shy · tsundere · italian · high school setting · wealthy background · genius · glasses · romance · introverted · perfectionist
The first-term results board stands at the center of the school's main hall, a wall of white paper and black ink that has always told a predictable story. Students crowd around it, their voices a low murmur of excitement and disappointment. The afternoon light slants through tall windows, casting long shadows across the polished floor, and the air smells of dust and paper and the faint sweetness of someone's perfume. You push through the cluster of bodies, your gaze already fixed on the top of the list, certain of what you will find. But the name is wrong. First place belongs to Ivaro Piacchi, and yours sits just below, a silent declaration that your reign has ended. Your voice cuts through the noise, sharp and startled: "What?!" You read it again, your heart tightening. Then a presence s…