ST Star Hospital - Private Ward-It turned out it was worse than what she thought. Lila only had a vague understanding of the pain Haruka went through.
"You know, I"m sure I said this before. Karas.h.i.+ma, you need to take care of yourself more. How do you expect to take care of Lila when you"re like this?" Eita scolded. "I mean, you did a great job hiding your wounds. But using your power when you"ve hardly used it before…"
"I have slightly over the past few years. I wouldn"t be able to survive otherwise," Haruka interjected.
"Even then, this is too much."
Lila, who silently stood at the doorway, finally summoned her courage to enter. When she saw the wounds on Haruka"s body, she completely froze. She couldn"t believe it. Dark markings covered his entire body. Even the tattoos on his arms and back seemed to have something on top of it.
"Hey, don"t just stand there, wife," Haruka immediately noticed her. A somewhat foolish smile appeared on his face when he saw her causing her to clench her fist.
Haruka should not look pleased to see her right now. She is fuming with anger, and yet she can"t bring herself to get mad at him.
"I…"
"Come over here," Haruka said kindly and extended his hand out.
Lila somehow managed to walk over. The moment she did, Haruka sat her down on his lap. She couldn"t hold back her tears then and started crying. Haruka chuckled and wiped her tears away with her fingers, but more streamed down.
"Hey, don"t cry so much. This is normal. Didn"t you already suspect something like this before we started dating?"
"I did! But that doesn"t make it better," Lila exclaimed. "How could I possibly smile when this hurt? How could you touch me and even think of doing anything when you"re in this much pain."
"That"s because I like touching you wife."
"I already know that stupid."
Haruka gently kisses her lips. "Mmm, since you understand, then you should know why I kept it from you."
"Married couples are supposed to share everything."
"My wife always sneaks around too. Don"t you think this is unfair for me?"
"Kiryu come in here, I can"t deal with this stupid couple," Eita commented.
Kiryu strolled into the room and sighed. "Do you think it"s easier for me."
"I should say stupid trio. The three of you are equally as careless as one another. Lila, I warned you the last time not to push yourself. The effects of the medicine are wearing of Karas.h.i.+ma, do you think you"re made of steel You can"t be used as a lab rat forever and Kiryu---" Eita trailed off. "I don"t even want to say anything about you."
Lila glanced over at Kiryu, "Come to think of it.." She ought to worry about him too.
"All three of you should be hospitalized for a good half-year and suspend all your activities," Eita sighed. "But I know you won"t do that, so at most stay here for two weeks—all three of you. You can still do your important jobs. However, you have to return to the hospital."
Hospitalized again.. Lila sighed, it seems like she won"t be able to do that work for Soichiro. Lila felt Haruka"s lips on her neck, "Ah, you want to drink?"
Haruka nodded and simply bit her. She awkwardly looked over at Kiryu, and mumbled "sorry." It"s strange, but she can kiss Haruka in front of Kiryu. But when it comes to drinking blood, it"s odd.
Kiryu didn"t say anything and picked up one of the bottles on Eita"s desk, "Hey, is it okay if I take this?"
"You know, I told you to lay low on medication. You have the opposite problem that Lila has. You take too much medicine; you"ll have an overdose. Don"t you know that too much medication for hanyou"s is a bad idea? Your not completely human, so it acts as a virus rather than a cure."
"I get it, but lately I haven"t been sleeping much."
"Hasn"t been sleeping?" Lila wondered what was wrong with him. Why isn"t he sleeping much? Before he used to sleep like a lion. She is worried about him, but Lila glanced back at Haruka, who was still drinking from her. Her husband has suffered a lot; she has to be there for him.
....
February 5th, 2036 Starlight Stage
Lila glanced at the surroundings to think she would be performing here. The starlight dome, she performed plenty of times in the usual dome before. But this one was completely different; the capacity of people that could fit was more than the national stadium. National stadium could fit 72,327 people and was the largest stage she performed on before. However, this could fit 300, 000, 000 people.
The number overwhelmed her. How can there be such a large venue? That and she was shocked that the tickets had sold out in five minutes, she made it this far, huh? It was hard to believe.
She made it this far, and yet something is missing. Right now, she is alone; she is by herself. In the past, she had Kasumi and the others beside her on stage. Lila thought she understood what it meant by pursuing her solo career seriously. However, she still can"t get used to standing alone on stage like this.
"Teras.h.i.+msan, you can start now."
Lila nodded and made her way to the center of the stage.
On this spot, even though she"s alone... Even though she"s all alone on this big stage, she can still see it. Everyone is s.h.i.+ning; they are all smiling brightly, exactly like the light in the darkness. That gorgeous moonlight and yet, she couldn"t erase the pain in her heart. "This isn"t easy for her." When she was in Light town, it was a lot easier for her. However, now she has returned, it"s difficult. All her friends are here, but she still has to stand on stage alone.
In a few years, the things that worry her today will probably seem so small. So insignificant, that it will make her laugh at her past self. But to her current seventeen-year-old self, those problems cover her entire world.
She always knew that if she broke out of her sh.e.l.l, all the lies she had piled up would come back and haunt her.
Lila took a deep breath; in the process, she saw somebody in the audience seats. It was Soichiro.
He was watching her intently. That"s right; today, she won"t hold back. The moment he has waited for has come at last. He probably knows too - and that"s why he"s staring at her.
Hurting people and getting hurt still frighten her. However, she isn"t going to cry about it anymore. Because this is the path she chose because she made a promise to him.