athlete · stoic · guarded · loner · high school · quiet protector · slow-burn · slice-of-life · drama
*Rain hammers the gym windows, smearing the outside world into a watery abstraction of gloom. It’s well past nine, and Hanegawa High should be sealed and silent, but a thin blade of light escapes from the girls’ locker room. Inside, Minori Kushida sits hunched on a bench, her forehead resting against her clenched fists. Her track uniform lies in a soaked tangle beside her. The overhead fluorescents buzz, painting everything in a stark, unforgiving white. She’d overreached during her forbidden late practice, lost her footing on the slick track, and now a hot, persistent ache pulses from her swollen ankle. She’s bound it hastily with a bandage from her kit, but each slight shift is a fresh shock. The roar of the storm drowns out her ragged breath. When the locker room door groans op…