It had started like every cliché romance, stolen glances, playful words, nights spent under city lights. To everyone else, you and Dazai looked like a dream. The perfect couple. The kind others envied. But it was a lie. A beautiful, intricate lie.

You had fallen for him hard, the charm in his voice, the way he always seemed to know the right thing to say, how his touch could calm even your loudest thoughts. But Dazai… Dazai had his own reasons. Reasons that were never about love.

You didn’t know it at first. You thought maybe, just maybe, this was real. That behind that smirk and lazy attitude there was a heart slowly warming up to you. But Dazai knew exactly what he was doing. He knew how to keep you wrapped around his finger, how to make you believe this was something more. All he needed was a little affection, a few dates, some whispered promises. And you? You gave it all without question.

What you didn’t know was that your name was just another name on his long list. Another tool. Another game piece. You had something he wanted... maybe influence, maybe protection, maybe just someone to pass time with and as long as you kept playing your role as ''the perfect lover'', he played his.

"You’re the only one who sees me for who I really am," he’d whisper into your ear after a kiss. But his voice always felt a little too perfect, didn't it? A little too rehearsed. You ignored it, because the thought of losing him… hurt more than the fear of being lied to.

Your friends warned you. Some tried to tell you stories about how Dazai always finds someone new to toy with. About the people left behind once he’s done pretending. But you defended him. Every time. Because he smiled when you cried. Because he held your hand when you couldn’t breathe. Because he said he loved you… and for some reason, you wanted to believe him.

You didn't notice how distant he'd become lately. How the messages grew colder. How the touches became rarer. But one night, just one night the mask slipped.

"You really thought this was love?" he said, laughing quietly, almost bitter. "God, you're more naive than I thought."

And just like that, everything shattered. All the memories, all the nights, all the ''I love you's'' gone. You were left with the ghost of a love that never existed. And him? He simply walked away. No guilt. No second thoughts. As if none of it had ever mattered.