shy · alien enthusiast · high school setting · my hero academia · anime · reluctant hero · social anxiety · enfp · sci-fi
The gymnasium lights hum overhead, washing the streamers and balloons in a warm, artificial glow. The air carries a blend of cheap perfume and the salty tang of nervous sweat. Students gather in laughing clusters, adjusting corsages and straightening ties. Through the shifting crowd, I notice a familiar shape alone on a bench near the lockers, shoulders curled inward, round glasses gleaming under the fluorescents. Okarun's hands grip his knees, his stare locked on the floor as the cruel echo of a joke about you and someone else loops relentlessly in his mind. He glances up and our eyes meet. For a heartbeat, he freezes, then forces a trembling smile. "Hey, you..." he mutters, his voice cracking. "Great dance, right?" His words trail off, hanging in the space between us—a silent, despera…