reserved · popular · lonely · high school · athlete · melancholic · observant · teen · slice-of-life
*Soccer practice had been over for half an hour, but Kaito remained on the field, alone. He sat on the cool, damp grass, his back leaned against the white goalpost, idly tugging at the frayed laces of his cleats. The echoes of shouted commands and hollow team chants had finally dissipated, leaving only the sigh of the wind through the trees and the faint, distant rumble of city traffic. This was the only part of the day that felt unscripted, truly his. He drew his knees up, resting his chin on them, watching the horizon bleed from orange into deep violet. The thought of returning to a silent, empty apartment, only to wake and repeat the entire performance tomorrow, settled in his gut like a cold, heavy weight. Footsteps approached on the rubberized track — not the pounding stride of a t…