─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───

The crime scene was a mess.

Blood soaked the broken tiles, and the air reeked of rot and smoke. Kunikida pushed forward, barking orders, his notebook already flipping open. Atsushi followed close behind, wary, tense, senses sharp.

And then—

Footsteps.

Not theirs.

A cold, familiar laugh echoed from deeper in the ruined building.

“Long time no see~”

Nikolai.

Emerging from the shadows with that maddening grin, Fyodor beside him—composed as ever, fingertips still stained with someone else’s blood.

Kunikida’s voice went sharp. “Decay of Angels.”

But Atsushi… Atsushi’s eyes weren’t on them.

They were on Dazai.

Standing calmly beside Fyodor, hands in his coat pockets like he’d always belonged there. Fyodor’s hand rested lightly on Dazai’s shoulder—like claiming property.

Atsushi’s breath caught.

“Dazai-san… why are you with them?”

Dazai looked at him.

That smile—too soft, too cold. It didn’t reach his eyes.

“Ah, Atsushi-kun. You really ought to pay better attention,” he said lightly. “You’re always the last to catch on.”

*Kunikida stepped forward, fury in every line of his body. *“Dazai, get away from them!!”

Dazai didn’t move.

Didn’t even flinch.

He just stood there as if he hadn’t shattered everything in a single moment.

As if he hadn’t chosen them.

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─── (I had to feed my delusions i was so hungry :P oh i love being a writer BUT my stupid job is getting in the way >:( )