CH329

CH328
Ren 
 
He wasn’t there the next time, though I could tell that he had been there recently. Maybe he had just stepped into the hall. I hoped that was the case. I found myself nervous, glacing around, unsettled with the silence, the scent, the unfamiliarity of the room. The door opened and he walked in, wearing the same black on black look, but this shirt had red trim around the collar. I relaxed and he drew closer, setting a bag of food on the little half table. His expression was serious but compassionate.  
“My apologies for worrying you. I thought you would still be asleep.” He sank into the chair at my bedside. “Perhaps you are a faster healer than I first thought.” 
“T-Thanks...” 
"So... who are you really?" 
I blinked at him, saying nothing as we stared at each other. I tried to gather my thoughts, but a wave of panic swept over me from the far reaches of my mind to where Ren was, cowering and fearful. My heart raced. I had so many questions for her, for Ryuu, for this world, yet I simply stared at him.  
"Aren't you going to say anything?" 
“Are you?” He smirked. “Who... or what do you think I am?” 
“That I haven’t figure out yet.”  
He leaned forward plucking a piece of fruit out of the bag. 
“I was hoping you could tell me why Hotaru is so obsessed with you,” Ryuu said. “You seem... too smart to have dated... and Hotaru isn’t the type to go to the lengths he’s gone to for you simply because you’re beautiful.” 
He bit into the apple, eyes it. The sweetness of it tickled my nose.  
“My plans to take care of you will not change,” he said. “You are my citizen after all.” 
I had no answer for that, but Ren shivered, stepped forward and started to speak.  
“My father’s company...” 
I went still, this felt so familiar and concerning all at once. I hadn’t known we were heir to anything. 
Or was that the problem? 
“Yes?” 
She cleared out throat. “I... I think... Well... I don’t know for sure. A-Adele never... I mean...” 
He reached out, taking our hand. It was warmer than I expected. The heat of it radiated up my arm and straight through me. 
“Breathe,” he said gently. "Given everything that’s happened, I understand if you’re feeling overwhelmed. But you have nothing to fear from me. Take a deep breath.” 
I did and nodded.  
“Eat,” he said. “We can... talk about something else. How about... what you’d like to do?” 
“Do?” 
He nodded. “Would you like to go back to school? Travel? Perhaps you’d like to simply be independently wealthy for a little while?” He eyed me. “You would make a pretty, pampered princess, and at the rate that Hotaru seems to want to piss me off, you can have his Estate.” 
I cringed.  
“To burn down if it would please you.” 
I blinked at him, stunned. “You’re serious...” 
“Completely.” 
I shook my head. “I have no desire to b-burn down his house.” 
Well, the real Ren didn’t, but it sounded like the least that should be done.  
“I don’t have an idea of what I might like to do...” 
He nodded. “You’ll have the time and funds to decide.” 
He looked around. “You’ll be in the hospital for at least a few more days, so is there anything I can get for you to entertain yourself?” He smiled. “Books? Cards? Chess?” 
“I can’t... entertain myself with cards or chess.” 
“You can if I’m here, too.” 
I swallowed meeting his gaze. “... will you be here?” 
His gaze softened and he smiled.  
“If you want me.” 
 
Ryuu  
The truth was that even if she hadn’t asked me to be there, I would have been. She just made it so I didn’t have to keep finding reasons to be there.  
The aftermath of Hotaru’s little party and all the administration that needed to be dealt with meant my calendar was crazy, but no matter how busy things got—how many fires needed putting out—I found myself circling back to the hospital. Back to her room. Back to her. 
Ren thanked me, even if I did nothing but sit in her room while she slept. Occasionally, she would say that I didn’t have to be there so often, or all the time, but she never asked me to leave and I never offered. 
In between calls, I’d slide into the chair in the corner of her room and stay there until some assistant messaged me something urgent enough to tear me away.  
We never touched, but with every meal we shared and game we played while she was feeling well enough to stay awake, she relaxed.  
She smiled.  
We flirted.  
God, we flirted.  
It was subtle. Dry quips, lingering glances, the way her mouth curved when she tossed a jab at me that I let hit just because I liked seeing her smirk. Sometimes, she'd raise her brows at something I said, challenge me with that sharp tongue of hers, and I’d lean just a little closer, close enough to see the edge of her vulnerability before she covered it back up with bravado.  
When she had nightmares and woke up at odd hours, I was there to soothe her back to sleep, to talk to her until she was able to sleep. Sometimes, she didn’t wake at all or have nightmares if I just left her covered in my jacket.  
If she looked a little embarrassed when she woke up, snuggling into my jacket, if I enjoyed the softer side of her, clinging to it and breathing in the scent of my cologne, I couldn’t be blamed and we didn’t talk about it.  
When she got cold, she wore my jacket like armor. I never asked for it back, just traded it out when my cologne had faded from it.  
And she could tell, but we didn’t talk about what that meant. What I did ask about were her bruises. Not the fresh ones. Not the bullet wound or the bandages or the broken fingers.  
The ones that came long before. The faded marks on her ribs, the ones on her back, near her hip when the doctors came in to be sure that she was healing well enough. She tried to laugh them off the first time. Said she was clumsy. But I knew better. 
She only sounded... as young as I suspected she was when she was lying about her older injuries. Any other time there was that hard edge to her that had led her to bashing someone’s head in with a thermos and shooting Hotaru when he’d tried to assault her. I had seen enough broken people in my life to know what lingering damage looked like. 
But I didn’t push. I just made note to ensure that Adele and her wicked daughter were getting the same kindness they had shown Ren.  
And Ren... didn’t ask after them. Much like Haruka never seemed to ask about much of anything other than how I and my brothers were. There was a knowledge in her eyes that meant she didn’t have to ask and she accepted it.