Chapter 36

After the early morning turns to night, the ward area is silent. The light in the corridor is dim, and the corridor lights emit a desolate and dim light. Occasionally, a nurse on duty will walk by silently.

So, I am alone again.

Youji suddenly thought in the dark, and after a while, she shook her head to herself.

No, I was alone from the beginning.

She curled the corners of her mouth in the quilt, closed her eyes, and buried her head deeper.

Her body was very tired, as if all her strength had been drained, but she just couldn't sleep. She closed her eyes and wrapped herself in the quilt, silently listening to the ticking sound of the clock, which was particularly harsh.

It took a long time before she fell into a shallow sleep, which was extremely uneasy, with intermittent dreams.

Under the cloudy sky of Tokyo, a scarlet Porsche came towards them. The camera switched to a moonlit night. The woman fell from the corner of the stairs, and bright red blood flowed all over the floor.

The scream pierced the eardrum.

She struggled to wake up from the nightmare, sat up hugging the quilt, gasping for breath, and panic spread like wild grass in her body.

The whole silent ward seemed to be startled, and there was a rustling sound. In the dim skylight, it seemed that someone was approaching. She shrank back in horror: "Who?"

The man paused with his raised hand and turned on the floor lamp beside the bed. The dim and soft light fell into the small space. The tall silhouette of the man was upright and handsome, with a hint of dust. A teardrop mole at the corner of his eye was faintly visible in the blurred light and shadow.

Youji was stunned for a moment, until he saw the person in front of him clearly, he didn't say a word.

Atobe looked at her frightened expression with a sidelong glance, and felt a little reluctant. He came over and sat on the edge of the bed, hugged her in his arms, "Did you have a nightmare?"

She didn't answer. The man's arms were warm and strong, with a faint smell of running dust, and finally felt real within reach.

As if confirming this, she finally relaxed her stiff expression, gently struggled out of his arms, and looked at him in the dim light: "When did you come back?"

"About an hour ago." Atobe said lightly, "I saw you were asleep, so I didn't disturb you."

He finished the negotiations at seven o'clock and took a private plane back at eight o'clock. Counting the time spent in the air and on land, it was already late at night when he arrived at the hospital. Knowing that she had a very light sleep and would have difficulty falling asleep even with a little light and sound, he simply didn't turn on the lights and just quietly sat on a chair beside her. At this moment, in the soft light and shadow, you can still vaguely discern a little bit of fatigue on her face.

The woman frowned and sighed slightly: "Since you have something to do, you don't have to rush here so quickly."

"It's all been dealt with." Hearing her say this, Atobe frowned faintly, "You said that, as if you blame me for being late."

"You know I don't mean that."

"Really?" He looked at her lowered eyelids, and the bottom of her dark gray eyes dimmed.

"What else? Anyway, it's already..." She didn't want to look into his eyes, and turned her gaze to the hazy night behind the curtains. But she choked slightly in the depths of her throat and couldn't say any more.

She simply curled up and buried her face in her arms, hugged her knees and clenched her fingers tightly. After a long time, she didn't look up. Atobe finally sighed as if giving up, and reached out to touch her shoulder lightly, but got no response.

So his brows frowned even more, and tentatively reached out his hand, touched her cheek, but was surprised to find that his fingertips were already wet and hot. He raised his eyebrows in shock, and forcibly lifted her face up, and then he saw her tears, mottled in the dim skylight.

The woman was a little panicked and wanted to dodge, but he held her firmly, and then dragged her into his arms. The light kiss, with the man's faint body temperature, fell down, mixed with the salty tears, and wet her cheeks.

Her body stiffened for a moment, as if she was venting something, and finally she sobbed intermittently.

——Keigo, child, no more...

There will be seasons in the future, there will be...

As if to comfort her, he gently patted her back, and Atobe raised his eyes. The dark gray pupils slowly passed by in the soft light and shadow, but for a moment, they were a little solemn and depressed, with an indescribable determination, and then they became dark again.

After that, she cried for a long time, and when she was finally tired of crying, Atobe helped her move slightly to the side, making a little room on the bed, leaning diagonally at the head of the bed and holding her in his arms, turning off the lights, and the two of them quietly looked at the dim ceiling under the skylight.

"It's still early, don't you sleep for a while?"

She shook her head. She was unconscious for too long in the afternoon, but she always had nightmares at night, and she really couldn't sleep well.

"Don't worry about me. Aren't you tired after running around all day?"

Atobe remembered that from noon to now, he had just experienced a high-intensity negotiation and took a few hours of flight. Strangely, he didn't feel sleepy at all, but his mind was surprisingly clear.

"I am a person who becomes more energetic as the night goes on." He chuckled and bent down to tidy up her slightly messy hair. "But you, you look so bad, why don't you go to bed honestly?"

"I just can't sleep."

"Are you afraid of having nightmares?"

She paused for a long time, looked up at his deep eyes, and finally nodded.

"It was a very confusing dream, as if it was now, but also like the past." She retracted her gaze, looked up at the dim roof, and said in a calm voice, "I saw the car coming towards me and wanted to scream, but I saw my mother falling down the stairs more than ten years ago, covered in blood..."

The hand on her shoulder stiffened slightly, and he frowned slightly: "Your mother?"

She seemed to realize her slip of the tongue, and just smiled bitterly: "It happened sixteen years ago. At that time, my father was far away in the United States, and my uncle sent us to live with Hasegawa's family. My mother was pregnant at the time, and suddenly she slipped and fell one night and bled a lot. Later, she gave birth to Seiichi in the hospital, but left alone..."

Atobe listened to her slowly in silence, without looking at her expression: "Was it really just a slip?"

"I don't know." She shook her head, "But that day I heard the quarrel between women in the corridor. One was my mother, and the other was my aunt Hasegawa Takako. At that time, Shu and I were standing downstairs, watching her fall down, and then blood flowed into a river..."

She seemed a little cold, and pulled the quilt under her armpits: "Maybe my life has been changed since that moment."

"Have you left the Hasegawa family since then?"

"A friend of my mother took care of us out of moral obligation, but unfortunately she passed away a few years ago. In those years, the fund under my mother's name was almost used up for Seiichi's studies and medical expenses. Later, she became a lawyer, and things got better, but that time didn't last long..."

Atobe leaned against the head of the bed and listened to her slowly, with a slightly depressed look on his face.

"Hasegawa Takako and your mother are not on good terms?"

"In that family, no one welcomed us except my uncle and Shu."

"Because of that incident?"

"To abandon the marriage policy that has been set and elope with a poor boy who has no money, wouldn't it be a disgrace to the Atobe family?" She smiled bitterly, "But when I think about it later, sometimes I feel strange. After going through such earth-shaking ups and downs, shouldn't the feelings between them be strong and lasting? But thinking carefully, when they are together, they never quarrel or get close, they are just polite, really just polite..."

Atobe was silent for a long time, sighed, and came closer to hold her in his arms.

"Why think so much? If you really want to know, you might as well ask the person involved..."

She was slightly stunned, knowing that he was joking, and slightly curved the corners of her lips, with soft lines. Perhaps because she said too much, fatigue soon came over her layer by layer. The panic-stricken emotions in the dream before, now being in his arms, she felt much safer. So in the end, she didn't say anything, just lazily closed her eyes, and buried half of her plain face in his arms.

Atobe was slightly startled, and stopped disturbing her quietness. He just patted her chest gently, as if he was coaxing a child to sleep.

When he opened his eyes the next day, the woman was still sleeping in his arms. The sun was already high, but not hot. It shone through the curtains and poured on half of her plain face, which was very gentle.

When Tezuka Kunimitsu and Sakai Otonashi pushed the door open, they saw the young president of the Atobe chaebol leaning against one end of the bed, looking like he had just taken a nap.

The young lawyer, who had little expression on his face, was a little surprised, but the other party had noticed the sound and made a quiet gesture, then got up from the bed slowly, put on the coat draped over the back of the chair, and walked out.

"When did you come back?"

"Last night."

To be exact, it was early this morning.

Tezuka Kunimitsu saw that there were some bloodshot under his eyes due to lack of sleep, frowned, and said nothing more.

The rest of the work was left to Sakai Otonashi and Asano Rima, who came to make rounds in the morning. The two young people, who had met in junior high school, walked out of the building one after the other and strolled leisurely on the lawn of the hospital.

"It's been a long time since we last met, Tezuka."

"Yeah."

The air was very good in the morning, and the not-so-strong sunlight spread down, with a faint mottled golden glitter. Tezuka Kunimitsu looked at his tall back standing in the sun, just pushed his glasses on his nose, and was as frugal as usual.

In front was the tennis court specially set up by the hospital. There were not many people, and the yellow balls were flying back and forth in the air, drawing beautiful arcs.

Atobe stopped and looked inside through the wire fence outside. He didn't look back, but his voice was unusually clear: "Are you still playing now, Tezuka?"

"Not really." Tezuka Kunimitsu spoke very little. He looked down at his left hand, clenched it and then spread it out, as if he was recalling something. Finally, he raised his head. The cold lenses cast mottled light in the sun, and it was difficult to see the expression on his face. "What about you?" 

"Occasionally." Atobe chuckled and walked straight in. What came into view was a spacious green grass field. An out-of-bounds ball fell in front of him. He raised his hand and skillfully held it in the air, then gently raised his hand. The bright yellow origin returned along the original route, and the lines were bright and smooth. 

"I heard that the kid was very active in ATP back then. I used to think you should have had a place before that." 

"My left hand was injured too badly that time. I can hold the racket, but it's impossible for me to play in the game." Tezuka Kunimitsu said lightly. He followed him in and stopped a few steps away. "Although it's a pity, there's nothing we can do." " 

Ah, those days are finally over." Atobe looked up at the snow-like sunlight, squinted his eyes, took a deep breath, and then opened his eyes, not knowing whether he was talking to him or to himself. 

The young man with light blond hair looked at him quietly. I wonder if he was thinking of the glorious years when they were young and full of youth. Just as he was pondering, he heard him suddenly change the subject: " 

Hey, Tezuka, you don't seem happy." 

Tezuka Kunimitsu touched the cold frame of his glasses with his fingertips, walked a few steps closer but did not face him, just looked at the figures running back and forth on the court: "I regret it, Atobe." 

"Huh?" 

"If I hadn't recommended Yuki to take over the acquisition of your consortium, she wouldn't have known you, and she wouldn't have to work so hard now." 

The answer was somewhat unexpected. Atobe was stunned and chuckled: "Are you blaming me, huh?" 

"Isn't it?" He finally turned around and looked at him, "I don't care what kind of agreement you have reached between you, but Atobe, you left her alone in Rome, ignoring her injuries, and she had an accidental miscarriage and couldn't contact you for a long time. Is this your sense of responsibility as a husband?" 

Atobe was silent for a long time: "If you are referring to these two things, then I really have nothing to say." 

Tezuka Kunimitsu frowned and didn't speak for a while. 

"She wasn't like this before, Atobe." After a long moment, he finally sighed, "Although she's still the same now, very strong, very capable, and very good at disguising herself, but at least she'll smile when she's happy and cry when she's sad. But it's only been a short year, and I've rarely seen her carefree and relaxed expression." 

Atobe's deep gray eyes were immersed in the light golden morning light, without any ripples. 

After a long while, he spoke: "You want to say that all this is caused by me, huh?" 

"You're wrong, Tezuka." She continued without waiting for him to speak, "With that kind of childhood and that kind of experience, do you think she can live a dull life? That time it was her brother, who knows if it will be her turn next time? Escape blindly will only make you lose the power to fight back, and in the end you won't even be able to protect yourself. There are many paths in life, she just chose the one that suits her best, even though this path is full of thorns and blood." 

"Is this a reason for self-defense?" 

"If you say so, I can't help it." Atobe smiled, "It just happens that our paths are the same, and no one can take her away from me, including you, Tezuka." 

The pronunciation of the last sentence seemed to be emphasized, and Tezuka Kunimitsu actually felt a little cold. 

"What is she to you?" 

When asking this question, Atobe had already turned and walked away. Hearing this, his steps paused, without looking back, but there was a bit of desolation in his voice. 

"A person stands on a high place and makes everything surrender to him. But if no one witnesses and shares it, it would be a pity... Perhaps, it is just like that..." 

He looked up at the cloudy autumn sky, walked out of the court, and saw Akiyama Takuma and Kabaji Takahiro waiting for him in the distance. So he quickened his pace, and a slight chill flashed across his dark gray eyes.