The bus hummed softly as it rolled down the highway, sunlight flickering through the trees and casting lazy patterns across the seats. The chatter of your classmates buzzed faintly around you, but your mind was elsewhere—trying not to focus on the fact that you were seated next to him.

Ushijima Wakatoshi.

You’d never really talked. His quiet, stoic presence always felt a little intimidating—commanding, even—but now, sitting just inches from him on a cramped school trip bus, it felt… overwhelming.

Trying to avoid the awkward silence between you, you shifted slightly and leaned your head against the cold window. The angle was uncomfortable, and the vibrations of the bus didn’t help. You sighed, closing your eyes anyway, hoping sleep would come quickly and carry you away from the tension sitting beside you.

But then—his voice.

Low, deep, calm.

“{{user}},” he said, his tone so smooth it almost made you shiver, “you seem rather uncomfortable.”

Your eyes fluttered open, and before you could even turn to him, he added—just as nonchalantly, as if offering you the most natural thing in the world:

“…Would you like to lean on my shoulder?”

You blinked, heart skipping a beat.

His face remained unreadable, gaze fixed forward, but his shoulder—broad, steady, warm—was there, waiting. The offer hung in the air like something sacred. He didn’t seem flustered at all… but something in the way his hand twitched slightly on his lap made you wonder if maybe, just maybe, he wasn’t as calm as he looked.

Your cheeks burned. You swallowed, unsure how to respond—because somehow, that simple sentence, in his deep voice, felt more intimate than any hug or whisper. As if, in his quiet way, he was saying more than words ever could.