Road to Recovery

Epilogue

A few months have passed since then.

Reia still finds herself looking over her shoulder when she enters her apartment building. She still sighs in relief when the elevator doors close behind her and she sees no unwanted familiar faces. She still feels most secure when her front door falls shut and she has confirmed that everything is locked.

They are scars that will never fade, even though it has been blissfully quiet for months.

However, she has been grateful for the peace, especially now that she started an internship for her degree. It would be much more difficult to uproot her life.

Besides, she doesn't want to uproot it and have to start over again.

"Welcome home." Shin greets her from where he is working on his laptop at the table. She assumes he is coding again.

She puts the bags of groceries down to approach him and place a soft kiss on his lips. The one she gives him is brief – a simple kiss to say she's home – but he gently touches her face to bring her in for another, longer one.

He isn't always there greet her when she gets home. Sometimes he has a slightly later shift, although he tries to take the earlier ones nowadays. After some prodding he admitted that he liked being home with her, so he changed his hours to align better with her schedule, being the one with more flexibility.

They moved in together around two months ago. During her recovery Shin had already practically lived with her, so even though they lived apart for a while once she had regained her independence, it wasn't a big step to live together. They both do better when they're not alone, especially since he occasionally needed the reassurance that she was okay since the attack, so it was an easy decision to make. It might have seemed fast for outsiders looking in, but they have been through so much together, it wasn't strange at all.

"You shouldn't distract me too much. Ayako and Naoki should be here soon." She reminds him when they pull away.

Shin shrugs, clearly not feeling sorry at all "How dare I want to kiss my girlfriend."

"While I certainly don't mind the affection, I'd rather not be startled by the doorbell. You know I tend to focus a little too much." She smiles.

"You definitely hyperfocus." Shin agrees, getting up to help her put the groceries away. He takes the bag with most of the lighter items. They both explain them being in a separate bag to avoid having them be crushed, but his lack of physical strength is definitely a contributing factor.

Fortunately, as long as she doesn't make it obvious, he usually accepts her help.

Reia picks up the other bag and takes a step forward when something suddenly brushes past her legs "Ao, one day I'm going to end up on the floor because I tripped over you."

Oblivious, the white cat just stares up at her with her big blue eyes – the reason they named her Ao. Shin often likes to comment that Ao matches Reia's colour scheme, given the white and blue. Right now, he chuckles at her words.

"Oh, be quiet, you. It was your idea after all." Reia huffs with a smile.

"Studies say that having a pet helps you take care of yourself." Shin responds, leaning down to pet Ao when she circles around his legs.

"And that wasn't just an excuse to get a cat?"

"I mean, you gladly took the excuse when I suggested it, so..."

She just shushes him.

"I've been thinking..." Shin begins after a moment of silence.

Reia hums to indicate that she's listening and prompt him to continue, putting the last items away.