"LET ME AT HER!"...

     mai demanded, as maki and kugisaki held the girl back from jumping orimoto, who was happily clinging onto okkotsu's arm.

     "that was kinda mean", yūji frowned, as yoshino nodded in agreement.

     "by the way, when can we stop following them? this is getting tiring", megumi stated, for the group was currently hunched over behind one of the displays in the museum.

     "not until I make sure our precious chiyo is safe from that hoe that keeps trying to jab at us", mai sneered, glaring at the dark-haired second-year, as maki had rubbed her temples.

     "only two more nights of rooming with her", the latter grumbled.

     "did you guys do something to her? why's she out here attacking you three?", kugisaki asked, finding it somewhat comical.

     "nothing! we don't even know her!", mai proclaimed, stealthily shifting across the room, as she kept an eye on orimoto.

     "weird", yoshino commented, "maybe that's just her way of making friends??"

     "making friends my ass! do you steal your friend's belongings or ruin your friend's dress?", mai seethed.

     "I bet that stain won't come out of poor chiyo's dress even after three washes!"

     "as much as I agree with you, you need to quiet down before they hear us. sukuna's already suspicious of our presence because kugisaki stupidly uploaded our pictures onto her private story", yūji explained.

"it was an accident!", the orange-haired girl harshly whispered in defense.

whilst the group was bickering amongst themselves, chiyo was internally panicking.

'is my hand too sweaty? should I release my hand and wipe them? but what if he thinks that's gross? what if—his jacket smells like hi—FOCUS, CHIYO!!'

"do you like cherry blossoms?", sukuna suddenly asked, causing chiyo to snap out of her thoughts.

"pardon?"

"cherry blossoms, do you like them?", sukuna repeated.

"ah, they're in season now, aren't they? yes, they're pretty to look at", chiyo answered.

"great, let's go then", sukuna suddenly decided, dragging chiyo out of the museum, as she wondered how the boy knew the city so well.

     upon boarding the underground train, the two quickly arrived at sumida park, where the tokyo skytree could be seen from a distance — amongst the sakura trees who's branches stretched across the sky.

     still physically connected, chiyo shyly glanced at their conjoined hands with a smile on her face.

     the blonde girl savored the moment, as the two walked side by side, admiring the scenery.

     "u-umm...by the way, I was wondering if there was a picture that I could use for your contact? I changed all my contacts to emojis just like you. I-I thought the idea was pretty cool...", chiyo said, attempting to start a conversation.

     "you did? what's my emoji?", sukuna asked, stopping at a bench to take a break from walking, as chiyo took out her phone to show him.

"a tiger?"

"because your last name's first kanji means tiger", chiyo explained.

"then what about yūji?"

"oh, he's got two tiger emojis, because he's the younger twin!"

sukuna lowly chuckled with amusement, as he took the girl's phone and went to her camera.

"smile", he commanded, as he snapped a quick picture of him smirking and chiyo surprised — clearly not ready.

     "w-wait, I wasn't ready!!"

     "too bad. I already sent it to myself. now I have a contact photo for you as well", sukuna grinned, as chiyo pouted at the picture.

"hmph! you're not being fair at all, sukuna", the girl muttered, as the first-year raised a brow.

lifting his hand, the pink-haired boy couldn't help but want to (teasingly) bully chiyo even more. his fingers lightly pinched the girl's puffed out cheek, causing her doe brown eyes to flicker upwards.

realizing what he was doing, sukuna hastily retracted his hand, as he made a comment about how chiyo resembled a bunny.

"thanks??", chiyo chuckled, to which sukuna had cracked a petite smile before resorting back to his usual expression.

     "say, sukuna, have you...have you ever had a crush before?", the sixteen year-old randomly asked.

     "curious aren't you?", the first-year hummed, resulting in chiyo to earnestly nod.

     "yes, I'd like to learn more about you", chiyo honestly said, to which sukuna was not expecting that.

     looking straight ahead at the waters, sukuna slyly shielded the lower half of his face with his hand from the oncoming blush that was bound to appear upon thinking that chiyo might just be his first.

     "no, I've never had a crush on anyone before", he uttered.

     "oh...and why's that?"

when given silence, chiyo fiddled with the hem of her dress. the sixteen year-old instantly lifted her head as sukuna had answered with a shrug.

"it's because no one's really ever caught my attention I guess".

     "and...you still think so?", chiyo mumbled, her gaze flickering towards the first-year, who casually stuck his hands in his pockets.

     "actually, I—"

     "AOKI-SAN!!"

     chiyo nearly jumped out of her skin, as the sudden loudness caught hers and sukuna's attention.

     mai groaned in one of the bushes that the group was hiding in, as she was about to pull her hair out had it not been for maki calming her.

"they were having a goddamn moment!! who the hell interrupted them?!"

"oh look. it's your roommate and her boyfriend", kugisaki pointed out.

immediately the zen'in twins jumped out of the bush, causing chiyo to flinch, as she wondered how long they've been there and since when.

sukuna was far from amused, as he watched his twin brother and their friends also pop out of the bush.

okkotsu paused for a moment before dragging orimoto towards chiyo, who had unconsciously scooted towards sukuna.

     "I'm so sorry, aoki-san! I had no idea that she would do such a thing, and especially on your date with—"

     "w-we're not on a date!!", chiyo stressed, as she watched okkotsu straighten his posture after bowing as an apology.

     "wait, you're not?", the boy questioned, "ah well, either way, we bought you a new dress with a receipt in there. if it's not to your liking or size, you can always go back and exchange it. again, I'd like to apologize for rika's behavior".

     chiyo begrudgingly accepted the bag with the dress inside, as she watched orimoto bitterly pout.

     "okay but seriously, does she have something against us or something? why does she keep targeting us?", mai confronted.

"it's not that...it's just that she has a slightly hard time making friends — or rather...she doesn't really know how to interact with others without pranking them...", the second-year male awkwardly explained.

"I don't need friends! I only need you, yūta!", the dark-haired girl proclaimed.

"you see...we're actually both trying to make some friends and not be so secluded, but it's not exactly working out..."

chiyo saw the resisting expression on orimoto's face, as mai's brows twitched due to getting off on the wrong foot with the girl.

"umm...if you'd like, we could be your friends...", chiyo offered.

     "chiyo! are you mad?! she ruined your dress and stole my—"

     "it's okay mai. I'm sure she was going to give your bag back anyways. and plus, they got me a new dress, didn't they?", chiyo defended.

     "thank you for your kindness, but we wouldn't want to—"

     "it's really okay, okkotsu-san! since tomorrow is amusement park day, why don't we all meet there at the entrance?", the blonde second-year suggested.

     okkotsu smiled, as he gratefully nodded, while orimoto's pout slightly lessened upon seeing how happy her boyfriend was.

     "then see you all tomorrow. thanks again!", okkotsu waved, as chiyo timidly waved back.

     once the couple was fully gone, mai pinched chiyo's cheeks as she rambled about how the girl was too nice.

     "if somebody ruined my dress, it would've been over for them!!"

     "maiiii, just give 'em a chance~", chiyo drawled out, as she tried prying the girl's hands away.

"I think okkotsu-senpai looks pretty nice", yoshino added on.

"yeah, it's the girlfriend that's the problem", maki snorted.

finally pushing mai's hands away, chiyo had crossed her arms and huffed.

"say, where did you all pop out from anyways? how is that you all so coincidentally showed up when they came alo—"

     "ah, look at the time! it's time for dinner, don't you all think so?", yoshino interrupted, as the rest nodded in agreement.

     "I sure am hungry after stalk—I mean, walking for a whole day", yūji fake yawned, strolling off with the rest, as chiyo looked back at sukuna.

     the latter stood up and shrugged, as he promptly patted chiyo's head.

     "good for you for not stuttering when addressing them", sukuna praised.

chiyo didn't even notice, as her gaze fell onto the pavement again.

"now come on. we're already behind", sukuna ushered, holding the gift bag with his right hand, as his other hand dangled by his side.

chiyo clutched tightly onto her handbag, as she slightly lifted her head to glance up at sukuna, who was looking straight forward.

believing in herself, chiyo moved her hand towards sukuna's, opting to just link their pinkies instead.

though it seemed like nothing, it was quite the large step for chiyo.

sukuna curled his pinkie, as the two walked side by side — both of them slightly behind the group yet still a part of it.

'geez, could they be any more obvious?', mai snickered to herself.

     AUTHOR'S NOTE: I love sukuna & yūji as twins!!

     sukuna seems like the type to either deny his feelings or recognize them from early on and actually do something about it.

     he doesn't strike me as the type of beat around the bush,, or idk—