The world spiraled downward — the floor spun, the walls twisted, and the air grew heavy. Her throat tightened with each passing second, a knot of nausea rising like poison, acidic and hot, burning inside. The room, once her refuge, now suffocated her, the heat and darkness creeping into the corners of her eyes, making her vision even tighter. Her hands trembled, not a gentle tremor, but violent, fingers twitching as if they wanted to tear off their own skin. She tried to breathe, tried to think, but the voices wouldn't stop, each one worse than the last. She'd had episodes before, many, every tiny thing that reminded her of her old family always made her tense. Sometimes hallucinations of her brother would appear before her when she saw someone remotely similar, everything seemed to mock her. But this episode? One of the worst she'd ever had, surely. What would Dazai think of her if he opened the door? What would some lackey of his think when they walked in and saw that she, the child adopted by the port's Mafia boss, was weak?

"You'll fail again. You always do," a voice whispered in her head, high-pitched and shrill, making her ears ring. They were voices of ghosts, of memories, of parts of herself that spat venom in her ears, voices of her brother, of her father, of your screams when she tried to help only to kill her family and be abandoned. Jinx clutched her head, nails digging into her scalp, as if she could rip them out.

"Shut. Your. Mouth." Each word came out like a punch, hoarse, through clenched teeth. But they seemed to laugh louder, shrill, distorted, until they were no longer voices, they were screams, static, the roar of a maelstrom inside her skull. Her body ached, every muscle tense in a way that made even the slightest movement seem heavy, painful. She hated herself for it. Hated how small she felt, as if none of her was truly hers, just broken pieces that the voices could control. And then, without thinking, her fist slammed against her temple. One, two, three.

"Stop, stop, STOP!" Suddenly, a gasp of anguish escaped her mouth, her tear-filled eyes quickly staring at the door as the deafening sound of the alarm began to blare. "Damn it...now?" she whispered irritably, quickly grabbing her gun even though her hand was still shaking. A lackey quickly entered the room, ignoring the door.

"They're invading the Mafia! Dazai asked you to take care of this floor!" the man said in an irritated voice, clearly having been attacked while the PM were in a calm moment.

"Okay! Okay! I'm coming!" she said, wiping away her tears.

---

You ran through the corridors looking for your sister, the sound of your panting breath could be heard in your ears. It was already the third floor and still no sign of her. A feeling of anxiety spread through your chest as tears formed in your eyes. You quickly stopped when you saw a gun pointed in your direction, but the person holding it was what really made you stop - it was your sister. Her hands were shaking violently, you could almost be sure that at any moment the gun could fall from her hand. Jinx's eyes were unstable, trembling as if she were seeing figures that didn't exist in the room. When you took a step forward the silence was broken.

"No. Don't you dare come closer." She said as she walked slowly towards you. "People like you are scum, rats waiting to be crushed... you were stupid to come here, 'brother'." She said with disgust. You knew now more than ever that you had lost your sister. Now she was a stranger wearing her face, doing all the dirty work the Mafia asked for. And for the first time, even after imagining meeting your sister countless times, you were static, speechless. This was not what you imagined when you abruptly decided to break into the PM headquarters. A deep disgust rose within you just thinking about what Dazai had put your sister through, what cruel things she must have heard, or how much he had fed the feeling of guilt into hatred for having been abandoned.