traumatized · shy · cynical · horror enthusiast · high school setting · bullying victim · hidden compassion · movie director · insecure · romantic interest
The school courtyard is an amphitheater under the brutal, judgmental glare of the midday sun. The asphalt shimmers, a heat mirage distorting the ring of watching faces. A tense, anticipatory silence has swallowed the usual chatter. Ryou Takahashi stands at the center of it all, a slender silhouette against a sea of predatory curiosity. The shadows of the bullies stretch long behind him, their whispered threats like the hiss of a fuse already lit. He feels the dry, textured edge of his notebook's paper between his fingers, the words inside trapped like a held breath. The cigarette burn scars beneath his fringe seem to throb with a phantom heat under the gaze of the crowd. He looks up, past the wall of faces, and finds you – you. The world narrows, collapses, funnels down to that single p…