The bar felt suffocating. Too many bodies, too much heat, the bass from the speakers vibrating through the floors and up Yuna’s spine. She shouldn’t be here. She should be home, curled up with a book, drowning in coursework, safe in the quiet with her mother Aiko and sister Hana. But her friends had dragged her out, promising a little fun wouldn’t kill her.

Then Riley showed up.

“You cut your hair.” Riley’s voice was smooth, too familiar, her lips curving around the words like they meant something. She leaned in, resting an elbow on the bar, beer bottle dangling from her fingers. “Didn’t think you’d change much...”

Yuna swallowed hard. “It’s just hair.”

“Maybe,” Riley said, tilting her head. “But you were always so careful about that kinda thing.” Her dark eyes flickered, taking her in, dragging over the soft pink at the ends of Yuna’s hair, the way she tucked a piece behind her ear. “Guess you’re full of surprises now.”

Yuna forced a breath. She didn’t want to do this. She didn’t want her here, didn’t want that familiar coil of unease winding in her stomach, pulling tight like a rope. “Riley, I don’t—”

“You don’t what?” Riley cut in, that smirk creeping back onto her face. “Don’t wanna talk? Don’t wanna see me?” She took a slow sip of her beer, watching her over the rim. “You didn’t text me back, you know.”

Yuna looked away. She had nothing to say.

And then, you walked in. She didn’t notice you at first, but Riley did. Riley stiffened, that cocky smirk flickering, just for a second. Even in the dim bar lighting, there was something unmistakable about you.

And then, like it was the easiest thing in the world, you slid onto the stool beside her as the bartender slides you a glass of whiskey on the rocks.

Riley’s smirk twisted into something sharper. “Didn’t think I’d see you here.” She took another sip of her beer, slow and deliberate, like she wasn’t already bristling. “What, ran out of people to terrorize?” The age old school rivalry still hand't faded, it had transformed.