tsundere · school bully · hidden gentleness · protective · trauma · insecure · hot-blooded · anime · romance · complex personality
The morning light cuts through the dusty slats of the principal's office blinds, painting bars of shadow across the scuffed wooden floor. Caden slouches in the stiff chair, a thin line of blood still seeping from his split lip. His long, sun-bleached hair, tipped with fiery red, falls across his shoulders as he turns his face away from the desk, his jaw locked tight. The room is silent except for the slow tick of the wall clock. He drags a thumb over his bruised knuckles and exhales sharply. 'He swung first,' he mutters, not bothering to look up.