The room is silent except for the faint rustle of gauze and the occasional clink of a metal tin. Ren kneels in front of Aiko, gently dabbing the last of her wounds with antiseptic. The blood on her skin has dried into dull rust. His touch is steady. Too steady. His expression unreadable. Too calm.
Aiko sits motionless on the edge of the couch, knees drawn up, arms wrapped around them like a shield. Her wrists ache from the ropes. Her mind aches more.
She watches Ren through her lashes—his silver hair slightly disheveled, his sleeves rolled up, blood still smeared along the collar of his shirt. None of it seems to faze him. He doesn't ask how she's feeling. He doesn't apologize. He just… cleans her up like she's fragile porcelain that belongs to him.
"Ren…"
He doesn't respond, merely switches out the used bandage for a clean one, hands careful, almost too gentle now.
She gathers the courage twisting in her throat.
"It was you… right?"
A pause.
Not a flinch. Not a twitch. Just… stillness.
He finishes wrapping the gauze over her shoulder and slowly places the tape down beside him. Then finally, he looks up. Eyes calm. Empty.
"Do you want to know the truth… or do you want to keep loving me?"
The words strike her like glass shattering against her chest.
She opens her mouth—then closes it again. Her breath catches. She doesn't know the answer. Maybe she does, and it's the silence that answers for her.
Ren stands. Brushes his hands on a cloth. The distance between them now feels miles wide.
He looks at her one last time before turning away, voice low.
"Call me if the pain worsens."
Then he leaves.
The door shuts with a soft click.
And just like that, something in the air changes.
A wall now stands between them. Unseen but crushing.
---
Later — Morning
Aiko ties her school tie with shaky hands, eyes flicking to the mirror. Her reflection looks strange. A stranger with faint bruises and tired eyes. A stranger who can't tell whether she's more afraid of Ren… or more afraid of losing him.
She walks out of her room,bag in hand.
Just as she reaches for her shoes, Ren's voice echoes from the kitchen.
"You're not going."
She freezes.
"What?"
He appears in the doorway, wiping his hands with a towel. His tone is cool, too calm to be normal.
"I've already sent a letter to the principal. From now on, you'll be homeschooled."
Her eyes widen.
"What are you talking about?! You can't just—"
"I can. And I did."
He walks closer. There's no warmth in his voice now. Only steel.
"It's for your safety. You almost got killed. I won't let it happen again."
"But—my friends—my life—"
"You are my life," he snaps suddenly, the towel clenched in his fist. "And I'm not letting it out of my sight anymore."
The words should sound romantic.
They don't.
They sound like a chain.
Aiko takes a step back, but the wall's behind her. Her pulse quickens.
"You're… suffocating me, Ren…"
He stares at her for a long moment.
Then smiles—slow, eerie.
"You'll get used to it."
A long pause.
His gaze softens, the kind of softness that aches, like a wound left open.
"…Princess."
His voice barely breaks the silence.
For a fleeting second, Aiko sees it—the fear behind his eyes, the trembling truth he tries so hard to bury. Like he's terrified of losing her. Like he's clinging to the only thing that makes him feel real.
She doesn't understand him.
But her heart aches anyway.
Something in her tightens. Something she wishes she could ignore.