"Tell me... what am I supposed to do with this?"
The moment the final, trembling word left her lips, Mr. Kamitani stopped completely.
The desperate strength in his massive arms vanished in a single fraction of a second.
He let go of his grip on her instantly, his arms dropping heavily down to his sides as he stepped back, completely releasing her from the tight embrace.
Feeling the sudden, freezing absence of his warmth, Mrs. Kamitani let out a faint, hollow huff of a laugh.
'Look at him...' her mind muttered with sharp, bitter irritation as she stared blankly at the dim doorway.
'Where did all that ridiculous confidence go? He can act as wild as he wants...the moment things reached his heart... he couldn't find a single word. What a total coward.'
She bit her lower lip hard, her gaze darting unsteadily around the dark room as a heavy, suffocating wave of emotion rushed over her features.
Her green eyes grew glossy and watery, reflecting the faint shadows of the night. A fragile, quiet smile slowly crawled onto her pale face—but it wasn't a smile of joy.
It was a smile of pure, crushing disappointment. It was the look of a wife who had desperately wanted her husband to prove her wrong, only for him to retreat into silence the moment things became real.
With her back still facing him, unable to look at his face, she broke the heavy quiet.
"Why did you suddenly stop speaking, Ayato?" she asked, her voice dropping into a flat, mocking whisper that carried a deep ache.
"Where did all that confident talk go? Why are you quiet now?"
Deep, suffocating silence crashed right back into the room.
The absolute lack of a response began to make the anger flare right back up in her chest.
'How fascinating... You always seem to have the perfect words whenever you want to fluster me... yet the moment you become the reason I'm crying, silence is the only defense you have left.' she thought, a biting, defensive sarcasm cutting through her mind.
Unable to bear the emptiness behind her, she finally began to turn her body around, her mouth opening to sharply demand why he was still remaining so silent.
"Why are you—"
"Because I am terrified that if I open my mouth, I will break down completely right in front of you."
The quiet, raw confession left his lips like a heavy, crushing weight. It wasn't defensive, and it wasn't angry—it was a low, fractured whisper filled with such a devastating sorrow that it seemed to physically pierce through every single part of her body, making her breath completely catch in her throat.
Mrs. Kamitani's movement locked up instantly. The angry sentence died right in her mouth, her shoulders freezing in mid-turn as she stared at him in wide-eyed, stunned silence.
Her brain completely froze, unable to process the words that had just left his mouth. 'Break down?' she thought, the confusion crashing over her like a tidal wave.
'Ayato? Breaking down?'
That was the unshakeable High Court Lawyer who had looked her right in the eye that morning and coldly told her she was daydreaming.
That was the man who had screamed her name until the kitchen walls shook, standing like an icy wall of total denial.
To hear him admit to such a fragile terror felt completely impossible.
Slowly, her frozen posture began to melt. With her heart hammering wildly against her ribs, she finished turning her body completely around, her watery green eyes searching his face in the dim, quiet light.
"What..." her voice came out as a faint, breathless whisper, all the defensive sarcasm completely draining out of her. "What did you just say?"
Mr. Kamitani didn't look away, but he didn't repeat the words either. He stood entirely still, his tall frame suddenly looking stripped of all its usual legal authority and playful confidence.
"You heard me, Yuna..." he murmured softly. His tone was so low, so exhausted, that it barely carried across the tiny space separating them.
The room fell into an incredibly deep, suffocating silence once again. Neither of them moved a single inch.
Their eyes locked together in a long, painful gaze that seemed to stretch the seconds into absolute eternity.
For the past twelve hours, Mrs. Kamitani had truly believed she was the only one drowning in terror—the only one carrying the crushing weight of what she had seen in Kento's room.
But as she stared deep into his dark, bloodshot eyes, the harsh truth finally hit her.
He hadn't been indifferent. He hadn't been mocking her. He was completely breaking inside, too.
She thought she was keeping her face perfectly still, hiding her shock behind a flat mask.
But the sheer emotional weight of the realization was too much for her defenses to hold. Without her even realizing it, a single, warm tear escaped her eyelashes, silently rolling down her pale cheek. She didn't even notice it had fallen.
But Mr. Kamitani's instincts never missed a thing when it came to her.
Without a single word, he smoothly closed the remaining distance between them. His large hand slowly lifted into the quiet air, his movements turning incredibly tender, warm, and soft.
He reached out, his thumb gently brushing the stray tear straight off her skin. His warm knuckles lingered against her cheek for a fraction of a second, his touch trembling just enough to show how terrified he truly was.
His thumb remained resting gently near her cheek, his skin warm against her pale face, but the absolute vulnerability in his eyes only grew heavier.
"I didn't turn away from you this morning because I thought you were lying, Yuna..."
Mr. Kamitani whispered, his deep voice cracking slightly. "And I wasn't trying to prove you wrong."
He let out a short, broken breath, looking down at her with a raw sorrow that stripped away every ounce of his usual confidence.
"I just desperately wanted reality to be wrong. I wanted the universe to be wrong."
Mrs. Kamitani stayed completely quiet, her breath catching in her throat as she listened to the low, exhausted murmur of his voice.
"The moment you said those words in the kitchen... the moment you mentioned the left side, right below the rib... my entire mind went completely numb." Mr. Kamitani confessed softly, his fingers trembling slightly against her skin.
"Because accepting your words meant accepting that the ancient curse had actually caught up to our innocent boy after eleven years of safety. It meant accepting that Kento was in real, impossible danger, and that I was completely powerless to stop it."
"The absolute terror of it paralyzed me, Yuna. I couldn't bear the thought of it being real. I was so completely consumed by my own panic that the only way I could fight the reality was to reject you instead. I forced myself to call it a daydream... because if it wasn't, then our happy days were already over."
The heavy weight of his confession hung suspended in the quiet air.
Mr. Kamitani took one slow, deliberate step closer, completely erasing whatever distance was left between them in the dim room.
His large, warm hand reached down, his fingers moving with an incredible, trembling tenderness as he gently wrapped them around her slender hand, lifting it securely against his palm.
He tilted his head slightly, forcing his dark, bloodshot eyes to lock directly into her watery green ones with absolute intensity.
When he finally broke the silence, his voice wasn't dramatic or loud. It was nothing more than a very quiet, fractured murmur that vibrated softly in the stillness of the early morning.
"I am sorry, Yuna."
He looked deep into her eyes, refusing to let his gaze waver as he laid out every single mistake he had made, offering no excuses for the pain he had caused.
"I am sorry for doubting your instincts. I am sorry for shouting at you in that kitchen, and for hurting you so deeply when you just needed me to believe you. I am so sorry that I abandoned you emotionally when you were completely drowning all by yourself."
He paused, his chest heaving with a shallow, ragged breath as his grip on her hand tightened just a fraction.
The raw sorrow in his eyes expanded, delivering the final, unforgettable truth straight to her bleeding heart.
"I was trying so hard to protect our son... that I forgot to protect my wife."
The final, devastating line left his lips and vanished into the stillness, leaving the room completely trapped in a suffocating, heavy quiet.
Mrs. Kamitani parted her lips, her mind frantically scrambling to find her sharp corporate lawyer voice to fire back a response.
'No... don't accept this...' her mind scrambled defensively as she stared at his bare, bleeding expression.
'Argue back. Tell him an apology doesn't fix twelve hours of drowning alone in this house. Tell him anything... just don't let him see how small you feel right now.'
But she couldn't.
Her voice completely failed her, the sentences dying right in her throat and leaving her utterly speechless as she stared into his bare, bleeding expression.
The absolute silence that followed was thick and heavy, wrapping around them both. She honestly thought her face was a completely flat, unreadable mask that hid the absolute emotional chaos fracturing her heart.
But as she stood there, her hand still held tightly in his warm palm, her body completely betrayed her.
Without her even realizing it, another single, heavy tear silently spilled over her eyelashes, tracing a slow, glittering path down her pale cheek. She didn't even notice it had fallen.
But Mr. Kamitani did.
Without uttering a single sound, his large hand slowly lifted into the dim space between them.
His touch turned incredibly tender, warm, and soft as his thumb gently met her skin, brushing the stray tear away with an agonizing, deliberate slowness.
Not a single word passed between them. The room remained entirely dead and quiet, save for the rhythm of their shallow, shaky breaths.
His warm knuckles lingered against her soft cheek for a long, quiet fraction of a second, his touch so incredibly careful it felt as though he was holding a piece of fragile glass, terrified that if he moved away, she would shatter completely.
As his warm knuckles slowly slid away from her skin, the fragile, flat mask she had been clinging to all day long finally shattered into absolute pieces.
The burning anger completely vanished, leaving behind nothing but a raw, hollow pain that rushed to the surface of her features.
"That was the first time..." Mrs. Kamitani whispered, her voice fracturing so violently the words were barely audible in the dim room.
"That was the first time...in our... our entire life together, Ayato... y-you have never... you've never screamed at me like that..."
Fresh, hot tears rushed into her green eyes, completely blurring her vision as she stared at his pale face.
"I-I wasn't... I wasn't running away and c-crying in that hallway because... because I hated you," she confessed, a breathless, ragged sob catching sharply in her throat.
"I was c-crying because... because seeing you panic like that... it c-completely... it terrified me..."
"Y-You are... you're always the c-calm one, Ayato..." Yuna choked out, her fingers clenching into the fabric of his shirt as her posture completely crumbled. "Y-You are the... the unshakeable foundation of this family..."
She paused, a sharp, ragged gasp ripping through her throat as she desperately tried to force the next words out.
"N-No matter what... what corporate crisis I face... or how... how wild the boys get... you always... y-you always handle everything with a smile..."
Fresh, bitter tears exploded over her eyelashes, completely choking her voice into a tiny, trembling whisper.
"B-But this morning... w-when you screamed my name..." She shook her head in pure agony, her green eyes locked onto his pale face. "Your voice... it was f-filled with such... such absolute, raw t-terror..."
The devastating realization finally hit her chest with the force of a physical blow, completely destroying the last of her emotional strength.
"A-And I r-realized..." Mrs. Kamitani's voice cracked completely, a breathless, tiny whine escaping her lips as her strength gave out. "I-If you... if you were breaking down too... i-if you were that... that terrified..."
She shook her head violently, her grip tightening on his chest in total, bleeding panic.
"T-Then it means... it means I-I wasn't... I wasn't daydreaming, Ayato... It m-means something truly... horribly r-real is happening to our c-children..."
Her eyes widened in pure, raw horror as the final, devastating words left her mouth in a broken whisper.
"A-And we... w-we can't... we can't stop it..."
With that final, crushing truth laid bare, Mrs. Kamitani completely broke.
She dropped her heavy face straight forward into his chest, her shoulders shaking violently as a loud, breathless wail ripped violently from her throat.
"W-Waah... h-huhu..." Yuna choked out against his wet shirt, her voice completely muffled, messy, and ruined as she buried herself entirely into his familiar warmth. "A-Ayato... h-huhu... n-no..."
She cried properly—losing all her corporate lawyer composure, burying herself entirely into his familiar warmth as she let out all the hidden terror and exhaustion that had been suffocating her soul since the dawn.
The moment her muffled wail broke against his chest, Mr. Kamitani didn't say a single word.
He didn't try to stop her tears, and he didn't interrupt her heavy, fractured sobs with hollow legal arguments.
Instead, his massive arms instantly wrapped securely around her shaking body, pulling her so tightly against his tall body that there wasn't a single inch of empty space left between them.
He just let her cry. He held her close, burying his face deep into her hair as her shoulders violently shook, letting every single drop of the suffocating stress and hidden terror spill out onto his shirt.
He became her unshakeable anchor once again, absorbing all her pain in total, patient silence.
Only when her sharp gasps finally began to slow, and her heavy weeping subsided into faint, exhausted hiccups, did he finally break the quiet.
His deep voice was nothing more than a very low, soothing murmur right against her ear, carrying a fragile spark of hope rather than empty promises.
"We are going to find a way through this, Yuna..." Mr. Kamitani whispered softly, his large hand gently stroking the back of her head in a continuous, calming rhythm.
"I don't care what ancient laws or shadows are threatening this house. I am not letting them take our peace away."
He let out a long, quiet breath, his eyes staring blankly into the dark shadows of the room as he spoke his deepest, most ordinary desires aloud into the stillness.
"I just want our boys to be healthy..." Mr. Kamitani whispered, his deep voice cracking as he rested his chin heavily against her hair. "That's all... that's all I want, Yuna..."
He let out a ragged, trembling breath, his large arms tightening their secure hold around her shaking body.
"I want Kento and Shido to grow up strong. To live incredibly long... happy lives..." His eyes stared blankly into the dark corners of the room, fighting the heavy weight in his chest.
"Without... without carrying any of the burdens from their pasts."
He paused for a long, quiet fraction of a second, his touch remaining tender as he forced the final, ordinary dreams out into the stillness.
"I want to see them graduate," he murmured softly, his voice dropping into a raw, vulnerable plea. "I want to stand there... I want to watch them get married... and see what kind of futures they choose for themselves..."
A fragile, aching smile briefly touched his pale lips, though his dark eyes remained filled with a heavy sorrow as he tightened his embrace around his wife.
"I want to grow old with you in a quiet house..." Mr. Kamitani murmured against her hair, a fragile, aching smile briefly touching his pale lips. "Complaining about how loud... how loud our grandchildren are being..."
He swallowed hard, his fingers gently smoothing down the back of her head in a slow, continuous rhythm.
"When they run across the kitchen tile... I just want that, Yuna. That ordinary... boring happiness for us."
His dark eyes completely hardened, filled with a profound, protective fire as he squeezed her closer against his chest.
"And I will fight..." his voice dropped into a low, fierce whisper. "I'll fight whatever is coming to make sure they get to see it."
A heavy silence lingered in the air for a moment, the weight of his words pressing down on both of them.
"...Snff."
But then, Mrs. Kamitani sniffled, burying her face slightly deeper into his chest before pulling back just an inch. She looked up at him through tear-blurred eyes, her expression suddenly turning incredibly stubborn.
"Then promise me right now..." she muttered, her bottom lip puffing out. "Promise me you'll never shout at me again. Ever in your life."
Mr. Kamitani blinked, his fierce gaze faltering as a look of genuine confusion took over his features. "Huh? Where is this coming from all of a sudden—"
"Even if..." she continued before he could interrupt, lifting a finger as though she were presenting an important legal clause.
"...I come home one day with some random man and proudly announce, 'Ayato, meet my new boyfriend,' you are still not allowed to shout."
Mr. Kamitani stared down at her, his entire brain short-circuiting.
'...What?'
His mind raced frantically, his eyes scanning her face, desperate to find some hidden, complex psychological metaphor behind her words.
'Is this a test? Is she referencing some deep literary concept or analyzing a hidden trauma right now?! No... look at her eyes... she's entirely serious...'
He stared at her grim expression, his mouth twitching as a wave of absolute, pure confusion washed over him. 'Of all the hypothetical scenarios she could have invented to make a point after a huge emotional breakdown...'
"...You've chosen a very strange example." Mr. Kamitani muttered blankly, his voice cracking slightly before he finally blurted out, "...Are you being serious right now?"
Mrs. Kamitani closed her eyes in a deeply proud, self-satisfied expression, tilting her chin up as she completely prepared to flatter.
"After all, with my absolute charm, my timeless elegance, and the kind of beauty that could easily attract—"
"Pfft—haha!"
A sudden, low chuckle broke from Mr. Kamitani's throat, the sharp burst of laughter cutting her sentence right down the middle.
"What are you laughing at?!" she snapped, her eyes opened as her self-praise came to a Halt.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." Mr. Kamitani chuckled, trying and failing to press a hand over his mouth as his shoulders shook. "It's just... aren't you a little too old to be getting a boyfriend, Yuna?"
----
✦ 🔮 A GLIMPSE INTO THE NEXT CHAPTER 🔮 ✦
"What awaits beyond this page...?" 🌙
(灬･◡･灬)♡
"WRYAAA—!!! YUNA, STOP!!!"
'O-Oh dear...'
----
🌙 The stars may fade, and memories may sleep...
But the Spiral continues to turn.
Until we meet again beneath the same forgotten sky.
(ꏿ﹏ꏿ;)
— SakuraShinomiya