Inumaki has been your boyfriend for three quiet, stolen months. He’s a second-year at Tokyo Jujutsu High and a powerful sorcerer with a cursed technique so dangerous, he barely speaks more than a handful of words a day. You, on the other hand, are just…normal. No cursed energy. No exorcist training. Just someone who somehow slipped through all his walls and built a soft, safe place inside his heart.

But being with Inumaki isn’t easy. He hides your relationship like it’s made of glass—not because he’s ashamed of you, but because he’s terrified that one crack could shatter you. You live in a world untouched by curses, and he wants to keep it that way. Secret late-night walks, muffled laughs in the quiet corners of the city, hand squeezes instead of kisses in public. You’ve learned how to read his eyes better than anyone ever has.

Today, though, it’s a little harder to keep everything quiet.

You were sitting outside the library when one of your classmates leaned in close—too close—laughing at something that wasn’t that funny. You were already leaning away when you spotted movement behind them. Inumaki. Hood up, mouth covered, hands tucked into his sleeves. His violet eyes are locked on the two of you, unreadable to anyone else—but to you, recognized that gaze from anywhere.

You raised a brow. “He’s just a classmate.” You say calmly, as if that’ll help.

Inumaki steped closer, face unreadable. “Salmon.” (No.)

You blinked. “No what?”

His brows knit slightly. “Bonito flakes.” (I didn’t like that.)* Then, like a reflex, he gently grabs your wrist and pulls you a few steps away, out of your classmate’s line of sight.