THEN YOU CAME....

Chapter 1

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Sanemi was finishing up his rounds for the night when his ears perked up at the sound of a woman crying. His hand automatically shifted to his katana, resting at his side. Swiftly turning on his heels, he ran towards the source of the sound, coming from the west. But when he reached the spot, he came to an abrupt halt.

To his surprise, he saw a woman sitting near the edge of the lake, her face buried in her hands as she wept continuously. She seemed deeply disturbed, radiating emotions like rage, distress, discomfort, and sorrow. Sanemi frowned, considering turning away and heading home, but he paused when her cries abruptly stopped.

He turned back only to find the girl limp on the ground. He sighed and grumbled under his breath before walking towards and taking her into his arms to drop her home but something made him stop in his tracks.

He turned back to find the girl lying limp on the ground. Sighing and grumbling under his breath, he walked towards her, intending to take her home. But as he lifted her into his arms, he noticed something that made him stop in his tracks.

Her face was red, clearly from crying, but her right cheek was extremely swollen, and her lip was bruised, indicating she had been beaten. He frowned, reminded of a painful memory but knew it wasn’t his place to judge. There could be many reasons for her condition. Deciding to drop her home and never look back, he realized he didn’t know her address.

Grumbling again, he gently laid her back on the ground and took out his water bottle. He poured some water into his palm and splashed it on her face. As she began waking up, he helped her sit up.

“Breathe, and drink some water,” he said softly, handing her the bottle. She hesitantly took it, chugging down the water before handing it back.

“I was going to drop you home, but then I realized I didn’t know where you stay,” he grumbled. The girl looked at him, dumbfounded.

“I’ll walk home,” she insisted, turning away but then stopping to face him again. He watched her intently, noting she seemed fine except for the two marks on her face.

“Arigato,” she whispered, bowing her head in gratitude before walking away. Her lip quivered, and her eyes grew glossy. Sanemi felt a wave of change in her emotions, from gratitude to grave fear. He frowned but shrugged it off before sprinting away.

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“So, where were you?” a man in his late twenties asked the woman who entered the house, her hands slightly shivering. “I... I’m sorry,” she said, not wanting to get into any more arguments with him, knowing his demonic nature.

“Y/n, baby, how many times have I told you not to make that face? Are you scared of me? But look, it’s just that I’m concerned about you because I love you... you know that, right?” The man spoke slowly, stepping towards her. She had no escape as her back was already touching the door.

“I-I k-know,” she somehow managed to utter, cold sweat forming on her nape.

“Good, now come like the nice wife you are and sleep with me.” He said, and she gulped, which irked him. He breathed through his mouth, combing his hair with his hand in frustration.

“Y/n?” he said. Unable to rebel, she slowly nodded, a lone tear slipping down her cheek.

“Hai,” she whispered, and he pulled her into his room.

Y/n was almost nineteen when her parents decided to marry her to a man six years older than her. Her life before was hell; as the only daughter in a family that needed a male heir, she was abused physically and verbally, tormented every day. So when the marriage proposal came, her family was ready. Y/n hoped marriage would turn her hellish life into heaven, but she was wrong.

The man she married, Kurayami Ishioka, was demonic. Not a literal demon, but ruthless and crazy, feared even by the locals. If Y/n was tormented before, now she was in complete hell. The ray of light she had hoped for was blocked completely. She decided not to hope for anything, accepting her fate, but the rage for her life never ended.

She was beaten for unnecessary reasons, sometimes without understanding why. Kurayami would claim he loved her, but his actions were contradictory. He degraded her with words, harassed her, and treated her like a slave. Yet sometimes, he showed sudden care under the guise of love. She feared his split personality, never knowing if he would be kind or cruel. Once, a lady tried to help Y/n, but she disappeared without a trace, making Y/n avoid involving anyone else in her life to prevent them from suffering.

That night, Y/n slept with Kurayami as he insisted, waiting for him to fall asleep. Once he started snoring, she sighed in relief. Pushing the blanket aside, she quietly escaped to the lake, hoping no one would be there. As she thought, the lake was empty. She sat there until morning, returning to the house to lay beside him, pretending she had been there all night.

This was how Y/n lived. She escaped at night to find solace by the lake, as mornings were never happy for her. Despite everything, she held on to a small hope, a tiny light in the darkness. She lied to herself about accepting her fate, but deep inside, she prayed for change. Little did she know that the change she hoped for would happen soon.

Sanemi’s nightly rounds often brought him across various scenes, but this one lingered in his mind. The girl’s silent gratitude and subsequent fear haunted him. He couldn’t shake the feeling that something was terribly wrong in her life.

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