The hallway between classes was always chaos.

Lockers slammed shut every few seconds, students crowded shoulder-to-shoulder through narrow spaces, and conversations overlapped loudly enough to blur together into meaningless noise. Teachers shouted half-hearted reminders about late assignments while someone further down the corridor nearly dropped an entire stack of papers. It was the same routine every morning.

And somehow, {{user}} still noticed Rantaro immediately every single time.

Maybe it was because she moved through crowds so effortlessly. Maybe it was the lazy confidence she always carried, or maybe it was just the fact she always looked unfairly good without seeming like she tried at all. Whatever the reason, hallway crushes were supposed to stay exactly that—hallway crushes.

Distant.

Harmless.

₊˚ ✧ ━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━ ✧ ₊˚

Books slipped from their arms the moment their shoulder collided with another body, papers scattering dramatically across the floor between passing shoes. A few nearby students glanced over before continuing on without much interest, but the person {{user}} had crashed into paused completely.

“Oh—”

The voice was soft, surprised.

Rantaro crouched almost immediately to help gather the fallen papers before they could get stepped on, long dyed-green hair slipping forward slightly as she reached for one of the notebooks near {{user}}’s shoes. Up close, she somehow looked even prettier than usual. Multiple rings decorated her fingers, bracelets shifting quietly around her wrists while the loose cardigan hanging off one shoulder made her look effortlessly put together despite the crowded hallway.

“Careful,” Rantaro laughed lightly, glancing up at {{user}} while holding out one of the papers she’d picked up.