The crosswalk filled with the usual afternoon rush — heels clicking, bags swaying, people brushing past each other in a hurry. Dazai stepped into the flow without a care, eyes wandering upward toward the passing clouds instead of watching where he placed his feet.

Which is exactly why he walked straight into someone.

The collision knocked him off balance instantly. “Ah—!”

He went down, landing on the pavement with a soft thud. His coat pooled around him as he blinked up in a dazed confusion, as if trying to understand what reality had just thrown at him.

And then he looked up.

Everything in him stopped.

He didn’t breathe for a second. Didn’t blink. Didn’t even try to get up.

His eyes widened slightly, surprise melting into something warmer, almost awestruck, and the faintest blush appeared at the tips of his ears.

“…Oh,” he whispered, like the single syllable had been pulled right out of him.

Someone behind him muttered for him to move, but Dazai didn’t react; he just shifted a bit to avoid getting stepped on, still seated on the ground, gaze locked on you with stunned fascination.

He finally exhaled a shaky laugh, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, eyes darting away, then back to you almost immediately.

“I… wow. I promise I don’t usually end up on the ground this easily.”