Chasing Dreams (Dropped)

Chapter 174: A Summer Reunion

Ren Tachibana stood silently at the end of the trail. Suzume was at his side, comforting him the way she always did.

"No more tears." Suzume whispered, clasping Ren's face. "Between the two of us we've shed more than enough." Suzume wiped away Ren's tears and awarded him with a quiet stare.

"For the time being let's just try to enjoy life for what it's worth." Suzume gently kissed Ren and slowly pulled back. "Do you think you can handle that?"

Ren tacitly nodded and pulled Suzume in for another kiss, this time deeper than the last.

"I think I can handle that much." Ren replied with his signature smile. Seeing Ren smile made Suzume's heart flutter. It was because of that smile she fell for him to begin with.

Ren always had a way of putting her mind at ease. It was one of the qualities Suzume adored about him most.

"Good..." Suzume lightly pinched Ren's cheeks. "I'll be off then, I wanna see how Sarah and my-" Suzume momentarily paused. "My mother are doing..." she finished.

"Is there something wrong?" Ren gave her a suspicious stare.

But Suzume quickly shook her head, disregarding it. "Oh no, don't worry about it. It's just..."

Suzume let go of Ren's face and fumbled her thumbs. "Calling her mom is going to take some getting used to." Suzume awkwardly laughed.

Unlike Suzume, Ren always felt uneasy whenever Suzume smiled. That wasn't to say Suzume necessarily had an ugly smile. But, whenever Suzume smiled, it always seemed like it was done out of necessity.

"Suzume." Ren took a deep breath. "I can come with you if you want. I know how Sayuri can be."

"There's no need." Suzume assured. "I just want to do this on my own." Suzume held Ren's hands and peered from the corner of her eye. "Besides, it seems like you have some things to attend to as well."

Ren noticed Suzume's sideways glance and followed it, leading him to Natsumi. Natsumi sat alone on the steps, her dark hair was messy and tangled, and her outfit was bloody and torn.

"She must've just woken up..." Ren assumed and returned his eyes to Suzume.

"Your sisters need you right now more than I do." Suzume told him bluntly. "Do what you can to ease their pain, just like you did with mine." Suzume slid her bangs up, revealing the gash shaped burn on her forehead.

Ren nodded and kissed her scar. "I'll see what I can do."

"Good." Suzume shuffled happily and gave Ren a final kiss on the lips. "I wish you the best of luck."

Ren watched Suzume leave and sighed. He knew worrying about her would be the death of him. Suzume, like him, always had a knack for getting into trouble. Which bothered Ren even more, considering she was carrying his child.

The last thing he wanted was for Suzume or his daughter to be harmed. Especially by the likes of Sayuri. Even though Ren methodically chose to save Sayuri, he only did it out of consideration for Suzume's feelings.

Otherwise, without a doubt, Ren would've killed Sayuri himself.

Ren vaguely remembered what occurred when Mei had control. His mind would only become fully conscious whenever Mei used a tremendous amount of power. Like when she struck Natsumi or scarred Suzume.

However, there was a strange feeling that overtook Ren when Mei was in control.

An alarming feeling of satisfaction.

Even if he would never admit it. Ren enjoyed watching Sayuri suffer at the hands of Mei. Even within the crevasses of his heart Ren wished Mei had killed her. Sayuri was the cause of most of Suzume's pain and tried more than once to kill them both.