Chapter Text
Genya kept a tight grip on his backpack straps as he made his way against the traffic flooding down the hallway. When he finally made it to Himejima's classroom, he relaxed.
"I'm here," he panted as he pushed his way through the door. "Sorry I'm late."
Himejima smiled kindly. "That's quite alright, Genya. Come have a seat, and let me get you set up before class starts."
Genya sat in his desk in the corner, dropping his bag to the floor behind him. He listened carefully as Himejima gave him instructions on how to grade the first year civics class's homework. Then, Himejima went to the front of the room to start the lecture, leaving Genya to work.
Genya started grading right away, pausing only when he heard a voice that sounded like his little sister. When he looked up, sure enough, Sumi was quietly talking to the kid she was sitting next to. Genya glared at her, trying to get her to shut up before she got in trouble and embarrassed him.
Himejima paused his lecture. "Sumi. Sabito." He waited for them both to quiet down. "Please refrain from interrupting the lecture."
Genya felt like banging his forehead on the desk. Instead, he continued grading as if it wasn't his own little sister disrupting the class.
Now that he had started his second year at Kimetsu Academy's high school, Genya had the privilege of picking an extra class. He'd arranged to be Himejima's teaching assistant, hoping to both help his favorite teacher— don't tell Sanemi— and study civics a little extra so he would know if he wanted to study it in college. That was his plan right now: go to the university in their city, get on their shooting team, and study civics. That way, he could get his degree while still living with his family and near his boyfriend. He could even keep his job at Hyottoko Pizzeria. So far everything was going well, even if it was strange to have Sumi, Nezuko, and everyone else their grade at the high school now. He thought his little sister being there was weirder than not seeing Shinobu or the other third years anymore.
When the lunch bell rang and class ended, Genya stayed a minute to talk to Himejima.
"I finished about half of the papers," he reported, "and put them in the grade book."
Himejima nodded. "Good, thank you." Then, he smiled. "Are you excited for cats and dogs week?"
Genya smiled back. "Yeah, I am. I missed it last year so this is technically my first."
"Have you decided which team will you pick?" Himejima asked.
"Cats, of course," Genya laughed.
Himejima chuckled too. "Your brother will not like that."
Every year, to celebrate the end of the first month of school, Kimetsu Academy had a week of competitions. Students got to choose whether to be on Team Cat, which Himejima had been leading for years, or Team Dog, led by Sanemi since he started working there. Genya had thought long and hard about whether he would betray his brother by joining Team Cat. Ultimately, he decided he should pick the team he wanted to be on. Sanemi could get over it. It was just a stupid school activity anyway.
"Sanemi will live." Genya swung his backpack over his shoulder. "I just hope I don't get sick again." Last year, he'd missed the entire week. Although, back then he probably wouldn't have enjoyed it all that much. It would be more fun now that he actually had friends to compete with— and against.
"Yes," Himejima agreed. "It would certainly be a shame to miss it two years in a row."
"Any hints on what the activities will be?" Genya asked. A different teacher planned them for each day.
Himejima shook his head. "Not even I know. It would be unfair for one team to have an advantage."
"Makes sense," Genya thought. Then, he glanced at the clock. "Okay, I gotta go. Club meeting. I'll see you next week."
"Yes, Genya, see you next week," Himejima agreed. He sat at his desk and started speaking to the screen reader on his computer.
Genya hurried down the hall to the biology classroom. LGBTQ+ club would be starting any minute, and he didn't want to be late.
Tanjiro was already there. He waved enthusiastically when Genya came in, and gestured to the chair next to him. "I saved you a seat!"
Genya smiled as he made his way around the desks to where his boyfriend was sitting. He was almost there when he was suddenly jerked backward by his backpack. There was no need to turn around; he knew who it was. "Ah, Sanemi!"
"You're not even going to say hi to me?" Sanemi demanded. "You're going to say hi to your damn boyfriend before your brother?"
"Let go of me," Genya protested. "I was going to say hi to you, you don't have to grab me like that!"
"Sanemi," Kanae chided.
Sanemi instantly let go.
The biology teacher shook her head. "You have plenty of time to push Genya around at home. Let him sit with his friends at school."
Sanemi just frowned, and didn't say anything else. Genya stuck his tongue out before he made his escape.
"Hey," he said as he sat next to Tanjiro.
"Hi!" Tanjiro took his hand right away. "How was your TA period?"
"Busy," Genya said, "but I got a lot done. How was yours?"
"The same," Tanjiro said. "They're doing a reenactment next week, so I'm starting to make some of the props." Tanjiro had gotten a good enough grade in history last year to be Rengoku's TA this year.
"Oh, I think I missed that one," Genya remembered. "Last year I was sick for a whole week."
Tanjiro covered his mouth. "Not cats and dogs week!"
Genya nodded solemnly. "So I have to have twice as much fun this year. Hey, which team are you joining?"
Tanjiro smiled a little. "Not telling. It'll be a surprise on Monday."
"Come on," Genya pushed. He gave Tanjiro a nudge on the shoulder. "Tell me! I'm gonna be on—"
"No!" Tanjiro interrupted. "It's supposed to be a secret! You can't tell anyone what you're picking until Monday."
Genya rolled his eyes. "Is this one of those things that has a ton of secret rules?"
"That's not secret," Tanjiro argued. "I'm surprised you didn't know."
The chair next to Genya moved, and he turned to see Kanao sit down. "Kanao, is it true you're not supposed to tell people which team you're joining before cats and dogs week starts?"
She nodded. "Yes."
Tanjiro looked way too smug, so Genya punched him in the arm.
Kanae and Sanemi called the meeting to order, which was a way too formal way of saying that they gave a brief overview of what the club was for newcomers before dismissing everyone to eat their lunches.
"Are we still the only couple in here?" Tanjiro wondered.
Genya looked around. Since the club's first meeting, more students had joined and fewer teachers were coming. Aside from Sanemi and Kanae, the teachers in charge, pretty much only Rengoku still came regularly. It was good to see the room full of his classmates.
"I think we're the only people in this room who aren't single," he realized.
Tanjiro snorted a laugh, and even Kanao smiled.
"It seems like there are more people than last week," Tanjiro observed. He looked around, and pointed out a few new members. "That's good. It felt small in here without the graduated seniors."
Kanao nodded. Then, quietly, she said, "I miss going to school with Shinobu."
"Me too," Genya agreed. Shinobu was intimidating, but she had made a point to get to know him. That was how he'd started hanging out with Kanao a bit. It was awkward at first, since she and Tanjiro had dated very briefly, but they moved past that pretty quickly. "I hate being the only openly aroace person here. She should have found herself a replacement before she graduated."
Tanjiro laughed. "Yeah, there's so many things at this school she made an impact on. I heard the pharmacology club and fencing club are both still without presidents."
"Hey, do you ever think she'll teach here?" Genya wondered. He turned to Kanao, because she probably knew what her older sister's plans were.
Kanao shook her head. "She says she wants to study medicine. Kanae is guessing she'll become a doctor, but I think she'll do research."
They chatted like that the rest of lunch. When it was time to go, Genya and his friends left. He had class a different direction than Tanjiro, so he said goodbye outside the biology room. He was about to walk away when Tanjiro reached out and caught his wrist.
"Let's meet after you get off work," he requested.
"Sure," Genya agreed, always excited to spend time with his boyfriend. "Meet me at the pizza place?"
"I'll be there," Tanjiro promised. He gave Genya a smile, then turned and hurried to class. Genya left in the opposite direction.
When Sanemi got home from work, his mom wasn't back yet.
Her work schedule had changed, giving her Friday afternoons off. Rather than cram in more chores, Sanemi had encouraged her to get out and do something for herself. So, every Friday afternoon, she went to the Kamado family bakery for a pastry with Kie Kamado. Sanemi would have been annoyed that yet another of his family members had been charmed by the Kamados. It embarrassed Genya, though, so he found it entertaining. Plus, their mom really needed a good friend like Kie.
Unsure of what else to do, Sanemi set himself up at the table to start grading that week's quizzes. The kids were still at daycare and after school clubs, and Genya was at shooting practice and then work. It was a good time to get stuff done, if a little lonely.
The quiz scores were so abysmal, Sanemi had to quit halfway through. He grabbed a bag of chips and headed to his bed with his computer, trying to shake off his disappointment. As he crunched through an episode of The Bachelorette— don't judge him, he like watching hot men act like idiots— he wondered what the hell he was doing wrong. Why couldn't these kids pass their damn math quiz? Was it him, or were they just not studying enough?
At the end of the first episode, he got bored and went back to grading. He switched to the first year class's stack and found they were doing much better. Then, he checked the third year class's, and concluded that only the second years were falling behind. But why?
Sanemi rustled through the stack of quizzes, checking each student's score against what he would expect them to get. Most scores were a few points lower than they should be. He decided that the material for the last few weeks was just a bit harder than what they were used to, and their scores would be back to normal at the end of the next unit. That was until he found a score that was much, much lower than he expected.
Even since he had started dating Tanjiro and gotten a job, Genya had kept his grades up without any extra encouragement from Sanemi or their mom. To see his score so low was concerning. He had barely passed, which was a far fall from being one of the best in the class. Sanemi wondered what had happened.
Shizu got home just as Sanemi had finished putting the grades into his computer.
"Hi, Ma," he called. "One sec. I'm entering grades."
He hesitated over the trackpad, then clicked down. The page refreshed, and the grades showed as published. He imagined his students getting the notification and holding their breath as they checked their grades.
No, that was unrealistic. Most of them probably didn't care.
Sanemi closed his laptop, then went to talk to his mom. "How was it?" he asked as he met her in the entry.
Shizu was still taking off her shoes and hanging her bag on the coatrack. "Lovely as always," she reported. "Kie says Tanjuro's latest appointment went well. He's back to work now, so things at the bakery are running much more smoothly."
Sanemi didn't comment. He just nodded, then followed her farther into the house.
"What are you up to?" Shizu asked. "Getting ready for cats and dogs week?"
"Grading," Sanemi grunted. "I don't really have to do any prep."
She nodded. "That reminds me, Kie said that the bakery is helping with food for one of the cats and—"
"Ah! No!" Sanemi clapped his hands over his ears dramatically. "I'm one of the team leaders, I can't know anything or it'll give us an unfair advantage!"
Shizu covered her mouth. "Oh no, I'm sorry! I'm sure the food isn't for anything important."
"It's fine, it's fine," Sanemi assured her, lowering his hands. Then, he shook his head. "Whatever they're planning is gonna be a hell of a lot more complicated than a loaf of bread or two."
Shizu just nodded thoughtfully.
Knowing Sanemi, some might think he would be eager for a chance to get ahead in the games. He was, but not if it meant cheating. He took Cats vs Dogs far too seriously for that.
It was in his first year as a student at Kimetsu Academy that Sanemi had joined Team Dog. That first month of school, he'd struggled to get his work done, let alone make friends, and was starting to feel like the school wasn't for him. Then, he met Kanae.
Technically they'd met the first day of school, when she had scolded him for being disrespectful to the teacher. Sanemi was kind of scared of her after that. Then, day one of cats and dogs week, they had both joined Team Dog. The activity was a wheelbarrow race, and Sanemi got partnered with her by chance. He'd been defensive, until she declared that they needed to win at any cost. They did, and after that, Kanae and Sanemi were stuck together for good.
Needless to say, cats and dogs week was very important to Sanemi. All three years he had been a student, Team Dog had delivered a crushing defeat to Team Cat. There was a short break while he was in college where the competition was boring again. Since Sanemi had started teaching, he had led Team Dog to victory both years in a row. This year, he would do the same. There needed to be no question that the dogs had won, no shadow of a doubt that they hadn't cheated. Besides, Sanemi respected Himejima too much to play dirty. And, sure, he wanted the students to have fun. Some of them were making friends just like he and Kanae had all those years ago. This was the one week each year that any of them interacted with Sanemi willingly, so he wanted to make it a good one.
Shizu left for a second, then came back with her computer. She set it on the table, then slowly sat down. Sanemi got the impression that they were about to have a serious talk. He sat down across from her.
"Sanemi," she started. Her tone was calm, but measured. "Kie and I had a long talk today, and I've come to an important decision. I wanted to talk it over with you before I move forward with anything or tell the younger kids."
Sanemi nodded, and just listened. That made sense why she had spent longer than usual with Kie. He had a feeling he knew what this was about, but he didn't want to get his hopes up before she confirmed it.
Shizu took a deep breath. "I think it's about time I got a divorce."
She watched Sanemi nervously, waiting for his answer. For a second, his only response was to nod. Then, he got up, walked around the table, and tucked himself into her arms. "You don't know how much I wanted to hear you say that."
Shizu hugged him close, and kissed the top of his head. "My sweet baby," she said softly. It sounded like she was crying.
Sanemi buried his face into her shoulder like he used to when he was a kid. They didn't have many emotional moments like this anymore, where he could just hug his Ma and feel like everything would be okay. Sanemi was her second in command, the son who made sure the family was safe and the bills were paid. There weren't very many days he could afford to be just a kid. He couldn't today, either, so he allowed himself these few moments of hiding in his mom's arms before he sat back, took a deep breath, and said, "alright. Let's figure this out."
"Kie suggested I start by getting a lawyer," Shizu said quietly. "But we can't afford one."
Sanemi tapped his finger on the table, thinking. "Let me see if I can call in a favor." He had an idea, but he wanted to see if it would work before he promised his mom anything.
Normally, when Sanemi suggested a roundabout way of getting something, Shizu protested, not wanting him to get into any trouble. This time, she just nodded her permission. "Should I tell the other kids?" she worried. "I don't want to distract them from school."
"I think you should," Sanemi encouraged. "They'll understand. And it shouldn't take too long to get sorted out."
"Alright," she decided. "I'll tell them after we have a lawyer and know it's happening."
Sanemi nodded.
This wasn't exactly a surprise. Ever since she had started hanging out with Kie, Shizu had been visiting Kyogo less and less. She seemed more confident in general, and happier. It was amazing how much good having even one friend had done for her. Sanemi had seen the same change in Genya when he started hanging around Tanjiro. Hell, Sanemi had seen it in himself when he first made friends with Kanae. Shizu worked hard. She loved her family, and her kids adored her. Through poverty, abuse, and isolation, she had held her head high and never stopped caring for them. But through all of that, Sanemi had never, ever seen her happy. He hoped that having Kie, and finally getting rid of that damn monster who had done this to her, would set her free to live some of her life for herself.
Shizu took a deep breath, and wiped away her lingering tears. "Enough of that," she decided. "How was school today?"
"Fine," Sanemi sighed. "I think the quiz I gave was too hard. LGBTQ+ Club is going strong." He paused, and frowned. "Kanae says I need to buy something other than red bean mochi for snacks, or Amane will take away our budget."
That made Shizu laugh. She listened to Sanemi a bit more, then moved on to her chores. Sanemi wrapped up grading and started his own chores just as his mom left to get the kids from their activities.
When the kids got back, the house became far too loud to do any grading. Sanemi moved on to laundry, collecting everyone's baskets and sorting the clothes before heading down to the laundry room with a bag of change. He filled eight washers, then got out his computer and started lesson planning in the relative quiet of the machines. When the clothes were washed and dried, he went back upstairs for dinner.
Everyone else had gotten used to eating without Genya, but Sanemi still found it weird. His brother's seat across from him was empty, giving him nothing to stare at except the wall. He knew Genya would be home later that evening. It was still strange for him to be missing. It made Sanemi feel more distant from his younger siblings. Maybe that didn't make sense, because he was five years older than Genya anyway. Out of all their siblings, though, they were the closest. Genya had always been his buddy. Not so much in recent years, but they were getting closer again. Sanemi dreaded the day Genya left for college. Although, from the way he had been talking recently, it sounded like he was thinking about living at home and going to college locally like Sanemi had. If it was to say near the stupid Kamado kid, Sanemi might scream. Then he would smile, because even if Genya was sticking around for his boyfriend, Sanemi was glad to keep him close.
Genya didn't get home until two minutes before his curfew.
"Hey, I'm home," he called. He sounded out of breath, like he had run from the bus stop.
"Hey," Sanemi called back. He was the only one still up, and only because he was waiting to make sure Genya got home. His mom had an early shift tomorrow, and he didn't work on Saturday, meaning he was responsible for finding Genya if he wasn't home on time. Genya had not been late even once since that time he was "studying" with Tanjiro (Sanemi was about eighty-five percent sure they had fallen asleep together), but Shizu still worried he would get stuck somewhere late at night and need his mom or brother to pick him up.
"Sorry I'm back so late," Genya panted, coming into the kitchen to sit at the table with Sanemi. He didn't get any food, so Sanemi assumed he'd eaten at work or Tanjiro's house. At least the Kamados had the decency to feed him.
Sanemi stretched his neck to the side. When he heard a satisfying pop, and felt his muscles relax, he let out a sigh and slouched a little. "It's not eleven yet."
Genya didn't say anything to that.
"How was Tanjiro's house?" Sanemi asked.
"Tch." Genya leaned back. "You don't know that's where I was."
Sanemi thought about pushing him over, but he didn't. "I know you were with Tanjiro, though."
That made Genya laugh a little. Sanemi smiled to himself. "Yeah, I was at Tanjiro's house. We baked some cookies. By that I mean Tanjiro baked, and I did homework."
"Mh. Studying math?" Sanemi couldn't help but ask.
Genya sat up, then leaned forward on the table. His hands found the stack of quizzes. "Nah, my English presentation. Hey, are these ours?"
"No peeking," Sanemi scolded, and ripped them away. "The scores are out, check there if you— hey!"
Genya snatched Sanemi's computer and opened up an internet browser. He navigated to the grading website and logged in. When he saw his math grade, he frowned.
"What the hell happened?" Sanemi asked.
Genya sighed, and closed the computer. Then, he glared, and folded his arms defensively. "The quiz was hard, okay?"
"Yeah, but you study," Sanemi argued. "This was way below your average."
"Because it was hard!" Genya argued.
Sanemi clenched his jaw, realized he was doing it, and tried to relax. He shouldn't start an argument over this. He should let Genya mind his own grades. But it was like he couldn't stop himself. "Yeah, it was hard. Everyone got below their average."
"Then I don't see what the big deal is," Genya interrupted.
Sanemi frowned. "I didn't say it was a big deal."
"Well you're acting like it is!"
"The point is," Sanemi huffed, "you're usually on the upper end of the class average. But this time, you were in the lower middle quartile."
Genya stared at him. "Are you serious?" he laughed incredulously.
Sanemi glared, then ripped open his computer. "Do you want me to show you the damn box plot?"
"Tch." Genya just scowled and looked away.
Slowly, Sanemi closed his laptop. He didn't know how to explain that he was worried, that Genya had always cared a lot about his grades and would usually be way more bothered. He just saw his brother getting defensive, and wasn't sure how to talk about this in a way that wouldn't make it worse.
It turned out keeping his damn mouth shut wasn't a good option either. When Sanemi didn't say anything, Genya stood up suddenly. "You think I don't give a damn about my math grade, but I do! Why can't you see that?"
Sanemi opened his mouth, but before he could say something that would, in all honesty, make the argument worse, Genya continued.
"I study the hell out of your stupid lecture notes! The quiz was hard, okay? The new material is too damn hard."
"Genya," Sanemi tried, probably in the wrong tone.
"So it's your fault I didn't pass!" Genya shouted. Then, he stomped into their room, and slammed the door.
Sanemi stood up. He was halfway down the hall, ready to let Genya know that it was statistically his own damn fault he got a low score because everyone else seemed to do okay, when he stopped. They were just going to end up in a bigger fight. So, like in many of their other recent arguments, Sanemi decided to give up. He waited half an hour, then snuck into their room to change and brush his teeth.
Genya was lying in bed, face down, fully clothed. The cd player was on his pillow quietly playing the album he'd bought at the concert with Tanjiro last fall. He didn't move when Sanemi came in.
After getting himself ready, Sanemi figured he shouldn't let Genya fall asleep in his clothes. His little brother had added some spikes to the shirt he was wearing. They might hurt if he rolled on them.
Sanemi approached cautiously. "Genya," he said softly. "Get up and get ready for bed."
Genya didn't respond.
After a moment of deliberation, Sanemi gently shook his shoulder. "Get up and get ready for bed before you go to sleep."
Genya shifted away from him. "Don't touch me," he snapped, the force of his tone not lost through being muffled by his sheets.
"Don't fall asleep on your damn spikes," Sanemi returned.
In response to that, Genya sat up, yanked off his shirt, threw it at Sanemi, and collapsed back into the same position.
Sanemi decided he better give up before this got worse. He put the shirt in Genya's hamper, then turned out the lights and climbed into his bed. Genya could fall asleep half dressed with his teeth unbrushed if he so chose, and Sanemi could sleep through the music perfectly fine.
Sanemi was aware that their fighting was a problem more concerning than the individual fights themselves. He and Genya both had anger issues. While Sanemi's were arguably worse, Genya's tended to result in these explosions that he later regretted. If he could think of some way for his brother to get help, Sanemi would have done anything to get it for him. But they were too poor for real therapy, which Genya didn't have time for anyway. He was getting better, since he started hanging out with Tanjiro it seemed. Sanemi was trying to be nicer to keep them from fighting. All he could really do was be there when Genya needed him, and give his brother some space to work it out for himself. As much as Sanemi wanted to help, he wasn't much help when he didn't have those answers either.