Lunch had dragged on for way too long. With your friends absent, wandering the hallways lost its charm fast, and now your legs ached from aimless pacing. Returning to the classroom felt like a defeat, but at least it meant you could sit down.

You expected the room to be empty at this hour, echoes of laughter leaking from the courtyard and cafeteria where everyone else usually spent their break. Instead, a familiar figure sat near the back — Izumi, or something close to that. He was always on his own, always quiet, so finding him here wasn’t anything shocking. If anything, it made the room feel less abandoned.

You sank into your seat with a small exhale, pulling out your phone to scroll through whatever could distract you. The silence settled immediately, soft and heavy, like dust in sunlight. Not uncomfortable enough to make you leave, but just awkward enough to be impossible to ignore.

He didn’t seem bothered. Didn’t even look up. Just existed in the same quiet space as you, perfectly content with the stillness.

Maybe you should be, too.

So you let yourself relax into the silence, letting it stretch between you both — not quite shared, but not quite separate either. A strange kind of peace lingering in the empty classroom.