As the soft morning light fell on the man's sharp features, he looked much more approachable and childlike than the cold and aloof masks he wore in front of other people. Tsubaki couldn't help but sigh seeing his beauty.
The man sensed the adoring gaze coming from his young lady. He opened his eyelids. His lips instinctively hooked up into a smile.
"Morning, sweetheart," His wife looked so beautiful right now, fluttering his heart early in the morning.
"Good morning, darling," Tsubaki tilted her head up and brushed her lips on his chin. With mischief in her eyes, she added, "And here I thought I could banish you to the couch tonight."
Ren let out a laugh, he leaned in and tightened his arms around her waist. His warm breath fell on her shoulders, tickling her. "As if I would allow myself to sleep on the couch again."
Tsubaki giggled, she knew her threat last night had worked on her husband. After his one and only experience being forced to sleep on the couch almost a month ago, he didn't dare to play around too much since he knew she would be true to her words.
"How are you feeling today? Do you feel nauseous?" Ren rubbed lazy circles on one side of her waist, he tried searching for any trace of discomfort on her countenance.
"Baby is good today~ Mommy feels better than usual," Tsubaki replied with a bright smile. She nestled closer into her husband's embrace. Waking up next to him was her favorite moment before she started her day.
As the husband and wife were happily cuddling on the bed, a sound of knocking came from the door. Both of them looked at the direction. Old Yuuzo's voice resounded from the outside.
"Good morning, Master and Madam. Have you woke up? The Old Madam expects to see you both in the dining room."
"Alright," Ren raised his voice slightly as the door was quite far from them and there was a white screen room divider at one side of the bed, further obscuring it from the door. "We'll be downstairs soon."
"Understood, Master."
In a second, they heard the sound of footsteps retreating from the door.
"Alright, sweetheart. Time to get up," Ren sat up before he gently pulled his wife with him. Once his right hand gripped Tsubaki's shoulders, he let out a painful hiss. He had forgotten the fresh wound on his hand.
"Darling? What's wrong?" Tsubaki asked as she saw the agonizing expression on her husband's face. More so when all of a sudden Ren hid his right hand behind him. "What are you hiding? Show me!"
"It's nothing, sweetheart," Ren smiled weakly. He called himself stupid a few times in his mind as he tried to dodge from his wife's peering gaze. "It's really nothing..."
"Ren..." Tsubaki narrowed her eyes dangerously. Her lips were pursed into a thin line as she stared at her husband with a sharp gaze. "I'll count to 3. If you continue hiding whatever it is, don't blame me if I launch a cold war with you today."
"Erk! Sweetheart!"
Ren was panicked. This was one of those rare moments he felt truly afraid by a simple threat. By looking at how Tsubaki was staring at him, he knew she wasn't joking.
"Sweetheart..." Ren was exasperated. At this time, he thought that signing a billion-dollar contract was much easier than trying to outwit his wife.
"One..." Tsubaki began her countdown. She didn't waver under the man's puppy eyes.
"It's really nothing! Please, don't be like this..." Ren was still hesitant to tell her the truth. He racked his brain to find a plausible excuse but nothing came to his mind.
"Two..."
"It's just..."
"Thre..."
Before Tsubaki could finish counting, she suddenly was wrapped in a tight hug. Both of them fell on the bed, the vast bed creaked under the sudden impact.
"Let go of me! You cheated!" Tsubaki huffed in anger. She tried to push the man away from her but her soft punches didn't even affect her husband.
"Alright! Alright! I'll show you," Ren said, he sounded defeated. He loosened his arms around her and slowly brought her to his lap. Under Tsubaki's narrowed eyes, he showed her his bandaged hand. Tsubaki's eyes widened in shock.
"What? What happened? What's wrong with your hand?"
The displeasure she felt earlier had instantly vanished once she looked at her husband's hand. His palm was bandaged neatly with a long white gauze, his long fingers slightly trembled in her sight. Tsubaki carefully took his hand in hers, her brows knitted together as she stared at the bandaged palm and Ren's face.
"What happened? How did you get injured?"
He was just fine before he went to work yesterday. They had just not seen each other within a day and now he suddenly got his hand bandaged? Even though the wound was hidden due to the gauze but Tsubaki knew it was not a simple one.
"Err... I just suddenly broke a teacup so..." Before he could finish his sentence, Ren hung his head low. He felt guilty because he didn't tell her the entire story so he couldn't bear to look her into the eyes.
Tsubaki sighed softly. It was clear that something had happened but her husband was still unwilling to share it with her. As she looked at his dejected face, a sudden urge to laugh built in her heart. His appearance right now looked like a puppy being scolded!
"Alright, alright. I won't hold it against you," Tsubaki decided to drop the subject. She actually wanted to pester him yet she understood this was not the right time. "Grandma is waiting for us. We should change our clothes first."
Hearing her gentle voice, Ren perked up as his eyes brightened. He happily nodded repeatedly, a wide and childlike smile spread on his handsome face.
Tsubaki sighed again. Sometimes, she felt like she was talking to a young, childish boy whenever she talked to her husband.
"Sweetheart," Ren called out to Tsubaki after they have done changing. His wife helped him buttoning the beige linen shirt. As it was inconvenient with one of his hands hurt, he didn't wear a T-shirt this time.
"Yes?" Tsubaki straightened the collars around her husband's neck. She tilted her head, looking up at his face. "What it is?"
Ren curled up a smile. He looked so expectant before he continued talking. "Well, since my hand is injured, you would feed me, right?"
Tsubaki "..."
This man is so shameless! I should just stop talking to him!
Grandma and Aunt Kasumi had already sat in their seats when the husband and wife walked inside the dining room. A simple yet nutritional meal was served on the table. Its fragrance wafted in the air, making Tsubaki hungrier than ever.
"Good morning, Grandma and Aunt," Tsubaki greeted the two elders with a smile, followed by Ren at her side.
"What's wrong with your hand?" Grandma quickly attacked her grandson after she returned the greetings. "Old Yuuzo said he saw your hand was bandaged last night."
"I knocked over some glass," Ren replied briefly. He pulled out a chair and gestured for Tsubaki to sit down before he sat beside her. "Don't worry, Grandma."
Grandma was speechless with his short reply. She shot daggers toward her grandson before she harrumphed. Aunt Kasumi giggled seeing the old lady's reaction. It seemed like Grandma didn't want to stress herself with her grandson's lack of explanation.
"Since today is the weekend, why don't you guys continue looking over the wedding preparations?" Aunt Kasumi suggested, she looked at Ren who was shamelessly got fed by Tsubaki. When she wanted to ask for a pair of spoon and fork for him, Ren dismissed the maid and said his wife would help him to eat. "We still have less than 2 months before the wedding but I think you should start taking note of the guests."
Grandma wanted this wedding to be a grand one since the last important wedding of Fuse Family was the one for Ren's late parents. The old lady wanted to celebrate the blessings that came to their family this year so they went all out.
A granddaughter-in-law and a great-grandchild! She had been blessed tremendously!
"Alright," Ren nodded. He had guessed that the list would be a long one. He added once he was done chewing a slice of tamagoyaki from Tsubaki's chopsticks, "You could invite whoever you want, Grandma. We don't mind."
Grandma's lips twitched. She eyed her grandson in disdain.
Am I the only one who's excited right now?
They didn't immediately discuss the wedding after breakfast, instead, Ren and Tsubaki took a stroll on a path in the vast garden. Aunt Kasumi was waiting for her assistants to come while Grandma spent her time browsing the old wedding albums in Fuse Family's library.
"Darling," Tsubaki softly called out to her husband. She noticed that he was in a daze ever since they started walking under the trees. He would just quietly looking ahead even though he didn't pull his hand away from hers. "What's bothering you?"
Ren snapped out of his senses. He turned his head and looked at his wife's worried expression. A faint smile lightly curled on his lips. He tightened their interlocking fingers, warmth spreading in his heart.
"I'm not sure how should I tell you," Ren answered with hesitation evident in his eyes. "You have the right to know but... at the same time I'm afraid it'd disturb you."
Tsubaki peered into his eyes. There would only one thing that could make him helpless like this. Without a doubt, whatever was bothering her husband was related to her past.
This man was so good to her. He was reluctant to tell her because he had witnessed how her emotions fluctuated during her early pregnancy because of the matter regarding her past. He had wanted her to have a smooth sailing pregnancy but Tsubaki understood this matter would continue to be a thorn in her heart as long as it wasn't settled.
"Tell me," Tsubaki said after a moment of pondering. She lifted the corners of her lips, her smile was blooming softly under her husband's gaze. "You're here, right?"
Come hell or high water, I could face either of them. Because you're here.
Ren was stunned. It took him a moment to react. He quickly nodded.
"Alright," He returned her smile. "I'll tell you."
Both of them sat on a wooden bench under one of the shady trees planted alongside the path. Ren placed his uninjured hand on Tsubaki's waist as his bandaged hand lightly touching her fingertips. He twirled them, loving the softness that came in contact with his skin.
"Actually, last night... I met Mr. Kurosawa and your uncle."
"En?" Tsubaki jerked up her chin, she eyed her husband with disbelief. "You met them? I mean, Mr. Kurosawa? Why?"
If Ren said he met her uncle last night, it was understandable but what was wrong with Mr. Kurosawa?
Ren heaved a sigh. He looked so conflicted as he stared into her confused eyes. After meeting the two men last night, he had reached to a new conclusion and instead of concealing it from her, he felt responsible to share it with Tsubaki.
"Mr. Kurosawa was involved in the incident 5 years ago," He began, his voice and gaze were heavy, as heavy as his heart right now.
Tsubaki was shocked hearing what he had said but she recomposed herself, waiting for him to finish talking. She gently brought his injured hand over her delicate palms, sending her warmth to him.
Seeing her soft smile, Ren felt the heaviness inside his heart dispelled, even for a bit. He smiled faintly before he continued.
"Besides Sagara who wanted to capture me, there's another one who targeted you. Kurosawa and Yagi were instructed to handle you as Sagara's men kidnapped me that night."
Tsubaki narrowed her eyes. She couldn't quite believe her ears. As much as she understood there was a mysterious force lurking around her accident 5 years ago, to hear it from her husband meant that the matter had already been confirmed.
"Who was it?" She asked, her voice carried a hint of tremor. "Do you think... it's someone who really knew me?"
Ren paused, he somehow was afraid to acknowledge it.
By acknowledging it, it was evident that the matter from 5 years ago was really a premeditated incident. By confirming it, it meant the danger that her birth mother tried so hard to prevent was actually had come close to her once.
But, in the end, Ren nodded.
The time to end this ill-fated destiny had drawn nearer.