Bound By Name

Part Four: Lies In Blood🩸

The house was too quiet again.

Ren sat on the edge of the couch, eyes on the news playing silently across the television screen. He hadn’t turned the volume on. He didn’t need to hear it to know what they were saying—political deals, shifting corporate powers, the Saitou family name flashing across the ticker.

His last name, now.

Ren clenched his jaw.

He hadn’t gone outside in days. Morning sickness had started creeping in more aggressively. His head throbbed. His skin felt tight. And worst of all—Kei had been gone.

Three nights. No explanation.

Ren told himself he didn’t care.

Until the front door clicked open.

Footsteps. Heavy. Familiar.

Kei.

Ren stayed frozen on the couch as Kei walked in, dressed sharp as ever, jacket slung over one shoulder, hair damp from the rain.

“You’re back,” Ren said without turning.

Kei paused. “I texted.”

Ren stood slowly, facing him. “Three days. No call. No explanation. You think a text is enough?”

Kei exhaled. “It was business.”

“You think I don’t know what business means in your world?”

Kei dropped the jacket onto the armchair. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Ren stepped closer, voice low and sharp. “It means I know what happens when a husband disappears for three nights without a word.”

Kei’s eyes narrowed. “If you’re accusing me of cheating—”

“I’m not accusing you. I’m telling you I don’t give a shit.”

Silence.

But they both knew it was a lie.

Kei’s voice cooled. “Then why are you trembling?”

Ren realized his fists were clenched at his sides.

He forced himself to look away, pacing. “You don’t get it. I’m here. Alone. Sick. Carrying your child. And all I get is silence.”

Kei stepped forward. “I didn’t ask you to feel anything.”

Ren laughed bitterly. “And yet here we are. I feel everything, and you act like none of it touches you.”

Kei’s jaw twitched. “I didn’t know how to handle it.”

Ren turned sharply. “You’re not the only one scared, Kei!”

They stood inches apart now.

Ren’s chest rose and fell fast. His lips trembled, but he didn’t look away.

“I didn’t choose this marriage. But I didn’t choose to feel this either. You get under my skin and then vanish. You say nothing, but you touch me like I matter. You look at me like I’m yours, and then you disappear like I’m nothing.”

Kei’s expression darkened.

He moved suddenly, backing Ren against the wall—not violent, but firm. His hand pressed beside Ren’s head. His voice was low and tense.

“You think you’re the only one losing control?”

Ren’s heart pounded.

“I’ve spent my life building walls. You don’t just walk into it and make yourself impossible to forget.” Kei’s hand brushed Ren’s cheek, almost hesitant. “You want honesty? I’ve thought about you every night. I couldn’t sleep. Couldn’t focus.”

Ren’s breath hitched. “Then why did you leave?”

“Because if I stayed, I was going to fall.”

Ren blinked. “Fall?”

Kei’s voice dropped. “For you.”

For a second, the world stopped.

Ren turned his face away. “You say that now, but the second I become inconvenient, you’ll leave again.”

Kei’s grip on his shoulder tightened. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“You always say that.”

Kei grabbed Ren’s chin gently, forcing him to look back. “Then give me the chance to prove it.”

Ren’s eyes burned.

“I’m not fragile,” he whispered. “I can fight. But I can’t fight for two.”

Kei didn’t answer with words.

Instead, he leaned in—not for a kiss, but for the closeness. Foreheads touching. Eyes locked. Breaths shared.

A silent truce.

For now.

Later That Night

Ren sat on the windowsill in the dark, a blanket around his shoulders. The rain had returned—steady and soft against the glass.

He didn’t hear Kei walk in.

But he felt it when the blanket shifted and Kei wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

They didn’t talk.

Not for a while.

Then Ren said quietly, “I had a lover before all this.”

Kei’s body stiffened slightly.

Ren didn’t look at him. “His name was Sora. He said he loved me. But when my family decided I was to be married off to fix some ‘legacy debt,’ he disappeared. Sold out to them. Left me like I was nothing.”

Kei didn’t speak.

Ren finally turned. “So if I’m guarded… if I push… it’s because I’ve been discarded before. I won’t let it happen again.”

Kei nodded slowly. “Then don’t.”

He looked down at Ren’s stomach, his hand hovering like he wasn’t sure if he had the right to touch it.

Ren guided his hand there. Warm. Steady.

And something cracked between them.

Not a collapse.

Not yet.

But a beginning.