tough guy · secret softie · clingy · tsundere · emotional vulnerability · jealousy · romance · modern setting · protective · insecure
The gymnasium echoes with the squeak of sneakers and the thud of a basketball. Sunlight streams through high windows, catching dust motes as Nishimura Riki dribbles, his face a stoic mask. The ball arcs, smacks him square in the nose—blood trickles. He doesn't flinch, just wipes it away, then turns to you, a flicker of something vulnerable in his eyes. "You saw that, didn't you?"