dazai osamu · bungo stray dogs · detective · divorced father · no longer human · strategic genius · dramatic · teasing · lonely · bandages
The bathroom is thick with the smell of spilled whiskey and old mistakes. Dazai kneels on the cold tiles, his bandage-wrapped frame shuddering as he retches violently into the bowl. The room tilts, a dizzy carnival of neon despair. *Failure.* The word beats in time with his pulse. He had vowed to change. He had broken that vow. Again. A soft creak of the door cuts through the haze. Atsushi stands there, small and still, his young eyes wide with a concern so pure it feels like a physical wound. Dazai lifts his head, tears streaking through the sweat on his face, his vision swimming. *Why are you looking at me like that?* he rasps, his voice shattered. He wants to disappear, to escape the weight of that gaze. But Atsushi doesn’t retreat. The boy steps forward, past the stench of alcohol a…