Not exactly the most romantic situation, hearing those words. But Haruka was glad he heard them. There"s a subtle difference between being told "I like" and "I love." This way he no longer has to be uneasy. Lila loves him, and she even picked him over Austin Kiryu. There"s no longer any need to be uneasy, and yet he"s even resorted to following her around. Haruka knows she has no other guys, and he isn"t following her around because he thinks she has any. But when Lila isn"t honest with him, he becomes uneasy.How contradictory, he"s the one not being completely honest with her. His thoughts broke off when he found the blue hair girl staring at him.
"Done stalking me?" Lila said with a smile. It doesn"t surprise Haruka, seeing her.
Haruka sighed, "If you knew I was trailing you, just say so."
Lila laughed, "But that wouldn"t have been fun."
"Join me." Haruka murmured.
Lila nodded and sat down next to him; she rests her head on his shoulder, "I was searching for your birthday present."
"Present?" Haruka repeated.
"Did you forget? It"s your birthday soon."
Haruka shook his head, he remembers. But, "You don"t have to worry about that.." Haruka told her. He"s never celebrated it before. So it makes no difference to him.
"No, it"s the first celebration since we became a couple. I want to spend it properly."
That"s true. Haruka knows he can"t argue with her there.
"Those shops were an odd choice.." Haruka commented.
Lila laughed, "Um, did I get your tastes wrong?"
"Some."
"Jae-hee suggested the majority," Lila said.
"I can guess which ones she chose." Haruka murmured, still trying to get back at him, huh?
"Can we make out?" Haruka asked. Lila"s cheeks reddened, and he chuckled. "Isn"t it fine?"
She shyly nodded. Haruka wrapped his arms around her and leaned forward to kiss her. G.o.d, kissing her felt different. He"s acting like some sort of stupid teenager, but Haruka felt happy being with her like this.
.....
His gaze fell on the girl resting on his lap.
"This is a moderate public display of affection to you?" Haruka wondered out loud. Loads of people pa.s.sing by were staring at them, pointing and whispering.
Lila paused before she said, "This is me staking my claim."
"About the other time?" Haruka said knowingly.
"I didn"t want to ask but…"
"No, you have the right too. Sorry. I--" Lila cut him off and shook her head.
"You didn"t know right? I figured it was something like that. That you didn"t know what you were doing is wrong. I don"t know the reason behind you sleeping with other women. Even I understand that you"ve never once thought of those women as special…"
"Ari."
Lila smiled softly, "It"s all right Haruka. I won"t blame you.." Her cheeks suddenly puffed up into a pout, "Instead, I"ll blame that fly that got so close to you. How dare she mark you?"
Haruka looked at her fussing with an amused smile.
"Then maybe you should mark me.."
___________________________________________
Mark, she repeated those words to herself. Lila"s cheeks reddened, at the mere thought and she quickly sat up and sat further away from him.
"All right, stop with your wild imaginations. I was only joking."
Haruka suddenly wore a severe expression on his face and her lips curve to a smile.
"Pfft, if you want me to sit closer just say so."
"Isn"t that obvious? I want you to stay close."
"Haruka, I"ll have you know I"m not in the mood for jokes." she trailed off when Haruka s.h.i.+fted closer to her and kissed a strand of her blue hair. "Or anything affectionate either. "
"I know."
Why does he know? It isn"t fair sometimes.
Kiryu must have planned all of that. After all, the only ones who knew about that meeting were the ones who took part. And Haruka and senpai, the latter would never blab about such matters to anyone no matter who it is. However, if it"s Haruka, he would tell Kiryu without hesitation. Even now she still doesn"t understand the relations.h.i.+p between those two. If you can call it friends.h.i.+p at all.
For the two people whom she fell in love with so deeply to be on such good terms, it"s quite an illogical turn of events.
"Haruka, do you have desires towards me?"
Haruka looked at her speechless. "... What"s with you…"
Knowing she confused him Lila laughed, "Well, I only want to know. But ah, I already know your answer. You see when you think of the word desire, what comes to mind?"
Haruka didn"t hesitate with his reply. "s.e.x."
She rolled her eyes and hit him.
"What, you told me to be straightforward?"
"But you"re a hanyou too," Lila said.
"You"re talking about blood? The cravings?"
Lila nodded.
Haruka paused for a moment before he replied, "I guess I never really thought about it."
"Then I"m glad you didn"t suffer for so long. You see there"s a reason why even now people fear hanyou"s. People fear us because we"re different because we"re not the same as them. But the scariest thing is the cravings. A strong craving towards somebody"s blood. If that person is a regular person and not a hanyou, what do you think would happen?" Lila asked this question but didn"t wait for an answer.
As she continued. "The answer is, the hanyou has to restrain themselves to the point that they suffer and feel deprived. Feeling deprived of something you know you"ll never have hurt more than anything. Though there are cases where a normal person and hanyou"s relations.h.i.+ps work out. They still have to suffer. When it"s two hanyou"s who have to be apart from each other, it"s worse though. Knowing they can be together but have to part.." she trailed off, her gaze landed on the skies, "It"s the same for me."
"Do you want him back?" Haruka asked.
Lila shook her head. "I was just theorizing. I am happy with you Haruka."
"I see."
"But my mother is right; experience comes with age. Now I"m older I can see the world from a different perspective. I"m much older now. But there are many occasions where I feel like an idiot."
" . . . . "
"Why aren"t you saying anything I wonder... Could it be, Haruka you really think that way and that"s why you did nothing more than kiss me yesterday?" Lila questioned him.
"No, that"s not. ."
"I know.." Lila trailed off, "But we keep causing the people around us to worry. Especially Jae-hee.."
Haruka suddenly pulled her into his arms, "She makes a point, we should get intimate when we can."
"Dummy that"s not what she meant. I, don"t think it"s right now. I still love Kiryu, and these feelings will probably never truly go away. But I want to be with you. I know that for certain."
"You like to contradict yourself."
Haruka didn"t tell her whether it was okay or express his opinion on the matter. She understood from the warmth of his hand that it was okay. "Remember, everything I do is for your sake. Even if it may seem harsh at times…" Haruka a.s.sured her.
"I know, thank you."
Lila wrapped her arms around his neck and brushed her lips there gently biting the soft skin.
Haruka. She loves him; she loves him. It"s strange. Lila never thought that she would fall in love with someone this much ever again. Now that she has, her actions, words and everything else she"s believed in has become muddled up. She becomes dizzy with thoughts of this person.