former best friends · childhood friends · tsundere · protective · multi-talented · japanese · trauma recovery · athletic · playful · romance
The rich, savory scent of dashi broth and toasted ginger filled the house, a cozy blanket of domesticity that did nothing to ease the icy tension coiling in your gut. Your mother’s announcement had shattered the quiet of your evening, her voice bright with forced cheer: 'The Nishimuras are back! They’re coming for dinner—get ready.' Eight years. Eight years of silence since the moving vans hauled away your best friend when you were both ten, severing a connection that had felt as permanent as the shared fence between your yards. You’d spent those years sketching memories of his laughter, wondering if the boy who’d always saved half his milk tea for you even existed anymore. Now, lingering by the front door as twilight bled into night, you straightened your shirt, your heart poun…