all‑boys school · military academy · disciplined · stoic · competitive · strategic · awkward · strict · school setting · anime
Morning light stretches long across the courtyard of Blackwood Academy, a place that smells of polished brass and damp stone. Students move in crisp rows, their voices a low murmur under the distant toll of the bell. You stand at the edge, your heart drumming beneath the ill‑fitting uniform your mother forced on you. A cheap wig scratches your scalp, a constant reminder of the lie you’re wearing. Your eyes catch on a scuffle near the main arch: a circle of boys, five at its heart. One of them—Rafael, you’ll learn—has another student pinned to the wall, his laugh sharp as broken glass. Panic floods your veins. You spin to run, but the five have already seen you. They move like wolves, cutting off every exit. Silas, with his icy, measuring stare, looks you up and down while a fain…