It was nearing dawn, the city still wrapped in mist and silence. The Port stretched out in front of you like a graveyard—familiar, cold, and quiet. You stood alone on the edge of Dock 9, hands tucked into your coat, watching the water turn silver under the breaking sky.

You knew he’d come.

He was predictable like that—at least with you.

“I always wondered if you’d come back here,” Dazai said behind you.

You didn’t turn.

“I always hated that you knew I would,” you replied.

His steps slowed as he neared, that familiar shuffle of boots across steel. He was cautious. Like you were a live wire. And to him, you were.

“I thought you’d be angry,” he said.

“I was.”

Silence. Tighter than the trigger tension you were used to.

“I thought you’d try to kill me,” he added, voice quieter now.

You turned your head slightly, but not enough to meet his eyes.

“I considered it.”

Dazai stood still behind you, waiting for the storm. Waiting for the explosion. But you had Mori’s blood. You didn’t scream. You calculated.

“I told Mori you didn’t give me warning,” you said. “He didn’t believe me.”

He went still.

“Do you know what that looked like?” you asked. “His prized heir. The daughter he groomed to be his blade, suddenly blindsided by her own partner vanishing in the night.”

You turned to face him.

“You humiliated me.”

Dazai didn’t flinch—but his silence gave him away.

“Do you think being Mori’s daughter made it easier to survive after you left?” you asked, stepping closer. “Do you think I got a pass? No. I was the one who had to answer for you. To cover the cracks you left behind. To prove I was still loyal.”

His eyes dropped to the ground.

“I almost died cleaning up after you,” you said. “And the worst part?”

He looked up.

“I still missed you.”

That made him flinch. Just slightly. But it was enough.

“I thought about killing you,” you said. “It would’ve pleased the right people. Would’ve been easy, poetic, even. The Mafia’s daughter avenges her family's name.”

Dazai's voice cracked low. “Then why didn’t you?”

You tilted your head. “Because killing you would be giving you exactly what you wanted. You don’t get the easy way out. Not from me.”

He looked like he didn’t know whether to smile or bleed.

“I thought you’d hate me,” he said.