Chained to you
Anime: Chihayafuru X Brothers' conflict
Summary: Wakamiya Shinobu's grandmother told her one time that she'll marry someone her grandmother approves. She thought it would be in the future. She thought wrong. Meanwhile, Natsume Asahina being a bachelor and all was suddenly told by his mother about an omiai that she arranged. Although in the end, it would end up in a quick marriage ceremony.
1; Break
Sometimes, she wonders if he'll break.
She can hear him sigh when she rises from the bed and whenever she's near he seems breathless. He keeps on averting his eyes when she talks to him and all she can do is to laugh about it after he left. When they're both in the washroom, he's fast enough to not make a conversation. She even remembered the time when she was so drunk, because Chihaya came back from her trip with her new husband Taichi and decided that her sorrow from being married to a person like her is much laughable so they should drink, was the most memorable moment of her life today. Natsume-san won't stop fussing about controlling herself when drinking liquor. It's funny how his eyebrows twitches when she calls him that. Didn't he know that she's so in control with herself that she decided to marry him instead of confessing her love to Arata?
She amused herself with the idea of being a pain in her husband's butt to make things more interesting and decided to make things more intimate between them. When he wakes up, she always circle her arms tight around his waist to make him uncomfortable. By the time he's off to work, she kisses his forehead then goes to practice for her Karuta matches. Even in work, she calls his phone and asks him if he had lunch already. The stiff man would always answer with a yes but after the agonising conversation, it would end with the usual 'take care' and 'you too'.
But even he can break, after all.
It was a Friday afternoon and usually she visits snowmaru stores to check for a new collectibles when he came with a red face. She's just so curious that time because she noticed everytime that he wears his cold mask always. Even she wouldn't let someone saw past through her. Natsume-san was walking limply and being a good wife, Shinobu helped her husband. Shinobu quietly nursed him to regain his strength. But then he said something.
"Waka- I mean Shinobu-san... " he weakly opened his eyes to look at her for the first time. Just like her, it was still confusing if they're going to call each other in surnames for respect or their respective names. Either way, she nods to confirm that she heard him.
"Thank you... for taking care...of me." she softens her features a little and replied to him.
She didn't remember how she settled in the bed because she was so sure she washed the towel in the bathroom. The time she woke up, she looked around to see that the other side of their bed was empty. Shinobu just sighed but noticed a note of thank you with a plate of omurice in the dining table.
In that moment, she realized that breaking can be much better.