Contract With My Boss [Touken Story]

16

Holding her close to him, Kaneki slowly brought her to her bedroom and laid her down onto the bed before pulling the blankets above her. She gripped his sleeves and looked up at him with pleading eyes. "Stay."

His eyes widened. She was a strong woman and rarely showed her weaknesses to anyone. Tonight was one of the rare and the first time that he's seeing her so vulnerable and he can't help but feel happy that she's allowing him to see this side of her. He settled down onto the chair beside her bed and took her hand into his. "Stay, I shall."

His heart skipped a beat when her soft and small hands squeezed his.

"What I'm going to say now may not concern you but will you listen to me?"

He tried to give a smile. "Of course."

"It was 11 years ago when the accident happened. I was 13 then."

Her eyes wrinkled at the memory. The four of them, her father, her mother, her little brother and her, were on the way to the beach for their usual family outing on Saturdays. They were in their car, talking excitedly about what they were going to do and eat when they got there. Arata was going to try out their new flavored shaved ice, Hikari wanted to buy a new bikini at the shops, Ayato was looking forward to surfing and Touka couldn't wait to have their picnic together.

When the traffic light turned green, her father stepped on the accelerator and within a second, they were hit by a truck from the left. Her mother and brother died immediately, and her father was stuck in his seat and couldn't get out. The car was overturned and instead of helping himself, Arata told Touka to quickly undo her seatbelt and get out of the car.

With blood dripping down her forehead, Touka was so, so afraid and couldn't stop sobbing. "Papa, papa! Come with me!"

"I can't, darling. You have to go, now!" Arata shouted, his eyes widened as he saw the gasoline escape from beneath the car. As soon as Touka got her seatbelt off, her father pushed her quite a distance away and the car exploded, bursting in flames. "Papa!! Mama!! Ayato!!"

It was on that unfortunate day, that she was left alone forever.

—

Touka's eyes closed at the painful memory as her tears fell and she squeezed his hands. He squeezed hers in return to comfort her and used his thumb to wipe a falling tear away. Her blue eyes opened again and she smiled. "Thank you for listening to me."

His heart hurt when he saw her like this. His body moved before he could think, and he pressed his lips to her forehead. "You're not alone now. I'm with you. I'll be with you."

She smiled. He ran his fingers through her blue hair. "Now get some sleep. I'll be here."

Nodding, he watched her slowly close her eyes and soon, she fell asleep. He frowned, she must have been suffering all these years without anyone by her side. He can't help but want to continue to stay with her and support her in her ups and downs.