Reflect || Toge Inumaki x Oc (Female)

Chapter 25: I Can't Say - Part Two

ᡕᠵ᠊ᡃ່࡚ࠢ࠘ ⸝່ࠡࠣ᠊߯᠆ࠣ࠘ᡁࠣ࠘᠊᠊ࠢ࠘𐡏 ...♡

"You... love me?"

Her hands shook in his while she tried to not break down once again. He quietly nodded his head, his lips pressed into a line as he waited for the words she was trying to say.

Her eyes were dry yet tears still managed to slip out. "Oh Toge..." she cried, her head dipping into his shoulder while her fingers held onto his hands more tightly. "You're definitely going to want to break up with me now..."

His eyes dropped down sadly but he accepted what he thought were her real feelings.

"I can't say it back," she started to say, a shaky breath separating her confession and her explanation. "Not because I don't feel the same, but because if I do say it... then it will be more painful if something bad were to happen to either of us."

Toge's hands were lightly tangled in hers now, so as he slipped one of them out of her grasp, she barely noticed until it landed on her shoulder. Tired brown eyes watched as her back rose and fell with uneasy breaths. His hand drew comforting patterns over her back as he reassured her, "nothing is going to happen to either of us, okay?"

Her messy caramel hair rubbed into his shoulder while she nodded, a rough sigh leaving her mouth.

"You don't have to say anything until you're ready to, okay?"

"Okay."

Understanding where she was coming from made his doubts wash away, but it also made him feel the need to prove to her that everything was going to be fine.

He started by pulling her gently to the couch and letting her sit down while he ran off to the other side of the room to get her some tissues. As he returned to the couch and sat beside her, she buried him into the cushions underneath her body weight and her desperate need for comfort.

His back laid firmly against the couch cushions as she lay on her stomach against his. Their arms wrapped around each other while their legs entangled. A soft sigh escaped from Kaori as her hair was combed with Toge's fingers.

The paused TV was the only light in the room, making them both tired as they relaxed on the couch. Soft voices from outside the room lulled them both to sleep, one faster than the other. Toge laid with his eyes open just slightly, but they became aware as a knock on the door let him know he had a visitor.

"Salmon," he said, quietly enough to not wake the girl on his chest.

Opening the door, Kaori's mom walked inside, coming over to the couch as she saw a hand waving above the edge of the cushion. Her eyes landed on the pair, lovingly laying together in peace. She felt bad for interrupting, but it didn't seem to wake Kaori at all.

"I just came to see how she was doing," she began, her hands fiddling with the edge of her shirt.

"...Seaweed."

The two stayed silent, waiting for the other to speak first. It was Kaori's mom again, "I'm really happy she has you, Toge."

He looked up at her as he stayed lying down. Her eyes were red but they were soft and happy, he knew she only meant well.