With the phone call being so abrupt, Miu thought Aizawa would get jealous and leave the table. But, even after hearing the exchange between the two. The woman didn"t budge an inch. Miu looked the woman up and down as she conversed with Karas.h.i.+ma. "Why is she so confident?" Miu thought. It"s clear as day that Lila is superior to her in every way, and yet this woman still thinks she stood a chance. As somebody who has fallen in love several times, Miu was becoming quite an expert on these matters. That"s why she could tell. This woman has an unusual amount of confidence.At least Aizawa is confident that Karas.h.i.+ma would rush to her side if something terrible happened to her. Maybe she should have that talk with Karas.h.i.+ma too, the same one she had with Kiryu. There is a limit to the kindness one should show another person after all. At first, Miu wanted to wait until Aizawa Mei left, but once she saw how the girl kept on using her "innocence" to her advantage, it disgusted her.
"You know, I used to be against Lila and Kiryu"s relations.h.i.+p before," Miu started.
"You were?"
Miu laughed, "I was. I mean, back then Kiryu was exactly like you. He had other girls. Though your reasoning may have differed from each other, both of you were trying to fill the void of not having Lila. When I first met you, I thought you were quite similar to him. Otherwise, why would Lila be interested?" That"s right, at the beginning Miu believed that was the only reason why Lila could be interested in a man like Karas.h.i.+ma Haruka, "But, as time went by that slowly changed. When you came here last year, I saw that Lila"s feelings were changing. And then I understood why."
"Why?"
"Deep down, Lila was still afraid. Afraid of those other girls that Kiryu saw before they went out with each other," Miu paused, "You heard of how they started to date right?"
"Yeah, it was something…"
"It was abnormal," she interjected, "Getting together in that manner, I felt was far too abrupt. I knew they both loved each other deeply. But Kiryu had other women. The person who will get together with Lila should be somebody who loves and treasures only her. It may seem like a selfish requirement, but after everything Lila went through, I wanted her to find somebody who would treasure her in that manner. When Ichinose-San showed up again, Kiryu got jealous and started to call up Miyazawa and the other girls. Even though he hadn"t seen them in a while."
Before she left to go abroad for two months, at the end of middle school, Miu left with confidence knowing full well that Lila would be fine with Kiryu. Kiryu had stopped seeing those other women for a while, so Miu felt like he was finally turning over a new leaf. That"s why she snapped when she found out that he was up to it again.
"I wanted Kiryu, to treasure Lila alone and I"m sure I wasn"t the only one who had such thoughts. I thought Kiryu was attached to those girls, but he wasn"t. When the time came where he was serious about confessing, he broke everything off and didn"t waste any words. Those girls while they didn"t like how things ended, didn"t think to bother Kiryu again. Because all of them understood,
"What are you trying to say?"
Miu weakly smiled, "There is a limit to how much kindness you should show another person that isn"t your girlfriend, especially when they are of the opposite gender. In your case especially, since you intend to marry Lila," that"s right. If Karas.h.i.+ma is truly serious about Lila then, "You should break it all off. I can tell that you"re not attached to those other girls at all."
"There"s nothing between them and me."
She shook her head, "But, they have other ideas, don"t they? Don"t you see, the longer you stay in contact with them, the more they won"t take your relations.h.i.+p with Lila seriously."
The man stayed quiet for a bite but spoke up, "Is this why she is uneasy?"
Ah, "So he is a good person," Miu thought. If he said he would deal with it, then Miu would join the others with going against Karas.h.i.+ma. But the fact that he asked shows that he is considering Lila"s feelings. How many times did she have this talk with Kiryu in the past? Far, far too many. It"s like she is reciting things of a script. In this case, though, she will add lib and make it different because Karas.h.i.+ma and Kiryu are different people.
...
It was nearing the time for her concert, but Miu wasn"t going to leave until Karas.h.i.+ma had gone too.
After that phone call, the last thing any of them expected was for Teras.h.i.+ma Lila herself to appear in the club in person. But sure enough here she was, "Haruka!!" black hair wearing a white off-shoulder dress, with black tights. A poncho over her. These days it was getting chilly, so Miu wasn"t surprised to see this full-blown winter gear.
Karas.h.i.+ma looked at the girl surprised but simply pulled the cheerful Lila into his arms, "Guess I won"t be picking you up."
"Ah-huh! Let"s go together."
Haruka was about to nod, but suddenly his gaze turned dark, "Austin Kiryu?"
"Kiryu left already," Lila explained, "So, can you not make that face? I came flying here to see you."
"Right, I understand."
Miu looked around and saw that Kiryu had just left. Of course, he wouldn"t leave until Lila is safely escorted inside. It must be painful for him too. However, unlike most ex-boyfriends, Kiryu is handling this situation quite well even though he is clearly in pain.
When Lila sat down on the table and spotted Aizawa Mei, the girl clung to Karas.h.i.+ma more. Miu immediately recognized this action from her friend. Her sweat fell, while Teras.h.i.+ma Lila was not spoilt by the riches of her family - Lila was spoilt by Kiryu. Whenever she acts like this, that spoilt nature from before emerges and Lila ends up saying selfish things. Then again, it only seems to appear during situations like this. Lila perched herself on Karas.h.i.+ma"s lap when he returned to the table.
"Say, say Haruka! I don"t drink."
Haruka laughed, "I know that, but this is a bar. I"ll make sure you drink something light."
"Okay!"
Miu carefully observed the two while keeping an eye out on Aizawa Mei. Unlike earlier, she seemed slightly nervous and kept looking away. She hasn"t even greeted Lila either. "So much for being a fan," Miu thought. No, this would be a normal fan reaction, right? Not knowing how to greet the person they admire. Yet, why does it feel like Aizawa Mei is looking away due to feeling guilty? What does she have to feel guilty about? Miu doubts that Aizawa feels terrible about falling in love with Karas.h.i.+ma. From her words and actions alone, it is clear that the girl does not intend to give up.
"Haruka, what"s wrong?"
"Just taking a whiff," Haruka muttered as he buried his face in Lila"s chest, "You fainted, I"m sorry."
"I"m okay," Lila"s gaze was soft as her friend caressed Haruka"s hair, "I"m looking forward to later, it"s a date right?"
"Yeah."
Miu stood up and left the table for a bit so that she could get a refill on her drink. She made her way over to the bar counter; her gaze flickered back onto Lila and Karas.h.i.+ma Haruka. So, those two clearly love each other a lot. Karas.h.i.+ma treasures Lila dearly. All he has to do is follow her advice, and then she can rest a.s.sured. Miu shook her head and sighed, "it probably isn"t that simple," Miu thought.
After observing Karas.h.i.+ma Haruka, Miu could conclude that while the man loved Lila, there is a deep pain hidden in his eyes. Will that anxiety lead to the two breaking up? Whatever Karas.h.i.+ma is hiding, if he doesn"t confide in anyone soon, then she can foresee the collapse happening.