Eternal Melody

After hugging in the bathroom for a few minutes, she urged Yuhi to change and went down to the kitchen. It only took a few minutes before Yuhi emerged in the doorway.

“You’re not going to comment on what I said earlier?”

Yuhi rolled his eyes. “If I do that, you will die of embarrassment and try to escape.”

Yuhi-san understands her very well. Indeed she would do exactly that. It is strange how he seems to understand her far better than she does herself. Then again, even before they dated, even before she knew his feelings, she knew the bond they shared was something more.

She was far too attached to him for it to be a normal friendship.

If she respected him, then she would not have felt so devastated when he left her side.

One of the reasons, no, the main reason she rejected him then was because she wasn’t sure. After they met at that snowy concert several years ago, she realized that her respect for him wasn’t normal. She wanted to see him again so badly, but her thoughts were not normal.

It did not take her long before she realized that she was in love with him. But after she met him again a few years later as a member of the underworld society. Sumire realized that there was more to him than meets the eye. She wanted to make sure first.

As she worked close beside him, Sumire pondered whether her feelings were love after all. Maybe it is just respect, he not only sings well, but whenever they worked together, it felt like he was a real detective. The way he can understand criminal mindsets and solve cases so quickly. That sharp initiative is something she didn’t have.

At one point, she became competitive. 

Whenever her head felt like exploding, she would light a cigarette and ask Yuhi for guidance on her problems; however, now the problem was him himself.

But on this occasion, it was difficult to do that. After all, her problem now is him being here. What is this? She was able to hug him for so long and scold him a little, but now her entire body felt tense.

It seemed he was having similar thoughts due to his sudden silence. She hasn’t seen him at all since last month. But it felt like forever to her; so much has happened in the time she has not seen him. 

“I kissed Sano.” Sumire immediately confessed. “I asked him if he wanted to–” Her words fell short when Yuhi walked across the room.

She closed her eyes and braced for the impact. He is angry, right? He should be angry. The first few days of staying here made her realize how dangerous it was for her well-being to stay with Sano. Hino is right; it is too toxic to keep meeting each other. If they continue this, one day, something bad will happen.

Sumire recalled her behaviour and sighed. She almost did it too. To her surprise, however, Yuhi didn’t hit her; instead, he pushed her against the table. He was close enough that she could smell his familiar tobacco scent but mixed with shampoo.

She extended her hands out and ran her fingers through his wet hair. “You never scold me.”

“Because I want you to realize how many people love and care for you. I made it my mission, so why would I hit you and make you feel like a bad person?”

Sumire blinked when she heard those words. “You’re the real idiot.” 

…

For the first time in so long, Sumire could fall asleep easily, so when it came to the following morning, she not only felt refreshed but had an idea. Yuhi and her were browsing through the books in the library when Hino arrived.

“What the— Yuhi?”

Hino stared in disbelief, and her sweat fell. “Well, this is-“

Yuhi brushed his fingers across her lips. “Just focus.”

Hinos eyes twitched, annoyed. “Are you going to act like I am not here?”

“I don’t want to hear it from you. You should have told me about Sumire.”

“Hey, I was going to–!”

“Are all my old books here?”

Hino nodded. “I brought them all over since you said you didn’t want anyone to find them.”

“Alright, you heard him; start searching.”

Sumire laughed. “Are you sure this is all? I thought you had more.”

“You probably have the rest since you said you took my belongings hostage.”

Indeed, but among the books he left behind that she took, she didn’t see anything significant enough to use for their research. Sumire quickly left his hold and turned to the books on the other shelves, but Yuhi wrapped his arms around her waist and buried his face on her neck.

She rolled her eyes. “Yuhi-san, you’re the one who said to start searching.”

“I am sleepy.” He trailed off. “You’re the one who said you recall me putting some information away in a book before, at—”He glanced at the clock. “Four hours ago.”

Indeed she did randomly get up at four and woke him up since she recalled something. “Back when we investigated specimen case seven hundred and eighty. We discovered a lab with a large amount of stress care medications and organs. It is similar to the recent hospital case.”

“Should I ask why you remember the number?”

Yuhi sighed. “This girl has always had a bad habit of remembering unnecessary things.”

“Not true; case files are important. Besides, it is handy during these occasions.”

Yuhi quickly steals a kiss from her lips before he casually walks over to the other shelves. “Right, very important.”

Sumire stared at him dumbfounded. What on earth did he just- well, no, she does know what he just did. But the question here is, why did he suddenly kiss her like that? Also, why do her cheeks feel hot, and why is her heart beating? 

It seems nothing has changed after all. Back when they still worked together as subordinate and master, as a member of the underground organization Holy Knights, she would often steal glances at him.

Back then, I already knew I liked Yuhi. That was why whenever I could, I would stare.

Sumire wondered if Yuhi ever noticed that. Did he ever realize how much she looked at him?

Her thoughts broke off when she heard the sound of the stool pull up next to her. “Hino.”

“Sorry about just leaving,” Hino mumbled. “I hope the food was enough.”

“You missed out on some good curry,” Yuhi interjected.

“Are you going to compete over this?”

Sumire sighed when she saw the two arguing. Even though it is only friendly banter, it still feels a bit unusual to her. The incident that occurred when they were younger, both Hino and Yuhi were there with her. 

The person who was holding her hand that day, she suspects it was Yuhi and not Ru. That snowy concert, it felt like she had met Yuhi before. When she first became his fan, there was something about him that pulled her in.

His songs seem familiar, his singing, where has she heard it before? After she came home that time she met him for the first time, Sumire realized something. He has one of those, too; in his room, he had an old-looking wristband. Is it just a coincidence, or is there something more to all of this?