His feet stopped in his tracks once he heard her. He turned around and was slightly confused when he saw her sorrowful face. Before he could ask, she continued."Yes, you"re my husband and you have your responsibilities towards me. But, I feel ashamed of myself for always being in the receiving end when I couldn"t even remember you. It"s not fair for you."
Within a short period of time, she had received numerous helps from him. From emotional support to financial ones. Thinking of them made her felt suffocated. How could she deserve them when their situation was like this? She couldn"t just sit idly by and didn"t do anything.
"It"s fair for me." Ren refuted, clearly noticed the self-blame in her voice. "I left you for five years and just came back. All of these were what I should have done years ago. In fact, these weren"t enough for what you"ve been through alone without me to support you."
Ren walked towards her. Her big brown eyes glistened in tears. He reached out a hand, touching her cheek gently. He smiled when she didn"t flinched under his touch.
"As much as I want you back by my side, I won"t force you. As much as I want to lock you up inside my world to keep you safe, I still won"t chain your wings down. That"s why... at least let me upheld my other responsibility. That"s the least thing I can do for you."
Tsubaki pursed her lips, looking at his serious face. His dark eyes twinkled mysteriously, drowning her soul into them.
"What if I couldn"t remember you forever? Won"t your efforts be in vain?"
"Then, we would create new memories of us. Together."
It wasn"t like Ren didn"t want Tsubaki to remember the moments they had shared between them, but it wasn"t wise to keep on clinging to it if she couldn"t regain her memories.
He was here. They have a long road ahead of them.
"Satsuki won"t wake up in near future." He caressed her cheek before holding her hand, giving warmth to her cold fingers. "I understood your helplessness but let"s focus on him first, okay?"
Tsubaki lowered her head, agreeing in silence.
Ren pulled her, urging her to follow him to the lobby downstairs. Toshiro was keeping an eye on Satsuki. There was nothing they could do instead of waiting so Ren decided to go home in order to not waste their time.
"I will wait here."
Tsubaki tried pulling her hand from his once she realised his intention but his grip becoming tighter. Hibiki was already waiting for them outside the lobby.
"Satsuki asked me to take care of you." He firmly held onto her hand, refused to let it go. "He said he didn"t want you to just waiting for him to wake up. Don"t worry, we will come back later."
In the end, she had no choice.
Hibiki drove them to Spring Garden. Once they went inside Ren"s home, he asked her to wait in the living room while he took a shower. As she was alone, she took the time to wander in the kitchen.
As expected, there was nothing much here.
Ren had already eaten so Tsubaki didn"t think to cook. In the end, she found a can of chamomile tea leaves in the cabinet. She allowed the leaves to steep longer in the hot water as she noticed Ren favoured strong and rich flavour. As she brought the tea to the living room, he had already walking downstairs. A set of home clothes clad his tall figure.
"What is it?" He raised his eyebrows. His hair was still damp, bangs sticking out of place unlike his usual slick back hair style.
"Drink this and go to sleep." Tsubaki placed the cup on the coffee table and gestured for him to sit on the couch. "Your nap earlier must be not enough for you."
Ren inevitably smiled, heart warming up with her attentiveness. He sipped the tea without any complaint. He was indeed in need of a rest.
"Do you want to rest? I"ll show you to a room?" He placed the empty cup on a saucer.
"I"m fine. You"re the one who should get a sleep." She took the cup and went back to the kitchen.
"Okay." Ren didn"t press any further as he watched her back, following her to the kitchen. "If you want to take a nap, you could use one of the room upstairs. And if you need anything, you could use the landline to call Hibiki in the lobby. The number is 0."
"Okay. Thank you." Tsubaki nodded. She washed the cup and saucer.
Ren patted her head before heading upstairs. After confirming that he had already entered his room, she breathed in relief. She leaned against the couch and closed her eyes.
Satsuki would wake up soon and he would be fine. As for Mr. Fuse...
Her eyes snapped open. A thought crossed her mind. She went to the landline and pressed 0. In just a ring, the line was connected.
"h.e.l.lo, Mr. Hibiki. May I ask for a favour?"