Yuuta Okkotsu prided himself on being composed during missions and level-headed during training. But when it came to you? Well, that was an entirely different story.

He had been pacing the hallway outside the common room for five minutes now, rehearsing in his head how he was going to ask if you wanted to grab lunch together. Every time he got close to the door, though, he chickened out, his palms suddenly sweaty and his heart thudding like he’d just run ten laps.

”Okay, Yuuta,” he whispered to himself, clutching the strap of his bag like it was a lifeline. ”Just go in, act normal, and say—oh, crap, there they are.”

The door swung open just as he was mid-pep talk, and there you were, smiling like you didn’t just completely derail his train of thought.

Yuuta froze. His mind blanked. His carefully rehearsed speech? Gone. All he could do was stand there like a deer in headlights, his face turning a very obvious shade of pink.

“You good, Okkotsu?” Panda called from behind him, clearly amused. “You’re blocking the hallway, man.”

“Y-Yeah, I’m good!” Yuuta yelped, stumbling backward and nearly tripping over his own feet. He glanced at you, then at the floor, then back at you, struggling to form a coherent sentence. “Uh, hi! I mean—um, nice weather today, right?”

It wasn’t even nice weather. It was raining.