"Say…"
She hugged Sayuri as tightly as she could.
"Come in," Yume said softly, taking her suitcase.
Sayuri began explaining everything that had happened. Yume listened to every word in shock, barely able to believe it.
"My God… I don't even know what to say, Say… I knew your father was strict, but not like this…"
Sayuri lowered her head, covering her face with her hands as tears slipped through her fingers.
"The worst part isn't even that, Yume. I knew accepting Jun would be difficult for him… but what hurt the most was the slap… my father had never raised his hand at me before…"
She sobbed before finishing.
"I'll never forgive him for that…"
"Say…" Yume whispered, trying to comfort her. "Everything's going to be okay…"
"And now… where am I supposed to go…?" she asked quietly.
"Hey. Of course you're staying here."
"Yume… I can't…"
"And that's not negotiable."
After some time, exhausted from crying, Sayuri finally fell asleep, and Yume went downstairs to speak with her mother.
"Mom, I still can't believe a father would do something like that just because of a relationship…"
"Seriously… that man is terrifying," Yume muttered angrily. "He keeps forcing his own frustrations onto Sayuri… he's such a pain."
"Yumee, language."
"Sorry, Mom, but that man seriously makes my blood boil!"
KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!!
"Can I come in?" Kenji asked, already stepping inside.
"Good evening, Kenji. How are you? And your mother?"
"I'm good, ma'am. My mom says hello."
"What are you doing here, Kenji?" Yume asked.
Kenji pulled out a chair and sat down.
"Honestly? Just killing time. Jun's busy with his grandma tonight…"
Then he noticed Yume's worried expression.
"What happened?"
"Well, I'll leave you two to talk. Tell your mother I said hello, Kenji," Yume's mother said before leaving the room.
Kenji's expression turned serious.
"What happened?"
Yume took a deep breath.
"Sayuri's father found out about her and Jun…"
"Oof… that bad?"
Yume crossed her arms angrily.
"'That bad' is an understatement. He hit her and kicked her out of the house."
Kenji's smile vanished instantly.
"What?"
"Yeah… she's upstairs completely destroyed."
Kenji ran a hand through his hair in disbelief.
"Damn… I knew her father was difficult, but this is insane."
Yume nodded.
"And the worst part is she's still trying to stay strong."
Silence filled the room.
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 from his pocket.
"Yeah… me too."
Meanwhile, at Midori's house, Jun absentmindedly tuned his guitar while his grandmother folded clothes on the couch.
Plim!
He picked up his phone.
Jun
"Man… something serious happened."
Jun frowned immediately.
"What happened?"
A few seconds passed before the reply came.
"It's about Sayuri."
He stood up instantly.
"Grandma, I'll be back."
"Jun? What happened, dear?"
He grabbed his jacket quickly.
"I don't know yet… but I'll be back soon."
Without waiting another second, he jumped onto his motorcycle and sped off. The moment he arrived at Yume's house, he walked inside without hesitation.
"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 heavily.
"Her father found out about you two."
Jun's expression immediately changed.
"Is she okay?"
Silence.
That was enough.
"Her father hit her…"
Yume lowered her eyes.
Jun felt his blood boil instantly.
"I'm going to kill that bastard."
"JUN, NO!" Kenji grabbed his arm before he could storm out.
"LET GO OF ME!"
"And then what?! You'll only make everything worse!"
Jun was breathing heavily, completely out of control.
"Where is she?"
"Sleeping… she cried a lot."
He dragged a hand across his face, trying desperately to calm himself.
"I should've protected her…"
"Don't say that," Yume told him softly. "This isn't your fault."
Jun closed his eyes for a few seconds.
Then, quietly, he asked:
"Is she… scared of me now?"
Yume looked surprised by the question.
"Of course not, Jun…"
He lowered his head, devastated.
"The last thing I ever wanted… was to ruin her life…"
Kenji stepped closer.
"You didn't ruin anything, brother… her father's the one in the wrong."
Jun looked upstairs.
"I just want to see her… that's all."
Yume hesitated for a moment before nodding.
"Go ahead… but try not to wake her."
Jun slowly climbed the stairs. When he opened the bedroom door, he found Sayuri asleep, clutching her pillow tightly.
Even asleep, she still looked sad.
His eyes immediately landed on the reddish mark on her face.
It shattered something inside him.
Jun slowly knelt beside the bed and carefully brushed his fingers near the bruise, almost afraid to touch it.
"I'm sorry…" he whispered, his voice breaking. "I'm sorry for all of this…"
Even in her sleep, Sayuri slowly held his hand, as if she recognized his presence.
And in that moment, Jun realized something:
No matter what happened from now on… he would never let her face any of this alone again.
When Jun came back downstairs, he quietly asked Yume if he could stay there that night and wait for Sayuri to wake up.
"Jun… I don't know…"
"Please…"
Yume looked at him carefully. The pain in his teary eyes was impossible to ignore.
"You can stay… but on the couch. I need to see how she feels when she wakes up and whether she…"
"Whether she'll want to see me?"
"That's not what I meant, Jun."
"I understand…"
He sat on the couch and stayed there the entire night without sleeping.
Restless.
Guilty.
Every time he closed his eyes, he saw the marks on Sayuri's face again. His fists tightened harder each time, the pain inside him growing unbearable.
The night felt heavy for everyone. Kenji sat alone in the studio, unable to process what had happened. Yume kept waking up every hour to check on Sayuri. And Jun drowned in guilt and anger, struggling not to completely lose control.
Morning arrived cold and quiet. Sayuri slowly opened her eyes and touched her aching face.
"So it wasn't a nightmare…"
"Good morning," Yume said softly. "How are you feeling, Say?"
Sayuri took a deep breath while staring at the sunrays breaking through the morning fog outside.
"I'm okay… I think…"
Yume hugged her gently.
"I'm here for you, okay? Always."
"Thank you…"
"Say…"
Sayuri looked at her.
"What is it?"
"Jun's downstairs."
"What?!" Sayuri sat up immediately. "Yume, you told him?!"
"I had to."
Sayuri stood up so fast she nearly tripped on the rug.
"You shouldn't have. He didn't do anything stupid, did he?"
"Hey, relax. He didn't do anything… he just refused to leave. He wants to see you."
Sayuri glanced at herself in the mirror and whispered:
"He probably feels guilty…"
Yume blinked in surprise.
"How do you know that?"
"Because I know him better than anyone…"
"So… do you want me to call him?"
"Where is he?"
"In the living room."
Sayuri opened the door and slowly walked downstairs toward him. Yume followed behind her but stopped halfway down the stairs, quietly watching from a distance.
Jun was asleep on the couch. Sayuri carefully touched his face, making him stir awake. The moment he opened his eyes and saw her standing there, he pulled her into his arms so tightly that he completely broke down.
His tears soaked her shoulder endlessly.