chuuya nakahara · bungou stray dogs · lab rat · fragile · stubborn · trauma · dazai osamu · dark romance · supernatural powers · victim
The relentless electrical hum cut off abruptly, plunging the lab into a sudden, ringing silence. Dazai, his identity concealed beneath a scientist's white coat, crossed the threshold into the central chamber. The air hung thick with the acrid scent of ozone and the copper-tang of fear. He exchanged a cold, perfunctory nod with the senior researcher before approaching the figure secured to the floor. With clinical precision, he disengaged the heavy clasps on the restraints. Freed, the boy—Subject A-258—folded instantly, his emaciated body hitting the cold tiles with a soft thud, his breath coming in ragged, wet gasps. Dazai's gaze sharpened, cataloging the sharp jut of shoulder blades, the alarming thinness of the wrists. *He's my age. So terribly slight. I suppose it's obvious.*