43

When night fell, Artemis appeared in my room with my dinner and a jar of blue and yellow flowers. I didn't ask who sent them and focused on the food and the hot chocolate.

"Did Shin update you on the past few weeks?" she asked as she sat in the armchair with the remote control for the TV.

"We didn't talk about Hebi," I replied, stirring the pumpkin soup with seafood.

"When the other members found out what the Lilies did to you, things really got out of hand," she said, catching my attention. "He didn't tell you anything?" she asked, confused yet excited.

I shook my head and took a sip of the chocolate to moisten my dry throat. Smiling at me, Artemis turned on the TV.

"It’s official, the mayor declared a curfew for everyone in the city. After the wave of vandalism that tarnished the West Side in the past weeks, many residents are afraid to leave their homes, the public school announced a temporary closure, and a large portion of the stores have decided to keep their doors shut. Anonymous sources revealed that the violence began after Ryuuji Hataki, son of Katsuro Hataki, leader of the Hebi Clan, was brutally beaten near the cinema. He was rushed to the emergency room, and since then, we haven't heard any more news about the incident..."

Then, chaotic images taken by cell phones showed people dressed in white and wearing masks breaking into a convenience store before flames consumed the place, streets and cars being vandalized in the middle of the night, and police chasing out-of-control cars. The city was in chaos.

"Everyone wanted retaliation, and it’s not like I could stop them," I said, changing the channel, but all the channels were covering the Hebi attacks on Lily territory.

"They look like they had fun," I commented, keeping my eyes on the screen.

"Not exactly, they’re still pretty pissed about everything. Even with the war, we’ve never attacked them in the neutral zone, and believe me, we had plenty of chances, especially with Matias, but we’re not that low," she said.

"And that’s the problem," I pointed out with my mouth full, and Artemis raised an eyebrow, waiting for me to continue. "If you want to gain an advantage in the middle of this mess, you’ll have to break the rules, even if that makes you as low as them," I said, going back to my food.

"Ah! I think you speak from personal experience."

"I did it for fun, not for my dad or the Hebi," I agreed, not able to suppress my smile.

"And does this have to do with the fact that Kenji and Shin have been acting pretty weird?" she asked, studying me with interest.

"How did things end up like this?" I muttered to myself. "You brought me food, smiled, and now we’re talking like old friends. I liked the days when I called you a bitch and ignored your existence," I threw in, hoping to provoke her, but my half-sister just rolled her eyes and stood up.

"Okay! I think this is my limit for being a good half-sister. I’m glad you’re not vegetating in a bed," she said, turning her back and leaving my room.

I smiled for having irritated her a bit, but my smile quickly faded when Matias's image dominated the screen. He was leaving the Town Hall next to his mother, wearing an expensive blue suit, his hair neatly done, and without his usual earrings. He looked incredibly handsome, and it didn’t seem like two long months had passed.

When I heard the door close, I abandoned the utensils and got up, walking out of the room and finding the corridor silent. I moved with slow steps toward Kenji’s room; it was messy and empty, and no matter how much I tried, I couldn’t find his spare phone.

I was leaving the room when I ran into him in the hallway, dressed in shorts and a t-shirt. Kenji froze in surprise when he saw me, but quickly composed himself and cleared his throat to disguise it.

"You should be in bed," he said softly.

"You didn’t come visit me," I declared, forcing him to avoid my gaze. "Is this your way of saying you're disappointed in me too?" I asked, taking a step toward him.

"No. Of course not," he replied, rubbing his neck tiredly. "I just don’t like seeing you like this, it makes me uneasy," he revealed with a long sigh. "Sorry for not coming to see you," he apologized, forcing an awkward smile.

"Don’t worry, I’m pretty strong," I assured, ignoring the sharp pain in my temple. "I’m fine, it was nothing. I’ll be back to having fun soon," I said, making his smile grow, relieving him a bit.

"It’s good to hear that. We really missed you," he said, gently touching my shoulder. "Have you eaten? We can have dinner together if you want," he suggested, trying to cheer up.

"Kenji, I need your phone," my request made him hesitate and cast a discreet glance around.

"Maybe it’s not a good idea, Ryuuji," he tried, hiding his hands in his pockets.

"I need the phone."

"The Shin..."

"Kenji, please," I murmured, stealing his words. Kenji bit his lower lip and pulled the phone out of his pocket. "Thanks," I said, relieved, and quickly left the hallway.

I went to the back garden, a place almost no one ever went. I breathed in the fresh night air as I sat on the stone bench facing the dark forest. As I dialed his number, I heard the sound of branches swaying with the wind, my heart racing as I ignored the persistent pain from my injuries.

"Who is it?"

The hoarse voice made every cell in my body tremble, and a great relief filled my chest.

"Matias," I called, feeling his name slip between my lips like honey.

A silence formed on the other side of the line, and I found myself smiling, imagining him paralyzed with the phone at his ear.

"One minute," he requested almost as a whisper. I then heard his muffled voice telling everyone to leave.

"Ryuuji, how are you?" he asked urgently.

"I've been out of it for a while, but I'm fine now," I replied, gripping the phone tighter.

"It's so good to hear your voice," I confessed, taking a deep breath.

"Shit! I've missed you so much," I murmured, longing for his touch.

"I... I missed you too," he said, still in a soft voice. "After that night, I tried to find out how you were, but the twins refused to tell me. Hell, I was so worried," he explained, stealing a hungry smile from me.

"I liked hearing that," I confessed, making him laugh.

"Looks like you're still the same," he commented, his voice softer. "But I still want to know how it went," he asked, returning to the original subject.

"We don't need to talk about that," I dismissed, glancing over my shoulder. The time for my medicine was approaching, and everyone would know I wasn't in my room.

"Ryuuji, I need to know," he declared intensely. "How horrible was I?" he insisted, leaving me silent.

I looked at the deep sky with its silver moon, I had to tell him or he wouldn't turn the page.

"I had a concussion, lost some teeth, and the doctors think I lost a bit of my vision," I answered, without enthusiasm. "I still need to do some tests to be sure," I explained, hearing the sound of his heavy breathing.

I waited for more questions, but the line went silent, so I waited and waited. I closed my eyes when I heard something break, followed by the sound of glass shattering. I licked my dry lips when the sound of his gasping breath dominated the line.

"I wish I had seen that, you look so hot when you snap," I joked, hoping to make him laugh again.

"Hey, it wasn't anything. Don't forget I'm a Hataki, it takes a lot more to break me," I declared, wishing I could see him, kiss him.

"Fuck, how can you say that?" he retorted, sounding irritated.

"What did you expect?"

"Hell, I don't know," he murmured, making me smile.

"I have a few things in mind that I want to hear you say," I commented, wanting to ease the tension.

"You always do," he agreed, in a hoarse voice. "The wh..."

His voice disappeared as I heard footsteps approaching behind me. I wasn’t surprised when the phone was taken from me and I found my father. He was wearing moss-green dress pants and a white button-up shirt, looking like he had just come from a meeting. His dark eyes, like the night, stared at me emotionlessly as he brought the phone to his ear.

"Matias, right?" he asked calmly.

I imagined the guy on the other end of the line becoming tense. My gaze moved to the two boys in the glass door frame.

"I know you still want to talk, but Ryuuji needs to take his meds and rest," he said, staring at my face.

"You don't need to be shy, I know it's you," he declared, making my body tremble.

"No, I would never do that to him. I can be many things, kid, but I'm not a bad father," he responded, catching me off guard.

What were they talking about?

"Maybe we should talk more about this another day, Matias," he declared, gently touching my hair. I looked away, feeling the pain intensify as I clenched my jaw.

"I agree, goodnight," he said. And he hung up before putting the phone back in his pocket.

I forced myself to meet his gaze, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t read what was going on in his mind.

"Come on, you need to go back to bed," he ordered, reaching his hand out toward me.

"I'm fine," I retorted, refusing his help.

I walked back to my room slowly, feeling the eyes of the three burn into my back.