiyo extending the lunchbox out to him.

"u-umm...thanks...for...", breathing in and out, chiyo attempted to not stutter through this last part, "for...lunch..."

sukuna took back the bento box, as he just hummed.

"it's nothing", the pink-haired boy mumbled, scratching the back of his head, as he was about to speak again before chiyo had beat him to it.

     "it's umm...getting late...", the blonde girl obviously stated.

     "yeah".

     clenching tightly onto her school bag, chiyo bit the bottom of her lip in anxiousness. her toes curled inside her shoes, as she debated whether she should say what she was thinking or not.

     "I-I'm scared of the dark!", she blurted out, causing sukuna's eyes to slightly widen, as it clicked in his head.

     "oh", he uttered.

     "well, I can walk you home...if you'd like".

"I-I'd like that. thank you", chiyo softly replied, smiling to herself, as she was proud of herself for creating a chance between her and sukuna.

the two jujutsu high students had then started walking side by side in silence, as sukuna's eyes were focused on the road ahead of them.

'should I ask him about his day? or what he had for lunch? oh god...what if he didn't make himself lunch because he was busy making mine?! did he starve today??'

while chiyo was experiencing a crisis internally, sukuna had received a call from yūji asking where the hell he was.

"oi! mom's asking about you", chiyo could faintly make out.

"tell her I'll be home soon and to not worry", sukuna vaguely responded.

"where are you anyways?? dinner's almost ready".

"none of your business", the first-year rudely replied as he hung up before yūji could question him any more.

"I'm sorry...I didn't mean to—"

"quit apologizing for something you didn't do. I was the one that offered to walk you home, wasn't I?", sukuna reprimanded.

     "y-yes..."

     "and you should start walking with your head held high. you're missing a lot when your eyes are always glued to the ground. there's nothing interesting there".

     chiyo slightly lifted her head, as she never seemed to notice how the sky was an orange-pink upon the sun setting. she was always busy doing homework or holed up in her room reading books to even glance out her window.

     "see?"

     "thanks", chiyo quietly breathed out.

     once the sixteen year-old had reached her house, she bowed to sukuna and thanked him once again.

     the first-hear didn't entirely leave until he watched chiyo enter her house safely, to which he could vaguely see the girl fumbling with her house keys.

     upon returning back to his own house, he was greeted by his parents and the smell of udon noodles.

     "so where'd you go? you hung up before I could ask again", yūji frowned.

     "I'm tired", sukuna fake yawned, taking a seat at the dining table, as his mom unfolded the furoshiki.

     "sukuna dear, I think this note's for you", kaori called out from the kitchen.

"hm? what note?", the older twin lazily responded.

"it's from someone named aoki chi—"

before kaori could even finish saying the girl's name, sukuna had snatched the note out of his mother's hand.

yūji snickered, as sukuna rushed upstairs and into his room, reading the note in solitude.

'dear sukuna, thank you so much for the delicious lunch! I really appreciate the kind gesture and although I don't have much to offer in return, yūji-kun had suggested that I write you this note instead. I hope you enjoyed your lunch and maybe we could eat together someday? smiley face', sukuna mentally read.

facepalming, sukuna let out a pent up sigh, as he took a tack and pinned the note onto his bulletin board.

'I wonder what I should make her tomorrow'.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: in case you couldn't tell, chiyo is heavily based off of me, lmao. I love aquariums & museums!

but I love soft sukuna even more🫣