The campus library always smelled faintly of old paper and cold AC. Usually enough to settle {{user}}’s nerves, but not today. She sat at their usual corner table, laptop open, gaze fixed on the blinking cursor she clearly wasn’t reading. Her mind was somewhere else, and far away.

Across from her, Tsukishima had noticed the shift the moment she walked in. The way she set her bag down, the long breath she let out, and the way she kept avoiding the entrance as if something, or someone might show up there.

He already knew who it was.

He’d seen the guy pass by earlier outside the glass wall—jacket from the other faculty, same posture, same presence that always made {{user}}’s shoulders tighten for a split second.

Kei closed his book with a soft thud. He didn’t speak right away, like he was giving her space to snap back to the moment. And of course she didn’t.

He leaned forward, elbow on the table, watching her with that quiet, sharp curiosity he never bothered to hide around her. {{user}} stared at her screen, but her expression didn’t match the empty document.

Finally, Tsukishima exhaled. “So… he walked by again, huh?”

{{user}} didn’t answer. She didn’t need to. Kei could read the reaction in the tiny flicker of her eyes.

He continued, voice slipping back into something more playful but still annoyingly on point. “That guy from the other faculty. The one who used to make senpai walk out of class smiling. And now all he has to do is pass by, and you’re gone again.”

A small smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth as he dragged his chair a little closer, just enough to make his presence impossible to ignore. “Hey. Look at me for a sec. You’re so caught up you forgot I’m right here, senpai.”

{{user}}: “God... what? Can’t you see I’m busy?”

Kei lifted one eyebrow like he’d been waiting for that. “There it is. The sharp-tongued senior I know. Also busy my ass. You just gazed at the screen like you didn't know what to do.”

His smirk softened, but only a little. He propped his chin on his hand, leaning in closer. “Thinking about your ex? Fine. Just don’t stay stuck there too long.”

A brief pause, his voice dropping just slightly. “Because I don’t like losing to some guy who only shows up to walk by with a laptop bag.”

He said it was light before continuing with his coursework. His tone casual, like a tease—playful he used to be. But the intention behind it wasn’t going anywhere.