"Haruka?""What is it?"
"From now on, if you face anything that makes you sad and angry. Feel free to rely on me because we"re partners and um lovers," When she saw him lean over Lila prepared herself for a kiss only to have him lean against her, "Wahhhh your heavy Haruka! "
"You talk big, but you don"t even have the strength to support me,"
"Meh. Haruka you"re just a bully,"
"If it"s bullying you want, I can do it better," he muttered against her ear. Lila"s face turned red as all sorts of things appeared in her head. Haruka"s methods of teasing, waahh- Haruka laughed, "You"re too gullible."
She still is? That"s not fair, Lila thought she improved on that department. But it turned out she was the only one who thought that way. She has to work harder on that department. While Lila mainly brushed of Harukas teasing as flirting now, it still didn"t feel fair to her. One of these days, she will catch him off the guard.
"But you know, these days Soichiro keeps calling us over to the company," the more Soichiro does that, the time she has with Haruka decreases. It"s already bad enough with their current schedules, "Then again, he probably wants to check on how the alb.u.m is doing. These days I"m swamped with work, so I do appreciate the checkup."
Though knowing Soichiro, there is probably a deep reason for him calling her and Haruka so often. Lila, however, did not want to dwell on it too much, her career and the compet.i.tion aside, she wants to dedicate most of her time to Haruka. Her thoughts broke off when she felt a warm hand brush across her cheek; it belonged to him, of course, "Haruka?"
"You still look sick," he muttered. Oh, so that"s why he was brooding?
"Um, I"m okay. Just a bit tired."
Even if she loves singing, she is no machine; there is a limit to how much she can sing in a single day.
"Don"t push yourself too much; you already work plenty hard."
Her gaze softened as she recalled the words he said about it being okay for her being selfish. This person is genuinely watching over her; she felt so blessed and so loved.
Lila looked outside to the window. Despite the cold weather and early time, there were many people out. It"s so lively here in London. Lila always thought that Tokyo was a hectic place, but London? It is lively and bustling with people twenty-four seven. To think she would leave this place soon, it felt strange to her. Only a month or so has pa.s.sed, and yet Lila has grown very attached to this place.
" But it feels like a dream. I remember before I became an idol, I thought I"d attend regular school, eventually university - perhaps become a painter or even just an a.s.sistant. I felt that my life would be the same as the average person. I never imagined I"d debut successfully and have you by my side, and that I could sing every day. This feels so strange. "
"What would you do if this really were a dream?"
Lila laughed softly, "Do you remember? You asked me that once before."
"If this is a dream, I don"t want to wake up. I"m very happy right now. I"m very happy right now, every day I look forward to what my future holds. I"m glad I have someone to accompany me as I walk forward," back then those were the words she said to Haruka.
"Is it different now?"
Lila nodded, "Ahuh," because we are together, she wanted to add but kept it to herself. However, she proved it with her actions as she leaned on to him.
Haruka seemed surprised like usual, "You know, you don"t hesitate to flirt with me in public anymore."
"Because we"re dating," Lila said with confidence though she has to admit that at times she did feel embarra.s.sed.
"Dating, huh? How will you act when we are married?"
Lila hits him and pouts, "Don"t get ahead of yourself."
"I won"t."
However, Lila remembered the words she said to Yori recently. By saying all that stuff, didn"t she practically admit that she would accept Harukas proposal? Shes only seventeen yes, most people this age would see the topic of marriage as foreign, something far of in the future. But, she isn"t an average seventeen-year-old. Next year would be a marriageable age in terms of hanyou laws. Marriage, when Lila thought about it - it still seemed foreign, though she should have been thinking about it a long time ago. The reason why Lila never gave it much thought before was because of Kiryu.
She was engaged to Kiryu, no matter what happened, they will spend their futures together. Over the years Kiryu proved to her that she was the only one special to him too. Even when she discovered he was sleeping around with other girls, Lila knew that they meant nothing to him. So, when Kiryu finally came clear to her about everything. It only strengthened her resolve. But, something unexpected happened. She fell in love with another person.
Her gaze landed on Haruka, the other day Lila asked herself whether things would have changed if she fell in love with Haruka first - if she didn"t lose her memories, would she have chosen Haruka to the very end? No matter what happened? Honestly, Lila felt like she was losing confidence when it comes to love. Is love fickle, or is it just her feelings?
"What?"
"Kiss," Lila said with confidence but that slowly faded away when Haruka got closer, "Uh wait, give me a few minutes."
Haruka"s lips curve to an amused smile, "You"re the one who asked. So you shouldn"t leave me waiting for long," though Lila knew Haruka was referring to the kiss. Something felt strange. Whenever they talk, why does it feel like there is a hidden meaning to everything?
Lila wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned forward to kiss him. She doesn"t want to make him uneasy anymore, "Nngh," she moaned. Haruka looked very happy as he continued to kiss her. Good, he seemed pleased. When she entered the car, Lila noticed the dark shadow cast on his face and wanted to get rid of it. Is he worried about her misunderstanding the situation regarding the trip?
........
September 2nd, 2035 - Studio -
"I"m sorry; are you okay?"
Lila felt very embarra.s.sed, what on earth was she doing? Grabbing on to him like that - she didn"t think the outfit he was wearing would tear. The last thing Lila expected, however, was Ichinose Oujiro running away from her. This must be the first time something like this has happened before; it genuinely shocked her. But, of course, she would not let that show on her face. She does not want to worry him.
Senpai, who was changing inside the room, replied, "Well, it"s fine. You"ve always been a clumsy person."
Always been a clumsy person, that"s not a good thing. Though he does make a point there, she can"t deny those words. Lila waited patiently outside the door and eventually, senpai exited the room, wearing a plain white s.h.i.+rt. Even with such plain clothes on, Lila could tell that there was something different about him.
Eventually, the two of them sat down on the ground, as she pa.s.sed him a cup of coffee. Guitar in hand, Oujiro was clearly working on a new song.
"Say, senpai, do you hate Haruka that much?"
"No,"
"But you get compet.i.tive?"
Oujiro sighed, "Well, I got compet.i.tive when it came to Kiryu-san to remember? I always kept repeating to myself then; I won"t lose. I"ll s.n.a.t.c.h you away," Lila"s cheeks reddened at the last line, "When I look at it like this, you were the main person who spurred me on."
"I"m sorry."
"Don"t apologize for everything; there"s nothing wrong with me being compet.i.tive. In fact, it was exactly what I needed," Oujiro paused, "Though I suppose Karas.h.i.+ma is a different story after all."
Haruka is different? How come?
"Do you feel that way because you took his spot?"
"Hey, who was the one who dragged me into the group and gave me all those signs,"
"But in the end, you were the one who decided to join," Lila said.
"That"s true."
Silence followed after those words and Lila panicked. Did she make him made after all? Haruka only joined DEVIL for a short time last year, and even then the only one who wanted him in the group was her. The other members acknowledged Haruka"s skill. But Lila knew that they didn"t like him much. It was different when senpai joined the group, though. With senpai, the others accepted him regardless of his skills.
"They just naturally got along," Lila thought to herself. She didn"t even have to do much; they all just naturally got along with senpai.