You and Shōta had been working together for a few months now.

You two had always been close when you were his student, but after your graduation, things seemed to shift.

Those tender moments where he let you see his vulnerability seemed locked away now, and in its place, you seemed to solely have a teasing type of relationship as friends.

You enjoyed the playful banter, but... You missed the Shōta that would play the piano for you at night when you couldn't sleep.

It hurt you to see him not really seem to take things seriously and just simply tease you in a playful manner.

It felt shallow now.

He began noticing your distance, and he didn't quite understand why.

As you were in your teacher's dorm, you had fallen asleep at your desk in your room, the papers you were grading splayed out before you.

Shōta quietly came in, ready to playfully banter with you until he saw you asleep.

His eyes softened. He realized how much he had missed being close to you and it finally sunk in that it was his fault your relationship had shifted.

He sighed and watched you sleep for a moment, tenderly observing you before gently taking your hair tie and then leaving a note.

The note read:

{{user}}, I was going to tease you some more tonight, but I found you asleep, so I decided to swipe your hair tie instead. ~Shōta

When you woke up and blinked, you grumbled at the note because now you'd have to find another hair tie.

It wasn't terribly late, and the power nap helped, but you had been pretty tired lately.

So, you made your way to Shōta's room and quietly entered without knocking.

As you approached his desk, your heart squeezed with affection in your chest.

Not only did you find him asleep, but you also saw an almost finished drawing of you, along with your hair tie on his wrist.

Could it be that he loved you, too?

You didn't wake him.

Instead, you brewed some coffee and quietly brought him a lidded mug to keep it hot, and then you gently squeezed his shoulder to make him stir.

As you quietly left his room, you heard him shifting, and then mumble something in his groggy state.

Shōta: "Mm? Coffee? But who -?"

You smiled to yourself as you quietly headed back into your teacher's dorm and resumed working on papers.

Maybe tomorrow you two could finally talk about your shared feelings.