The air inside your apartment was thick with tension. The weight of the past five years pressed down on your chest, suffocating, inescapable.

Manjiro Sano stood in your living room, a shadow that had never truly left you, watching, waiting. His presence filled the space, too much, too overwhelming, just like he always had.

Shin had barely made it to his bed before sleep took him. You had tucked him in, whispering reassurances, stroking his hair until his little fingers went slack in yours.

He had no idea what had just happened. No idea that the world you had built for him was now crumbling under the gaze of the man standing in your home.

Now, in the dim glow of the apartment, you and Mikey stood at a standstill.

His eyes, dark and unreadable, tracked every inch of your face, memorizing, calculating.

"You left." His voice was quiet, but the weight of those words was anything but.

You forced yourself to hold his gaze. "I had to."

His jaw tightened. "You didn't have to."

A sharp exhale left your lips. "Don't do this, Mikey."

His eyes flickered. "Manjiro."

Your stomach twisted. "Manjiro," you corrected, the name feeling foreign on your tongue.

He took a step forward, slow and deliberate. "You ran from me."

Your breath hitched. "I ran for him."

A long silence stretched between you, thick and suffocating.

Manjiro tilted his head slightly. "You thought I wouldn't find you."

"I hoped you wouldn't."

The ghost of a smirk flickered across his lips, but there was no amusement in his expression. "You should've known better."

You had known better.

But you had been desperate. And desperate people made reckless choices.

Manjiro's gaze flickered toward the closed bedroom door, where Shin lay sleeping. "He looks like me."

Your chest ached. "I know."

His lips parted slightly, as if he was about to say something else, but he hesitated. Instead, he took another step forward, closing the distance between you.

You forced yourself not to step back.

"I should be angry." His voice was impossibly soft, but there was an edge beneath it, something sharp and dangerous. "You kept him from me."

Your fingers curled into fists. "I did what I had to."

Manjiro studied you for a long moment. Then—

"I want him to live with me."

Your heart stilled.

Your throat went dry. "What?"

His eyes locked onto yours, unwavering. "You and Shin."

You could only stare at him.

"You should come to me."

It wasn't a suggestion.

It was a statement.

A declaration.

And in that moment, you understood, he wasn't just here to see his son.

He was here to claim him.

And you.

The weight of his words settled over you like a storm cloud, dark and heavy with unspoken threats.

Your fingers trembled at your sides, your mind racing through every possible response, every argument that might change his mind. But deep down, you already knew, there was no changing his mind.

Manjiro Sano had always been stubborn. Once he set his sights on something, nothing short of death could stop him.

And now, his sights were set on you.

On Shin.

"You don't have a choice."

His voice rang in your ears, low and unwavering. It wasn't just a statement. It was a verdict.

A cold shiver ran down your spine as you swallowed hard, forcing yourself to stand taller. "You can't just decide that for me."

Manjiro's expression didn't change, but there was something in his eyes, something sharp, unreadable.

"I already have."

The certainty in his voice sent another wave of unease through you.

He wasn't bluffing.

He never bluffed.

You gritted your teeth, trying to push back against the rising panic. "Shin doesn't even know you." Your voice was quieter now, a desperate attempt at reason. "You can't just take him away from the only life he's ever known."

"I'm not taking him away." His eyes flickered toward the bedroom door, where your son was still asleep, unaware of the storm brewing just outside his dreams. "I'm giving him a better one."

Your fingers curled into fists. "What, by dragging him into your world? The same world that—" You hesitated, swallowing the lump in your throat. "The same world that killed you?"

A muscle in Manjiro's jaw twitched.

You had hit a nerve.

But instead of snapping, instead of lashing out like the boy you had once known, he just stared at you. Silent. Unreadable.

And somehow, that was worse.

"You think I'd let anything happen to him?" His voice was eerily calm.

You hesitated, heart pounding against your ribs.

"I think," you said slowly, carefully, "that you don't know how to stop it."

The air between you was suffocating, thick with tension and the ghosts of the past.

For a long moment, Manjiro didn't speak.

Then—

"Come with me."

The words weren't a demand.

They weren't even a request.

They were something in between—a soft command, wrapped in something dangerously close to need.

Your breath hitched.

Manjiro took a step closer, slow and deliberate. "You don't belong here," he murmured, gaze locked onto yours. "He doesn't belong here."

Your fingers curled tighter. "This is our home."

His lips twitched—not into a smirk, but something sadder, something heavier. "It was never supposed to be."

You swallowed hard. "Mikey—"

"Manjiro."

The correction sent another chill through you.

You shook your head. "You can't just take us and expect everything to be fine."

Manjiro tilted his head slightly, watching you. "Why not?"

Your breath caught.

"Because I left," you whispered, barely audible. "I chose to leave."

His gaze darkened. "And now I'm choosing to bring you back."

The finality in his tone made your stomach drop.

"Mikey—"

"Manjiro."

His voice was sharper this time, his patience thinning.

You exhaled shakily, forcing yourself to meet his gaze. "And if I refuse?"

A beat of silence.

Then, he leaned in ever so slightly, his voice dropping to something quieter, something deadly.

"You won't."

Your heart pounded.

It wasn't a threat.

It wasn't even a warning.

It was a fact.

A promise.

You shook your head, stepping back instinctively. "I can't just uproot everything. Shin—"

"Shin is my son."

The weight of those words crashed over you like a tidal wave.

He wasn't going to let this go.

He wasn't going to let you go.

Not this time.

And the worst part?

You weren't sure if you even wanted him to.

Silence stretched between you, thick with unspoken words.

Finally, Manjiro spoke again, quieter this time.

"I won't take him from you."

Your chest tightened.

"But I will take both of you."

You let out a shaky breath, your mind spinning.

This was it.

This was your last chance to fight back, to say no, to run.

But the truth was—

You had never been able to run from him.

And maybe...

Maybe you never would.

any ideas for the next chapter?