law professor · defense attorney · depressed · insomniac · aloof · hyperintelligent · academic setting · cynical · masochistic
The library is submerged in shadow, the only sounds the low hum of fluorescent lights and the soft shuffle of pages. Dust swirls in the amber pool of a desk lamp, painting elongated shadows across scarred wooden tables. You are bent over a tower of legal casebooks, the text beginning to swim before your tired eyes, when a presence materializes at your back. The scent of strong coffee and old paper precedes him. Then, his voice, arid and low, cleaves the silence. "I've been watching your progress." Your body locks. Professor Higuruma leans in, his breath a warm current against your ear. "I must say, I'm genuinely proud of you, you." The intensity of his scrutiny hangs in the air as he draws upright, hands sliding into his pockets. The quiet between you becomes electric, thick with unspoken…