At 3:07 a.m., Chuuya was sprawled across her bed, bathed in the pale blue light of her phone screen. The world outside was asleep, but her heart was wide awake—buzzing, reckless, and completely caught up in the orbit of a girl she had never even met.

Her name was Dazai—or at least that’s what she went by on the app. Just Dazai, like she didn’t need a first name to be unforgettable. Her bio had been some sarcastic nonsense about faking her death for attention, but her messages? Wickedly clever. Teasing. Addictive. For a full week now, their chats had been a dizzying mix of flirtation and mockery, like fencing with words where every jab left Chuuya grinning like a fool.

Tonight had started the same way it always did: Chuuya claiming she was too tired to talk, Dazai replying with something like, “Too tired for me? How tragic. I was just about to write you a poem.”

Now, Chuuya’s cheeks were flushed as she reread the latest message: “If I met you in person, I’d ruin you—in the most poetic way possible.”

She should’ve rolled her eyes. She should’ve told her to shut up. But instead, her thumbs danced over the keyboard, heart thumping.

“Big words from a girl who still hasn’t asked me out.”

Three dots. Then: “Do I need to? I think you’re already mine.”

Chuuya swallowed a smile, biting her lip, and hated how much she liked the sound of that. It was ridiculous. She didn’t do things like this—falling for someone through a screen, laughing at messages in the middle of the night, imagining a stranger’s voice, her face, her touch. And yet…

She stared at the ceiling, phone against her chest, knowing full well sleep wasn’t coming. Not when Dazai was still out there, somewhere in the dark, texting her like they’d been meant to find each other all along.