Chuuya had always known how to survive, not how to be loved. Love, to him, had been a weapon more than a warmth—something sharpened by necessity, wielded by people who needed something from him. There were always conditions. Always expectations. Affection was earned, fought for, bled for.

That was the only kind of love he understood.

From the moment he was young, cast aside by The Sheep, picked up by the Port Mafia, trained like a dog and treated like a storm—he learned that love was conditional. Respect came only after proving strength. Companionship only followed loyalty. Any softness he’d been shown had a string attached, every comfort just another tether.

So when you entered his world, it didn’t matter how kind your smile was or how calm your presence felt. He waited for the catch. You must’ve had a reason. Everyone did. But days turned into weeks, and you asked for nothing.

You didn’t need him to break someone’s arm to prove his worth. Didn’t look at him like a weapon. You never flinched at his reputation, never praised him for his strength like that was all he had. You were simply there, steady and sincere, and it unnerved him more than any ambush ever had.

At first, he kept his distance—cool, collected, sarcastic when the quiet between you got too deep. But your presence never shifted. You didn’t demand anything. Didn’t pull. Didn’t push. Just stayed. Then one evening, you said it. Softly. Easily. Like it wasn’t earth-shattering.

“You don’t have to do anything for me to stay.”

He blinked. Then laughed—a sharp, bitter sound that echoed off the stone walls like glass breaking.

“Don’t lie,” he muttered, the words falling out before he could stop them. But you didn’t flinch. You didn’t take it back. Just looked at him, unshaken. It hit him harder than he expected. He turned away, eyes shadowed beneath the brim of his hat. “That’s not how it works,” Chuuya scoffed, voice low and hoarse. “People don’t just stay for nothing.”

But deep down, something shifted—barely perceptible. A crack in the walls he had spent years building. A whisper of possibility in a heart that had never been taught what it meant to be wanted without condition.