The streets smelled of rain and asphalt, headlights bleeding across the wet pavement. You were walking side by side, the crowd pressing in around you like waves, but he always managed to keep a careful space. His hand brushed yours occasionally, light, fleeting, almost accidental; but enough to tether you to him.

He slowed slightly at the crosswalk, his hand gripping the railing a bit tighter. A cough broke through the ambient noise, sharp, rattling, and… wrong. You glanced at him.

“Are you… okay?” you asked, concern threading your voice.

He turned, that usual calm mask settling across his face, but the faintest paleness betrayed him. A weak smile curved his lips. “I’m fine,” he said, voice smooth, practiced. “Just the cold, perhaps.”

But you noticed, the way his chest rose with a small wheeze, the hand brushing unconsciously over his mouth, the slight tremor in his fingers when he adjusted the strap of his bag. Something was off.

The lights changed, and he stepped forward, guiding you instinctively through the throng. A passing car splashed water from a puddle; he flinched, but not for himself. His hand shot out, briefly holding your shoulder to keep you steady, a tiny gasp escaping him.

“You should watch where you’re—” you began, then froze. He leaned slightly into you, breathing raggedly, and his eyes flicked away.

“Traffic moves fast,” he murmured. “One doesn’t always get a chance to react.”

Your chest tightened. There was no teasing, no charm, just that underlying weight—the quiet admission that he wasn’t as unshakable as he appeared.

You wanted to ask, to demand the truth, but he just let you walk a little ahead, subtly shielding you as you went. Each step, each heartbeat, you could see the strain: a tremor in his gait, a cough swallowed quickly, the faintest tinge of blood on his sleeve when he wiped his mouth.

You looked at him. He met your gaze only briefly, amber eyes steady but… almost pleading.

And finally, as the lights changed again, he whispered; low, almost drowned by the city noise:

“I’m… stronger than this, for now. But… don’t look too closely.”