Dream Star

And why is it, that this person is still able to act normally despite what happened? It takes her a few moments to understand what he"s saying. Because of her. Oh, right. Loads of people have said that to her. To Takahiro-kun, is she also his hope? He"s also like the others. She doesn"t want to disappoint any more people. So, stop. Don"t tell her any of this. She doesn"t want to hear it.

"...why aren"t you saying anything?" she asked.

Takahiro sighed deeply, "Because...I can more or less guess what happened, uh...from your appearance. You don"t have to mind it; he"s always like that with girls. He"s never treated them specially. It"s been especially bad...since you came."

Since she came. Lila repeated these words in her mind over and over.

How come, she didn"t realize it then?

"...why? Why does he..."

She struggled to get the words out of her mouth. Right at this moment, she was currently... in such an awful state, that any words that left her lips sounded like she was about to burst into tears. She really is a crybaby; she"s a weakling. All she can do is cry.

"Ari-chan. It was like that, or at least I thought that was the reason why he"s in such a state now. But I did a bit of research and it seems like his folks have been giving him a hard time."

His parents -? Ren-san and...

"At first I heard he tried to settle everything normally and just obey their wishes. However, there was a sudden argument about him leaving his current work to join a different business. Even before then I suppose there was a lot of built up stress and feelings..."

"....I see."

She didn"t know. She didn"t know anything.

Takahiro must have figured that she wouldn"t say anything else, before other people. Since she watched as he leaned forward over the bar. "Do you have a bathroom or anything?" he asked the owner.

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The owner nodded and pointed to the back, he asked if there was anything he could to help.

Takahiro shook his head. "No, we"re okay. I"m just going to… see if I can get her dried off a little."

The man nodded in understanding. "I"ll get you a little towel."

"Thanks," Takahiro said.

The owner fetched him a towel, and Takahiro wrapped his arm around the girl"s shoulders and brought her to the back of the shop. It was a small bathroom, but clean. He led them inside and closed the door; as he wrapped the towel around her hair and slowly started to dry her hair. The girl remained still, almost frozen. It broke his heart to see her this way. What can he say? He"s never been good at comforting people.

"...Gee...what"s with that face of yours Lilchan? Aren"t idols supposed to be smiling? Right now you look like a wreck...ah...I bet you haven"t been taking care of yourself either. Your arms are too skinny...so I"m guessing all you"ve been doing is eating convenience store food. Even though you made those lunches for us before..." he lectured her.

But he knew he was rambling, he was trying to avoid it. Trying to talk about it in a roundabout way.

" Takahiro-kun...why are you kind to me?"Lila suddenly asked.

Takahiro momentarily averted his gaze from her, before saying."What are you talking about? I"ve always been kind to you."

It"s true that had always been the case before.

Because the two of them were similar and didn"t wish to get involved with people. They were always put together as a result. Since they both held the same views, most of their conversations were silent. There was a silent understanding before that no words needed to be exchanged. She"s the only person who knows about it, him he doesn"t show anyone.

What she probably needed the most is, Takahiro made his mind up and gently pulled the girl into his arms, "It"s alright."

Just two words.

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Ah...

That"s right, this is what he would do. He would gently pull her close like this. That person, her Kiryu would hold her close like this and say those exact same words. Takahiro-kun isn"t Kiryu, but she feels very rea.s.sured having him by her side.

She clung to him, no longer able to control it as tears fell rapidly. How long had she been apart from her Kiryu? She felt as if it had been an eternity and she just couldn"t hold herself together anymore. She was too weak, too exhausted. She needed somebody, to be there for her like this...the reason why she hasn"t been able to s.h.i.+ne. It was because that person wasn"t around.

Takahiro continued to hold her tightly in his arms, cradling her gently in his arms. He spoke no more words but instead gently held her, until she finally stopped crying. Lila, she pushed back from him, wiping her eye, two words softly escaped her lips, "...Thank you." she murmured.

"You"re welcome."

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It wasn"t wise to stay in the ramen shop longer, normally it would be fine. But there was the two of them. Even if it is a casual setting, it"s easy for anyone to misunderstand. That"s why he brought her over to his place. But, his gaze dropped recalling his father"s disapproved expression, don"t give him that look old man. It"s not what your thinking at all. That"s right, there"s no way. Because this girl clearly belongs to someone else. She"s Austin Kiryu"s. Someone who knows her real ident.i.ty would know better than to approach her in that manner. That"s right, it"s because he knows who she is. Because he knows she"s Teras.h.i.+ma Lila. If he didn"t know, perhaps something would have been different. But even that something, is a reality he should not be thinking about in the first place.

"No, it"s coo--"Takahiro sentence fell short, taking on the girl"s appearance.

Those clothes are way too big for her! She can"t go back out like that.

"Wait a moment." He said.

She blinked, puzzled.

Takahiro, however, had already bolted out the door and was hurriedly making his way down the stairs. He covered his face with his hands and mumbled. He actually thought she looked cute.