A/N: First of all, let me tell you how sorry I am that I haven't been updating! Second of all, I am so grateful for all of your reviews, favs,, follows and support for the story! As of last year I am a full time university student and I have been so incredibly busy and stressed that I haven't had time to sit down and write. I do plan on finishing the story and we are about halfway now. Again, thank you for all your messages and reviews, I am so happy you still enjoy it.

WARNING! Mentions of abusive relationships and violence ahead.

Previously

"What are you saying?" Shouta had taken her hands again and stood facing her.

"I think we are ready to become parents." Shouta grabbed hold of her and held her close. The relief that washed over Shouta was incredible and for a while, he forgot about all of his problems.

Chapter 12

The following morning was actually quite peaceful. Shouta and Sawako had gotten to bed quite late, and aside from some yawns and puffy eyes, they were both in high spirits. They were sitting at the dining table with Shouta's grandmother, who was talking animatedly with Sawako about gardening.

"-and it all comes down to what kind of fertilizer you are using in the very beginning." Shouta had been completely oblivious to the two women talking and only then focused on their conversation.

"I see." Sawako tapped her chin thoughtfully. She had planned a busy day with her own mother-in-law and her mother-in-law, and later when Shouta's grandmother left, she was going to see Ayane and Chizu. Since it was the first week back at work, Sawako had only a few classes. The students' curriculum was being planned by the administration, so this first week was just welcoming her students back.

The noirette had truly enjoyed being back and greeting her students. The newest addition to her class was extremely shy, but Sawako had still managed to make her tell about her summer. There had been a certain hesitance to her words, like she was unsure whether to speak up or not, but hopefully that would disappear as she made friends in her new class.

Catching her husband's eyes, Sawako couldn't help but smile a little. He looked a little nervous around her, but she understood why. Shouta had poured his heart out to her after their conversation and confided in her. She finally understood why Pin's words had upset him so much.

For months Shouta had been thinking that he wasn't suited to bring up a child. He found himself too immature and inexperienced. Sure, he was happily married and had settled down somewhat, but he was so scared of how he would answer all his future child's questions, how he would teach it about the world and bring it up. What if he at one point wouldn't be able to provide for his child and Sawako? What if his child grew up to be distant with him like he had been with his own parents? What if he couldn't love his child enough? He was so scared of bringing a child into this world, when he couldn't guarantee its future.

Sawako had listen to all of his worries and explained to him that he would never have to face struggles alone. He would always be able to ask for help and she was sure their child would love him so very much. It had taken some time to convince him to go to bed, but it still felt like they had broken the thin wall of ice that had formed between them.

The noirette realized that she hadn't known what Shouta had been thinking for a long time. They had both been so busy with their jobs and fretting over other things that they hadn't sat down and talked. She was actually ashamed of herself for neglecting Shouta like that, but she knew that she wouldn't have been able to make him talk unless he was ready, so she only scolded herself a little.

Finishing up breakfast, Shouta kissed her goodbye and left for work. He would visit Pin and straighten things out later that evening. Sawako brought Shouta's grandmother along to Shouta's parents' house and spent the morning there. Later they went to the shopping mall and had lunch, while browsing for clothes and other necessities. The young woman made sure to check with her friends where they would meet up and also made sure Shouta's mother and grandmother were dropped off safely.

"I hope you'll visit us again soon." She told the elder woman, who looked a tiny bit surprised.

"So do I. Thank you for having me Sawako, it was delightful. And thank you for talking some sense into my stubborn grandson as well." Shouta's grandmother hugged Sawako and patted her head lightly.

"Actually… Mamoru-san is the one who talked to him." The noirette admitted. She knew her father-in-law wished to improve his relationship with his parents and wanted to help him a little.

"Mamoru did? Really?" Sawako nodded and hoped that would be a stepping stone for the two to talk. She respected them both, but she could see how hard it was for them to be honest about their feelings in front of each other.

"Maybe he could tell you about it over tea?" The noirette suggested, indicating that Grandma should take the initiative.

"That sounds lovely. Thank you, Sawako-chan. Take care of yourself and call me from time to time." Grandma laughed lightly. She had really taken a liking to this semi-airheaded girl.

"Of course, Grandma, have a safe trip." With that she bid her in-laws goodbye and made her way towards Ryu's shop. She was meeting her two best friends there. Sawako briefly wondered how Shouta was doing, but was distracted when she met up with Ayane. She was looking… exhausted.

"Ayane-chan, do you have trouble sleeping?" She asked worriedly. She knew her friend had a tendency to overwork herself to the point of exhaustion, and she also knew of Ayane's poor eating and sleeping habits.

"Ah, I've just been busy with work." She explained with a half-hearted laughter that Sawako saw right through. The two walked te rest of the way in silence. Chizu greeted them with hugs and led upstairs. She was practically already living with the Sanada's, and as always looked right at home.

"So what was the deal with Shou and Pin?" The brunette asked with raised brows. Ryu had only told her that Pin and Shouta had gotten into a fight, so Sawako told her friends what Shouta had told her, although she held back what they had talked about afterwards. Her friends would find out soon enough, but she didn't want to share Shouta's troubles with them just yet.

"How are you doing 'Yane?" The bubbly one asked her longtime friend. She could feel that Ayane was a little absent in their conversation and decided it would be good to change the topic. She and Sawako shared worried looks as they waited for Ayane to speak. A few moments passed and the brunette opened and closed her mouth a couple of times.

"I'm still not over him." She finally managed to choke out. She had barely been getting sleep and she felt like her chest had a hole in it. Her stomach tightened at the thought of Kento and she tried her hardest not to cry in front of her friends, who had taken one of her hands each.

"Tell us." Sawako urged her. Ayane nodded and shared with them how she felt betrayed. She revealed to them that they had been fighting a lot towards the end of the relationship. She revealed to them the reason they had finally called it quits.

There had been a girl, one of Kento's old friends, who had been so desperately in love with him that she tried to sabotage their relationship on several occasions. She would lie and tell Kento that she had seen Ayane with different guys from her workplace and that she was definitely leading them on, and practically cheating on him.

"Of course he didn't believe her. He knew I never would cheat on him, but after a while she managed to get under his skin. He would get mad at me if I got home late and started acting possessive and jealous. He started showing up when I got off work and insisted on walking me home." Ayane sniffled a little. She remember how trapped she felt with Kento and took a deep breath to remind herself that it was over now.

"When he started acting all controlling I asked him to back off and he snapped. He started throwing stuff around and screamed about me going behind his back." At this point Sawako gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. She had never thought that Kento would be… abusive. That was the only word for someone who tried to control their girlfriend and throw fits of rage and jealousy. Sawako felt her stomach churn.

"Did he hurt you?" Chizu asked gravely. She could feel her blood boil and wanted to strangle Kento for putting Ayane in danger. Her brown-haired friend shook her head.

"He never laid a hand on me." Ayane assured her friends. Sawako's eyes were brimming with tears for Ayane, and the brunette felt a tug at her heart. Her friends had so much compassion for her, it melted her heart.

"I can't believe it…" Sawako whispered. Too much was going around inside her head. She wanted to hug Ayane tightly, tell her everything would be all right. And she felt angry. Angry that so much had happened without her knowing. Ayane, her precious friend, could have gotten hurt and she didn't even know.

"I asked him why he thought I was cheating on him, and he told me someone had seen me spend time with other guys - whoring around, he called it. I was furious and told him to use that tiny brain of his and consider who his 'friend' was, since she seemed to be messing with his head. He calmed down a little after that and apologized for losing his head several times. I thought that would be it. We hit a rough patch and talked it out, we always did." Ayane kept going. Now came the hard part and she had to take a few moments to collect her thoughts.

"A couple of weeks passed and I ran into his friend one day. I asked her, what her problem was and why she had been lying to Kento. Our relationship was none of her business. And she told me that I didn't deserve Kento, that he would be better off without me. I gave her a piece of my mind and told her she was acting like a teenager, whose crush was taken and how ridiculous it was. She ran off after calling me a stuck-up bitch and telling me Kento was hers.

"Anywho, I forgot about it pretty quickly. So one day when I was heading to a casual dinner with some of my co-workers, this guy started harassing me. I told him to leave me alone and threatened to call the police, but he grabbed my arm and pushed me against a wall." Ayane started trembling and gripped the edge of her chair.

"It was a secluded area, so the few people that were around couldn't really see that I was struggling. He had covered my mouth and told me… he told me… he would kill me if I screamed…" Sawako was sobbing and threw her arms around Ayane. Chizu was so shocked she was left gaping.

"I was so scared, I couldn't do anything and he forced himself on me. I felt so violated, his hands were everywhere and then… and then Kento showed up. He was so angry he straight up punched the guy in the face. I couldn't stop trembling and Kento he… looked at me like I had betrayed him. I felt so dirty and Kento grabbed my hands and pulled me up. We walked back home and I wanted to take a shower, get this horrible feeling off me.

"The first thing he said to me, when we got back inside was that his friend had been right all along, and that I had been cheating on him. I lost it then. I screamed at him that his friend was lying. He shook his head and told me that she had called him and told him I was kissing some guy and Kento ran there as fast as he could. He saw him all over me and was furious." Ayane calmed down a little. The hard part was over and now she felt anger building up.

"You were physically assaulted and he thought you were cheating on him?" Sawako gasped. She was horrified. Ayane had been through so much alone, she had handled everything on her own. The brunette nodded and noticed their other friend was frozen. She was crying too, but was at a loss for words.

"I calmed down when I realized that it had been set up by that witch. I told Kento that. Told him about the encounter I had had with her and how she wanted him for herself."

There was no way she could have happened to see Ayane with a guy and assumed she was cheating with him. It was too much of a coincidence that she would get harassed and the other one would happen to be nearby and call Kento. She had spent months trying to convince him Ayane was cheating; it could only have been her.

"He didn't believe a word a said. He acted like a child and wouldn't listen to me. I tried to be the grown up and calmly spoke to him. I was so hurt he wouldn't believe me. I tried explaining him that I had no reason to cheat on him, but he just kept going on about 'the proof'. I didn't know what to do anymore, so I told him to go to hell. That's when he said it was over." Ayane finished off. She felt so much better now that she had gotten everything off her chest - well, almost everything. She knew her friends would believe her.

"I can't believe it." Sawako whispered sadly. She faintly heard Chizu whisper 'oh my god' over and over again. The next hour or so was spent talking everything over. Ayane had filed a report at the police station for assault and had sought help to overcome it. She had seen a therapist a couple of times and had been advised to end her internship and move back to Kitahiro.

"Ayane-chan, I know you prefer doing things on your own, but you should have come to us. We would have helped you." Sawako took Ayane's hand and gave it a squeeze.

"I'm so sorry for not being there for you. I'm so sorry you had to go through everything on your own." Chizu was so incredibly sad. She still couldn't wrap her head around it.

"I'm sorry for not telling you. I was just… I don't know. I felt ashamed and angry and I had to figure everything out on my own first." Ayane explained. She knew without a doubt that her friends would have helped her, and she felt guilty for only telling them now.

"Ayane you said you still weren't over him." Chizu pointed out. Of course it was hard to move on, but she really hoped Ayane would. She didn't deserve any of the struggles she had been through, but she couldn't go back to him. She wouldn't let her.

"Oh… I guess I was just emotional. I think I'm over him, but I'm not over the way things ended. I had been thinking about it lately, replaying it in my head over and over again. I tried justifying Kento's decision to break up and I've come to the conclusion that I deserve better than someone who doesn't trust me." The brunette shrugged. It had taken her a long time to see, but she respected herself too much to go back to the jerk.

"Ayane-chan I think you should stay with Shouta and I for a couple of days." Sawako began. She wanted Ayane to know that she was always welcome and that she could rely on them no matter what. Ayane had been staying with her sister for a few weeks until she could find a place of her own.

"I think you should take Sawako up on that offer. Think about all the great food she'll cook you." Chizu added to lighten the atmosphere. They had been talking about heavy topics for almost two hours now and knew Ayane would like to change the topic.

"I can't Chizu, I'll just get fat!" Ayane joked and laughed. Her eyes were twinkling and it made both Chizu and Sawako happy to see.

"Nah, you're too skinny. You work too much." The blonde scolded her lightly. She knew Ayane had gotten the message that it would be good for her to relax a couple of days.

"You're probably right. Are you sure I won't be imposing on you, Sawa?" Ayane asked her black-haired friend. You didn't want to burden her.

"Of course not! It's decided then." Sawako cheered. She looked forward to spending more time with Ayane and she knew Shouta wouldn't mind at all. Now that she thought about, he probably knew about everything Ayane had just told them. They were like brother and sister, Sawako thought with a smile gracing her lips.

"Thank you."

Next chapter will be up in about a week! (=w=)/