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?"
----
🌸 AUTHOR'S NOTE 🌙
Ehehe... 🥹
...I don't think poor Ayato was emotionally prepared for that example. 😂
He poured his entire heart out... Confessed his biggest fears... Shared his dreams of growing old together...
And Yuna's response was basically:
"Hypothetically speaking... what if I brought home a boyfriend?" 🌚
Poor man nearly had to process a second emotional crisis.
(≧▽≦)💙
But jokes aside...
One of my favorite things to write isn't the grand speeches.
It's these tiny moments where people slowly become themselves again.
After crying... After apologizing... After saying everything that hurts...
Sometimes the first sign that your heart is healing...
...is that you're able to tease each other again. 🌸
Thank you so much for reading this chapter! 🥹
As always, I'd love to hear your favorite moment! Was it Yuna finally breaking down? Ayato talking about growing old together? Or... his completely defeated reaction to the world's strangest hypothetical example? 😂✨
Take care of yourselves...
And I'll see you in the next chapter! 🌙
(つ≧▽≦)つ
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✦ 🔮 A GLIMPSE INTO THE NEXT CHAPTER 🔮 ✦
"What awaits beyond this page...?" 🌙
(灬･◡･灬)♡
"WRYAAA—!!! YUNA, STOP!!!"
"Your hair is as dark as the night sky..."
---
🌙 PAGES FROM FORGOTTEN RECORDS 📖
The moment fear is finally shared...
it stops being carried by just one heart.
⊂(・▽・⊂)♡
----
🌙 The stars may fade, and memories may sleep...
But the Spiral continues to turn.
Until we meet again beneath the same forgotten sky.
～(つˆДˆ)つ｡☆
— SakuraShinomiya