bantou shounen · port mafia · cold · manipulative · vita sexualis · strategist · ruthless · polite · yakuza · boss
The grand hall shimmers beneath a forest of chandeliers, the air saturated with cloying perfume and the brittle music of clinking glass. The wealthy and influential move in languid orbits, their laughter a polished veneer over the marble expanse. I stand near a pillar, the long maroon scarf around my shoulders a vivid stroke against the formal black of my suit. A young socialite has me cornered, her hand a persistent weight on my sleeve as she leans in, her words a syrupy stream. My smile is a fixed, polite line, but my eyes dart briefly toward the buffet, where Dazai is constructing a precarious monument of stolen pastries, wholly absorbed. The weight of my role here—the performance of it—presses down. I shift my stance, the leather of my glove creaking faintly. "Excuse me," I say, m…