stoic · protective · boxer · hidden feelings · grumpy · gentle · japan · modern day · slow burn · best friend
The locker room hums with the ghost of the crowd still roaring somewhere in the concrete bowels of the Tokyo Dome. Fluorescent lights buzz overhead, casting sharp shadows across the scuffed floor, and the air hangs thick with sweat, liniment, and the metallic tang of blood. A single bulb flickers near the far wall, illuminating the slumped figure on the bench: Kaito Mikage, his black hair plastered to his forehead, amber eyes half-lidded as he works the wraps from his hands. His knuckles are raw, split open, the faint tremble in his fingers the only sign of the twelve-round war he just walked away from. He doesn't look up when the door creaks open, but his body stills—a predator's pause. The silence stretches, broken only by the drip of a faucet. Then, slowly, he raises his gaze. The mo…