When he spoke again, his voice dropped into that incredibly soft, deep, and beautifully sleepy tone that absolutely no one else in the world ever got to hear except for her.
"Don't lie to me, Yuna..." Mr. Kamitani murmured right against her warm palm, his breath brushing softly over her skin.
"Telling a lie is not good for a top-tier corporate lawyer. If the Counsellor lies so easily in the dark... how on earth are our children supposed to learn proper morals, hm?"
'Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, stop it!' her mind screamed in a total, blushing panic, her heart hammering so loudly she was sure he could hear it.
'Tell him there was a giant mosquito on his face! No, tell him his hair looked messy and you were just fixing it! Or—or tell him he looked cold and you were checking his forehead! Just say anything except the truth!'
But before she could even utter a single word, Mr. Kamitani slowly tilted his head against her palm, his dark eyes cracking open to look straight into her soul.
"Besides..." he whispered out, his soft, sleepy voice carrying a devastating trace of romantic gravity that made her knees go completely weak. "Didn't you say during the evening that you weren't going to say a single word to me for the rest of the weekend?"
His voice was a low, vibrating murmur against her skin, throwing her exact words right back at her.
"That's it! You are completely dead to me, Ayato! I am officially ignoring you for the next Seventy-two hours! Don't you dare speak to me, don't look at me, and don't even breathe in my direction until Monday!"
That was the exact furious speech she had shouted at him while throwing a pillow at his head before stomping away. Yet here she was, barely Eight Hours later at Four in the morning, caught completely red-handed whispering right next to his nose.
Mrs. Kamitani's jaw completely dropped, her mind frantically spinning into a total chaotic blank space as her own broken promise came back to haunt her.
Instant, heavy embarrassment hit her like a physical wave, turning her cheeks from a light pink to an absolute bright, burning scarlet under her reading glasses.
"I-I was simply... checking your forehead!" she spoke out defensively, her voice cracking as she desperately tried to pull her hand back as a sudden retreat into the safe shadows of the bedroom.
"Y-You looked like you were breathing weirdly, so I was just checking your... facial temperature for safety! Let go of me!"
But Mr. Kamitani absolutely refused to let her escape that easily. "Facial temperature?" he spoke lazily, a highly amused smirk finally spreading across his face.
"So you check temperatures by slapping post-it notes on people at four in the morning? Wow, what a very logical legal strategy, Yuna."
Without using any real force or serious pressure, his long, warm fingers lazily slid down from her wrist, shifting to loosely hold her slender fingers, while his other hand absentmindedly held onto the soft edge of her light blue-grey cotton pajama sleeve.
It was an incredibly soft, casual hold, but it was more than enough to completely pin the smart corporate lawyer right next to his office chair.
Thump-thump. Thump-thump.
Mrs. Kamitani became ten times more flustered, her heart hammering wildly against her ribs—a loud, betraying rhythm in the dead quiet of the four-a.m. room.
Thump-thump.
It was completely unfair! How was she supposed to stay calm when her usually strict, stubborn husband was being extra clingy, heavy, and soft in his half-asleep state?! He was entirely defenceless, yet he had her completely trapped.
"Let go this instant, Ayato!" she whispered frantically, her free hand moving around her face as she tried to fix her calm look. "I am ordering you to release my sleeve!"
Mr. Kamitani merely let out another low, vibrating laugh against her palm, his closed eyes glowing up at the corners with a wonderfully lazy, sleepy smile.
"Hah—Why should I?" he murmured softly, his cheek still comfortably leaning straight against her hand as he began listing every single little thing she had done, proving his sharp mind had recorded absolutely everything in the dark.
"First, you aggressively walked over here because my cold coffee made you upset." he said smoothly, his voice a deep and comforting.
"Then you fuss over my desk lamp and my files..." he murmured, his thumb lazily tracing a soft, slow circle right against the inside of her trembling wrist. "And after that... you couldn't even resist loosening my tie."
He let out a low, breathy chuckle against her skin, his closed eyes crinkling with pure, sleepy amusement.
"I was sleeping perfectly fine, Yuna. It seems like you were the one who felt too uncomfortable just looking at me."
"I-I... I completely d-deny... all of those things!" Mrs. Kamitani sharply interrupted, her face burning hotter as she looked absolutely everywhere except at his smug face.
She swallowed hard, her fingers twitching as she stammered out the most ridiculous defense of her life.
"The—the tie knot! It s-simply... it slipped on its own! Due to g-gravity! Gravity loosened it! I—I never... I never touched your tie, Ayato!"
"Is that so, Counselor?" Mr. Kamitani's dark eyes slowly opened a tiny bit, a deeply happy, lazy look washing over his handsome face.
'Gravity? Seriously, how can she be the smartest lawyer in the courtroom, but the most ridiculously adorable creature on the planet when she's lying to me?'
"Then I suppose gravity also reached out to gently smooth my messy hair to the side, only to get grumpily annoyed when the strands sprang back up?" he teased, his thumb gently moving over the back of her captured hand.
Mrs. Kamitani completely choked on her words, her green eyes moving around the dim blue light of the laptop screen in absolute, total defeat.
"And finally..." Mr. Kamitani continued, his sleepy smile widening into a winning grin as the sticky note on his cheek moved slightly with his breath.
"You decided to officially mark me as household property with a rather sharp smack to my left cheek. The proof is literally sticking to my face, Yuna. You are completely caught without any way to argue your case."
Mrs. Kamitani let out a sharp, frustrated breath, trying to ignore the chaotic fluttering in her chest as she looked down at the stubborn attorney.
'Shut up, shut up, shut up... why does he have to be so smug?'
"Hah... seriously, if you have enough energy to argue with me, then you clearly have enough energy to stand up," she muttered, huffing out a breath as she gave her glasses a sharp, defensive tilt to hide her burning face.
She crossed her arms, looking down at his ridiculous position with a sudden, teasing roll of her eyes.
"Are you honestly planning to just sleep bent backward like some broken office statue for the rest of the night, Ayato? Because you look completely ridiculous right now."
Mr. Kamitani's dark eyes instantly widened with an immensely exaggerated, dramatic look of deep despair.
"If I must fall right here, then so be it..." he claimed grandly, his deep, sleepy voice echoing through the dim blue shadows of the bedroom with absolute, ridiculous seriousness.
"The Tokyo High Court demands everything from 'The Shield of the Court.' I shall happily pass away right here at my battle desk, defending what is right until my very last breath."
Mrs. Kamitani rolled her green eyes so hard she was certain they would get stuck, letting out a heavy, thoroughly unamused sigh.
"Ew, please stop, that is genuinely gross..." she muttered, rubbing the bridge of her nose in pure exhaustion.
"Do not start acting like Shido at four in the morning, Ayato. That kind of dramatic behavior is barely tolerable on children, but it looks completely ridiculous on an old man like you."
Mr. Kamitani's grand expression instantly shattered, his mouth dropping open as he clutched his chest in a brand-new, entirely genuine look of betrayal.
"Ouch???" he gasped, his deep voice cracking slightly with offense. "An old man? Yuna, I am literally in my prime!"
"You are being completely absurd," she flatly shot back, crossing her arms as she looked down at him with zero mercy.
"You are clearly just half-asleep and delirious right now, which is the only reason you're spouting all this dramatic nonsense. Get up and go to bed already."
Mr. Kamitani didn't argue back this time.
Instead, a heavy, mischievous smile slowly tugged at the corners of his lips—a low, quiet little "Heh" huffing out of his nose as his smirk widened into something wicked and entirely too confident.
'Can't help it then...' he thought lazily, his dark eyes flashing with a sudden, heavy amusement. 'You completely asked for this, Yuna.'
He slowly pushed his tall, exhausted body forward, pulling himself out of the deep stretch. His large hand reached out, wrapping firmly around her wrist with a lazy, effortless tug that instantly pulled her forward right into his lap's space.
Yuna gasped, her balance completely breaking as she stumbled into him.
'What the—?!'
Before the chaotic thought could even fully form in her mind or allow her to snap at him, Ayato let his heavy, exhausted head drop forward, letting his chin rest firmly and heavily right against the center of her chest, using her body as his absolute support.
The chaotic fluttering in her chest went into total overdrive as she felt the solid weight of his jaw resting heavily right against her body.
His warm, slow breaths seeped directly through the thin fabric of her cotton pajamas, pressing so close and heating her skin so intensely that her entire upper body felt utterly paralyzed.
'Oh my god... he's too close!!!!' her thoughts raced in a silent, breathless panic, her heart hammering so loudly she was terrified he would hear it against his cheek.
'He's completely leaning all his weight on me... Is he actually asleep, or is he just doing this to tease me?!'
Mrs. Kamitani froze.
For a brief, horrifying moment, her entire mind went completely blank.
A wave of intense, suffocating heat rushed straight to her face, spreading from the tips of her ears all the way down her neck as her heart began pounding wildly against her ribs. She stared down at the top of his dark, messy hair in complete disbelief.
'This man...!!'
'This absolutely impossible man.'
'How on earth is he capable of causing so much chaotic trouble while looking half-dead from sheer exhaustion?!'
"A-Ayato..." she whispered weakly, trying her absolute best to summon a stern, authoritative voice.
The attempt failed immediately.
Her voice came out far softer and more breathless than she ever intended, completely lacking any real bite.
No response.
He remained completely still against her, his heavy breathing steady and rhythmic through her pajamas. Mrs. Kamitani narrowed her eyes suspiciously, trying to peer through the dark strands of his hair.
'Wait.'
Her gaze flickered toward the hand still loosely holding her wrist.
'If he's asleep... then why hasn't he let go?'
Her gaze flickered downward toward his large, warm hand, which was still loosely but securely wrapped around her slender wrist. The effortless grip hadn't loosened even a single millimeter.
"...You're not fooling anyone," she muttered under her breath, though she wasn't entirely sure whether she was trying to convince him or herself at this point.
Still no response.
The room remained quiet.
For one dangerous second, she allowed her tense shoulders to drop, relaxing into his heavy weight.
'Maybe I am overthinking it.'
She swallowed.
Maybe he really was asleep.
Maybe—
Slowly, lazily, he tilted his face upward without moving his chin away from her skin, his dark eyes burning as he looked up at her through his thick eyelashes.
"Is that so?" he murmured, his deep voice rumbling directly against her chest. "Then why don't you do your job and help this delirious old man to bed, Counselor? Unless... you're too afraid to touch me."
Mrs. Kamitani suddenly became entirely quiet.
The frantic fluttering, the racing thoughts, the blushing embarrassment—it all completely faded from her face in a single second.
Her posture went totally rigid, and she stopped moving, staring down at him with a flat, completely unreadable expression.
Ayato's playful smirk faltered slightly. Sensing the sudden, freezing shift in her energy, his dark eyes softened with concern. He leaned back, his voice dropping into a low, quiet murmur.
"Honey...?"
SMACK!!!
The very next second, Mrs. Kamitani's free hand came flying forward, smacking him squarely across the forehead with a loud Thud!
"Pervert! Absolute pervert!" she screamed, her face instantly changing into a violent, fiery explosion of crimson as she violently shoved his forehead away from her body.
Her eyes darted wildly around the quiet room, looking here and there in absolute, panicked instinct as she waved her hands around. "What on earth is wrong with you?! Get off! Get away from me!"
She threw her hands over her hot cheeks, making a step backward and loudly cursing themselves out loud for the whole room to hear.
"Why on earth are Forty-year-old adults doing romance out of nowhere in the middle of the night?! Is everyone in this house losing their minds?!"
Volleys of embarrassed mumbling spilled from her lips as she aggressively rubbed her burning ears.
Instead of being offended by the Smack, Mr. Kamitani's lips slowly curled upward.
Watching his wife completely lose her composure and throw a chaotic tantrum was the most beautiful, entertaining sight in the world. He stared at her flushed face, completely adoring her cuteness in his mind.
"Hey," Ayato chuckled softly, a gorgeous, handsome smile spreading across his face as he effortlessly closed the distance between them again, stepping right into her personal space. "Why are you getting so flustered like that, Hm?"
His voice was a lazy, smooth tone as he leaned down slightly to catch her dodging gaze.
"Such things are completely normal between married people, you know. Besides... it's not like this is the first time we've ever done something like this."
"Kyaaa! Stop talking!" Yuna screamed, throwing her hands in the air. "Something has seriously happened to your brain! You are behaving way too strangely tonight! Way too wild!"
Ayato let out a rich, deep laugh, his shoulders shaking with genuine amusement. "Yuna, relax a little..." he teased softly, shaking his head. "You're acting as if you're someone else's Wife with how panicked you are."
At those words, the chaotic energy in Yuna's posture suddenly evaporated.
She abruptly freed her wrist out of his grip, her frantic blushing fading into a heavy, defensive anger.
"Fine. It's completely fine if you don't actually want to sleep in the end." she said, her voice dropping into a sharp, cold edge. "But you didn't have to go that far just to try and lighten my mood."
She paused, looking back at him sadly, her eyes filled with a sudden, quiet vulnerability that cut straight through his lingering laughter.
"Besides... I am not that type of woman, Ayato..." she whispered softly, her shoulders sinking.
"I am not the type of woman who will just forget everything and pretend nothing is wrong just because of some good talks and unusual behavior."
Turning her back to him, she started slowly walking away toward the door, her shadow looking small and lonely in the dim room.
But then, suddenly—
Without a single sound, Mr. Kamitani closed the gap from behind.
GYUUU—!!!
Before Yuna could even take another step, Ayato's massive, heavy arms came wrapping securely around her waist from behind, completely locking her body flush against his chest in a tight, inescapable embrace.
Mrs. Kamitani gasped, her body locking up in total shock as a tiny, helpless yelp escaped her throat.
"W-Woah—?!"
Her face instantly flushed a dark, chaotic red all over again, her hands flying up to clutch at his forearms as she tried to pull away from the crushing warmth of the stealth attack.
'W-What is he doing?!' her mind exploded in stunned disbelief.
'Has he completely lost his mind?! He screams at me earlier... and now he thinks he can just grab me from behind whenever he wants?! This is so completely unfair!'
"L-Let go... let go of your grip this instant!" she stammered, twisting slightly in his hold.
"No!" Ayato denied immediately, his voice completely stripping away all previous playfulness.
Instead of releasing her, he tightened his arms around her waist, dropping his heavy face forward until his forehead and cheek rested sadly against her shoulder, burying himself into her familiar warmth
"I'm not letting go..." he murmured against her skin, his deep voice carrying a heavy, exhausting ache. "You're talking as though one bad night erased every other day we've shared together... as though I need a reason to want to be close to my own wife."
Hearing the raw, vulnerable sadness in his voice, Mrs. Kamitani stopped resisting entirely.
Her hands slowly relaxed against his arms, and she let out a long, heavy sigh that seemed to carry all the weight of the world.
'Don't hold me like this...' her thoughts faded into a helpless, aching whisper as the last remnants of her anger began to dissolve. 'If you hold me like this... I'm going to forgive you before you've even apologized.'
"What is even the point of all this, Ayato?" she asked softly, staring blankly ahead as his steady breaths warmed her shoulder.
"You really hurt me earlier..." she whispered after a long, heavy silence, her voice trembling slightly against the quiet of the room. "And now... now you're holding me like you're terrified to let me go."
She closed her eyes, the sheer confusion of his actions weighing heavily on her chest.
"Tell me... what am I supposed to do with you?"
----
✦ 🔮 A GLIMPSE INTO THE NEXT CHAPTER 🔮 ✦
"What awaits beyond this page...?" 🌙
(灬･◡･灬)♡
"I was trying so hard to protect our son... that I forgot to protect my wife."
"...You've chosen a very strange example."
----
🌙 The stars may fade, and memories may sleep...
But the Spiral continues to turn.
Until we meet again beneath the same forgotten sky.
(＠_＠;)
— SakuraShinomiya