Notes:
The wait is over. It's time for you to find out who it was who talked to Maki seven years ago. As well as Yuta's version of that day.
So get your tissues, popcorn and your favorite beverage ready, this novela is about to begin.
I hope you like it❤and more if someone can use my fics as a safe place or comfort, welcome.
Enjoy the story.
sorry if there are any mistakes in the translation, I'm translating this at 2 am
Chapter 17. Seven Years Ago. The Train Station
Continued
"Seriously... they took care of... fuck our happiness..." whispered Maki with her voice half cut off, interrupting that first kiss, while she took a few steps backwards to get away from Yuta.
The sorcerer looked at her with intrigue at those words. And more so Mai had not been clear on that subject in her letter.
Yuta also took a step back. He had to behave himself and appease his feelings until the talk was over.
"Did they take care of it? Who? Maki san What else happened that day when we parted at that station?"
Maki sighed. She hugged herself, running her hands up and down her arms to give herself enough courage to finally talk about it after seven years.
"In that station several things happened at the same time... that it's a little difficult to explain..." she moistened her lips "I can confirm that while I was waiting for you, one of those people who is involved in our separation came to talk to me..." She looked at the sorcerer – "That person made me have many more doubts about whether it was a good idea to follow you or not…"
"Did anyone else talk to you after I left to buy that bottle of water?" Yuta asked in frustration.
"That's right, that person showed up just a few minutes after someone stole my cell phone" Maki invited Yuta to take a seat once again.
"Who was it? Maki, who made you doubt me?" questioned Yuta, with a seriousness that chilled the blood. His eyes, fixed on hers, left no room for doubt.
The sorcerer took a seat across from her once again. He was not ready for what he would hear.
"Who spoke to me at the station seven years ago was..."
Flashback
Seven years ago.
At the train station.
MAKI VERSION
Maki's foot kept moving, she was getting too desperate because she had to make a decision about her pregnancy. Besides, she couldn't see her boyfriend anywhere, since he was taking too long.
"What the hell is that idiot doing that he's taking so long?" she asked himself with annoyance when she noticed that more than thirty minutes had already passed and Yuta had not returned.
At that moment, as she turned to look at the signs about the upcoming departure times, a person appeared out of nowhere and bumped into her, pushing her hard by the shoulder.
"Idiot!" shouted Maki in annoyance at the blow.
But the guy who bumped into her did not pay attention to her and just walked away.
Maki rubbed her shoulder, as she looked once again at the clock they had at the station.
Her hands traveled to her belly as she saw the time. She felt uneasy, as if something was not right around her. Even the atmosphere felt heavy.
"Your father is taking too long..."
Suddenly, she felt that someone had stood behind her. That person was so imposing that even a shiver ran down her spine.
"YO! It's good to see you here" said a voice that the sorceress found quite annoying, the mere presence of that person made her turn to look at the one who had arrived.
"Maki" Satoru named her with a big smile on his lips, "I'm glad you're ready to leave the country!" he pointed to his suitcases.
His alumne sighed and clenched her jaw tightly. She really didn't feel like dealing with anyone, least of all with the one who had appeared.
"What do you want, idiot?" she asked with annoyance. Unfortunately the nausea had returned with the presence of that man, but she had to control himself.
"How rude!, you and Utahime do share the same character"
Her student rolled her eyes, "But at least she's a good teacher. Anyway, what do you want?, it's not enough for you to ruin me and Yuta's weekend with this stupid mission abroad!" she crossed her arms.
"I wouldn't say I'm ruining anything for them, on the contrary, I'd say I'm making their lives better" Satoru replied with a big smile. –"Are you sure you're all right? You look a little pale. Are you sick?" he analyzed his student, raising his dark glasses.
Maki raised her voice and put her hands on her hips, "I'm just annoyed about leaving the country! Besides, I'm already dazed from being surrounded by so many people!"
But in reality, the stunned was due to someone's cursed technique. That person was so close to Satoru and Maki that his energy flooded the area.
"But don't you think this is a good idea? I mean, what's better than going abroad with your boyfriend on a mission together or is something else bothering you?" - Gojo brought his face slightly closer to the girl's face.
"Or are you hiding something? Something small but important that could change both your life and Yuta's?"
Those words made Maki's eyes widen enormously, as she stared into those blue eyes that could see even the tiniest thing.
Satoru continued "I ask because ever since I found them in the geisha quarter, you have been behaving very strange."
The sorceress swallowed hard, she tried to stand firm because she knew that maybe Satoru could have seen through her. And if that baby could be a child with cursed energy, maybe he could have already detected it.
"I don't know what you're talking about!" she said firmly, "And stop looking at me like that, you look like a pervert!" she raised her voice.
"I think you do know what I'm talking about" Satoru looked around, it was as if he had detected something else, as certain people had caught his attention.
He returned his gaze to his student –"Because whatever you're hiding could affect both clans, right? I mean because with you and Yuta already being a couple, in one way or another it makes us relatives though distant , especially because although Yuta is not a direct Gojo, his mere presence is equivalent to one, besides, you are a Zenin of the direct line and a relationship like that is quite an issue, and more than that things between the two clans are already tense"
"I don't give a damn about clans right now!" her mood worsened, "Leave me alone!" she replied, turning her face the other way.
At that moment, Maki felt as if someone else was watching her in the crowd, but she didn't know where the heavy gaze was coming from. She thought maybe it was just her pregnant nerves.
But if only she had been paying closer attention, she would have noticed that five specific people were watching her very closely and were spread out just meters away from her.
All of them, they were just making sure that the plan was carried out.
Satoru sighed.
"If you don't feel ready, you know you still have time to leave and walk away from this proposal, just as you still have time to walk away from Yuta"
His student turned her head quickly at those words.
"And why would I do something like that?" she asked annoyed.
"Rather, why not to do it? Just think about it, you're a very smart, strong and independent girl and leaving the country with Yuta is not very like you"
"What are you trying to say?" asked Maki with a hint of intrigue.
"What I am trying to say is that you are a Zenin"
Maki grunted as she heard her last name come out of her sensei's mouth.
Satoru continued explaining. –"Maki, you're a proud girl, and accompanying a superior sorcerer on this kind of mission doesn't suit your style. Even if Yuta is your boyfriend. Besides, if you accompany him, you'll stop being the usual "Maki" and become "Okkotsu's woman", especially now that you'll be traveling abroad together as a couple. So, are you sure you can stand all that?, will you support that all the recognition goes to him?" he raised his finger as if he was giving a class, "Because remember that whoever has the highest rank in the missions, is the one who has the leadership as well as takes all the credit for them!" he adjusted his glasses, "But above all, are you sure that with that you are hiding, wouldn't you be more of a hindrance for Yuta with you in that condition" he pointed slightly to her belly.
Maki hesitated slightly. "I..." She swallowed saliva, she felt for the first time cornered and threatened by that man.
Those words hit her like a bucket of cold water. Again her eyes widened with doubt invading her whole being. Would she be more of a hindrance than a help with this pregnancy?
Both were still very young. Besides, being a woman in that world of sorcery, meant having less chances to succeed or stand out and more being next to Yuta, a special grade sorcerer who could take all the recognition for being a "prodigy" and with a baby on the way, she would be left aside and maybe she would be more of a hindrance.
But if she decided to terminate the pregnancy, could she have an abortion in another country? What if she went to a very conservative country? One where even spontaneous abortion was punishable by jail or the death penalty. She
couldn't have that abortion, could I? Besides, spending days at rest due to this interruption was not a good option in a mission like the one they were going on, where they had to be always on the move.
There was too much at stake, plus she didn't feel ready to leave the country. Fear began to invade her and choked her with that strange energy that hung in the air.
"I..." Maki felt her breath catch. She felt dizzy and choked, the atmosphere felt too heavy.
Satoru looked around again. He knew something was going on but he had decided not to intervene, he thought that maybe it would be a good idea to see the true feelings of these two.
Serious mistake. Because those who wanted to separate them succeeded.
Furthermore, there was a binding vote between him and the superiors, along with Naoya Zenin, that deal did not allow Satoru to intervene directly.
If only Yuta and Maki could have had eyes as sharp as his. If only they had both been able to meet one more time... if only they had both told each other what was happening to them or what they were thinking of doing... perhaps only then they would never have been separated.
It seemed that those watching them began to act according to plan. Camouflaged as simple civilians waiting for the train. A train she would never board. While with the "petal emotion" covering their bodies, they were careful not to fall into that technique of space and time, which worked as a kind of domination.
Just as there was one more technique surrounding them, one that caused fear to intensify in the victim who had been touched minutes before.
Satoru, having the infinite, could defend himself from that cursed energy that was beginning to suffocate the environment.
Instead, Maki began to feel confused, even somewhat heavy and suffocated. Even her body trembled in a shiver. It was as if her restraint was not immune to such techniques.
Maybe it was due to that pregnancy, as two babies with cursed energy were gestating in her womb and those techniques were affecting them.
"Answer me something Maki san, do you really love Okkotsu enough to go with him all the way abroad? Are you willing to leave everything behind and stop being you, for a man like him?" asked the albino looking at his student with firmness.
"I..." she said with difficulty –"I love him"- she whispered, her voice was barely audible to Satoru- "but..."- Maki felt strange, she felt nervous and the doubt was starting to eat her head.
She felt that Satoru's words, as well as her mother's words a day before about her relationship with Okkotsu, had made her hesitate about herself and above all, the doubt was hammering her head about whether she wanted this life that would be presented to her outside her country and more so with a baby on the way...
Satoru stared at her, "I understand"
Maki looked down and her hand rested on her belly. –"What should I do?" she thought.
The albino looked around, it seemed that what was happening had already begun to take on more force.
"I guess Yuta will be here soon. Well Maki san, I'll see you on the train in a few minutes, I have to go and quickly arrange some papers before you leave the country"
Satoru took a few steps and stopped at his student's right side, approaching her ear slightly.
"Maki... Decide quickly and wisely..." he whisper in her ear –"because what you decide with this trip as well as with that baby, could make your life worse or could give you a better opportunity that will not be easily repeated... although there is also the option of declining this offer to leave the country" He look at his student.
"And if you decide to stay in Japan, you know perfectly well that Yuta will need a strong woman both physically and mentally by his side" he adjusted his black glasses, "I wonder if you are that woman?"
Satoru looked at a specific person in the crowd. –"You know they are behind you and if you don't want to suffer, you are still in a position to run away from here... run towards the exit... this technique has a very short range" he whispered.
Maki looked at him out of the corner of her eye. She felt confused by those words and, by the way, she felt heavy. Something was wrong. Wasn't she dreaming? Wasn't she drugged? It all felt so unreal.
Even her belly began to ache. Causing it to move to the front. That was the technique of another person who was very close to her.
"Well!" Satoru gave a big clap –"Decide soon. I'll see you and Yuta in a few minutes anyway!" he started to lose himself in the crowd.
"Wait... blindfolded idiot!" she said, but it was useless, Satoru had quickly moved away.
Maki really felt her head spinning. She closed her eyes tightly and her hands went to her ears. She was desperate. She felt that the voices of everyone around her had intensified, it seemed that people were shouting in her ear, loudly and with hate-filled words.
But that was due to the technique of another sorcerer.
"What if that idiot Gojo is right? What if the best thing for me would be not to go with Yuta? Do I really want to stop being myself because of all this?" her mind was filled with more and more doubts, while again, her hands went to her belly. The pain in that area made her move forward again because it had intensified.
The poor began to hyperventilate, panic was taking over her, as well as bad emotions. The urge to vomit intensified to the extent of giving several arches with the sensation burning down her throat.
She quickly looked for that big clock with her eyes and realized that Yuta had already taken too long, more than an hour had passed.
"What if he left me? Is that why he hasn't come back?" those questions came to her mind in a stormy way as she noticed how much time had passed and Yuta didn't come back at all.
The atmosphere was already so heavy that even breathing was already complicated, the air was charged with cursed energy, which was choking her, she felt as if she was inside a big fish tank.
That was one more technique, one that made his victim feel as if he was drowning. As if water was entering furiously into his lungs making them ache.
"I need to get out of here! I can't do this!" Maki had panicked, turned around, grabbed only her suitcase and walked quickly to the station exit, just as Satoru had mentioned.
Maki was ready to flee. She was literally already one foot out of the station, but something stopped her. One feeling in particular.
She knew she could not abandon Yuta like that.
At that moment, her sanity returned to her. She felt something was wrong. It was as if someone was playing with her.
"He wouldn't forgive me and much less I would forgive myself for leaving him like this..."- She clenched her right fist tightly over her suitcase –"I must talk to Yuta, I must tell him the truth..."- her other hand didn't leave her belly.
Maki quickly returned to the platform where she had even left her boyfriend's suitcase.
"Damn it!"-She said worried when she noticed that the black suitcase was no longer there.
She noticed that all those who were waiting for the train were no longer there either.
That platform had almost completely emptied, and the atmosphere no longer felt heavy at all. It was as if the technique that was suffocating her had vanished.
The situation seemed quite strange to Maki. She felt as if someone had played with her and in the worst possible way.
She quickly looked for her cell phone in the pockets of her jacket, but it wasn't there, she even looked for it in her suitcase, but she couldn't find it at all.
At that moment, when Maki was already too desperate, she remembered the guy who crashed into her a few minutes ago. "That asshole stole my cell pone!" she growled in annoyance.
Then she began to search with her eyes full of despair for her boyfriend. But she couldn't see him and she didn't feel him near her. This was too strange, all this began to make Maki desperate, to the point that she began to go into a fit of hysteria.
"Yuta!" she shouted, but it only attracted the attention of some strangers.
She even began to hate herself for being influenced by Satoru to run away.
And in that moment of anguish where she was looking everywhere, Maki noticed that the train she was supposed to have boarded began to move forward, moving away slowly at first and increasing in speed the closer it got to the end of the platform.
Her instinct made her fix her gaze on the windows of the departing train.
And there, amidst the swaying of the fleeting images, the sorceress caught sight of Okkotsu's unmistakable silhouette.
Her fists clenched tightly. A rush of anger came over her, just as a sharp pain appeared in her chest at the sight of him on that train.
That sorcerer was sitting in his seat by the window. It seemed that he had made his decision.
"Yuta!" Maki shouted once again as she ran alongside the train, which began to speed up.
But Okkotsu didn't pay any attention to her because he couldn't hear her. Besides, he looked very amused talking to the one in the aisle seat, while they were on their way to Haneda airport.
"Yuta!" Maki shouted once again, as she stopped before the platform ended at her feet.
The train sped away from the station and she just stood there.
Maki started to hyperventilate once again. -
"Yuta is gone... he didn't even come down to look for me...- she gasped -Okkotsu has abandoned me…" - her voice broke- "He left without me..." her hand made a fist on her belly. She felt her blood boil.
Her bitter tears began to stream down her cheeks, burning her skin.
Then Maki understood everything. Yuta had abandoned her without giving her any explanation, let alone looking for her to say goodbye.
"You idiot...how I hate you..."
And on that platform, Maki was left with only a broken heart and in her belly harboring two small fruits of a love that seemed to have ended.
Back to the present.
"And there I stayed, alone, confused and furious, looking at how you had abandoned me without saying anything and without looking for me before getting on the train" explained Maki, looking at her coffee cup, which was already empty.
"Some time later I discovered that apparently someone had used a space and time modification technique on me, as well as I found out that other people used other techniques to confuse me even more" she squeezed her cup, to the point of cracking it remembering that dirty trick they had used on it.
"That's why I felt that at that moment the atmosphere was strange and that time had passed very slowly" sighed looking at Yuta, who was surprised to hear all that. He even seemed disjointed with reality. His fingers were nailed to the wood of the table. She could feel him furious.
"So basically Satoru was the one who ended up filling me with more doubts about whether or not it was a good idea to go with you. Doubts that a day before my mother had put in my head when I ran into her near the station, since she told me something similar about how being with you was a bad idea due to the tension of the clans and that maybe you were just going to ruin my life..."
Yuta got up very annoyed from that chair, he was too angry for hear all that.
"So Satoru talked to you and convinced you to run away? Are you telling me that he was also behind our separation?" he questioned very angrily, raising his voice.
Maki also got up from her chair
"Can you keep your voice down please?!" she scolded between her teeth- "You are in my house and I don't want you to make a scandal, you will wake up my children!"
Yuta approached the glass door that led to the courtyard
"I'm sorry, but!" he grunted a little and his hands became fists on that glass, which was tense and at any moment could break –"I can't believe he did this to us!" He was about to explode while his fist was still against the glass.
Maki stood next to him.
"Calm down please, I don't want your damned energy to scare the children... besides, you wanted to know the truth, didn't you? Well, here it is..." she took him gently by the face, placing her hands on his cheeks, so that he would turn to look at her.
Yuta caressed her hands. There was something in her touch and in her golden gaze, even without glasses, that made him not lose his temper. –"I seriously can't believe that Satoru was also behind our separation!" he let out the air in pure anger, "And now that you've told me this, I understand why he dragged me onto the train once I got your so-called message!" he confessed.
"He dragged you to the train?" Maki asked seriously, "Didn't Satoru let you come looking for me?"
"That's right!" Yuta looked at her with a mixture of annoyance and sadness and his hands held hers over his face, "After I got your message, I was going to come and get you, but he dragged me onto the train and wouldn't let me off"
"He just told me that maybe you had regretted coming with me, and that's why you had left. Satoru made me believe that maybe you didn't love me anymore and that's why you had left me... he sounded so firm that I just believed his words... words that I still remember with pain"
"What else did that blindfolded idiot tell you? What other damn lies did he tell you about me?" asked Maki super annoyed, even her hands trembled with anger.
"He said..."
Flashback
Seven years ago
At the train station.
YUTA VERSION
Yuta did not take more than ten minutes to return with that bottle of water, but in that place, there was only his suitcase.
Those were quite strange to him and even more so that it was only a few minutes before the train was due to leave.
"Maki?"
The sorcerer looked for her with his eyes all over the platform, among all the people who were there at that moment.
He decided to ask some people who were near them that he remembered seeing before he went to buy that bottle of water.
"Sir, didn't you see a green-haired girl with glasses standing next to this suitcase?" asked Yuta to the train's security officer, who was giving instructions to the boarding passengers.
"I'm sorry, I haven't seen anyone with those characteristics get on the train or pass this way"
Yuta began to panic, so he kept asking other civilians.
"Excuse me, didn't you see where the girl who was here with this suitcase went?" he asked another boy who had been standing very close to them since they arrived at the station.
"I'm sorry, I was busy on my cell phone and I didn't see where she went" apologized the boy before getting on the train.
Yuta began to fill his lungs with air of despair. So he kept asking, he was getting scared that Maki had left there.
"Excuse me, haven't you seen the girl who was standing here next to this suitcase? She's tall, with green hair and glasses!" Yuta asked a couple sitting near where the two of them had been standing.
"I'm sorry, I didn't see her" replied the man.
"I saw that girl pass by with her suitcase, but I didn't see if she went into the bathrooms or out of here" said the woman.
"Thank you!" replied Yuta worriedly.
The sorcerer felt a strange feeling, he could not see Maki anywhere and the worst thing was that he could not detect her.
Also, that it felt like some cursed technique was fading away.
But he decided not to pay attention to that. Big mistake. If only he had paid more attention to those residual traces, he would have found the culprits of their separation. The ones who were celebrating their breakup several meters away from him.
The train would soon leave the station. So Yuta decided to take out his cell phone, maybe he was in the bathroom as the woman said, so he thought it would be best to call her.
Once he unlocked his cell phone, he saw that he had a message, which came from Maki's number.
But upon opening that message, Yuta felt an indescribable pain from the bottom of his soul as he read it.
-I'm sorry... I can't accompany you anymore on this trip... nor in this life...
Those were the words that would end it all. She had abandoned him at that train station.
He tried to reach her, but her phone was ringing off the line. It was as if she had turned it off.
The train was about to leave the station and Yuta had to make a choice at that moment about what he should do.
"There must be an explanation for all this! She wouldn't leave like this! I must go out and look for her!" he said to himself in desperation.
And just as he was about to grab his suitcase and leave the station to go find Maki, a hand grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, dragging him to the train they were to board.
"Okkotsu, it's time to go if we want to get to the airport on time!" Satoru said with great joy.
For some reason, it seemed that the albino wanted to keep the sorcerer away from that area.
"Wait Gojo san!" Yuta struggled a little against the man's grip, who was stronger than him. Even in the face of such a pull, he dropped that bottle of water, which rolled and got lost in the crowd.
Yuta struggled to get free, but it was useless. Satoru managed to drag him into the train with one hand. It was amazing how he could do that even though Okkotsu was already an adult.
Instead, an assistant went upstairs with them, to take Yuta's suitcase.
"Let's go, the train will be leaving soon, I'm already excited to get to the airport and see you off to your first destination, seriously, this mission will be perfect for you two!" said the albino with a big smile as he led him down the corridor.
"We can't leave yet!" said Yuta, struggling to stop his pace, but Satoru was ignoring him as he pushed him from behind.
"And here are our seats! We'll travel in the best of the best on both the train and the plane!"- said the master with a big grin from ear to ear-"First class is always ideal for this type of travel.
They both stopped in front of those elegant seats, which were in a kind of cabin that made them more private.
"I must get off the train" Yuta cried in desperation, turning to look at his sensei.
"Why do you have to get off the train? - the albino looked at him curiously -Did you forget something? Because if so, I can call Ijichi to send him to Hong Kong, which will be his first destination, or do you have to go to the bathroom? If so, there are several up here"
"It's about Maki! I must go down and look for her!" explained Yuta as he tried to get out of there, but it was useless, as Gojo's infinity prevented him from leaving that cabina.
"Why?" questioned Satoru with a frown, "Okkotsu, you're just exaggerating," he waved his hand simply, "Maybe Maki is already up here and she's just in the bathroom"
"SHE'S NOT HERE! SHE'S LEFT THE STATION!"
"But where could she have gone?" Satoru asked, putting a hand on his hip. He thought his student had gone out to buy something.
Yuta began to explain, waving his hands rapidly, he was desperate. -
"I don't know! She just sent me a message saying she's not going to continue with me! I need to go find her to clear this up!"
"You might as well dial her phone!" suggested the albino.
"Her phone rings out of order! What if something happened to her? I must go look for her!" Yuta again tried to get past Gojo, but his infinity wouldn't let him move forward.
"Oh, I get it!" the albino blurted out those words coldly. He quickly "thought" he understood the situation. He supposed that Maki had simply left of her own accord and more than that she didn't seem ready to make that trip.
Yuta struggled to get out of there, but it was useless. Time had run out, the horns announced that the doors had already been closed and the train would soon begin to run.
"Please Satoru, let me through, I need to go get her!" Yuta clenched his fists. Even his energy started to become overwhelming.
"What don't you understand Okkotsu?" asked Satoru with a sigh.
"Understand what?" he questioned desperately.
Satoru held up a finger as if he were giving a class.
" When a woman has decided to leave, there is no turning back"
"What are you trying to say?" Yuta asked with confusion.
"I have always said that there is no worse curse than love" He sighed with regret and a little pain.
"I, I don't understand..."
"What I am trying to say Okkotsu, is that sometimes when the other person no longer loves us or no longer feels comfortable with us, he or she decides to run away, marking the end of the relationship. And this seems to be the case with Maki" He explained.
"But everything was going so well between us! There must be an explanation for her wanting to leave so suddenly!" Yuta said in despair.
"Are you sure about that?" -Satoru asked with a bit of intrigue, "If everything was going so well between the two of you, don't you think Maki would be here with you right now, in these seats, instead of having abandoned you?" He shrugged- "Besides, there's no time to go looking for her anymore. The train is about to leave and you know that no one can get off or on anymore"
At those words, Yuta was speechless. He blinked several times as he analyzed what his sensei had said.
"But our relationship was going well… even I was going to… propose to Maki and…" he was interrupted.
Satoru raised his dark glasses and looked Yuta in the eyes. –"Was your relationship really going well? Because when I found you two in the Geisha neighborhood, I saw Maki a little differently, I would say that she seemed overwhelmed or rather, she was upset to be there. Was there something wrong between you two? Did you make her angry or something? Because it seemed like you were having trouble in Paradise"
"I..." Yuta again was interrupted as Satoru kept bombarding him with questions that made him question himself.
"Okkotsu, Are you really sure you were a good enough boyfriend to see that Maki wasn't well? Were you two really close as a couple?"
All these questions made Yuta feel quite confused.
"I... I just wanted our weekend to be romantic... but…" he didn't know what else to answer. The guilt of being a bad boyfriend started to eat at his mind.
"What was the last thing she said to you at the station?" Satoru asked curiously.
"Well, she said that if we were going to do this traveling together thing"
"Aha!, and did you notice anything strange about Maki? Was she behaving coldly or strangely?" asked Satoru curiously.
Yuta put a hand to his mouth, looking thoughtful. A faint, quick memory came to his mind.
"She seemed like she wanted to tell me something else before that... and then she asked me to buy her a bottle of water because she said she felt dizzy..." he explained –"I just remember her telling me not to be long... but now that you mention it, she did seem "a little distant" as if something was bothering her..."
Satoru was struck by this. He concluded that Maki had not said anything to Yuta about her pregnancy. And that neither, after the albino talked to her, those two never met again.
"And that was all?"
"Yes! That's why I must go and look for her, maybe she was upset because I was too late in buying the bottle! I must apologize to her and ask her if there is something wrong with her!"
"Well, women don't like to be kept waiting" said Satoru with a smile, "Even if it's ten or five minutes. Especially women like Utahime and Maki, who have a strong mood"
"But it didn't take too long! And when I got back to the platform she wasn't there anymore! She just dropped off my luggage and just texted me to finish me off!"
"A text message?" Satoru raised an eyebrow, he hadn't paid attention to that detail until that moment, "What did it say?"
Yuta quickly took out his cell phone and read those last words that Maki supposedly sent him.
-I'm sorry... I can't accompany you anymore on this trip... nor in this life...
Satoru had a feeling that those words would never be said by his student. Deep down, he knew that the "others" had executed a very dirty and cowardly move, taking advantage of Maki's vulnerability in that train station.
Unfortunately, the plan of "those unscrupulous individuals" had been carried out and he could not break the "deal" he had with them, since breaking that "vow" had its consequences.
Unfortunately, the train was already starting to move.
"I'm going to get her! I'm going to get off this train!" as Yuta was about to take another step, his sensei's hand stopped him, holding him firmly by the shoulder.
Satoru let out the air with regret. -
"Okkotsu! It pains me to be the one to tell you, but if Maki is gone, it means she wasn't ready for this" he said without measuring his words.
"But why?" Yuta froze when he heard that.
"Maybe she must have regretted coming and that's why she left..." he looked at his student with a serious face "that alone would explain why she didn't get on the train"
"That can't be true!"
"Then how do you explain her abandoning you?"
That question broke Yuta's heart "I..."
"Yuta" Satoru ruffled his hair and forced him to sit down. –"Love sometimes goes out like a candle in the wind, without warning, and the person we love, to avoid hurting us, vanishes from our lives without saying a Word"
The albino sighed regretfully. It seemed he had remembered someone he had loved dearly in the past.
"And at other times, the other person is simply not ready to take such a big step as marriage, or living together with the other person or does not feel ready for a mission like this" he looked at him seriously – "Perhaps Maki no longer felt love for you, or maybe there was "something else" that prompted her to abandon you in this way"
"That's why I must go and look for her! There must be something wrong with all this!" Yuta tried to get up but he felt that Satoru's cursed energy wouldn't let him move.
"Okkotsu, accept it, Maki has abandoned you and there is nothing more to do" said Satoru seriously, he had an almost murderous look on his face.
"But..."
"After all, she is a Zenin" he remarked with some annoyance at that surname.
"In the end, she will always do whatever she wants regardless of breaking hearts along the way. Especially since they will never get along with us" Satoru hinted.
Yuta only sighed at those words, perhaps a Zenin could never be close to a Sugawara descendant, he thought with a broken heart.
Satoru sighed and waved his hands.
"Besides, there's no more time to look for her, the train is already on its way"
The young sorcerer sighed as he watched the train begin to pick up speed as they pulled out of the station.
"But I love her... I can't leave without her... We were going to make this trip together..."
Satoru stared at him.
"Yuta, as I said, if she loved you she wouldn't have left you. Now it is up to you to accept this reality"
Yuta looked down with too much sadness at those words. His hand went to his chest, feeling his heart break at the thought that Maki had really abandoned him.
The albino tried to cheer him up as they headed for the airport.
"Come on Okkotsu, don't be sad, take advantage of this second chance you're being given to go abroad, but now as a renowned sorcerer! Not everyone can boast about that, let alone have this privilege," Satoru said with a smile and patted him on the shoulder, "I'm sure this mission is perfect for you. And who knows, you might even find love in faraway lands!" he suggested mischievously.
But Yuta didn't answer that, he was too sad to see the positive side of this trip. But there was no turning back. Now it was his solo mission. He really didn't want to know anything about Japan for a long time.
The black-haired sorcerer just looked out the window, watched as they hurried away from the city of Kyoto, the one where they had broken his heart.
"Maki..." he whispered, trying to hold back his tears before looking at his cell phone, the last picture they had taken together, which he used as his wallpaper.
He had to accept it, she had abandoned him and now he was going abroad with a broken heart.
Back to the present.
"So that blindfolded idiot told you that I had repented?" Maki asked annoyed, "Wow, that was a dirty trick!"
Yuta sighed. -
"Yes, and now that you've told me that he talked to you at that station..." he was too shocked by all that revelation "I really can't believe all this" his voice had a mixture of anger and uncertainty "I trusted him!"
"Believe it, he and other people are behind all this" Maki looked him in the eye, "And they did it, they separated us. They made us both believe that we had abandoned each other"
"And that's what angers me the most, knowing that Satoru conspired against us, but why?" he asked holding her hands tightly.
Maki quickly let go of him when she felt his hands shaking with fury.
"Maybe that can be answered by that blindfolded idiot. Although my theory is that it was for political interests. Besides, our relationship was a threat to them..."
"BUT I'M NOT A GOJO! Why would our relationship be a threat?" said Yuta.
"You may not be a Gojo, but you are the second strongest sorcerer at present only below that arrogant idiot and you, as a descendant of Sugawara, are inevitably linked to him, whether you like it or not..." Sigh –"And I, on the other hand, am a Zenin of the direct line" -she grunted as she pronounced her old surname- "Our romance, in theory, had political repercussions for everyone"
Yuta sighed at that answer. "Maki, answer me something. Did Satoru know you were pregnant when he found you at that train station? And above all, does he currently know that you are still alive?, Does he know that you did give birth to our children?"
She let out a deep sigh."It's more than obvious that he knew I was pregnant! And about whether he knows I'm alive and about our children..." She looked at him seriously, "Why don't you ask Satoru directly?" She crossed her arms.
Yuta scratched his head.
"I understand. I guess I'll have to go get the whole truth out of him all the way to Tokyo"
He was furious, again he took a few steps towards the glass door they had to go out to the courtyard and through which a dim light entered, which he observed for a few minutes in silence as he was still processing everything.
Once again he took a deep breath, he couldn't quite control himself, he wanted answers.
He turned to Maki, once he let the air out in anger "I can't believe he convinced you to run away... seriously, I'm going to..." Yuta was interrupted, when Maki's hands again went to his cheeks, but this time, they gently squeezed his ears.
"Maki, what are you doing?" he asked with pure surprise in his voice.
"Calming you down" she looked at him curiously. -
"As I said, your cursed energy is overwhelming when you're angry and that could scare the children... or you could wake Megumi..." she whispered while she kept squeezing his ears.
She knew that this was another but unusual weak point that the sorcerer had. A point that only she knew and that she had discovered during a furtive kiss in her youth. And that she admitted with a mischievous smile, she enjoyed touching that weakness from time to time with an unexpected touch to provoke him when they were young.
"Stop it Maki san! You tickle me!" whispered Yuta, letting out a slight nervous giggle as he felt her gently squeeze his ears. He felt a tingle run through his body and more as he saw Maki very close to him.
She was still very beautiful.
"Wow, you've gotten taller and by the way, you have more dark circles under your eyes than I remember..." said Maki with a smile, now running her fingers across that stretch of skin under those tired eyes.
"Well, I grew about two inches and by the way" Yuta sigh, "Time changes between countries are a nightmare when you travel, and recovering your sleep cycle is quite difficult..."
Maki let out a slight chuckle at that answer and removed her hands from his cheeks. "Even so, you still look pretty good. I guess you're still doing the exercise routine I taught you, aren't you?" She look at him from head to toe "Although you smell a lot like a cigarette at times. If you're going to want to come into my house, and by the way, if you're going to want to spend time with my children, you should stop smoking"
Yuta smiled a little.
"Since I met Yurika and Yuudai, I've gradually quit smoking..."
"As I said, if you're going to spend time with them, you'll have to give up that cigarette addiction completely!"
"OK... I'll give it up for you and for them" whispered Yuta with his breath half-barked out.
Again they were silent, as they continued to stare at each other.
At that moment, Yuta dared to touch her face once again.
Maki gave a slight jump as she felt Yuta's hand on her cheek, slowly caressing her-"what's wrong?"
"I'm checking to see if you're real..." he whispered, gently running his hand over her cheek.
"I told you that I'm not a ghost..."
"I know, and that's why I'm touching your face to check that you're not a figment of my imagination..." he caressed with his fingers Maki's hair that fell over her face, taking advantage of the fact that she was still without her glasses "Seriously, you're still as beautiful as the last time I saw you" he whispered, bringing his lips a little closer to hers.
Maki at such words quickly returned her hands to his ears to stop him. –"Of course I'm real! If I wasn't, could I do this?" she commented, once again gently pinching Yuta's ears.
That gesture made him stop from bringing his lips closer and even closed his eyes for a moment, instead, Maki laughed softly at such gestures. That laughter simply filled the sorcerer's heart with life.
That seemed like a dream, but the good kind that makes you want to keep sleeping and dreaming of that happiness.
Maki still did not take her hands off his ears. She even ran her fingers again through the thick black hair that fell across his forehead, observing that he still had the same hairstyle she had done for him when they were younger.
"Yurika and Yuudai inherited your hair..." she whispered, returning her hands to his ears, squeezing them once again gently.
"Please stop doing that..." whispered Yuta, his voice barely coming out in a trickle of hot air against Maki's face. His eyes glittered with a mixture of desire and shyness as his hands gently clasped hers. He wanted to stop her but it was impossible.
Their bodies were dangerously close, as they still felt too much attraction even for each other.
Maki looked at him with a mischievous smile, her eyes full of mischief. A warm blush tinged her cheeks, and her heart was pounding in her chest, "Why?, Don't you like it?" she asked in a husky, barely audible voice.
Yuta swallowed saliva, struggling to control the tempest swirling inside him. –"It's not that..." he also murmured in a voice hoarse with passion. "It's just that... You'll make me lose my mind"
Maki leaned closer, her lips were just millimeters away from his. –"I clearly remember that this is one of your weak points, isn't it?" she had a seductive smile–"Okkotsu, you are forcing me to do this... only this way I can control you so that your cursed energy doesn't drown us" she whispered playfully, her eyes shining from the light coming through that glass door that led to the courtyard from that kitchen.
Illuminating them in such a way that their shadows were cast into the hallway in a seductive scene.
"Then... you make me do this…" Yuta couldn't resist any longer. His lips met hers in a passionate kiss, full of fire and desire that still lingered after those seven years.
Maki was initially surprised by that kiss. But she couldn't push it away, her lips needed it so she didn't put up any resistance and just let herself go. Running her hands around his neck to get closer to him.
Instead, Yuta slipped his arms around her waist, clinging to her desperately because he could finally kiss her and feel her again.
The two kissed so passionately that even Maki was leaned for a moment by Yuta against the glass of the door leading to the courtyard, while their mouths ate each other and their hands grasped each other's clothes tightly.
Maki held Yuta's shirt tightly to her chest, feeling Yuta's heart wanting to burst out of her body. While Yuta kept his arms around her waist, which was still tiny despite having given birth to two babies.
They both wanted to keep kissing, but that first kiss stopped once they were out of breath.
There were so many feelings involved that it was impossible to express them in a single kiss.
Their foreheads met even with their eyes closed, as they caught their breath.
At that time of the morning, in that kitchen you could only hear their gasping for air and the hands of the clock.
Maki was the first to open her eyes, "Was this proof enough to show you that I'm not a ghost?" she said in a whisper, but she still couldn't tear herself away from him. She still had her hands on his chest, holding him by his shirt.
"It showed me more than that" Yuta opened his eyes and smiled at that answer, while his arms were still around her waist.
After that passionate kiss, they both hugged each other tightly. That embrace was so comforting that it felt like all the pieces of their broken hearts were coming together.
"You really came back..." Maki whispered, with her head resting on Okkotsu's shoulder and her face hidden between his neck as her hands dug into the fabric of his back.
"I did it and by the way, I thank you for giving birth to our children... now I have a reason to stay here in Japan" he whispered in her ear, still hugging her tightly because he did not want to leave her "Because they say that home is where your heart is... and my heart from now on is with you three..."
Maki's smile faded at those words. –"I don't think it's a good idea for you to get close to me..." she ran the tip of her nose along his neck and chin, going from bottom to top, "With the children, you can get closer, but little by little, but with me you should keep your distance... Okkotsu" she whispered releasing the air in his neck.
"Why do you say that?, Don't you want me near you?" Yuta whispered with some pain as he stroked her hair.
"It is for your own good... I could hurt you," whispered Maki. Putting her hand over his heartbeat.
"As I told you a while ago. You are the only one I would give permission to rip out my heart..." - he took her hand on his chest, so that Maki could feel his heart beating for her –"Even if it means that you have to kill me so that you and our children are safe"
Hearing those words, Maki pressed her hand on Yuta's clothes, at the level of his heart.
Maki knew that the first part of her plan had worked. Her approach with Yuta had been successful and now she just had to follow the other advice Mei Mei had given her to later get all the information they needed out of him.
But now Maki also had to fight with herself not to fall in love with Yuta again... but it was impossible.
At that moment, both could not resist and again their lips met once more. Maki on this occasion was the one who started the kiss gently, as she rose on tiptoe to reach Okkotsu's lips before whispering something that Okkotsu did not hear.
And when the imminent closeness promised a kiss even more ardent than the previous one, fanning the flame of a desire that not even seven years of separation had managed to extinguish.
And as far as the possibility of "something else" happening between the two of them that night, their fingers were eager to explore every inch of theis skin under theis clothes, and their mouths, which ate each other in that kiss, began to emerge subtle whispers full of seduction where they pronounced their names ...
Hurried footsteps at the entrance to the kitchen alerted them and forced them to separate suddenly.
Maki, still gasping for breath, quickly went to the hallway where the footsteps had been heard coming from, but when she looked out she saw no one there.
Still, she felt that someone had been watching them.
They both wiped their lips and Yuta arranged his shirt, just as Maki arranged her hair and picked up her glasses from the table, then placed them once again over her eyes.
She took a big breath, then cleared her throat. –"Okkotsu..."
"Yes?"
Maki slowly let the air out as she answered-"You have my permission to approach our children, but there are only several conditions that I want you to follow to the letter if you are going to spend time with them.." she commented, taking the coffee cups and taking them to the sink.
"And what are those conditions?" asked Yuta curiously and without taking his eyes off her.
Maki once she put down those cups, turned to look at him "Number one" she started to enumerate with her fingers –"You will not tell the children that you are their real father..." she sounded quite serious –"not until the right time comes"
"And more than first I want to gain their trust and I want to get to know them better before revealing it to them" sighed Yuta calmly, "Although I admit that I'm a little afraid of how they might react or that they might take this news badly..."
Maki sighed "That's why we will only tell them when the time is right or if we are in a dangerous situation. Are you in agreement with this condition?"
"I am. And what are your other conditions?"
Maki took a few firm steps towards him,"Number 2," she said with an imposing and serious voice, "I strictly forbid you to reveal any information about me and our children to Naoya or anyone working at the headquarters. This also includes the news that I am still alive and much less do I want you to reveal our location. If you break this condition, I swear I will kill you" she stressed with pure anger.
Yuta sighed.
"Does this condition also apply to Katsumoto? "he asked sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck.
"Who is that?" asked Maki with confusion.
"I'm talking about my assistant"
"Do you have an assistant?" asked Maki with surprise. She didn't know that.
"Yes, I mention it because he was the one who gave me the information about your grave, as well as the information that you had given birth..." Yuta answered nervously, "He has been a great help to me since I arrived in Japan. Besides, the children have known him since that incident at the mall"
Maki raised her eyebrows at that answer. From now on she would have that assistant in her sights because she doubted anyone who continued to work for the academy.
"Ok, I will make a slight exception for him" she pointed her index finger at him. – "However, my only condition I have for your assistant will be that I don't want him near me and much less inside this house" she folded her arms.
"Why?" Yuta was very surprised by Maki's defensive attitude.
"I will be direct Okkotsu, I don't trust anyone who still works for the sorcery headquarters. Therefore, if you don't want me to restrict you from seeing your children and you don't want me to kill that guy, then I want him away from this house just as I want him away from our friends, do you understand?"
Yuta sighed when he heard that condition.
"I agree. I will ask him to keep the secret as well as order him to stay away from you and our friends and much less from this home" he tensed his shoulders a little, "I have to keep all of you safe, especially now that I am going to Tokyo to report to Satoru about the case I am handling"
"You know?, I have a feeling Satoru is hiding something from us" Maki had tinges of intrigue in her voice.
"Hiding something? Like what?" Yuta found that statement rather strange.
"I don't know how to explain, but a month after you went abroad and I resigned from the academy to keep my pregnancy a secret, that bandaged idiot started to behave very strangely, it was as if he was hiding something important from all of us, even so, go carefully to Tokyo, okay?" said Maki without looking him in the eyes.
Yuta nodded in agreement. Mai had also told him something similar in her letter about the strange and drastic change in Satoru's behavior.
"I'll try to be careful" he looked at her seriously, "Any more conditions?"
"Yes and number 3..." Maki's face changed to one of total supplication –"Please Okkotsu"- she clasped her hands together –"Help me save Mai from the Zenin clan... she did a lot for the three of us during the first three years of Yurika and Yuudai's life... so I want to get her out of there no matter what it takes"
Yuta sighed. He knew that this was true and even more so when he saw it with his own eyes. –"I will try to see how we can save her from that hellish residence. I promise"
Maki sighed, letting go of the tension that was weighing her down. Her shoulders relaxed a little, releasing the burden that weighed on them, "Thank you, Okkotsu" she said with a faint smile, "Now you have my full permission and authorization to come and see our children. Just remember to always let me know before you come, okay? Since I don't like surprise visits at all"
"Perfect!" Yuta had a big smile for that answer, " I promise to always call you before coming. As well as fulfill these three conditions to the letter"
"Very Good"
Maki looked at the clock, which showed that it was only ten minutes before four in the morning –"It's already very late, we'd better go get some rest"- she looked at her guest- "Megumi and the children prepared a bed for you in the guest room"
Yuta smiled, "Thank you for the accommodation. Although I admit I would like to sleep with you again..." he said with a slight blush invading his face at such a wish.
Maki also blushed at that very direct proposal.
So she tapped her index finger on Yuta's chest.
"Or have you forgotten that our last nights where we slept together resulted in two babies?!" she sighed with annoyance and her hands rested on her hips. -
"Besides, for now, I have no plans to enlarge the family by having another child, much less with you at this time." Saying this, she went to the oven to retrieve her notebooks, she was not going to leave without them.
A bead of sweat rolled down Yuta's head at that wake-up call –"You're right. Although I confess that I'm still surprised that we had two babies in one pregnancy and even more so on the first attempt"
"Maybe it was just luck"- Maki crossed her arms without letting go of her notebooks- "Anyway!, I'm still too upset about what happened between YOU and "that woman" to go back to sleeping in the same bed with you for the time being"
Yuta scratched the back of his neck-"I already told you I'm sorry for that and that it was only once" he clasped his hands together in a sign of supplication "I can prove to you that it won't happen again! Besides, I'll show you that I still love you"
"We'll see... They say actions speak louder than words" said Maki in all seriousness.
"To show you that I am serious and that I would really like to win you back" Yuta took off the engagement ring that was meant for her, "Maki, would you like to" he put one knee on the floor, holding the ring between his fingers, "accept this ring as a promise from me to you?"
Maki raised an eyebrow at what Yuta was doing. -
"Why should I accept it?" she asked confused, "Besides Okkotsu, you are a womanizer, you are flirting with a married woman" she said with a slight smile and giving this sorcerer a gentle tap on the head with her notebooks.
Yuta laughed a little and stood up. -
"Well, you could take this ring on my behalf, as a promise to you to see that I will fight for your love and for your trust, as well as my promise to keep Yurika and Yuudai safe, besides..."- he took her hand – "You don't wear a ring on your ring finger and you know perfectly well that your marriage with Megumi is just a strategy to keep them safe, don't you?"
"Did Megumi or Tsumiki talk to you about this?" asked Maki with annoyance.
"Yes, they both explained to me a little about why Yurika and Yuudai carry the surname Fushiguro" said Yuta scratching the back of his neck, "Just as Megumi also explained to me that the children already know that he is their stepfather..."
Maki sighed with resignation.
"Well, I guess I don't have to explain it to you anymore"
"Even so" Yuta did not let go of Maki's hand, "If your marriage is a sham, is there anything else that prevents you from giving me a chance?" He ask looking directly into her eyes, "Or is there really something between the two of you that prevents you from receiving this ring?"
"Wow!, it looks like you're serious about getting me back, huh?" she raised an eyebrow.
"As I said, I also want your love back. So I'll do everything to show you that I still love you" he said, looking into her eyes, "Besides, because of the kisses we gave each other a moment ago..."
Maki smiled a little, caressing his cheek. -
"I told you Okkotsu, try not to get so close to me, because you could get hurt" she looked him in the eyes, "And about the kiss a moment ago..."She whispered lightly "it was just to reassure you, let's say it was a moment of weakness. It would be best to forget about it, because as I said, I am a married woman. Besides, it will be a little difficult to forgive you for "her".
"But that doesn't answer my questions" Yuta replied quietly.
Maki sighed and looked at him seriously. Then she looked at the ring that Yuta still wore on his hand.
"You said it yourself, my marriage is a sham" She looked at Yuta very fixedly, "but that doesn't leave aside that before the law, Megumi is my husband. But I guess he already made it clear to you how our relationship is, didn't he?"
"He just told me that you two are only husband and wife in front of the law, this to give Yurika and Yuudai a family name" he answered looking at her still holding that ring.
"And by the way, he told me that for several years, you two only slept in the same room just to take care of Yuudai at night when he was still a baby" Yuta explained.
"That's all he told you?" asked Maki, hiding her nervousness in a tone of curiosity.
"That and he also told me that he is currently spending most of his time in Tokyo and, well, that he has practically played the role of stepfather on his own" He replied.
Maki let the air out in a small sigh of relief. She seemed reassured that Megumi didn't reveal something else. Something that had apparently happened between the two of them.
"If that's all Megumi told you, then I have nothing more to explain"
Yuta sighed.
"Maki answer me something" He look at her with attention"Do you still have feelings for me? And by the way, why can't you accept this ring even as a promise?" he asked.
"About if I still feel something for you, we'll see with the passing of time..." Maki looked once more at that ring and closed Yuta's hand "And I will only accept it, once I see that you will really do things right this time" again they were very close to each other, her fingers ran over his cheek.
Yuta took Maki's hand and kissed her palm. -
"Then I'll take care to show you that I'm serious... to let me get closer to you" he whispered, bringing his lips close to hers once more.
Maki sighed at those words as their lips brushed again. -
"Believe me Okkotsu, for your sake it would be best if you stay, even one step behind me..." she whispered. But again she was letting herself be carried away by her feelings for him.
"Then I will try to follow all your steps until I reach you..." he whispered, his breath falling on Maki's lips.
Those words seemed like a premonition and a strong declaration of war. For assassin and detective were just a kiss and a step away.
And all too delicately and feeling their breaths cut off once again, their lips softly joined under the threshold of that kitchen, lasting less than a minute for fear of being discovered.
"Well, let's go to sleep now..." Maki looked at the clock again, which now read 4:15 am. "We'd better get some rest before the children wake up, I don't want them to see us that close either"
The two accompanied each other down that hallway for a while, and then said goodbye to each other on the stairs.
Yuta sighed when he saw Maki climb the first step. -
"You are right, I need to rest at least for a few hours, to carry out tomorrow what I have already decided to do" he said in a very serious but low
tone"
"And what do you plan to do?" asked Maki in a low voice, turning to look at him at such words.
Yuta looked very serious, "I will go to Tokyo for answers. I'm going to go and demand that Satoru tell me the whole truth"
Maki sighed when she saw him with such determination. She stroked his cheek as she made him look into her eyes.
"If you're going to go with Satoru, just make sure you don't die and bring the truth"
Yuta nodded, took her hand once more.
"I promise, I will return safely and bring back all the answers we both seek"
On Maki's lips was marked a tiny smile of triumph.
She would finally get information from the academy and Satoru, using Okkotsu as an infiltrator.
04:25 a.m.
Maki crawled into her bed after hiding her notebooks in a locked drawer.
She looked up at the ceiling and touched her lips, remembering those kisses that minutes ago they had both given each other so intensely.
It pained her to admit it, she still loved him, but she had to be careful and even more so if she planned to use him just to find out what was going on at headquarters and incidentally, to find a way to save her sister.
Her hands went to her chest. She had used her charms and some dirty tricks as Mei had taught and suggested. But deep down, she felt the guilt hit her hard in the depths of her being.
"Just keep him close so that the plan works, just as we had planned," Maki said quietly to herself as she felt her heart pounding, "I just hope I don't fall for this stupid desire I still have for him"
She clenched her fist over her heart and sighed – "From now on I must be twice as careful... if I want to complete my revenge... and in the process obtain the welfare and freedom of my children" she closed her eyes, remembering the lips of that sorcerer on hers, making her heart feel alive again inside her chest.
"Yuta..." She whisper his name before falling asleep.
She also had several targets to eliminate in the coming days, so she had to be much more careful with Yuta from now on. Especially if she didn't want to be discovered as the new sorcerer assassin.
Still, it would be hard for Maki not to fall for the one she still loved.
The morning came hours after the conversation between these former lovers.
Yuta, as promised, had breakfast with his children, who, with Tsumiki's help, prepared a delicious breakfast for him.
Instead, Maki throughout breakfast, looked at his four suspects.
She look curiously at her children, just as she look closely at Tsumiki and Megumi.
That woman was trying to figure out which of those four might have been watching them during that early morning kiss.
But later, she would find out who that eavesdropper was in the least expected way.
Once breakfast was over, Okkotsu tenderly said goodbye to Yurika and Yuudai, hugged them and promised to return in a few days, as he had to leave town for work.
He also said a kind farewell to Megumi and Tsumiki, whom he thanked for their hospitality, as well as thanked them for talking to him about the past.
Just as he said goodbye to Maki, thanking her for the confidence to continue seeing these children, but for the moment pretending to be a new friend of the family.
Truly, Okkotsu had a hopeful look on his face because he wished he could be together again very soon and wanted to do everything he could to get his family back.
But before that, Yuta had to go look elsewhere for the truth.
Around noon, Yuta returned to his apartment, changed clothes and put on something very similar to the uniform he wore when he went to the academy in his student years.
He took the briefcase of his sword, as well as other documents where he kept records about that case of the sorcerer killer.
Yuta immediately called Katsumoto to accompany him to Tokyo as a matter of urgency.
Okkotsu was NOT going to wait another day. So he would go unannounced to the residence where Satoru Gojo was staying in Tokyo.
Coming soon...
Yuta was about to discover a truth in the most unexpected way.
"Okkotsu, you are not the only one who has to lie to protect what you love the most..." Gojo answered with his eyes fixed on Yuta, who was surprised by what he had heard and seen at that moment.
Notes:
I hope you liked it.
And tell me, what do you think of this story? Did you expect Gojo to be the one who separated them? What do you think will happen in the next chapter? Do you think Yuta and Maki will have another baby someday? What do you think of Maki's plan?
I will be reading them.
I can only tell you that a furious Yuta and an intense fight are coming, as well as a truth that could give a twist to the plot.
Also, the version of what happened to Utahime seven years ago is coming. Because yes, more drama is coming from all sides.
I just hope to have the chapter soon.
And more than what happened in the manga, I'm heartbroken, Yuta was one of my favorites, and I really don't want to abandon my fics because of something like what's happening in the manga, so I'll try to continue them as far as I have free time outside of here. Anyway, whoever needs a hug or to be listened to, remember that here you have a friend.