The Burning Desire to Save

Chapter 10

Outside of Masako's home, Kana sat in her car, tapping her fingers against the steering wheel as she wondered what was going on inside the house. She was worried about what would happen between Masako and Yasuhiro, and after a while, she sighed and said, "Screw it. I need a smoke." She then pulled out a cigarette carton from her center console and pulled a cigarette out with her teeth before taking a lighter and lighting it up.

Then, as she puffed away and exhaled smoke, she saw Masako fling open the front door as she yelled at someone, "And I thought I wasn't putting in enough effort!"

A male voice that Kana knew was Yasuhiro's screamed in response as both him and her stormed out, "Get out!"

"You were the one who did nothing! All you did was work all night and come home drunk!"

"We haven't had sex in months! What did you think I was gonna do?!"

"You don't think I wanted to have sex with you?! Of course I wanted to have sex with you! You're my fucking husband! We literally have a child together! If that isn't proof enough I wanted to fuck you, I don't know what is! Instead, you went and fucked some college intern at your job barely out of high school! How do you think that makes me feel as a woman, Yasuhiro?!"

"Look," he explained to her. "Every time I had sex with you after our son became a toddler, it felt wrong, okay?! I felt like I was having sex with my own mother! When you became a mother, it felt like I was committing incest!"

Masako exploded at him upon hearing his reasoning. "Incest?! Are you fucking kidding me?! You're telling me you see me more as a mother than as your wife?! What the Hell is wrong with you?!"

Kana looked on and sighed, telling herself as the argument continued, "Holy shit... This is bad."

"I want out of this," Masako then told him. "Yasuhiro, I can't believe I have to say this, but I want a divorce!"

"A divorce?! We have a son together!"

"I know, but I don't care! I can't stay in this marriage any longer!" As she began to cry, she fell to the sidewalk and buried her face in her hands. "I'm sorry, Yasuhiro... I don't love you anymore. I can't love you anymore."

Yasuhiro looked on in a state of shock, trying to process what his wife had said to him. "I... I..." While Masako cried on the street, he took a deep breath and looked around, wondering if anyone else had seen them argue. "Holy shit... Holy fucking shit..."

"I'll be taking our son," she told him as she then got up. "At least for tonight."

"You... You can't! He's my son, too!"

"I never said he wasn't!" Masako then stormed past him and walked back into the house, leaving behind Yasuhiro. As Kana watched, Masako then re-emerged with her eight-year-old son, who was crying from hearing his parents argue. "Come on, let's go."

Kana got out of the car, alerting Yasuhiro of her presence and prompting him to say, "Oh, you got one of your fire brigade buddies to get you, huh?"

Masako shouted at him, "Shut up!"

"Why didn't you stay out of the fire brigade when we moved to your hometown?! You did enough working for the village hall! You could have been useful at home!"

"I don't want to be some housewife who only works part-time as a secretary at the village hall! I wanted to be a firefighter again, and you can't stop me! It keeps me sane!"

Kana saw several neighbors get out of their houses and watch the proceedings out front. As they began to ask questions and get concerned, she attempted to get them to turn away. "Guys, don't be alarmed. It's just a disagreement. There's really nothing exciting to see here, so just go back into your houses an-" Upon hearing the sound of an approaching police car siren and turning her head down the street, she muttered in frustration, "Oh shit."