Please save me

The car crashes onto the tree. A white balloon emerges out and saves the taxi driver's head. We can't say much about ourselves, but we aren't dead yet.

"He's crazier than you are," Ren whispers to me. "He nearly got us killed."

It's my fault for underestimating him. He wreaked my house to get what he wanted. But, nearly killing all of us is way too much. It's too crazy. I can't digest this level of insanity.

"We are lucky that there is no other vehicle on the road." Ren looks behind. "It would have been chaos."

The car door is opened. A pair of hands grab my waist and draw me out effortlessly. He turns me around to face him. I am scared of seeing his face.

"Are you okay?" He checks my forehead. "There is a bump. The ambulance will be here soon."

I look at him, baffled beyond words.

"I am sorry for doing this." He cups my face. "I wanted to get you as soon as possible."

This guy would go to any extent for that Chisa. She must have given him a hardcore command. There is no doubt now. He would rather die than go back to his Chisa without me. He is afraid of disappointing her.

"Don't touch me." I push him away from me, completely disgusted by his touch. "You must be her precious dog. What did she offer you? Sex? Money? Do you love her?"

"Takeuchi, you are misunderstanding me. There is no woman other than you." Kamiyama reaches for my head. I step away from him. He's still lying. He will do anything to take me back with him. I don't want to go. I don't want to suffer from her hands again. I am not a brave person.

"You hated my guts and you are now saying that I am the only woman? You can't fool me." I make more distance between the two of us.

"Takeuchi, I am not lying. I am not trying to fool you." He walks toward me. He's more frightening than Chisa. At least, Chisa wouldn't pretend to be nice after her mask is broken. This man still wouldn't stop pretending.

If I go back, she would invent some new ways to torment me.

My legs are about to give away. I decide to throw away my pride and beg. I kneel in front of him. I hide my shaking hands with my body.

"Don't take me back." I lower my head. "I can't return with you. If you want to send me to prison, I am fine with it. Don't make my life worse than death. I already had enough. For you, it's only about the prize. For me, it's my life. I won't be able to endure anymore. Find another toy. There are plenty of people in the world. I am sure that there is someone who can make better crying sounds than me."

***

Kiyohira shakes with anger when he sees her kneeling. She rubs her nose on his shoes while sobbing without a stop. Why is she doing this? This isn't like her. He tries to move away, but she grabs his leg desperately.

"Don't hurt me." She begs miserably. "Please. I will clean your shoes. I didn't do it intentionally. Please don't hurt me more. I promise that I won't tell anyone."

He has heard similar words before. He stands there unmoving, unable to process what's happening. Did he break her?

Even Ren has never seen her like this. He pulls her away from Kiyohira. She doesn't stop screaming,

"Don't hurt me! I won't tell grandfather. I won't tell anyone. I will take the blame when the teacher asks. Please. I beg you."

"Rie Chan!" Ren slaps her when she doesn't stop crying. "Snap out of it. Look, nobody is hurting you."

She sniffles her cries and looks around suspiciously. Her eyes stop on Kiyohira. She is still not herself. "Ren, he is going to take me back. I don't want to go. Please save me. I will do anything if you save me. I will lose to you in the game contest again. If you want my body, I will give it to you without any complaint. You can't let him take me. It's better to feed me poison than let him take me with him."

For the first time in his life, Kiyohira realizes that he has made a grave mistake. He underestimated her wounds inside the walls that she created. She is already broken. She has been putting front with fake pride. She pretended to be strong and unbreakable in front of him. That look in her eyes is ripping his heart.

Ren wraps his arms around her to prevent her from looking at Kiyohira. Her beggings are thorny to his heart and mind. He shouldn't have left her back then.

"Please leave." He asks Kiyohira with a half pleading and a half threatening voice. "She won't calm down as long as you are here. She is scared of you. Leave us alone. I will contact you later when she calms down."

Kiyohira walks away wordlessly. The ambulance passes by and stops in front of Ren and Rie. He watches them from afar. Rie is looking around with fearful eyes. Ren is trying to soothe her with words. She doesn't want to get into the ambulance. She struggles a lot before Ren manages to convince her. The ambulance leaves the road. A cop comes to see him.

"Mr. Kamiyama, thanks for telling us in advance about this." The cop looks at him. "We barely managed to clear the road. Thankfully, you found your mentally unstable family member without any big accident. Don't worry. The media won't find out about her. We know how to keep secrets."

He used the weakness that she was so desperate to hide to capture her. As a result, he shattered the same walls that protected her from herself.