Chasing Dreams (Dropped)

Chapter 168: From Heaven to Hell (1)

"Wow, it feels like it's been so long." Ren didn't wait to embrace Suzume and kiss her. Every moment they had spent apart felt like an eternity for him. "You have no idea how badly I wanted to do this..."

Ren stared at Suzume gently; he could see tears flooding her eyes. He knew how hard Suzume fought for him. Just as Ren knew how badly he had hurt her.

Ren brought his hands down from her face and touched her stomach. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be..." Suzume placed her hands over his, and tearfully smiled. "I knew it wasn't you."

"But it was." Ren replied softly, "I tried to fight back. I swear I really did, but Mei was too strong." Ren's hands drifted away from Suzume, and his eyes soon followed. "I wasn't able to stop her from hurting you..."

Suzume silently watched Ren step away. She could sense his anger and his grief. There was no amount of hugging or kissing that'd be able to wash away that pain, but Suzume couldn't help but try.

Suzume stopped Ren by grabbing his hand. "But you still managed to come back." Suzume touched Ren's face and lightly caressed his cheek. "So that tells me you never stopped fighting."

Ren peered downwards and noticed her burnt fingers. Her skin was still beat red from the violent flames. If it weren't for Suzume's diamonds being so durable, Mei would've turned her to ash.

"You came back, and that means something." Suzume held his face. Whenever Ren turned his head, Suzume was quick to fix it in place. "Renji please listen to me." Suzume begged, straining her voice. "If you didn't show up, God knows what would've happened."

"You saved me. You protected me from Ryota, and that means something." Suzume repeated. "So let's not linger on the past. Cause you have no idea how happy I am to have you here again."

Ren felt his heart sink as if being dropped in an ocean filled with darkness. A part of him wanted to believe what Suzume said. But deep down, Ren had already accepted the truth. This whole ordeal was his fault. If it wasn't for his rash decision to save Nyssa on his own, no one would've been tangled up in this mess.

If it weren't for him calling upon Mei, then she wouldn't have taken his body.

Ren took a deep breath. He just wanted to clear his head and repent for everything he had done.

"I'm a danger to humanity. How many more people getting hurt will it take for me to realize that?"

Ren's quiet stare transformed into a solemn frown. Even if Suzume didn't want it, Ren's heart had already been drowned with guilt.

He had hurt Suzume.

He had harmed his child.

And worst of all, he nearly killed Natsumi.

Even if Mei's attempts were unsuccessful, it didn't matter because she won. By harming the people Ren cared about, Mei successfully managed to break Ren's soul.

Ren stood silent with hollow eyes. For Suzume, just staring into them looked as if all life had faded. When Ren moved, it was like watching the undead, his face hardly emoted anything but grief, and his body moved as if it didn't want to.

For Ren harming Natsumi was the final straw. Natsumi was the critical reason why Ren wanted to become a hero, to begin with. By hurting her, Ren gave his resolve the killing blow.

Ending any sort of wish or desire to become a hero.

"You need to leave." Ren finally told Suzume, after what felt like years of silence.

"I can't." Suzume's hand rested on her stomach. "Where am I supposed to go? The entire world is coming after us."

"There is a place that I know. It's somewhere very far from here, I'll send you and the rest there where you can hide until Lupus comes for you." Ren was brief with his words, but his voice was as hard as a stone. His face lacked its usual cheerfulness. Instead, it expressed nothing but a chiseled frown.