[The King's Avatar] The Misconstrued Situation With An Overdue Explanation

Chapter 36: Sorrowful Reconciliation

1304 words, 6 minutes

By the time he finished and waited quietly for her response, a tsunami of guilt overcame her.

Nagoya was situated not too far from the coast, so it made geographical sense.

Josaku didn't speak in a tone that would hint he was lying. Akane didn't need to have seen his body language in order to further confirm that, too.

Her voice cracked, unable to get a coherent sound out.

What was she supposed to say after this?

"Who else did you tell?" Her voice was barely above a whisper.

"Your friends," he answered after a moment.

Her eyes widened when she realized something. "Wait... is that why Tang Rou and Guo Guo told you I left for the airport? So that you'd tell me there...?"

"Yeah. I didn't text you because I thought you might've blocked me already. Plus... I wanted to tell you in person."

Akane's head spun. "And why won't you tell your father?"

"Because he's already stressed enough with supervising construction projects. I don't wanna overburden him and make him think I'm some candy-ass," he replied, the fear of disappointment nipping him. It was no secret that fathers expected their sons to be strong, so for him to fear that he wasn't strong as an adult... Josaku didn't need the added damage.

"But why would you still tell me after I basically left you?" If anything, she felt like the least-deserving person to hear him out.

"Because it shook me up, Akane." Something about his hushed voice made her heart bloat with ache, especially since he didn't call her "darling" this time. She could feel the trauma reaching her through the radio waves. "I didn't want to lose you because of something that wasn't even my fault."

This was one of those moments where she wasn't sure whether to feel honored or entangled with responsibility. He'd been shaken up and desperately wanted to talk to her about his assault over everyone else.

"Not only that..." he continued. "...but because you got it all wrong. You thought it was me who cheated on you. You thought it was my fault. Don't you remember what you saw?" His tone wasn't accusatory or rude; he just wanted to prove a point to her.

Akane recalled. "She dragged you in..." After hearing what happened after she left, Akane saw the situation in a whole different light. A light that shone on Ting Ting's controlling behavior. "Come to think of it... you didn't even talk that much."

"That's because Ting Ting didn't let me," answered Josaku. "She would either kiss me or interrupt me because she didn't want you to know the truth."

The kiss... Akane painfully remembered the way he was pressed against the brick wall, how his palms touched the bricks... "You never even held her back," she further recalled from the beginning of his story. Tears started to spill again. "You didn't lay a finger on her..."