Chapter 2
1255 Words
– A Small Promise
The hospital bustled with midday activity—nurses’ footsteps echoing, carts clattering, the sharp scent of antiseptic in the air. But inside Hana’s room, the world felt quieter, lighter.
Rei sat by the bed, casually flipping through a newspaper. He occasionally sipped his coffee, now lukewarm. Across from him, Hana sat cross-legged on the bed, hugging a pillow as her gaze lingered on him.
“Rei-san…” her voice was soft, hesitant.
He lifted an eyebrow, eyes still on the paper. “Hm?”
“Will you… really come see me again after I leave this place?”
The question was simple, but the fear in her tone wasn’t. Hana lowered her eyes, fingers gripping the pillow’s edge. She was afraid this man who saved her would simply vanish from her life.
Rei folded the paper and set it aside. His sharp gaze softened slightly. “Why ask that?”
Her lips pressed together before she whispered, “Because… I don’t have many people who care about me. When you’re here, it feels… safe. So… I don’t want you to disappear.”
Silence stretched. Rei was not a man who gave promises lightly. Yet the innocence in her eyes made his walls c***k.
He leaned forward, voice steady. “I won’t leave. As long as you need me, I’ll be here.”
Hana’s breath caught. Then, slowly, a radiant smile bloomed across her face. “Really? You promise?”
She held out her pinky, childlike and sincere.
Rei stared at it for a moment, almost amused. He hadn’t seen such a gesture in years. Finally, his lips curved in the rarest of smiles, and he hooked his finger with hers.
“Promise.”
Her cheeks flushed pink, her joy overflowing as she clutched the pillow tighter. “Yatta! I’m so happy!”
Rei leaned back, shaking his head faintly. Yet inside, he knew this wasn’t just a childish promise. For Hana, it was a sweet bond. But for him, it meant reopening a heart he’d kept locked away for years.
> And from that day on, their bond shifted—from savior and victim, to something deeper, fragile, and growing.
– Shadows of the Past
Night draped itself over Tokyo, the city lights flickering like artificial stars beyond the hospital window. Hana slept soundly, her breathing soft, a faint smile lingering on her lips as she clutched a pillow.
Rei stood by the window, watching the skyline with a sharp, wary gaze. Outwardly calm, but inside, his instincts screamed.
> Something’s wrong.
Minutes earlier, he’d felt it—a pair of eyes watching. A sensation he knew too well.
His phone buzzed once. A message, encrypted, no sender attached.
> “You can’t hide forever, Kurogane.”
Rei’s eyes narrowed. Years had passed since he walked away from that world, from the identity that once made him a ghost feared in every corner of the underworld. Yet the past never truly let go.
He glanced back. Hana lay sleeping, serene and unaware.
No one is going to touch her.
He slipped out of the room, climbing to the hospital rooftop. The night wind cut sharp, carrying the faint scent of fading rain. Across from him, on a neighboring building, stood a figure in a black suit.
The man smiled thinly, raising two fingers in mock salute—before vanishing into the shadows.
Rei’s lips pressed into a grim line. “So… it begins.”
When he returned to the room, Hana stirred. Her sleepy eyes blinked open, voice soft and fragile. “Rei-san… where did you go? I dreamt you left me…”
Rei paused, his hardened edges softening at the sight of her half-asleep innocence. He moved closer, sat down, and gently brushed her hair.
“I’m not going anywhere. Go back to sleep.”
Her lips curved faintly before her eyes closed again.
But as Rei watched her drift off, his resolve hardened.
> If the past had come to claim him, then so be it.
Because now, he wasn’t just protecting himself—he was protecting her.
– A Warmth That Never Existed
The morning sun streamed through the window, filling the hospital room with a soft glow. Hana stirred slightly on the bed, slowly opening her eyes. Her hair was messy, her face still drowsy, and without realizing it, she clutched her pillow tightly.
“Rei-san…” her voice was gentle, almost a whisper. “Has morning come?”
Rei, seated on the small sofa near her bed, gave a slight nod. “Yes. Did you sleep well?”
Hana nodded with a faint smile, then sat up. But soon her lips pouted. “I dreamed… you left me. It felt so lonely.”
Rei paused. Something inside him tightened at her words. He looked at Hana, the innocent girl who kept breaking down the steel walls around his heart.
“Don’t worry,” he said at last, his voice low but certain. “I’m here. And I’ll always be here.”
Hana’s face instantly turned red. She quickly looked away, pretending to fuss with her blanket. “U-uhm… then… I want to have breakfast together.”
---
A few hours later, after the doctor checked her condition, Hana was allowed to leave the hospital. Her legs were still a bit weak, so Rei guided her carefully outside.
On the way, Hana looked like a child seeing the world for the first time after being locked away for so long. She pointed at flowers by the roadside, traffic lights, even a bird perched on an electric wire.
“Look, Rei-san! That bird is so fat… ahaha… do you think it ate too much?” she said with a bubbly laugh.
Rei only shook his head slightly, but the corner of his lips lifted. A faint smile—rarely seen on his face.
---
When they reached Rei’s modest apartment, Hana’s eyes widened in awe.
“Waaah… your place is so neat! No dolls, no cute decorations… just… a table, chairs, and… oh, weapons?”
She pointed at a half-open black case in the corner, where a glint of metal peeked through.
Rei quickly shut it. “That… is something old. You don’t need to know.”
Hana tilted her head, stepping closer. “Hmm… a secret, huh? But I trust you.”
Such a simple statement, spoken without hesitation, left Rei silent.
He, who had lived surrounded by suspicion and betrayal, now faced someone who trusted him wholeheartedly—without conditions.
---
The day passed simply. Rei cooked a modest breakfast—omelet and hot rice. Hana tasted it with sparkling eyes.
“This is delicious! You’d really make a good husband!” she blurted out, then immediately clapped her hands over her mouth, her cheeks burning red.
Rei coughed lightly, pretending to busy himself with the plates. “Don’t say such nonsense.”
But inside, something stirred within him—a warmth he had never felt before.
Yet when night fell and Hana curled up asleep on the sofa like a kitten, Rei stood by the window, his gaze sharp once more.
In the distance, he noticed a faint red glimmer—like the reflection of a scope lens aimed at him.
> This warmth is precious. Too precious.
And because of that, the enemy will surely come to take it
away.
Rei clenched his fist. He knew one thing for certain:
From now on, his life wasn’t just about surviving—it was about protecting.
- Writer
