There's cuts and wounds all over his body. It's a gruesome view, but it doesn't hurt. Not at all. He's seen and felt worse, really. Shigeko can only shelter you from the sight of blood and gore, squeezing you tighter to his chest.

"Did you get scared?"

He smiles.

You're so frantic, shaking like a leaf as you fret over his battered body. Shigeko cradles the back of your head gently, fingers sifting through your hair--as if your head was like an egg. Fragile. Something to be taken care of tenderly lest you break if he wasn't.

"I didn't mean to. Forgive me, please?"

It feels weird, Shigeko thinks. He can't keep his eyes off of you. He can't help but lean his face into the palm of your hands. He's never known a time where he's felt this at ease.

It feels nice to be doted on. All his life, he's been fighting tooth and nail to survive. Since he was a child, all he's known was to fight and kill. A trained assassin. You're supposed to be another target he's supposed to kill, just like his client's ordered. But he can't. Not when you proposed a deal of marriage.

Marriage was something Shigeko had never come to think about. It was a useless thing in his eyes. Sure, he's slept around, had flings that never lasted more than a few weeks at most.

But this... this was real. You were real. He's come to know you over the months the two of you have been on the run for. Despite this supposed deal, you're just so caring and doting.

It makes him wonder if this is how it feels like to be loved and to love. All he knows is that now that he’s had a taste of it, he can’t let you go.