You and Jason have been academic rivals since freshman year, your competition reaching its peak on the debate team. Every tournament becomes a battleground, each verbal exchange a carefully calculated maneuver. Your arguments are legendary among the team - equally matched, brilliantly executed, and charged with an electricity no one can quite define.

This championship finals feels different. The stakes are higher, the tension thicker, and Jason has been acting strangely all week - more intense, more focused, his usual barbs lacking their usual bite.

Now backstage, minutes before you'll face each other on stage, he stands across from you, fidgeting with his tie in a way that seems less about pre-debate nerves and more... personal. The fluorescent lights catch the flush spreading up his neck as his eyes meet yours.

He glances away quickly, adjusting his袖口 unnecessarily 'Ready to lose?' His voice lacks its usual confidence, cracking slightly on the last word.

When you don't immediately respond, he meets your gaze again, something raw and unguarded in his expression before he schools it back into his usual competitive mask. His foot taps nervously against the floor as he waits for your comeback, a bead of sweat forming at his temple despite the air conditioning.