ZARIA

Chapter 6

Zaria

At the sound of the door closing, her shoulders slumped down, her head falling forward as she buried her face into her hands.

Zaria felt absolutely mortified as the look on Kei's face flashed through her mind. Horror, that was the word for it, she thought, just as her eyes filled with tears.

She didn't blame him for it; she knew how horrible she looked, and she was sure she would have reacted the same way in Kei's place.

She had been afraid that Kei would ask about them, beating herself up for going to bed shirtless in the first place, but the man had surprised her yet again. Anyone in his position would have asked her questions, wanting to know everything about it, but not Kei. She could see that the man wanted answers, his eyes shining in curiosity despite the obvious surprise on his face, and still, he had said nothing, respecting her and leaving as soon as it became clear that that was what she wanted.

Zaria wiped her face after a few moments, deciding not to think about it anymore, even though she knew it was futile.

For now, she was safe in her room, away from everyone, but come tomorrow, she would have to face the man again, and her stomach rolled at the thought.

•

Kei

Kei turned around again, tossing the sheets away as he sighed. It was past three in the morning, and he was still wide awake.

He was tired after the day he'd had, spending the morning in the office even though it was a Saturday, seeing as the upcoming trial that would begin in mid-January was fast approaching, and he had a lot of things to finish to be ready for it. And as if that wasn't enough, once he came home, the whole ordeal with Zaria had occurred, leaving him mentally and physically exhausted.

And yet, he could not fall asleep, the memory of those awful scars swimming in his mind every time he closed his eyes.

Kei brushed his hands over his face before sitting up, deciding that a cup of Betty's special tea might do the trick. He needed to rest; the next day was Christmas Eve, which meant excitement, at least on Ren's part.

He didn't mind. Seeing Ren's look of absolute happiness during the holidays, which was so often missing during the rest of the year, made him feel amazing. That was all he wanted, for his son to be happy and satisfied like every child should be, and every time he succeeded in making that happen, that little voice in the back of his mind that kept whispering that he was a failure as a father and not enough, grew smaller.

Kei stood up and left his bedroom, taking a moment to peek into Ren's room to check on him, smiling at the sight of the boy sleeping peacefully before continuing his way downstairs.

He stopped at the entrance to the kitchen, surprised when he realized that he wasn't the only one awake at the late hour.

Zaria was there, her back turned to the room, standing beside the counter and waiting for her toast to be done. he stood still, unsure of how to proceed. Kei thought about just turning around and leaving, suspecting she wouldn't be up for company after what had occurred earlier that evening. Still, before he could do anything, the girl had already turned around and spotted him.

Her eyes widened slightly at the sight of him before she quickly averted them, two pink spots appearing on her cheeks as she did so.

"Sorry. I... was hungry." Zaria said, her voice barely a whisper.

"Of course," Kei said as he stepped into the kitchen, deciding to just go about his business and pretend nothing out of the ordinary had happened, even if that was all he could think about.