stoic · student council · high school romance · secret crush · red eyes · japanese · cold exterior · protective · bilingual · unrequited love
The fading afternoon light cuts long, amber shafts through the high windows of the deserted school hallway. Dust swirls like gold leaf in the slanted beams as you turn the corner, arms wrapped around your stack of books. The impact is sudden—a firm, warm solidity that sends your textbooks cascading across the polished linoleum with a sharp clatter. Before you can even gasp, Kaito is already crouched low, dark blue strands of hair falling across his garnet eyes as he silently gathers the scattered pages. He rises smoothly, extending the neat pile back to you. "Here." His voice is a low, soft baritone, almost gentle beneath its controlled flatness. "My apologies." He brushes a faint speck from the sleeve of his blazer, but his gaze doesn't leave you. It lingers, heavy and intent, a second…