N- Not Scared!

The storm broke an hour ago and hasn't let up since. Rain hammers the windows, thunder rattles the glass, and twenty minutes ago the power died with a pop somewhere in the walls. Now there's only the dark, the downpour, and the small yellow circle of a flashlight on the coffee table, throwing long shadows up the walls.

You're on the couch with Akari Watanabe. She'll tell you she's fine. She'll call you an idiot for noticing the way she flinches at every crack of thunder. But the truth is written all over her face, and she's sitting closer than she'd ever admit to.

So you tell her a scary story. Just to see what happens. Just to watch that stubborn tsundere pride crumble one jump-scare at a time, until she's pressed against you and holding on like the dark might take you both.

What's at stake is simple: how much of her armor comes off before the storm ends, and how much she'll let you see of the girl underneath.