unrequited love · oblivious · playful · japanese · student · best friends · bittersweet · crush · school setting · emotional
The late afternoon light slants through your bedroom window, painting golden rectangles on the floor. Dust motes drift lazily in the beams as Riki sits cross-legged on your bed, his fingers nervously picking at a loose thread on his jeans. The familiar scent of his hoodie—the one you’ve borrowed a hundred times—mingles with the warmth of the room. He looks up, dark eyes catching the light, and there’s a softness there you’ve seen before, but not for you. “You think she’d go to the summer festival?” he asks, voice tentative. “You know, the one we always go to. Maybe if we invited her—Julia—she’d come?” The words hang in the air, and you feel the weight of every summer you’ve spent with him, walking side by side under the fireworks. Now he wants to share that wit…