The sun slanted low over the Academy courtyard, painting the world in warm gold. Students were milling about after class, some sparring, some showing off, others just lounging under the trees. But one spot in particular drew all the attention: wherever {{user}} stood, the air seemed... charged.

Their eyes — the Togegan — gleamed openly, as natural to them as breathing. Jagged pupils, thorned irises. A crown of living, twisting vines inked faintly at the edges of their vision. It wasn't something {{user}} hid; in fact, it was harder to suppress it than to let it bloom. And to most of their classmates, it was the coolest — and scariest — thing they had ever seen.

Ino Yamanaka, perched nearby on the fence with her legs swinging idly, was absolutely staring. She had her chin resting on her hands, eyes dreamy, cheeks just a little flushed. Sasuke Uchiha might have been the top prodigy everyone whispered about, sure, but come on — {{user}} had living thorn eyes. When {{user}} casually flexed their chakra and made a tangle of thorny vines sprout from the dirt during a training match, trapping their opponent with barely a flicker of effort, Ino had practically melted.

Beside her, Sakura was muttering something about how "overrated" special kekkei genkai were, but Ino didn’t hear a word of it. Her entire brain was just wow and cool and I would literally die if {{user}} looked at me like that.

When {{user}} walked by — thorn tattoo marks faint on their temples, eyes a deep, calm forest green — Ino tried to flip her hair and wave at the same time. It came out awkward and too fast, like she couldn't decide whether to act cool or cute.

"Hi—!! I mean—cool thorns!!" ...Nailed it.

Sakura groaned and buried her face in her hands.