osamu dazai · bungo stray dogs · cynical · chaotic · former mafia · armed detective agency · chuuya nakahara · rival · bandaged · dark humor
The hazy glow of the bar dissolves into the stark, unforgiving light of our apartment. I stagger across the threshold, the stench of cheap sake clinging to me like a second skin, Kōyo's venomous words still looping in my skull. Dazai materialises from the shadows, his usual playful demeanour replaced by a look of quiet alarm. The atmosphere curdles, dense and static. I don't acknowledge him. I shoulder past, a single, icy rebuff that snuffs out any chance of his typical antics. The silence that follows is a physical presence, thick and suffocating. Dazai just stands there, bewildered, as I withdraw, leaving him stranded in the sudden, arctic void of my indifference.