Dream Star

Haruka caught the card and frowned, "Invites?"

"Both of you can go," Sophia said, "It"s on Sat.u.r.day, so you can"t tell me you have work. I know you keep your weekends open."

Lila peered over Haruka"s shoulder, "Um, a dance party?" she read out loud.

Haruka looked troubled but nodded.

"Alright."

.....

It was awkward on the way back up like earlier Haruka didn"t say a word as he held her hand and tugged her along the stairs. The whole time, however, Lila felt her heartbeat increase. Even though the atmosphere seemed tense, she knew Haruka very well. Once he starts something, he will see it through to the end. Halfway up the stairs, Haruka turned to her, Lila immediately looked down at her feet.

"Shower, do you want to take one?" Haruka murmured against her ear.

"Haruka too?"

A chuckle pa.s.sed his lips, "I don"t think that"s such a good idea."

Lila nodded, understanding the meaning behind his words.

It didn"t take them long before they reached the room. The apartment is tiny after all, rather it felt more like a hut than an apartment. Haruka lived this sort of life before. He belonged to a completely different world than she does. From the very start, she knew that, didn"t she?

That she and Haruka were vastly different from each other. While she lived an isolated lifestyle at first due to her family circ.u.mstances, when she met Kiryu that changed for her, after she met him, she was no longer alone. But what about Haruka? Haruka has been alone this whole time.

Haruka helped her "get changed" out of her clothes, while she was embarra.s.sed. Lila knew there was no use arguing with him. He seemed very upset about the whole matter with the police officers. While Lila understood why n.o.body would like to see their lover get potentially arrested for a crime, she didn"t commit.

Lila knew well her memories were stable today, so she knew she did nothing stupid. If it were in the past, Lila might have gone with them obediently, because she doesn"t trust her state of mind. It"s different now; she was perfectly calm.

His lips brushed against her ear, and Haruka lightly nibbled on her earlobe, "Don"t take too long; otherwise, I"ll join you in there," Haruka murmured. It was a silent warning. Haruka was trying to tell her that she couldn"t escape. It"s not like she intends to, anyway. Lila nodded and made her way inside the bathroom.

It was relatively small but had the necessary things. A shower, on the side and a bathtub. This place was a far cry from their apartment in H street. Though Lila didn"t care about appearance, she had to admit she has been surrounded by riches her whole life. "Haruka used to be in that position, the same position as that guy you are looking at with disgust." Sophia"s words flashed through her mind, and Lila paused as she thought about it.

He mentioned it before, about it being a matter of survival and all that. However, Lila never thought about it in detail till now, anyway. Haruka, he suffered a lot to get to where he is today. Haruka"s pain is an example of real hard work and effort. But how about her? In contrast to him, her pain is shallow.

...
Lila was only in the bath for a few minutes, when she suddenly started to see red. At first, she thought it was just her imagination, but after a few minutes, she confirmed it with her own eyes. She saw it, blood on the ground - no the water had turned into blood. Lila froze, she didn"t know why but the blood looked scary to her.

She tried to switch the water off but every time she did the trails of blood would shoot upwards and grab on to her arm. Lila"s eyes widened as fear crept on her face. It moves?

Wh—what- before she knew it, the pool of blood formed into the shape of weapons and seemed to grab on to her leg. It looked like it wanted to pull her away.

Lila screamed.
.....

"What"s wr-" Haruka paused and a.s.sessed the situation, he quickly made his way over, and picked her up in his arms, "It"s not your blood Lila, don"t worry."

"But, but...."

Just now everything was red; it"s all red. She"s dirty; she has to scrub it away. Lila stared at the spot where she saw the blood trail, patches of it remained but it didn"t look as bad as it did moments ago. Was she hallucinating? Haruka brought her over to the small bathtub, and Lila shook her head.

"Ssh, I"m here, don"t worry. I"ll help you finish cleaning."

"The water won"t turn to blood?" Lila asked.

Haruka nodded, "Yeah, don"t worry."

It was quite an ordeal after that getting her to into the bathtub, even with Haruka"s rea.s.suring words - after what happened in the shower Lila was cautious. It would be better if it were an illusion. However Lila knew it wasn"t, somebody did it deliberately.

....

Lila didn"t want to get dressed; she didn"t want Haruka to let her go even for a second. Usually, she would get embarra.s.sed being naked around him like this. But the fear was far stronger this time around. Haruka placed her down on the bed, "Wait a moment,"

Lila shook her head, "No, please."

"Lila, I"m just going to get you some clothes okay? You"ll catch a cold sleeping like this, and there"s no heating in this place."

But she has him; she doesn"t need any heating. Haruka must have read her mind since he nodded, and laid down beside her.

"If you get cold, I"ll let you use my s.h.i.+rt," Haruka paused and suddenly sat up, Lila watched as he removed his s.h.i.+rt and she buried her face in his bare frame, "If you did this normally, I"d be more pleased."

"Haruka, don"t leave me."

"I won"t leave you. Don"t worry about it okay?"

Even though he told her not to worry, Lila understood that this situation wasn"t normal. How did they find out? That she"s scared of blood? How come they knew? Lila never told anybody, and her weakness isn"t apparent on the battlefield. The more she thought about it, the more confused she got.

"Haruka, you can continue."

Haruka shook his head, "Don"t be an idiot," he scolded, "You"re not well right now. So let"s go to sleep."

But Lila could tell how frustrated he was. Is he okay with this?

"Should I touch you Haruka?"

"d.a.m.n," Haruka cursed, "Quit being so stupid. This is bad for me."

Bad? Is it because he"s trying to hold himself back? He doesn"t have to do something like that for? If he wants to touch her, he should. Usually, he would? Is it because of the kiss with Sophia just now? Lila knew it was stupid. Haruka didn"t think anything of the kiss at all. But for some reason, she can"t help but think that. What"s wrong with her? Perhaps Haruka sensed her unease since he brushed his hand against her cheeks.

"What do you want to do?"

"Um, um, continue?"

Haruka smiled, "Really?"

Does she want him too? Or does she only want to erase the images she saw and replace it with him? She"s afraid to close her eyes; she doesn"t want to see that b.l.o.o.d.y scene anymore. Lila buried her face in his arms; she wants to get close. So close that even if something were to happen, she would be safe in his arms, "Haruka, I"m scared," Lila murmured.

"I know, sorry. I should have been more careful. We will leave right in the morning. Don"t worry; I"ll call up the training center," Haruka said with a calm voice, "I will make sure you get some rest."

Lila recalled her exchange with Maika and frowned.

"I think you should attend the practice for a while.
Yumeko is having a hard time.
Because you were with her before, the voices of jealousy stopped, and they turned their attention to you. But now they returned to her. I know it"s cruel to do this but your much stronger than Yumeko."

Indeed, unlike Yumeko, she can remain calm and neutral whenever somebody bad mouths her. It"s more like she doesn"t register those people"s insignificant words in her head. Rather her head used to be filled with only music, Kiryu, Mother, and Ren-san so... She wonders if it"s the same now. Since she met Haruka again, he"s s.h.i.+elded her from these harsh rumors and petty jealousy.