Point of view: Hachimiya Megumi
The futon was cold.
Too cold.
Megumi reached out, blindly searching for that warm presence that had wrapped around her during the night.
But she found nothing.
No body.
No murmurs.
Not even the scent of someone who had just woken up.
Only emptiness.
She blinked. Daylight filtered through the poorly closed curtains.
She sat up with effort. Her swollen belly made her groan softly.
—T-Takashi… are you there…? —she called out in a whisper.
No one answered.
The kitchen was silent.
So was the hallway.
The front door was closed.
And then, that familiar fear gripped her chest.
Again. Again. Again.
Abandoned.
Again.
The tears didn't come right away.
No.
They were stuck, mixed with rage.
—Coward… —she whispered.
She clenched the sheets.
She hated him.
She hated him with everything she had left.
"You're the one who brought me here."
"You're the one who ruined my life."
"You're the one who left me with this inside me."
But at the same time…
… she waited for him.
Against all logic.
Against all pride.
Against all the pain that had swallowed her whole in the past few months.
She wanted him there.
She needed him there.
And that made her hate herself even more.
Her breathing grew shaky.
—Why do I have to wait for someone like you…?
She took a few unsteady steps toward the kitchen.
Nothing was ready.
There was no food.
Only the cup she had used last night.
And the echo of a silence that bit at her soul.
She held her belly.
—I'm sorry… mommy can't do this alone.
Just as the tears were about to break the dam, the door opened.
The sound of the lock.
A couple of hurried steps.
A grocery bag.
And then…
him.
Alex.
Yamada Takashi.
Or whatever he was now.
She saw him come in, disheveled, with dark circles under his eyes… and dried blood on his knuckles.
Megumi trembled.
Part of her wanted to run.
Another part wanted to hug him.
He looked at her.
His eyes no longer held that arrogance from before.
They had… something else.
But that didn't erase what she felt.
—Where were you? —she asked, her voice shaking.
He didn't answer. He just set the bags down, as if that were enough.
—What were you thinking? That I'd just stay here alone? That it wouldn't hurt? That I'm your toy again?
Alex frowned. Not with anger, but with guilt.
—I just went to get food. I didn't leave.
—But I didn't know that. —she said, her voice already cracking— I didn't know if you'd come back… and I thought… I thought…
The words died when he stepped closer.
When he placed a clumsy hand on her shoulder.
And bowed his head, as if he knew he couldn't ask for forgiveness.
As if he didn't dare to.
Megumi looked into his eyes.
And she saw something strange.
He wasn't the Yamada Takashi who had destroyed her.
He wasn't the demon who had stained her.
He was someone else.
A coward, yes.
A broken man, maybe.
But different.
She covered her face with her hands, finally crying.
—Don't leave me… even if it hurts… please… don't leave me.
He said nothing.
But he didn't walk away.
And this time, just this once…
she allowed herself to believe that maybe… something could change.
---
Chapter 5 — [Untitled Preview]
Point of view: Hachimiya Megumi
The smell of rice filled the tiny apartment.
Megumi, wrapped in the blanket she had brought from the futon, sat in a corner of the dining area.
She didn't say a word.
She just watched.
Yamada Takashi… cooking.
An impossible image.
Surreal.
The boy she knew —the one who had used her, the one who had destroyed her— would never have done this.
He would never have held a spatula with such clumsy hands.
Would never have checked the rice twice.
Would never have looked around for the seasoning… with that sincerely focused expression.
It was… strange.
That's why she watched in silence.
Because she was scared.
Because if she spoke, maybe the spell would break.
Maybe he'd go back to being the cruel Yamada again.
And for some reason she didn't fully understand… she didn't want that to happen.
—It's almost ready —he said, without looking at her.
Megumi just nodded.
She slowly stroked her belly.
The baby was quiet that morning.
As if it, too, was watching.
Then, without turning around, he asked:
—Are you going to keep studying?
The question hit softly… but unexpectedly.
Megumi blinked.
It sounded innocent.
But it tightened her chest.
—Study…?
—Yeah. School. High school. Whatever… —He finally turned, a ladle in his hand—. Are you planning to go back?
Megumi lowered her gaze.
She hadn't let herself think about that.
Not since being kicked out of her home.
Not since her classmates started whispering behind her back.
Not since they found out she was pregnant.
—I don't know… —she replied, barely audible— I don't think they'd let me.
Alex/Yamada said nothing.
Then he turned back to the pot, as if what he was about to say cost him something.
—If you want to… —he said slowly— I can make them take you back.
Megumi looked at him.
Her eyes widened just a bit.
—Why…?
—Because I owe you.
—Because it was my fault.
—Because… someone has to be on your side.
There was no arrogance in his voice.
No manipulation.
Just an uncomfortable, bare, honest truth.
Megumi didn't know what to say.
So she just looked at him.
At that delinquent with bleached hair and piercings…
who was now serving warm rice into two bowls.
And who, for some absurd reason… had started to matter to her.
Maybe because she had no one else.
Maybe because her baby needed a father.
Or maybe… just maybe…
… because something inside him was broken, too.
And that made him more real than anyone else.