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

ななじゅうろく | seventy six

もののけ | kaiju | monster

76

[A lengthy chapter ahead]

Kiyomi

IT HAPPENED TOO FAST. One second, I was walking, and the next, I was slammed into an unoccupied room. My back hit the door with a loud thud, the force knocking the breath out of me, but not enough to hurt. There was something rough about it, but it wasn't just anger—there was a gentleness too. The person's hands pinned mine above my head, hard enough to keep me still but not enough to bruise. My first instinct was to fight back, to raise my knee or twist my body to free myself, but then I saw his eyes—those burning, enraged eyes that flashed red like rubies.

Soshiro.

My skin prickling with adrenaline as I stared into his wild gaze. There was no mistaking the fury simmering beneath the surface. This wasn't just anger. This was rage—a kind I hadn't seen in him for a long time.

"So how many more angry fucks are we going to have until we finally make up?" he asked, his voice low, dangerous.

His eyes locked onto mine, piercing through me like he could see every thought, every feeling I was trying to bury. The intensity of his gaze made me shiver.

I scoffed, trying to break free, but he tightened his grip just enough to let me know he wasn't letting go. There was that roughness again—dominant, demanding—but fuck, he was still so gentle. I didn't know how he managed it, how he could be both soft and brutal at the same time, but he was. It made me want to scream and melt all at once.

"If you stop being so damn sour about me turning down your proposal, maybe we could make up," I shot back, my tone cold, defiant. "But my answer is still the same, Soshiro. I don't want to get married."

His jaw clenched, and I could feel the tremble in his hands as he fought to keep his temper in check. His body pressed against mine, heat radiating off him in waves. "That's not what I'm fucking furious about, Kiyomi," he growled, his voice low, vibrating with barely restrained anger. "You think I give a shit about the proposal right now? You think that's what's bothering me?"

My chest tightened as I met his gaze, the intensity of it making it hard to breathe. "Then what the hell are you so mad about?" I snapped, trying to keep my voice steady, but I couldn't ignore the way my pulse raced under his touch.

His eyes darkened, the rage in them flickering like a flame about to burst into an inferno. "What I'm still fucking furious about is you talking like you want to die," he spat, his voice thick with emotion. "You fucking hurt me, Kiyomi! I've dealt with your shit for days, trying to be patient, trying to understand, but when you talk like that earlier, when you bring up that bastard Kazuya and say you need to talk to him—fuck, it snapped something inside me."

His grip tightened, and I could see the vein in his neck pulsing with anger. "What the fuck is wrong with you?" he roared, his face inches from mine. "How many times do I have to tell you that I'm fucking here?! Do you have any idea what that does to me? Do you even care?"