Half past five in the morning.
The dull gray light of the Tokyo dawn began to filter through the curtains of the VIP hospital room. The quiet space was filled only by the steady beeping of the heart monitor and the soft hum of the ventilation fan.
However, the atmosphere inside the room right now carried a completely different vibe. The room was heavy with the distinct, pungent scent of chestnut flowers. It was the wildest, most primal scent of male and female lust intertwining after a night that ignored all boundaries.
On the narrow hospital bed meant for one, two figures were tightly entangled under a thin blanket. His uncasted arm clung tightly to Chizuru's bare waist, pressing her smooth naked chest against his gaunt but burning hot torso.
The two had only fallen asleep less than two hours ago. The stamina of a blood cancer patient undergoing chemotherapy was already like a candle in the wind. Let alone last night, when the survival instinct and a thirst for conquest had defeated all rationality, causing him to devour her time and time again, draining every last drop of strength from a body battling a severe illness. He fell into a deep sleep in a state of total exhaustion, his chest heaving heavily, yet the corner of his lips carried an unprecedented peace.
The real disaster lay in the surrounding scene. The floor was a literal battlefield. His hospital gown was tossed haphazardly over the back of the sofa. Chizuru's t-shirt lay abandoned on the ground. The climax of the chaos was her black lace bra dangling from the IV pole, while her delicate lace panties were casually tossed on the bedside cabinet. Anyone with normal cognitive function walking in right now would instantly know a hurricane of lust had just swept through here.
...
Six o'clock sharp.
The clicking of the lock echoed, breaking the silence. The latch of the VIP room slowly opened.
"Kazuya, Mom brought you some soup."
Harumi's warm voice rang out, followed by Kazuo, Grandma Nagomi, and finally a wheelchair being pushed in. On the wheelchair was Grandma Sayuri, who had miraculously survived her critical condition and was recovering in this very hospital. Since they were out for a morning stroll, the two families decided to drop by and visit Kazuya early together.
The door swung wide open. And Harumi's words caught in her throat.
The four adults stood frozen like petrified statues right at the threshold. Their gazes swept from the lace panties on the cabinet, the bra draped over the IV pole, to the pile of messy clothes. Finally, their vision collided with the image of the two kids sleeping soundly in each other's arms on the bed, Chizuru's bare shoulders and skin covered in bright red strawberry marks peeking out from under the edge of the blanket. Along with that, the pungent scent of chestnut flowers hit their noses directly, exposing an undeniable, naked truth.
The fruit basket in Kazuo's hand dropped to the floor with a thud, apples rolling everywhere.
The loud noise jolted Kazuya awake. His pitch-black eyes snapped open, the defensive reflex of someone constantly on guard instantly activating. He shot half upright, but the muscle ache and exhaustion from last night, combined with the chemo drugs, made him sway.
The moment he realized four parents were staring blankly at him, his pupils contracted to their absolute limit. The brain of the man who always manipulated every situation suddenly experienced clinical death.
Chizuru was also woken up by his movement. She stretched sleepily, the blanket slipping down to reveal a portion of her full breasts.
"Kazuya... Is it morning already...?" She mumbled.
"Do not get up yet!" He hissed through his teeth, hurriedly using his good arm to snatch the blanket, pulling it tightly from her neck down, wrapping her up like a cocoon.
At this point, Chizuru groggily opened her eyes. Her vision caught the four faces frozen at the door. It took her brain exactly three seconds to process the situation. She was naked. He was naked. Her underwear was flying everywhere. And her grandmother and his parents were standing there watching the whole thing.
The atmosphere froze solid. No one dared to twitch. Kazuya sat on the bed, his upper half bare with faint scratches left by Chizuru's nails on his back and chest. He looked at his family. They looked at him. They looked at Chizuru, who now did not dare come out of the blanket due to immeasurable shame and humiliation. If there were a hole here, both he and she swore they would use it immediately. This humiliation was ten thousand times worse than being exposed online!
In Kazuya's mind, tens of thousands of defensive scripts raced by.
"Should I say this is an accident? That it is a side effect of the medication? No, that is complete bullshit. I will be cursed at, forbidden, condemned as a bastard taking advantage of a kind girl while half dead."
The fear of losing Chizuru and facing family opposition began to choke his chest, but then he bit his lip so hard it bled.
Enough.
He had been running away for two lifetimes. He had lied to himself long enough. If last night he had the courage to confess to her, then today, he must also have the courage to protect her against all prejudice.
Kazuya took a deep breath. His face, pale from exhaustion, suddenly became incredibly serious. An absolute sincerity and calmness replaced the fluster. He did not even raise his hand to cover his body, but merely looked straight into the eyes of the four adults. His voice was deep, hoarse, resolute, and carried a rare hint of anxiety.
"Dad, Mom, Grandma, and Mrs.Sayuri." Kazuya spoke up, breaking the silent atmosphere. "You don't need to say anything else. Chizuru and I...we crossed the line. But this is not an impulsive act or exploitation."
He bowed his head, the most solemn bow ever from a man who always held his head high arrogantly.
"I love her. With all of this ruined life, I love Chizuru. I know I am severely ill, I know I am a selfish jerk for dragging her into my quagmire. Even if you scold, beat, or forbid me, I will take it all. But please do not blame Chizuru. Everything. It was all my initiative."
From under the blanket, Chizuru's small hand reached out, tightly gripping his wrist, trembling. He was protecting her. He would rather take all the blame on himself, admitting his feelings openly, rather than finding a cowardly excuse to cover it up.
A silence dragged on for another ten seconds. The beeping of the heart monitor seemed to beat faster. Kazuya closed his eyes, bracing himself for Kazuo's fury or a slap from Sayuri for disgracing their granddaughter.
"*Sob*. Oh my god..."
A choked sob rang out. Kazuya snapped his eyes open.
Grandma Nagomi was covering her face, tears streaming down. She turned to hug Grandma Sayuri, crying loudly. "Sayuri, do you see? My foolish grandson. He finally knows how to speak human language! He truly loves our Chizuru!"
Grandma Sayuri sat in her wheelchair, tears also welling up in the corners of her eyes. She smiled kindly, the smile of someone who had passed through death's door and only wished for her granddaughter to find happiness. "I see it, Nagomi. The two kids. They have truly found each other."
Kazuya's jaw dropped.
What is this? No fury?
Kazuo let out a sigh, stepping up to pick up the apples on the floor and put them in the basket. His face was flushed red with embarrassment for his son, but his eyes shone with ultimate relief.
"We are not forbidding you two anything, Kazuya." Kazuo cleared his throat, trying to maintain the strict demeanor of a father. "Your mother, grandmother, and I all know how much Chizuru has sacrificed for you. The fact that you two love each other is something this family could not be happier to celebrate. You do not need to worry about us forbidding anything."
Kazuya's heart felt as if a thousand pound boulder had been lifted. His chest expanded, a choking feeling of warmth and gratitude surging up. For the first time in his life, he realized that sincerity does not always bring betrayal.
"However." Kazuo's voice suddenly lowered, his gaze sweeping over the lace panties and the bra dangling from the IV pole, coughing dryly. "This is still a hospital after all. Kazuya, you have blood cancer, zero immune system, and just survived a severe illness. Being intimate here *ahem*... It is a bit too wild and unrestrained."
Harumi, standing nearby, also blushed and covered her mouth to smile. "That is right, Kazuya. It is good that you two are young and passionate, but you have to preserve your health. What if a nurse came in for a surprise check?"
Under the blanket, Chizuru let out an agonizing groan, wishing she could just die and get it over with.
Kazuya's face was now officially smoking. The tyrant who once boldly declared he dared any doctor to come in at 10 PM was now dead silent, his ears bright red. He kept his head down, picking up the hospital gown to temporarily cover himself and hide the battlefield marks.
"Alright, let us go out for a walk for a bit so these two can clean up the aftermath." Grandma Sayuri waved her hand, smiling meaningfully. "We will be back in thirty minutes."
The door slammed shut.
The room fell into silence. Kazuya turned to look at the lumpy blanket beside him. He exhaled, raised his good arm to wipe his face, and burst out laughing. A refreshing, unguarded laugh that released the suppression of so many years of his life.
Chizuru poked half of her face, as red as a tomato, out from the blanket, glaring at him sharply.
"How can you still laugh?! I lost all my face with the family! It is all your fault, you oversexed brute!" She swung her small fist, thumping it against his chest.
Kazuya did not dodge. He grabbed her hand, pulled her closer, and planted a soft kiss on her forehead. "Sorry. But at least we do not have to hide anymore."
Chizuru froze. All her anger suddenly vanished. She buried her head in the crook of his neck, smiling shyly.
Yes, they officially belonged to each other, witnessed despite the disaster by their family.
...
Ten in the morning.
Chizuru had returned to the apartment to get more clean clothes and prepare food for him.
Kazuya sat alone in the hospital room. The chestnut flower scent had been completely sucked away by the air purifier. He was leaning against the pillows, using his laptop to check the comments apologizing on his stream channel after the media turnaround. Everything seemed peaceful.
Click.
The hospital room door opened. But the person who entered was not a nurse, nor was it Chizuru.
Kazuya frowned. His pitch black eyes instantly sharpened like razors upon recognizing the person standing at the door.
It was Night Owl, the fame hungry YouTuber who made the exposure video about him and Chizuru. Only, his appearance right now was not arrogant like on the internet. He wore a pulled down hoodie, his face haggard, his wild eyes darting around the room full of fear. He locked the door from the inside and walked quickly to the bedside.
"Kinoshita-san. Do not call security yet." Night Owl raised both hands to chest level, panting. "I came here to negotiate."
Kazuya slowly closed his laptop and turned on the voice recorder in his pocket. The gentle aura from the morning when he was with Chizuru completely evaporated, returning a ruthless and cold blooded tyrant. He looked at the guy with half an eye, his voice steady but carrying the pressure of a thousand tons.
"Negotiate? Do you think a dickhead about to be dragged to court for slander, facing millions of yen in fines to the point of having to sell his house, has the right to stand here and bark the word negotiate at me?"
"I know I was wrong! I was too stupid to mess with you!" Night Owl gritted his teeth, taking a silver USB drive from his pocket and slamming it onto the small bedside table. "But I am not the one who started this! Someone fed me the information, provided the receipts and photos to hire me to take down you and that girl!"
Kazuya's pupils contracted slightly. A name instantly flashed in his mind.
"Nanami Mami." He coldly spat out the name.
Night Owl widened his eyes in stun. "You...you knew?"
"No one is so bored as to ruin their ex's life except for that bitch." Kazuya scoffed. "Say it. What is in this USB?"
Night Owl swallowed hard, his panicked eyes looking out the window as if afraid of a sniper.
"When you sued me, I tried to investigate Mami in reverse to find evidence to save myself. I infiltrated her devices and her new rich boyfriend's devices." His voice trembled, carrying extreme terror. "Kazuya, you do not know what you are up against. Her boyfriend. His cover is a businessman, but he is actually a Yakuza money laundering network and a large scale drug trafficking ring in Roppongi. She knows everything, and she is using that dirty money to bribe the media and set up slush funds to hide crimes!"
The temperature in the hospital room suddenly dropped to sub zero. Kazuya tightened his grip on the blanket.
"All the encrypted bank statements, drug transaction texts, and money laundering audio recordings of her and her boyfriend are in this USB." Night Owl pushed the silver USB forward. "I am giving it to you. In exchange. You drop the lawsuit against me. I need to flee the country immediately. They already know I poked into their data. If I stay in Japan, I will die!"
The YouTuber practically dropped to his knees on the floor. The pathetic state of someone who played with fire and got burned was clearly evident.
Kazuya looked at the silver USB. His eyes were pitch black, his brain operating at maximum speed to analyze the pros and cons. He could refuse to drop the suit and let this guy go to jail. But if what he said was true, Nanami Mami was no longer just a normal jealous narcissist. She had sunk deep into the underworld, holding dark power in her hands. And someone like that, once determined to destroy him and Chizuru, would not just stop at online exposure posts. They could use physical violence.
"Leave it there. And get out before I change my mind." Kazuya dropped a cold sentence. "The lawsuit will be suspended. Fend for yourself."
Night Owl acted as if he had caught a lifeline. He hurriedly bowed deeply in gratitude, pulled up his hood, and slipped out of the hospital room like a ghost.
Only Kazuya and the silver USB on the table remained in the room.
His instincts as a media and computer expert warned him. This could be a trap. This USB could contain malware to destroy data, or install ransomware on his computer to wipe out the evidence of the exposure case. Nanami Mami was more cunning than that YouTuber thought. The fact that he infiltrated so easily was very likely because she intentionally left the bait, using his hands to send a ticking time bomb to Kazuya.
He reached out and picked up the USB, flipping it back and forth between his fingers. He absolutely would not plug it into his work laptop.
"Mami. Do you really want to play that all along?" Kazuya muttered. A brutal, bloodthirsty fire that he had tried to bury long ago flared up in his eyes.
He picked up his phone. This had crossed the line of schoolyard squabbles or cyberbullying. When it came to the Yakuza and drugs, any mistake had to be paid with a life. Furthermore, he knew himself perfectly well. If they dared to touch a single hair on Chizuru's head, he wasn't sure if his damn moral boundaries would hold anymore. He would kill someone literally. He would truly slaughter them without caring about the law.
Therefore, he needed an anchor of rationality. He needed his team.
Kazuya opened the three person group chat consisting of him, Kibe, and Kuribayashi. His fingers typed at dizzying speed, decisive and carrying the nature of an absolute command.
[Assemble. Immediately. Drop everything you are doing and come to my hospital room.]
Kibe responded almost instantly. [What is wrong Kazuya? Did your illness get worse? Or did you and Ichinose have a fight again?]
Kazuya did not answer that joking question. He typed the final message, razor sharp and carrying the smell of gunpowder.
[Not relationship stuff. This is an urgent matter. Call that lawyer and some even more too, Kibe. I need you guys to hold me back so I do not turn into a murderer.]
Pressing send, Kazuya tossed the phone aside. He squinted at the Tokyo sky, which was pulling swirling dark clouds past the window. The game of hide and seek was over. If Mami and the underworld wanted to destroy what he had just found again, he would personally open the gates of hell to welcome them.