Eternal Melody

At the same time somewhere in the outskirts of Tokyo, Shin was looking at the now endless field with a frown on his face. An entire city vanished overnight? When he first heard the report he found it odd. After he concluded that the Sf were suspicious, he became wary of the orders they sent him. In a place like this, it would be easy for those people to kill him. If he dies here nobody will know. 

Shin shook his head. What use is there thinking such morbid things? Despite his image, he could put up quite a good fight. But what is this bad feeling?

He pulled out his phone from his pocket and looked at the top. No signal huh? So it would be impossible to call somebody to help. No matter how skilled he was though, Shin felt very uneasy in this place. 

From: Sumire

Shin, if you keep ignoring me I will declare this friendship over.

Shin blinked when he read the message from the girl. It was sent at three this morning. He knew she had trouble sleeping when Yuhi was not around but even then it troubled him. She needs to sleep more. How can she get better if she does not sleep?

His thoughts broke off when he heard the sound of an explosion not too far from him and sighed. It seems like he won’t have a peaceful evening.

___

Right at that moment, there was a mini earthquake, the sound woke up Sano who hugged her again. He wrapped his arms around her protectively as he looked at the surroundings. Sumire spoke up. “Is it bad?”

It was difficult to tell inside the protective sphere of the glass palace, while the ground shook and so did the flowers on the ceiling. Nothing was breaking.

Sano didn’t say anything but he took his phone out. He was saying things in another language so Sumire didn’t understand. But she did catch the expression on his face gradually getting dimmer by the minute.

“Alright I understand, I will bring her there.” Ending the last line in Japanese, Sumire looked at him puzzled. 

“This ends here.”

“Ah.”

Sano looked very troubled. Indeed they only just got here a few minutes ago and he spent those few minutes sleeping. They waited for a few extra minutes before the ground stopped shaking and exited the place. The moment they stepped outside Sumire’s eyes widened when she saw her surroundings. Plants knocked down and broken – medium-sized cracks on the road large enough for a person to fall in. It was only for a few minutes but the damage was awful.

What is this bad feeling?

Earthquakes often occur in Japan so this is not unusual at all. But there was something peculiar about all of this. Her gaze fell on Sano who was walking a few steps ahead of her. Just now who was he speaking to on the phone? Is it such a good idea to follow him?

Almost like he read her mind Sano turned back to her. “I won’t let them hurt you. But I’m sorry if you don’t meet them now..”

Sumire immediately understood. So he does share some form of connection with those people. Previously he mentioned how he had no choice but to turn to them during the time he needed help. Sumire nodded slowly. She was very curious which people made this man submit. Even if he has no choice normally one would have some leeway. But for Sano to listen to everything they say what kind of people were they?

….

Sumire was very uncomfortable as she watched the man who sat directly in front of her. He was sipping his tea calmly like there was nothing unusual. But Sumire had been sweating buckets since she entered the room. The main reason why? This man is an aristocrat. When they arrived at a huge mansion outside of town, Sumire already felt strange about this.

“Nagawa more tea.”

Sano immediately poured the man more tea and she immediately spoke up. “This is really a surprise sir Fredric.” 

This man held a huge influence in the elite society. Soujiro often spoke of this person’s achievements. So the one behind everything was this guy? That did not seem right to Sumire. He has a different vibe from those people who went after her before. 

Frederick chuckled. “It seems you still remember me, Princess Sumire.”

“I would never have imagined you would have an interest in such things.”

“Indeed, but are you not the same? The noble daughter of the Ibuki family joined the underground societies Holy Knights and built up quite the reputation.”

It seems this man has done his homework. Sumire could not tell what he was thinking. Normally she is good at reading people’s minds but not people like this.

Sano looked like he wanted to say something but Fredrick did not give him the chance. “I was thinking, would you like to cooperate with me?”

“…before I reply, could I ask you something. Was it your subordinates that caused the accident?” Sumire did not fail to see the emblem on the walls on the way here. 

“Ah.” Frederick shook his head. “Since you brought that up allow me to explain how this organization works. Unlike the Holy Knights, there are five leaders in this organization. The emblem remains the same but the colors differ.” He took out his handkerchief and slid it on the table. 

Now that Sumire got a closer look this emblem had a sapphire mark in the center. The one she saw had a different jewel and was a different color. She felt very disappointed, she strongly believed that Sano had something to do with her accident. She thought these people were the culprit but hearing this explanation makes sense. 

Underworld organizations tend to be on a large scale. It is not unusual for there to be multiple leaders. But still, it means she is getting closer to the truth.

Sumire suddenly felt very sick when she smelled the meat the servant brought over. It seemed like Frederick wanted to discuss the details over a meal but Sumire felt very sick. Sano rushed over and parted her hair with his hands. “Sick?”

“Mmm.”

He turned to the servant. “Get her some porridge.”

The servant quickly rushed out of the room.

Frederick silently observed them. “I did hear you were pregnant but you appear to have even worse symptoms.”

Her symptoms were getting worse each day. She knew this was normal for pregnant women but again she had a bad feeling.

“If you are unwell perhaps we should save the discussion for another day?”

Sumire was about to disagree but Sano immediately picked her up. “Have the discussion tomorrow, let her rest for today.”

“Very well.” 

Frederick did not say anything else as Sano carried her out of the room. Sumire looked at the man who was carrying her away with a troubled look on her face. Is this why he brought her today? So she could learn that he was not going to harm her?