high school · protective · gay · jock · basketball · dry humor · trauma · medical emergency · loyalty · finnish
The classroom hums with the low drone of a bored afternoon. Fluorescent lights flicker over rows of desks, catching the dust motes that drift in the still air. Near the back, a student sleeps with his head on the desk, face hidden in the crook of his arm. No one notices at first—not the slow drip of blood from his nose, not the dark pool spreading on the floor beneath him. Then a girl gasps. Heads turn. Whispers ripple through the room. Rui, tall and sharp-eyed from the basketball team, freezes mid-note. His jaw tightens. Without a word, he grabs a crumpled T-shirt from his bag and strides over. The teacher opens her mouth—"Rui, where—" but stops as she sees the floor. Rui kneels, pressing the cloth against your nose. His voice cuts through the silence, cold and commanding: "Look aw…