husband for rent

Marry Me. Please...? (with cherry on top)

(A/N: Intermittent updates about the future chapters of this story will be effective after this chapter's update as I'll be busy from work now on. So, hoping that you'll have infinite patience to wait for the succeeding chapters of this fic in the future. Lastly, please enjoy this latest chapter from me as I've enjoyed writing it as well.)

"Ness..." A familiar voice from somewhere made him stiffened and looked up at the source of it with bloodshot eyes.

Isagi fucking Yoichi.

What the hell was he doing in here?

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Ness asked in a scratchy voice and winced at how pathetic he sounded. He meant for it as a threat, but it came out as a weak query instead.

No wonder Kaiser left him because of his pitiful state.

"Master Noa sent me here to check up on you because you've been absent from the practice matches for 3 days without notifying him. Your door was left open, so I just thought of going in..." Isagi trailed off hesitantly, his eyes darting back and forth to the other side of the living room.

If Ness wasn't in a messy state right now, he would've probably laughed at his skittishness which reminded him of a scaredy cat sometimes. But right now, he didn't have any luxury to do that as his entire being was swept away by rage, grief and helplessness over his current situation.

One of his hands had wiped away the tears from his eyes furiously as dry yet weak laughter slipped past his shaky lips. "Right. Forgot to turn that in. Inform Noa that I'm still alive and dandy and I won't be going anywhere to break that formation. Although a punishment for my unexpected absence is inevitable."

"I... uh... yeah... I can let him know of that. Need some water? Where is the kitchen by the way?" Isagi asked reluctantly.

"Right wing of the house. Just turn at the right corner once you get out of the living room." Ness mumbled hoarsely as he stood up and sat down on the couch.

Isagi left him alone for a moment and headed towards the kitchen and Ness realized how utterly tired and drained he was from all that yelling and crying earlier. All he wanted to do was to lay down in his bed and sleep forever, hoping that he just wouldn't wake up the next day.

Frankly, he didn't see the point in doing anything in his life when the remaining person who believed in him and served as his anchor and inspiration in life had finally lost interest in him and abandoned him for good.

Maybe he should just—

"Here. Drink up. You really need it." Isagi's voice cut off any derailing thoughts inside his head and looked up to see the other offering him a glass of water to which he accepted in silence.

Isagi sat down on the opposite side of him and from the corner of his eye he seemed to be having an internal debate within himself.

He kept on drinking his water. Even though the silence between the two of them was getting thick and suffocating, Ness wasn't in the mood to break it and let Isagi suffer inwardly about his own hesitations and reluctance.

"I saw and heard everything." Isagi blurted out of nowhere and shattered the deafening silence between the two of them. This made him widen his eyes in response and almost choked on his water, immediately placing the glass on the center table.

"Excuse me?!" Ness looked at him as if he had grown two heads in an instant.

Isagi slightly flinched at his reaction, but he answered him, nonetheless.

"When I got here earlier, I saw you and Kaiser having an intense argument before he left... But it was an accident I swear! I didn't know that he'd be here! I just thought you had left the door open and forgot to close it, and I went in thinking that you're alone and doing something important..."