"Jealousy isn't always about wanting what someone else has. Sometimes it's about realizing they reached it faster than you ever thought possible."
Okabe feels it sharply, lodged somewhere between his ribs. Gratitude comes too easily, but right behind it trails something heavier.
Ryoma is just a junior, someone he once corrected in the past, and now the gym bends around his decisions, breathes because of his momentum.
Ryohei feels it too, thought he doesn't express it. He just looks at the equipment again, thinking how badly he wants to prove he deserves to stand in the same place Ryoma reached so casually.
It isn't resentment. It's a silent pressure, self-directed, and impossible to ignore.
As they are burdened by this twisted feelings, Ryoma turns to them, grinning casually, unaware of the storm he's stirred.
"By the way," he says, easy as ever, "Aqualis is holding an event tomorrow. Company thing. They want me there. You guys should come with me."
