July 2035, (R Dome Judges Conference)Haruka wasted no time before he grabbed hold of Itsuki"s collar, "I"m warning you, stay clear from her. " Haruka said in a threatening tone.
Itsuki chuckled, "You really care about her that much? That"s not like you Haruka. Don"t you remember the old days?"
"d.a.m.n. Now you show your true colors? Were you not going to keep up the act?"
That"s right, this person knows. At the start, Haruka didn"t recognize him. Itsuki changed so much. But one day he caught Itsuki fooling around with a partic.i.p.ant. This was in last year"s compet.i.tion. The words Itsuki replied with were, "Oh, but isn"t it normal for us?" In his whole life, there"s only one person who"s ever said that before to him. A man he knew from then.
Before Haruka could say any more, he heard someone call his name.
"Haruka!"
Hearing his name, Haruka looked up and spotted his girlfriend.
Why is she here? Lila happily runs over and hugs him, "They said I could take a long break. Is it okay if we go to the park you mentioned?"
A long break. Haruka looked back at Itsuki; he must have done something. Well, no matter. If he"s with Lila, he can protect her no matter what happens.
Haruka nodded and patted his girlfriend"s hair, "Sure."
.....
Hyde Park.
"It"s so beautiful and um romantic too. " Lila said.
Romantic? Well, he supposes it is. Lila clings to his arm, "Aha." she laughed softly. .. His girlfriend is too cute. Perhaps there"s something wrong with him. He cant help but find every action of hers so endearing.
"So, what is this?" Haruka asked.
"Um, I"m clinging to you," Lila explained.
So why is she clinging to him? Her cheeks puffed up into a pout.
"Haruka, do you not want me too?"
"It"s not a matter about wanting. Why are you doing this?" Haruka decided to ask her directly.
Lila looked him up and down and sighed. "Are you actually experienced with girls Haruka?" Lila questioned.
He frowned, what"s with that comment.
"Should I show you right here then? My experience," he said seductively in her ear.
His girlfriend"s cheeks reddened, "N—not that kind of experience." she murmured.
But she isn"t against it, is she?
...
When Lila explained it to him, Haruka blinked. So it was something like that. The two of them sat down on the nearest bench. Currently, the girl laid in his arms, and he gently ran his fingers through her hair. It surprised Haruka that she was doing this in public with him, laying in his arms and getting close. But according to her, it"s okay to show affection on a moderate level. He still has to get used to her.
"Tell me something Haruka," Lila spoke up.
"Hmm?" Haruka murmured.
"Why were you trying to battle with senpai?" Lila asked.
So she noticed.
"Since last year, Ichinose"s always bothered me. I don"t like his wishy-washy actions." Haruka admitted. He might as well tell her up front.
"You"re jealous."
Huh?
Lila giggled, "So your jealous Haruka?"
Jealous? He meant the comment regarding Ichinose though. But he supposes he is jealous too. Haruka nodded, and the love list shade of red appeared on his girlfriend"s cheeks.
"O—h, gosh. I didn"t think you"d admit it..." Lila stammered.
"Why wouldn"t I?" Haruka questioned.
"Um, really wait. I"m confused; you were actually jealous?" Lila asked.
Haruka sighed, "Well, at first I thought he was the main reason for your stumbling block. Last year while you could sing well, I could tell there was something wrong. Something was suppressing you."
___________________________________________________
"And you thought senpai was that reason?" Lila questioned.
"Yeah."
So that"s what it looked like to others. "Was I wrong?"
Lila shook her head. "No, you were right. But at the same time, you were wrong." she trailed off seeing how puzzled Haruka was. Lila took a deep breath before she spoke up, "It was different with his songs. All the feelings I was holding back, everything I was suppressing. When I sang his songs, I could unleash those deep feelings. I could breathe again since I let everything free. At the same time, others regard it as a weakness. The destructive emotions I feel, perhaps it would be better if I keep them locked away."
Lila laughed, "It"s weird. That only senpai"s songs have that effect." Perhaps it was a matter of feelings.
Haruka said helplessly, "No it"s stupid. All those feelings whether it"s Ichinose songs your song. Eventually, you"d be able to unleash them."
Lila glared at him, "Why are you so mean?"
"I"m just saying," Haruka continued, "You don"t need those songs to unleash your feelings. Why don"t we test it?"
Lila raised her eyebrows confused, a test?
Haruka lifted her from his lap, and she sat up. She followed his gaze and found that it landed on a group of people doing a live performance. Wait, wait? Realization dawned on her immediately. He can"t be serious. However, Lila noticed that the members of the band sent a thumbs up in her direction. Haruka tells her to come over, and she reluctantly does so. He extended the mic towards her.
"Sing anything, with the same feelings you have when you sing Ichinose"s songs."
…...
It"s strange. But since Lila came here, she hadn"t realized how many feelings she was bottling up until now. Now she can concentrate she understands. Since coming here, there are a lot of things she"s wanted to scream out loud but haven"t been able to do so.
- The shackle of my heart -
"Do not open the door to the cage.
There is a reason why the key is lost
and cannot be found.
If you ...open the door.
if you do, accept the consequences of your actions.
Inside, there"s a monster.
A monster which I have suppressed this whole time.
Whether you see me as a human or a monster, it doesn"t change the fact that I will always have shackle attached to my heart." Lila sang.
She"s a monster. Kiryu has always accepted everything about her, even her new faults. But what about Haruka? Would he accept them? Could he grow to love them too?
She doesn"t have to say anything, not looking at anything. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. These lyrics will portray everything for her.
....
Lila"s cheeks puffed up into a pout, "Okay, so you proved your point."
Haruka raised her hand and brought it to his lips. Her cheeks reddened at his sudden actions. Uh?
"Yeah, it seems like I proved something. When you sing my songs."
Did he trick her? How sly and unfair of him.