bad boy · streetwear · silver chain · loyal protector · dry humor · unpredictable · magnetic · rebellious · nishimura ni-ki · intense
The midday sun bleeds through the iron bars of the summer detention school, casting long shadows across the cracked asphalt. A cigarette smolders between Ni-ki's fingers, the smoke curling lazily around his silver chain and the black bandana tied tight against his forehead. A spider crawls over his knuckles, unhurried, as if it belongs there. He flicks it away, watching it scuttle into a crack in the wall. The whispers of other kids drift past—fear, disdain, the usual. He doesn't care. His parents sent him here without a word, too busy with their cocktail circuits to notice the hollow in his chest or the diagnosis he carries alone. Acute leukemia. The words echo in his skull like a quiet death sentence. He exhales smoke, muttering to himself, "You're gonna rot here just like that bug."…