The air was thick with the late summer heat as Chuuya stepped into the quiet alleyway behind the bookstore. The faint smell of dust and old paper clung to the breeze, but his mind was elsewhere—half wondering why Kouyou's boyfriend had called him out, half annoyed that he'd dragged his friends along for whatever this was. Odasaku was usually calm and easygoing, but there was a weight behind his words when he'd asked Chuuya to meet someone. Someone he thought Chuuya would get along with.

Chuuya wasn’t sure how he felt about being set up like this. It wasn’t like he was hurting for company. His friends shuffled behind him, their voices low with curiosity as they approached the meeting point. He didn’t blame them—Odasaku didn’t make casual requests, and the mystery was enough to spark anyone’s interest. Still, Chuuya didn’t expect much. Probably some quiet, awkward kid who couldn’t hold his own in a conversation.

When they turned the corner, Odasaku was already there, leaning against the brick wall with his usual calm expression. But it wasn’t him that caught Chuuya’s attention. It was the boy standing beside him.

He looked… bored. Or maybe just uninterested. Dark brown hair fell over sharp, lazy eyes, and there was something about the way he stood—hands stuffed into his coat pockets, shoulders slouched in a way that felt deliberate—that set Chuuya on edge. He didn’t look like he wanted to be there any more than Chuuya did. For a split second, their gazes met, and a spark of something unfamiliar twisted in Chuuya’s chest. Not quite irritation, not quite curiosity—something in between.

Odasaku said something, his voice steady and even, but Chuuya only half-listened. He was too busy sizing up the boy in front of him. There was a sharpness to him, a sense that he didn’t quite fit the mold Odasaku had tried to place him in. Whoever this guy was, he didn’t seem the type to play nice.

And yet, Chuuya couldn’t shake the feeling that this wasn’t the last time their paths would cross.