Lifeline | SaneGiyuu Modern AU

🌊| 1 - Built on a fault line |💨

It had been a long time since Giyuu had seen colour.

To him, everything was greyscale. The very life and joy was sucked out of every moment by the void of unending guilt inside him. Over and over it swallowed, eating everything within its reach until eventually, nothing remained.

...

Blue met blue as Giyuu raised his gaze from the floor -where it usually rested- to the sky. Fluffy white clouds littered the pale scene above him, the sun peaking through in rays of golden light. A light gust of wind brought the sound of distant voices to his ears... He braced himself as the distorted words reached him.

"What the hell is that twat doing here?"

Giyuu sighed and turned to face his upperclassman, Eishun. The voice of the short, nagging boy made Giyuu want to rip his eardrums out... Every word he spoke dragged a score across his mind, grating against his psyche.

"Can I help you?" Giyuu said softly, in his usual monotonous voice. Eishun laughed; Giyuu winced at the sound.

"Yeah, you could help me by getting out of my sight. Or perhaps, jumping off a bride?" He grinned, and Giyuu's face remained blank.

Is he seriously telling me to kill myself? I don't even know him, what a rude guy.

"As I recall, you were the one who approached me first. I was not bothering you." Giyuu stated calmly. Eishun's eyelid twitched as his insults flew over Giyuu's head. In an instant, he was up in his face, causing the group behind him to laugh and cheer.

"You bastard, you think you're better than me? You think you deserve to be able to talk back to me?" He delivered a sharp knee to Giyuu's stomach, making him splutter a bit. Belows erupted from the group behind, and suddenly, Giyuu felt a fist connect with his face.

...

"Get him, Eishun!"

...

"Pathetic Tomioka.."

...

"No wonder everyone around him dies..."

...

"If I had to put up with him, I'd kill myself!"

...

"Just die already Tomioka, nobody would miss you."

...

The crowd of older kids came and went, leaving Giyuu in a crumpled heap on the floor.

It wasn't often that Giyuu answered back, but today he had. Today he had dared to defend himself, and now he was bleeding and battered in the dirt.

His head spun from where it had been punched and stood on, his vision blurring. The ground beneath him felt weird, almost as if he was swimming on solid water... Suddenly, his stomach lurched, and he began to retch.

Giyuu clutched at his throat and gasped for breath. Gingerly, he rolled up his shirt a bit... Every inch of him was turning purplish-red, and his skin was blotchy with quickly developing bruises.

Trembling hands grasped at the dirt beneath him, grating his nails into the ground. His eyes stung as he fought back the urge to scream, cry, pass out...

"I have to get up..." He thought to himself. "I can't grovel in the dust like this, its pathetic."

Shakily, he hauled himself to his feet and began to limp over to where his backpack lay... When he looked, it had disappeared.

Oh shit, where is it? Did those guys take it?

...

"This yours?" A deep, gruff voice sounded behind him, and Giyuu's pulse jumped.

Please don't say there are more of them...

When he turned, the boy standing behind him was a kid from his english class. Giyuu sighed with relief, and nodded.

He's decent... right? I mean, he lent me a pencil once... Does that mean we're friends?

Sanemi Shinazugawa stood over him with the backpack in hand, shocked at the sight of the boy infront of him. His eye was black, his nose was bloody, his lip was swollen... The sight of him reminded Sanemi of a street cat that had been kicked around by alley dogs.

"What the hell happened here? Did you get jumped or something?" He raised an eyebrow and moved closer to Giyuu, being careful not to make him jump too much.

He looks scared... Who the hell did this to him?

"I- um..." His voice was low and soft, barely even audible.

"I don't really know, they just- All those older guys, and Eishun, and..."

Sanemi's eyes narrowed. Of course that jackass was behind this, he always did love beating on smaller people for no good reason. With a sigh, Sanemi stretched out his arm and handed Giyuu's backpack to him.

"What's your name?" Even after recieving a beating, Giyuu's blue eyes glowed as he stared up at Sanemi. The white haired boys' pulse jumped as the ocean blue depths met his own eyes.

"Shinazugawa..." He mumbled, dropping the backpack into the other boy's arms. "Shinazugawa Sanemi."

Giyuu's eyes widened, and he kicked nervously at the ground before replying.

"I'm Tomioka Giyuu! If you've heard of me it'll probably be by another nickname, though." He laughed nervously.

Sanemi raised an eyebrow scrutinously and folded his arms.

"Why do you let people treat you like this? You don't look weak..." His eyes scanned Giyuu's broad figure. "... So how come people take you for easy pickings?"

Giyuu stared harder at the ground. Sanemi's tone was hard and judgemental, but he had a fair point. The blue haired boy was strong... He could probably beat Eishun's ass easily.

"I guess I just don't like to start fights." Giyuu motioned towards his eye. "This is what I get when I talk back, so why bother?"

Sanemi stared at Giyuu, slightly dumbfounded. "Are you dense? Why the hell would you act so weak?!" He scoffed and walked past, his white hair blowing softly in the breeze. Giyuu frowned at the tone he used, and continued staring at the floor.

Despite his previous tone, Sanemi didn't walk away. With a grunt, he threw a look over his shoulder at Giyuu, and motioned for him to follow him.

"Are you coming, weakling? I'm walking you home."

Giyuu's eyes sparkled at his words. "R-really! You'd do that?"

His heart beat hard inside his chest.

Is he really gonna walk me home? That's... That's so nice! Does he want to be my friend?

Sanemi scoffed again at the boy behind him. He looked so happy just at the thought of someone caring enough to walk him home...

How pathetic, I already can't stand this guy!

...

A/N: I had to republish this earlier for editing reasons, so I'd really appreciate if you guys voted or commented to make up for the 400-or-so reads I lost! I work hard on my stories and deeply appreciate when you support them, so thank you very much! <3

1116 words

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