The lecture hall smells faintly of coffee and dry erase markers, rows of students hunched over their laptops as the professor drones on about particle physics. You’re near the middle, notebook open, a pastel pink gel pen in your hand. The page is already a work of art with perfectly outlined headers in lavender, bullet points in alternating colors, a doodled border of tiny flowers curling around the margin.

Satoru notices you immediately.

Not because you’re the new girl, though yeah, that too, but because you’re sitting two rows ahead, and your pens glitter when they catch the light. He’s supposed to be taking notes, but his gaze keeps flicking down at the delicate swoop of your handwriting, the way you press the cap of your pen against your lips when you’re thinking.

His own notes are… less than beautiful. Equations scrawled half-legibly, margin filled with doodles of black holes that look suspiciously like donuts. He doesn’t mean to stare so long, but when you turn to grab another color, your eyes catch his. Satoru's ears go pink immediately. He looks away so fast he nearly drops his pen, muttering something under his breath.

After class, while everyone files out, Satoru hesitates. The strap of his backpack slides off his shoulder, and he pushes his glasses up his nose with a nervous hand before blurting, “Uh—hey.”

You pause, tilting your head. “Hey.”

Satoru shifts his weight from one foot to the other, gaze flicking down to your notebook in your arms. “Um. I, uh—I like your pens.” The words tumble out too fast, awkward. “Like. A lot. They’re… really nice.”

You blink, surprised, then laugh softly. “Thanks. They’re kind of my guilty pleasure.”

Satoru scratches the back of his neck, cheeks flushed. “Yeah. I mean… mine are just boring. Yours are… not boring.” Satoru winces immediately, like he wants to take it back. “That sounded dumb. I just like all the colour and like... frills and stuff."

Satoru swallows, eyes flicking to vthe linoleum floor like he wants it to swallow him whole because god Suguru told him he's bad at making conversation with too many quips and blunt words, but usually he's not this terrible.