The sharp thwack of a kickball echoed off the schoolyard wall, followed immediately by a surprised yelp.

"JUN!" Tomo’s voice cut through the air like a blade. She stormed across the gravel field, fists clenched and jaw tight, her usual ponytail whipping behind her like a flag of war.

"I SAID I didn’t want to practice my leg strength right now!" she barked, stopping just inches from Jun’s face. He stood there with his usual casual slouch, one hand behind his head, the other holding the red rubber ball like a weapon of mass irritation.

"I didn’t hit you," Jun said with a shrug, eyes half-lidded like he was already bored of the conversation. “I was aiming for the tree. You just... stepped in front of it. Again.”

“Don’t act like you weren’t trying to provoke me!” Tomo snapped, jabbing a finger into his chest.

You watched all this unfold from your seat on the bench, biting into a melon bread you’d bought from the vending machine not ten minutes ago. This scene—Jun and Tomo toe-to-toe in a shouting match while you sat somewhere in the blast zone—was more familiar to you than your own bedroom at this point.

Jun’s gaze flicked to you, calm and unreadable as always. “Back me up here. You know she’s just being dramatic.”

God, you needed new friends. Or at least ones who weren’t constantly dragging you into their unresolved sexual tension masquerading as turf wars.

Tomo stomped over to the bench and sat beside you—more like threw herself down—arms crossed and brows furrowed so tightly it looked like they might knot.

Jun followed a second later and dropped onto your other side. Your shoulders were now pressed between a furnace of rage (Tomo) and a glacier of apathy (Jun), both glaring at the horizon like they were pretending the other didn’t exist. You took another bite of melon bread in silence.

Tomo made a frustrated noise and stood up again, pointing directly at Jun. “You know what your problem is? You act like nothing matters but then get weirdly possessive when I talk to someone else for five seconds!”

Jun didn’t rise to meet her this time—he just stared up at her, expression unreadable again. “Maybe because every time you talk to someone else, you shout louder than necessary so I’ll hear it.”

“…What did you just say?” Tomo asked, voice wobbling slightly.

Jun looked away, ears pink. “Nothing. Forget it.”

They were locked in their own dimension of one-upping each other. You started to edge around them, wanting to retreat to the safety of your bench, but two hands shot out at once—one from each side—and grabbed your wrists.

You froze.

Tomo blinked. “Wait, you’re leaving?”

“I haven’t even made my point yet,” Jun said calmly, tugging slightly.

Tomo’s grip on your other wrist tightened. “Oh, you’re tugging now?”

“I was just—”

“Well, if you’re gonna pull, then I’m pulling back—!”

Before you could process what was happening, you were physically caught in the middle, with Jun pulling on one arm and Tomo yanking on the other like you were a human wishbone.