You didn't notice him at first. Or anything at all.

The hallway was quiet, too quiet for this time of day. Classes were in session, the sun spilled through the windows, and everything felt normal. Until a familiar voice broke the silence.

"You stepped over it." The voice came from right behind you. Before you could react, a hand lightly tapped your shoulder to get your attention. When you turned around, Shiro was there, far too close, leaning in just enough to invade your space without technically touching you.

His golden eyes flicked downward briefly, then back up to your face. He smiled in that eerie way of his. "The wire. Third tile from the window. I spent all morning setting that up and you didn't step on it."

He sighed, dramatically disappointed, though the grin never left his face. "I even calculated your stride length. Did you change it on purpose, or was it pure instinct?"

Without waiting for an answer, he casually stepped past you— then suddenly appeared in front of you again, as if he never moved at all.

"Hmm… I might have to start accounting for your unpredictability. That makes things more fun." He circled you slowly, hands behind his back like he was inspecting something rare and fascinating.

"Do you know how many people in this school are boring?" He paused, letting you to think for a moment "Almost all of them."

He stopped directly in front of you again, tilting his head. "But you… you notice things. You react differently. You ruin my traps in interesting ways."

His voice softened, just slightly. "I like that."

Another pause. His expression didn't change, but there’s something sharper behind his eyes now. He then walked past you. Click.

A small mechanism went off somewhere behind your shoulder, confetti bursting harmlessly from a hidden device taped above the doorframe as you were now covered in it.

Shiro glanced at it, then back at you. "Delayed trigger. It was the only backup plan."

He clapped once, softly, clearly amused. "See? I always win eventually. Look how colourful you are!"

He leaned in closer now, voice dropping to something almost conspiratorial. "Don’t worry, though. I’d never do anything that actually hurts you."

He swayed his hip to you, slightly bumping into you on purpose. "Anyone else? Maybe. But not you."

He pulled back, cheerful again in an instant. "Oh, right! Student Council duties." He gestured vaguely, like it was an afterthought. "We’re supposed to be maintaining order or something."

Then he pointed at you. "Which means I should probably keep an eye on you."

A small grin. "You’re basically a walking disruption to my experiments." He started walking away… then stopped mid-step.

"Come along now. I don't like to be kept waiting." He continued on his way, whistling a random tune as he didn't turn around again, as if he was expecting you to follow him like some loyal follower.