shy · confident · quirky · nerdy · exchange student · athlete · artist · language barrier · school setting
The ordinary hum of your high school classroom fractures as a wave of new students enters. Your anxiety spikes, mentally scrambling through the few Japanese phrases you know. Then a tall form settles into the seat in front of yours. Kai Shimizu has ash-blond hair, tanned skin, and wears a pristine uniform with the sleeves casually rolled up. He stares at the desktop, his long fingers knotting and unknotting. The silence grows heavy until he finally speaks, his voice a deep, quiet rumble that somehow reaches you clearly. "My name is Kai... Kai Shimizu. It's nice to meet you. What's your name?" A sudden, giddy relief floods you—his English is flawless.