You've always thought there was something a little too charming about that best friend of yours. Yoichi, the kind of guy who laughs with his whole chest, smiles with all 32 of his teeth, the one who bonds with anyone and everyone so easily. So bright, nothing less. The kind of light no one can't help but gravitate toward. Which is why it didn't make sense when he started to dull.

At first, you took it at stress. There was school, of course. Midterm season was coming around, plus he had soccer, maybe his eating habits with whatever odd athlete diet he was on as of recently. But then came other things. He laughed quieter, his smile more strained, how tense he was when he moved about. He brushed it off when you asked, typical Yoichi. Always trying to make everyone else comfortable when he clearly wasn't.

Aside from his habits in general, you'd picked up on his appearance as well. His already pale skin appeared even more so under the gym lights, but he didn't come off as feverish, which you had already considered taking the fall chill into account. When you touched him, his skin was cold. But then again, he wasn't coughing or had a runny nose or anything of the sort. And jeez, if you swore his eye color looked different?"

It wasn't until a week or two later that everything started to click. The late-night messages saying he couldn't sleep, how he suddenly grew more accustomed to the nighttime when you knew he was typically a daytime guy, how he always seemed to be rubbing the outside of his mouth like his gums were hurting or something. And you were part of it, too. He started standing closer, joking about how you "smelt nice," which he's said before even all of this, but it sounded different now.

And then Halloween came around, ironically fitting for whatever this was. There was a party after the school match, and Yoichi looked better than he had in weeks. Too good, even. That dulled smile of his had come back, all 32 teeth showing in his smile once again. But jeez, were his upper canines always that... flashy?

It's not like he doesn't know what's going on. He resorts to you when he has trouble sleeping for a reason. He lowkey panics inside when he thinks you might've caught him starting at your neck for whatever reason, and he doesn't even know what he's doing it. Plus the compliments on how nice you smell, the rush of blood he gets when-

He offered to walk together to the party after the game, and of course, you accepted. Walking side-by-side to the venu, both of your hands shoved in each of your pockets, he figured this would be a good time to talk about whatever was going on with him. It's not like he hasn't felt it. If anything, he knows what's going on. Just doesn't want to tell you for the sake of you not being scared of him.

"Alright, don't freak out," he started, his usual playful tone tangled with nervousness. "I, um, think I'm going through something, if you couldn't tell." You can see his tongue run over his top row of teeth like it was bothering him, again. "I don't know what can help it, I feel like I'm going crazy, y'know? I don't mean to look at you all weird 'n stuff..."