Leaving the restaurant, Kiryu didn"t say much to Lila. Still, what other chances does he get to be left alone with her like this? Even though she signed the contract back to records. Kiryu barely saw the girl around. He knew Lila does it deliberately. She did it for Haruka"s sake. Haruka is a lot more understanding these days. He won"t mind if he hung around Lila. But, Lila is still cautious about it."Hey, you really do have a fever! Quit spinning around," Kiryu commented. They walked down a long flight of stairs, so Kiryu was worried she would fall.
Lila laughed, "Don"t fuss Kiryu, I"m fine!"
Kiryu, however, kept glancing over at Lila and, from time to time, grabbed her. She occasionally lost her balance, and that worried him. After that serious talk in the restaurant. Kiryu didn"t know what to say.
"Hey, Lila..."
"Yes?"
Kiryu looked away, "Why does she look so cute?" This is really bad." "Can I hug you?"
"I want to kiss her.."
Lila nodded, and Kiryu wrapped his arms around her. She smells good, and she"s warm. Lola laughed, "Um, what are you doing? Kiryu?"
"I"ve missed you a lot. I"ve missed holding you."
"You can still hug me, Kiryu. But, uh nothing else," Lila was clearly on her guard. Still, she even looks cute when she has her guard up. Isn"t it fine? He did say he wouldn"t hold back. Kiryu debated for a few extra seconds. Yes, only seconds. Looking at Lila for an even a brief moment will cause any reasonable and sane guy to lose control.
How many times has he kissed the girl before? Kiryu already lost count of how many. But, one thing was for sure, right now, he can"t control himself. So, Kiryu kisses her. He intended it to be brief, but before he knew it, Kiryu kissed her using his tongue.
Lila eventually broke free, "Wh- I just told you not to."
"I"m sorry, just one more time."
"Stop idiot," Lila exclaimed. "Don"t do that, what if somebody sees..."
Kiryu chuckled, "Push me away."
"That"s not fair..." Lila looked down at her feet, "Kiryu, you"re still living with Rosalichan?"
"Lately, she hasn"t come by. Haven"t seen her since before Christmas."
"Ah, I see."
"Do you want to drop by?" Kiryu asked.
Lila nodded, "Ah-huh, I thought I could do some cleaning and cooking for you."
Kiryu blinked at the girl"s words. "But you"re not my girlfriend...anymore. Does she realize those are things girlfriends usually do?" Well, he won"t reject that offer.
..
It was a coincidence.
A pure coincidence that SEVEN Stars appeared to have a stage in one of the outdoor stadiums nearby.
A coincidence that he joined in and did a duet with Oujiro.
A coincidence that he sang for Lila, or so he would like to keep saying.
Then again, Kiryu recalled the conversation they had a few minutes back.
__
Thirty minutes ago
Oujiro reached over and extended his fist out. "Snap out of it. If you really want her to make sparkly eyes towards you only, then all you have to do is sing your heart out for her. Well, I"ll be doing that anyway, so if you don"t want to. ."
"Like h.e.l.l. ." he murmurs, "It"s not that. I guess I"m just nervous, she was the first one to arrive here you know? That girl really knows how to disturb my emotions. I can"t sit still around her."
"Even now he is a very very kind person.
A very, very gentle person."
Oujiro reached over and whispered something in his ears. His expression changed. "You -- are you serious?"
"Since when am I not?"
"You"re on."
...
_
Present
It was also a coincidence that he left the venue the second the show ended. Kiryu didn"t know what he was doing.
"But how should I put it? My emotions have been perturbed. As you know it"s not easy for me to become close to someone. So I become uncomfortable and even sad. Even so whenever I come in contact with that person. It feels like I can"t breathe and I become really happy. That I could feel this inside me, this kind of colorful emotion really surprised me. "
Kiryu sighed when he recalled those words he said to Ayase Kotori not too far back. What was he thinking consulting a complete stranger like that? Still, it made him feel relieved knowing that somebody else heard it.
Kiryu paused when he felt a pair of arms wrap around him from the back. His eyes widened. He knew who these arms belonged to, of course.
"I caught you, Kiryu."
"I"ve been caught." Kiryu murmurs. The two of them remained like that for a few minutes. Although there"s a lot that they should be discussing now. Right now for him this is enough. He turned her around and pulled her into his arms, after embracing her for a while, he drew back, "Shouldn"t you have gone to Oujiro?" After all, his companion"s performance was undoubtedly amazing.
Lila her head, "I wanted to go to you." she extended her hands out, revealing three flowers arranged with a red ribbon attaching them together. "I could hear your emotions so very clearly in that performance."
"I see. . .so this is---"
A bright smile appeared on her face, "Really, thank you, Kiryu. I"ve always liked it whenever you sang for me. Today, even though it was an abrupt performance. I could clearly hear your feelings. I"ll work hard, I"ll do my best."
Kiryu nodded and extended his hands out to take the flowers from her when a strong gust of wind blows. Small fragment"s of light burst from the flower - before expanding around them. A ray of lilac colors like a ribbon shot from the flower and burst through the sky, and several colored petals fell from the sky. But the color that was main this time was pink and red.
Ah, this.. Lila looked up with wide eyes before she beamed happily. "I see, so that"s how things are."
Kiryu glanced over at her, despite the vague words he understood immediately what that person meant.
"That girl clearly loves you. But Austin Kiryu, what can you do to show that you love her just as much?"
What can he do to show Lila that he still loves her?
"Yeah, you did it."
"Yes!"
Kiryu glanced down at her hands and confidentially reached out for it. "You"re coming back with me, aren"t you?"
Lila"s eyes sparkled at his words, "En, I"m coming back with you."