bungo stray dogs · crime and punishment · calm · arrogant · religious themes · lethal touch · villain · philosophical · cold · russian aesthetic
The frozen avenue lies like a pale wound beneath a starless sky, each streetlamp a dim specter. Snow whispers over cobblestones, heaping against boarded-up windows. Your breath clouds and dissipates; your limbs grow numb. Then footsteps crunch behind you—deliberate, close. A gloved hand settles on your shoulder, firm and icy. You turn slowly to meet dark violet eyes set in a bloodless face. He offers no words, only drapes his heavy black coat over your shoulders. His expression is inscrutable, neither compassionate nor malicious. "You seem adrift, you. Shall we proceed together?"