[SLOW UPDATES]
＊✿❀❀✿＊＊✿❀❀✿＊＊✿❀❀✿＊＊✿❀❀✿＊
In denial, in perplexity. She didn't know
how to deal with these strange feelings
and emotions budding within her as she
spent time with her six male friends.
Growing up surrounded by men her
entire life, she...
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Meanwhile, at the Sakamaki residence...
The ticking of the wall clock echoed like a countdown in the living room, where Shion, Kakucho, Izana, Ran, Rindou, Yasuhiro, and Kanji sat in silence, their eyes glued to the home phone resting ominously on the side table. Each second that passed without a call from Tougo felt like a year dragging by.
In the adjoining dining room, Ayato sat with a cup clutched tightly in his hands, the warmth of the tea doing little to ease him. Wakasa, seated beside him, rubbed his back comfortingly.
"I still can't believe it..." Ayato murmured, eyes lowered. "This started as just a... missing person case. A runaway. And now Kiryu-gumi actually kidnapped her?"
Wakasa didn't say anything, only pressed a little more firmly against Ayato's back in reassurance.
Subaru stood nearby. His eyes hadn't left Reiji once. The older brother sat at the end of the table, gaze locked to the floor, shoulders hunched, and jaw clenched. He hadn't looked at anyone.
Eventually, Subaru stepped forward and gently patted his brother's back.
"It wasn't your fault, Rei-nii."
Reiji's entire body stiffened. Then, slowly, he shook his head. "Don't say that," he muttered hoarsely.
"You didn't know this would happen," Subaru pressed, but Reiji only shook his head harder, more violently this time.
"If only I told her everything from the beginning... none of this would've happened."
"Rei-"
"I was the one who insisted Dad to keep it from her!" he shouted, finally snapping. "I insisted! I said she didn't need to know—she could live a normal life—and look what I've done!!"
His voice echoed through the house.
In the living room, the others flinched at the sound. Kanji looked at Rindou. Rindou glanced at Shion. Yasuhiro furrowed his brows, and Kakucho stared silently at the hallway connecting them.
Izana and Ran didn't say a word, not even a physical reaction.
Reiji's breakdown continued, his voice ragged with guilt. "I believed she was better off not knowing," he cried, "only for her to feel worse! And now she went missing! All because I didn't have faith in her! And you're denying I fucked up?!"
Subaru was stunned into silence.
"You did what you think was best for Y/n!" he finally argued, but his voice lacked its usual fire, more like a soft protest than true conviction.
"No," Reiji denied bitterly. "I did what I thought was best for me."
That admission crushed whatever hope Subaru held. He blinked, his lips parting in disbelief. Reiji hung his head low, his hands gripping his hair as the sobs finally overtook him.
