もののけ | monster | soshiro hoshina (Kaiju No. 8) (COMPLETE)

ななじゅうに | seventy two

もののけ | kaiju | monster

72

[A lengthy chapter ahead]

Soshiro

AS MUCH AS I WANTED TO LET HER REST, to let her find some peace as she leaned her head on my shoulder, both of us leaning against the wall, I couldn't shake the heaviness in my chest. I looked down at our tangled hands, noticing how tightly Kiyomi was holding mine—almost as if she was afraid that if she let go, everything would slip away. I wanted this moment to last, this fragile peace between us after everything we'd just been through, but there was something I couldn't keep inside anymore. Something she needed to know.

"Kiyomi..." I called her name softly, but there was a seriousness in my tone that made her lift her head almost immediately. Her tired, exhausted face, still so fucking beautiful despite everything, met mine, and I felt a pang of guilt for what I was about to say. But she needed to know.

I took a deep breath, trying to find the right words, but nothing seemed good enough. This wasn't something I could sugarcoat. "I need to tell you something... something really important," I began, and I could see the shift in her expression as her eyes filled with uncertainty, nervousness creeping in as she sensed the gravity of what I was about to reveal.

With my free hand, I reached into the pocket of my tracksuit, my fingers brushing against the small, folded photo that had been burning a hole in my pocket for days. I pulled it out and handed it to her, watching her closely, my heart pounding as I waited for her reaction.

She took the photo, her brows furrowing in confusion as she clutched the small piece of paper in her trembling hands. I could see her mind working, trying to make sense of what she was looking at. Then, slowly, as realization dawned on her, her face morphed from confusion to surprise, and finally, to sheer horror.

"No..." she whispered, her voice barely audible, as if she couldn't believe what she was seeing. Tears welled up in her eyes almost instantly, and her whole body began to shake violently. I felt my own chest tighten, the pain of seeing her like this cutting through me like a knife.

Without thinking, I dropped to my knees in front of her, my hands immediately cupping her tear-streaked cheeks. "Baby, look at me," I said as gently as I could, trying to keep my voice calm despite the storm of emotions raging inside me. "Hey, relax, shh, I'm here. I'm right here." My thumbs brushed her tears away, but they kept coming, her eyes finally meeting mine, filled with an overwhelming mix of fear and disbelief.

"I'm pregnant?" Her voice was barely more than a broken whisper, as if saying it out loud might make it real. I couldn't bring myself to say the words, so I just nodded silently, my heart breaking as I watched her crumble before me.

She cried harder, her sobs shaking her entire body as I held her, cooing softly, trying to soothe her even though I felt like I was drowning in the weight of this revelation. "How... how is this possible?" she choked out between sobs, her hands clutching the photo so tightly that her knuckles turned white. "I... I know I couldn't... I know I couldn't get pregnant..."

Hearing her say that, hearing the pain and disbelief in her voice, made something inside me shatter. I knew this was hitting her harder than anything else had, knew that this was the one thing she never thought she could have, the one thing she had probably already grieved and let go of. And now, here it was, thrown back at her when she least expected it, and it was tearing her apart.