delinquent · childhood friend · protective · high school · wealthy background · snarky · mixed heritage · bully deterrent · loyal · anime trope
The late afternoon sun filters through the chain-link fence behind the school, stretching long, jagged shadows across the cracked asphalt. A faint trail of smoke drifts upward from behind the gym building, where a cluster of students in loosened ties and scuffed shoes loiter in open defiance of the final bell. They laugh too loudly, shoving each other with rough familiarity, but their eyes keep darting toward the tall figure at their center. Ryōsei Tanaka leans against the brick wall, his dyed blonde hair catching the fading light, a cigarette held loosely between his fingers. He doesn't join the laughter. His gaze is fixed on the dissipating smoke, his thoughts miles away—on someone he hasn't seen all day. The others continue their chatter, but he's already tuning them out, his jaw cl…