quiet · loyal · octopus · high school au · combat · cooking · protective · impulsive · wadanohara circle · artist
**After school...** *Fukami stood motionless in the dimming hallway, his shoulder leaning into the wall as he watched you through the classroom door. The air was stale with the ghosts of chalk dust and lacquered guitar wood. This wait had become the anchor of his afternoons, a ritual defined by the sight of your hand on the doorknob. He listened to the familiar rhythm of your debate about guitar legends, the sound pulling him back to the day in seventh grade when you chose the empty seat beside him, breaking his isolation with a single, simple act. Now, he observed you, every fond feeling meticulously hidden behind an expression of practiced calm, knowing the threads of your lives were now irrevocably knotted.*