Dream Star

Lila happily clung to Haruka"s arm as they took a late night stroll. Work finished up quickly, and for the last three hours, he took her to see some places, as well as have dinner. It amazed Lila seeing so many people walking around at night.
Haruka bends down and kissed her lips.

"Haruka.."
Lila said happily.

Haruka smiled, "Is this romantic for you?"

She recalled one of their old conversations and laughed, "Ah-huh." Haruka nodded and wrapped his coat around her. "Ah?"

"The temperature is dropping."

Oh! Lila didn"t notice since she was too focused on getting closer to him. She smiled happily as Lila hugged the coat happily to herself. Spotting lights on the other side of the road, Lila beamed and clapped her hands, "Let"s go there next Haruka."

Haruka nodded, and Lila skipped ahead. She saw the green light and walked only to catch a glimpse of an oncoming truck. Ehhh?

______________________________________________

A few minutes later.

His girlfriend clung to him desperately; he knew he gave her quite the fright when he pushed her away like that. But he had no choice, in Lilas present state she could not dodge that blow. "Haruka..." Lila called out to him.

"Okay now?" He asked.

"Haruka were enemies. But why do you always protect me?"

"What are you talking about?" Haruka tried to feign ignorance, but it was useless. He could tell from the look in the girl"s eyes.

Haruka sighed deeply knowing he couldn"t hide it any longer. "It"s what your thinking, yes it was me. During the incidences last year, I was the one who saved you every single time. Whether it was directly or indirectly."

"Haruka.."

"Though since you started your journey, I haven"t been doing such a good job at protecting you. You"ve been hurt so many times."

Lila shook her head, tears welled up in her eyes, and she wrapped her arms around his neck. "No, that"s wrong. You have protected me so many times and got hurt. But I neglected to see it, Haruka… thank you so much."

"You don"t have to thank me… It"s because of me that you even got dragged into this whole thing.."
Haruka was filled with regrets.

"Whatever the reason is, you"re not my enemy?"
Lila clarified with him.

Haruka smiled, "Yeah, I"ve always been on your side."

...
....

Hotel

Because of the weather, the two couldn"t return home. So Haruka planned for them to stay at a nearby hotel. The whole time Lila had remained quiet, and for the last few minutes, he examined her.

"... Why are you so red?"

He didn"t expect to find her embarra.s.sed.

"Um.. um, that"s... d—don"t look at me please.." Lila stammered.

Haruka immediately understood then. He almost burst into laughter. Lilas thougspirallingbe spiraling out of control now. How cute. He cupped her cheek in his hands and gently kissed her lips, "I do want that. But, that wasn"t my intention. It took too long to get back to the apartment from here, and we"re both in no state to return to the dream star dorms either."

Their clothes were dirty and stained because of the fall. "Oh, um.." Lila trailed off and shyly asked, "We won"t do anything?"

It"s cute how she always avoids calling it s.e.x.

"What do you mean by anything?" Haruka asked.

Lila"s face reddened, and he chuckled, so cute.

"Well, that"s enough teasing. Go ahead and take a bath first. The waters warmed already." He asked the hotel staff to warm the water when they were on their way.

To his surprise Lila tugged on his s.h.i.+rt, "Haruka, can you come inside with me?"

Huh?

Haruka turned to look at her and noticed that her body was still trembling. She must still be afraid.

...….
Lila laughed happily as she continued blowing the bubbles. She"s acting like a child. But since she"s cute that doesn"t matter.

Lila broke the silence, "Say Haruka?"

"Hm?"

"Um my concert at rise stadium, you"ll be watching right?" Lila asked.

"It"s normal; I"m your manager." Though both of them know that there are occasions where he misses important events. "Can I get closer to you?"

Lila shyly nodded, and he s.h.i.+fted over, and gently interlocked a strand of her hair with his fingers. He brought that strand to his lips and kissed it.

"Haruka?"
Lila spoke up.

"Yeah?"
Haruka mumbled. Her hair is so pretty; she"s beautiful. This colour does suit her, while he does not understand why she changed it.

Lila"s cheeks reddened, "Um, I like you a lot. "

"Yeah."
Noticing how nervous she was, he smiled. Is Lila trying to tell him how much she loves him? There"s no need. He"s starting to understand it after all slowly.
But it"s true that he"s still having a hard time believing it. "Let"s kiss Ari."

A shy nod and yet pa.s.sionate gaze, followed by stuttering, "Ye-yes…"

Haruka smiled.

...…..

Haruka didn"t think she would fall asleep in the bathroom. Maybe he shouldn"t have kissed her until she pa.s.sed out. He carefully scooped the girl up, grabbed two towels from the rack, wrapped it around her bare frame. The other he used for himself and exited the room. Haruka spotted her pale completion again and brushed his hand over her hair, Lila stirred awake, "Haruka?" Lila faintly called out.

"I"m taking you to a specialist." Haruka mumbled. He can"t let things continue this way.

Lila shook her head, "I"m okay."

Why does she insist she"s okay when she isn"t? Haruka noticed her gaze on him, and understood.

"Because of me?"

Lila said nothing but wrapped her arms around his neck and murmured something in his neck. It was faint but he heard it. He puts her down on the couch and hugged her tightly, "I love you. I will protect you Lila. Please believe in me."