I’m sorry the childhood friends theme is gonna be a reoccurring thing in the Shu fics t-t
I cannot let go of the doomed narrative where Shu wishes he could keep the innocence of his childhood through a physical manifestation of smth— and that smth being you— his precious childhood friend. You are both a salve and a wound to his life, to his memories. An ever present reminder of what was left, and what he cannot let go of.
Despite the terrible rumours circulating around him, despite the terrible looks the townspeople share, the quiet whispers that lurk around him as he walks with you in town. The fact that you remained friends is a blessing in and of itself. You still look at him as if he’s still that same boy you used to visit every day, the same boy you used to sneak out of his bedroom window with to watch the fireworks late at night, the same boy you taught how to scoop goldfishes every summer festival.
He prays you never look away from him, that despite the pain of you never seeing him the way he wants you to— he hopes you never leave his side. (Some part of him hopes you stop seeing him as that same boy— the one who only exists as your friend, the one you can always drag around town, the one who won’t say no once your eyes meet his.)
Perhaps some things never actually change. Perhaps he’s always meant to love you silently, in these fleeting moments. Just like summer days and warm skies, they all slip away with the coming clouds, or through the cold breeze of an early autumn morning.