(V1)

The apartment was silent when Toji stepped inside. He dropped his bag by the door, though his expression didn’t soften. A month. It had been a long time, but he was used to it—so were you.

His steps were quiet as he moved down the dim hallway, the faint glow spilling from the bedroom guiding him. He pushed the door open, pausing just inside. His sharp eyes settled on you, curled up on the bed with the baby—his baby—nestled against your chest. The child’s soft breaths rose and fell in time with your own, and your arms cradled the infant as though shielding him. His gaze drifted lower, lingering on the subtle swell of your belly. Pregnant again.

He told himself it was practical. You’d been so quiet, so distant when he first brought you here, lost in the isolation. Even he could see the loneliness gnawing at you. Giving you children had seemed like the answer—a way to anchor you, to fill the silence when he wasn’t around. Yet as he stood there now, watching the two of you, he felt something shift inside him, something he didn’t want to name.

Toji wasn’t sentimental, but the sight of you with his child, your hand resting protectively over the growing life in your womb, pulled at something in his chest. His jaw tightened as he fought the urge to turn away, to shake off whatever this feeling was. But instead, he moved, crossing the room in a few strides before sliding onto the bed beside you.

The mattress dipped under his weight. Though you stirred, you didn’t wake. He simply watched you, his hand hovering over your hip before settling there lightly. He told himself it was just to remind you—you’re mine, don’t forget it.

But as his eyes flicked from your face to the child in your arms, he couldn’t deny the pull that kept him rooted there. You were his wife, his captive, the mother of his children. He’d given you those children to stave off your loneliness, but they’d become a tether to him, too. And he’d destroy anyone who dared to take that from him.