sage✧˚ · .

You might actually die before you could reach shelter, but you were afraid of him dragging your corspe back with no intentions of letting you rest after death. Your ragged breaths turned into fog of frost, lungs burning and legs aching as they were ready to give up.

An abondoned house just a couple miles away from the market, allowed you to temporarily stay. You threw a few sticks to a corner, with flintstones, you set it ablaze. Cold hands shivering, tightly gripping on the fabric of your kimono as you held it close to your body for warmth.

This was terrible, utterly terrible. The once sweet man who became the monster that haunted your life and tormented you days, months, and years. It was in plan for you to marry Inumaki Toge due to your families' arrangements, but it wasn't in plan for him to fall this hard for you.

He barely spoke, not even a word, much less a sentence. You tried your best to communicate with him, but he would just reply in a very odd way to say the least. He still spoke in a language you would understand, but as if those single words has different meanings than what they originally were meant to be.

He didn't seem like a very affectionate person, at least in the very first stage of your marriage. His touches were sensuous yet awfully soft, you could sense the lingers of him on your skin everytime you two get intimate. You missed the way he used to touch you, now he was so impatient and rough, you could even feel a hint of desperation every brushes of his fingertips. The love and passion were still there, yet there were pain and sadness as well.

You knew he was out there, actively looking for you. You knew this even in your slumber, a sleep in anxiety and paranoia. You couldn't stay here for long, you needed to get moving by dawn. This wasn't your first time, you should have been used to it by now, how Toge still filled you up with fear.

You visited the market in the morning to buy some food for your long trip, you knew you were running a bit late and he would be up searching already. Darn! You overslept because your tired self refused to get up early after your whole escape attempt last night. You must be quick, or else.

The golden coins slipped from your hand, along with a sack of sweet potatoes. You didn't have a second to think before your body was scooped up onto someone's shoulder. You screamed loudly, alarming the villagers. They began to chased the person who was speeding with you as captive.

"Stand still!" With a single command, the crowd of villagers froze, they began to struggle trying to move their bodies.

You tried pushing yourself off of him, punching and kicking violently as you yelled and cried for him to let you go. You broke down completely when you were back at the Inumaki estate once again, no matter how much you tried, it was all hopeless. You were absolutely no match going against Toge, not physically strength, nothing at all.

He looked terrifying and enraged, you knew he wouldn't dare to hurt his precious one, but he would hurt others. You weren't scared for yourself, not anymore that was. It was the safety of your love ones and other innocent people that you were worried of.

Inumaki Toge was insane, possessive, a two-faced killer. Sweet and gentle when he was with you, and that treatment was exclusively for you. He didn't let anyone interact with you, look at you, nothing. He would keep you to himself, that was all.

When he set you down on the ground, you immediately ran on instinct. But before you could get far, "Don't move!" His volume blasted, restricting your body completely. You cursed yourself for not being smarter, for sleeping in when you were on the run. Now he got you in his arms again, you could only rethink your plan of escape.

You would hold onto the straphanger, fingers curled tightly around the plastic band. Or sometime you would sit down by the row of seats on one side of the train, silently admiring the beautiful scenery outside the window panes. Most of the time, you would be leaning by the rails and staring at your phone screen like everyone else.

You didn't mind how crowded and claustrophobic it was, how the air was quite heated even if the air conditioner was blowing cold air into each section. Sweaty bodies and sweaty palms gripping onto the rails and each other.

And ocasionally, you would see him riding the same train as you. Well, by ocasionally, you meant everyday. But he would be in a different section, or lost between a sea of people. It wasn't hard to spot him, you could see him from miles away. The familiar shade of platinum blonde that was impossible to miss, the scarf and uniform combo that was way too recognizable. The only person you know who wear a scarf that cover half of his face.

Maybe he was the reason why every train you took was so great, he was calm and collected, his presence comforted you. You would steal glimpses of him from the other side, his figure quietly sitting there and simply doing nothing. Embarrassed, the rare instances of his deep violet eyes staring back at you.

Whenever there was a lot of people, he would just sit down beside you on the only vacant seat of the whole row. During late hours, catching the train home at dusk, he would be tired and sleepy. Gently falling asleep on your shoulder, you always were the one to wake him up at his station.

If you two were standing, the train turning direction would cause you to lean forward against Toge, almost came tumbling down together.

You never thought the train would be where you executed your confession. Thankful of the cramped situation you were stuck in. With you unnoticed, you slipped a letter full of your feelings inside his bag as you stood behind him.

Then on some days, he wouldn't be there entirely. You didn't see him at school, didn't see him at the station, and definitely didn't see him on the same train as you. It was like he vanished into the unknown, out of the blue, no where to be found.

Like usual, after school was over, you would walk alone on the overfamiliar busy street to the train station. Passing by the convenience store, from a close distance, you saw Toge walking out of the doors with a plastic bag.

You met his gaze, seeing his eyes slightly squinted and arched upward. He was smiling at you, though you couldn't see it behind the scarf around his neck. He turned his heels, before he could walk away and disappear again, you held him back.

"Have you read my letter?!" You popped the question. Could it be that you scared him away with your feelings? Could that be why he was absent from school? Because he didn't want to see your face?

Toge nodded. "So...what's your answer?" You asked, your weak little heart already pounding against your ribcage, which the beating rang to your ears.

He walked toward you, giving you the letter back. And he was gone by the second, his silhouette fading with the sun. Your hands fumbling and shaking to open the envelope, pulling out the piece of folded paper. All you saw was the long writing of yours, and a drawing of a tuna fish next to a heart. What cryptic message was this?! What did he meant to tell you?

You couldn't find him at the train station, sure that he must have been on the same train to his stop. But where was he? Might there was a change in his routine, he turned the corner or got on a different train. You decided to just leave everything there for now, there were people waiting for your return at home, you wouldn't want your dinner to go cold as well.

You sent Megumi the picture of your letter with his answer, the only person you know that could understand his unique way of speech. Aching for a response, then a notification popped across your home screen.

Megumi | He said he likes you too.

You exploded, into a huge emotional mess. Crying, screaming, rolling on the floor. Well, in happiness. Tears, but they were tears of pure joy. Your voice blasted across the phone lines as you expressed you emotions, Megumi telling you to keep it down every break you took mid-talk.

You started another school day, but waking up and knowing you would meet him after everything that went down, truly got you anxious. However, your schedule didn't quite let your love act on itself. You barely saw him walking the hallway, or enjoying lunch with his friends in the courtyard.

Bummed, of course, you walked to the train station with a sour mood. Just before you reached the stairs, someone tugged on your shirt and pulled you back. Confused and honestly annoyed, today wasn't really a good day for you. Your body softened up when you met his eyes, the pair of purple hue that charmed you.

"It's you! Um...hi." Awkward as ever, you began.

He didn't say a word, not that you could understand if he did anyway. Toge pointed to you, to him, then to the train.

"You...want us to ride the train together?" You asked, putting one and one with each other. He nodded, walking up each step of the stairs. The first time being able to understand what he said, even though it was plain obvious, it was comforting nonetheless.

As soon as you got on the train, all the weight on your shoulders was lifted. You felt absolute relaxation being on the train, specially when you were there with him. You both sat down by the row of half vacant seats, the view was where the sun was settling down.