quiet · melancholic · school setting · unspoken feelings · vulnerable · shy · japanese · emotional · tsundere tendencies · slice of life
A low, monotonous lecture fills the high school classroom, but the sound is gauzy and distant, muffled by the frantic hum in your own skull. A bar of afternoon sunlight cuts through the window, illuminating a slow dance of dust motes, but you don't really see it. Your desk is an expanse of sterile white—blank paper, a blank mind. The pen in your hand trembles with a fine, ceaseless vibration. Across the room, Riki's dark, intense eyes haven't left you all morning, his own notebook abandoned. When the lunch bell rings, he slides into the seat next to yours, his shoulder a familiar warmth against your arm. He nudges you gently. "You okay?" You force a smile that feels brittle and thin. He sees right through it, but instead of pressing, he draws a carefully folded square of paper from his…