Breakable Heaven || Sanemi Shinazugawa x Female Reader

Chapter Seventeen: Confession

Sanemi and I were quiet for some time even after Rengoku left, with the white-haired male continuously treating my wounds and bruises. My eyes scanned his figure, looking for any signs of blood - thankfully, he had none.

"The hell are you looking at?" Sanemi asked so suddenly that I flinched for a moment, before clearing my throat in an attempt to compose myself once more.

I shook my head gently as I answered, "I was worried that you might be injured."

Sanemi paused just as he was about to finish packing up the bandages, leveling his gaze with mine. His stare was so intent that I unconsciously moved back a little, averting my gaze in the process as I asked, "What is it? Is there something on my face? I get that I'm not really at my best right now-"

"I was the one who was so damned worried," Sanemi sighed heavily, standing up to walk towards the window - leaving me looking at the broad expanse of his back. He lowered his head a bit as he ran a hand through his hair, looking so utterly frustrated that I wanted to hold him, but decided to let him be for the moment.

I saw him shake his head lightly, continuing, "You have no idea - the fear I felt when you ran out like that. And I did my fucking best to find you but you were nowhere in sight. Then I feared that something might've happened to you and that I would be too late. Do you have any idea how fucking terrifying that is?"

I lowered my gaze in shame - I hadn't really thought things through when I left after our argument, all I knew at that moment was that I had to get out, and one thing led to another and before I even realized it, it had already been too late.

Taking a deep breath, I called out to him softly, my arms outstretched, wanting to reach out to him. Sanemi complied, sitting down beside me in an instant, though his hair covered his eyes. I hesitantly placed my arms on his shoulders, before fully wrapping him in my embrace. I buried my face on his shoulder and immediately remembered all the times I held him before, and it hit me so suddenly how badly I missed him.

"Sanemi, I'm sorry. I was so, so blinded with jealousy that I wasn't able to think straight. The sight of you with her was too much for me, and I acted impulsively. I...should've trusted you more," I paused to move back a little to look at his face, feeling my tears beginning to fall, "Please let me know how I'll be able to make it up to you. I'm sorry I hurt you, Sanemi. I'm sorry I made you feel all those things."

At this point, my voice was starting to get raw with emotion, and I had to stop talking otherwise I'd cry even harder. It caught me by surprise when I felt Sanemi's arms around me, holding me tightly yet gently against him, as if he wanted to make sure that he didn't hurt me in the process. His face nuzzled the side of my neck, and I placed my hand on his soft hair, gently running my fingers through the strands.

"You talk as if you're the only one at fault. If I told you about it in the first place, we wouldn't be in this mess at all," Sanemi said roughly, his voice so muffled that I had to listen carefully to hear him.

I continued stroking his hair, wanting him to relax as I replied, "It's okay now, you're here and you're safe. I couldn't ask for anything else."

"Don't get hurt anymore. I can't fucking stand it when I see you all bandaged up."

At this, I laughed softly as I said in rebuttal, "That's not really up to me, though you always manage to save me in the end. As much as it's embarrassing, I'm really thankful as well."

He lifted his face to meet my gaze, his thumb brushing lightly over my cheek to wipe away my tears as he said, "Whether you need me or not, you know damn well that I'll always want to be by your side."

_

Sometime during the night, Sanemi and I fell asleep in each other's arms. I woke up in the middle of the night, and I heard Sanemi mumble that I should get back to sleep. I smiled softly at this before telling him that I needed to go to the restroom. He immediately loosened his arms around me, and I chuckled as I stood up.

I couldn't help but check my shoulder wound in the mirror and found that it had begun to bleed once more. Muttering softly to myself, I went back into the room and rummaged through the cabinets and drawers looking for fresh bandages.

"What's going on?" Sanemi asked groggily as he sat up in the futon, and I couldn't help but smile at the sight of him like that. It was as if we were really married.

"Where did you put the bandages? I'm pretty sure my shoulder's bleeding again," I told him softly, striding over to the futon to sit down beside him.

Sanemi motioned for me to get closer, and he inspected my left shoulder before standing up to get fresh bandages, which I now know were inside an overhead cabinet (that I wasn't tall enough to reach). He then took care of my wounded shoulder, skillfully changing the bandages and checking to make that the wound was healing nicely. He was done in less than five minutes, double-checking if the bandage was securely wrapped.

"Go back to sleep, [Y/N]. I'll be right here," Sanemi whispered as he casually kissed my forehead as though it was the most natural thing in the world before he laid back down on the futon. On the other hand, I was a blushing mess and my heart was beating rapidly inside my chest.

"Oi, what are you still doing sitting there?" Sanemi asked as he gestured for me to lay down beside him, gently patting the space on the futon next to him.

I nodded hastily as I laid back down facing the ceiling, adjusting myself until I found a position that didn't make my shoulder hurt. I ended up facing Sanemi instead, so I was lying on my right shoulder, while Sanemi was on his left so we were facing each other.

"Aren't you going to sleep yet?" I asked as I stared at his chest instead, refusing to meet his eyes since I knew I'll only end up blushing even more.

Sanemi merely nodded as his hand gently caressed my face before tucking an errant strand of hair behind my ear.

There were a few moments of comfortable silence between us, and I chanced a glance at Sanemi only to find that his eyes were already closed. I snuggled closer to him as I tentatively lifted my hand to lightly touch his cheek. He didn't stir, even when I softly called out his name.

Smiling warmly seeing as he was already asleep, I whispered with a faint sigh, "I'm still in love with you, Sanemi."