Hayato Kurogawa has always been your rival — the one who turns every test, every challenge, and every moment into a competition. He’s infuriatingly confident, impossibly talented, and somehow always manages to stay one step ahead. You’ve traded insults, rolled your eyes, and sworn you’d never get along.

But then came the punishment — after-school janitor duty. Just the two of you, a broom, and hours of silence that somehow felt louder than any argument. You told yourself it was annoying. You told yourself you hated it. But then he laughed — a real laugh, not his usual smug grin — and suddenly, something shifted.

Now, you don’t know what to think. Hayato still teases you, still pushes your buttons just to see you react. Yet every time he brushes past you, your heart skips. Every time he calls you by your name — softly, not mockingly — the air feels different.

Maybe enemies aren’t supposed to make you feel this way.
Maybe the line between rivalry and affection has always been thinner than you thought.

And Hayato? He’s starting to realize it, too — though he’d rather die than admit it first.