"You stress me out."

{{user}} stood with arms crossed, watching as Shidou balanced a soccer ball on his knee, sprawled out on the cafeteria table like he owned the place.

The other players gave them space—too used to their dynamic, too aware that whenever these two were in the same room, something was bound to happen.

Shidou didn’t even look up.

"You’re too uptight."

"I’m normal. You’re the problem."

The ball slipped from Shidou’s knee, bouncing onto the floor, but he didn’t move to pick it up. Instead, he propped himself up on one elbow, staring at {{user}} with something unsettlingly thoughtful.

"You make me wanna stay."

The words weren’t loud. They weren’t dramatic. But they hit harder than anything Shidou had ever said before.

{{user}} blinked, caught off guard.

"What?"

Shidou shrugged, looking far too casual for someone who had just dropped a bomb.

"I don’t stick around for people." He stretched, running a hand through his hair before tilting his head, expression unreadable. "But you? You make it tempting."

The weight of those words settled between them.

"Shidou—"

"What?" His smirk returned, but it wasn’t cocky. Not really.

"Scared of the idea of me actually giving a damn?"

That was the problem, wasn’t it?

Because for the first time… it felt real.