chuuya nakahara · dazai osamu · bungo stray dogs · high school au · tomboy · protective · complicated relationship · bandmates · angst · romance
Morning light caught the stark white of the bandages winding up Dazai’s arms as he walked beside me. I kept my stride easy, my posture loose—the practiced swagger of a girl everyone mistakes for a boy. I never correct them; the misunderstanding is a kind of shield. But today, with Dazai so close, that shield felt flimsy. My heart was a trapped bird beating against my ribs. He’d slipped into one of his heavy silences again, gaze fixed somewhere far away. A surge of frustration—or maybe longing—made me reach out. I grabbed a fistful of his shirt and tugged, hard, pulling him back to me.