𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐲 [𝘛𝘰𝘫𝘪 𝘍𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘳𝘰]

↳ 𝙁𝙚𝙖𝙧

"Toji... I don't understand this." You put the letter down on the table in disbelief. You look at your husband, whose mouth is slightly open. He doesn't know what to say at all. He isn't going to say anything until you speak again. "Toji, what is this?"

He doesn't say anything. Your hand slams on the table, anger quickly filling your body, "Answer me, Toji!"

"I-" He begins but he stops himself. He doesn't know the right words to say. So he lies. "I don't know what those are."

"Oh, so Misaki hid them under the guest room mattress? Because she likes hiding things from me, right?" You begin, and Toji doesn't know what to say or respond. He doesn't know if you're serious, but you make it clear with your next sentence, "Maybe Megumi did it. He picked up the letters and managed to put them under the mattress."

"Look, I'm sorry. I just- I didn't know what to do." He stutters, clearly nervous. He doesn't know the right words to say. These aren't just words he can read off a script. He's given this much thought, but he's never thought about the words to say for when this finally came to light. He's never known what the right words for this moment are.

"Tell me. Show me that Shiu was sending letters to my daughter! How did you even get this?!" You raise your voice. "Does he know our address? Did you give it to him?!"

"No! I didn't!" Toji answers. He knows he didn't, but he doesn't know if he's partially at fault. "Please, I just didn't want to ruin things."

"Did you find these a couple of days after her birthday?" You ask. So many questions are going through your mind but you don't know how to ask. Anger blocks your thought process. You can't put all the questions into words. The fact that he's quiet fills you up with more rage. "Answer me, Toji!"

"No. They were left at the doorstep of our home the day of her birthday. Both times. At night." He reveals, and it makes your heart drop even more. You close your eyes for a split second, and he continues talking, "They came with a gift too."

"A gift?" You question. You repeat it once again, a harsher tone and a slightly raised voice, "A gift?!"

"Yes!" His voice matches yours in volume. He doesn't do it intentionally, it's just natural to him to match the loudness of the person talking. "Two dolls. He sent two dolls. One doll each year."

"Why didn't you tell me?! She's my daughter!" You yell, standing up from the chair. You grab the letters and turn around, not waiting to hear an explanation, even if you just asked. Toji stands up to follow behind you. His hand grabs your wrist, stopping you from walking.

"I was scared." He confesses. You don't look back at him. You can't bring yourself to look back at him, while he confesses his vulnerability. "We were finally getting together. We realized we had each other. I finally got a family. I was scared that it'd ruin everything."

"Why would that ruin anything? You don't have anything to do with it." You slightly turn your head to look at him. Your eyebrows furrowed. It's clear that you're angry and Toji doesn't know exactly how to deal with that. In the time that you've actually been together, you've never gotten mad like this. "Or do you have something to do with it?"

"I don't." He answers. "But I was still scared. I didn't know how you would react."

"Toji, I wouldn't be reacting like this if you hadn't hid the letters from me." You tell him. He knows he's wrong, but he has no idea how to redeem himself. What could he possibly say that'll stop you from being mad. "You know how scared I am of him coming back. I at least expect you to tell me that he's been sending my daughter birthday presents."

"I'm so sorry- I'm just scared-"

"Scared of what?! I'm the one who should be scared because maybe one of these days Shiu will be the one to show up at the door!" You yell. You try to escape his grasp but it's too strong. "And you know what hurts? I thought we could trust each other with everything. Isn't that what people who love each other do?"