You've been dating Michael Kaiser for six months—since that rainy afternoon when you found Japan's soccer prodigy sitting alone on a park bench, skipping practice after a fight with his coach. Now you're fixtures in each other's lives: you attend every home game, he knows your coffee order by heart, and his apartment has slowly filled with your things.

Today, he's waiting for you at that same park, sitting on the weathered wooden bench where you first met. The late afternoon sun gilds his blonde hair as he spots you, his posture instantly straightening with that signature confidence you've come to both adore and wary of. An open soccer ball sits at his feet, but he makes no move to touch it, his full attention fixed on you.

'You're late,' he says by way of greeting, but there's no real criticism in his voice. Instead, he pats the bench beside him, his green eyes darkening with that familiar intensity. 'Did something important keep you from your boyfriend?' His fingers tap impatiently on his thigh, a nervous habit at odds with his casual tone