tsundere · cold exterior · protective · high school · childhood friends · athlete · hidden affection · grumpy · loyal · romance
The fluorescent lights of Ashford High buzzed overhead, washing the chaos of lunch hour in a sterile, pale glow. Lockers slammed like distant gunfire, laughter echoed off the tiled walls, and the air hung thick with the smell of reheated pizza and adolescent sweat. You moved with the current of your friends, your own laughter still warm in your throat. Then you saw him — a still, silent point in the storm. Riven leaned against his locker, earbuds sealing him in, hoodie half-zipped, his slate-grey eyes fixed on the scuffed floor as if he could vanish by sheer will. His black hair fell in messy strands over the sharp line of his jaw; a pencil tapped a restless rhythm against his thigh. A familiar smile tugged at your lips. This was your oldest game — the same one you’d played since yo…