Rosalichan, she really thinks that soiling Kiryu"s reputation will make him change his mind. It made her sick. Lila could tell that the girl genuinely had feelings for him. She"s always said that she can"t stop others from liking Kiryu, even when they were dating. It"s the same even now. People are free to like who they want; you can"t stop somebody from liking another person. People fall in love with the most unexpected person; it suddenly hits them one day. Rosalichan genuinely liked Kiryu. But doing this is wrong, she can"t allow her to get away with this."What do you want to do?"
"Ah," Lila looked into his eyes. It appeared as though Haruka was conflicted. "Did you…"
"Back then, she showed me the video."
Haruka didn"t have to clarify when then was. So it was during that time. A deep sigh pa.s.sed her lips. If she knew sooner, she would have returned home. It"s only natural that Haruka told her.
"I"ll go back after the third round is over."
The third round and second round dates are closer together, because of the swap. Everybody is already prepared for the group round. The only difference is they will kick some people out after this round.
Haruka looked down uncomfortable.
She smiled and walked over as she buried her face in his arms, "If you come with me."
"Huh?"
Lila laughed, "What did you think I would say?"
Haruka looked at her dumbfounded, "Why would you bring me with you?"
"Um, we need to hold another press conference. You only announced your dating Kiku Ari and not me," Lila noticed his confusion grow, "Haruka?"
He suddenly slumped on the ground, causing her to go down too. She crouched down as she looked at him burying his face in his arms. Uh?
"Haruka?"
"You really are crazy you know that? If you go there to clarify the scandal. People will think you"re returning to him."
"Ah??!! But that"s not it. I want to clarify things."
Haruka sighed, "I wonder what goes on in that head of yours."
"Um, music, and Haruka."
He flicked her forehead, "Don"t give me an actual answer."
Lila kept staring at him unsure. Did she say something wrong?
"I"ll go with you. But you have to be ready for a lot of backlash. Everybody thinks you left Austin Kiryu for your own selfish purposes. If they find out you"re not dating anymore and going out with me."
Her gaze softened at his words. Haruka is very kind.
"It"s okay. I understand those points. But it"s my hometown. All reporters are the same and fans. Once they hear something, they"ll twist those rumors until it became very toxic and unrecognizable from the truth. But you see Haruka, I believe after a certain period. People form connections with each other. A school, a town. No matter how disconnected they are from the start and even if there"s barely any interactions between everyone. You start to recognize familiar traits as being part of your daily life. Seeing the same group of people hanging out by the gate, the group of workers you pa.s.s by on the way to work."
That"s right, even if things have changed. Some traits will remain the same. That"s why Lila knew if it"s the reporters and people in her hometown they won"t act as shallow and shameless.
"I guess you could say I have faith in humanity. No matter how twisted and cruel things get."
In the past, a part of her held a bit of resentment for those people. The reporters who drove her Mother to a corner. Especially the ones who attacked her at home and caused that accident that lead to Mother
But the pa.s.sage of time, things and people change. The Star Town she grew up and lived in is no longer like that. Reporters are reporters; they"ll do their job when they receive such evidence. Seldom few investigate it properly since they need a scoop to feed their wallets. Everybody is just doing their best to survive.
"So stupid," Haruka mumbled, and she laughed. But Haruka suddenly hugged her again; his lips trailed on her hair.
"I will go with you. And if things don"t go to plan, I"ll have an excuse to take you away forever."
Lila laughed, as she wrapped her arms around him. "I understand Haruka; I"ll let you."
Both of them know that she can only say this because the chances of failure are slim. Just like that time, she will convey these deep feelings in her heart.
"Can I kiss you? Let me kiss you."
"En."
...…
"The next entrance is the girl with the voice like an angel. Miss Kiku Ari."
The crowd cheers and Lila bowed politely.
In literature, morals are concealed and told in the forms of stories. Many people knew nothing about this though. Many saw the those myths and legends as a mere fantasy to please children. But the reality? These tales act as a warning, disguised like a mask those tales contain the hidden danger that children will face in the future. These tales warn them of the threat and help them find a way to overcome it.
What they didn"t include was a guide on how to recover mentally after dealing with the darkness of the world. Lila never forgot to remind herself that those stories are told to children to teach them life lessons. Each story was different, yet they always started the same and end the same way.
As she grew older, Lila came to realize that the term happily ever after only existed in stories. But she supposed the term " Happily ever after" was vague in the first place. It"s not something that anyone can comprehend or explain properly; it"s not something with a concrete definition.
Most people saw it as something that only exists in stories, something that is make-believe, a mere myth, and a legend. Truthfully she already saw that being the case. However, it isn"t completely impossible; she equally saw many occasions that could be on the same level as " Happily ever after."
Each story started off the same way, with a set of rules and restrictions — a set of guidelines. But if someone were to break those guidelines, then the balance people built up this whole time would break, wouldn"t it? That"s the thing when something that goes outside the norm appears. People chose to ignore it. It was the same for her Mother with her angelic voice; people dismissed it for the longest time. They couldn"t accept that there"s somebody in the world with such a voice.
Now in the present? In the present day, people can"t accept the reality of anybody defeating her Mother. It"s funny, even though they spent so long criticizing her heavily in the past. In the years she disappeared despite the criticism, people viewed her as a legend. The way she is in now, she can"t defeat her Mother nor have the same level of happiness Mother has when it comes to love. But she has found something that"s equally on the same level as happily ever after.