storms don't last forever | h.kazutora

chapter ten

It's already morning and you gently reached your boyfriend for a hug. "Huh?" You quickly opened your eyes when you couldn't feel Kazutora beside you.

"Tora?" you mumbled as you sat on the futon and looked around.

You called him again, but no one answered so you got up and went outside only to see that the apartment is empty. Your heart immediately pounds fast, thinking that he might've left you as this is the first time that he went out without telling you.

Panic, you decided to look outside but halted when you noticed a note on the table next to your meal. Confused, you picked it up to read.

Hello y/n, I went ahead with my new part-time work. I didn't wake you up because you need a lot of rest. Please eat breakfast and avoid straining yourself. I'll be home late, so eat without me. There's food in the fridge. You can heat it up and your medicines are also prepared, just follow my notes for the scheduled intake.

-T

You breathed a long sigh of relief as your knees gave in and sat on the floor. Brushing your hair with your fingers, you took a moment to calm yourself and after a while, you got up and washed your face to relieve the uneasiness and then proceeded with your daily routine.

❀

Two weeks have passed and you barely see your boyfriend. He leaves before you even wake up and returns home when you're already asleep. When you managed to wait for him and asked to eat dinner together, he always reasoned that he was tired and would rather sleep.

This is all new to you because he used to stay awake no matter how tired he was just to eat with you. You've also noticed that he rarely says I love you anymore. He rarely kisses you, but at the same time, he always makes sure you're well taken care of.

You understand that he has to work twice as hard now because you're still unemployed, and this may be physically draining him, but at the back of your mind, you can't help but feel a growing gap between the two of you.

Another two weeks have passed, and he is starting to get more and more... distant. You thought that if you worked again and took some of the weight off his shoulders, everything would be back to normal, but it didn't. You have the feeling that he is present, but his mind is elsewhere.

You are now both eating dinner together. You manage to convince him to come and eat with you but felt like he was being forced. You glanced at him and he was just eating silently beside you.

"Tora?"

"Yeah?" He replied as he still continued eating. He didn't even look at you.

"Do we have a problem?"

"No,"

"Are you mad at me? Did I do something wrong?"

"No, y/n. I'm just tired."

"Tired of what, exactly? Of work or of me?"

"Please, stop this. I don't have the energy to argue with you."

You came to a halt when you heard his response because you felt that by not answering your question, he was subtly admitting that you were the reason he was always tired. Your hands began to shake, scared at the thought that he was drifting away.

You began sniffing but tried hard not to cry because, while scared, you also felt a little selfish. He just got home from work, forced him to eat with you, and now you're starting an argument with him.

"I'm sorry," you mumbled, picking up your chopsticks and eating quietly.

Kazutora went outside for a smoke after dinner, something he had never done before. He will spend as much of his free time as he can with you, talking about your dreams and planning your future together. Am I becoming too greedy? He went above and beyond to save me, and I have no right to demand more of his time... But why the hell does it hurt?