Dream Star

. . . . . . . . . .
Three hours later, it well past midnight and Lila wanted nothing more than to rest . But, "Haruka, your heavy," she murmured .

Haruka deeply sighed, "Is that any way to greet your husband?"

She rolled her eyes and hit his chest, "Get off me," however Haruka used that chance to grab hold of her arms and touch him, she flushed red .

"Don"t be stupid, please . "

"Who is being stupid? Didn"t you seduce me? I just wanted to sleep, but you started kissing me out of nowhere . "

That"s because she saw the look on his face . Lila pried her hands free and wrapped them around his neck, "I love you, Haruka, so listen to me okay?"

"d.a.m.n you," Haruka cursed as he moved away from her . Lila blinked surprised, "The love you," technique works like a charm it seems . Though she said it to get out of this situation, she genuinely does want to tell him these words .

She looked around and picked up his s.h.i.+rt and slipped it on . Naturally, it was too big for her and went down to her legs, but Lila had gotten used to this already . Lila looked towards Haruka who sat at the edge of the bed, he had pulled out a cigarette . Come to think of it, Kiryu never smoked in front of her . It"s not like she hated it or anything, but, indeed, it"s not something she liked seeing . After all, it"s unhealthy to smoke .

Cautiously and carefully Lila made her way over and buried her face in his back, "What are you doing now?"

"Cuddling . "

"Gee, you really do make me speechless," Haruka deeply sighed, "Are you tired? That"s why you wanted me to stop . Get some rest now . "

Is he bothered that they stopped halfway? But Lila thought they were finished, and that he was simply laying on top of her to tease her .

"Say, say what happened earlier . Don"t blame yourself alright?" she brought up what happened at the club, "You were surprised to see Aizawsan there, her presence caught you off guard, and when you realized something was wrong . The damage was done . "

"I should have been the one to save you . I said I would stick close to you . What was I doing?" Haruka muttered .

"I ran off, it can"t be helped that we got separated . "

"How can you be so calm about this? You got hurt," he turned around and pulled her into his arms, "You got hurt again, right in front of me . Just like back then . "

Lila finally realized what was wrong . He"s talking about the incidence from when they were younger, the one that leads to her forgetting him right? Lila felt him tremble and she held him tighter, "Haruka, you don"t have to worry . I"m okay, I"m here, I"m alive . "

"You"re alive . . . you"re safe," he repeated like he was in some sort of trance .

"Yes, I"m safe . I love you . "

. . .
October 2035 - O Stadium -

In the end, Haruka fell asleep before her in her arms . How many times has Haruka fallen asleep before her? It was something of a rare event .

All the partic.i.p.ants were being called out today to announce the parameters for the first round of the official tournament . Lila was lining up with the others, when she felt a pair of arms hug her from the back, "Haruka, good morning . "

"Morning, why did you leave without me?"

"Ah, I didn"t want to be late," that wasn"t exactly a lie . But not the complete truth either . Almost as though he read what she was thinking, Haruka buried his face in the nape of her neck . His lips made contact with her skin, and she s.h.i.+vered, "Haruka, we are in public, remember?"

"I"m not going to do anything to you . "

"Ah-huh, like that"s believable," but they indeed had that talk already . While they had several discussions in the past, that didn"t go quite right . Lila felt this time around; he would listen to her .

"What happened to not being affectionate in public?"

"But I want to kiss . "

Haruka smiled, "Let"s find a quiet corner . "

A quiet corner is easy to find, and for the two of them, kissing has become somewhat of a natural thing . It does not matter who starts it since it usually ended up the same way . With her wanting more, and urging Haruka to do more things to her .

"Haruka, Haruka," Lila repeated whenever his lips briefly parted from hers .

"Mmm, don"t be so loud . They will hear you," Haruka seemed calm, like usual .

"Stupid man, how is this a simple kiss?" No matter how much she questioned that in her mind . Lila knew that n.o.body would be able to answer it, and resigned herself to this fate . Surrendering now is a lot easier than pretending to be indifferent . It feels so good, how come? Her head is going all mushy .

Haruka"s hands slipped on her skirt zipper, "Hnn, beautiful," he muttered .

Feeling his hands caress her legs and her b.u.t.t, Lila felt incredibly embarra.s.sed . He"s a bit different today, or maybe his fetishes changed? It did not matter to her; she likes it when he touches her . They made that promise though, so Lila wanted to see how far — Harukas other hand removed her top slightly and his large hands are pinching and teasing her b.r.e.a.s.t.s . T—this idiot, he . . he"s really . Ah, idiot . Lila cursed in her head . Haruka only seemed to notice something was wrong a few minutes later .

"c.r.a.p," Haruka cursed and pulled away from her, "Sorry, almost lost it there . "

Lila shyly shook her head, she felt very embarra.s.sed and couldn"t look him in the eye . Just now, what was that? Her whole body felt like it was burning, burning for him . She reached over and buried her face in his torso .

"Kiss me there," Haruka instructed .

"Okay," she lifted her head slightly before she gently placed a trail of kisses .

"Good girl . "

He"s smiling, do things like this make him happy? "Haruka, are you being stupid again?"

Haruka brushed his fingers on her lips, "Well, I can be . But we made a deal remember?"

"We did," Lila trailed off . She liked the feeling of his fingers on her lips, "Haruka . . . "

. . . .

Once she returned to the line, Lila was distracted . Lila kept stealing glances at Haruka, "He"s wearing a suit today, how handsome," she thought .

"The girl who has been stealing glances at her boyfriend read those doc.u.ments in your hands already," Maika said .

"I understand the s.e.x was good, but calm down," Jae-hee said with a smirk .

"W—we didn"t do it!" Lila exclaimed .

"What you didn"t?"

Lila frantically shook her head, "W--we only kissed," she stammered .

"But surely those sounds," Jae-hee paused, her expression broke into a huge grin, "Or could it be just kissing drives you on edge?"

Lila couldn"t say anything back to that . It"s true whenever she does anything remotely intimate with Haruka, things end up this way . Lila wonders why . One of Kiryu"s main concerns in the past was that she wasn"t used to other men, and that"s why she loved him . Because she knew him well . Lila always turned down that theory, even if she got to know other guys . Her heart would always belong to Kiryu . Only Kiryu, but then she met Haruka .

"That"s probably it," Lila replied after a while . Lila shyly stole another glance, "I wonder if he would be happy if I told him that," Haruka seems to like it whenever she takes the initiative in anything intimate related in their relations.h.i.+p . Would the same apply this time too?

Just as she thought this, Lila found Kotori and Jae-hee hugging her .

"Gahhh, she"s so cute . "

"Right, right? A girl in love is beautiful . "

Even Maika reached over and patted her hair .

Lila looked at her friends confused, what"s with this reaction of theirs? Weirdos . Now that she thought about it, "Where"s Yori?"

"She said she had to answer a phone call but hasn"t come back yet . "

Lila recalled what happened with Soichiro the other day and frowned . He better not be slave-driving and taking out his anger on her, "I"ll go to her for a bit . "

. . . .

Lila found Yori rather quickly, the girl was on the deck - her friend had just ended the call and tossed the phone on the ground . Lila blinked, "Was it Soichiro after all?" Yori only gets this worked up when it comes to him . She watched her friend for a few minutes, after throwing the phone, Yori stood still and started muttering things before she crouched down on the ground and started speaking to the plants on the edges .

"What are you doing?"

"Gyaaahhhh," Yori exclaimed .

"Yori?"

"Oh, it"s just you Lila," a relieved sigh pa.s.sed her lips, "I thought you were Jae-hee it would be bad then, that girl can"t keep her mouth shut . "

"Ah-huh," Lila looked at the plants . She heard from her sister that speaking to plants helps it grow faster . Is Yori doing the same? "Oh, these are, Kasumi"s favorites?"

"Exactly! You give these to her when it"s finished blooming and makeup with her . "

"Eh?"

Yori deeply sighed, "Geez Lila, I didn"t think you were this bad at dealing with friends.h.i.+ps . But then again, you never had this issue before . You and Kasumi never fought to this extent," Yori shook her head, "That"s why I decided to lend you a hand . Give her these flowers, talk it through an and bam . "

Her sweat once she heard the explanation . Yori isn"t good at dealing with friends.h.i.+ps either . After their dispute, the girl ran off to another country . Yori must have understood what she thought since a frustrated look appeared on her face, "B--but, this is different," Yori protested .

Lila laughed, "I got it, I got it . I thought the same . I wanted to patch things up to," even she doesn"t like how the way things are these days, "Let"s see these flowers, instead of just giving it to her . Why don"t I decorate the stage with them and then have a duo stage with her?"

Yori"s eyes lit up, "That"s a great--" Yori trailed off and frowned, as she suddenly recalled something, "Wait, what on earth are you even doing here?"

Ah, now she notices, "Practice . "

"No, you can"t sing for a while . Rest your voice, were still searching for a cure," Yori shook her head, "Head home, your boyfriend will give you the important details from today"s training, anyway . "

"But, if I sit around and do nothing, I feel anxious . It"s okay; I won"t sing," Lila said . This was the only reason why Haruka agreed for her to come hers, under the conditions that she didn"t sing .

"I guess you can"t avoid it . The other judges and instructors should know your situation, but don"t push yourself too much, okay? If it gets bad, head home . "

Lila nodded, "En, I understand . "