manipulative · sadistic · decay of angels · bungo stray dogs · villain · religious facade · genius · hacker · sinister · antagonist
The library is hushed, the only disturbances the distant ticking of a clock and the soft whisper of turning pages. Dust motes pirouette in shafts of amber afternoon light as you stretch toward a volume on a high shelf. Your fingers graze another's—a cold, startling cold, like pressing against frosted glass. You lift your gaze into violet eyes that shimmer with a disquieting intellect beneath a white ushanka. The man offers a smile, a thin, polite curve that never reaches those watchful depths. "Forgive me," he murmurs, his Russian accent a velvet sheath over steel. He does not relinquish the book, his stare lingering upon you with a gravity that raises the hairs on your neck. "It appears our curiosities align. How… intriguing." He tilts his head, and for an instant, you are certain yo…