"By love! By love! By love..." Naga roared uncontrollably at the phone that had lost connection. He collapsed to the ground, panting, sweat dripping onto the floor. He didn't need to look in the mirror to know that his face must be completely bloodless.
It felt as if the air itself was fleeing from him. He struggled to his feet, his legs feeling weak, and he could only stand steady by holding onto the table.
He wanted to rush out, but he had no idea where to look for anyone.
He could only slump down on the soft sofa, clenching his trembling hands, waiting for the security company to arrive.
Time passed by unnoticed, and then the phone on the table rang shrilly.
Naga stared blankly at the phone for a few seconds, then slowly reached out and answered it.
The voice coming through the receiver was that of the security guard downstairs, sounding somewhat troubled: "President, someone just delivered a package, saying it contained very important items, and asked me to bring it to you at this time. I wanted to take it upstairs, but Manager Oshima not only wouldn't let me take it up, but also told me to throw it in the most open spot in the parking lot outside. There's no dripping sound coming from the package, and Manager Oshima won't let me open it. What should I do?"
Naga stood up nervously, her voice rising involuntarily to an almost shrill tone despite her efforts to control it, "Listen to her! Throw her out, throw her out immediately! If the security company arrives later, hand her over to them!"
The security guard, somewhat confused, obeyed the order and hung up the phone.
Naga took several deep breaths, then suddenly remembered something and quickly picked up the phone to call his wife.
After only two rings, Miku's somewhat nervous voice came from the other end, "Hey, can't you go home yet? Even though my mom and dad are very nice, I'm still so nervous my palms are sweating."
Naga didn't care about anything else and asked directly, "Miku, has anyone sent a package to our house? They said it's something very important that someone asked us to deliver on time."
"No," Miku said doubtfully, then suddenly added, "Ah, wait a minute, Morimoto is calling me."
Morimoto is the maid on duty today.
A puzzled conversation came through the receiver, followed by Miku's confused question: "Honey, how did you know someone was delivering a package? Is it a gift you bought? Can we open it now, or wait until you get back?"
Naga gripped the phone tightly and shouted with all his might, "Throw it out! Throw it in the yard! The farther the better!"
"Huh?" Miku only showed a brief moment of curiosity before shouting without hesitation, "Morimoto! Throw that package out there, somewhere where no one is around! The farther the better!"
A chaotic commotion came from the other end of the line, and Miku became even more nervous. She seemed to have deliberately found a place away from his parents before asking, "What... happened?"
Naga was breathing heavily and was about to answer when he heard a booming sound outside the window, like a giant firework being set off. The sound even made the windows of his office rattle.
Before the echoes of the explosion had even faded, he heard a muffled sound coming from Miku's direction, followed immediately by Miku's panicked scream...
Naga gripped his phone tightly. The world around him seemed to freeze. He waited blankly, his ears feeling empty and quiet. All the sounds he didn't want to hear were filtered out. He just wanted to hear an answer, an answer from a familiar, lively, and energetic voice.
He couldn't even be bothered to check what damage the package in the parking lot had caused, nor could he care whether anyone had died there.
The instant he heard the deafening explosion through the receiver, all his thoughts were focused on one thing.
"Hello...Hello...Miku...Miku? Miku! Miku! Miku, answer me..." He squeezed out all the power from his blood, but he still felt that his roar did not reach the expected decibel level. He shouted desperately, his teeth almost biting the phone held in front of him.
He had turned into a frenzied, desperate beast. If Ryosuke Hikita had appeared in front of him at that moment, he would have bitten the guy to death and chewed him into a pulp.
Fortunately, the sound that instantly relaxed his nerves, which had been almost completely taut, finally appeared.
"Honey, I...I'm fine. Mom and Dad are doing well too. I'm sorry, I was a little scared just now and made you worry. Are you alright over there? Are you okay?" Miku tried her best to keep her voice steady, but he could hear the fear she was suppressing. She was trying her best to keep his mind at ease, even the trembling of her voice was a result of her efforts to put his mind at ease.
Tears streamed down his face without him realizing it. Naga collapsed to his knees, utterly exhausted. His phone fell to the ground and landed near his mouth as he stared into the microphone, repeating himself in a daze.
"I'm so glad you're alright... I'm so glad you're alright..."
The extent of the damage caused by Ryosuke Hikita wasn't fully tallied until the following day. After resigning, the thin man devoted every single brain cell to revenge.
Seemingly having no intention of targeting any other individuals, Ryosuke Hikita, who was causing the car accident and laughing wildly, was arrested on the spot by the arriving police.
Subsequently, based on his confession, the bodies of Ms. Y, the entertainment newspaper editor who had gone missing a few days earlier, and Mr. G, an entertainment reporter from another magazine, were found in a landfill in the suburbs.
Another woman, Ms. T, a gossip magazine editor who also disappeared around the same time, was allegedly gang-raped by bikers and homeless men, then had her tongue cut out and was blinded before being sold to a human trafficker who traded with South Asian brothels, according to the perpetrator's confession. Police are currently tracking her down, but the chances of rescuing her are extremely slim, as the middleman has already smuggled himself out of the country.
The journalist, Ms. L, whose limbs were allegedly severed by the perpetrator, has still not been found, and the perpetrator refuses to disclose his hiding place.
In addition, the explosives delivered to various homes by people hired by the perpetrator resulted in 31 deaths, 47 serious injuries, and 136 minor injuries.
The above summarizes the losses suffered by individuals involved in the incident who were not directly related to Naga.
Compared to these, his losses were not great, but they were enough to make him feel heartbroken.
Perhaps the power he gained from this absorption was inexplicably depleted in order to protect everything he had.
The explosion in the parking lot only caused minor damage to a few cars, and compensation to the car owners was quickly completed.
Because no one was home at Naga's parents' house, the package they delivered was left at the door. The explosion caused a fire, and almost nothing was salvaged from the entire house.
The explosion at Naga's house destroyed most of the garden, and the flying debris injured Morimoto, the maid who hadn't been able to get back inside. She suffered a broken ankle and multiple bruises, but thankfully, her life wasn't in danger. As for Miku and her parents inside the house, aside from some shock, they were otherwise unharmed.
Asami's so-called "laying low" was just an excuse. After discovering she seemed to be being followed and monitored, she worried about being implicated in Miku's retaliation and immediately left home, intending to use herself as bait. However, she only managed to lure out a few hired thugs on the very night the incidents erupted. Thanks to her skills, the attack ended without even alerting the police.
The real loss came from the car accident that the perpetrator himself caused.
Hoshina's motorcycle was knocked through the guardrail and plunged off the overpass. As it fell, Hoshina used his body to shield Yui. When the paramedics arrived, Yui, covered in blood and unconscious, was in Hoshina's arms. She had only suffered minor injuries and had fainted from shock.
With his father-in-law's help, the police procedures were quickly completed. Presumably because the majority of the victims in this murder case were media professionals, a massive wave of public criticism began to erupt. However, to cover up his own scandal, Naga did not get involved further. Hikita Ryosuke, through countless fabricated narratives, became a shameful maggot, a psychologically twisted individual seeking revenge on society after a failed life.
The turmoil around Naga gradually subsided more than ten days later. During this time, the pain began to fester a second time.
Hoshino suffered severe brain damage and, due to spinal cord injury, became completely paralyzed from the neck down. In other words, he was rendered irreparably disabled, both mentally and physically.
After the diagnosis came out, unable to accept such a painful reality, Naga's parents both fainted, and Yui, who had been by her bedside, disappeared that night.
Perhaps women are naturally more resilient to pain. After waking up from her coma, Naga's mother, apart from being somewhat mentally exhausted, did not suffer any further serious consequences. However, Naga's father was completely devastated and became an elderly man with dementia who needed help even to eat.
After discussing it with Ami, Miku hired a construction team to carry out emergency renovations on the second floor of their house. The goal was to create a suite with a separate room for the caregiver to rest, for Naga's parents to live in, and a bedroom that could be equipped with life support equipment and connected to the caregiver's room.
Because Yui left without saying goodbye, Miku originally planned to convert Yui's residence into Hoshina's future bedroom, but on the very day the construction team moved into Yumeno's house, Yui returned home.
She left with only her wallet, but when she returned, she had a wedding dress, a formal gown, two marriage application forms already signed with her name, and a citizenship registration form.
"I don't know anything and I'm clumsy at many things, but I will definitely study hard and try my best to be a good wife to the Mengye family."
"I canceled the apartment for which Hosuke had already paid a deposit without my permission. Please forgive me for taking such a unilateral decision. Although it sounds shameless, I still hope you can help me with my accommodation."
"I will continue to work after the marriage. I will find a way to pay the salaries of the nurses who take care of Hoshina during the day. Whenever I am at home, I will do my best to take care of Hoshina. I... will try my best not to cause trouble for my brother and mother."
"I want to hold the wedding directly after Hoshina's condition stabilizes. I think a formal engagement ceremony is unnecessary. I want to invite all of Hoshina's friends to attend. Although I don't have much savings, I should be able to do so if my brother is willing to help. Please allow me this moment of indulgence."
In front of Naga and his mother, all the childishness on Yui's face vanished. She sat upright on the cushion, her hands gripping the hem of her skirt on her knees, speaking earnestly and seriously. Her eyes were red and swollen, but she didn't shed a single tear until she finished speaking and fell silent.
As if the grief she had been enduring for days had finally been torn open, Naga's mother walked over shakily, hugged Yui tightly, and burst into tears.
She spoke through sobs, her words broken and incoherent, repeatedly recounting the despairing situation of Hoshina and her husband.
Ai hugged her back and listened quietly, her originally dry eyes gradually becoming moist again.
Naga watched from the side, unsure of what to say or what he could say. At that moment, a strange connection was formed between the two women, and a deep sense of powerlessness rose from the depths of his heart. He didn't disturb them anymore, but quietly picked up Hoshina's seal and stamped it where it should be.
Then, he quietly walked out and closed the sliding door.
He knew that soon, Yui's name would become Yumeno Yui, and Hoshina, who had lost everything, would finally get the girl he loved.
He leaned against the locked toilet door, covered his face with his hands, and squatted down in anguish.
He knew perfectly well that the tearing pain radiating from his heart to his entire body had almost nothing to do with Hoshino, who was paralyzed in bed.
This undeniable fact made him even more sorrowful.