Days turned into weeks as I kept training hard.

Since the sociopath had chased me the other day, I hadn't seen him again. I soon dismissed the possibility of telling Enji about it: he would have forbidden me to go to the forest, and I would not have had the opportunity to train alone.

And if I couldn't train with my chakra on my own, then it was as if I was being served on a platter for the day Touya would decide to take action.

I had already run into the useless brother and sister duo on a number of occasions. They always seemed a little surprised to see me, but happy.

Rei had told them I was sick and therefore they couldn't see me, so just in case, I could give them what I had.

I wondered how long it would take that nosy Fuyumi to realize what was really going on.

Or maybe she never would, and I was giving too much credit to a girl who wasn't even eight years old.

I took off my shoes with one foot, leaving them on the terrace carpet.

The coolness of the house was in stark contrast to the scorching heat of early summer. The cool breeze that hit me was a welcome relief.

My hands automatically performed the 19 precursor signs of jutsu as I walked through the house in my socks. It had become a habit for me to do them as I walked: I wanted my muscles to memorize them so that I would never have to think before I did them.

My mind drifted to the next part of my training.

The encyclopedia had drastically shortened the wait for my access to the next level of ninjutsu. In five days - only a month and a week after I had started my training - I would be able to start learning the first Jutsus of my life.

“… I am still his mother !”

I froze, my fingers on the golden handle leading to the master bedroom.

“And what a mother you are, Rei, ignoring him in favor of his brother”

Cynicism oozed from Enji's voice.

I stood on my tiptoes to look through the lock. Rei's face was completely red.

“Are you trying to talk to me about favoritism Enji ? You've hardly seen any of your other three children in the past month ! Natsuo keeps asking me where his father is, what am I supposed to tell him?”

“The truth. That Touya tried to drown Shoto and that he would have died if I hadn't gotten there in time. Oh, I forgot, you prefer to tell everyone that Shoto is sick.”

Enji sat on the bed with his arms crossed over his chest. Rei stood right in front of him, pulling her hair out with both hands.

“Stop it, stop it ! Touya didn't try to kill Shoto, it was an accident !”

“You saw the strangulation marks on his neck like I did”

“He helped him out of the bathtub, it was-he wanted-”

“Say it clearly. He wanted to kill Shoto”

Rei let go of her hair. She wrung her hands.

“I just want everything to be the way it was. I just want... I want to see my children playing together peacefully. I want to see them happy. I want what we had before. What changed, Enji ? What has changed ?”

She rubbed her hands over her face as if trying to wake up.

“Shoto is my son too. If I say that he and Touya should meet again, then they will”

Enji's face darkened.

“Shoto is my son, Rei. He has my name, he lives under my roof, he eats my food. He is mine”

His right hand gripped his knee so tightly that I thought it would break.

“When I say he won't see Touya, he won't”

He and Rei stared at each other.

“I don't understand you”

She stared at Enji as if she was seeing him for the first time.

“What do you see in him that you don't see in your other children ?”

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Enji got up and started pacing

“Stop it with that”

“No, Enji, tell me. Tell me, because I want to understand. What does Shoto have that the others do not ? Enlighten me, go ahead”

Enji had stopped facing the door and pinched the bridge of his nose with two fingers. Rei was standing behind him on the right.

“Do you think that I haven't noticed how different you treat him compared to Natsuo? To Fuyumi? (She paused) To Touya?”

Enji exhaled loudly.

“I do not treat him any differently”

Rei laughed contemptuously.

“If I, the trophy wife, can figure it out, who else could ?”

She was furious now.

“Didn't you wonder for a second why Touya did what he did ?”

She walked over to Enji and hit him on the chest with her finger.

“Did you ever try to think of anyone but yourself ?”

She almost craned her neck to look at him.

“Touya noticed. This whole situation is your fault”

Enji shook his head.

“You're looking for someone to blame”

Rei continued.

“You give him more time, more energy, more love”

“You blame me, but it was Touya who held Shoto's head under water while he struggled”

“And what do you do now? You shun him, you treat him like an outcast !”

Enji shouted:

“He tried to kill Shoto, Rei !”

She stepped back, startled.

I was surprised as well. Enji did not scream. Never.

“What was I supposed to do ? Hug him and tell him that Daddy will always be there for him ?”

The more he moved forward and the more Rei moved backward.

“You are blaming me for what happened to Touya, but did you think of Shoto at all ? His brother tried to kill him! He drowned him in the hope that he would die !”

Enji cornered Rei against a wall.

“Do you think he won't remember anything because he's young ? Do you think he has already forgotten everything that happened ?”

Rei opened her mouth. Enji raised his finger to shut her up.

“Did you know that he carries a knife with him wherever he goes ?”,My breath caught in my throat,”Did you know that he only falls asleep when I come home ?”

Enji stepped back and turned his back to the door.

“He locks the doors behind him, looking over his shoulder the whole time. The boy is terrified, Rei. Every time he looks at me, I feel guilty that I wasn't able to protect him”

His voice was quiet now.

“Force him to reunite with the one who tried to kill him... I can't do that. I can't do that to him”

He sighed. Wiped his face with his hand.

“I wish it were as easy as you say it is. I wish you could blame me if it would make the whole damn situation better”

Rei, still leaning against the wall, took a deep breath. Enji's sudden anger seemed to have calmed her.

“We can't go on like this. Look at our family, look where we are. Shoto doesn't even call me 'mom' any more”

“I agree with you. We can't go on like this. But I refuse to put my son in danger so that your dream of a model family can come true”

Rei flinched for a moment, hurt.

And then her eyebrows furrowed and her mouth became a hard, cold line.

“Touya is also your son”

Enji clenched his jaw. A vein appeared in his neck.

“Don't play with words. You know exactly what I mean”

“Do I ? Then tell me what you mean”

“Touya is dangerous. You know it, I know it, his psychiatrist knows it”

“He's not dangerous, he's just a little... a little different. He just needs a lot of attention, that's all”

Enji rolled his eyes.

“Stop fooling yourself. I've seen a lot of people like Touya who were supposed to be 'a little different' and they all ended up very badly”

“Ha, that's the best !”

Rei left my sight. Enji followed her with his eyes.

“You are comparing our son to all those, all those murderers !”

“Don't call them murderers. It was... they had problems and they never wanted to face them. That's why they ended up badly”

“And what should we do, huh ? Send him to the asylum and hope that the drugs they'll give him will be enough to change his personality ?”

Enji remained silent.

Rei reentered the field. She waited for Enji to speak, to continue, but he said nothing. Gradually, as the seconds ticked away, Rei's face morphed from angry to stunned.

“Tell me I'm dreaming, Enji. Tell me you're not really suggesting that we send our son to the madhouse”

Enji approached Rei. He put his hands on her shoulders.

“Rei, look at me. Please, Rei”

She stared at the floor. Enji forced her to raise her chin to look him in the eyes.

“Touya needs help. Our son needs help”She started crying.

“It's our duty as parents to help him. We have to. I've discussed this with his psychiatrist and-”

Rei pushed him away and walked away.

There was the sound of a door closing.

Enji was at the edge of my field of vision, his forehead resting on the bathroom door.

“It wouldn't be long, just a few months. When he gets better...”

I hesitated to open the door. If I spoke, would they listen?

A few months... if I only had a few months to train…

“You want our family to get back together, don't you? This is our best shot”

Enji closed his eyes. He looked exhausted.

“Rei, please. Talk to me”

She unlocked the door.

Enji stepped back to let her out. Concern was written all over his face.

I couldn't see Rei's expression, but the cold and indifferent voice she spoke with was the opposite of

anything I had ever heard from her:

“I think we should divorce”

Enji took a few steps back as if she had slapped him. I widened my eyes.

My socks slipped off and I almost collapsed on the door.

“I-”

A hand grabbed the collar of my shirt and pulled me back. I shoved the hand away and staggered to

my feet before I fell onto my butt.

Heart pounding, I shoved my hand into my pocket, my fingers closing around the icy knife. A firm,

wrinkled hand grabbed my elbow and pulled me to my feet in one motion. The housekeeper gave

me the stink eye, a finger over her mouth to tell me to shut up.

I dropped the knife.

She bent down and peered through the lock. She stood still for a few seconds before standing up,

her face closed.

“Come with me”

She dragged me down the hall as I watched helplessly the door get farther away.