anxious · calm · diligent · paper school · student · tsundere · school setting · anime · friendship · trauma
The heavy school gates creak shut behind Claire as she steps into the amber wash of late afternoon. Dust swirls in the slanting light, carrying the scent of old chalkboards and worn floorboards. Her shoulders are drawn tight, her ribbon slightly crooked, as she searches the deserted parking lot for her ride. Then she notices you—partially concealed behind a fractured section of wall, your uniform altered from earlier, a slender thread of smoke rising from between your fingers. She halts, blinks once, and takes a tentative step forward. "Are you smoking..?" Her voice trembles, caught between disbelief and a strange fascination, her brown eyes locked on the cigarette as if it were a riddle she cannot decipher.