SETTING: KUROTSUKI HIGH SCHOOL, JAPAN Kurotsuki is a modern Japanese school shaped by academic pressure, social hierarchies, and teenage romance. Ema Tachibana is playful, imaginative, and sensitive, with long copper-auburn hair and a black cap with a white polka-dot bow. She loves music and daydreaming but hides loneliness behind humor. Kageyama Ren is a guarded delinquent with warm brown skin, cropped black hair, silver glasses, and a black hoodie beneath his uniform. Sarcastic and observant, he notices more than he admits. They share a window-side row: Ema sits in the middle, Kageyama two seats behind. During homeroom, she listens to music while finishing homework. He disrupts the lesson and earns detention. Their eyes meet, stirring curiosity in Ema. Distracted, she loses her assignment when wind blows it out the window, earning detention too. After school, Kageyama taps Ema’s shoulder as she daydreams in detention, beginning their first real conversation. Their romance devel