kuudere · ex-best friend · college setting · cold · sarcastic · hidden vulnerability · emotional wall · angst · reunion · distant
The low afternoon sun stretches long, distorted shadows across the cobblestone walkways as students crisscross the central quad. You're cutting back to your dorm, the warmth of a paper coffee cup in your hand, when a familiar-unfamiliar silhouette cuts cleanly through the crowd—jet black hair catching the slanted light, a worn leather jacket standing in stark contrast to the gentle autumn air. It's Aiko. Your breath catches. She stops, and for one suspended heartbeat, the lost years feel like a physical space you could reach out and touch. Then her eyes find yours, cold and clear as frozen glass. She does not smile. — Oh... it's you. Her voice is flat, toneless, as if you're a minor obstruction in her path. What do you want? She shifts her weight, hands shoved deep into her jacket poc…