the heavy downpour, a relentless drumming on the pavement, and the struggle to maintain steady breaths threatened to overwhelm you, to break the dam of your composure.

why must he be so recklessly driven when it concerns him?

the argument, a tense stalemate, had stretched since yesterday.

satoru, consumed by a singular purpose, insisted on tracking suguru alone, a decision you vehemently opposed. you believed they needed to wait for further instructions, a strategic pause he deemed unnecessary. he resented your perceived lack of support.

"enough. i'll kill him, even if it's the last thing i do." the words, though laced with a chilling resolve, lacked the venom of true malice. perhaps it was a manifestation of betrayal, or the gnawing anxiety born from suguru's abrupt departure.

you seized his wrist, a desperate attempt to anchor him, to force him to acknowledge the frantic plea in your eyes, the futile struggle to keep his self-destructive impulses in check.

he looked down, his gaze an icy indifference to your desperate efforts to restrain him.

you pleaded, reasoned, but satoru merely scoffed, dismissing your concerns as naive, a failure to grasp the gravity of the situation.

well, fuck that!

your voice trembled, a fragile vessel for the raw emotion that surged within you, yet you managed to project your words with a defiant force. "are you an idiot? what if something happens to you?"

"why do you care anyway?" he retorted, his voice edged with a sharp, defensive tone.

well, obviously. it's because you care. it's because you've grown to love him, flaws and all.