“It’s my fault, it’s my fault, it’s my fault…”

“Stop saying it’s your fault.”

“Aki-nii, it is my fault! If only I… be careful…” Harumi kept telling herself as she waited outside the room where Haruo was with Aki. The image of Haruo in unconscious state on her lap kept replaying in her head, making her trembling. “If only…”

“Shh…” Aki whispered against Harumi’s head, as she kept on sobbing. He put his arms around her trembling body, and kept kissing her head, trying to calm her down. “It wasn’t an accident.”

“What? You mean… someone was behind this?” Harumi asked in a trembling voice, as she turned to him.

“The police had caught the person who drove the car. And after a further investigation, that guy was working under someone. And you knew the rest.”

“So then, last time… The guy that had almost kidnapped me…”

“He was the one that hit Haruo,” Aki concluded, as he wiped the tears on her cheeks with his thumbs. “This accident was meant for you.”

“So… Haruo-nii had… saved me?” Harumi mumbled to herself, right before the door was opened, and a doctor came out with a nurse. “Doctor!” Harumi quickly stood up and approached the doctor. “How’s Haruo-nii?”

“He’s stable now. Luckily, his broken ribs didn’t stab any of his vital organs. So he’s safe,” the doctor briefly told them.

“Can we visit him?” Aki asked.

“Yeah, sure,” the doctor allowed, stepping aside a bit before giving both Aki and Harumi a bow and left.

“Haruo-nii,” Harumi immediately called out as she entered the room and saw Haruo, laying down on the bed with his eyes closed. “Haruo-nii…” she muttered, as she walked to his side and slowly placed her hand above his as she sat down on the provided chair. “I’m sorry…” she whispered, as she looked down at their hands.

“Harumi…”

Hearing to the soft voice, Harumi immediately looked up, and her eyes met Haruo’s half-closed eyes.

“Having a little sister is a burden… right Aki-nii?” Haruo smirked, as he glanced at Aki who was standing behind Harumi. “Does Aki-nii have to nag all the time, telling you to not blame yourself? It annoyed me.”

Harumi wiped her tears as she began to let go Haruo’s hand, but Haruo grabbed hers swiftly. She glanced at him, and back at her hand. “Well, I’m glad…” she whispered. “I’m glad you’re okay…”

“You shouldn’t,” Haruo mumbled, as he looked away from her but still holding her hand, as he continued. “I deserved this.”

“What’re you talking about?” she asked, furrowing her brows.

“I deserved this,” Haruo repeated, letting out a long sigh. Harumi stared at him, and noticed the gloom in him. He caressed the back of Harumi’s hand with his thumb slowly as he turned at her.

“Haruo-nii?”

“As I expected,” Aki suddenly said, approaching by Harumi’s side and looked at Haruo. “Mari immediately showed up out of nowhere when there were months left. You told her that I’m married again, right?” Aki asked. Haruo stared back at his brother in silence, before Aki continued. “Then, you must have showed Harumi’s picture to Mari, like provoking her. That’s why she suddenly showed up.”

“Is that true?” Harumi immediately asked, as she turned at Haruo. Both of them exchanged glances, before Haruo looked away from her and let out a sigh, grinning. “Haruo-nii! You really want the money, right? Don’t worry! Once the contract’s over, I’ll give it to you! Both of you will get it!”

Harumi suddenly stood up and was about to leave, when Haruo quickly grabbed her hand. “Don’t leave. Because you owed me,” he said, in a deep tone that Harumi never heard before. It was her first time hearing to this voice of him. She looked at his hand before looking up at him. “You owed me a life. You will come here everyday and take care of me.”

“What?!” Aki suddenly angered, pushing away Haruo’s hand from Harumi’s. “Stop being a jerk! She’s my wife!”

“Hah… well…” Haruo sighed, but he still smiled as if everything in the world were on his side. “Seems like there’s no more Mari… I still have my secret weapon,” he said, grinning as he turned at Aki. “I can leak the truth behind all these acts, you know that right? I can give the proof to the media.”

“But why didn’t you do that at the very first place?!” Harumi asked.

“Of course it’s because that he didn’t want to ‘look evil’ in front of ‘her’,” Aki disclosed. And he knew that he had hit something inside Haruo as his little brother looked up at him with widened eyes, full with shock. “Hmph.”

“What?” Harumi whispered, looking between the brothers with confusions. “Who are you guys talking about? Who is this ‘her’ and why does ‘her’ suddenly appeared? Does she have anything to do with this?”

“You love her, right?” Aki suddenly blurted out, asking Haruo as he let out a sigh of defeat.

“So what if I do?” Haruo retorted, staring at his older brother through his bangs.

“So that I can prepare myself.”

“You two…” Harumi murmured, but since none of them were paying any attention to her she sighed and left the room without any words.

“Her side profile is tempting, right?” Haruo smirked, as he looked at the door that had closed behind Harumi. “I’ve seen it too when I’ve brought her to the bar. Just so… captivating.” Haruo let out a little laugh as he placed both of his arms behind his head and laid back against the pillow. “I’ve seen that you must have tried to make a move on her.”

Haruo then realized Aki’s fisted hands as he mentioned it. “Thank me for saving her from Mari. Mari saw the mark you made and I claimed that it was from me,” Haruo chuckled, looking up at the hospital’s white ceiling, letting out loud sigh. “How I wish that it was really from me.”

“In your dream,” Aki uttered.

“Well, if I were you, I would run over to Harumi now because it’s kind of dangerous for her to be out there alone again,” Haruo said, pulling the blanket provided to him before letting out a sigh and closed his eyes, beginning to sleep.

Aki left the room and immediately looked for Harumi. He entered the hospital lobby, and saw her sitting on one of seats on the waiting area. “Oh. You’re still here,” Aki said, as he approached her.

Without any words, Harumi looked up at him before nodded. “Come with me,” Aki said, holding out his hand which she immediately took. She followed him as they made their way to the main entrance of the hospital, but then Aki realized her hesitation as they were about to step out of the building.

“Don’t worry,” Aki said, this time placing his arm behind her as they made their way to the parking area. “Hey, say something.”

“Send me back to my office,” Harumi finally said, as she entered Aki’s car.

“You’re not done yet?” he asked, starting on the engine and waited it to heat up a bit.

“I… have a little more to do. I forgot updating my material inventory. I need to do it now or tomorrow I’ll forget it again-“

“Hey, calm down…” With that, Harumi took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Aki let out a sigh and continued. “Look, I’ll wait for you and we’ll go home together.”

“But I’ve booked a room.”

“But I don’t want to sleep alone.”

“You’ve booked a room too, didn’t you?”

Aki stared at her as the silence filled the space between them. He looked away as he began to reverse the car when he said, “I don’t want to sleep alone tonight on our bed.”
~~~
After slipping on her peach silk pyjamas, Harumi lazily left her room and sighed as she knocked Aki's room door and opened it.

"Why did you knock? You can just enter," Aki grumbled, as she closed the door behind her. Aki walked towards the bed before switching off the table lamp on his side.

Harumi let out a sigh as she climbed onto the other side of the bed. When she was about to switch off the lamp on her side, a long arm wrapped itself around her waist from behind.

“W-Wait!” she stammered in suprise, and looked at Aki who was already so close to her. Their eyes stared at each other, but he didn't notice, that Harumi had got questions in her head.

Should I? Should I ask him why is he doing this? Doesn’t he hate me? Why did he touch me despite hating me? And why now? Could it be... Aki-nii loves me?