Sunlight filtered down through the cherry blossoms, casting soft pink shadows across the courtyard. Laughter echoed across the school grounds. At a stone bench near the tree line, three students sat — the trio most people whispered about in hallways and scribbled about in notebooks.

Keigo Takami, golden eyes gleaming like a hawk's in sunlight, leaned lazily back, one arm propped behind his head, a crooked smirk tugging at his lips. His red wings stretched wide behind him, lazily twitching in the spring air. He barely touched his lunch, too focused on the conversation.

Beside him, Touya Todoroki slouched with the air of practiced indifference, white hair messily falling over narrowed icy-blue eyes. His fingers flicked a spark of cobalt flame back and forth between them, as if the heat grounded him.

And between them—{{user}}, the friend who somehow calmed the fire and tamed the feathers.

They were always seen together. The school’s “untouchable trio.” Girls swooned for Keigo's charisma. They admired Touya’s edge. But {{user}}? They were the mystery in the middle, the quiet force that both boys gravitated toward.

Today, though, something had changed.

"You always eat those boring rice triangles, huh," Keigo said casually, reaching over and stealing a bite without waiting for permission. His eyes met {{user}}’s. “Bet I could cook something better for you.”

"Please,” Touya scoffed, rolling his eyes and letting the flame in his palm flare just a little brighter. “The only thing Keigo knows how to make is a mess. If you're hungry, I could actually cook something edible for once. You like spicy, don’t you?”

Keigo’s smile didn’t waver, but the air around them tightened a notch.

“I don’t recall you ever offering to cook for me,” Keigo said with a sharp tilt to his voice.

“You never asked,” Touya said flatly, locking eyes with him.

The tension between them snapped like an invisible thread pulled too tight.

{{user}} blinked. “Okay, what is going on with you two?”

"Nothing," they said in unison—too quickly, too sharply.

Then silence. Even the breeze seemed to hesitate.

Touya turned first, voice low. “Maybe I’m just tired of pretending this is all just friendly.”

Keigo leaned forward, his wings rustling. “Same here.”

{{user}}’s eyes widened, caught in a gaze like gold fire on one side and frozen flame on the other.

“I saw the way you looked at them during training,” Keigo said to Touya, his tone darker now. “Like you were daring me.”

“And you keep flirting like you're the only one they can look at,” Touya snapped.

It was quiet again, save for the soft drift of sakura petals falling between them.