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A heart beating faster than normal, adrenaline coursing through her veins, thousands of spectators watching a miracle and the cause of it all is always him.
That person has always been pure magic, from head to toe. Enchanting magic that fascinates, envelops and creates addiction that cannot be forgotten even when you try, as elusive and mischievous as the person who causes it, happiness is something that has never been missing in her life since she met Kuroba Toichi that night in Paris.
That night where she was forced to return to the crime scene by that bastard, when she thought it might be her end, with no way out that she could imagine, Toichi arrived in the most unexpected place, making the impossible possible, even without knowing each other, under the light of the moon and the glow she felt throughout her body when their hands touched, she knew instantly. That the man who would possibly get them both killed, that stranger, was her soul mate.
She was never clear if Toichi was aware of it from before and that's why he appears there that night, or if like her, he realized the power of fate that night, when they finally reached a safe place and realized the improbability of meeting your soulmate in a foreign country, while both of their identities were somehow hidden and they are in a place where they shouldn't be at all to begin with.
She never asked him either, because knowing her mischievous husband, his addiction to mystery and his romantic tendencies, he would most likely change his answer every time.
Whatever it was, she didn't care much about the reason, because they were an unlikely couple, with out-of-the-ordinary occupations and pasts that would have to remain secret, but they were together and that was all that mattered. If they were together, Chikage felt they could accomplish anything, live freer and happier than anyone else in this world. If she had Toichi with her, the rest of her life would never be lonely again, she would never have to be alone again when she was hurt and she would have a place to go back to when the day was over, there was no greater blessing than that for a person for her. Toichi was the only thing she wanted in her life, her heart said so and their soul bond confirmed it.
A soul bond that made them feel each other's heartbeat.
That was her first mistake. She shouldn't have assumed that Toichi would be enough, because life is long and happiness can't really be measured. She knew that when she first held Kaito in her arms and heard him cry in search of body heat.
Those little blurry eyes that clearly focused on nothing, but seemed to understand everything saw her directly that day and stopped crying and gave her the most beautiful crooked smile she had ever seen in her life.
Being a mother changed many things, added to her home and to her heart an additional heartbeat that she could not hear, nor feel like her husband's, but that was worth immensely more than any treasure she had ever touched in her life.
Kaito was her treasure, Toichi was her heart.
She never imagined she could hold both so close to her, but in every embrace they gave each other, she noticed the family, the love and the blessing that was gifted to her.
It was so good that sometimes she couldn't believe it. So good, she actually forgot about "it".
In this world good things exist, but not in the same abundance as bad things. Still they were strong, they were people who deviated from the ordinary, they were smart and they were capable, they could cheat death and with the help of lady luck (as Toichi liked to call fate), they would be able to go on together.
Because that was what they were destined for after all. From the moment they were born.
Thinking this calmed the uneasiness that was caused when her wasn't able to follow her husband on his nightly missions. Everything continued well for a few years and just when she was beginning to forget that anxiety, for Kaito's fifth birthday, Toichi planned one of the greatest performances of his life, so he would surpass the great Houdini once and for all.
A heart beating faster than normal, adrenaline coursing through her veins, thousands of spectators watching a miracle and the cause of it all is always him.
Everything was supposed to go as usual, people with smiles would contemplate Toichi's successful escape and Kaito would not be able to hide the admiration for his father as usual, being the magically inclined child he always was.
It wasn't supposed to be like this.
A sea of flames, a mess of screams, people running away as fast as they could, Jii bleeding from the side of his body because of the explosion that collided with his half body...her chest feeling a single heartbeat, her own heart and nothing else.
It wasn't supposed to be like this, but the structure exploded before Toichi had to start the trick, they couldn't see it coming, she couldn't prevent it, she could only watch it happen and feel her body go numb from the sudden emptiness and the pain of her bond disappearing. She could only scream without finding comfort, seeing nothing but the fire consuming everything in front of her.
Her world disappeared. Toichi disappeared.
HER WORLD DISAPPEARED, DISAPPEARED, DISAPPEARED, DISAPPEARED, HER WORLD DISAPPEARED, DISAPPEARED, DISAPPEARED, HER WORLD DISAPPEARED, DISAPPEARED, DISAPPEARED, DISAPPEARED.
She could no longer feel Toichi at all.
That moon, that embrace, her home, her happiness, her world. She could clearly feel how her soul lost every part of it, like a puzzle inside her, she could feel how each part was burned and became necrotic, without the possibility of reconnecting with anything else. She screamed because the pain was unbearable, physically and mentally she never felt any despair and pain like that, she felt she was going crazy and having researched about soul issues, like anyone in this world, she knew, soul wounds were incurable and broken bonds were irreparable.
Toichi was gone forever, but before he left he had broken her in an irreparable way.
She couldn't, couldn't, couldn't....
“Dad! Please, someone has to help him, my dad, MY DAD IS STILL INSIDE THE FIRE!”
Kaito, she recalled absentmindedly amidst the chaos.
Her son, Kaito, was still in the middle of the chaos.
She couldn't, couldn't, couldn't .... .she couldn't move, she knew that in the future she wouldn't be able to either.
Even when she knew tears of despair were already falling from her cheeks, when she remembered her son for just a few seconds, she couldn't help but feel a new part inside her break, worsening the blinding pain she felt.
Her son, her treasure.
Kaito.
Please someone save Kaito, because I can't save myself.
It was the last thing she could think clearly before everything went dark.