Dream Star

"..."

"It"s about Karas.h.i.+ma," Kasumi raised her voice slightly and found that Lila was looking at her, "You see..."

...

Lila didn"t react how she expected her to. Or maybe it was just her who thought something dramatic would come out of this?

"Un, I knew."

Huh? Wait. What?!! But, but if Lila knew how come she"s dating him? Unless she found out after she started dating him. Kasumi looked at the girl hopefully.

Lila laughed, "I mean, I was investigating him with Soichiro before. I"ve already seen his files, I knew, of course. How dangerous he was and all that."

Oh...

So, even though Lila knew, it makes no difference?

Kasumi clenched her fist, "He"s very dangerous, don"t you fear for your safety."

"It"s more like I understand. The person Haruka is today would never do something like that."

"But," Kasumi protested, "His hanyou side, you"ve never seen it right?" How can Lila say so for sure without seeing his hanyou side?

"It"s not like I haven"t seen it. Living together for so long, once in a while, he acts up. Of course, he always tries to hide away from me. But I always find him whenever that happens; sure there have been occasions where I see him lose control, I won"t deny that. But, even then," Lila briefly closed her eyes, "Even then he"s so gentle and kind. Haruka, he won"t harm anybody like he did before now. He"s truly changed."

Kasumi could only stand there dumbfounded. Of course, Lila knew, of course. Soichiro would have warned her beforehand, that man won"t allow her to do such a dangerous job without confirming her safety. That much should be obvious, but for some reason, Kasumi thought Lila would be more reasonable. Who dates a man with such a past? Only Lila, does she care for Karas.h.i.+ma that much?

Lila continued, "For me all humans are equal. Everybody living in this world is similar to each other — no matter what status they have in society, no matter what dark past they have. Everybody is equal to each other. Haruka is, he"s just like everybody else. He"s trying to move forward after experiencing something painful.

Before Kasumi could say anymore, a pair of strong arms wrapped around her friend. It was Karas.h.i.+ma Haruka, judging from his appearance, he clearly ran here.

"What"s the matter, Haruka?"

"You didn"t leave," Karas.h.i.+ma Haruka muttered.

"Ah-huh, I didn"t. I promised," Lila whispered. She turned around and gently caressed Karas.h.i.+ma"s cheek, "Are you okay? Haruka?"

"Yeah, I missed you."

"En."

Such a gentle and heartwarming scene, her gaze softened, these two genuinely like each other. No matter how much she refuses and protests. She can"t deny that they are actually a good match? But, Kasumi"s gaze flickered onto Kiryu. The man wore a neutral expression, yet she saw his clenched fist.

...

A few minutes later

While the guys worked out and finalized the details of the plan, she and Lila sat aside. It"s not like they were leaving them out; it"s more like the role they play will be different.

"You know, aren"t you worried about Kiryu acting up again?" Kasumi didn"t want to be biased anymore, but it was challenging for her to do so.

" .....He said he wouldn"t, and I believe in him. .. " Lila trails of and laughs softly, " Well such words would sound naive at this point. I knew it for the longest time and didn"t say anything. The reason being? I couldn"t say for sure that my feelings for Kiryu were love. That"s why if there was somebody else he cared about more than me, I would hand him over," she looked over at Kiryu, "If the was someone else Kiryu was willing to spend more time with. Someone who he would go to with a single call and message. I figured that I would have no choice but to hand him over to that person."

A deep sigh escapes Kasumi"s lips. " I figured that you"ve been thinking something complicated this entire, but really, I"m glad you didn"t do that. It would have hurt Kiryu more. "

"Kasumi, you knew about Kiryu"s feelings for me?"

Kasumi nodded, " It was obvious. Even the other girls he met with would always say, " His attention is elsewhere" " he"s not really thinking of me " " Aren"t we just subst.i.tutes for Teras.h.i.+ma Lila?" I"d hear all sorts of complaints like that and the majority stopped seeing him. Those who did still go to him either hoped that they could change his mind or were merely satisfied with the situation."

"I see..... Rosalisenpai must have belonged to the second category but after he stopped seeing her, realized how important he was and became part of the first."

Kasumi had to admit this news surprised her. She was under the impression that Lila knew nothing about the Miyazawa Rosalia situation before. "I"m surprised you know that much," Kasumi commented.

More laughter pa.s.sed Lila"s lips, "You have to give me at least that much credit. "

"I suppose I ought to. . But , speaking with you like this. It"s been a while, huh?"

Lila nodded, and that"s when she saw her friend"s gaze on her arm. She still wore it, the friends.h.i.+p bracelets Lila made.

"So you kept them with you," Lila beamed.

"Right, that"s why that time when we were apart I wasn"t lonely. It was only for a few months, but I learned a lot. "

"Yup yup, you powered up when you came back.!

"That"s right. But weren"t you the same? The Lila then was s.h.i.+ning very brightly. Of course not as bright as you are now. But watching your stage on the G.o.ddess4 selection stage then made me think, " This is the start of a new story. " "

Lila"s gaze softened, " Un, I was thinking the same. After the stage ended, I spoke with k.u.mi-senpai. That talk even now is still imprinted in my mind — k.u.mi-Senpai, who is my sister"s biggest rival. When I defeated her in the selection, I was surprised... I panicked and thought if it was really okay. But then k.u.mi-senpai embraced me and said, " I"ll leave Kyoko-chan up to you," those words gave me the strength. I want to be of use to my sister; I want to help her. But more than that, I want to sing alongside her."

Lila, she really hasn"t changed. Okay, so she has changed in terms of appearance, and there"s something different about her now, "You"ve become more mature," Kasumi muttered. Lila"s values regarding things are still the same; her kindness towards other people, and maybe her love for Kiryu? While she did just see her friend and Karas.h.i.+ma interact, she also saw how Lila was with Kiryu too.

Her thoughts broke off when she saw Lila"s sparkly eyes, "A compliment from Kasumi!!"

Kasumi sighed, "Don"t get big-headed about it. You"re still clumsy and careless."

Lila laughed, "Un, I won"t."

But, Kasumi really is relieved. Things were very awkward after she asked that question in the garden the other day. No, her marching up to Lila"s apartment and demanding answers like that was rude too. Kasumi wanted to apologize for it, but she understood after hearing Lila speak. Lila doesn"t blame her at all, nor does Lila want an apology from her.

"So? Why do you keep looking at him?"

"Because Haruka is really handsome, why is he with me?"

Oh, Lila dear, why wouldn"t anybody date Lila? Her friend is not too small, but not too tall either. Her height is perfect; she has lovely black hair and looks like a doll with her porcelain skin. She"s kind, talented and has a good singing voice. Why wouldn"t anybody date Lila? She"s the perfect girl.

"Kasumi?"

"Well, I"m surprised you don"t notice it yourself," she muttered. which only made Lila more confused. Why is her friend so oblivious when it comes to these things?

"Quit staring, your distracting me."

"But Haruka, I want to stare!"

Karas.h.i.+ma walked over and picked the girl up, he nuzzles his face into Lila"s neck. "You can do more than staring dearest, but that can surely wait until we get home."

Lila turned red, "What if I want to do something now?"

"I"ll take you away for a bit outside."

"Take me away?"

Karas.h.i.+ma turned to her as though to ask her permission and Kasumi nodded, as he whisked Lila away. Not before she saw Kiryu"s expression, though. Ahhhh, this is giving her a headache. Why isn"t there a simple solution to all of this? What simple solution, there is only one Lila. Lila can only date one guy; somebody will end up hurt - whether it"s Kiryu or Karas.h.i.+ma.

They can"t avoid the scenario of the hurt individual. Kasumi deeply sighed. Maybe she ought to stop getting herself involved in this? But whenever she thought of Lila handling this alone, it gave her an even bigger headache. Seems like she will have to watch over things for now.

-----

Lila gazed at Haruka"s back, she thought they would kiss outside in the corridor, but instead, he was taking her someplace further. Haruka is very considerate about Kiryu; she ought to ask him what their relations.h.i.+p is with each other. Still, her gaze softened at their inter winded hands. In the past, he wouldn"t hold hands with her and grab her wrist. Things really have changed, huh?

Mother, her strength and the reason why she"s able to glow so brightly she understands what it is now. Feelings of love, happiness, and all sorts of bright as well as dark emotions. The bonds and ties she has with other people. That"s right; her light is -- due to all the people surrounding her.

Even when she"s standing on stage alone, Lila can see it. The deep feelings and emotions people have towards her. They are all supporting her, counting on her and the most important emotion in terms of relations.h.i.+ps of any kind is trust. They may not all completely agree with her beliefs, but they trust her. Trust.. that she knows what she"s doing.

She took so many reckless actions to get to where she is now, and yet people supported her. Lila can feel it, their deep emotions. With so many people entrusting the fate of the idol world to her, she won"t back down anymore. It"s still quite scary Mother and Ren-san. After all, she"s seen first hand the ugly side of the entertainment industry, what it did to Mother, Ren-san and Father. The three had to suffer such injustice from the general public due to what the media portrayed about them.

Even now, Lila could remember it, how her mother smiled through everything and remained calm when interviewed. But once those people left, she would break down. Ren-san telling her that it would be fine, " When your papa returns, she will smile. "

Indeed, for a while, it really seemed that way. Even after that incidence, Mother smiled a lot. But that was only when Father was around. Whenever it was just the two of them, her mother would look at her with such sad eyes. Despite being so young, she understood the reason. It"s because she reminds her of Ren-san.

Before Mother looked at her with sad eyes, but that was because of her resembling father - the eyes Mother looked at her when Ren-san was no longer around held a more profound sadness than the one from before. Despite it all, her mother"s love was the only thing she could be sure of when she was younger.

It was pure and gentle, something beautiful despite the sadness and pain she was going through. She could still show her that much love, and that"s why when she lost it completely, something inside her became hollow and empty. That something that formed when she realized that Ren-san wasn"t her father and that her birth father had disappeared and left Mother for so long. That something finally snapped, and any remaining pieces disappeared.