#not that the bsd plot ever made sense to me

[kunikiiida-kuuun]

Ok I'm kinda lost with the manga plot now? Like since when are people apprehensive about abilities in the BSD universe anyways? Up till now I haven't seen any actual disdain for abilities, so it feels like it's coming out of nowhere when Fyodor is like "now everyone will see the danger of ability users and want them all dead". Aren't ability users super rare to begin with??? This is just Fyodor having some personal vendetta against ability users for reasons still unknown.

Also isn't Amenogozen way too op??? A time travelling sword was already op to begin with but I doubt there's any logical way to defeat it.

[dreamkidddream]

Pulling Them in for a Kiss || Dazai, Gin, & Ango

It’s been too long since I wrote for BSD so please enjoy and reader is gender neutral!

CW: a teensy, tiny bit suggestive (tagging it just to be on the safe side)

Dazai

Dazai is usually the one to take initiative, and he’s very physical with his affections. He’s not afraid to hide it either, always planting kisses on you or pulling you into his arms at any moment

He’s not one to be caught off guard, and if he does it’s rare

He knew you were planning to do something when you approached him with a smile that seemed too sweet- but he’s curious to see what you’re trying to pull off. He won’t stop you

Just know that you’re playing a very dangerous game- and he isn’t one to lose

Dazai could feel your eyes on him, and he could picture the gears turning in your head. You’re obviously plotting something- but he’ll pretend to let you have the upper hand. Could this be revenge for the little stunt he pulled at your doorstep last night? More than likely, but he couldn’t help it- it was so fun to tease you and see your reactions!

An amused smile played on his lips as he thought about last night- how flustered you were getting from just a brush of his fingertips, the denial of it, how close he was to pressing his lips against yours…

It was a fun little cat and mouse game you both were playing. Even if you mistakenly thought that you were the cat, Dazai was still enjoying himself.

But he had to admit, his patience was starting run a bit thin at this game. And he was ready to be selfish-

“Dazai.”

“Hm?” You stood before him, arms crossed. You tried your best to not look bothered, nervous, but the way your fingers tapped away and the fidgeting that you’re trying to hide made it apparent that you’re planning something.

“Can you give me your report on the Hanako case? I’m ready to turn it in.”

“Well anything for you belladonna.” He collected the papers in one pile and held it out to you. He came off nonchalant, but he was watching your moves carefully- did you really think you could catch him by surprise? He couldn’t help but chuckle at the thought.

When your fingers brushed his for the papers, he let his touch linger as he spoke up. “That can’t be all that you came over here for, is it?”

He smirked as he heard your breath catch. You’re so easy to rattle.

“No, actually-“ You softly put the papers back down, a flash of determination crossed your face.

“I’m finishing what you started.”

You pulled him by his bolo tie and smashed your lips against his. Dazai’s own eyes were wide as yours was tightly shut.

For once, he was caught off guard, and by the time he started to melt into the kiss and move to wrap his arms around you, you had already pulled away.

You didn’t look him in the eyes as you grabbed at the papers again, clearing your throat. Seems that you were still processing what you did yourself, “Now, if you excuse me-“

Unfortunately, you weren’t fast enough.

You jumped when his wrist caught your arm, and you felt yourself being pulled back.

“Oh there you are-“

Kunikida stopped in his tracks, his words trailing off and a questioning look on his face.

You were trapped against Dazai’s chest, whose smile was unnerving and only making you sweat more.

Before Kunikida could even begin to ask what he was happening, Dazai was already pulling you away, claiming that there was a very important case that had to be solved that couldn’t wait any longer.

Gin

Gin’s senses are sharp- and they never fail her. Even when she’s not on a mission, she’s always aware of her surroundings, prepared for the moment when she needs to strike

But it still doesn’t stop her from getting flustered

Or rather- from you making her flustered

No one would have ever suspect that a high-ranking assassin like herself would be acting a schoolgirl being near her crush- and the same could be said for you

You love seeing Gin smile so much.

Honestly you just love seeing her.

She came off as delicate despite being able to easily end anyone with just a flick of her wrist. You would have never imagined that you would get this close to Gin- let alone fall in love.

Yet here you are, fingers itching to lace them with her own.

You chose a private space away from everyone else to watch the fireworks, high enough to get a good view and quiet to where you could admire her in peace. Just glancing at her now, raven hair cascading down her back with a soft smile with a glow from the flashing sparks- she always took your breath away, but this was to a new level.

And it awakened something in you.

“Gin.”

Her eyes flickered over to yours, and any hesitations that you had vanished in that very moment.

You clenched your fists and took in a deep breath, before willing yourself to grab at her hands.

She let out a small squeak, and could already see how flushed her cheeks were getting.

It was now or never.

Your eyes were shut tight when you pulled her forward and connected your lips.

Everything went still in that moment, and there were a million thoughts running through your head- how soft her lips were, how you can’t believe that you’re actually finally doing this-

When you pulled away, Gin’s face was completely flushed and head turned the opposite way. She couldn’t even look you in the eyes- not that you were brave enough to look at her either.

You were expecting her to move away and sprint to the other side, until you felt something on top of your hand-

You glanced down to see her fingertips meeting yours. You can see how they were slightly trembling, but she still laid them gently on top of yours.

Gin still wasn’t looking at you and vice versa, but it didn’t stop you from lacing your fingers together.

You both sat there gazing at the fireworks, while she gently gave your hand a squeeze.

Ango

Does Ango know anything besides work?

You’re a bit concerned- not only in how he works nonstop, but also in how little he was paying attention to you- it sounds petty, but it’s the truth!

It’s so easy for him to get consumed with his work with how much is weighing on his shoulders with his position, but you don’t want him to overwork himself either

Lucky for you- you knew how to make him take a break and a way for you to get your point across…

“Ango.”

“Just a second dear- I’m almost done with this report.”

You know that Ango has no simple job. The multiple hours that he puts into his work aren’t useless- it directly affects Yokohama, that much you know. But it wouldn’t do the city or Ango himself good if he keeps pushing him to the point of over exhaustion.

It’s been nights where he would tell you not to wait up on him and you do so anyway, seeing him crawl into bed mere hours before sunlight would come into your shared room. You were already concerned when it happened, and it only grew when it kept happening more.

There was to immediate threat that he had to focus on, yet Ango was never a procrastinator, already trying to be one step ahead of whatever problem would come next- which wasn’t bad, but it was when it was getting the way of his health and his relationship.

And desperate times call for desperate measures.

“Ango,” you placed your head directly in front of the screen and he jolted back. You took this moment of weakness to crawl into his lap, effectively straddling him.

Ango’s cheeks were progressively getting redder by the second, and the stutters that left his lips began to jumble together the more your hands trailed up his chest, reaching up to remove his glasses. You forgot how much you loved seeing him like this- seeing him unravel under your fingertips.

Before he could even try to understand what you were up to, you pulled him by his tie and locked lips with him.

His breath hitched and his eyes widened, hands hovering above your waist. You felt the tension in his body slowly leave as he sunk into the kiss, eyes closing and pulling you even closer.

When you both broke apart, you rested your forehead against Ango’s, who was panting lightly with his eyes unfocused. The tips of his ears were turning brighter (if that was possible), when you kissed him again.

“Come to bed with me?” You gave him another peck. “Please?”

“It- It is getting late, I could always finish this tomorrow.” He cleared his throat, trying to get himself composed again even if he was failing miserably.

Was it a bit of an underhanded tactic? Probably.

But you thought it was worth it when you were curled into Ango’s arms later on that night, both of you soundly sleeping.

[kouyou-arc-when]

Has bsd fandom ever be rational. Despite the story being pretty mature, I associate the fanbase with children mostly (like mha) because most of the people I interacted with are under 17, often the focus are ships and very stupid tiktok theories that don't make sense canonically because most fans don't pay attention to the lore unless it involves their husbands/wives. Makes sense to me that a big part of the fandom doesn't vibe with what's currently happenin.

Gotta say I agree. I don't want to be a dick and tell people what they're supposed to like or not, or whether certain theories HAVE to be true - however, it's very clear to me that BSD is just not the manga a lot of fans expect it to be. How many times do we need to tell people Asagiri's favorite manga is Jojo, and his favorite movie franchise the Avengers? Shouldn't that tell us a lot about what kind of stories he wants to create? My main issue is that people reject/accept theories and events entirely based on whether they like something. You can't ever discuss anything truly unpopular because the person you're talking to has already made up their mind beforehand, and if Asagiri himself came down and told them otherwise, they wouldn't accept it. The worst part is that this doesn't ONLY happen with underage fans, but people over 20 too. They'll completely deny certain aspects of the plot because it doesn't fit what they like. "X character is not in love with Y character? Impossible and you are wrong. " BSD is just one of those manga where so many theories could be true, and it's more fun to speculate than it is to see canon actually happen - but one thing I hate the most is people who won't let others then have their fun? Nope, it is only my opinion that is canon!! I've written a bunch of theories for fucks of it that I don't even agree with.

[familiariscanis]

i don't care if bsd is believable. i don't care if the plot twists make sense, because honestly they never really have made much sense and they don't necessarily need to. bsd tends to be kind of ridiculous and a lot of times that's what makes it fun and endearing. i am perfectly willing to suspend my disbelief for this show.

i do care if bsd is rewarding tho, and i don't feel like this was a particularly rewarding season finale as far as dazai's character goes. another dazai ex machina ending to a season isn't the problem here for me; it's the doubt that resolution is retroactively casting on everything dazai has done and said in the last arc. it makes the sincerity of everything he said suspect. it makes me wonder if he was ever really in danger. how much dazai knew, how assured he was of his victory isn't entirely clear, but that doesn't really matter. what matters is that enough of the conflict in the mersault arc was shown to be not real, and that puts everything in a different light. it makes any vulnerability or weakness dazai showed during the arc seem inconsequential, and it makes it feel less genuine dazai's speech to chuuya when he was "drowning" chuuya was interesting when the chapter released because it had so many character and relationship implications. dazai, pragmatic and logical as he is, being capable of killing chuuya if he had to but not incapable of feeling nothing about it. it made you wonder if perhaps dazai might be doing something he'd regret, if he'd realize only once it's too late the true consequences of his actions. dazai saying for years that he wants to kill chuuya and genuinely believing that he wants him dead, only to realize once he's succeeded at that that his life is missing something without chuuya there to irritate him... that's interesting! that's opening up a whole world of possibilities for dazai's character and their relationship. even if chuuya survives, dazai still may be faced with the realization that hey, he doesn't want chuuya dead. it forces him to really reckon with the magnitude of importance chuuya has in his life, which, for all of their unspoken trust, may be something dazai has taken for granted. it might make him re-examine his feelings or himself. it might change the dynamic between them.

now that there's the possibility of it being pre-planned, that speech loses it's weight— and the character implications of it are somewhat lost. of course, there is the possibility that dazai didn't know at the time, that he only figured it out at some point during the events of the game. it's certainly open to interpretation and it's definitely interesting to interpret it that he didn't know at the time, but it's an equally valid interpretation that dazai knew all along, so it shifts the exploration of dazai's character and his feelings for chuuya from the realm of canon to fanon.

but the way that the vampire fake-out plot twist is presented does strip some of the possibility for vulnerability from dazai's words. it casts enough doubt on it to make it plausible that he was just fucking around, that it doesn't really mean anything. it keeps dazai in a secure place of superiority in the narrative and makes him immune to normal character flaws and weaknesses. dazai, as a person, is supposed to be learning to trust and he wins because of that trust, but it's falling flat for dazai as a character (for me, at least) because we don't believe there was ever really a risk that he'd fall. as the audinece, we can see asagiri setting up a safety net and it negates the impact of the trust fall that dazai is supposedly doing. basically this plot twist is the emotional equivalent to seeing a video of someone jumping off a ledge and then the camera zooms out and you realize what you thought was a 30 foot drop is actually only about 3 feet. and not only is it not rewarding, but it makes me feel like i was silly for being worried in the first place.

[rainiiisspamming]

BSD 109 SPOILERS!!!

Seriously read it first don't spoil yourself it's amazing it will ruin you and your life.

Okay now that that's out of the way, I will literally NEVER shut up about BSD 109 ever, and specifically about Dazai. This is not a serious analysis, just me being in pain because what the fuck.

Now before anything gets said, a few points :

He will survive. He's the plot, quite literally, and I have seen a lot of people point out the fact that his character arc isn't finished yet, and I totally agree- Asagiri is extremely careful with his plot devices and writing, so I'm pretty sure he wouldn't just cut Dazai's arc right in the middle like that. Tons of people have made several analysis on this, and again, I 100% agree with that.

A lot of people have been theorizing that the bullet in his head is not real, and that Chuuya stopped it with gravity. I agree with that- it makes sense, and would be the best way for Asagiri to 'save' Dazai from his situation.

Biology majors have made several panel analysis explaining that the spots Dazai got shot in are, in fact, non-lethal. Even when it comes to the head injury, the bullet wouldn't go as far as completely killing him, but instead harming parts that would have to do with memories and planning (not gonna get technical because it's definitely not an area I'm comfortable in, I'm a literature major ffs, but the arguments have been made).

Okay, now that these are out of the way, can we just talk about these panels for a minute, because there is so much to unpack. The shot in one the previous chapters in which Dazai kinda just, pathetically drags himself and his broken legs to a camera was bad enough, because we know Dazai hates pain. He endures it, but his whole thing is that he's looking work a way to die painlessly. And in this chapter, well. Not only has Dazai been waiting a while in there, while Fyodor and Sigma were speaking, but his whole interaction with Chuuya is SO much. From the way his eyes lighten like never before when he tries to convince Chuuya to come back, to Chuuya just not being there- I think that overall, Dazai didn't believe a second that Chuuya would come back. I mean, he looked mighty confident there, so either the situation is completely out of his control, which I doubt, because come on, it's Dazai (but I would love if it was the case because Dazai loosing composure has to be the most interesting thing ever), either he did have a plan that involved making his 'death' convincing to Fyodor.

Now, back to that pain thing. I think the worst part was the face he makes while yelling at Chuuya after Chuuya takes the first shot- he is in SO much pain (also I looked it up and the bullet did hit super close to a nerve so he might have a severed nerve I'm unwell). And then the head bullet hits, and the two other- he must have been in so much pain. The way his eyes are light but in a different way as he (falsely or not) realizes that this is It. The way one of his last words is 'finally'. He doesn't even get to finish his sentence, because he passes out before that. It was all so much.

Anyways this post is a mess but who cares I needed to put those thoughts somewhere because I didn't feel a think after 101 except for a oh, that happened, kinda feeling, but 109 had me sobbing. Genuinely crying, out loud, hugging my pillow. I really hope Dazai's gonna make it. Just imagine Atsushi, Aku, Kunikida and Chuuya's reactions if he doesn't. God fucking dammit.

[strayslost]

GETTING TO KNOW YOUR MOOTS BETTER !

Fill out the info sheet below & tag your friends to do the same ! Repost , don’t reblog !

🌊 🐇

Name / Pen-name : Meri!

Pronouns : She/her (okay with they/them too!)

Country / Region : England.

Timezone : GMT

Age / Age group : 25, as of this month!

Favourite colours : Pink, turquoise/teal, yellow, cream & brown, and maybe green too???

Favourite foods : How can you expect me to choose!! if I listed them all I'd be here all day ;~; I suppose a couple are cheesecake, custard (and sweets/cakes generally tbh), spaghetti bolognese, salmon... I've gone too braindead to think of more, sorry :')

Non - RP Hobbies ? : Watching/reading anime, manga and visual novels (when I've got the executive function for it), music, video games, decoration/design, and working on my own stories/songs! I'd love to stream someday, but I'm a bit too nervous to start atm, haha. Same with blogging about some of the things that are important to me - I'd love to do more in that regard, but I'm not really sure where to start.

Favourite animal : BUNNIES and sea creatures in general!! In particular, octopi, sea otters and sea turtles have my whole heart <33

Any allergies ? : I actually have had an allergic reaction to something like. once in my life, but unfortunately I have no idea what it was to, otl ;w; so uhhh. I guess my answer is a "not really"??

Favourite Season : Ooooh, I can't choose. Aesthetically, maybe summer or winter, with autumn close behind. In practice, I'm terrible with temperatures that are too hot or too cold, though!

Scents you like : Vanilla and coffee! Though my sense of smell is pretty bad generally, I'd say these are my favorites.

Coffee / tea / hot cocoa : Tea (with a bit of sugar!). Hot cocoa can be great too, and I don't like the taste of coffee, but I do benefit from the effects of caffeine, so I tend to drink lattes instead.

How long have you been in your current fandom ? : for BSD, it's only been about a year! Actually, I'm pretty sure I got into the series sometime around December 2022, since that's when I first made my Chuuya blog?? It's pretty quickly risen to the spot of my favourite piece of media ever though, at least currently, so congrats to BSD are in order, I think!

Do you prefer to ‘ wing ’ your threads or discuss plots with your partner during or ahead of time ? : I enjoy both! I think my favourite thing to do is to have or discuss a general idea for the starter/thread, for example like... "my muse is time traveling from the future to meet yours", or "my muse discovers a secret yours is hiding," so like basic plotting, and then just seeing where things go from there. But I absolutely enjoy winging it too/just seeing what happens, and I love just as much when my partners have something they particularly want to explore and let me know, so I'm pretty flexible in that regard, I think! (aka send me your wishlists >:) )

Are you okay with getting to know your RP partners outside of writing / becoming good online friends or even offline friends ? : 100000%, honestly I would love this so much! But full warning in advance, I am... very bad at being active and replying to messages quickly in general, otl. I don't have many friends irl as a result of this, even though I really would really like to make more... unfortunately my functioning issues in most areas of my life are pretty bad and this extends to maintaining conversations too. HOWEVER, you're absolutely always welcome to message me whenever you'd like, even if I haven't replied to your last message yet! I find that this can help prompt me to reply to my old messages as well, and I can promise you that my slow replies are absolutely not an indication that I don't want to talk with you or of how I feel about you - I'm just very awkward and find socializing hard, but that doesn't stop me from really enjoying talking with you nonetheless!! (This applies to my RP reply speeds too, tbh) There's way more I could say on this but I might make it it's own post tbh, this section is already getting too long. tl;dr i love you all, let's be friends!! <33

Finally , what are your favourite genres of RP ?: I'm not so good at defining genres, so instead I'll say - I love angst and conflict between characters but also resolving conflicts too, seeing characters get to know and relate to each other better... I'm a big fan of threads with supernatural elements, in particular those that are shocking to the characters, and of secrets being revealed generally too! Exploring character's insecurities and beliefs and having them change their perspective is great as well... basically, I'd say I enjoy "meaty" threads with lots of emotions or action over like slice-of-life, casual interactions, but even those can be fun if they're well done, honestly!

Tagged by : @chaosbled ( thank you so much!!! ;w;)

Tagging : I haven't been logged in enough to know who's done this already if I'm honest so I'm just gonna say anyone who wants to and hasn't done it yet - say I tagged you! <3

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

Trigun anon here and no worries for taking a while to answer my ask! It means a lot to me to be able to ramble about stuff all the same <33

So valid for Vash escalating as one of your fave characters, it only took the Stampede anime for him to become one of my faves of all time, and that's just 12 eps, what more when season 2 comes out xD. And ohhh I love your interpretation/thoughts on the "sides" aspect of Trigun and how it connects with Vash so thank you for giving me a new perspective on it :00! Similar to you, currently reading the trigun manga so hopefully we both enjoy the series <33!

Also, yep I am the ranpo anon from caelang's blog! Seeing my two faves together (ranpo and vash) in caelang's art style made my heart so happy and I also saw your asked and omg Atsushi and Vash? Wolfwood and Oda? MERYL AND KUNIKIDA those are all such good interactions TvT!!!

Lastly, I'm a little late and other anons have mentioned it but don't delete you analysis and meta :00!!! Especially since they're coming from the love for a piece of media and that's what makes it beautiful even when you think they don't make sense <33. Ive been reading your bsd analysis and metas ever since I found your blog and I love them so much, my personal favorite is your "Dazai Likes People". The fact that there are numerous different perspectives and thoughts on the series we invest ourselves in is all part of the enjoyment! If you ever need to take a break or distance yourself as well from the things you brainrot over then that's just as valid! Though yes, be kind to yourself and the things you do, you deserve it :DD!

Hello again! :D

Ah, I'm really happy to hear you've decided to read the manga too! What point are you at? Are you following the book club at all? I'm having a lot of fun with it personally! It really cemented Vash as one of my new favourites, and some of the plot points I'm seeing have me so psyched to see where he goes as a character in season 2 of Stampede (though also I feel like it's going to make me very sad... :/).

Ehehe Ranpo and Vash hanging out is such a cute idea; I saw that and then my brain took it and ran with it. The Oda and Wolfwood one especially makes me kind of miserable... but the Meryl Kunikida interaction would I think be very funny. They are going to break so many laws on their way to do the right thing, hahaha

Ah, and thank you very much! I won't delete them, I promise, I was just having a bad day. I'm really glad you like them! This series drives me crazy in the best ways and I like to share a bit of that with people when I can. I'll do my best to be a little kinder to myself. Thank you! :)

[kikizoshi]

I'm sorry I took so long to reply. I tried before, but couldn't get anything that seemed right (or cogent). Hopefully this is better. I still feel a bit all over the place...

Regarding the anime: yeah, that's fair. I suppose I don't give the anime as much leeway with retcons as I would other series because Bones' adaptation in general is something I've been extremely disillusioned with since S3 (and then S1&2 once I read the manga). It's harder when I don't have faith in the adaptor to tell a good or accurate story, to trust things they change. (Especially regarding Fyodor--they added a scene of him smirking on a building in Dead Apple, too, in a way that fucked with the timeline, and I figured it was because, like everything with his presentation, they didn't care to get his story right. If that was some sort of foreshadowing Asagiri for some reason left out of the Dead Apple manga, though... I'm not sure how I feel about that, but it's probably better than a downright mistake.)

Regarding Nikolai: I'm definitely down for him going through a character arc. My issue was that none of the changes he goes through feel earned (maybe not the best way of putting it but that's the best I can come up with). He just "dies", disappears, comes back, has a new motivation, then comes back again with yet another new motivation. I understand that the umbrella of "freedom" gives Asagiri some leeway with how to interpret Nikolai's ever-moving goalpost, and maybe with some more screen time, how changeable Nikolai is could have been expressed better and felt like an intentional character trait, but as it's presented, Nikolai just feels like he changes as needed to suit whatever plot-moving action he's used for this time. His stated logic doesn't make sense, but it comes across in a "the author is making up whatever to move the story" way, instead of a "Nikolai's rationalisation of his own goals is intentionally flawed" way. Maybe now he'll get the chance to develop as a person, or maybe he'll be shafted like most of the other arc-specific villains (anyone remember Hawthorne's still out there somewhere?). At this point I'd honestly prefer the latter, but only because how his character has been handled thus far makes me cringe in anticipation of how much worse he could get.

Anyway, I think you summarised what could happen with him well. (And it's definitely possible I'd be disappointed with Nikolai's "genuine" side, especially since I've spent so long carving out my version of it. I think as long as it worked, though, I'd respect it... I just don't expect anything more from him than to be a plot device at this point. I really think he's Poe But Worse now.)

Regarding my "Asagiri sticking to his roots" comment: I'm having trouble expressing my opinion on this in a way that covers all of it... Basically I liked his comedy, thought his characters hinted at enough nuance to be interesting, and he had a good balance of jokes and seriousness, a good tone. I really respected his ability to combine levity and grounded story beats into something that felt fun and cohesive. And the story worked in a way that mostly made sense. I wish he'd kept up that balance. I wouldn't begrudge him the fight scenes so much if that wasn't all this story was now. But characters seem to mainly exist to get into cool fights and progress the story. It feels a lot like not enough time outlining to me, or not enough screen time to work with, and maybe it is... Anyway, I don't wish BSD would return to its roots now. I don't think there's a point; it's already a shounen. I just wish past Asagiri had stuck to and developed what I liked about his writing. I know I'm in the minority, and that most people are happy with the changes, so I'm not calling it a bad move. I do think he's worse at shounen stories, but... I don't know. BSD used to be a loveable clusterfuck of a story. Now it's just a confusing mess of incongruencies. And that frustrates me.

can we form a coup against asagiri and make you the writer instead? genuinely... I am not taking the Fyodor immortal information well.. please help............................ ( ´，_ゝ` )

Oh, I would absolutely not do BSD well either. I just wish Asagiri had stuck to his roots more. He was a great comedy writer, and the beginning of the story was great for it. It's the action and Death Note stuff he can't seem to get mastery of. But for the immortal part: I'm not entirely sold that Fyodor's immortal, yet. It seems like yet another twists that will twist to reveal oh, shocker, he faked his memories to confuse Sigma/the ADA... or something. Could very well be immortal, but not 100% guaranteed.

[vampireonastick]

BSD Theory: Meursault is a Creation of the Book; Fyodor Created it As A Trap for Dazai

SPOILERS UP UNTIL CHAPTER 99 OF THE MANGA

So I have a theory about Meursault prison. Not only do I believe it is a creation of the book, but I also believe that it was created by Fyodor and Ango (that’s right, I still think he’s a traitor), and, its entire purpose is to serve as a trap for Dazai in the DoA arc.

Why Do I Think Fyodor and Ango Have Control Over the Prison?

These are some things about the prison that don’t make much sense to me, and that would be better explained by Meursault being a creation of the book. 

1. Why is Dazai There?

From what the manga tells us, this is a maximum security prison designed to contain some of the most dangerous ability users.

But Dazai is literally just a person?? Like, he’s just some random dude?? His ability is the least deadly thing ever. I really just don’t see how a nullifying ability warrants this level of security. I mean, sure, he’s wily and clever, and maybe they were more afraid about the rest of the ADA getting in than Dazai getting out, but it still seems kinda overkill. 

Meursault is supposed to be located in Europe. It just seems like a massive hassle to ship Dazai all the way there when his ability really doesn’t warrant it.

Most logical reasoning is that Ango pulled some strings, hyped up Dazai as a threat, so he could be sent to the same prison as Fyodor in order to study/interrogate him. But why would the European government in charge of Meursault prison take the suggestion of a random Japanese government agent? Seems strange. (Unless Ango and Fyodor are working together, and Meursault prison is under their control, in which case, getting Dazai there should be relatively easy).

Also, why is Dazai imprisoned in the ‘Infinity Room’? The one with the floating cells designed specifically to contain dangerous ability users.

When explaining his Great Prison Escape Game, Nikolai mentions the place he teleported Dazai and Fyodor to from their cells is the floor above the ‘Infinity Room’, where the “regular prison” is. Suggesting that there are more cells in this maximum security prison besides the ones Fyodor and Dazai were kept in, ones that are still four floors underground. 

It would have made so much more sense to lock Dazai up in one of the regular cells on level four, than in the ‘Infinity Room’ with Fyodor as his cell neighbour. 

2. Why Do Dazai and Fyodor Have Adjacent Cells?

Also why are they allowed to be in cells right next to each other anyways? You’d think with how concerned the guards are at the weird code Fyodor and Dazai are speaking in, they'd, I don't know, move one of them to a different cell further away so they can’t talk?? (sure this lack of common sense here might just be because of plot reasons, but it’s just funny to think about).

An easy way to explain this in the plot of the story would be to again, write it off as Fyodor and Ango’s meddling. 

None of the guards think of moving either of them because it was written in the book that they would have nearby cells, so the idea of separating them wouldn’t even cross anyones mind. 

(Or the guards figure that since this is a maximum security prison, nothing Dazai or Fyodor say to each other should hold much value anyway, since even if they are conspiring to escape, no matter what their plan is it shouldn’t be possible.) 

But if this is the case, then why are the guards trying so hard to discern what code they are speaking in? They obviously want to know what they are saying to each other. (though this may just be because they are curious and nothing more, it’s still something to think about).

3. Why Is Ango Allowed to Look at Dazai’s Vitals Transcript?

There shouldn’t be any reason for anyone to look at these transcripts. If the purpose for implanting these heart monitors in the prisoners is to be able to prevent escapes, then why should these transcripts need to be inspected by anyone when the prisoner they belong to is still in prison?

“To prevent the prisoners in Meursault from escaping, a vital sign tracker is implanted in them.” (Ango)

How exactly would this stop a prisoner from escaping? If it’s just designed to record a person's vitals, this won’t do anything if they manage to escape. 

If this tracker is designed to ‘go off’ and stop a prisoner's heart if they leave the confines of the prison then sure, that would make sense. But then why would this tracker need to record the prisoner’s vitals at all times? That seems like a useless feature. 

The only other thing I can think of is that these vitals are closely monitored in order to determine if a person is considering escape. If their heartbeat is faster, then that may mean they are about to try to escape, which the guards could then use to heighten security for that prisoner. 

But that still doesn’t make much sense. The best it can do is serve as a warning a prisoner may try to escape? If the prison is so secure and well made it shouldn’t matter how much intention a person has for escaping. 

“With my government clearance, I can listen to and decode them.” (Ango)

Why would Ango’s position in the government put him in a position where he is able to have access to Dazai’s vital sign transcripts?

Again, this is a maximum security prison located in Europe and run by the European government. So why is some random government official from Japan (a person who has a personal connection to Dazai) allowed to look at the transcripts of his vitals?

What does Ango have to do in order to access these transcripts? Does he need to ask for clearance each time he wishes to view them? Or does he have open access to view them whenever he pleases? Is there some sort of system in place that keeps track of how many times Ango accesses these files? Again, it’s a very odd thing for Ango to want to view, from an outside perspective. Anyone else should think that these transcripts are useless to Ango, and because of that, you’d think his continued interest in viewing them would be seen as suspicious. 

Also, is no one else looking at these transcripts?? Surely seeing Dazai’s heartbeat all over the damn place when all the cameras show him sitting peacefully still would make people suspicious.

My theory based on this point:

When the prison was created using the book, this feature of recording vitals was added. It doesn’t seem odd to anyone because it was written in the book that everyone would find this a normal and reasonable thing to do with the prisoners. 

The real reason that Meursault tracks and records its prisoner’s vital signs, is because Ango already knows that Dazai can control his own heartbeat, and would want to communicate this way while in prison. It was designed this way to give Dazai an easy method of telling Ango all of his plans and strategies.

And the reason Ango is allowed to access these transcripts, is because he and Fyodor are the ones who created this prison, so of course they would add that if Ango asks for the transcripts, his request would be granted and no one would find this suspicious or odd. 

4. Fyodor Needs Control

In my opinion, Fyodor wouldn’t have allowed himself to be caught if he didn’t feel completely in control of his situation at all times. Meaning he wouldn’t let himself be locked up in Meursault unless he felt completely confident he could escape whenever he wanted.

This is different from the time he was Ace’s prisoner. If Fyodor’s ability allows him to instantly kill anyone he touches, he could have easily killed Ace, taken the key to the room, and left at any time he pleased. But Meursault is different. Fyodor is locked in a glass cell deep underground, he can’t leave as easily. Sure he may have allies on the outside that will help him, but how fast can they help him if there is an emergency and he needs out of the prison instantly? When it comes to his own physical safety, Fyodor feels more like the type of person that would only trust himself to protect him.

If Fyodor actually is in control of the prison, then he could be as calm as he pleases, knowing that if he needs to, he can leave any time he wishes, and leave Dazai there to die. 

Also Fyodor had planned for Dazai to come to prison with him, it’s why he had Mushitarou release his ability that was hiding the evidence of Dazai’s crimes. So how did he know Dazai would be sent to the same prison as him and not just a regular prison in Yokohama? Like I mentioned previously, it really doesn’t make much sense that Dazai was sent to such a high security prison.

Option one is that he believed that Dazai would want to keep a close eye on him, and left it to the other to get himself into Meursault. But Fyodor really doesn’t seem like the type to leave that much power to Dazai. 

Option two is that if Meursault is a creation of the book (made by Fyodor) Fyodor included in the narrative that both he and Dazai would be sent to the same prison after their arrests. 

Option three is if Fyodor and Ango are working together, Fyodor would believe Ango was capable of convincing whatever government necessary that Meursault is the best place to contain Dazai. 

I’d say the most likely scenario is a combination between options two and three. Since people do need to put in effort to push the narrative in order for the book to work, if Fyodor and Ango wrote that after their arrests, Fyodor and Dazai would both be sent to Meursault, and then Ango worked behind the scenes to convince government officials, resulting in this outcome.

When I Think Meursault Was Created Using the Book

(I would usually explain the ‘why’ before the ‘when’, but I want to allude back to some points made in this section when I talk about ‘why I think Meursault was created using the book’.)

Firstly, When Do I Think Meursault Was Created?

Originally I thought that Meursault was created at the exact same time as the Sky Casino. We know the Sky Casino is a creation of the book because, despite memories being implanted of the Sky Casino, Dazai noticed its existence was suspicious, and conducted research to reveal that the Sky Casino has only existed for just over a week.

Surely if Dazai can pick up on such subtle clues, then he could just as easily have figured out that Meursault is a creation of the book. So I figured that both of these places were created at the same time, and that the Sky Casino was purposefully created to be as over the top as possible as a diversion, to draw Dazai’s attention away from Meursault so he wouldn’t figure out it’s also a creation of the book. (Also why the Sky Casino is in Yokohama and Meursault is in Europe. In order to keep Meursault out of the spotlight). 

But after looking it up, I realized Meursault was actually mentioned for the first time in chapter 47 (in the panel below). During the cannibalism arc the man the ADA were chasing, who they believed to be Pushkin, was said to have escaped from Meursault two weeks prior. 

But going back over the information, even though Meursault was mentioned in the manga long before the Sky Casino was created, that doesn’t necessarily mean the Sky casino and Meursault weren’t created at the same time.

Because doesn’t the claim that Pushkin broke out of Meursault sound just a bit odd? 

He broke out of Meursault? How exactly? Pushkin’s ability allows him to put a virus on two hosts. Yes it’s deadly, but it’s not exactly suited for combat, or escaping a prison as secure as Meursault is. He could have been a part of a group of prisoners to escape, but the whole layout of Meursault gives the impression that inmates can’t easily talk to each other, at least not without being listened to by guards. I highly doubt any other prisoner’s created their own code like Fyodor and Dazai did.

So how did Pushkin escape Meursault? A maximum security prison? Well, what if he didn’t? What if he was never in Meursault? What if at this point in time (the cannibalism arc), Meursault didn’t exist?

The book has the power to implant memories into people’s minds. What if the report Kunikida reads on Pushkin originally said “half a month ago, he broke out of prison”, instead of what it actually says in the panel, which is “half a month ago, he broke out of ‘Meursault.’”

As far as I know, this is the only time Meursault is mentioned before the DoA arc. And considering this information Kunikida is reading on Pushkin in this panel was false, and had been fed to them by Fyodor to put them on the wrong track, then this would further support my theory. Since Fyodor would have known what exact information on Pushkin the ADA would have read, he could have easily included that after Meursault is created from the book, the ADA members will remember reading that Pushkin escaped from ‘Meursault’ instead of ‘Prison’.

Also, less than two weeks after Pushkin escapes Meursault he’s already working for Fyodor? That’s too convenient. It’s much more likely that Fyodor had his eye on Pushkin and had been planning on using him as a pawn rather than him finding him randomly after Pushkin escapes prison. Meaning Fyodor would have had to contact Pushkin while he was in prison to try to convince him to escape, which would have been difficult if he was in Meursault.

So either, Fyodor broke Pushkin out of Meursault, which again, is unlikely. Or, he broke Pushkin out of a regular prison, which would have been much simpler. (There is also the option that Pushkin was never actually in prison, and that little bit of info about him breaking out two weeks ago was just one of Fyodor’s lies).

Also Fyodor is the one who told Dazai about Pushkin and his ability. But the person in that report Kunikida is reading is not Pushkin, it's a decoy. So where did Kunikida get this wrong information from exactly? Internet? Government? *cough* Ango?? *cough*

Fyodor in Meursault

But wait. If Meursault is as old as the Sky Casino, then where was Fyodor being held the last few months? Fyodor gets arrested at the end of the Cannibalism arc, and it’s a few weeks before Dazai gets arrested, so where was he?

Well isn’t it convenient that the person who arrested Fyodor was Ango?? I’m sure it can’t be that difficult for two intelligent people possessing a book that can bend reality to trick the government and hide Fyodor for a few weeks before Meursault is written into existence.

Why I Think Meursault Was Created Using the Book

1. How Exactly are the Glass Cells Floating?

Fyodor and Dazai spend their time in Meursault in floating glass cells. Yes, it looks cool as hell, but how exactly is that possible?

The cells don’t seem to have any support beams or wires holding them up. (These would have been super easy to draw in, so I think the fact that they are obviously not there is actually quite important). And neither Dazai nor Fyodor comment on their cells bouncing or tilting as they roam around, so the cells must be able to resist the force of their movements. 

This means the cells probably aren’t suspended by magnets, as it seems near impossible to suspend a glass cage mid air with magnets in a giant room (filled with other cells at different levels) and have that cage be perfectly sturdy with no bounce or give. 

It can’t be an ability holding the cells up either, because if Dazai touches his cell the ability would be nullified, and Dazai’s cell would crash to the ground. 

Going back to the Sky Casino, in these panels below, Tachihara and Teruko talk about how the sky casino stays afloat, mentioning that the Intelligence Department believes that someone's ability may be being utilized in order to keep the thing in the air.

I thought this discussion on how the Sky Casino stays in the air (and how it seems to use a lot less fuel than it should theoretically need) was an odd detail to include in the narrative. 

Even with the explanation of the use of Helium fuel, it’s still stated that it’s believed that an ability is being used. But why include these panels? Unless it’s important that the reader is told that it shouldn’t be physically possible for the Sky Casino to stay in the air on its own. Since we know the Sky Casino is a creation of the book, then its continuous hovering despite the laws of physics could be attributed to an effect of the book, not an ability user.

The inclusion of these panels could be a way to tell the reader that things created by the book do not necessarily have to follow the conventional laws of physics that the rest of the world is defined by. Another example would be how the ADA suddenly switched places with the masked figures during the live broadcast at the beginning of the DoA arc (something that should not be physically possible). 

So, Meursault prison being a creation of the book would explain why the glass cells can free float like this despite nothing holding them up. Because they were written this way. Things written in the book follow the rules of storytelling, not physics. 

2. Why Do They Seem to Be the Only Ones In the Prison?

Another point that supports the idea that Meursault was created at the same time as the Sky Casino is that there doesn’t seem to be any other inmates. 

In this above panel, we get a pretty good view of the Infinity Room, along with many of the cells it contains. No other people are drawn in these cells. 

That could easily be explained away by simply saying there’s no point drawing characters that aren’t relevant to the plot and aren’t mentioned in the story. Which is fair enough, no other prisoners have any lines so there’s no need to draw them. 

But if there are other prisoners there, why aren’t they mentioned in the narrative? Why don’t they have any lines at all? We get time with the guards occasionally, such as in this panel:

The guards comment on how odd Dazai and Fyodor are. But why aren’t we given any panels of other prisoners thinking to themselves how strange the two of them are?

The cells are close enough together that anything Fyodor or Dazai say to one another should be able to be heard by prisoners in nearby cells. Considering Fyodor and Dazai’s almost constant conversation, all of which is done through some strange code, you’d think other prisoners would get curious enough about the two to try and talk to them, or at the very least, yell at them to shut up already.

But we only get time with the guards. Which I find odd. 

This lack of prisoners could easily be explained by the theory that the prison is a farce, and has only existed for just over a week, so of course no other prisoners are actually here.

(Although there is no rule saying any other potential prisoners need to be shown, the fact that they aren’t leaves the idea of whether or not they do exist up for individual interpretation.)

Why Do I Think Meursault is a Trap for Dazai?

So, if Meursault is a creation of the book and it is under both Fyodor and Ango’s control, what exactly does that mean? Well, for starters, it means Dazai’s screwed (in theory).

If this theory is true, then it completely changes the entire prison situation. Instead of Dazai and Fyodor being on equal playing fields, trying to trick valuable information out of each other and playing their game of galaxy chess, it is actually just a trap. It's a way to remove Dazai from having direct contact with his colleagues, have access to all his strategies (since he relays them directly to Ango) and trick Dazai into believing he is actually gaining something from being in this situation (analyzing Fyodor). 

If Ango and Fyodor are working together, and this is a trap for Dazai, then no matter what, any information Dazai gets from Fyodor is ultimately useless, as Ango will ensure to steer the narrative on the outside of the prison in Fyodor’s favour.

Dazai

Now, does Dazai know his imprisonment at Meursault is a trap? I’d say yes. While I don’t think he is aware yet that Meursault was created by the book (and is thus fully under Fyodor’s control) I do think he knows that allowing himself to be caught and sent to Meursault with Fyodor was a bad idea. And I don’t think Dazai was being truthful when he said his intentions for going along with the trap was to discover how Fyodor is communicating to his allies (despite him saying that this was his reason). Why do I think this?

Why would he tell Fyodor his true objective for allowing himself to be locked up? Seems like the last thing you want to tell your enemy.

Figuring out how Fyodor is communicating to his allies isn’t worth Dazai removing himself from the outside world to sit in prison. Yes, he has a valuable opportunity to communicate with Fyodor face to face and try to figure out his plans, but he is also giving Fyodor the opportunity to do the same thing with himself and his plans for the ADA.

Even if Dazai could figure out how Fyodor was communicating to the outside world, there’s no guarantee that there would be a way to prevent him from continuing to do so. 

So What is Dazai’s True Goal?

I think Dazai’s real reason for allowing himself to be arrested and sent to Meursault is to test Ango’s loyalty. (That’s right, I tied it all back to Ango again).

If there is one thing that’s clear, it is that Dazai does not like or trust Ango. I mean, I’m sure there were plenty of other ways Dazai could have blackmailed Ango into getting Kyoka’s record cleared that didn’t involve Ango getting into a car accident. Dazai chose a method that involved violently injuring Ango because he wanted to hurt Ango for the role he played in Oda’s death. With how much Oda means to Dazai, I highly doubt his hatred for Ango will ever go away.

So why work with Ango during the DoA arc? I’m assuming Dazai’s picked up on subtle hints that Fyodor seems to have an ally in the government, or at the very least, someone who is familiar with Yokohama and its ability users. I’m positive the first person Dazai would suspect of working with Fyodor would be Ango, since he already knows he is a traitor. 

So by ‘teaming up’ with Ango and being sent to prison, Dazai can play Fyodor’s game while secretly testing where Ango’s loyalties lie. He develops his strategies, communicates them to Ango, and waits to see the outcome. And what’s the outcome?

The ADA is losing, badly. 

Both of their plans for the Sky Casino failed.

Dazai’s plan to have Akutagawa and Atsushi fight together failed (ending with Akutagawa being turned into the first vampire that goes on to infect the Port Mafia) (seriously though, how is Fukuchi traveling with Bram’s coffin everywhere without standing out?).

The plan to make the plane from Europe turn around before it got to the airport failed.

Every day the ADA is running out of more time and is further backed into a corner.

In fact, the only real win the ADA have had so far was when Ranpo kidnapped and reunited the ADA members (something that was not one of Dazai’s plans, and was done without Ango being aware of it beforehand).

I think this thing with ‘One Order’ being sealed with an ability is Dazai’s last (and most direct) way to test Ango’s loyalty. The box containing ‘One Order’ was sealed using an ability, something that will be incredibly easy for Dazai to get rid of, but no one else. So, if we find out that somehow, Fyodor predicted Dazai would ask Ango to ask the government controlling ‘One Order’ to put a precaution like this in place, and has somehow figured out a way around this already, then Dazai will take that as his proof that Ango is communicating with Fyodor behind his back. Because that’s just too convenient for Fyodor.

BONUS!! - Something Random That Would Make Sense if Meursault is a Creation of the Book And Under Fyodor’s Control

Would explain why Fyodor was the only one to get salt for his meal (could be considered a luxury), while Dazai gets a raw egg with his meal (symbolizing their treatment by the prison and it’s staff, with Fyodor obviously being the favourite) 

(Alright I know I’m reaching so hard with this one, but honestly that scene was hilarious and I just really wanted to mention it.)

----------------------------------------------------------------

Okay, this post is way too long, so I’m cutting it here. Hopefully I explained all my points well enough. Basically, I’m in love with this series and every single thing about it. It’s all I think about nowadays and I can’t wait to see how this arc unfolds.

Feel free to talk to me about this theory or any others you have! I love theorizing about bsd so much.

All of the manga panels I used for this post were from fan translations, so thanks to Dazaiscans and everyone else who does fan translations!!

[xxxsoukokuxxx]

BSD Poe x short(4”11) female reader

Soulmate au

Fluff oneshot

Reader has the ability to turn into a black cat.

Black Cat in the Rue Morgue

Soulmate AU

Character: Poe x short fem!reader

Warnings: None

Notes: Thanks for requesting and for your patience. I haven't written a soulmate AU before so I actually did some research on it and hopefully it pays off. I hope that this is what you wanted and have a pleasant day/night!

The sun was now setting and dipped itself into Yokohama's waters letting it's light drip onto the water's surface. Book in hand, raccoon on his shoulders with a pen in the other hand Poe is lost in his thoughts. The outside world doesn't exist. There is nothing but the various ideas for his novel running through his head and softness of fur against the back of his neck and head.

He jots down a few things that he could elaborate on later. The room is dyed in the color of honey and wine as the fading warmth of the sunset creates a sense of comfort. The side of his face illuminated by the gentle golden color.

Karl suddenly jumps off his shoulders and Poe's startled. His eyes wide, 'How long has it been?' he takes in his surroundings and realizes it's already sunset and soon night will fall upon Yokohama.

Poe gets up, closes his book and stretches with a sickening cracking sound erupting from his back, indeed how long has it been? He looks down to where Karl is sitting on the floor and he reaches to ruffle the fur on his head before leaving the room.

He makes a cup of tea for himself once he's in the kitchen and stares out the window. The sleeve of his shirt slides up a bit as Poe tilts his cup to take a sip, a small scarlet mark of a feline like figure on the underside of his wrist becomes visible. It's always been there but he brushed it off, that was until he came across various articles, theories and fiction books about "soulmates". And he can't help but wonder 'Is there really someone out there who'd love me? Do I have a soulmate? Or is it just a meaningless mark?'

Sometimes he'd think it's preposterous while other times he'd genuinely love that idea. But he always blushes straight after, to imagine spending such intimate moments with someone, to hold their hand, to hold them, to share a meaningful smile...it's really a beautiful thought.

Poe sets his cup down on the counter before adjusting his coat and making his way to the front door of the spacious house and opens it. He peeks through the gap between the door frame and from where he's opened making sure there are no people out at the moment and he sighs a breath of relief. Stepping out into the quiet evening he takes a walk along a specific quiet and peaceful street he likes. Evening and night are the only times he'll ever make it outside the comfort of his home without having an anxiety attack.

As he walks down the pavement a rustling noise can be heard in an alleyway which he is just about to pass. He freezes and the hair on the back of his neck stands up. From the corner of his eye he sees a dark shadow on the floor approaching which makes him panic, "P-Please don't attack me or anything, I really don't have any valuables that you'd wa-" he cut off his sentence as he felt something rub against the bottom of his leg.

Immediately he drops to his knees and buries his face in his hands, "Okay, okay I'll surrender!" he yelps. "..." Nothing. He dares to turn his head towards his left and relief washes over him, a panic stricken face now softens, "Oh, silly me. Always panicking for no good reason." He now looks at a black cat which has it's head tilted to the side out of confusion.

It was the norm for you to roam around the city at night either because you couldn't sleep or you just liked the atmosphere. If someone happened to be walking by and you felt a curious sense of playfulness then you'd just go up and show them some cat-like affection. However, out of all the times you had done so this had never happened. "How cute." he muttered, snapping you out of your thoughts. He reached out to pet the spot atop your head.

'No wonder why cats like this.' was your thought. "I don't see any collar or anything signifying you belong to someone." he said aloud placing his forefinger on his chin. "I can't just leave you here alone, hmm and Karl would have a playmate if I took you back with me...oh but do raccoons and cats get along? They could possibly..." as he rambled on you wondered if this was a good time as any to scram or reveal that you're actually a human who has the ability to turn into a cat, specifically a black one.

You slowly backed away and he noticed. "Oh no don't be scared!" he reaches his hands out to you. Ah, he seemed like such a nice person, a gentle person. You couldn't just leave like that, now could you? A ribbon of grey spun around you with various kanji on it. A bright light flashed and Poe freezes with his hands which wanted to reach out to you. His eyes widen once he sees the sight in front of him and questions everything he knows. His mouth agape.

"Hi." you said shyly whilst dusting your attire. "...you..." he still kneeled on the ground, frozen. You felt nervous but thought that after what he just witnessed it'd be necessary to tell him about yourself. "Uhm, okay I know you think this is weird but there's this thing called abilities and my ability is to turn into a black cat..." you sped through your words while fiddling with your thumbs.

Now he understands. Of course he knows what abilities are. "Oh. Ah, don't worry I know what abilities are. I have one myself." he says standing up, now realizing just how short you are. You look up, "Wait, you do as well?" a certain spark of curiosity in your eyes, I guess having a cat ability allows you to have the same characteristics of a cat. His cheeks have a faint red color on them, you look cute when you're curious.

"Y-Yes, it's called Black Cat in the Rue Morgue." "What a coincidence." you giggle. He rubs the back of his neck and sighs contently, "Yes it is. It allows me to transport my readers into my books." "Oh, you're a writer!?" another spark of curiosity in your eyes. He internally smiled at your apparent excitement, "Yes I am. Ah! Excuse my rudeness, my name is Edgar Allan Poe but you can just call me Poe if you'd like."

A smile adorned your face and you introduced yourself too. "I'm sorry about startling you earlier, I promise you I'm no cat burglar." He blinks and after a moment you both laugh at the little pun made and the situation itself. "I don't think such an innocent looking being could ever do such a thing." he blushes as he says those words and you do too.

He takes a look at his surroundings and back at you. "W-Would you...like to uh join me for a stroll? I was planning on going t-to this cafe that's opened til late?" You look up and smile while silently thinking his stuttering is rather cute. "Sure." The walk there was peaceful and enjoyable, every three seconds he would glance at you and a lingering question would be on his mind but he brushes it off. He tries to get to know you despite his nervousness and he succeeds. Even if it's just the little things such as your favorite color, where you live, if you have any pets.

You both finally reached the cafe and took a seat, he was gentleman about pulling your seat out for you and such. The only part he dreaded was ordering, that anxiousness that would bubble up in his chest made his mouth go dry and he's at a loss for words. The barista comes about and asks if you'd both like to order anything, a simple coffee/latte was fine for you. Poe looked pale and tugged on the front of his shirt. You worried if he was okay but he eventually ordered something to drink off the menu and a sigh of relief escaped him once he was done talking.

"You okay?" His eyes widens as he finally looks up at you again, "Yes. Yeah I'm fine, no need to worry. I just..." he looks down again while rubbing the back of his neck, his hair falling over his eyes. "I'm just really shy if you could say that. Or perhaps i just have social anxiety." he let out a nervous chuckle while lifting his head to smile at you. A giggle escapes you, "I think it's cute." He's taken aback but only because he's not used to being complimented and his face turns red.

The orders are served and the barista bows and leaves again. A light-hearted conversation flitters between you two and Karl comes up somewhere in the conversation, Poe saying that he'd love to let you see him. You tilt your cup to take a sip of your drink and the sleeve of your shirt rides up a bit, revealing a portion of your wrist. Poe is taking a sip too and his eyes flutter over your figure.

His eyes widen once he catches sight of the scarlet mark on your wrist and he chokes. "A-Are you okay?" you put your cup down and panic slightly. "Y-Yes I'm fine." he replies adjusting himself.

"Can I ask you something?" curiosity now lacing his voice. "Sure, go ahead."

"Have you always had that red feline-like mark on your wrist?" You look at the mark and reply that it's always been there, indeed. "I think it's because of my ability but I'm not really sure. Perhaps it's a birthmark." He smiles. "Perhaps it is." Is this what he thinks it is? No...he couldn't possibly just jump to conclusions, but certainly what a coincidence it was. The exact same mark on both your wrists and a meeting like this? A beautiful coincidence it was.

"Why do you ask?" you tilt your head to the side much as you did when you were a cat. And if he didn't think you were any cuter now he'd be damned. "Oh no, just asking." he gives a closed eyes smile.

'Soulmates. How fascinating.' he thinks while smiling at you as you take another sip of your coffee/latte. His eyes wander again to the scarlet mark on your wrist.

And the plot thickens.

[theunknownnerdyfan]

Hello!~ This is my first real post on here ahaha lol I was wondering if any would want to rp BSD with me? Specifically Soukoku? 18+ ONLY PLEASE! As I am 24 and do like to rp NSFW if my rp partner is comfortable with it. I would like to be Chuuya! I am semi-lit to lit and respond relatively quickly. We can come up with a plot together if you'd like! I am open to most things with few execptions (i.e. rape, gore, torture, certain kinks, etc.) However, if we detail out a plot beforehand and it makes sense in the plot, I may be open to rping it. I would say my writing style is kinda like writing a fanfic through rping if that makes sense? Lol I will post an example of my rp style below and see if you vibe with it! I will also leave a link to fanfics I think really capture SKK as individuals and their dynamic to see if we are on the same page on how we view SKK as charaters and their relationship.

Fanfics:

It's Not Love by Gary Corbeau

( I think these ficlets are the best rep of SKK as characters and of their dynamic!)

To Chibi, With Love by illiterate_hermit_crab

the depth of the iceberg (hides the true depth under the water) by DeviBlue

Confessions of a Lie by afinepricklypear

I Was Screaming Your Name Through The Radio by ElectricSplatter

Attracted to you by LunaSolstice

Rp snippet:

Chuuya woke up with a shaky gasp, chest heaving as he panted to catch his breath. Damn, he hadn't had a nightmare like that in a very long time. Letting out an exasperated sigh once his breathing had calmed, he swung his legs over the side of his bed, not bothering to make it up just yet as he made his way to his bathroom. The redhead yawned as he reached for the toothbrush held within a cup on his sink counter, turning the water on long enough to wet it before turning it off. Chuuya then grabbed the toothpaste from the same cup and uncapped it before smearing some on his toothbrush then recapping the toothpaste before placing it back in the cup. He wetted his toothbrush one more time, making sure to turn the water off so it didn't run as he brushed his teeth. After he was done, he rinsed out his toothbrush before placing it back in the cup and gurggling some water to rinse his mouth out, making sure to shut the water off one last time. Chuuya grabbed a handtowel hanging on the towel rack on the all next to the sink to wipe his mouth before placing it back. The redhead then looked in the mirror at his hair before grabbing a brush and a hairband. He brushed out the tangles before placing it into a highpony. Afterall, this week was the Executive's week off for once. Chuuya was going to relax and enjoy it as much as possible. However, he had no idea of the events that were about to occur and the revelations that would aoon come to light. Just as he was thinking about how to unwind during his week off, the redhead heard his cellphone ring from its place on his nightstand in his bedroom. He let out disgruntled sigh as he marched toward the offending piece of techonolgy before picking up the phone and answering it.

"Alright, this had better be good or someone is getting a beating when I get back."

Across town, the boss of the Port Mafia, Mori Ougai let out a bored sigh. Things had been going smoothly for while, as smoothly as things could be going for the Port Mafia anyway. The dark haired man sat at his desk as he looked over paperwork of the past weeks dealings of the Port Mafia, which were nothing of note really, but as the boss he had to look over every piece of paperwork, no matter how boring. Mori soon got distracted however, as the news play in the background, gaining his interest. He had been keeping tabs on the ability user that had been causing trouble all over Yokohama. However, ever the optimal strategist, he only decided to keep tabs and not act until absolutely neccessary. Just then, a readhead wearing a hat with a red ribbon and a thin silver chain along with a pair of black gloves and a full piece black suit enter his office, looking angry and disgruntled.

"Why, Chuuya-kun, what brings you here? This week is your week off, is it not?"

Mori titled his head in curiosity, placing his elbows on his desk and interlacing his fingers in an contemplative manner. His subordinate was loyal, yes, but the redhead had earned this time off so his visit was unexpected to say the least. Mori had a gut feeling that things were about to get interesting.

"Tsk, Boss, I've got bad news. That little bastard ability user that's been runnin' around causing havoc seems to have targeted one of our port locations used for exportation to other countries."

The older man blinked in suprise at the news, rasing his eyebrows. Well, it seemed his gut feeling was right. Now, how would things play out?

"Oh? Who told you this? How long ago was the attack and why was I not informed first?"

Chuuya sighed as he approached Mori's desk. He reached into his coat pocket to pull out his cellphone, tapping on it before setting it on the desk and turning it towards his boss.

"One of the Black Lizard grunts who happened to be in the area when it happened called me. This is a picture of the note as proof it was the bastard ability user. They contacted me because most of the Black Lizard is still helping clean up the damage and checking or treating the wounded. They knew I could get here fastest. According to them, it happened about 15 minutes before I got the call. It seems it took that long for things to calm down enough for someone to inform anyone of higher rank."

The redheax explained with exaspiration. This was just not going to be his week, was it? Coincidently, the timing of the attack seems to have coincided with when the news stopped talking about said ability user, the older man noted in the back of his mind, so Chuuya's information checks out, as the news would have not heard of the attack until after they finished reporting on him.

"Hmm, I see. Most peculiar, that they choose now to strike on us. Well since they have finally laid an attack on us, I guess it can't be helped then. No more just keeping tabs on them now. Forgive me, Chuuya-kun. I need to make an important phone call. It shouldn't take long."

Mori sighed, closing his eyes and shaking his head. So it has come to this, has it? The dark haired man opens his eyes, reaches into his coat pocket, grabs his phone, and presses the button to call someone who might not even answer, but if Yokohama is to be rid of its latest pest wuickly, he will need the help of the person on the other line. He is rather delighted when the other person ends up picking up, even if his voice is full of hatred.

"Now, now, Dazai-kun. Is that any way to speak to your old employer? I'm calling due to a matter of great importance. It seems that this city's newest pest has decided to attack the Port Mafia. Now, I assume you understand I can't just let that slide, now can I? So with this truce we have in place and in order to ger rid of tjis oest as quickly as possible so that I am not made to use drastic measure to lure him out, I would like to propose that a team be formed between the ADA and the Port Mafia. I can send Chuuya-kun and a team of his choosing say, within the hour, to meet and discuss this latest threat. I assume that will be adaquate time to gather a team of ADA members of your choosing, yes?"

Mori smirks mirthfully at the distain of the young man on the other end. Ah yes, this situation will be interesting indeed. The redhead still residing in his office seems to think otherwise though, as he lets out an indignant shout at the words the older man spoke.

And that's it for my rp request! Thanks for reading and please message me if your interested!! Also, if you looked at the fics and you know of any more that are similar to the ones I listed, feel free to leave that rec in the comments! Thank you! :D

[gold-pavilion]

Hi! I was wondering what you think about the Tanizaki siblings, with all the theories out there, and what would happen to them if Junichiro ends up joining the Port Mafia after the DoA arc. I've been following your page for a while now and I love reading your content, especially your metas :))

Hey!! Ohhh thanks so much, man!!

It's probably a boring answer, but I really don't think anything too wild about the Tanizaki siblings, past what we canonly know. As two people with a family connection (how different their designs are makes me think half-siblings or stepsiblings or something like that, but it's anime, they could be regular siblings while not looking much like each other) engaged in an incestuous relationship, it makes sense that they're on their own and living in the ADA's dorms.

Most of the ADA was recruited from situations of vulnerability. It could be the same for them; having broken apart from their family due to the taboo they've committed, they ended up there, just fending for each other. BSD and the ADA are full of people in morally reprehensive ground trying to live and do good, so I generally take it that they're just two more, no super complex theories haha, just human drama.

As for Junichiro joining the PM...!! I've actually strongly considered him! 'Cause, see, I think he's one of the few who would volunteer for the role and be able carry it through for that time.

Junichiro has made it clear that he isn't tied strictly by morality (WE CAN SEE THAT, BABY). He wants to be on the side of good, of course, but if he does bad actions, he'll still be able to sleep at night just fine. The true measuring stick that can make him suffer is Naomi's peace and safety, which stands above morality and law in his perspective. Therefore if what's good for the ADA is that he does mafia work for a time (and Naomi is ok) he's able to do that. Knowing there are ADA members that would be put under tremendous anguish by being pushed to that scenario or wouldn't forgive themselves ever afterward, he may be more motivated to be the person to take that on. Plus, he's proven his ability is very versatile and his capacity for espionage, recon and assassination is clear.

HOWEVERRRRR being super real here, he's never been very plot-relevant, he's not a guy that gets put on the spotlight of the story, so I kinda doubt it'd happen? While Ranpo and Tanizaki would be great choices, I think Atsushi and Dazai's status as protagonists would make either of them be the choice. That's just what I see as more or least likely though, surprises can very much happen!!

[theteapotofdoom]

idk if it was my ask but a couple of days ago i asked for your top five bsd ships and i was on a bus and maybe it glitched bc of my poor connection!! sorry about that <3

OH WAIT this solves a big mystery actually! Must have typed an A instead of an S because a couple of days ago I received a very confusing message asking me for “my top 5 BAD ships” and I was very confused. But now everything makes sense!

As for my top 5 BSD ships, it can change a little based on my mood, but I’ll try to make it as accurate as I can! I already made a top 10 of my BSD ships a while ago, where I went in depth with why I like each ship. Here’s the link if you want to check it out! But I don’t mind doing another top 5 because it means that I have to be extra careful if I can only choose 5 ships out of the many that I like!

Also, I had to change my order of favourites a little here, because if I was to do A REAL top 5, it would almost only be Kunikida ships because he is my fave and I ship him with everyone XD

Kunikidazai: Easy winner honestly! It was the first ship that I fell in love with when I started watching BSD and I keep loving them more and more every day. I’m a little frustrated that they haven’t interacted in so long, but hopefully, we will get a proper reunion at some point in the manga. Their relationship is my favourite in the whole story, I love that Kunikida is actually one of the few people who regularly challenges Dazai and calls him out on his bullshit, and I love that Dazai keeps Kunikida in check in his own way. They’re a perfect balance of mutual trust and respect while also seeing through each other’s flaws. I like to think that they are each other’s anchors, Kunikida is Dazai’s guiding light to get out of the darkness, and Dazai is the hand always holding Kunikida back when he flies to close to the sun. Also, they are literally an old married couple, always bickering without ever actually hurting or disrespecting each other! Soulmates, I tell you.

Ranpoe: Honestly? I just think that they’re neat! I don’t have a very deep take on this ship, other than the fact that they have amazing chemistry and a wonderful dynamic and that I care about them a whole lot. Poe is actually one of my favourite BSD characters, and I think that he deserves a cute smart pretty boyfriend like Ranpo who will support him and kiss him a lot. This is the ship that I go to when I only want good vibes! They are both very dramatic and chaotic, and I love that Poe is actually sticking around and helping Ranpo with important plot things, we love a power couple <3

Chuuaku: So I already talked about these two recently, so I’m gonna try to not repeat myself too much. There are a lot of very cool parallels between the two of them, they are both two young man with an incredibly powerful and dangerous ability trapped inside of their body that makes them feel like they’re not human sometimes. They both got hurt by Dazai repeatedly and they both often feel like outsiders inside of their own organization. I would LOVE to see them having a proper conversation about all of this, I think that they could help each other a lot! They’re also just very cute, they are often paired together in official art, and Chuuya always seemed to be a little flirty with Aku and that’s some king shit right there!

Fukumori: I just ... love their vibe. I love the concept of these two old gays who have been breaking and getting back together again and again for the past twenty years. It’s hilarious to imagine that they’re always trying to keep it professional whenever they interact as president of the ADA and leader of port Mafia but personal stuff always comes through, you know? Like they be discussing a deal and they slowly start to make passive-aggressive comments like “oh yeah you would know about that, wouldn’t you, hmmm?” They’re just two bitter exes who will simply never be over each other and will always “accidentally” make out against a wall even after a third divorce. Good for them honestly. 

Odazai: In many ways, Odazai should be my number one BSD ship because this actually the canon relationship that I like the most, and I genuinely think that their relationship is the backbone of the entire story. The reason that it’s only number 5 is that, unlike the previous ships, I never consume any fan content for them because I am completely satisfied with how their relationship is in canon. It’s one of the rare pairings where I don’t want to expand on anything or fix anything, I think that they’re perfect as they are. I also kind of love them for the same reasons that I love Kunikidazai, Oda is one of the few people in the story who REALLy challenges Dazai and pushes him out of his comfort zone. To put it more simply, Oda and Kunikida are the characters that make me like Dazai (I have a VERY complicated relationship with Dazai as a character, but that’s a story for another time). Some ship works best as tragedies, and Odazai is definitely one of those ships. Also, even though Kunikidazai is my number one ship, I fully believe that Oda was the love of Dazai’s life and that even though Dazai can love other people again, he will NEVER love anyone the way that he loved Oda. 

So that was the top five! Except for Kunikidazai and Ranpoe as number one and two, the order can change depending on my mood. There are also many other ships that I love that couldn’t make it to this tope, but that would make it to a top 10 (like I did that other time!). Also, I’m not up to date on everything in the manga or in the novels, so I apologize if some of the things that I talked about feels out of touch with the story as a whole! This top is based on what I know of the story and on how I feel about it!

Okay you know how I talked about how my true top 5 would only be Kunikida ships? Well, as a bonus, here is my top 5 Kunikida ships under the cut! :D

Kunikidazai of course! Not much to say here, I already talked about them in the first list.

Kunioda: Kunikida and Oda have SO MUCH in common, and the fact that Asagiri refuses to acknowledge it is driving me insane. They both have a strong sense of morality and justice, they both care deeply for children, they both obey a very specific moral code of their own ... I just think they would get along and respect each other a lot. Also Beast AU gave me cute domestic Kunioda as partners and therefore it is the superior AU.

Kunifyo: SO YEAH if you’ve been following me for a while, this one isn’t a surprise. It’s criminally underrated because the BSD fandom has terrible taste, but they truly have it all. Opposites attract, Fyodor being unable to understand Kunikida and seeing him as a challenge, sun and moon imagery, unstoppable force meets unmovable object, the two of them out of their comfort zone ... with Fyodor becoming obsessed with this man that he sees as a beacon of light and righteousness and needing to destroy him for that while simultaneously genuinely falling for him LIKE PLEASE GUYS. KuniFyo has rights. 

Kunisano: I think that’s their ship name? I’m not sure! But yeah, Kunikida x Yosano is a very powerful ship. They have known each other for a very long time (Kunikida, Ranpo, and Yosano were the og trio after all!) and they completely trust and support each other. They’re implied to be drinking buddies, and it’s very cute to imagine that they have their special nights together where they just have fun and get drunk and gossip about everyone else in the agency (and maybe drunkenly make out who knows haha). Actually, I wrote a whole post of meta about them, so here is the link, just so I don’t repeat myself too much!

Kunida x Me because I love him and I want to kiss him.

[beneaththemasks]

Analyzing Atsushi and Akutagawa pt.1 (I have a lot to say so there's gonna be a part 2)

CW: Dazai hate

first of all I want to clarify that I don’t think any of this is going to happen but it’d be really nice if it did... however, since BSD is a fiction story and my analysis is based on what would be ideal in the real life I don’t think it’s too likely for this to happen.

I think Atsushi should leave the ADA and Akutagawa should leave the Port Mafia.

To begin with, I’d like to tell you how I came up with this idea; 

The thing is that in the BSD fandom there’s this (sadly too popular) discussion about Atsushi being a good, strong and entertaining main character or not. Many times I’ve seen people discussing this as if it was simply and wholy a matter of yes or no and the more the discussion grows the more angry I get (but i get angry too easily so don’t mind me).

In my opinion Atsushi is not weak, I actually don’t think any character in BSD is tbh (I mean they’d beat the shit out of me even if they don’t know how to fight because all ever do with my life is sit on my tiny piano and play my silly little mozart). But leaving the physical strenght aside, I still don’t think he’s a weak/strong or boring/entretaining character. I think the charm of Atsushi as a MC lies elsewhere.

Yes he’s pretty, he’s kind, he has an e-boy haircut and I’d let him step on me with those worn-out dirty boots.

But he’s also a common person living among prodigies and demons.

(Really, I feel like standing up and appaluding Asagiri for choosing Atsushi as the mc and writing him the way he did because there’s nothing that could make my shitty life better than knowing that the protagonist of my favourite story in the world is someone I can relate so much to that I actually ended up learning more about myself through him.)

And yes, we’ve seen this happen many times in countless stories (yes yes haikyuu for example) where the plot worked as good as any other even though the MC took longer than the rest to get to where they were but managed to do so in the end (unlike the typical shonen mc that levels-up overnight) plus what people mostly criticize about Atsushi as a MC are his constant war flashbacks and how much he self-doubts himself.

So I came to the conclusion that it's not really Atsushi and his journey as a MC but his unresolved trauma what seems to annoy the audience instead.

And that’s how I came up with a fiction-breaking answer to your problems; If you want Atsushi to stop suffering over and over again for the same things, he has to leave the ADA and get some real therapy.

(Don’t misunderstand me, even if I accept him and love him as he’s now, I’d still love it if this were the real final for him bc it hurts me to see him suffer all the time.)

Think about it, Atsushi is just a poor boy, abandoned by hell itself and thrown into the street in the worst conditions a human being could be just to end up running into a maniac manipulator with a good heart that offers him a roof over his head on the condition he accepts a job that Atsushi himself says doesn’t want and is too afraid to be a part of and that he tried to leave once but failed to do so and then felt too guilty to try again because he eats guilt and remorse with milk for breakfast so now he has no choice but risk his life, face his archenemy physical pain to beat his enemies and constantly fear that he might not be doing what’s right or being good enough while having a huge responsibility on his bare shoulders.

As it stands, his situation can only be explained by that famous saying “it’s not that you don’t want to grow/heal, it’s that the environment is not apt for you to do it”. Yeah, no wonder he hasn’t made any progress overnight and feels so hopeless at times.

I love everyone in the ADA (not you Dazai) and their found family made out of scraps and angsty love is all I ever whish for, but just because he’s finally found people to rely on that care about him doesn’t mean it’s enough to heal so much damage (suprise suprise your family and love won’t always be enough to heal trauma). Atsushi won’t overcome his fears by facing them head-on nor will he become more independent by fighting on his own (actually we all know he hates fighting alone and that’s because he’s not in a place where he can trust in himself yet) instead, it’s very likely he’ll end up pushing himself to the limit to get “stronger” faster and end up loosing sight of himself.

And here's where Akutagawa enters.

The reason why I also mention him is because Akutagawa for me is the perfect example of why Atsushi has to stop now before it’s too late. 

Akutagawa has been past the point of no return for a long time now, he’s fought so hard to get "better" faster for the sake of being recognised by Dazai that he stopped recognising what’s real and what’s not. Akutagawa is already strong enough and has everything he needs but can’t recognise it because he works in a place where the more and faster you kill the better you are, so even though he’s the most feared member of the PM he doesn’t believe it because he hasn’t heard Dazai saying it.

To me it makes perfect sense that Dazai insists so much on making them face each other, I mean, Atsushi has everything Akutagawa wants and Akutagawa has everything Atsushi wants and as long each they stay blinded by their own unrealistic expectations they’ll keep risking their lives for something they will never accomplish under those circumstances, it turns into a vicious cycle where Dazai seems to be the only one benefiting from this since he now has two UltraRare awakened subordinates to fight for the sake of his book or whatever he wants. (but don’t let me get too excited about this topic ‘cause I could talk about Dazai for 3 days)

Yes I know I know, it was a very good thing that Asagiri decided to break that toxic vicious cycle and made one of them think for both to finally make Atsushi challenge Akutagawa to stop killing for six months as a condition to fight with him (that's called GROWTH, breaking out of the cage, abandoning the nest, etc).

But unlike Atsushi, Akutagawa doesn’t have many people to rely on when the time all of his enemies show up -after mori has beaten the fuck out of him for not showing results and lowers his rank to the same Oda had- to make him pay (let’s be honest the mafia couldn’t care less about the errand boy).

Basically, Aku has to leave the Port Mafia in order to stay safe, gain perspective and find a reason to live of his own rather than sit and wait for dazai to approve of his every move (the same goes for Sushi, he has to stop throwing himself off of high buildings to save people and stopping bullets with his mouth to be validated by his peers). 

But yeah, Akutagawa is probably not going to leave the PM and Atsushi is probably not going to leave the ADA but as someone who really wants to see them doing some real growth and barely stands this “just forget your trauma and fight” thing that’s going on I had to say it.

I mean, look at Dazai, it was no untill Oda told him he clearly wasn’t going to find a purpose to live that he decided that mayyyyybe the PM was not a good place to try spiritual healing.

What’s more, I’d say almost every single character in BSD is too fucked up to be able to heal in the kind of environmet they work at and that they must have let the pain sink or whatever bc they jsut don’t want to change their lives but idk man that’s fine if it makes them happy. 

:)

[aks3raao1]

You know, there's a thing with characters that foil each other and serve as the "good" and "bad" respectively (Toga/Himiko, Tenko/Izuku, Nagito/Hajime, Ryoko/Hajime, Atsushi/Akutagawa) but that trope felt rather annoying to write, especially in the world I am trying to write about (ALTERNATIVE's world is basically MHA X BSD but like. 1000 times more fucked up and the Specialised are always prejudiced against. A terrible lot).

The title itself, ALTERNATIVE is to symbolise Romila's POV of "infinite choices and paths present for every being" and how she starts off the story with a decisive line of,

"Many people ask me if this could have been avoided. They beg for me to tell them that things could have been better. There are others too, who try to justify that this was the only way for things to have been. If you ask me, both are living in states of denial. One can't accept the stupidity of humanity for disregarding common sense for violence and prejudices. Another can't accept humanity's choice for having better circumstances if the one with the power chose to."

The thing is, the running theme is that the story is a bittersweet one, despite there not being many deaths of the main characters, but there was always a junction where you can see it could have been avoided, that there was an "alternative" for things to have gotten better, especially in the first book.

Another reason for the title is that it's basically an "ALTERNATIVE" to this world of ours, where super powers and stuff like those exist.

The subtitles of both the books (Myriad of Colours, Colour of Death) signifies Romila's power, "Aura Tracker" which lets her view people's aura as colours (Myriad of Colours is to signify the different kinds of people she meets, Colour of Death is about what affects her the most (death) and how she's constantly seeing that colour everywhere, especially now that it's war).

The thing about ALTERNATIVES is that Romila could have chosen to be a doormat (like Koldin tends to be at the beginning (his rp self is like THAT due to circumstances different to ALTERNATIVE's actual storyline. Also because Hack's a nicer person to be around than Romila is) in order to nOt hAvE cOnFliCt™) to not get into conflict and put up a super nice persona for people but she didn't. She decided to focus on hanging onto her reasons for doing what she does and using it to create a caustic personality to shield herself because she knows that she will regret being a doormat (Her Despair takes the form of Koldin Hopkins).

Now Koldin could have certainly put his hatred for society at the forefront and taken a caustic personality but instead chooses to be nice. Because he doesn't want to become as hurtful as the rest, that's how he wants to disentangle himself from society. However he, like Romila (who just took standing up for herself to extremes), takes this to the extremes causing him to gain the personality of a nice boy™.

However this also goes into why they made the choices they did (which is what Romila realises during the Mansion of Death arc), because for Romila, she didn't really have the psychology for actually becoming a doormat (because a) Her mom wouldn't have it b) She hated to be called weak c) She didn't have anyone to fall back to after the inevitable consequences of being a doormat d) She felt that if she were to live with monsters, then it's easier to blend in by being one (this comes useful to her when she infiltrates into the Government) e) She saw doormats getting suicidal which frightened her) or not becoming fully caustic (since her standing up for herself wasn't. Liked. By. Anyone. And seen as aggressive and she basically went, "Well if they see me as bad, I will show them BAD" which led to her breakdown causing the incidents at the Mansion Of Death (especially a twisted hatred against Koldin for extremely understandable reasons).

For Koldin, being meek and peaceful had let him get by in the streets and his skills to difuse fights had come in handy. Later when Dr. Hopkins took him in, he was well. A member of the Radicals who were known to be extremely merciless towards the Specialised (he had defected but Koldin had a REALLY good reason to be wary) so he figured if he stayed nice, he wouldn't be kicked out of the house and Dr. Hopkins being Dr. Hopkins just assumed that it was his normal and that behaviour carried into school. He figured that it was a horrifying thing to be aggressive and then saw how Romila got treated and decided that yep, he was right, that confirmed his world view alright and it was more reason to be super nice. While Romila saw Koldin as a person who everyone took advantage of (a thing she hated. To be exploited just like that) and went, yep that confirmed hers and it was more reason to be super angry.

However the thing is that, Romila was chided for being anything, which caused her to just give up to be peaceful (because what would she do? Anything she tried to do got her scolded) while Koldin (thankfully) found a support system. It really goes to show the difference a good friend can do.....

As it is, when I first began writing this, the most obvious choice presented itself to me. Koldin is the "hope" and Romila is the "despair" (on the protagonist, deutergonist side) but that seemed stupid and boring as it wouldn't make sense. Since I am trying to make a point of showing with how Romila's world view gradually changes from "there are wrong and right choices" to the fact that it doesn't have to be rigid and that *now* she wouldn't be hurt if she used what her vulnerable side wanted (a world free of prejudices and unnecessary cruelty) with the talents she had. That kindness mixed with her usual personality won't literally kill her.

And for Koldin, being a doormat means that he got taken advantage of a lot by different people and since he refused to actually stand up for himself ("Ah...aha......it seems that I can't..." "Can't what?" "Feel angry for myself......it's always anger that comes from the ones I love being hurt" "Then love yourself too, you will feel angry again" ~ Koldin's conversation with his inverted self in the Labyrinth) he got. Taken advantage of. By virtually everyone. However he decided that if being nice would keep him keep his self and his name self then it would be fine. He did not want to be the source of grief (his actual parents tossed him out because of his Specialisation). The Mansion Of Death actually causes him to snap for that reason, because Romila literally puts him in a torture dream "for the greater good" and then proceeds to kill his dear friend. One thing Koldin HATED. Killing friends. (Due to them being run over by a car, which led to his paralysed left arm)

Now on the other side, their respective friends:

Romila:

Luja: Cynical and annoyed by people's stupidity but not to caustic extents and she wants to be a scientist and isn't haunted by the possibility of dying.

Kratanos: Full of anger and hatred against the world but not entirely blinded by it and is focused to using that anger for reformation of the world (she becomes a therapist later, to help people)

They both have her caustic parts but they also let themselves embrace another side which makes them her "balance".

Koldin:

Anand: Believes that there's no requirement for violence unless it's absolutely necessary.

Karishma: Figures it's a better idea to just listen to rules but doesn't hesitate to break them if she sees that they are bs

They both have his peacefulness, but don't hesitate to do what they think they should do, which makes them his "balance".

The point is that, the case of choosing alternatives isn't possible with a tunnel vision. Even so, there are choices that literally can't be made due to the individual and circumstances. Sometimes the choice is to choose more than one choice. Well, that's one dramatic storyline......

It reminds me of DDLC side stories since everyone has a bit of the other person's solutions and more of a opposite personality (don't take this the wrong way, there are many stories like that and it's honestly a favourite to think abt but it's just that DDLC does it well especially since it's only a school environment). Tbh, I like dramatic storylines that rlly dig deep into a character's perspective (reasons why I'm in love with Hack and Axel in particular). My whole thing is that I'd rather read a story with interesting and in depth characters than one where only the plot is good so I say you made the great call of the century with Koldin and Romila's characters.

What you thought before getting into it is rlly how every great character arc starts. You focus on one, somewhat forget the other one until you review every single character for inspiration and then BAM! PARALLELS! It's really admirable how, even in this messed up world of specializations, you didn't purely focus on the plot bc it honestly sounds interesting enough to just stick around for Romila's life and journey. You could have ended it all with just that, but no, you smacked Koldin in there and said "be my interesting on par character that can kick Romila's gut" and IT WORKED SPECTACULARLY!!!

I really love ur writing and hoping to one day read (and maybe print out) every story you've ever written bc GODDAMNIT I NEED THE FEELING OF THOSE WORDS ON WORN PAPER WITH AN ARTISTIC COVER AND AN AMAZINGLY HEAVY WEIGHT

Aka, paperback. Bc that's how I like to roll and that's how good I think it is. 1000% worthy of a bestseller

[patchwork-panda]

“I won’t tell a soul” (BSD Nakahara Chuuya x Reader #3. Complete!)

“Title: “I won’t tell anybody”/“誰にも言わない”  Genre: Romance Rating: PG-13 for alcohol usage and mild violence/language and a kiss scene. /////>w<;; Reader-insert is written as femme and 20+ Plot: You meet Chuuya at a wine bar and over time, you become close. Your regular meetings become something you both enjoy so when Chuuya stops visiting for several weeks, you begin to worry... When you meet again, you learn the truth... But do you care? Mini Fic is written in 2nd person. title is reference to new Utada Hikaru single                 

CW: street harassment, physical violence

AKA Chuuya saves reader and you get a kiss/get together :3

AO3 link for full fic: HERE

Part 1 Here Part 2 Here                                        

It’s well past last call when you leave. 

You ended up staying until past closing and, perhaps out of a feeling of guilt, the mustachioed bartender decided not to kick you out.

Because his “feeling” had been wrong.

Chuuya hadn’t come.

The bartender had offered to call you a cab but you adamantly refused. You wanted a nice long walk in the cool night air, which would hopefully clear your senses a little. You don’t want to go to bed tonight thinking about Chuuya or you might just wake up crying.

Because this was the last night.

No more.

You needed to move on.

As you leave the bar, you see a group of men, a bunch of hoodlums by the look of it, gathered near the alleyway to your far right. One or two of them give you an appraising look (you wish your skirt were longer but you make no move to tug it down) and to your disgust, another whispers something into the ear of yet another of their companions, who suddenly leers at you.

Ugh.

You keep your eyes trained on the road ahead of you as you walk past them, hoping to get away with nothing more than a wolf whistle but alas, it is not to be. One of them, a man with a scar over his eye, calls out to you.

“Hey, hey you! Lady!”

You roll your eyes and ignore him. You hated running into creeps like this in the daytime as it was. Nighttime is so much worse.

Not to be deterred, he runs after you and stops and slows once he’s caught up.

“Haven’t we seen you before?” he asks, looking you up and down. You suddenly regret wearing heels. You don’t answer but he acts as if you have.

“Yeah, I remember you. You’re here at that bar every Friday, aren’t you? Always sitting there at the counter with that short fellow, the one with the fancy hat and the jacket draped over his shoulders. Chuuya-san, you called him, right?”

You keep walking and scowl when Chuuya’s name crosses his lips. Scum like this shouldn’t have the right to talk about Chuuya like that, much less exist in the same world as him. And how dare this man call Chuuya short when he wasn’t more than a few centimeters taller than either of you.

“Hey, Missy.”

He grabs your shoulder. His tone is suddenly menacing.

“I’m talking to you here.”

“Let go of me!” you snap, tearing your shoulder away.

You turn to walk in the opposite direction but his companions are blocking the way back. In fact, they’re blocking every possible escape route you have. You spin around in a circle, only to come face to face with the man who insists on speaking with you. He smiles and you curse.

“Shit...”

He raises his scarred eyebrow. He looks amused.

“There’s no need for language like that, Missy,” he says, his tone every bit as patronizing as it is threatening. “We just want to talk to you. You see, we’re looking for ‘Chuuya-san.’ Been looking for him, in fact, for a long, long time now and we’re hoping that you can maybe help us find him. You see, we owe him a favor...”

“Well, you’re talking to the wrong person,” you spit acidly, “I haven’t seen him for several months now and even if I wanted to help you find him--which I don’t--”

You voice cracks and you swallow heavily. You hate that you’ve become so upset but that’s what the mere mention of Chuuya’s name did to you tonight. You were really hoping the bartender was right and you were absolutely crushed when he wasn’t.

“I don’t even have his phone number.”

You throw your hands up into the air, as if to indicate that you’d given up. 

“So why don’t you just let me go home and we’ll forget that this whole conversation ever happened?”

The man looks at you. Stunned. Then he starts laughing.

As one, his crew starts laughing at you as well and you feel your cheeks flush in sudden rage and embarrassment.

“Look at that, she just ordered me around, didn’t she?” the man chortles, turning to his companions as if he’d just told a very funny joke. “A real spitfire, aren’t you? And a looker to boot! No wonder he spends so much time with you.”

He snaps his fingers and at once, two of his men come forward and seize you by the arms. You try to fight them off but their arms are twice as thick as yours and you’re still a little tipsy from the wine.

“Why don’t you come with us, little Missy? We’d like to have a chat with you.”

“Hey!” you snap, “Get your hands off me!”

“See, your friend, Chuuya-san,” the man says, a note of humor sneaking into his voice as he copies the way you say Chuuya’s name. “He and that pesky Port Mafia he works for... have been making things difficult for us smaller gangs in Yokohama.”

His eyes narrow.

“Unnecessarily so.”

They start dragging you away. Your efforts to fight back seem meaningless. Panic rises in your throat. You should’ve taken the bartender’s offer of hailing a cab.

“Hey! Hey!!”

You struggle and fight harder but it’s no use.

“And our boss gets the feeling they’re going to be a lot more willing to negotiate with us,” the man continues, following you as you’re pulled backwards by the arms. “If we have a proper bargaining chip.”

His lip curls into that disgusting leer.

“Especially that midget. Can’t wait to see his face after he sees you missing a few fingers.”

You stiffen. Your eyes narrow.

“You asshole...” you growl.

You shoot him a piercing glare.

How dare he talk about Chuuya--your Chuuya--like that. 

“Keep Chuuya’s name out of your fucking mouth,” you spit, “you piece of shit--”

He silences you with a slap across the face and you stumble. The men behind you keep holding you up. Your cheek stings.

“Stupid bitch.”

He laughs and the men laugh with him.

“We’ll see how brave you are after we cut you up.”

As you continue to struggle, they drag you into the alley.

Tears of helpless rage fill your eyes. This was stupid. You were stupid. You should’ve just stayed away like your coworker said.

Now these assholes were going to take you away, do who-knew-what to you, and because of your own foolishness, you would never get to see Chuuya again.

You bite your lip.

Chuuya...

You’re trying not to cry.

Help me...

Just then, a harsh voice cuts through the night. It’s quiet but it rings with authority.

And barely suppressed rage.

“Let go of her.”

You stop struggling immediately. You’d know that voice anywhere.

As one, you and the men gripping you by the arms turn to look down the alleyway, where you see a lone figure standing there at the very end of the street. He is a black shape outlined against the backdrop of the downtown streets, his dark clothes bathed in the harsh blue and red glow of signs made of neon lights. His face is in shadow, but...

The lone figure wears a fancy black hat and a jacket draped over both shoulders.

Chuuya.

“Chuuya-san...!”

Your breath hitches in your throat.

You want to say more. You want to call out to him, loud enough for him to actually hear but for some reason you cannot. Something’s wrong with him tonight. His very presence is unnerving and without knowing why, you begin to tremble.

“Well, look who’s here,” the man with the scar crows.

He takes a knife out of his pocket.

“Nakahara Chuuya. We’ve been looking for you. Come with us. Our boss needs to have a little talk with you. And if you don’t...”

He holds the knife at your throat. You hold your breath as it presses against your flesh.

“The Missy here gets it.”

Chuuya steps forward and out of the shadows and at once, you know why you’re suddenly afraid. You feel the men holding your arms falter.

There’s an odd red glow around Chuuya, around his entire outline. As he steps forward, his long black jacket begins to lift off his shoulders in an unseen wind, billowing around him like a cape. You think you hear something like a dull roar echoing throughout the alleyway and when Chuuya looks up, his gaze is fierce. His eyes burn like twin blue flames in the night.

This isn’t the same Chuuya who’d flirted with you at the bar.

This man is something else.

He continues towards you.

“Didn’t you hear me?” Chuuya snarls, his teeth bared.

When his foot hits the pavement, it cracks underfoot. Rubble rises into the air all around him, glowing red like the aura around Chuuya’s body.

“Get.”

Another step forward. The pavement breaks yet again. It’s as if Chuuya’s weight has increased threefold when he took that second step towards you.

“Your.”

The roaring sound grows louder. More rubble rises into the air.

“Filthy.”

Chuuya’s footsteps grow heavier. He’s now leaving craters in his wake. You don’t understand how it’s happening but the rubble is now orbiting around his body like the rings of a planet.

“Hands.”

The men loosen their hold on you but they haven’t let go. Chuuya sees this and his eyes seem to glow more fiercely in the dark. He looks utterly terrifying.

“Off.”

Chuuya grabs a handful of the rubble around him and draws his hand back. He steps into a pool of dim red light and his body looks like it’s bathed in blood.

“My woman.”

He takes out a stone, flips it into the air like a coin and flicks it with his thumb.

You don’t even see it move.

There’s just a brief whistling sound and a crack.

The arm of the scarred man--the arm holding a knife to your throat--explodes in a shower of blood. Some of it splatters the front of your dress. You’re so shocked, you don’t even scream.

The man next to you, however, does.

He lets out a howl of pain, clutching his ruined arm and dropping to the his knees, his knife clattering uselessly to the ground in front of you. He’s crying and screaming about his arm, blood gushing from the stump of his elbow and into the street. The puddle inches towards your shoes.

The men holding you drop your arms and tear off into the night--the entire crew goes running back towards the street, leaving you in the middle of the alleyway between them and Chuuya.

Chuuya’s bright blue eyes narrow and he repeats his earlier movement, flicking several more stones towards the men in the alleyway with deadly precision. One by one, the men drop to the ground, their screams cut short. The last one is quicker on his feet than his companions and is just about to round the corner when Chuuya crouches down and leaps into the air.

You watch in awe, turning to follow his movements as he soars over you, gracefully arcing through the sky, his body suddenly as light as a feather. The stones follow him, continuing to orbit around him in a ring like a miniature belt of asteroids. With one flick of his wrist, several rocket towards the man who’s almost made it into the street. You turn your face away as you hear the dull, wet squelching of the stones tearing through his body, splattering his organs on the nearby buildings and sidewalk.

The man next to you is still crying and clutching his arm. He rushes past you, desperate to escape.

You can’t see Chuuya, but you know where he is.

You start towards his location but within moments, he’s in the sky again. You whirl around to see him several paces behind you, standing before the man whose arm he destroyed.

He grabs the man by the throat and slams him against the wall. Cracks appear in the drywall behind his body. Miraculously, he doesn’t pass out.

“You tell your boss,” Chuuya hisses, his tone low and menacing, “that if you try this shit again, I’ll send what’s left of his cronies back to him in a fucking bento box.”

He slams the man against the wall again.

“If you’ve got business with me or with the Port Mafia, then it stays with us. You got that?”

The man nods, tears streaming down his face.

Chuuya lets go of him at last and he crumples to the ground in a heap.

Scowling, Chuuya turns to you at last, the glow in his blue eyes suddenly fading as the red-tinted aura around him dissipates. Behind him, the scarred man scrambles to his feet and scampers off into the night.

“Chuuya--” you start but he is in no mood to let you finish.

“You,” Chuuya growls, stalking forward. “What were you doing out here so late at night? Are you an idiot? Are you trying to get yourself killed?”

You’re stunned. After all this time, he’s angry?

“I came looking for you,” you protest, equally bewildered and hurt by the sheer anger in his voice. “I haven’t seen you in so long and--and you never gave me a single way to find you--Chuuya, I--”

“Why would you do that?!” he roars, slamming his fist against the wall.

No crater appears, but the drywall cracks.

Chuuya grits his teeth. He seems to have difficulty looking at you. He drops his gaze and the brim of his hat falls over his eyes, obscuring his face. Bits of drywall crumble down around his gloved hand. His fist is shaking.

“Why would you try to find me?” he asks, his voice hushed.

He’s asking you this? Why is he asking you this?

“Because...”

Your hands clench into fists when Chuuya does not not look up.

Fuck.

You bite your lip, hard, so that you don’t cry.

After all this time, he won’t even look at you? After everything you’ve been through? After all this??

“You really don’t get it?” you ask quietly, holding back those hot, bitter tears.

Chuuya doesn’t answer. Still doesn’t look up.

Why won’t he look at you?

It makes you angry. Angrier than you’ve been in years. You want to scream.

“You want to know why I came looking for you?” you ask bitterly.

Chuuya inclines his head slightly, which you take to be a nod. Pissed, you take a step towards him.

“It’s because I missed you, you fucking dumbass!”

Chuuya twitches violently.

He looks up, a mixture of shock and wonder clearly visible in the depths of his deep blue eyes. He looks mesmerized by you.

He’s not moving so you take another step towards him, suddenly feeling like you’re approaching a skittish alley cat. You hold out your hands when you speak.

“Don’t you understand, Chuuya-san? I wanted to see you. I wanted to see you so bad.”

You don’t care that he just maimed or even killed several people in front of you, that he has power beyond imagining and could turn his Gift on you if he so wished. He killed those men to save you.

To you, he was still Chuuya-san.

He was your Chuuya.

“I came looking for you... because you never even said goodbye. I didn’t have your phone number, or address. I don’t even know where you work or what your last name is. Chuuya, I had no way of contacting you.”

“That was the whole point,” Chuuya interrupts but you talk over him.

“So when I heard you might be here tonight,” you say, loud enough that he has to stop talking. “I had to come. I had to, you understand?”

Chuuya falls silent. His expression is contemplative, with an undercurrent of pain. His deep blue eyes are fully focused on you.

It was the same face he made the night he left the bar all those months ago.

“Chuuya-san...”

You swallow, ready to ask the question you’re afraid to hear the answer to.

“Didn’t you want to see me, too?”

But Chuuya doesn’t answer. Hot pinpricks sting your eyes. Shit. You’re going to cry.

“I see,” you say stiffly.

You gather your jacket more tightly about your body, preparing to leave.

“Sorry to have bothered you.”

You’re about to turn around and go when you see Chuuya’s fist tightening. With a start, you see his jaw tensing up. He’s gritting his teeth too. But he still doesn’t speak. You sigh.

“Goodbye,” you whisper. “Chuuya--”

“Wait.”

Chuuya rushes forward and before you can finish speaking, he’s gathered you in his arms in a fierce hug. His grip on you is so tight that you can hardly breathe.

“I did,” he whispers.

His voice is so small you can barely hear it.

“I wanted to see you too.”

“Chuuya-san...”

“The barkeep told me everything,” he growls. “He told me that you’ve been coming here almost every Friday night at our usual time. That you’ve been looking for me.”

He rests his chin on your shoulder and you reach up to comfort him. You gently pat his back.

“And waiting.”

“Chuuya-san.”

You swallow thickly.

“Tell me the truth. Why didn’t you want me looking for you? Are you...?”

You feel his arms around you tensing. He knows what you’re about to ask.

“Are you really with the Port Mafia?”

For a long, heavy moment, Chuuya doesn’t answer. But when he does, his voice sounds slightly hoarse.

“I am.”

As he speaks, you can feel his grip around you tightening, his arms wrapping more securely around your shoulders and waist, as if letting go of you would mean letting go of you for good.

“Chuuya-san...” 

Your fingers slowly curl into fists against his chest and the expensive fabric of his jacket wrinkles beneath your touch.

“My full name is Nakahara Chuuya,” he whispers against your hair. “And I’m not just any member of the Port Mafia. I’m one of the executives.”

Involuntarily, you stiffen and the instant he feels your fingers twitch against his chest, Chuuya groans.

“I knew this would happen. I knew it would. Fuck.”

His arms loosen and unfold from around you. He’s pulling away.

But before he can, you reach out.

“Wait, Chuuya! Don’t go!”

You grab fistfuls of his jacket and pull on it to stop him from leaving. You bury your face in his shoulder and he stops short. You feel his sharp intake of breath.

“Please,” you whisper. “Don’t leave again.”

“H-hey...”

Chuuya’s voice is flustered and unsteady. But he doesn’t move away.

“I kept thinking about it, you know...” you mumble, closing your eyes as you feel Chuuya’s black-gloved hand smoothing down your hair.

“About the way you look when you’re sitting there at the bar with me. The way you laugh when we talk. The way you look at me when we’re together. You were wonderful. Chuuya-san... You’re not a bad person, I know you’re not.”

“But I’m not a good guy,” Chuuya insists.

He drops his hand. Now he’s just standing there as you continue to cling to him. You lift your head and look right into his eyes, which widen in sudden surprise.

“I don’t care whether Chuuya-san is a good guy or a bad guy!” you exclaim. “All I know is... I’ve never seen anything as beautiful as your smile.”

Chuuya stiffens. You can barely feel him breathing.

“You...” he starts, and the emotion in his voice is enough to bring tears to your eyes. “You really think that?”

You nod vigorously.

“Yes. Yes, I do. I think about you all the time... Chuuya.”

I care about you...

He wraps his arms around you and, wordlessly, you do the same. For a moment, you just stand there together, locked in a silent embrace in the middle of this dark, bloodstained alleyway. You nestle your face against the crook of his neck, breathing him in. He smells like the subtle musk and spice of an expensive cologne, like roses and gun smoke and something more, something uniquely Chuuya...

Finally he speaks.

“I can’t leave the Port Mafia, you know,” he says in an undertone, his fingers stroking through your hair.

“I know.”

In response, you hold him tighter. There’s a subtle wrenching in your gut, but you won’t let go.

“I’m not asking you to. It’s fine.”

“This isn’t going to be the last time this happens,” Chuuya protests, “You could get hurt.”

“I said it’s okay,” you insist. “Just...”

You swallow with some difficulty. You know what you’re asking and you know how selfish it is... but you can’t let go of him.

“Just let me stay by your side.”

You press yourself further into him. His body is warm, still humming with some kind of energy, but beneath that well-fitted vest, you can feel his heart beating against yours.

“Please.”

Time passes. You stay like this for what feels like hours but you aren’t willing to let go. Neither, it seems, is Chuuya. Finally, he sighs.

“I knew you were special from the moment I laid eyes on you,” he says, a hint of a chuckle in his voice. You can feel the low rumble of his silent laughter travel through his compact frame and despite your worry, you feel better.

“I just didn’t realize,” Chuuya murmurs, “that ‘special’ meant ‘crazy.’“

“If I’m crazy,” you laugh, “then it’s only because I’ve gone crazy for you.”

The words are out of your mouth before you even realize what you’ve said and upon hearing you, Chuuya lets out a bark of a laugh.

“You,” he cackles, “you really are something, you know that?”

His laughter fading, Chuuya loosens his hold on you. He lets you pull back just enough so that he can see your face but not enough that you can move out of his arms--not that you want to. Even in the dim lighting in this dingy alleyway, Chuuya looks so beautiful up close. His deep blue eyes gleam brightly as they stare into yours and without thinking about it, you lean in and press a quick kiss to his lips.

And then Chuuya smiles. Really smiles.

His grin is toothy and somewhat lopsided with obvious delight, and yet, his expression still doesn’t lose any of that cool, self-assured energy you’ve come to associate with Chuuya and only Chuuya.

You smile back. Your body grows warm.

Yes. This is the smile you wanted to see. The smile you’d missed so much for the last few months that it nearly killed you to think that you might not see it again. But right now, Chuuya’s smile is different. Good different.

You don’t think you’ve ever seen him looking quite so happy before.

“Chuuya...”

Wordlessly, you wrap your arms around his shoulders as one of his hands slides down to your waist. Chuuya places two black-gloved fingers beneath your chin and tilts your face towards his.

“Makes sense that you would be something special,” he whispers, his breath warm against your lips. “You are mine, after all.”

You close your eyes and the distance between you disappears. Chuuya’s lips are soft and sweet as they move against yours and you feel your breath hitch in your throat as his tongue ghosts over your upper lip. He feels so good and you cling to him as he deepens the kiss, pressing your body to his so tightly, you half wonder if you might be crushed by his strength.

But you like it.

You like the feel of his arms around your body, the way he grips you so tightly that his fingers dimple your flesh, the way he tastes--no wine could ever be as intoxicating as the man called Nakahara Chuuya...

When you come up for air at last, you’re both breathless.

”Wow,” Chuuya breathes, sounding just as dazed as you feel, “You’re... You’re a really good kisser...”

“So are you,” is all you manage to gasp before he dives back in for more.

As the moon rises high in the sky above you, you part at last, flushed and giddy and dizzy with joy. Chuuya takes your hand and leads you out of the alleyway, back to the bar you thought was closed.

He raps on the door with one black-gloved hand, the other tightly gripping yours, and turns back to shoot you that signature cocky grin when that same mustachioed bartender opens the door at last.

“I think it’s time we call you that cab,” Chuuya laughs as he pulls you inside the warmth of the empty room. “But I’ll meet you here again tomorrow, okay? Same time as usual.”

You nod. You’re smiling so hard it almost hurts but you’re just so happy...!

“It’s a date,” you say, to which Chuuya’s grin grows only wider. “So don’t go blowing me off this time.”

Laughing, he tugs you back towards him and presses another kiss to your lips, his grin returning as soon as he pulls away. His blue eyes shine like a bright, cloudless sky.

“Don’t worry,” he whispers, holding you close. “I’m not going anywhere.”