067

A/N: The most unexpected person wished me a happy birthday today. I didn't even know she knew my birth date. We're not even that close. Now I feel bad for not knowing their birth date. 😭

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You and Chuuya stumbled out into the night air, your shoes crunching against the gravel of the narrow side alley.

The late hour painted the streets in deep blue shadows, the distant echo of the harbor waves rolling like a restless sigh.

You inhaled deeply, savoring the cold slap of the sea breeze against your flushed cheeks.

Chuuya’s grip on your wrist was ironclad, but not painful — almost as if he was afraid you might vanish if he loosened even slightly.

You watched the way the moonlight played against the red strands of his hair, how the faint sheen of sweat at his temple caught the glow like a thin blade of light.

You tilted your head slightly, studying him like an exotic animal at a zoo.

"Ah... Chuuya-kun," you breathed out, your voice low, lilting with amusement.

"Dragging me away into the dark like this... are you finally going to confess your hidden desires to me?"

You let your free hand drift dramatically to your chest, fingers splaying against the dark fabric of your coat.

"My, what would the others say? To be alone in such a secluded place with me... isn’t this scandalous?"

Chuuya’s brow twitched, the vein near his temple pulsing.

His sharp blue eyes flicked to you, then away again, as though looking directly at you might burn him alive.

He kept walking, yanking you along with determined strides.

His coat billowed around his ankles, and you wondered idly if he had chosen this alleyway for its theatrical potential.

You giggled softly, letting the sound drift between the buildings like a stray cat. "Are you... are you trying to seduce me?"

You leaned in closer, your breath brushing against the shell of his ear. "I should warn you — I’m saving myself for marriage. Doing something so... unspeakable before then would be quite the scandal."

Chuuya stopped dead in his tracks.

The tension in his shoulders rose like a sudden storm, and he turned his head slowly, his eyes a bright, burning slash against the dark.

"Cut it out," he said, his voice low but sharp enough to cleave through your words like a sword through silk.

A small, throbbing irk mark pulsed at his cheek, a cartoonish yet deadly serious warning.

You let out a small, wounded gasp, your lips curving up despite the sound. "Ah! Rejected so harshly... You wound me, Chuuya."

You tilted your head, your hair falling into your face as you gave him an exaggerated pout. "But... I suppose that's what makes you so... fun."

Chuuya exhaled, shoulders slumping slightly. He released your wrist finally, stepping back as if your skin burned his fingers.

"I’m not playing your damn games tonight," he muttered, raking a hand through his hair. "Not after that circus back there. You... you piss me off, you know that?"

You watched him with bright, keen eyes, your fingertips ghosting along your own wrist where he'd held you. "Piss you off? That’s a rather unrefined way to express affection. You know, if you keep looking at me like that, I might think you actually care."

His gaze snapped to yours again, fire and ocean waves crashing all at once. "Stop twisting my words," he snarled. "You think you’re so clever, don’t you? Playing with everyone’s heads like they’re cheap toys from a festival stand."

Your smile softened slightly, though it didn’t reach your eyes. "Clever? Perhaps. But it’s so lonely being clever. Don’t you think so too?"

Chuuya froze. For a second, you thought he might speak, but he just stared at you, his jaw working soundlessly.

The distant echo of a ship’s horn bled into the silence between you, and the city felt suddenly very far away.

You took a step closer, invading his space again with the ease of someone who had never known boundaries.

You tilted your head up, your breath frosting in the moonlight. "Do you know why I follow you, Chuuya? Why I... cling to you?"

He didn’t answer. His eyes darted over your face, catching on your lips, your lashes, the soft curve of your jaw.

You watched him watch you, the tremor in his shoulders betraying him.

"I want to see," you whispered, so softly it almost wasn’t there. "I want to see if you can make me feel something real. Something... untainted by manipulation or design. Something pure but also human."

Chuuya’s breath caught. His fingers flexed at his sides, fists clenching and unclenching.

"You... I'm not the person you're searching for if that's what you want to feel," he said finally, but his voice cracked at the edges, betraying something closer to pity — or perhaps understanding.

You smiled again, that same delicate curve that never quite reached your eyes. "You're too insecure, Chuuya."

A sharp wind kicked up, tugging at your coat, whipping your hair around your face.

Chuuya watched as you lifted a hand to push the strands away, your movements slow and deliberate, as though you were performing for an audience only you could see.

"I’m not your experiment," Chuuya said suddenly, the words spilling out of him like blood from a reopened wound. "I’m not one of your test subjects, your toys, your... whatever you think I am."

Your gaze softened again, and for the briefest moment, something warm flickered in the depths of your eyes. "I know," you murmured. "That’s exactly why I chose you."

Chuuya’s eyes widened, the fight draining from his posture. He looked at you as though seeing you for the first time, his breath ragged in the cold air.

"You’re... you’re serious," he whispered.

"Always," you replied, your smile ghosting away as quickly as it came. "That’s the cruelest part, isn’t it?"

He looked away sharply, staring at the ground as though it might offer him an escape.

His shoulders shook once, twice, before he let out a strangled laugh. "You’re a real piece of work," he muttered, but there was no venom left in his voice.

You tilted your head again, your eyes glinting under the moonlight. "And yet you’re still here. Why?"

Chuuya hesitated, his fingers twitching as though they wanted to reach for you — and perhaps, in another universe, they might have. Instead, he shoved them into his pockets, his nails digging into the fabric.

"Because..." He swallowed hard. "Because someone has to make sure you don’t destroy yourself."

Your smile returned, small and broken at the edges. "How gallant. Like a knight from an old fairy tale. Do you think you can save me, Chuuya?"

He didn’t answer. Instead, he turned on his heel and started walking, his boots loud against the alley stones.

You stood still for a moment, watching his back, the broad line of his shoulders, the stiff set of his neck.

Then you followed, your steps quiet as a ghost.

"Ne, Chuuya," you called softly. "Do you think if we stay out here long enough, we’ll disappear? Just fade into the fog and never have to return?"

He didn’t turn around. "Shut up and keep walking," he called back, his voice rough with something you didn’t want to name.

You laughed quietly, the sound curling around the buildings like smoke.

You quickened your pace, closing the gap between you, your steps falling in time with his.

You didn’t reach for him again. Instead, you simply walked beside him, your presence heavy and electric.

The city lights flickered distantly, and somewhere in the shadows, a cat yowled.

You glanced at Chuuya, and he glanced at you, your eyes meeting in the dark.

And for a moment — just a moment — it felt almost human.

Ring ring—

"Yes?"

"L-L/N-san! Kyusaku— Kyusaku has escaped from their cell!"