After making sure Lila was tucked in and fast asleep, Miu made her way down the stairs. A deep sigh pa.s.sed her lips. She wanted to consult with Lila regarding the thing with her brother. Brother has undoubtedly returned to the country now too. When she went to London, Miu only saw him a couple of times and not in person too. She took great lengths to avoid him. The man named, "Tachibana Ameno," in the public"s eyes and as far as everybody knows is her older brother. However, that"s wrong. Not many people knew about it, but she was not from the Tachibana Household at all. Her whole life, those who knew that one child didn"t belong to the family all a.s.sumed it was Ameno. Miu didn"t know why not even the servants knew whether their mistress had a son or daughter? But her whole life, people have treated her with the utmost respect and kindness. "They made a mistake," Miu thought. The one who should have been on the receiving end of that kindness is Ameno, and not her.
Yes, that is right. She is not a child of the Tachibana family, and yet from the moment, she was born people treated her like that. When Miu found out the news last year, it truly stunned her. While she did suspect something was wrong before, Miu didn"t think that it was because of her. She thought that there was a chance that her and brother were biological siblings, and thus falling in love with him was wrong. Miu regretted going to the hospital and doing that DNA test over something as petty as her feelings. The results showed 100% confirmation between her "parents" and "Brother." When she saw those results, she immediately asked to get her DNA checked too, and sure enough, the results showed a 0% relation.
Miu thought she was smart. If she could find evidence that the two of them were biologically related, then she wouldn"t have to feel so guilty about her feelings. She could discard them, but it was not that simple at all. The person who found her that day, broken down near the grounds of the hospital was Teras.h.i.+ma Lila. Lila didn"t say a word or ask why she was trying, and instead hugged her tightly. For her then, that was all she needed.
The moment she reached the bottom of the stairs, she hears a familiar melody coming from the lounge. Miu"s eyes widened, and she made her way over, there playing the piano was a man with silver hair. "Kiryu"s here after all," Miu thought. She supposes that"s only natural; he may feign ignorance. But Miu knew nothing had changed at all. He"s still the same as before, rus.h.i.+ng to Lila"s side the moment he hears something wrong.
Miu coughs making her presence known, and Kiryu smiled, "Hey,"
"Lila is sleeping and so is..."
Kiryu nodded, "Yeah, I get it."
Does he really? Even though Miu said she would support Lila with whoever she decides on, this is quite difficult for her.
"Did you meet with Ameno yet?"
"I-- "m not thinking about him," Miu exclaimed.
"Really? Because you"re pulling this, " its the end of the world face. ""
Gah... Kiryu knew her well, even though its been a long time already. This person is still one of the few who can read her emotions well.
"I know you probably don"t intend to tell me anything. You told me I should be kind to Lila and Lila alone, and I do understand why. But on this matter, I"d like to hear you out at least. It"s difficult to talk to s.h.i.+chiro about this, right? "
He knows, of course, he does. Miu nodded, "s.h.i.+chiro is very kind to me, kinder than he was in the past, and I am grateful for all the support he"s given me. However, it feels awkward, discussing this matter with him."
"But it"s different with me?"
"It"s okay with you, even though you both turned me down. It feels like I"ve settled everything with you already, but there are still some loose ends with him, besides, with s.h.i.+chiro. I never intended to confess in the first place," Miu paused. Whenever she thought back to it, didn"t she only confess because she saw it that day? Kiryu"s eyes when he looked at Lila. She understood even more then, that it was utterly futile," Ah ah," Miu laughed, "In the end, I still have to discuss with someone what"s been going on, I really can"t keep anything bottled up, huh?"
"Keeping everything bottled up isn"t good, at least Lila would say so, and I"m sure you know it too, from experience."
"That"s true; there"s no use in keeping this to myself. It won"t protect anyone; I say this is for Agehsan"s sake. However, whether or not she knows, it doesn"t matter. I may have fallen in love several times already, but you know Kiryu. I have a confession to make, you see I"m probably afraid of love," Miu murmured.
"Miu, that--"
Laughter pa.s.sed her lips, "Hoho, you probably weren"t expecting that right? I surprised you. "
"No, that"s not something that deserves a Santa Claus laughter," she rolled her eyes at his comment as Kiryu repeated her words, "Afraid of love, huh?"
"Is it weird?" Miu questioned him.
"Not really, in the first place, most people our age are still considered to be too young to understand what love is. Even those in real relations.h.i.+ps can"t truly comprehend it either," Miu watched as Kiryu"s gaze fell on the staircase. It"s like his eyes were traveling to where Lila was, "The same goes for her and me. We probably don"t understand ourselves what we were doing then. The feelings of love we have towards each other could even be a mistake."
"That"s not possible," Miu cuts in, "At least not with the two of you."
Kiryu softly laughed, "What a loud voice. You"ve been holding that thought back a lot, eh?"
Her cheeks flush red, that laughter ought to be foul play.
"But well, that"s true. I"d hate it if all of this weren"t real. Lila and I have had our ups and downs as you know and the fact that the two of us still came together is nothing short of as a miracle as it is a blessing," Kiryu trailed off, "It"s amazing."
"Is that showing of I sense? Che, though I"d always dreamed of getting a cool boyfriend, now I"m stuck brooding about a guy that was supposed to be my brother," though the issue of whether she has feelings for Tachibana Ameno romantically anymore bothers her. Recently, she"s been thinking about s.h.i.+chiro a lot. What happened earlier, the day didn"t help her either.
"Showing off? Hardly, I"m not dating her now, so I can"t do that anymore."
Miu sighed, "So you admit you were showing off before?" she questioned in her head.
""Cool," you say, I"m equally similar to your brother."
"Is that so? Perhaps I just don"t have the eye for these things. What were you trying to get at just then?" Miu asks, but deep down she knew where this was going. There is a reason why she used to like Austin Kiryu.
"Do you remember how I used to go on and on about reincarnation in middle school?"
"Yeah, I always thought you were possessed."
"Oi," Kiryu said irritated, and she laughed a little, as she dwelled on the memories from back then.
But the Kiryu who would talk about otherworldly things that people wouldn"t; despite their being scientifically proven evidence by then, was very cool in her eyes. To the young Tachibana Miu then, Austin Kiryu was cool, handsome, strong and...mysterious, "We will basically always remain the same, is that it?" Miu said.