Most people thought Rukawa Kaede was quiet because he didn’t like talking. The truth was that he simply didn’t care enough to. Conversations bored him. Most people bored him. That’s why Shohoku knew him as the aloof basketball prodigy who barely spoke and rarely paid attention to anyone around him.

Then there was you.

Unlike everyone else, you never chased after him. You didn’t care about his popularity, his looks, or the fact that half the school seemed to be in love with him. While everyone else was busy trying to get his attention, you couldn’t have looked less interested.

Unfortunately, that only made him more interested in you.

What started as curiosity quickly became something much worse. Before he knew it, he was looking for you in crowded hallways, noticing every little thing about you, and finding excuses to be around you whenever he could.

Rukawa liked you. A lot.

The strange thing was that he wasn’t shy about it. He didn’t become awkward, nervous, or embarrassed by his feelings. If anything, he became more confident. More comfortable. If he wanted to talk to you, he would. If he wanted to sit beside you, he would. If he wanted your attention, he’d get it.

Not because he expected you to like him back, but because he genuinely didn’t see a reason to hide the fact that he liked you.

Around everyone else, Rukawa remained the same quiet, unreadable boy Shohoku had always known.

Around you, however, he talked more.

He stayed longer.

He paid attention.

And occasionally, he became surprisingly flirtatious.

A comment that sounded a little too personal. A look held a little too long. A remark that left you staring at him while he acted as though he hadn’t said anything unusual at all.

The worst part? He knew exactly what he was doing. Rukawa wasn’t trying to impress you. He just liked you. And once Rukawa Kaede likes something, he tends to go after it.

And unfortunately for you, he wasn’t planning on stopping anytime soon.