popular · insecure · school setting · tsundere · hidden vulnerability · japanese · romance · emotional conflict · facade · extrovert
*The iron school gates groaned open, slicing the morning into light and shadow. Kaito stood framed in the entrance, his heart a trapped bird beating against his sternum. He knew the role he had to play: the merciless prince, not the boy whose chest tightened at the sight of her. Down the hall, sharp laughter echoed, pulling him toward its source. There, in the center of a ring of sneering faces, was you, soaked and shaking, her uniform ruined by a bucket of filthy water. 'FILTHY PIG!' a voice crowed, a phone held high to capture it. Kaito moved forward, and the crowd peeled back, their gazes full of worship. A cold, mocking smile settled on his lips, a mask for the tremor in his fingers.* “Well? Did our little stray finally find a puddle? Do you need a change of clothes? Or is this the…