CHAPTER 7 — THE MAN BEHIND THE SUIT
1380 Words
Kaito Ren was not the kind of man who looked weak.
Even bleeding, clothes torn, blood drying across his side, he still carried that impossible, steady presence. But as he leaned back on the bed, chest rising too shallowly, Aanya finally saw something she had never imagined existed inside him.
He was exhausted.
Truly, brutally exhausted.
“You need a doctor,” she said.
“I have one,” Kaito replied, voice faint but firm. “He’s on his way.”
She glanced at the blood soaking through the bandage he held against his ribs. “You’re still bleeding.”
His eyes flickered. “You’re very observant.”
“This isn’t funny!” she snapped. Fear pushed her words out too fast. “What if the bullet hit deeper? What if you’re—”
“Aanya,” he cut in quietly, “I’ve survived worse.”
“That doesn’t make it any better!”
He didn’t argue. He just looked at her—really looked—like he was memorizing the panic in her eyes, the tremble in her hands.
“You’re shaking,” he said. “Sit before you fall.”
She wanted to refuse, but her legs genuinely felt unsteady. She sank into the chair.
Then a knock sounded at the door.
Kaito’s posture tightened instantly.
“Come in.”
An older man stepped inside carrying a black medical case. No white coat, no introduction—his presence alone explained who he was.
“The usual spot?” the doctor asked.
“Side,” Kaito answered.
The doctor set down the case and opened the torn shirt. Aanya’s breath caught.
A fresh bullet graze ran along Kaito’s ribs—angry, red, brutal. But it was the other marks that stole her breath.
Old scars.
Long ones.
Short ones.
Bullet wounds.
Knife slices.
The map of a life she couldn’t imagine.
“How many times?” she whispered before she could stop herself.
Kaito didn’t look at her.
“Enough.”
The doctor snorted. “Too many.”
He cleaned the wound. Kaito didn’t flinch—not once. Only the subtle tightening of his jaw betrayed any pain.
Aanya’s nails dug into the chair.
“What happened downstairs?” she asked softly.
“Negotiations failed,” Kaito said.
“Meaning?”
“They came to kill me.”
“And you walked outside anyway?” Her voice cracked.
He didn’t deny it.
When the doctor finished stitching, taping, and bandaging, he gave Aanya a meaningful look.
“He’ll pretend he’s fine. Don’t let him lie to you.”
Then he left them alone.
Silence settled between them.
Aanya swallowed. “Kaito… you could’ve died.”
His gaze drifted toward her. “So could you.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“I know.”
She leaned forward. “Why did you go out there alone?”
He looked past her for a moment. “Because if they think I’m afraid, they’ll take it out on my people. On you.”
“That’s not your responsibility,” she whispered.
“Everything in this house is my responsibility,” he said. “Including you.”
She hated how those words warmed and frightened her at the same time.
“You told me to stay down,” she murmured. “I did. I listened. But I heard everything. The gunshots. The crash. I thought—”
He looked sharply at her. “Stop.”
“I thought you died,” she said anyway.
His eyes softened.
Kaito was not a gentle man—not in touch, not in tone, not in nature. But something in his gaze shifted. He drew a slow breath.
“And you were afraid,” he said.
“Of course I was afraid!” she burst out. “What did you think I’d feel?”
“I thought you would trust me,” he answered.
“That’s not fair,” she whispered. “No one walks into gunfire and walks back out like nothing happened.”
He held her gaze. “I told you I would come back.”
“You can’t promise that.”
“No,” he admitted, “I can’t.”
She pressed a hand to her forehead. “Then why risk your life? Why put yourself in the line of fire for me? Why keep me here? Why protect me? Tell me the truth. No more half sentences.”
Kaito studied her—calm, unreadable.
“You want the truth? Fine.”
He leaned back slightly, breath controlled.
“The night I saw you in that alley,” he said, “you looked at me in a way no one else ever has.”
“I didn’t even know who you were.”
“That’s not the point,” he replied. “You looked at me like I had a choice. Like I wasn’t a monster.”
Aanya blinked. “You saved me. That wasn’t monstrous.”
“I didn’t save you,” he said. “I took you.”
“But you didn’t hurt me.”
He paused.
“No,” he said quietly. “I didn’t.”
“And you don’t want to,” she said before she could stop herself.
His eyes darkened—not with anger, but something unspoken, something heavy.
“No,” he admitted. “I don’t.”
Aanya’s breath stalled.
She lowered her voice. “So what am I to you?”
Silence.
Then—
“A reason,” he said.
“For what?”
“For remembering I’m still human.”
Her heart clenched.
“Kaito…”
He shifted, wincing slightly at the pull of the stitches.
“Aanya, you are more dangerous than the men I fought today.”
She blinked. “Me?”
“They want me dead.”
His voice dropped.
“You make me break my rules.”
Her pulse stuttered.
“That’s not my fault,” she whispered.
“I didn’t say it was.”
He held her gaze.
“I said it’s dangerous.”
She didn’t know how to respond.
Aanya stood abruptly, needing air. “You should rest.”
“I don’t need—”
“You do,” she said firmly. “Lie down properly.”
He raised an eyebrow. “You’re ordering me now?”
“Yes,” she snapped. “You almost died. Just listen for once.”
A faint, tired smirk tugged at his mouth.
“Fine.”
He shifted down slowly until he lay flat, turning his head slightly so he faced her.
Aanya dragged the chair closer.
“You don’t have to stay,” he murmured.
“I know.”
“Then why are you?”
She hesitated.
“I don’t want to hear footsteps outside this door,” she whispered, “and not know if they’re yours.”
Kaito’s eyes softened in a way she had never seen.
“That sounds like attachment,” he said gently.
She looked away, cheeks warm. “Don’t start.”
He closed his eyes for a moment—exhaustion pulling at him, softening the sharp edges of his face.
Aanya watched him.
One breath.
Two.
He wasn’t a devil right now.
He wasn’t a ruler.
He wasn’t the man who terrified half the city.
He was just Kaito Ren, lying injured on a bed, trusting her presence more than he’d ever admit aloud.
Minutes passed—quiet and heavy.
Once, distant voices traveled through the floorboards:
“…Yamazaki won’t stop here…”
“…they underestimated him today…”
“…the girl changes everything…”
She looked back at Kaito.
He was still awake—barely—eyes half-lidded, watching her through a haze of exhaustion.
“Get some sleep,” she whispered.
“I will,” he murmured. “Stay until I do.”
She nodded.
His breathing slowed.
Her fingers curled around the arm of the chair. She leaned forward, chin on her knees, unable to look away from him.
Just until he slept, she told herself.
Just until his breathing steadied.
Just until she knew, for certain, that the devil behind the suit was still alive.
But deep down, she already knew—
She wasn’t staying because she had to.
She was staying because she didn’t want him to sleep alone tonight.
- Writer
