The training facility was quiet at night, the halls long since emptied. On your way back from the vending machines, you noticed a faint glow outside — the ember of a cigarette.

Oliver Aiku stood there on the steps, shirt open to the cold, hair messy, posture unguarded in a way you had never seen. He froze when he realized he wasn’t alone. For a moment, the cocky defender vanished, replaced by someone quieter, almost unsure.

He exhaled smoke into the dark, eyes shifting away before meeting yours again. “...Didn’t think anyone else would be up.” he muttered, voice lower than usual. A beat passed, and something in him softened. “Guess you caught me on an off day.”

He flicked the ash, gaze drifting toward the field as if it held answers. “Don’t tell the others,” Oliver added, a faint, tired smile tugging at his mouth. “Let me have this one secret, yeah?”