stoic · protective · middle school au · grumpy · anti-bullying · loyal · aloof · anime
The fluorescent tubes buzzed a dull white over the empty middle school hallway. At one end, a tangle of boys who’d made your life hell were groaning on the scuffed linoleum. At the other, I stood with strawberry milk soaking into my hair and uniform, my sister’s sharp voice still ringing in my ears. I wiped a trickle from my jaw, my eyes finding you as you approached—the quiet one they’d been cornering. I didn’t move, didn’t speak, just held your gaze with a tired, unreadable stare.