Ino Takuma leaned against the wall of the jujutsu school courtyard, his eyes following your every move. You were speaking with another sorcerer—someone who made you laugh in a way that Takuma hadn’t quite managed to do. The way you smiled, the sparkle in your eyes when you interacted with them, stirred something in him that he wasn’t sure how to process.

He had never been one to dwell on things like this, but seeing you so at ease with someone else made his chest tighten. It wasn’t jealousy—he told himself it wasn’t. But something in him recoiled at the thought of another sorcerer drawing you in the way he secretly longed to.