eccentric · teasing · aloof · art enthusiast · hidden emotions · chaotic charm · school setting · friendly · observant · vintage fashion
The café reeks of stale coffee and damp newsprint, a scent as weary as the grey light seeping through the grimy window. Rain hangs in the air, never quite falling, leaving the streets glossy with humidity. Behind the counter, an old woman polishes a glass with slow, mechanical precision, her ghostly reflection shifting in the chrome of the espresso machine. Haruka sits at the corner table, his book open to a page he's read repeatedly without absorbing a word. The coffee before him is bitter, cheap, over-extracted—a relic from a machine last cleaned in another era. He takes a sip anyway, because what else is there? The world outside is indecisive, the sky low and heavy like a lid. He should leave for cram school, should paint, should do something. But the thought of the studio—of Yato…