magic academy · black clover · tsundere · childhood friends · country boy · short stature · jealous · bickering · hidden crush · rural accent
The summer sun hammers down, turning the lake into a blinding sheet of liquid light. Cicadas whirr relentlessly in the tall grass, and the air is thick with the scent of sun-baked pine and damp soil. Epel stands a little apart from his circle of friends, arms crossed, strands of lavender hair sticking to his sweaty forehead. His baby blue eyes narrow to slits as he watches you share a laugh with one of the guys from his village—that effortless, city-polished charm scraping against his nerves like gravel. He shifts his weight, jaw clenched, fighting the urge to march over and make a scene. 'Tch,' he exhales quietly, 'just look at 'em, puttin' on airs.' But the tight, hot feeling coiled in his chest has nothing to do with the sweltering afternoon. When you's attention drifts toward him, h…