"……Hehe."
Ai gazed intently at Kaoru’s sleeping face, completely unaware of the world, and let out a soft smile.
As expected of his father, his sleeping face was exactly like his son’s. No—when Aqua grew up, he would surely look just like Kaoru. Father and son even slept the same way.
Come to think of it… when he was lying there expressionless and still, he looked a little like Ruby too. Though Aqua’s eyes and nose were unmistakably Kaoru’s.
The warmth and affection hidden in her smile shone even brighter in the morning sunlight.
After a night of love that had lasted until dawn, morning came with the soft, tender sensation of their skin pressed hotly together.
Lying face-to-face in the same position they had fallen asleep in, she woke in her beloved’s arms and carefully stretched only her legs, afraid of waking her husband.
When her toes, stretched out beneath the blanket, brushed against her husband’s leg, she quickly pulled them back, even letting out the breath she had been holding through her nose with a strangely meticulous sense of caution.
After staring at Kaoru’s face for a moment longer, Ai lifted her right leg and gently slipped it between her husband’s two legs, rubbing against him as she tucked herself in.
The firm thigh, the soft contrast of his body, and the heat of his skin all transferred directly to Ai’s leg.
He might wake up… but she simply couldn’t help herself.
"……."
Was this really the same husband who used to wake the moment she moved while she was pregnant? At some point, Kaoru had started sleeping even more deeply than Ai did.
During her pregnancy, she had wanted Kaoru’s arms around her more, but after giving birth and going through one thing after another, then caring for the twins, something in her heart had changed. Now it was Kaoru who wanted Ai’s embrace more.
Because of her small frame, Kaoru’s large, solid build and strength sometimes felt a little painful or suffocating, but Ai loved even that so much it made her happy.
Her mother, the facility, even after becoming an idol—
In her entire life, the only person who had held her this much, who had held her so tightly, was Kaoru.
That was why. Ai, with a trace of worry in her starry eyes, slowly searched through her memories.
'Yesterday… he looked a little sad.'
Last night. After coming home from filming, Kaoru had somehow… kept hovering around her side, never letting his gaze leave her, as if he couldn’t bear to lose sight of her in those lowered blue eyes.
When she was cooking, when he was helping with the housework, when he sat her on his lap and they watched TV while talking, even when they bathed together.
Kaoru would hold her tightly, as if afraid of letting her slip away, and stay silent for a while. He had done it several times.
Seeing him act that way so often, unlike usual, Ai finally realized that Kaoru was feeling [sincerity]—no, [sorrow].
And she also realized that he was forcing himself not to show that [emotion] to her.
"Idiot."
Ai knew he was the type who wasn’t very good at picking up other people’s feelings, and that he was strongly self-paced in his own way, but that did not mean he couldn’t feel other people’s emotions at all.
On the contrary, after meeting Kaoru, she had reached the point where, even if she couldn’t read anyone else, she could at least tell to some extent what emotion he was feeling, what kind of mood he was in, and what kind of [sincerity] he held in his heart just by looking into his eyes.
As his lover, as the mother of their twins, and as his wife, she wanted to be even a little bit of support for Kaoru.
So. For the man she loved most in this world, if it was only with her… it was fine if he showed weakness, or anger—he could burden her with all the worry he wanted. He didn’t have to keep forcing it down like an idiot. He could be spoiled. He could even act cute and adorable like the twins.
She wanted to share even a little of the burden Kaoru carried on his shoulders, and share in the many wounds and sorrows he bore alone, standing there silently and enduring them.
'We haven’t talked about the stories from our past lives since the villa that time… but… that part… I think I should wait.'
There were still so many things she had not heard from Kaoru. Remembering the tearful confession he had made, even struggling to speak the words aloud, Ai felt a surge of pity and maternal tenderness in her chest and slowly slipped into Kaoru’s arms.
She wrapped her slender right arm around his back and hugged her husband tightly.
To the beloved person who had finally taught her, a girl who had lacked proper emotional growth and had been nothing but awkward and immature, what it meant to have a [heart] she wanted to protect.
If she could be even a little help to him, she would hold him as much as he needed.
And she vowed quietly, with [sincerity], while resting in her husband’s warm, solid chest, that she would never forgive anyone who hurt her precious husband and children.
Then she opened the eyes she had closed to look at her husband’s face again.
And there—
instead of the desire-filled gaze that had burned so fiercely yesterday, she found blue eyes softened and languid with sleep, turned toward her.
"……."
"……."
He had definitely been asleep, hadn’t he?
Startled, Ai blinked rapidly for a moment while staring at her husband, then soon smiled with the brilliance of an [idol], adding a touch of coyness to her voice.
"Good morning?"
"Puhuhuhu—Ai."
"Ngyaah—! It’s suffocating—♥"
Kaoru, whose voice was low and rough as if he had truly slept deeply, called out to his wife and held her tightly.
When he hugged the cheeky wife who had woken him, she let out a cute little sound from within his arms.
Feeling the pleasant touch of their hot skin against each other, Kaoru pressed his lips to the top of Ai’s head and whispered, "When did you wake up?"
"Mm—just a little while ago… sorry, I tried to be careful not to wake you."
"It’s fine. I can make up for the sleep I missed by holding you."
Ai’s breath brushed against his chest, making his skin tingle.
The sound of their breathing, soft and even, reached his ears.
Wrapped in her husband’s arms, Ai felt the comforting pressure and the fullness in her heart deepen. Every time she inhaled, Kaoru’s scent filled her, calming her mind.
It was the same for Kaoru. The warmth of Ai’s body, the feel of their skin touching, and the sweet scent of her hair mixed with shampoo soothed both body and mind.
"Mmm."
When he loosened his arms a little for his struggling wife, Ai lifted her head slightly and again wrapped her right arm around Kaoru’s back, stroking it gently.
Feeling Ai’s touch, Kaoru spoke in that still-hoarse voice.
"You don’t have any schedule today, right?"
"Yeah. What about Oru-chan? Ah, you said you wouldn’t have anything for a while, right?"
"Yeah. I’m going overseas for location shooting early next week, so I’ve got some time off for now."
With the unusually huge production budget windfall, they were even going to Guam for overseas location shooting with six lead actors….
But when Kaoru remembered Producer Sojiro’s face, who had clearly not been able to feel happy about it at all, the only thing he could do was wish him luck.
Regardless, Ai seemed happy just to be able to stay with Kaoru, and she rubbed his back as she said, "Hehe—I'm glad Kaoru isn’t going with me."
"That happy?"
"Mm! We can wake up together in the morning, see each other’s faces, talk. Eat together. Go for walks. See Aqua and Ruby too. There’s so much we can do while spending time together."
"……."
How terrifyingly happy it was, to be with someone who loved him this much.
Kaoru quietly met Ai’s starry eyes for a moment, then lowered his head and kissed her lips.
"Mm—"
It was a little sticky for a good-morning kiss, but Ai liked anything. Her mouth was still dry from sleep, but the moment she pressed her lips to Kaoru’s, she felt them grow moist and hot all over again as if nothing had happened.
With their hearts overflowing with hot affection, the couple held each other close, their arms sliding behind each other’s backs and their legs crossing again…
"Ah."
"?"
At the stinging pain from behind him, Kaoru, who had been fully occupied with kissing Ai, let out a groan.
Ai was startled by her husband’s sudden pain and blinked in confusion.
"Huh? What’s wrong?"
"I don’t know. My back… stings."
"Eh?? An insect?!"
"I don’t think it’s an insect. Can you take a look?"
When Ai rubbed his shoulder blade, Kaoru felt the sting and sat up. Worried, she immediately sat up too.
As her husband turned around, his broad back came into view.
And then…
"……Eh… eeh?!!!!"
"What is it?"
Ai’s eyes flew wide open as she found the cause of the stinging pain.
And then—her face instantly turned bright red, as if it might explode.
So red that not only her face, but even her ears and the sides of her neck flushed crimson in an instant.
Ai covered her mouth with both hands, her starry eyes shaking violently.
Seeing his wife’s unusual reaction, Kaoru turned his head, wondering what was going on.
"W-what is it?"
"Th-that… the reason it stings… or rather, um, th-that is… sorry…"
Ai’s voice shrank with embarrassment and guilt. Kaoru, just as confused, turned back again to look at his wife.
No, why was her face so red? Questions began rising sharply in Kaoru’s blue eyes.
"Why are you sorry? Is it a bad wound? All of a sudden…"
"J-just a second…"
Ai, her face blazing red, hesitated for a moment—
then took two small hand mirrors from the drawer beside the bed and handed one to Kaoru.
Then she turned him back around, held up the mirror toward him, and said, "C-could you hold the mirror?"
"Sure."
Kaoru angled his mirror toward himself and reflected it against the one behind him.
And then… he finally saw it.
"Huh?"
"……."
Kaoru fell silent as he looked at the countless scratch marks across his shoulders and shoulder blades….
It seemed some of the scabs had come off while he was sleeping, because faint streaks of blood had spread there too.
First, he gently tilted the mirror to look at Ai’s face, and saw that she was indeed red all the way to the point of bursting.
Last night’s long-awaited hot night. Kaoru and Ai, both of them so distracted that they had completely failed to notice these marks had been left behind.
"S-s-sorry—Kaoru—I didn’t—know, I didn’t know! Sorry—I’ll put medicine on it—just wait?!"
At a loss, Ai frantically apologized while rubbing Kaoru’s back with both hands.
Then, just as she tried to get off the bed to find the first-aid kit Kaoru had prepared when they moved in—
Thump!
"Eh?"
Kaoru grabbed her wrist and pulled her back, trapping her once more in his arms. Even as Ai, suddenly returned to Kaoru’s embrace because of her small frame, blinked in confusion at what was happening, he only flashed a wicked grin and said, "You should be punished, shouldn’t you?"
"…Eh? P-punished?"
"At this point… a few more marks won’t be a big deal!"
"Hng?! Kyaah—?! Kaoru!?"
Kaoru easily laid her back on the bed and pulled up the blanket to cover both himself and Ai, his wild side fully unleashed…
By the time the couple finally started their late breakfast, it was already noon.
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