July 20th, 2035, London (England)The next step of her journey brings her here, abroad. In London, the UK"s capital. In this place what sort of sights, what sort of people will she meet? She"s looking forward to finding out.
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It was a first for Lila travelling abroad. Yes in the first 17 years of her life she"s never been abroad before. So everything was a new experience to her. Lila looked at the places with wide and sparkling eyes.
"Wow were really in London! Look..Look.." Lila said happily. "Ah I want to go shopping and see the city and..."
"We didn"t come here to sight see." Haruka said coldly. "Besides you can do those things another time can"t you?"
Lila retorted back, "I know."
Haruka however continued to sigh. He"s so cold. Is it because right now he"s her manager?
"There"s many places we have to visit, because you don"t have a name for yourself here. Everyone in the compet.i.tion has a degree of international experience already. All except you, that"s why I asked special permission for you."
Yumeko and Rukchan don"t though Lila wanted to say. But she knew that Haruka would only get mad at here.
Her thoughts broke off when he grabbed hold of her hand, ah. "Stay put, otherwise you"ll get lost."
Her gaze softened, "Okay."
They separated from the others the moment they got off the plane. Haruka said it would be better if they went along in pairs for the tour. Her cheeks burned red realizing precisely what he intended though. Does this guy not tire of such stuff?
.
.
To receive such a pa.s.sionate kiss Haruka gives her. Lila covered her face with her hands. She felt embarra.s.sed. She peeks through her fingers and saw that Haruka took out a cigarette and lighter. He looks really handsome whenever he"s smoking. Not to say he isn"t handsome all the time, but there"s something mysterious about it. Is she an idiot? Get a grip. But.
"Haruka, are we going back?"
"In a little while, keep me company for a while longer," Haruka asked.
Lila agreed. "Okay."
Somehow she"s nervous. They"ve been dating for some time now. When she thinks about it, they"re always busy with work. Whenever she stays over, Haruka ends up having s.e.x with her. Even more so after she began to live with him. It"s understandable that he"s tired from work, and so is she. But, with the way things are now. Doesn"t their relations.h.i.+p resemble more of a physical relations.h.i.+p than a normal one? Not that she fully understood what a normal one was, anyway.
After they spoke, Haruka recovered from his fever quickly. Talking with him about his scars seems to help him. While there"s still the issue of what to do with Yumeko; Lila decided that was best for last. She doesn"t enjoy the present situation where things are so awkward between them. But if they were to get along with each other, she would probably hate it.
"What"s the matter? You"ve gone all quiet."
"Nothing." Lila murmured. It"s complicated, dating Karas.h.i.+ma Haruka.
Haruka suddenly said. "A date."
"Eh?"
"Last time, we couldn"t go right?"
Lila nodded.
"You have free time in your schedule when we"re here. If you"d like I could take you to some places."
Her eyes lit up at Haruka"s suggestion, and she clung to his arm, "I"d like that, ah I have places I want to see too!"
"Mm, just tell me, and I"ll sort everything out."
"Lucky!" Lila beamed happily. Going to England for the compet.i.tion was already lucky enough. But now, she and Haruka can go on a date? Last time, it was a disaster. So she hopes nothing bad happens this time around.
"About your accommodation, your staying with me." Haruka brought up.
Lila stammered, "I—I know."
Besides, she doesn"t want to be away from him either. She has become strange. She can no longer be away from him; she wants to be with him all the time now. Haruka pulled her into his arms, "You"re always with me. Does that not bother you?"
"T—that"s... not a problem." Lila stammered.
"Hmm, I see."
.
.
Apartment Complex (H Street)
Haruka"s late, he said he would visit some old friends since he was here. That"s right, Haruka told her to stay put here. So the reason he insisted on going off alone with her was to show her the apartment. Lila deeply sighed, did she want something else to happen? Since she dated him, they"ve run into several problems already. While these problems aren"t exactly visible, it"s there. She really likes him, but perhaps that feeling isn"t enough. Still, her gaze fell on the piano she was using. He set everything up here just for her. Lila could tell that the place had undergone a lot of re-decorating. Such consideration for her sake, she"s flattered. But somehow she wants something more. Him doing things like give her material possessions. Even decorating places for her is sweet. She doesn"t want it.
Her thoughts broke off when the doors opened, Haruka groggily entered the room. Ah. Lila walked over, "Haruka?" He slumped his head on her chest.
He smells like alcohol. "Ari..." He murmured, his lips made their way to her neck.
"Um, wait. Before you drink from me..." However, her words were a loss when Haruka harshly bites her neck. He"s such a selfish man. But she"s already gotten used to it. Lila wrapped her arms around his neck and drew him closer to her.
Contrary to how he started, it was relatively quick and brief. He pulled away from Lilas" neck, and gently kissed her lips, "Thanks."
"Yes."
She"s still embarra.s.sed about it.
"Were you playing the piano just now?"
"Ah, en." The moment she saw the beautiful piano, Lila didn"t stop playing it. Haruka left a note saying that she could use whatever she wanted here.
"That"s a nice song."
Her cheeks reddened, and she pulled out some score sheets, "I wanted to write it as the coupling song... Um, could you look?" Lila trailed off, "Ah, forget it." He"s still drunk.
Haruka takes the papers from her hands, "I"ll look at it. Could you get me some water and a bite to eat?"
"Okay!!"
....
"Your feelings for me. You make it too obvious."
Lila almost dropped the tray in her hands, but Haruka catches it. He put it down on the desk and wrapped his arms around her waist, "Hey, why do you like me so much? I don"t get it. I"m a bad guy you know?"
"Ah-huh, I don"t think there"s anybody worse than you."
Haruka seemed surprised, and her cheeks reddened, "No, I don"t mean it as a bad thing.."
"Well, I get it."
"Haruka, can I kiss you?"
"You sure?"
Lila nodded, and wrapped her arms around his neck, "Mmmgh, you"re learning from me well..." He muttered.
Lila stammered, "I—I have done nothing yet."
Haruka laughed, "Go ahead."
She recalled the words she told Kiryu and gently caressed Haruka"s cheeks. She loves Haruka. Even though Lila felt happy seeing Kiryu, she wanted to return to Haruka"s side. Isn"t she in pain? Being away from Kiryu? The answer is yes when she met him again after so long. Lila understood, her feelings for this person hasn"t gone away yet. It won"t ever leave.
"Ari?"
"I want to drink your blood Haruka.."
"What"s wrong?"
"Nothing..." she murmured. There"s nothing wrong. She"s become honest with her feelings now. What could be the problem? Haruka suddenly pulled her back though, huh?
"Let"s kiss more instead."
Her gaze softened, "I"m sorry, I know I"m acting strangely."
"No, I think I understand." He gently caressed her cheeks, "I love you, Ari. But I suppose I haven"t expressed it well enough."
Lila recalled the summarised version she made of her relations.h.i.+p with Haruka. "Haruka, could you stay with me all the time?."
"All the time?"
Her cheeks reddened, "I really don"t like waking up alone. I know it"s difficult for you. But could you try to stay with me until I get up at least?" Lila asked.
"You want to be with me always, huh? You"re so selfish."
"..."
When Haruka says always, it"s easy to misunderstand the context. Sure enough, he suddenly lifted her up and carried her to the bed, "Wait, wait."
"Hm?"
"Haruka, your drunk still. You need to um get the alcohol out of your system. Ah the food, I"ll reheat it again.."
Haruka tugged on her hand, "Not now."
Lila felt embarra.s.sed. But she doesn"t dislike Haruka, she likes him.