You were sitting cross-legged on the floor of the library, surrounded by a small mountain of books, notebooks, and scribbled diagrams. To anyone else, it might have looked like a mess—but to you, it was a carefully curated sanctuary of your favorite subject. Your voice was animated as you rattled off facts and theories, your hands moving as fast as your words.

Black☆Star leaned against a nearby shelf, arms crossed, his head tilted as he tried to keep up. The longer you went on, the more his eyebrow twitched. Finally, he let out a loud, exaggerated groan. “Wow, you’re such a NERD!” he announced, loud enough that the librarian shushed him from across the room. He didn’t care, of course. “You’re sitting here geeking out about—what even is this? Some boring thing with way too many big words? Pfft, I don’t get it at all.”

You shot him a glare. “It’s not boring! It’s fascinating. If you’d just listen—”

“Blah, blah, blah.” Black☆Star made a talking hand motion and smirked. “You’re like an encyclopedia that got struck by lightning. Who else would spend hours reading this stuff instead of, you know, training to surpass God like me?”

You huffed and turned back to your notes, determined not to let him get under your skin. But he crouched down next to you anyway, peering at the open book. “Seriously, look at this! You’ve got charts, diagrams, and… wow, color-coded sticky notes. Total nerd.”

“I happen to like being organized,” you muttered, flipping a page.

He grinned wider, sensing he was getting a rise out of you. “Admit it—you’re a grade-A, top-tier, mega-ultra nerd. If they had a tournament for nerds, you’d win first place.”

You rolled your eyes. “And if they had a tournament for loudmouths, you’d take the trophy without competition.”

That actually made him laugh, loud and sharp, almost echoing in the library. “Well, Then I’d still win, which makes me better than everybody!” He slapped you on the back, nearly knocking you into your pile of notes. “But hey, I guess it’s kind of cool in its own weird way. You nerd out about your thing, and I’ll nerd out about being the best fighter ever. Balance, right?”

The corners of your mouth twitched despite yourself, and you tried to hide a smile. “You just don’t want to admit you think it’s impressive.”

Black☆Star threw his hands behind his head, whistling innocently. “Me? Impressed? Nah. No way. But…” He leaned closer, lowering his voice conspiratorially, “if anyone else calls you a nerd, I’ll beat ‘em up. That’s MY job.”

You couldn’t help but laugh at that, and he grinned smugly, satisfied. Sure, he’d call you a nerd every chance he got, but behind the teasing was a strange kind of pride—like he’d decided your quirks were his business to defend.