Pick Your Poison (Rengoku/Sanemi/Giyuu x Reader)

Can I Call You Back When This Mental Breakdown Is Over

Kyojuro led her to her new workplace, the nurses office, before abandoning her to organize and set up today's class schedule. Left to her own devices, she examined the newly furnished office. It was much more... stocked than she expected. Rather than just bags of ice in the fridge, the medicine cabinets had a plethora of items that ranged from adrenaline to hardcore injectable painkillers that she knows no school she's ever attended had. Seriously, what type of school was this to let the nurse have such items? Only qualified doctors and nurses could administer and give out medicine. Sure, she did technically have her degree, and sure, she had the experience for it, but...

Pursing her lips, she brushed her fingers over the white lab coat her employer left for her on the table. Kagaya Ubuyashiki, the school principal and head of board, had reached out personally to offer up this job, and after some time persuading and haggling, there she was. From what Kyojuro told her, the principal was a little sickly, but he was a respectable boss. His wife and the vice principal, Amane Ubuyashiki, usually spoke in his name and would handle most internal issues in the school. She must be the one who set out the overcoat.

Pinned to the left breast pocket was a name tag, and she adjusted the little plastic card before popping open the window. Being May, the weather outside was still pretty tepid, and while the morning held a slight nip, it felt cool against her skin. Students were beginning to filter through the gate, arriving from all over town, through the tram system or on bikes, they greeted each other and waved hello, nodding to the student councilor or ignoring him all together. She had calmed herself down enough to be reasonable, and she came to the conclusion that he really must only use that weapon against people who could've been intruders. Yea, no teacher was cruel enough to raise a weapon against a student in this age. Maybe she'll go down and properly introduce herself, they started on the wrong foot, but it didn't have to stay that way. They were going to be co-workers, and she would hate being on someone's bad side from day one.

Descending the steps one by one, she gave a courteous smile to those who curiously ogled the new staff. It was obvious they would question the new school nurse, which was a role that hadn't even existed until just this week. The room she commanded was a refurbished classroom at the end of the first floor, one that no one really ever used except to occasionally skip class, so its purpose would more or less be the exact same. Passing the shoe lockers and journeying into the courtyard out front, she was greeted by quite a few students, actually, and to her surprise, she recognized a few. Well, only one. One and a half...? "Hm? Tanjiro, wasn't it?"

The young boy that saved her bag ended up right in front of her, donning the students' school uniform and the same earrings that caught her eye. On his back, was a very familiar teenager, the same one with french bread in her mouth, but she seemed to be asleep. Those bright, limpid eyes shifted focus from the two other students by his side and he erupted with a bright smile. "Good morning, Ms. (Y/N). Were you able to find your way home alright?"

"Oh definitely. Your instructions helped a lot, thank you." Ah, she couldn't tell him that she got lost, her conscience wouldn't allow it. Instead, like a proper adult, she lied and changed the subject. "And who are the two with you?"

"These are my friends!" He raised his hand to the right, introducing the blond haired boy with a flustered appearance first. "This is Zenitsu, and this is-"

"Inosuke Hashibira! Fight me! Duel! Draw your sword!" The second boy cackled with a delightfully twisted grin, leaping up and unsheathing two ragged training swords from his belt. Its splintered and weary surfaces spoke more of its usage than anything, along with the several straps barely tied to the handles of the grip. "Be my stepping stone, woman!"

"Excuse me?!" She's had plenty of experience with getting one of those damn things swung at her (a single incident), but unlike her prior experience, there was nothing in the way of the wooden blades' trajectory towards her face. A sharp thwack resounded through the courtyard, and even if barely anyone turned their head towards the commotion, it was plenty alarming to the poor school nurse who collapsed backwards onto the concrete. No, she was not hit, but rather, the two strikes were deflected by Giyuu Tomioka's own bamboo blade.

"Duels are not permitted on school grounds." Like a splash of cold water to the face, she could only stare blankly at the three swords above her head. His reply -and possibly the only reason (Y/N) wouldn't end up with a concussion today- was aggravating, but after seeing her life flash before her eyes in the form of two fucking sticks, she remained speechless. He did save her after all, but she had a feeling that if she were only two steps away, outside the border... he would not have done the same. Or maybe he would have? Yea, just be optimistic. Remember, she came here to introduce herself, not pick a fight that -looking back at these past minutes- she had no chance of winning.

"Hah?! Don't get in my way! You know what, I'll fight you too! I'm gonna win and get two awesome swords worthy of the boar king!" The young student cackled and lifted his arms to strike again, only for him to have his arms restrained and dragged back by Tanjiro and a slightly awake little bread sister.

"Don't just attack people out of nowhere! You scared the poor lady to death, to death!!" The quiet blond suddenly exploded with energy, waving his arms with a face so red she would have thought he would burst a blood vessel. "How could you! And to such a young beauty! The fear would leave her unable to get sufficient rest at night and she would come with eyebags! Eyebags all because of you!"

"What the fuck are you talking about, Monitsu?!"

"Your stupid brain is filled with nothing but air, huh?! You don't just attack some random, innocent woman!"

"If you wish to condemn others for their behavior, fix yours! Dye your hair black!" The bamboo blade thocked the top of the student's head. With how hard it hit and how sharp the crack, (Y/N) was sure something broke.

"What the hell are you doing?!" She shouted, immediately cradling the student's head to check for signs of concussion. Snapping her fingers, her worry only tripled when not given an answer. After a few moments of rest, it seemed that he was finally coming to, reasonably angry, but arguably a bit too calm. Quickly turning to the assailant, (Y/N) growled at him. "Why did you just randomly hit a student?! I understand he didn't listen to the dress code, but that doesn't mean you should go ahead and wack them! Do you have any common sense up there? Is your skull dented or something?!"

Giyuu ignored her, passing by to go hound Tanjiro for the sake of his earrings. Annoying! He's annoying! What the hell type of teacher is he to act like that to any student?? Sharply, she turned to the boy that tried to strike her. Apparently, he didn't like the look in her eyes. "Hah?! What are you looking at, woman?"

"It's (Y/N) (L/N)! Ms. (L/N), for you, you little punk! Are you going to randomly hit people too? Are you trying to grow up like that?!" She pointed at the man in the blue tracksuit, and when the student purposefully avoided her eyes to pout at the sky, she grabbed the hood of his ear to drag him to look.

"Hey! Weren't you just prattling on about not hitting people or something?!" He growled, flailing around to get his ear out of her grip. Honestly, being as good as Mr. Tomioka was definitely at the top of his bucket list. He knew exactly how much power things needed, to the point he could bring Monitsu to his knees without doing any real bad damage. That took a lot of skill. Imagine how strong he was if he didn't hold back!

"You pulled the first attack! Don't try that 'holier than thou' shit on me, kid! You're lucky I'm not taking those two toys away!" (Y/N) guided him into the main building to go change his shoes and go to class, ignoring the fact that he had brought nothing but his lunchbox. Sure, there was still a lot of time until classes actually started, but this little fuck was going straight to his classroom. Christ, this was only the first day, please don't say there were even more people this insane!