Dream Star

"Look.."

"Wow, it"s him."

"Do you think he will sleep with me?"

Haruka ignores them all; he took ma.s.sive and long strides across the room and lifted her off her seat, by yanking her arm. Pain spread throughout her arm.

"Haruka? Wait?"

"Don"t talk," Haruka said, his tone menacing.

That"s not it; she would go with him, anyway. But, his grip on her arm hurts. Haruka, however, said no more and practically dragged her away.

She made him really mad this time didn"t she?

...
- Alleyway-

Haruka looked at her with a severe look in his eyes as he cornered her against the wall. Lila understood from how he reacted when he yanked her off her seat in the bar moments ago, that he was angry. Usually, Haruka would scold her on the car, and they would return to the apartment. But this time around he brought her to an ally and cornered her.

Before Lila could open her mouth, his lips are on hers in a matter of seconds. It was an abrupt and harsh kiss, nothing like the gentle ones he usually gave her. Such harshness and force, it almost hurt. This was a first for her, receiving such a kiss like this from Haruka. Lila knew that she must have made him very angry this time and didn"t resist. It hurt, but she simply went along with it. He is just frustrated with her for doing something stupid right?

After a few minutes Haruka backed away, the severe look had yet to leave his eyes. "Tell me, who are you dating now?"

"You."

"Seems like you do know. I understand I can"t erase Austin Kiryu from your heart. But don"t be so obvious about it. Couldn"t you have waited? At least don"t do this in front of me," Haruka said.

...Ah.

That"s right; she acted too abruptly. She could have just waited. She didn"t have to act on this matter right away.

Haruka"s lips brushed against hers, "I have my ways to make you mine and mine alone. But I don"t want to do that with you. I want to treasure you, and the feelings you have for me. I want to change; I don"t want to treat women like they are trash anymore."

Her eyes widened when she recalled Sophia"s words from the bar just now. So she was right. Of course, why would that woman lie? There was no need for her too.

"I"m sorry Haruka."

Haruka weakly smiled, "Mm, that"s good."

That"s it? He"s not angry anymore? No, he"s still mad.

"Haruka?"

"Tell me something, exactly what do you want to know? Why did you come here despite knowing the risks?"

"I want to learn...about you," Lila murmured. Though she reacted to Kiryu"s name, she would only use Kiryu as an opening topic. Lila knew that Sophia mainly wanted to speak about Haruka; otherwise, she wouldn"t have come here.

Haruka sighed, "You really are an idiot," before she could get any more words out lips were on hers again. Unlike the abrupt and harsh kiss from moments ago, this one was gentle.

"I"ll tell you, about my life here in London. I"m sure that"s what you want to know the most now?"

Lila could only nod, the kiss rendered speechless.

.....

"Sorry the room is a bit shabby, I haven"t gone here in a while. But before we arrived, I did ask somebody to clean it up," Haruka apologized.

Lila looked around; it was a small place. No air conditioning or heating, the floors, and walls looked worn down.

Haruka used to live here? Didn"t he live with the woman he slept with for a while?

"When I built up my career, I lived here for a bit. Though I had money, I wanted to save it up for a while. I knew the landlord here, and he gave me this place. Well, it"s not like the price was high anyway," Haruka explained as though he read her thoughts, "Or did you think I completely relied on women until I returned to j.a.pan?" He didn"t seem angry, but she knew she offended him.

Lila quickly apologized, "I"m sorry, that"s not it. It"s just," there is a lot she doesn"t know about him. But Lila couldn"t bring herself to say those words. She doesn"t want to admit that Sophia is right.

Haruka said nothing and removed his jacket, Lila noticed from his clothing that he must have left quickly the second he found the letter. Lila walked over; each step seemed like an eternity - because of the floorboards being old. Each step caused a creaking sound.

He pulled her into his arms and murmured against her hair, "I really don"t want to argue with you. Scolding you for your reckless behavior is another thing, but argue? I don"t want that. But you"re making this difficult for me Lila."

"I"m sorry Haruka, I really do just want to know more about you."

"Yeah, I get it. But use your head a bit more. Don"t you know what could have happened to you there? Your lucky Sophia actually has a degree of morals. She won"t let you get harmed. She probably had one of her people watching over you until you arrived at the bar safely."

Oh, now that she thought about it. When she couldn"t find the place and almost walked down a dangerous area. Somebody grabbed her arm and told her that she was heading the wrong way.

"I understand nothing about these places or this lifestyle," Lila murmured. Though she wasn"t sheltered and spoilt, she did live a solitary life. Many people s.h.i.+elded her from the dangers of the underground world. Though it was mainly Kiryu and his family doing that work alongside Uncle Atus.h.i.+, "But I know that you suffered a lot because of it. I want to learn more about you Haruka. When I read the note yes, I thought about Kiryu but only as a pa.s.sing. Haruka, I don"t want you to suffer anymore, so I thought if I learned exactly why you were suffering. I could help you."

"Like you said, this isn"t something you understand well. That"s why up till now I hesitate to disclose anything. But relations.h.i.+ps are built on communication and trust. And I haven"t communicated this properly. This will take a while do you mind?"

Lila shook her head; she wants to learn everything.

.....

The two of them remained on the couch, except she comfortably laid in his arms. Haruka seemed amused with her actions, "Here"s another thing I forgot to say. You make it hard for me to refrain myself from wanting to posses you."

"But this is comfortable," Lila pouted.

"I see," he gently caressed her hair and nodded. Haruka paused for a minute, and she knew he was carefully thinking of how to start. It didn"t take long before he spoke up.

"You see after the old man died I came to terms with the reality of my situation. Even though the old man left behind his property and everything under my name. I didn"t feel like it was right. He had a son and grandchildren. He often spoke about them, so once he pa.s.sed away, I contacted them and gave away the property. I took nothing with me other than a few clothes, CDS, a broken guitar case-" Haruka paused, "You look sleepy,"

Lila shook her head, "I"m okay, please continue," Besides, she really wants him to confide in her. She no longer wants any more secrets between them. Lila gently brushed her lips against his, "Please tell me the things you couldn"t before. No matter what happens, I will always stand by you."