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Academic Rivals - Blog Posts
Nanami SMAU - A Verdict of Us
Chapter 11 - The Things We Can’t Say
Summary: Kento Nanami was perfect—disciplined, untouchable, and entirely focused on his future. Emotions didn’t fit into his plans. You were everything he avoided—bold, warm, and impossible to ignore. You told yourself he didn’t matter, but you couldn’t stop watching him.
He never looked your way. Not until the day his perfectly controlled world unraveled, and you were at the center of it.
an: Yeah… this isn’t getting better. SMOOCHES 💋💋💋
{chapter 10} ; {next}
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࣪˖ ִ𐙚 𝜗𝜚 ࣪˖ ִ𐙚 𝜗𝜚 ࣪˖ ִ𐙚 𝜗𝜚 ࣪˖ ִ𐙚 𝜗𝜚 ࣪˖ ִ𐙚 𝜗𝜚 ࣪˖ ִ𐙚 𝜗𝜚 ࣪˖ ִ𐙚 𝜗𝜚 ࣪˖ ִ𐙚
You had been haunting Nanami’s thoughts since that night.
He could still feel the lingering warmth of the moment—the soft glow of the garden lights, the way the stars framed your face, the look in your eyes right before you leaned in. He had stopped you. Walked away without a word. And yet, your presence refused to leave him.
It wasn’t just the near-kiss that plagued him; it was everything leading up to it. The laughter, the shared glances, the way conversation flowed so easily between you. He had let his guard slip, let himself enjoy your company more than he should have. It was a miscalculation, one he had spent the past few days trying to correct.
Avoidance was the best solution.
He didn’t text you. Didn’t acknowledge you in class. If he saw you across campus, he turned the other way. It wasn’t cruel—at least, that’s what he told himself. It was necessary.
His life had been planned out since the day he was old enough to understand it. He would become an exceptional lawyer, take over his parents’ firm, and uphold the family name. That was his purpose. There was no room for distractions—especially not one as unpredictable as you.
His parents would never approve. They tolerated your family, but only in the way one tolerated an inevitable inconvenience. Too much money, too little discipline, his father had once said. More interested in social events than serious legal work. His mother had been more subtle but no less dismissive. She’s charming, I suppose, but charm only gets you so far.
He knew exactly what they would think if they found out he had entertained anything more than polite acquaintanceship with you. They would be disappointed.
And Nanami Kento did not disappoint.
That was why, when he accompanied his parents to the Asakura Legal Summit, he forced himself to stand straight, speak eloquently, and engage in the dull but necessary small talk that came with these events. His parents’ friends had a daughter—a well-mannered, intelligent law student, poised and composed in the way that made her an ideal match, at least in their eyes.
He made conversation with her, answering her polite questions and offering equally polite responses. She was pleasant, intelligent, and respectable.
And yet, the moment you walked in, he forgot whatever it was they had been discussing.
You were breathtaking.
The gown you wore was elegant but effortless, the soft fabric flowing around you as if you belonged in a dream. Your confidence, the way you carried yourself, only made it worse.
You saw him. Your eyes met.
For a second, he thought—hoped—you might come over. But you didn’t. You simply glanced away, turning your attention to someone else, leaving a hollow ache in his chest he hadn’t anticipated.
This is for the best, he reminded himself.
But as the night dragged on, it became unbearable. Every time he saw you laughing with someone, every time you charmed another guest with your easy grace, every time you didn’t look at him—it chipped away at the careful walls he had built.
And then he saw you with him.
A young man, handsome, confident, clearly taken with you. You smiled at him, said something that made him laugh. Nanami clenched his jaw.
Before he could think better of it, he was moving.
“Excuse me,” he muttered to the group he had been standing with, barely registering their response as he strode across the room.
You looked up as he approached, brows raising in surprise. The man beside you hesitated.
“May I steal you for a moment?” Nanami asked, his tone leaving no room for refusal.
You blinked but nodded, excusing yourself from the conversation. He led you to a quieter corner, away from prying eyes.
“Nanami,” you said carefully. “What are you—”
“I’m sorry,” he interrupted.
You stared at him, caught off guard. “For what?”
He hesitated. He couldn’t tell you the truth—that he had been avoiding you because he was afraid of how much he liked you, because you made him question everything he thought he wanted, because you were dangerous in the way that made him want to throw away years of discipline just to see you smile at him like you used to.
So instead, he simply said, “For how I acted.”
A brief silence stretched between you before you let out a quiet laugh, though there was no humor in it. “Right. You’re apologizing for avoiding me.”
He nodded.
You sighed, looking down for a moment before meeting his gaze again. “I get it,” you said, softer this time. “You’re not interested. I shouldn’t have—” You shook your head. “I shouldn’t have tried to kiss you. That was my mistake.”
Nanami opened his mouth to argue, but the words wouldn’t come. You think I don’t want you. That I don’t care.
Maybe that was for the best.
“You don’t have to explain anything,” you continued, forcing a small smile. “We can just… move on, okay?”
He wanted to say something—anything—but his silence spoke for him.
You exhaled, shaking your head slightly. “Alright then.”
The moment felt too heavy, too final, and maybe that’s why he found himself saying, “You looked like you were enjoying yourself tonight.”
Your lips quirked. “Is that your way of changing the subject?”
“Yes.”
You huffed a small laugh, your tension easing just slightly. “Fine. It was… tolerable.”
“Just tolerable?”
“Okay, maybe a little fun.”
Nanami exhaled, some of the weight in his chest lifting. “Good.”
A beat of silence passed between you. It wasn’t the same as before—there was a distance now, one he had created. And yet, you were still here, still speaking to him as if he hadn’t spent the past few days pretending you didn’t exist.
“You really had no reason to apologize, you know,” you said after a moment. “You were just being honest. I can take rejection, Nanami.”
He flinched at that word—rejection. That wasn’t what this was.
But what was it, then?
Before he could answer, you continued, voice quieter now. “I just… I thought maybe you felt something too.” A small, self-conscious laugh left your lips. “But I guess that was just me misreading things.”
Nanami clenched his fists at his sides. Tell her she’s wrong, some part of him whispered. Tell her you feel everything she thinks you don’t.
Instead, he said, “You didn’t misread anything.”
Your brows furrowed slightly. “Then why—”
“It’s complicated.”
You let out a slow breath. “Right. Of course, it is.”
The air between you felt heavier now, like something unsaid was pushing against it.
Finally, you smiled again—smaller this time, but still undeniably you. “I should get back.”
He nodded. “Of course.”
You turned to leave, but before you walked away, you glanced over your shoulder. “Don’t avoid me again, Nanami.”
He swallowed. “I won’t.”
You didn’t smile, but there was something softer in your gaze before you disappeared back into the crowd.
Nanami exhaled sharply, running a hand through his hair.
He had gotten what he wanted.
So why did it feel like he had lost something?
Brown eyes
Brown eyes,
The common older sister to the blue eyed younger brother.
Brown eyes,
Written and stamped in bold.
Brown eyes,
Those that share the colour and many secret that a bookshelf holds.
Beautiful brown eyes,
The colour of my favourite tree.
Brown eyes,
The colour of childhood, wild and free.
Brown, brown eyes,
The colour of the fallen leaf.
Brown eyes,
The colour of the dinner chairs before the evening beef.
Burnt brown eyes,
The colour of the scalding coffee on the morning trip to work.
Bejewelled brown eyes,
The colour of hot chocolate to keep away the cold that lurks.
Brown eyes,
The colour of his.
The colour of him.
Brown,
The colour of his arrogance when he does better than everyone else.
The colour of his stress when he’s overwhelmed
The colour of his impatience as he rushes down the corridor.
The colour of his annoyance when I go too far.
The colour of his happiness when he’s with his friends.
Brown,
Coffee,
Walnut,
Chocolate,
Syrup,
Hickory,
Brown,
Her beautiful brown hair.
-A.F.A.Makar
So everyone hear me out :
I joined my current school in grade 3 and then upon joining I really really hit it off with this girl my age , she and I were basically the same person completely competitive and everything else . So we became like the best of friends in grade 3 and she ditched her previous best friend from nursery ( let’s call her ex bestie ) for me but like as we grew older we became more rivals and till grade 5 our friendship had fallen off and we were like okay friends . In grade 6 we became more and more competitive and then booom CoVid now fast forward to Grade 9 and we had different sections and her class was in another block .So we were like on okay terms but like I became really good friends with her previous best friend who she left for me and she too reconnected with ex bestie during Covid . So we were on meh terms till the end of Grade 10 .
Now From grade 11 we start properly preparing for competitive examinations in our country and it’s like cutthroat.
So , I prayed to God that ya know help me and guide me and boom
Now in Grade 11 we are in the same section !!!!
Cause we are both preparing for the same exam
Like y all This is sooooo bigggg and since we don’t know anyone else like we will sit together and everything …
Competing with my academic rival while we both pretend to be nice to each other and trying to beat everyone else in grade
Girlllll it’s onnnn
me: finds intelligence hot
also me: unconditionally and furiously despises anyone who is even slightly better than me at anything
‘i am nothing in my soul if not obsessive’