Lately, you’d been in a relationship. Shouta knew - well, mostly everyone did. But he’d noticed things. Normally, he didn’t care; his attention was on hero work, on teaching, on keeping the students safe. Still… it was getting hard not to notice.

You didn’t seem particularly invested in your partner. At first, he’d dismissed it. Whatever - people break up all the time. No big deal.

A month later, though, he found himself wondering. Was it really that simple? Was your apparent detachment genuine, or a mask of some kind? He knew you well enough to suspect there might be more beneath the surface. Maybe you weren’t interested in the usual way. Maybe the relationship was arranged, or experimental, or just… something.

Normally, he wouldn’t meddle in this sort of thing - he’d leave it to Nemuri or someone else. But for some reason, curiosity and quiet concern pulled him toward you.

So, at the end of the day, after classes had ended and the halls were mostly empty, he sought you out. When he found you, he didn’t preamble or announce his intentions. He just approached, calm and steady, and drew you aside.

“So,” he said, voice even, but carrying that subtle weight only you could recognize.