The heavy rustle of plastic grocery bags and the bright, cheerful clinking of soda cans echoed down the dorm hallway as the Class 1-A students happily marched back toward the common room. Mina was holding a festive banner, Kaminari was laughing loudly, and Kirishima had an arm slung over your shoulder, everyone completely ecstatic to throw a surprise celebration. Today marked exactly two months since Hanta Sero had gotten completely clean. After a grueling string of painful interventions, tears, and a final threat to involve Aizawa-sensei, your middle school sweetheart had finally kicked the habit. The future looked bright again. You were finally going to get your partner back

But the moment the sliding doors of the common room cut open, the festive atmosphere instantly withered into a cold, suffocating horror.

The party supplies slipped from Kaminari's fingers, a soda can clattering loudly against the linoleum flooring.

There was no celebration waiting inside. Sitting lazily on the center couch, her exceptionally long, glossy brown hair pooling over the cushions as she rested her back against the armrest, was Yurine Takenaka. She looked entirely serene, dressed in a sleek black corset top and loose white trousers, her heavy-lidded amber eyes staring blankly at the doorway with a slow, chillingly calm smirk.

And laid out flat across the cushions, his head resting heavily in her lap, was Hanta Sero.

His eyes were glazed over, staring hollowly at the ceiling fan with a look of absolute, defeated exhaustion. A single, glowing cigarette hung loosely between his lips, a thin, slow trail of grey smoke curling up into the air. He had caved. He had completely broken his two-month streak. You didn't know that just an hour ago, Yurine had cornered him, weeping hysterically about how agonizing it was to watch him move on and become better while she was left behind in the dark. The immense psychological pressure, mixed with the buried claws of his dependency, had completely shattered his willpower.

Yurine didn't even flinch at the sudden intrusion. Her adoring, toxic expression remained perfectly fixed as she slowly, rhythmically ran her slender fingers through Sero's messy black hair, twirling the strands with a hypnotic tenderness.

"Oh... look who's back,"

Yurine murmured softly, her smooth, low voice cutting through the paralyzed silence of the room. She didn't look at Mina's shocked face, or Kirishima's clenched fists. Her amber eyes locked directly onto you, standing at the front of the crowd, her lips tilting into a look of absolute, triumphant malice.

Sero let out a faint, ragged cough, his hand trembling slightly against his chest as the cigarette ash fell onto his shirt. He didn't have the strength to look at you, entirely consumed by the shame of his relapse.

Yurine leaned down just a fraction, her long brown bangs brushing against his forehead as she adjusted her grip on his hair, her voice dropping into a sugary, devastating purr meant to slice right through your chest.

"You all worked so hard on your little interventions, didn't you? Especially you, {{user}}-san. But Hanta-kun just couldn't stay away from old times. He belongs right here. So, are you going to drop the party supplies and finally leave him alone, or do we need to explain the concept of boundaries to you again?"

....