Chapter 47: Fallen Petals, Broken Trust

Just as they began to let their guards down, the past came crashing back in a way neither of them could have anticipated. 

Tsukiko uncovered the shocking truth. Haruki was the brother of her ex-husband's affair.

The revelation hit like a thunderclap, jolting her to her core. The fragile trust she had begun to build with Haruki shattered in an instant. 

Her breath caught, her chest tightened, and the walls she had carefully built around herself started to crumble. 

She couldn't breathe, couldn't think. The image of Haruki, a person who had begun to matter to her, now stood as a painful reminder of all the betrayal that had almost destroyed her.

With shaking hands, Tsukiko retreated to her room, her sanctuary. 

She slammed the door behind her, the walls closing in as the weight of the truth pressed down on her. 

Her body shook with the force of her emotions as the trauma she thought she had left behind came rushing back.

She screamed.

A guttural cry tore through her, raw and untamed, the pain and confusion exploding from deep inside. The tears came next, endless and scorching, a flood she couldn't control. 

Her heart felt like it was being torn apart all over again.

She couldn't bear this. She couldn't bear the thought of being close to someone so intricately tied to her pain, to the memory of her broken marriage and the betrayal that had scarred her so deeply. 

Everything that had once felt safe and simple now felt like a lie.

Back at the street, Kai, still processing the entire situation, remains speechless. His wife notices and walks over to him, trying to snap him out of his thoughts.

"Are you good? What's wrong?" she asks.

Kai mutters, "Ah... nothing," before he adds, "Let's go."

Haruki drives them back home. As they ride, Kai's wife, always talkative, brings up a popular movie and asks whether Haruki has seen it, recommending that he watch it. 

Kai remains silent in the passenger seat, lost in his thoughts.

When they arrive at home, Kai thanks his brother-in-law Haruki for the dinner treat, and while his wife happily waves at Haruki. "Bye, brother! The dinner was good!!" she calls.

Haruki responds, "Just go inside already..."

Once inside, Kai's wife notices her husband's unusual behavior. "You've been like this since you went out for cigarettes. Aren't you going to tell me what's going on?"

Kai, looking haggard, stays silent before muttering, 

"Sha,"

"do you remember how devastated I was when Tsukiko went missing? And you… you came in right when I was at my lowest to add to my misery?" Kai closed his eyes briefly, the weight of those words sinking in. 

He leaned back in his chair, exhausted. 

The memories hit him like a tidal wave, dragging him back to a time when his life had taken an irreversible turn. He had never meant for things to end up like this, but here they were, and now everything seemed like a mistake.

It started innocently enough. The woman he'd been seeing wasn't some stranger, wasn't some distant acquaintance. 

No, it was someone who had always been there, someone familiar yet so unexpected in this new context.

It was Sha, his childhood friend. The one who had been there for him since they were kids. They had shared secrets, laughter, and memories that went all the way back to elementary school. Sha had been his constant companion, his confidante. 

Even after he married Tsukiko, Sha was still a part of his life. They would meet up every now and then, hang out like old friends do.

But over time, something had shifted. Sha, always playful and lighthearted, started showing signs of something more. Something Kai hadn't been willing to acknowledge at first. 

Sha had always been a bit more affectionate with him, but at first, he thought it was just her nature. She'd always been like that with everyone. Or so he told himself.

But as Tsukiko went to study, leaving Kai behind to continue his studies and work, Sha's affection turned into something heavier. Subtle touches, lingering looks, suggestive comments. And as the months went by, Kai found himself growing lonely. 

Tsukiko had always been there for him, always supportive, always patient. But her absence created a void he didn't know how to fill.

Sha filled that void.

At first, he resisted. He loved Tsukiko. He had always loved Tsukiko. But Sha's persistence and his own overwhelming loneliness broke through his walls. Kai couldn't help himself.

It was a mistake.

But once it happened, it didn't stop. He didn't want it to happen, but Sha didn't give him a choice. Every time he tried to pull away, she came back, convincing him that it was okay, that it was just temporary, that once Tsukiko came back, it would all go back to normal.

And so, Kai fell deeper into the affair, knowing it was wrong but unable to stop. His mind would tell him that it was a betrayal, that he was hurting Tsukiko, but his body, his desires, told him something else. 

It was an escape. 

A temporary fix. But it wasn't enough. It would never be enough.

He couldn't tell Tsukiko. He couldn't hurt her like that. He had promised her, after all, that he would be faithful, that he would always be the man she trusted.

But promises didn't matter in the face of his own weakness.

As Tsukiko returned from her studies, Kai told himself he would stop. He would cut ties with Sha. He loved Tsukiko too much to let this go on any longer. He had decided, once and for all, that he was going to be the man Tsukiko deserved, and her husband. 

The man he had promised to be.