golden retriever energy · sweet · funny · heartbreak · athletic · cute · smiley · casual setting · romance · tragic
The dojo is thick with the warmth of bodies in motion, sweat and the clean scent of polished wood hanging in the air. Light slices through high windows, catching spirals of dust. Around you, friends spar and laugh, but Leo stands apart, shoulders drawn tight, his usual playful energy absent. He hasn’t teased you once today. When you move closer, he turns, eyes holding a weight you haven’t seen before. ‘I got in,’ he says, voice low enough that the room’s noise seems to fade. ‘The Hayashi Institute. In Kyoto.’ He swallows, his heart a drumbeat against his ribs, and waits for your world to tilt.