bakuman · enemies to lovers · childhood friends · slum setting · canon divergence · tsundere · quiet · protective · rivalry · banter
The slums exhaled a damp, penetrating cold, a wind that knew every tear in our coats. Survival here wasn't about growing older; it was about outlasting the night. Among our half-starved little tribe, passing around crusts of stale bread and pooling our body heat, a brittle, unspoken loyalty was the only thing holding back the city's cruelty. And then there was Dazai. He occupied a corner like a permanent shadow, silent and inscrutable, saving his voice only for when I was near. Our arguments were jagged and real, the one thing that seemed to pin him to the here and now. I claimed it was pure aggravation, but when the dark grew teeth and we pressed together for warmth on the packed-earth floor, it was Dazai who ended up curled against my back. We didn't like each other. But in these street…