Dream Star

But not only did Lila forget him completely, but she also fell in love with another guy.

When he saw her tears, Haruka reached over and cupped her cheeks, "Don"t cry about it. It"s all in the past."

"Uwaahhh, but, but. I"m sorry, Haruka."

"If you feel so bad, just make it up to me."

Lila blushed, "Um, now?"

"Yeah."

"I thought...it would wait till we get home."

"No can do, sit on my lap," Haruka instructed.

Lila murmurs something about him being a h.o.r.n.y idiot before she sat down on his lap. The tattoo artist continued with his arm and Haruka buried his face in the crook of her neck. She smells good. Honestly, her offer about sucking her dry is a bit tempting for him. While she won"t die from losing too much blood, it will exhaust her.

"Haruka quit licking me."

"Sorry babe," he murmured, "Your tempting me."

"You always say that, but I"m not even doing anything."

Haruka laughed; that"s true. All she has to do is stand still, and he would still say she"s tempting him. She"s very beautiful, after all.

.....

They meet Misaki at exactly 7 PM, the girl walked in moments after them and took a seat. She wore a golden dress with a flower on the right-hand side.

"I"ll get straight to the point Lila."

"Okay?"

"Transfer agencies."

Haruka looked at Misaki dumbfounded. Hey, hey, this isn"t what she promised.

"To yours?"

His eyes widened in alarm.

Misaki smiled, "You heard about it?"

"En."

What are they talking about? They aren"t talking about that company, are they? Misaki seeing him confused deeply sighed, "I realize you"re far too busy lately. But you didn"t hear about me leaving the company?"

"You left the.."

"I told you it isn"t impossible. You just have to get very famous to the point that they can"t touch you anymore. I already sent my legal team to them, and they signed the doc.u.ments right away," Misaki took a sip of the wine the waiter just poured for her, "There is a problem though."

"The confidential information, you"ve learned too many of their secrets," Haruka nodded.

"Right," Misaki drawled, "That is an issue for them. They are probably waiting for a chance to get to me. And while I can most likely handle it myself, they"ll drag innocent people into it."

"So, what are you proposing? Use Lila as bait?"

"Exactly."

Haruka"s eyes twitched in annoyance, "Misaki, you.."

Lila laughter interrupted them, "Um, can I say something?"

"What is it?"

"Misaki-san, in other words, you want the protection of my family?"

"If it"s possible yes," Misaki nodded, "It"s also in your best interest to join a company with more talented people. I extended the offer to Kiryu too, so think about it."

The same company? There"s no way he will allow that to happen.

"If it"s protection, I"ll ask for you. Misaki-san, hasn"t done anything too bad, right?"

"Correct, I was mainly behind the scenes. But I"m equally to blame about the drug distribution," Misaki apologized, "For that, I"m willing to give out any information."

"Then, I"ll ask the Austin family for you," Lila nodded.

The Austin family..

Family huh?

Right, that"s the one thing he doesn"t have that will be disadvantageous in his relations.h.i.+p with Lila. He doesn"t have a family. Lila has, and even her ex-boyfriends family still treat her like their daughter in law. His thoughts broke off when Lila squeezed his hand, and he blinked. What is she doing?

Lila sends him a rea.s.suring smile.

"Even if you don"t I"d vouch for you, as for the company offer I"ll have to decline. You see there"s a good reason why I"m not part of Star agency. The same company as Kiryu, I did think about it before. But my heart lies in High seeds records."

High seed records, Ichinose Oujiro, huh?

Honestly, Haruka never thought of that person as a threat. But considering how Austin Kiryu kept mentioning it, does he have to worry?

"That"s also on your list of things to fix, huh? As Devil"s singing Cinderella. You should go back, you"ve patched things up with the G.o.ddess4 correct?"

Lila"s gaze softened, "That"s true, while I have to decline your offer Misaki-san. I"ll pay a visit."

Misaki sighed, "If you do, bring a handsome guy with you. We need more men."

Lila laughed, "Should I recommend someone?"

Hey wait, Haruka"s eyes twitched in annoyance, "What handsome men?" he asked. He"s pretty sure Lila doesn"t know any handsome guys who don"t belong to an agency right now. Haruka wrapped his arms around his wife protectively; he doesn"t want her going around with handsome guys. Who knows what they will try to do with her?

Laughter pa.s.sed Lila"s lips, "Um, your overreacting like usual Haruka."

"I"m not," but he seriously does get worked up whenever people bring up other men who are close with her. Let alone her bringing it up. Maybe he"s just acting childish. Still, his gaze fell on the woman in his arms. He doesn"t want to let her go.

"I"m saying this for your sake too," Misaki murmured, "A talent like yours can"t be wasted by staying in a company with mediocre people. High seeds records are outstanding, and even now it"s one of the best entertainment companies out there. But what you need is the best of the best, not the good. You can"t settle for what you have now."

Even though Misaki said those words to Lila, it felt like she was saying it to him.

...

October 20th, 2035 (Monday) Recording Studio

A raw talent, huh? Indeed, Lila"s singing doesn"t require any particular skill, and yet she can sing those high notes so easily. When she is singing DEVIL songs, you can really hear how capable she is since those songs have loads of high notes. In contrast to when she is singing more idol, cute songs. Either way, Misaki is right. Lila has a talent that n.o.body can match. When he met her again as Kiku Ari, he gave her the very same advice he did last year.

Even then, Lila"s growth afterward impressed him. Still, "she"s holding something back," Haruka thought. It"s not as evident as before, but it"s certainly there isn"t it?

"No matter what happens

I will stand by your side for a thousand years

A love like this is eternity," Lila sang.

"Her singings gotten better."

"Right?"

"But.."

There"s more to it than her holding back her ability. Unlike before she isn"t deliberately hiding things. Something is preventing Lila from singing to the best of her talents.

Haruka turned to the man in charge, "What"s wrong?"

"I wonder if it"s just me. But I think she"s straining her voice too much. I did hear that she had some problems lately, but I thought things were fine so I went ahead with the recording."

Is it straining her voice, huh? It can"t be because he"s having too much s.e.x with her, right? Haruka shook his head, "can"t be that." But maybe it is?

"Tell her to stop now."

The others immediately followed his instructions and Lila exited the booth with a confused look on her face.

"Haruka? I"m stopping early?" Lila said puzzled.

Haruka wrapped his arms around her, "That"s because I want you for myself."

Lila hits him, "Don"t stop my work over something like that."

"And also," he murmurs in her ear, and Lila"s cheeks colored, "Do you get it?"

"Okay, I understand."

Still, his gaze fell on his girlfriend, who was clinging to his arm happily. "Are you tired? Do you need to rest?"

"I"m okay, Haruka."

Okay she says, that"s a lie. Well, when they are at home, he can ask her about it, right?

"Say Haruka; I need some advice. What do you think of my singing now?"

So she was thinking about Misaki"s words, he supposes that"s only natural.

"Your singing, there"s nothing wrong. Skill-wise it"s perfect; your technique is flawless for someone your age."

He really was surprised when he first heard her sing. To think a voice that powerful and filled with emotion could belong to such a fragile-looking girl. When Haruka heard her name and confirmed who she was. He was in even more disbelief — the second daughter of the Teras.h.i.+ma family, the one with the poor health. For her to be able to sing like that despite her sickly body, there"s definitely something special about her.

"Ahuh, Acchan -- Yos.h.i.+kawa Agehsan has said that too."

"Then," then she doesn"t have to ask him, does she?

"But as an idol, being this talented at everything means I don"t have much room to grow correct?

"That"s true. Do you feel like you"ve hit a dead-end?"

Lila nodded, "Something of the sort. I just feel as though I"m going with the flow with everything now. Although, I"m working hard on my goal too. It feels of somewhat. On the mountain training camp, I revealed a bit of the ability I had been hiding this entire time. Though I was slowly doing so, anyway, it strained me in more ways than one. Perhaps because I"ve been suppressing it the entire time, to suddenly reveal it...is somewhat uncomfortable still."

Since she"s figured that much ought, he might as well tell her what he"s been thinking this entire time.

"I see. If you"ve watched the previous tournament, I"m sure you"ve heard this already. But I will repeat it for your sake. By showing false emotions to flatter the judges, the audience, will this lead to people liking you? Will you like that begger like idol? If your performances up until now are always changing based on different circ.u.mstances, then there"s something wrong. You have to put your soul into it," Haruka trailed off, "In contrast to the person I said those words to. Your different Lila."

"I"m different?" she repeated.

Haruka nodded, "You understand what your goals are and what sort of idol you become. But holding yourself back is similar to showing false emotions. You"re not showing your true self to people."

Her cold image and the cheerful her, Haruka knew these sides of her very well. But when she"s on-screen. He"s always felt as though she was deliberately suppressing something.

"My true self...huh.."

He wasn"t too harsh there was he? She wanted advice.

"In other words, I just have to show my real ability?"

Haruka stopped walking and pushed Lila against the wall, "What"s with these questions? Are you hiding something from me again?" He could just be overthinking things. But whenever Lila gets this way, he becomes very worried about her.

"I"m not trying to hide anything; I just want to understand."