Falling Into Your Arms [Tokyo Ghoul: Female!Kaneki x Tsukiyama Shuu] BOOK 3

8

Shuu went back to find his mother at his kitchen table doing a crossword.
Was he supposed to tell her that her husband was cheating on her, had been for a year at least?
But she looked up at him with a smile. "Home already?"
He didn't want to break that smile.
He nodded, smiling back. "Yep."
"Well, I'm glad, because there was something I wanted to bring up," she said, and her lips turned down slightly before she forced them back up.
Shuu stilled. Does she know about Father? Is she going to ask me? Will I have to pick sides?
"Shuu, I want you to get married."
Shuu stared at her. "What?"
She smiled faintly. "I don't know how much time I have left. I want to see you married off before I go, the sooner the better."
"But-"
"It would make me happy, Shuu. Please."
He hesitated before dropping his head to stare at the floor.
"There's a lot of nice, beautiful girls in France, Shuu. I've already set up a few meetings for you. I had the servant put a calendar on your bed. Please show up to them, okay?"
Shuu nodded. "If it will make you happy."
"It will, Shuu, darling."
Darling.
That was what he'd called Ken before he'd left.
He stood up abruptly. "I...will go look at the calendar."
"Bless you, dear," she said, and he went up to his room.
His father was cheating on his mother, yet both of them were happy.
Were you just supposed to follow love? What about loyalty?
Shuu didn't understand what it meant to be in love anymore. He'd thought he had, back when he was dating Ken, but love was turning out to be far more complex than he'd imagined.
And if his father had been led to cheat on his mother, Shuu couldn't believe in an everlasting love.
That must be it, he decided. Love is fleeting. It's there and then it's somewhere else. Breaking up with Ken was the right thing to do. I left before Love could leave. And maybe I'll find love again, maybe here in France.
So instead of picking up his phone to check for missed messages, Shuu instead picked up the calendar and looked at the dates, wondering which one would bring him and his mother closer to happiness, if only temporary happiness at that.