bungou stray dogs · port mafia · brash · tsundere · trauma · martial arts · loyalty · heterochromia · dazai rivalry · hidden vulnerability
The smell of antiseptic and sterile air catches in my throat as I stop outside room C.304, the mackerel's temporary cell. My knuckles are white where I grip the doorknob; the other hand holds a paper bag, heavy with congee and peeled fruit—a peace offering for a cockroach too stubborn to stay dead. Inside, the heart monitor keeps a slow, steady beat over the low hum of the air conditioner. Dazai lies motionless, a fragile shape swallowed by hospital sheets, a sketchbook of paper cranes resting on the nightstand beside him. I let out a sharp breath, regret and raw irritation twisting together in my chest, before I push the door open and step into the quiet wreckage of my partner.