Ayato noticed it instantly. The playful smirk vanished from his face in a single millisecond, replaced by a look of pure panic. He stopped his joking completely and rushed closer, his hands wrapping gently around her arms.
"Yuna?" Ayato asked, his voice filled with genuine worry as his heart dropped. "Wait... you are crying. Honey, what is wrong? Are you in pain somewhere? Did... did my silly jokes actually make you cry? I...I didn't mean to—"
"No... it's not that." Yuna whispered, her broken sentences coming out in small, shaky gasps as she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.
She stared down at her lap, looking completely confused by her own tears. "I... I don't know why. I don't know why, Ayato... but suddenly... my chest just feels so incredibly heavy."
Ayato's eyes widened with a quiet, aching worry, his thumbs gently wiping away a fresh tear from her cheek. "I am sorry." he murmured softly, his heart twisting at the sight of her tears. "Hey, look at me... I didn't mean to upset you like this. I promise I'm done teasing you about college. I'm right here, Honey."
He looked deeply into her watery eyes, trying to find a logical explanation to comfort her. "Does... does your eye itch? Maybe a piece of dust got caught inside from the floor fan?"
"Hic... chuckle..."
Yuna let out a tiny, wet laugh, shaking her head weakly as she looked up at him. "No... it doesn't itch at all. No, Ayato... it is definitely not because of that."
Slowly, her watery green eyes drifted across the mat, her gaze dropping onto her innocent child who was still playing and laughing completely content in his own world.
Seeing how happy and small Kento looked, something inside her heart just completely snapped.
'My beautiful, precious boy...'
A loud, painful sob burst from her throat, and she suddenly started to cry out loud.
"Ugh... hic... sob... snif... uuuhuhuu..."
Her shoulders shook violently as the tears poured down her face, her hands clutching tightly at her cotton dress. It wasn't just a quiet weep; it was a deep, heavy cry full of a mother's sudden, overwhelming panic.
Ayato completely panicked, his own heart hammering against his ribs as he scrambled even closer to her, his hands wrapping tightly around her trembling frame.
"Yuna! Honey, please... what is it?" Ayato pleaded, his voice cracking with pure desperation as he tried to calm her down.
"What is wrong? Does it hurt somewhere? Are you sick? Please tell me... do you feel like seeing a doctor right now? Let's go to the hospital, okay?!"
But Yuna only kept crying, her head shaking quickly in disagreement as she buried her face against his chest.
"Mnn-fh... hic... muffled sob... uuh-nnh..."
She tried to speak, but the immense pain in her heart made her voice break completely.
"A-Ayato... hic... no..."
Her words were not proper; they were completely broken, stuttered, and separated by heavy, gasping breaths.
"N-No... no doctor..." she choked out, her voice trembling as she squeezed her eyes shut, her fingers gripping Ayato's shirt like a lifeline. "It's... it's just... K-Kento... my baby..."
She pulled back just a little bit, looking toward the corner where their little boy was sitting.
The complete worry in her eyes was so deep, showing the absolute depth of a mother's protective soul.
"I... I can't bear it, Ayato..." she sobbed, her sentences breaking apart as she gasped for air. "That... that ritual... those dangerous things... h-he is so little... so innocent... I will never... I will never let anything happen to him... never..."
Fresh tears flooded her eyes, blinding her as she shook her head over and over again. Her voice rose into a desperate, emotional plea that came straight from the bottom of her heart.
"I don't care about traditions... I don't care about customs..." Yuna cried out, her voice cracking with raw emotion.
"If... if something bad ever tries to touch my son... I will... I will give my entire life to protect him... I would gladly die right now if it means keeping him safe... but I will never, ever let anyone hurt my baby boy..."
She collapsed back against Ayato's shoulder, weeping loudly as all her hidden fears and worries finally poured out into the room.
"Ngh-hh... gulp... shaky gasp... p-phhh... sniff..."
Ayato was completely shocked at first, blinking his eyes in total confusion. "Eh?" he muttered, his mind spinning from her sudden, intense words.
'Wait... what the—?'
But the very next second, his face relaxed and a soft, relieved smile broke across his lips.
'Thank God...' Ayato thought to himself, letting out a massive mental sigh of relief.
'Thank God she isn't hurt. It's nothing truly dangerous, and she isn't in actual physical pain. Thank goodness...'
Yuna was still crying loudly, the frantic tears spilling down her cheeks as she trembled violently. "I—I won't... I won't let them... they c-cannot just take my—"
Before she could even finish her sentence, Ayato suddenly reached out. He caught her small, shaking hands gently in his own, wrapped his strong arms completely around her rigid back, and pulled her into a tight, warm hug.
He pressed her close, burying her face deep into his chest. As he held her, his hand softly patted and ran through her long, messy hair to stop her from shaking.
"Shh... calm down." Ayato murmured, his voice dropping into the deep, steady tone of a protective husband and a loving father.
He let out a very soft, low chuckle against her crown. "Haha... you really scared me half to death, Yuna. I thought it was a major emergency. Here I was thinking my precious wife was in some kind of absolute danger, but it turns out to be such a small matter."
THWACK!
Even inside his tight embrace, Yuna's anger flared right through her weeping. She pulled a fist back and smacked his shoulder with a sharp, heavy hit, screaming directly against his shirt. "How can you call it a small matter?! HAHA my foot! It is about our son's safety! It... it is about Kento!"
Ayato didn't move from the blow. He only tightened his arms around her, running his fingers gently through her hair to soothe her.
"Listen to me, Honey," he whispered softly, trying to calm her racing heart. "When I... when I was just a young boy, the exact same ritual happened to me too. I still remember that day perfectly."
Yuna sniffled loudly, her chest heaving as she let out a small, broken hiccup against his chest. "Y-You... you...?"
"Yes," Ayato nodded gently, his chin resting against the top of her head. "My mother was crying and worried out of her mind, just like you are right now. And I was completely terrified myself, thinking that it might be the absolute last seconds of my life. But look at me, Yuna."
He pulled back just a tiny bit, using his fingers to gently lift her chin so she had to look into his eyes.
"I am sitting right here in front of you, completely perfect and fine. Nothing bad happened to me at all. And since nothing happened to me, I promise you that absolutely nothing will happen to Kento either."
He offered her an incredibly warm, reassuring smile. "After all, he is my son. He carries my own blood. So nothing will ever touch him, and he will be perfectly fine."
Hearing his steady, comforting words, Yuna's heart finally settled, but the pure wave of relief made her break down all over again.
"Waaaah..." she suddenly sobbed out loud, completely losing her composure. She threw her arms tightly around his neck, hugging him with all the strength left in her body.
She buried her face right back into the crook of his neck, muffling her loud, messy cries as the fresh tears completely soaked through his shirt.
"A-Ayato... h-he must... he must be perfectly fine... p-promise me... you have to p-promise me..."
"I promise, darling," Ayato whispered back, his own eyes turning soft and warm as he held his weeping wife as close as he possibly could. "I promise you."
But promises are fragile things, easily swallowed by the silent marching of the years.
The warm July heat of that bedroom slowly cooled, the bright laughter faded, and the gentle sun of a father's hope sank into the earth, giving way to a darkness that no human promise could ever hold back.
Five years bled away like ink in water, until the day finally came.
And the world was made of shadows and old, ancient stone.
Deep underground, the heavy air smelled of burning oil lamps and damp rock. The thick silence of the basement was completely shattered by two continuous sounds of weeping—the heavy, muffled sobs of a woman, and the terrified, high-pitched crying of a child.
In the center of the dark floor, inside the carved lines of the ritual circle, Kento Kamitani stood completely alone.
He was only five years old. His tiny body was shaking violently like a leaf in a storm, his big green eyes wide with pure, innocent panic.
He looked toward the shadows, his short legs trembling as he tried to reach his tiny, soft hands forward toward his mother.
"M-Mommy...?" Kento whimpered, his voice completely broken, stuttered, and separated by small, shaky gasps.
"Mommy... wh-why... why are you standing over there...? Why are you... hic... not coming to me...?"
----
🌸 AUTHOR'S NOTE 🌙
Five years.
To some, they are merely numbers.
But to a mother, they are five years of kisses, laughter, sleepless nights, and whispered prayers.
And to a father...
Five years are enough to make promises he truly wishes to keep.
Yet the stars above do not halt.
The seasons do not wait.
And fate rarely asks for permission before knocking upon the door.
Still...
Even knowing that their promises are fragile,
Humans continue to make them.
Perhaps that, too, is another form of love.
(╥﹏╥)
----
✦ 🔮 A GLIMPSE INTO THE NEXT CHAPTER 🔮 ✦
"What awaits beyond this page...?" 🌙
(灬･◡･灬)♡
"Step back into the dark, children of the Abyss."
"SILENCE!!!"
---
❓ QUESTION OF THE CHAPTER ❓
If you knew that time would eventually take away your peace...
Would you still make beautiful promises,
Even knowing they might one day be tested by fate?
(◡︵◡)
---
🗝️ HIDDEN BETWEEN THE PAGES 🌙
Fun fact:
Somewhere in that room, Kento's toy astronaut was quietly watching everything unfold and probably thinking:
"I just wanted to explore space..."
Instead, it became a witness to marriage counseling, parental anxiety, and repeated attempts at murder by a very determined right month-old infant.
(＾▽＾;)
----
🌙 The stars may fade, and memories may sleep...
But the Spiral continues to turn.
Until we meet again beneath the same forgotten sky.
(╯︵╰,)
— SakuraShinomiya