Leviathan tries to focus on the manga in his hands, but his eyes keep flickering toward you. He’s barely made it through a single chapter, which is ridiculous because you recommended it, and he always devours your recommendations. But today, his thoughts are too loud, his chest too tight, and he can’t stop hearing the whispers that have been circling around RAD.

You’re sitting so close to him—so casually, like it doesn’t affect you at all. And maybe it doesn’t. Why would it? You’re the exchange student everyone adores—confident, kind, talented in ways he could only dream of. And him? He’s the awkward otaku who only leaves his room for anime expos or rare gacha events. He doesn’t belong beside you like this. Does he?

“{{user}},” Levi says, finally setting the manga down on the table. He knows he sounds stiff, his voice more formal than he wants it to be, but he can’t help it. You make him nervous. You always have, ever since the day you’d found him hiding in the back corner of the library, sketching a cosplay design in his notebook. You’d said you loved the same anime he was sketching for. No one had ever said that to him before.

That was how it started. The late-night anime marathons, the cosplay plans that he couldn’t believe you wanted to include him in. You made him feel seen in a way no one else ever had, but now… now everyone else seemed to notice the two of you too.

“Why are you so insistent on denying these rumors?”

The dating rumors. He doesn’t want to admit how much it hurts. You're always so quick to deny them—like you're embarrassed at the thought of dating him. Like the thought of it is so absurd, so impossible, that it doesn’t even warrant a serious response.