*UNEDITED*It was already late when she met Soichiro. But even then, Lila slowly made her way down the stairs limping. Her entire body aches all over. "That demon!" What kind of training was that? Then again, the fight with Zane is approaching. Lately she hasn"t trained much. It"s normal for him to be that brutal. Still wasn"t he having too much fun seeing her in pain?
Then again, Lila has suspected for a long time about that guy being some sort of crazy s.a.d.i.s.t.
She dove into her pocket for her phone hearing the constant beeping.
From: Soichiro
Don"t forget to come back tomorrow night. If your late again, I will punish you my dear.
Lila"s eyes twitched in annoyance when she read that message. She didn"t reply and walked down the hallway.
Kiryu was reading when she found him.. She saw the familiar t.i.tle, Heart of Darkness, and by the looks of it, Kiryu was already halfway through the book.
The novel was about a sailor who goes on a business expedition to the Congo and becomes stranded after his only mode of transportation gets destroyed. Traveling from a civilized city to a new world was life changing for the main character, especially when all he witnessed was the cruelty of imperial enterprise, corruption, and also, the savagery of men.
His experience in the Congo taught him that there were different sides of evil. Men had the capacity to ensue chaos to the point of moral ambiguity, where even social values and moral standards seemed irrelevant in judging such evil. In the end, the choice of choosing the lesser of the two evils was still evil. Eventually, the sailor returns to civilized life after going through many trials and tribulations in the pursuit of knowledge and truth, and he recounts his worldly experience to his friends as he narrates his own version of the "truth."
Like Soichiro said, Kiryu would wait for her. He leaned against the balcony, and occasionally looked over at the skies. Lila slowly made her way over to him, practically dragging herself over. At some point Kiryu noticed but he didn"t help her. Lila understood why, she wouldn"t have accepted his help.
After a few minutes Lila made her way over, she slumped on the bench.
Kiryu raised his eyebrow. "Did he hurt you?"
"He hurt me. That jerk."
"You shouldn"t have agreed."
"He acts that way for a good reason. He knows it"s for my own good."
"Well, that"s true." Kiryu bent down. "Let me see your leg first."
"I"m okay, you don"t have to.."
Lila blushed when she saw him raise her skirt to see her wound. Uhh....what is he up to? "Kiryu, I think your too close."
"This is a good distance. Relax, do you think I will attack you?"
Lila looked away, "You won"t?"
"No need."
"Kiryu is still the same gentleman." Honestly, sometimes she misses the way he used to dot and spoil her. Haruka does the same but somehow it"s different with Kiryu.
"Something happened with Haruka? You seem distracted."
"Did you hear about the kiss scene thing?"
"Mmmm."
"I know I"m just overreacting. But even Haruka doesn"t want to."
"The thing is Lila, he doesn"t want to because he knows you will feel uncomfortable."
"Are you saying he would kiss her?"
"Not quite. He would kiss her but not because he likes her. Because it"s easy for Haruka to kiss someone with having no attachments to them."
Lila understood that very well. So many girls have kissed Haruka since they went out. He always looked at them with an indifferent gaze whenever they did so. But that didn"t make it any better for her.
"Am I strange Kiryu? I have ..." Lila paused and stopped herself from saying jealousy issues. She already confessed it to k.u.mi-senpai. What use is there lying now? Besides if it"s Kiryu, he probably knows already. This person seems to know everything about her.
She took a deep breath and continued. "Since that time they left me, it feels like I haven"t been living."
Kiryu who was putting the ointment on her leg paused. He looked up at her, "Lila. Can I hug you?"
Lila laughed. "You want to take advantage after all huh? But sure, okay."
He placed the bottle and other supplies away before he stood up. He joined her on the couch and wrapped his arms around her. "Lila." Kiryu mumbled softly. "It"s okay."
She shook her head. "But I"m not okay. I"m weird Kiryu. Half of these problems with Haruka is because I"m insecure and act so childish about everything. Even though I said I forgave him for touching Rikksan. It was all a lie. I can"t forget it at all. I love him so much but it pains me whenever I see them together. I can"t help but remember that time."
Why is she like that towards Haruka? When Kiryu cheated on her, she didn"t freak out as much.
"Lila, I"m so sorry. I didn"t let you go for you to suffer so much. But like you just said you love Haruka."
"Stupid." Lila exclaimed.
"Lila, you don"t have to worry about anything. Haruka will never leave you."
"But, why would he stay with someone like me? There are bigger fish in the sea. Fish without problems. Why does he have to stay with someone who will only make him miserable? Rikksan is better for him, she is the same age, beautiful and talented. Height wise they match too."
Kiryu increased his hold on her. "Lila," he said gently. "Don"t belittle yourself so much. Sure that woman may have those qualities. But don"t you know Haruka? None of those things matter to him."
"I know!" Lila snapped. "I understand that very well Kiryu. Of course I do. But, but..."
"Lila, I"m sorry this is my fault too. You acted indifferent then. But I hurt you when I betrayed you right?"
Lila bit her lip and she nodded. "Kiryu, why did you have to do that? You loved me right?"
"Don"t talk in past tense. Teras.h.i.+ma Lila, I will never stop loving you." Kiryu mumbled as he caressed her hair. "But you have to understand me too."
"I know, and I understand Kiryu. I do. I understand Haruka too. But I"m still like this."
She is still like this. A complete emotional mess.
"Lila, will you feel better if you came back to me?"
His sudden question surprised her. Didn"t Haruka say recently that Kiryu wouldn"t suggest such a thing anymore? Then again, a lot has changed since they had that discussion. Lila didn"t reply right away. Would she feel better? If she returned to Kiryu, then she would no longer have to suffer as much. She could return to acting childish and he would spoil her. Things would return to how they were before.
But, is that what she wants?