Eternal Melody

There is more to the woman called Ibuki Sumire than meets the eye. He knew from the moment they met that she differed from all the others. 

When he first kissed Ibuki Sumire, it was hungry, wanting, and desperate. Yuhi initially wanted to give her a sweet and romantic kiss. But he did not want to scare her away. He did not want her to know how much he loved her and did not want her to confirm his feelings before he understood.

Nowadays whenever he kisses her, it was the sort of kiss he would give to somebody he loves. To the girl, he wants to spend the rest of his life with.

……

It was difficult for him to focus when all he could think of was Ibuki Sumire. She is constantly in his mind anyway, but today she was taking over him completely. She was not allowing him any space to think of anything else.

After they left the library, they returned to his place, cooked dinner, watched movies, and then fell asleep in each other’s arms. Something was comforting about it; they didn’t kiss or touch as they did in the car. They simply held each other, and that was enough for him.

It was enough that she was in his arms.

Today he was in the studio recording his new album. But he kept making mistakes over and over. Hino looked like he wanted to snap, but he has yet to do so.

Yuhi was waiting for him to get angry. If Hino got mad at him, then maybe it would snap him out of this strange mood or daze. He did not know.

A text from the lovely lady occupying his thoughts caught his attention.

From: Sumire

I think you need a break.

From: Yuhi

A break?

From: Sumire

Yes, lunch with me. But at my workplace cafeteria, the food here is excellent.

Yuhi laughs when he saw her reply. The coffee in the place Sumire is working at now is terrible, and the food is bland. He looks over at Hino, who was taking his anger out onto somebody else.

From: Yuhi

Hino won’t disturb us; he is occupied.

He knew that even if he went to lunch, Hino would not bother him. 

From: Sumire

I will be there in fifteen minutes.

This is one of the things he likes about her. She does not try to please him by pretending to be sweet on text messages; she does not hide her mood. If she is angry, she is angry. If something upsets her – she will make sure to tell him.

What bothered her now? She is working with Sano today. Yuhi looks over at the building across the road from the window. Whenever she works with Sano, he makes sure he is working somewhere nearby. 

That man is on his best behavior lately, but he does not trust Sano at all. He knew if Sano wanted to take Sumire away by force, he could easily do so. Normally he would ask Shin to stay with her, but with Atsuro’s return, that guy will be busy. 

From: Yuhi

Are you wearing something pretty?

From: Sumire

My favourite dress.

From: Yuhi

So what’s the occasion?

From: Sumire

Lunch date with a man called Terashima Yuhi.

His lips curve to a smile. Sumire always knows how to make him feel better. The gloomy atmosphere around him from a few minutes ago seems to have vanished. 

“Yuhi, take a break.”

“Huh? Now?”

“You have a visitor.”

At that comment, he turned and looked over at the doorway. It was Shin with some documents in his hands. Yuhi puts the sheet music in his hands down onto the table. He strolled over to the door and closed it.

“For Sumire?”

“You can read it too but yes for her. I can’t exactly meet with her with Atsuro around.”

Yuhi raises his eyebrows at this. “You don’t have to act so cautiously. Your friends with Sumire, just because Atsuro is here, doesn’t mean you have to stop speaking to her.”

“I understand, but you should know how he is.” Shin sighs. “When it comes to her, he is..”

Yuhi stops him from finishing his sentence. “I know. But Sumire is going through a harsh time right now. Atsuro making a fuss over his feelings toward her and the unresolved things from back then will not help.”

“Back then, huh? Yuhi, do you…know what happened with those two?” Shin trails of. “I mean, do you know about that?”

“That?”

Shin looks away. “I don’t think I should be the one telling you this.”

“At least give a hint.”

At that comment, Shin looked around and took his phone out. He hears a beep sound, and Yuhi glances down.

He frowned when he saw the message. “Is that for real?”

“Take it as you will. But there is no doubt that something like that must have happened; I caught them that way several times.”

It can’t be; he could tell when he touched her. He could tell that she was still new to all of this. Yuhi sighs. It isn’t an easy subject he could mention to her. There is no doubt that it was something traumatizing. 

From: Sumire

Five minutes.

Geez, she is too eager.

“Sumire?”

Yuhi nodded. “Let’s discuss this another time.”

…..

When he arrived at the cafeteria, he could tell Sumire was pissed off from the way she folded her arms across her chest. From the creases between her eyes. 

She wore a white off-shoulder dress that made her look more sophisticated and mature than usual. High boots, black tights. Surrounded by the plain cafeteria walls, she looked like even more of a goddess. 

Other people, mainly guys, kept looking over and whistling. Indeed she was gorgeous, but she looked angry, but there was sadness in her eyes.

“Hi.” Yuhi took her hand. “Are you my lunch date?” He starts off playful, hoping he could male her smile.

She turned to him with a tearful look, but it was only for a split second. Her ice queen face appeared right as he was about to say another word. 

“Im your wife,” Sumire answered.

Ah, so she is his wife now? He would smile like an idiot if she didn’t look so sad and miserable. Yuhi wrapped his arms around her shoulders. “Come with me somewhere for a bit.”

She nods and follows him out of the cafeteria.

Yuhi found a quiet spot in the hallways and pulls her into his arms. “What’s wrong?”

“Sano.”

“Sano?” Yuhi repeated. He never saw her look like this before.

So distraught and so miserable. What did that man do?

Sumire then explains how the meeting today ended up. “All his exes were there, at least the ones he cheated on me with today. I ignored it and did my part in the meeting. But it felt like they were deliberately edging me on so I could get angry.”

“Did you?”

“I did. It was stupid of me to get mad, but now Sano probably thinks I care or something aaahh. I regret it so much.” 

At that comment, he sighs deeply. “Well I did tell you it was a bad idea to work on anything with him. If you want to invest in a business,” He plays with her hands. “You could invest in mine.”

“Yuhis business?”

“Mmm.” His lips curve to a smile when he felt her hands on the button of his clothes. “Have a look later?”

Sumire nods, then she wraps her arms around his neck. “Did you forget something?”