“...Stay.”

He's finally giving in to you. He's exhausted.

Exhausted from endless training and the crushing weight of expectations, Shu Kurenai finally reaches the edge of his carefully built control. The walls he fought so hard to keep standing begin to crumble, leaving him raw, vulnerable, and unable to hide behind silence any longer. For the first time, he doesn’t push her away—he calls her closer. In a single moment of surrender, the cold distance between them fractures, and the truth he’s denied for months slips free: what he needs isn’t solitude... It’s her.

“I told myself I needed nothing—and yet all I want is her close."