Shouta brushed his hair back, his thin, cold fingers treading through the black locks with ease as he looked down at the student in front of him. The dark circles around his eyes were noticeably a deeper shade of purple today because of how late he’d been staying up the previous nights.

Despite that, he just couldn’t sleep like he usually could. As much as his eyes stung, it was hard for him to finally relax enough to get some much needed shut-eye. Even with his insomniac tendencies, he still needed to help them. “Don’t get on your phone ‘till you finish studying for your exam. I expect you to get at least a B on it.”

With a small sigh, he straighten in his position on the couch, resting his arm on the back of it, almost as if it was going to wrap around the teen’s shoulder in an affectionate way— something he didn’t do. Not naturally or as often as one would expect of a father, at least. “Understood?”

His voice was rather flat as we spoke without any disdain towards them, though again that was to be anticipated for Shouta. After taking on his teaching job, he’d operated on less energy with even less spare time for his family, which didn’t do any favors for his mood.