Beauty and the Beast: Kimetsu High Edition! (InoAoi // Inosuke x Aoi)

Chapter 10: The First Kiss

"Maybe I'm thinking too much," Tanjiro muttered.

"What did you say, Tanjiro?" Zenitsu asked, thinking that the boy spoke to him.

Tanjiro grinned to wave off his suspicion and act like everything was normal. "Nothing. It's just something that has been bothering me."

Aoi was sure her suspicion was right after lunch. Inosuke was indeed avoiding her. When she got home, she saw that his curtains were closed. His lights were also off even though Inosuke was in his own house.

She took out her phone and typed a message.

Me: If you're mad at me for trying
to touch you unwarranted today
I'm sorry

Waiting. Five minutes. Ten minutes. Fifteen minutes. No incoming messages.

Me: Whatever I did wrong
I didn't mean it

Still, no reply.

Thinking positively, perhaps Inosuke had his own share of problems. She didn't intend to use it against him or make him feel guilty. The next day, she behaved as she usually was at school.

In biology period, Kanae-sensei requested for them to find a partner to do work. They were about to learn homeostasis involving the kidney and the production of urine.

As Aoi was sitting in front of him, she had expected for Inosuke to kick her chair and say something like "oi, partner with me" or "you're my mentor, so I'll be partnering up with you".

Despite their huge differences, Inosuke and Aoi preferred to partner with each other since it would be easy to discuss the topic out of class. They were neighbours after all, so they could get the homework done.

Inosuke stood up and Aoi's heart suddenly raced inside her chest.

She had this all planned out in her head. Inosuke would bam his fists on her table, tell her to partner up with him. Aoi would give some irritated retorts and warn him for slacking off, but they would eventually be partners.

Inosuke only passed by her.

Instead, he went to Genya, who was extremely hesitant to partner with Inosuke, and asked him. Aoi sighed and just accepted his decision.

But it was still weird. Inosuke would always fight with Genya. Once, they pulled each other's hair in the cafeteria and hurled never-ending insults. Only Tanjiro managed to stop them before Shinazugawa-sensei heard any reports.

In the biology lab, Aoi propped her chin up using the ball of her palm. She couldn't focus on the class. Albeit feeling a little disappointed in herself, she promised to self-study back home.

"Ara ara, are you two fighting?"

Aoi snapped out of her thoughts and saw Kanae-sensei in front of her. She wore her usual sweet smile, but Aoi didn't think it was sincere.

Then, Kanae-sensei switched her gaze to Inosuke, who was picking his nose while propping his stool up on two legs and sent a signal to Aoi. She clarified, "You were staring at him, Aoi-san."

The teacher brought a bent forefinger to her lips and chuckled. Aoi didn't have a mirror, but her cheeks felt hot and they were no doubt red.

Fortunately, her partner saved her before it was too late. "They're always fighting anyway, Kanae-sensei. It makes sense if she was staring at him out of rage," Yushiro commented, eyes still on the book.

He clearly didn't have any interest in this discussion, but he couldn't continue with their work if Kanae-sensei kept interrogating Aoi.

His method didn't work.