"Friend..."
She hugged Sayuri as tightly as she could.
"Come in," she said, taking the suitcase.
Sayuri began explaining everything that had happened. Yume listened carefully to every word, unable to believe it, shocked by everything.
"Wow... I don't even know what to say, Say... I knew your dad was strict, but not that he would go this far..."
Sayuri lowered her head, covering her face with her hands. Her tears slipped between her fingers.
"The worst part isn't even that, friend. I knew it would be hard for him to accept Jun... what hurt me the most was the slap... my father had never raised a hand against me before..." she sobbed before finishing.
"I will never forgive him for this..."
"Say..." Yume said, trying to comfort her. "Everything is going to be okay..."
"And now... where am I supposed to go..." she whispered.
"Hey, of course you're staying here."
"Yume... I can't..."
"And that is not up for discussion..."
After a while, Sayuri, exhausted, finally fell asleep, and Yume went downstairs to talk with her mother.
"I can't believe a father would do that just because of a relationship..."
"Yeah, Mom... that man is scary. He projects onto Sayuri everything he could never achieve himself... what a pain..."
"Yume, watch your mouth..."
"Sorry, Mom, but that... it really gets on my nerves!"
KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!!
"Can I come in?" Kenji said, already walking inside.
"Good evening, Kenji. How are you? And your mother?"
"I'm fine, ma'am. My mom says hi."
"What are you doing here, Kenji?" Yume asked.
Kenji pulled up a chair and sat down.
"I came to kill time. Jun is busy with his grandmother today..."
He noticed Yume's worried expression and asked what was going on.
"I'll leave you two to talk. Say hi to your mom, Kenji," the mother said, leaving the room.
"What happened?" Kenji asked, his tone now serious.
Yume took a deep breath before answering.
"Sayuri's dad found out about her and Jun..."
"So... it went bad?"
She crossed her arms, irritated.
"'Went bad' is an understatement, Kenji. He hit her and kicked her out of the house."
Kenji's smile disappeared instantly.
"What?"
"Yeah... she's upstairs completely broken."
Kenji ran a hand through his hair in disbelief.
"Damn... I knew her dad was strict, but this is insane."
Yume nodded.
"And the worst part is she's still trying to be strong."
Silence.
Then Kenji stood up.
"Does Jun know?"
"Not yet... she just got here."
"He needs to know."
"I know... but I'm scared of how he'll react."
Kenji pulled his phone out of his pocket.
"I'm scared too."
Meanwhile, at Mrs. Midori's house, Jun was absentmindedly tuning his guitar while his grandmother folded clothes on the sofa.
Plim!
He picked up his phone.
"Jun, something serious happened."
Jun immediately frowned.
"What happened?"
A few seconds passed.
"It's about Sayuri."
He stood up from the sofa instantly.
"Grandma, I'll be right back."
"Jun? What happened, dear?"
He grabbed his jacket quickly.
"I don't know yet... but I'll be back."
He got on his motorcycle without waiting, speeding like never before. When he arrived at Yume's house, he walked in without knocking.
"What happened? Is she okay?"
Yume and Kenji exchanged looks.
"Jun... calm down first."
"Don't tell me to calm down! What happened?"
Yume sighed.
"Her father found out about you two."
Jun's expression changed completely.
"Is she okay?"
Silence.
That was enough.
"Her father hit her..."
Jun felt his blood boil.
"I'm going to kill that bastard."
"JUN, NO!" Kenji grabbed his arm before he could leave.
"LET GO OF ME!"
"And what are you going to solve? You'll just make it worse!"
Jun was breathing heavily, completely out of control.
"Where is she?"
"Asleep... she cried a lot, she's exhausted."
He ran a hand over his face, trying to hold himself together.
"I should have protected her..."
"Don't say that," Yume said. "It's not your fault."
Jun closed his eyes for a few seconds. Then he asked quietly:
"Is she... afraid of me now?"
Yume was surprised.
"Of course not, Jun..."
He lowered his head, devastated.
"Everything I never wanted was to destroy her life..."
Kenji stepped closer.
"You didn't destroy anything, man... her father is the one who's wrong."
Jun looked toward the stairs.
"I just want to see her... that's all."
Yume hesitated, then nodded.
"Go... but try not to wake her."
Jun slowly went upstairs. When he opened the door, he found Sayuri asleep, hugging a pillow. Even asleep, she still looked sad.
His eyes immediately landed on the reddish mark on her face.
It broke him completely inside. Jun knelt beside the bed and gently placed his fingers near the mark, afraid to even touch her.
"I'm sorry..." he whispered, his voice breaking. "I'm sorry for all of this..."
Even asleep, Sayuri slowly held his hand, as if recognizing his presence.
And in that moment, Jun realized something: no matter what happened from then on... he would never let her face this alone.
When Jun went downstairs, he asked Yume if he could stay there that night, waiting for Sayuri to wake up.
"Look, Jun... I don't know..."
"Please..."
Yume saw the pain in his face, reflected in his tear-filled eyes.
"You can stay... but in the living room. I need to see how she wakes up and if..."
"If she'll want to see me?"
"I didn't mean it like that, Jun."
"I understand..."
He sat on the sofa and stayed there all night without closing his eyes, restless, consumed by guilt, the image of her mark constantly haunting him. He clenched his fists as the pain inside grew.
The night was heavy for everyone. Kenji, alone at the studio, couldn't believe what had happened. Yume, taking care of her friend, woke up every hour to check on her. And Jun drowned in guilt and anger, trying not to lose control.
Morning came cold and silent. Sayuri opened her eyes and touched her painful face.
"It wasn't a dream..."
"Good morning," Yume said. "How are you, Say?"
Sayuri took a deep breath, looking at the morning light breaking through the fog outside.
"I think... I'm okay..."
Yume hugged her tightly.
"I'm here, okay? I'll always be here."
"Thank you..."
"Friend..."
Sayuri looked at her.
"What is it?"
"Jun is downstairs," Yume said directly.
"What!! Yume, you told him??"
"I had to..."
Sayuri quickly stood up, almost tripping on the rug.
"He shouldn't have. He didn't do anything stupid, right?"
"Relax, he didn't. He just didn't want to leave. He wants to see you..."
Sayuri looked at herself in the mirror and whispered:
"He must be blaming himself..."
Yume, surprised, asked how she knew.
"I know him very well..."
"Do you want me to call him?"
"Where is he?"
"In the living room."
Sayuri opened the door, went downstairs, and walked toward him. Yume followed, then stopped halfway down the stairs and watched.
Jun was asleep.
Sayuri approached and touched his face, waking him. When he opened his eyes and saw her, he hugged her tightly and broke down. His tears fell uncontrollably over her shoulders.