genya shinazugawa. a junior in highschool, although he looks a lot older than the others in his grade because of his large build and his edgy hair style. he's disliked by most, mainly because almost everyone is sort of afraid of him. he did grab a girl's hair in middle school and cause a scene among a few kids... and not just any girl's, he just so happened to bully the principal's daughter. ubuyashiki was somehow kind enough to not suspend the twat. genya wore a scowl on his face most days, similar– or even, identical, to his older brother's. his older brother that was so much better than him in so many ways.
genya isn't even able to say, "well, at least i have archery, and im good at that." he hates thinking of it. sanemi, his said brother, wants him to quit and focus on his studies. fun fact. genya sucked at math. to make it even better, his math teacher was sanemi. fan-fukin-tastic, right? today sanemi forced genya stay after school so he could tutor genya some, missing one of his archery practices. that annoyed genya. that sort of, really, annoyed him. sanemi didn't even tutor the boy, it just turned into an argument, like always. so now he walked around aimlessly down the empty halls to avoid going home until he calmed down.
archery really was the only thing he had. and, his siblings adored him for it. they thought it was so cool how they're big brother could hit targets spot on with a bow and an arrow like people did in action movies. but you know what they thought was even cooler? sanemi. who else? they loved sanemi even more, or so it felt like they did; and who couldn't, he was great. he was strong, had many friends, was smart, obviously, and had a beautiful girlfriend named kanae. sanemi. sanemi sanemi sanemi.
tired. genya was so tired of it. how his weak mother barely got the help she needed because sanemi wasn't even around much. how he had to deal with his asshole father alone. how his siblings sometimes pestered him and asked "why can't you be like big brother and–"
they meant well. he knew they all did. he was just so sick of it. so focused on overthinking once again he didn't even notice when he pushed past some other kid walking down the hall the opposite direction, almost knocking him over. shit. apologies were hard for him to make. and this was–
"oh my gosh, genya?"
bewildered, he turned his head. a familiar face, a familiar smile met his eyes. red hair that had been cut and a known too well scar. oh.
"hey, it's been awhile, huh?"
———
"so, you moved back." it was more of a statement than a question.
they were walking home, or, genya had decided to walk tanjiro home first. the both of them lived close by.
"yes! we own a bakery here now, isn't that great? you should come over and visit us, ill see if i can get you something good!"
tanjiro smiled a warm smile. that's what genya remembered tanjiro as; warm and caring. he was the personification of a beam of sunlight. genya worried of what tanjiro remembered of him. tanjiro was the one who ended the hair pulling slash punching incident, how could he forget?
it was like tanjiro read his thoughts.
"oh, you seemed to have changed, genya. you've gotten a lot bigger since middle school. and you're... you're a lot calmer."
he should try to be nice, it was the least he could do. "yes, i started working out." not for his own sake of course. he worked for countless hours so he could become stronger. like sanemi. "and..." genya went quiet. he had gotten calmer? that felt nice to hear. oh. oh no, he could feel his face flush slightly.
tanjiro laughed lightly. "it's okay, genya. oh, how's your family?" his eyes shimmered with curiosity. and genya really didn't want to talk about it.
"everyone is fine, thank you for asking," tanjiro came to a stop in front of a small house. "is this it?" genya question.
"yes, yes it is– again, thank you. it was nice to see you again, i hope we have classes together."
