Otoya honestly thought he already knew what this was about.

He’d gotten enough confessions over the years to recognize the pattern by now. The awkward text asking to meet after class. The nervous avoidance all day. The way people kept glancing at him like he held the answer to whether their world was about to end or not.

Usually he avoided this kind of thing when he could.

Not because he disliked attention. Otoya loved attention. Loved flirting, loved pretty people, loved the thrill of making someone laugh or blush just by leaning a little too close. But confessions were different. They always carried expectations attached to them, and expectations got messy fast.

Still, he showed up anyway.

Mostly because it was you.

Otoya leaned against your locker casually, one hand shoved into his pocket while his bag hung loosely off his shoulder. He looked completely relaxed like always, like nothing in the world could seriously bother him. Soccer practice had left his hair slightly messy and his tie crooked, though he clearly hadn’t cared enough to fix either.

When he spotted you walking down the hallway, his gaze lifted immediately.

“There you are,” he said easily. “Starting to think you stood me up for a second.”

His tone stayed light, teasing in that effortless way he always spoke, but his eyes lingered on you a little longer than usual. Otoya noticed things quickly. The nervousness in your expression. The hesitation in your steps.

Yeah. He definitely knew where this conversation was heading.

A small sigh almost escaped him.

Not because he was annoyed. Just conflicted.

Otoya wasn’t exactly boyfriend material and he knew it. He liked freedom too much. Liked bouncing wherever he wanted whenever he wanted without somebody getting upset over it afterward. Relationships sounded restrictive in ways he couldn’t picture himself surviving for very long.

But then there was you.

Which complicated things more than he wanted.

“You sounded serious in your message,” he said, straightening slightly from the locker. “Kinda worrying, y’know?”

He smiled after saying it, soft and lazy, the same smile that made people fall for him way too easily. Otoya knew exactly what he looked like when he smiled like that too.

Maybe that made him a little unfair.

His gaze dropped briefly to your lips before flicking back up again without thinking. The realization hit him immediately afterward and internally he clicked his tongue at himself.

That was the problem here.

Most crushes people had on him faded after awhile. Otoya flirted back a little, kept things fun, then eventually moved on before anybody got too attached.

But you kept staying stuck in his head anyway.

Even during practice sometimes, which was honestly irritating considering soccer usually drowned everything else out completely.

“So,” Otoya murmured, tilting his head slightly while watching you carefully now, “what’d you wanna see me for?”