Lila shook her head; she wanted to wrap her arms around him and kiss him. But it would mean removing her seat belt, "I want to kiss him when sitting on his lap," Lila thought. She supposed she could leave it for later. Instead of kissing him, Lila rested her head on his shoulders. All this talking made her voice feel sore, and she wanted to dwell on the things he just said to her. Haruka must have understood since he stopped speaking and gently ran his hand through her hair.So he wasn"t cheating, well it"s not like she actually thought he was. Lila trusted him on this matter after all. However, what concerned her was him spending so much time with another woman. What if his feelings changed? What if he suddenly stopped loving her? She wouldn"t know what to do if that were to happen.
"You know, I do love you a lot Lila."
Ehh? What is he saying all of a sudden?
"I know at times it looks like I"m indifferent. But that"s only because I don"t know what to do when it comes to you. I love you so much, but I don"t know how to show it, you"re so beautiful, so bright. The complete opposite to me," he murmured.
Lila squeezed his hands and spoke softly, "But, none of that matters to me."
"What does matter to you?"
"Just you being with me," Lila said, "Just being together every day."
"That sounds simple."
"It"s simple Haruka, just be with me every day and I can see how much you love me."
Haruka nodded, "Well, I think I ought to change my methods a bit."
Lila rolled her eyes, "There isn"t any need, people may say so otherwise. But I like your touch Haruka."
"Don"t you always tremble when I hold you?"
"That"s because you"re so sudden, and you never think about the location," Lila muttered.
"The location?"
"Yes."
Haruka paused to think, "You don"t like doing it in the bathroom?"
"At home, it"s okay. But not in public."
"Got it, we should just use your dressing room."
"Another thing," Lila interjected, "Please control yourself when we"re outside."
"You know that"s impossible," Haruka shook his head, "You"re always tempting me."
Tempting? How can she be tempting him? Sometimes all she does is call his name and then the next thing she knows he"s all over her. Lila sighed, forget it. At least on this issue, it seems like he will never understand. Lila moved away from him, "Hey, don"t be angry; I"ll do my best."
Lila glared at him, "Will you? We had this talk last time, and do you remember what happened afterward?"
"I know, I know. But can you really blame me when you"re this beautiful?"
"He"s trying to sweet talk her again," Lila thought. This time around, she won"t believe his words. It feels like she"s been holding back a lot of things, a lot of pent-up feelings, "That won"t work Haruka. Please be serious for a moment; otherwise, I"ll leave the car now, move back to my parent"s house."
Haruka looked alarmed at her suggestion, "Don"t be too hasty."
"I just want you to know; I have my limits to certain things. And the main reason I keep falling sick is you," it hurt to raise her voice, and Lila knew she was straining herself. However, she doesn"t want this to keep happening. The two of them going around and around in circles like this, "Haruka, I want to marry you."
"...Huh?"
"So, listen to me carefully, okay? I"m having this talk with you as your wife to be."
"...Wife,"
"Ah-huh, your wi-," her sentence fell short when she saw it — a tender expression on Haruka"s face. Despite the anger, she felt moments ago when she saw his smile. Lila leaned forward despite the seatbelt in her way, and held Haruka tightly, "Your wife, I"ll marry you Haruka when I turn eighteen. So, please will you hear me out properly?"
"You, you"ll really marry me?"
Hearing him sound so surprised embarra.s.sed her, "Didn"t we talk about this already? I was thinking; we could settle in London.."
"You..."
"Wait this is embarra.s.sing, you didn"t intend that when you asked me? Ah, do you want to stay in j.a.pan?" she was very embarra.s.sed now, and her cheeks were incredibly fl.u.s.tered. What was she doing making all these arrangements for? Without talking to him about it? She"s getting too excited by herself.
"I don"t mind where we go, I just want you to be my wife," Haruka murmured.
"Haruka."
"I get it; I"ll hold back, just stay with me. Don"t leave me," his voice was so quiet, so fragile. It almost sounded like he would break. Haruka, he, without her, this person would fall apart. The same would probably go for her too; without him, she wouldn"t be able to get to where she is now.
"I won"t leave you; I"m excited about our next date. When is it?"
Haruka smiled, "Anytime you want."
"Tomorrow?"
"Tonight."
Lila laughed, "Okay, tonight."
....
"And the car has to break down now of all times," Haruka deeply sighed. The two of them parted ways from the driver moments ago and were walking along the main street.
Lila, however, found the situation funny. She clung to his arm, "But it"s only a short walk away from here."
"You should rest your pretty voice; it sounds hoa.r.s.e now."
"Wah, if it"s hoa.r.s.e it doesn"t sound pretty."
Haruka chuckled, "Relax, it still sounds good to me."
"That"s all that matters," it true. Unlike the majority of her life where she had to work her way up from the very bottom, to prove herself to others. Lila didn"t care about that now, as long as Haruka accepted everything about her. Her thoughts broke off when she caught a glimpse of silver hair, ah, it"s Kiryu. He was leaving a tall building, with Kou and s.h.i.+chiro following after him. They must have had work together.
"So, I thought since we"re in this area now, we could...are you listening?" Haruka asked.
Kiryu, he looks like he"s lost a lot of weight. She noticed it when she first returned. But due to the events that happened afterward, Lila didn"t get a chance to follow up on that matter. Even though they spent that time together in the stables, and he rushed to her side when he heard about her being sick. She still never got the chance to inquire about his health.
Is he truly fine? She wants to ask...
Haruka followed her gaze and frowned, "You want to talk to him?"
"I just want to ask something."
"Alright, I"ll wait here," Haruka said.
Lila nodded, and she leaned forward and gently kissed his lips, "I"m coming back, so Haruka don"t run away."
Haruka laughed, "That"s my line, don"t run from me," though his tone was half joking. Lila sensed how serious he was. "Runaway, that"s stupid," Lila thought. It"s because of Haruka that she was able to get through her journey and make it back to this town. Because of him, she could hold her head up high and walk confidently.
Lila left Haruka and waited at the crossing when the light turned green; she crossed the road, Kiryu must have spotted her since he told the others to stop. After walking for a few minutes, she eventually arrived. Kiryu laughed and reached over and ruffled her hair, "You walked too quickly, your out of breath."
"Ah," now that he mentioned it, Lila did feel a bit out of breath.
"Kou, pa.s.s me my bag."
"Here," Kou said and removed it from his back.
s.h.i.+chiro sighed, "Hey, why do you still let other people carry your stuff for? Quit being lazy."
"I"m not, he volunteered," he reached over and unzipped it. He pulled out a bottle of water, some candy, and a towel. Kiryu poured the water slightly to dampen the cloth, and he wiped her cheeks with it, "Besides if Kou wasn"t carrying my bag around, he would get distracted and run off."
"Well, you make a point there."
Lila didn"t think he would just casually touch her like it was nothing. Then again, she did the same with him before they started dating.
"Kiryu, aren"t you rubbing too hard? Lilchan"s cheeks are red."
"Hm?"
Wh--wha!! Stupid Kou. Okay, so maybe she is blus.h.i.+ng a bit. But that"s because she got off guard, it"s not because she recalled how often he used to touch her and how warm his touch was or anything weird like that.
Kiryu turned to her, "What"s wrong? Are you sick?"
"I--I"m not," Lila replied, "Rather, that"s my question," she looked him up and down to confirm her suspicions. He hasn"t just lost weight; he looks a lot frailer than before.
"Should you be here? What about Karas.h.i.+ma?"
"..."
He"s trying to dodge the topic. Lila frowned, she brushed Kiryu"s hand away and touched his cheek, "You"re the sick one."
"Well," Kiryu started to avoid eye contact with her and Lila deeply sighed. What a troublesome person, why can"t he take care of himself properly? He isn"t a child.
"Give it up Kiryu; she"s always been sharp when it came to you," s.h.i.+chiro said.
"With that said, us third wheelers should leave."