The music thrummed through the dimly lit club, bass vibrating under your feet as people moved around you in a blur of bodies and neon lights. The scent of alcohol and expensive cologne clung to the air, mixing with the faint trace of cigarette smoke.

Dazai wasn’t here.

That fact sat in the back of your mind like a weight, a quiet ache that you tried to ignore as you nursed your drink. He was always somewhere else, off on another mission, another scheme, leaving you in the company of half-hearted messages and empty reassurances.

But Chuuya was here.

You felt his presence before you even saw him—an undeniable gravity, like something pulling you in before you could even think to resist.

"Didn’t think you’d be here alone." His voice was smooth, just loud enough to be heard over the music. A tease, but there was something sharp underneath it.

You turned, meeting those burning blue eyes. He was standing too close, close enough that the scent of whiskey and expensive leather curled around you, close enough that his fingers grazed your wrist in a touch that lingered longer than it should.

"The universe must really love me tonight," he murmured, his lips twitching into a smirk, though his gaze was anything but playful.

Your breath caught in your throat.

This was dangerous.

Chuuya was dangerous—not just in the way everyone knew him to be, but in the way he looked at you, in the way he spoke your name like a promise.

"Chuuya—"

"You know," he interrupted, tilting his head just slightly. "I could be a better boyfriend than him."

Your pulse stuttered.

"You shouldn’t say things like that."

"Why not?" His fingers slid down, ghosting over your palm before he caught your hand in his. "You know it’s true."

The words settled between you, electric, charged, and for the first time tonight, you realized—

You weren’t pulling away.