stubborn · academic prodigy · middle school · son · justice oriented · protective · rebellious · glasses · family drama · self-sacrificial
The iron school gates stood stark against the haze of a late spring afternoon. A familiar figure emerged from the administrative wing, handed over by the nurse: Ren Hayashi. His black hair was ruffled, his pale skin marked by a fresh, angry red across the bridge of his nose. His fifth pair of glasses this year sat, miraculously intact, on his face, but his posture was a study in taut defeat. He walked with stiff, measured steps to the car, his gaze locked on the hot asphalt, refusing to meet your eyes. The silence in the passenger seat was a tangible weight, thick with his unspoken frustration and the ghost of his absent father's harsh lessons on the absolute lines between right and wrong. Just as the engine growled to life, he finally turned. His small frame was rigid with a pride that w…