Dream Star

She genuinely has feelings for him.

Kasumi never thought of the possibility before, why would she?

"Kasumi, I keep falling more and more in live with Kiryu."

Liar.

"I um want to marry Kiryu."

Liar.

"I want to be with Kiryu forever, do you think he feels the same?"

Liar.

"I can only sing for Kiryu."

Lies, it"s all lies. All those memories she had with her friend, all those conversations, all of it felt like lies. Kasumi felt betrayed when she heard the news of Lila and Karas.h.i.+ma dating. She only felt that betrayal when she saw the two on a program together. At first, when she heard the news while it upset her, Kasumi thought Lila was doing it because of her job. But when she saw that program, Kasumi knew something was amiss.

That"s why she contacted Yori and asked her. Yori too seemed upset initially, but Kasumi noticed the more she spoke to her friend for updates, the less mad she appeared.

It"s no good, Yori is in Karas.h.i.+ma Haruka"s side too. When Kasumi realized that she panicked, there was no use relying on Akari. Akari always cared about Lila"s happiness. Even if it isn"t Kiryu, as long as Lila is happy. Then again, isn"t that the standard point of view? Anybody who is Lila"s friend or cares about Lila would think the same.

She"s the odd one, why does she end up feeling like this? Quit acting so selfish. Lila did nothing wrong. Why does she keep blaming her? What was with that outburst? Lila looked so pained then, but her friend still gave her a reasonable answer. She hid away the fact that it bothered her.

s.h.i.+chiro reached over and patted her hair, "You really are foolish Kasumi, I understand. You didn"t want to choose; you wanted things to remain the way they were before. But, we"re all growing up Kasumi. Things are changing quickly."

"I know," she snapped as tears streamed down her eyes, "I know, but I..I miss how things were before s.h.i.+chiro. If Lila doesn"t need Kiryu anymore then what about me? Does she still need me?"

It all came spilling out, the reason she was acting so defensive. Her thoughts broke off when they hear the sound of the door unbolting, Kasumi prepared to get in her defensive stance, but s.h.i.+chiro shook his head.

"Instead of telling me, just tell her."

Huh?

"Ah! It"s Kasumi!" a cheerful voice said.

Kasumi stared at the girl dumbfounded, what on earth is Lila doing here? Indeed, the one who opened the door was none other than her best friend, Teras.h.i.+ma Lila.

"Kasumi, Kasumi! It"s a good thing I found --," Lila lost her balance before she could fall, somebody catches her.

"Lila, I told you not to let go of my hand."

"But I saw Kasumi! Not my fault your slow Kiryu."

Her eyes widened when she saw the way the two interacted with each other. Is it still the same? The two of them broke up, so Kasumi thought things would be awkward between them. But things are normal. Ah, this must be the reason why she was so invested in the matter. She was worried that things would change. If Kiryu and Lila aren"t dating, how about her? Does that still make her Lila"s best friend? Does she have to choose between them?

"Kasumi? What"s wrong? Ah, do you want some candy, I have some."

Kasumi didn"t say anything, and Lila grabbed hold of her hand, "Kasumi?"

Lila is her best friend, but Kiryu is an important friend to her too. She never wanted to decide between them. Even before she knew of Lila"s feelings for Kiryu, she thought to herself, "It would be nice if these two fell in love with each other," if it"s these two then maybe she will be able to see it. A genuine and pure love. That"s why when she heard the news regarding the two dating, she was happy. When she realized the two had feelings for each other, Kasumi was genuinely relieved. For her two friends who have done so much to help her, she only wants them to be happy.

And Kiryu, he"s the only one who can make Lila happy. The same would go vice versa. Kasumi didn"t think about anybody else interfering in that.

Kasumi hugged Lila tightly and started crying, "I"m sorry, I"m sorry,"

Lila laughed, "Um, Kasumi, you"ll ruin your makeup, and you don"t have to say sorry. I wasn"t angry at you, I know, you worry about me the most."

Of course, Lila never blamed her.

Kasumi understood that part too. Lila is not the kind of person to hold grudges against another person. Despite her cold idol image, Lila is the complete opposite. She"s kind and friendly.

..

"Why are you, dizzy?"

Lila suddenly turned quiet, and Kasumi looked at her friend with curious eyes. What"s with her?

"She drank too much blood, so it has the opposite effect," Kiryu explained, "d.a.m.n, she bites too hard, so I"m in pain too."

Lila hits him, "Wahhh, dummy! Quit it, don"t say anymore."

Lila drank Kiryu"s blood... So there"s still a chance, right? While she was technically a hanyou too, unlike the rest her hanyou blood is the weakest.

"A—anyway, I think we ought to," Lila"s sentence fell short when her phone rang, "H—h—hel, I bite my tongue."

A chuckle is heard on the other line, "Still not used to answering my calls?"

"But that"s because you hardly call me."

They hardly talk on the phone? Kasumi raised her eyebrows at this and was about to make a critical remark. But she shook her head; they most likely don"t have to. From the reports, it seems like they are always together.

"That"s true, are you out?"

"Ah-huh."

"Then listen to me carefully."

The next words Karas.h.i.+ma Haruka said surprised even her. A bomb? This whole area? A bomb? Is Miyazawa Rosalia that crazy? Even if there are people, she doesn"t like here, that doesn"t mean she can just kill them in cold blood without thinking about it. Then again, that woman has some screws loose. This shouldn"t come as a surprise to her anymore. Miyazawa Rosalia will do whatever she can to get her way, where does that leave people like them? Where does that leave those involved in her insanity? Her gaze fell on Kiryu; it must be hard for him. Once upon a time, Miyazawsan was somebody important to him. Though the woman has completely lost it now, it isn"t easy for Kiryu to see her turn into this.

"Haruka, where are you? Can you come to me?"

"I"ll be right there, stay put."

"Okay, you"ll really come, right?"

"Yeah."

They do seem to care about each other. But, "Why does Lila seem so scared being apart from Karas.h.i.+ma?" Kasumi thought it was just her imagination. However, when they first came here, and she visited them, it was like that too. Is it normal? For somebody to be this afraid? It isn"t normal. Noticing Lila trembling, she was about to say something when Kiryu goes ahead and does it.

"If you don"t come, I"ll take her away from you, and you"ll never see her again."

Wait — what?!! Kasumi looked at him dumbfounded, is he an idiot? Kasumi knew he had no intention of doing that. Kiryu isn"t the type of person who would force Lila to do anything she didn"t want to. But for those who don"t know Kiryu well enough, they"d genuinely think he was serious about the words he said just now.

Karas.h.i.+ma must have sensed the threat since he suddenly retorted, "Lila, I"ll be right there, and you better stay put."

"O—okay silly," Lila laughed, "Um, Haruka don"t sound so panicked. I won"t leave without you." But the man quickly put the line down, Lila looked over at Kiryu with a pout, "Your going to get me in trouble, why did you say something like that?"

"I"m telling the truth, I told you earlier I wouldn"t let you go again."

"But that"s different."

"It isn"t really."

Her sweat fell, "Here they go again," they frequently did this in the past. They suddenly got into random arguments like this that made little sense. Why was she so worried? It seems like even if Lila does end up choosing Karas.h.i.+ma, these two can still be friends? Of course, her ideal ending is still Lila and Kiryu dating. It"s hard to imagine the two of them not dating.

"What are we going to do?" Kasumi asked, "s.h.i.+chiro, is that thing done yet?"

"It"s hard to concentrate when I hear a lovers spat in one end."

"W--were not.."

"Lovers spat, huh? Sounds nice."

Lila looked at Kiryu angrily, before she rushed over and hugged her, "Kasumi, Kiryu is bullying me! Help."

Uh, things have returned to normal, haven"t they? A deep sigh pa.s.sed her lips; it turns out she was just overthinking things. That"s a relief to her and yet at the same time, "There"s probably more to all this than meets the eye," Kasumi knew better than to let her guard down. While her friends.h.i.+p with Lila will most return to normal after this, Kasumi knew that her bitter feelings towards Karas.h.i.+ma Haruka wouldn"t disappear.

It would be better if she told Lila about it. Kasumi didn"t want to hide it from her friend, while she didn"t want to see Lila sad. If she kept hiding it, then it would be worse for Lila when she finds out from somebody else. With the way Miyazawa Rosalia keeps acting lately, Kasumi knew it would just be a matter of time before that woman tried something.

"Lila, there"s something I have to talk to you about."