Eternal Melody

Now he is starting to understand why she behaves that way and doesn’t openly reject him kissing her. For her, those things have no meaning unless she is doing it with the man she likes. Sano sighed deeply. It is frustrating for him to admit this.

“Anyway, you–” Before Sano could finish his sentence, the doors to his office slammed open. There stood a man with red-colored hair and azure-colored eyes. Razel and another member of staff awkwardly stood behind the man.

“He wouldn’t listen.”

“I allowed Atsuro-san in,” Razel said truthfully.

Sano sighed at Razels words. Then again, this guy has always been like this. The staff member looked panicked, and he could tell that she was having a hard time. He looked towards Razel, who nodded and said a few words to the lady before she rushed off.

“Kusaji, why are you-“

The redhead walked past him and turned to the girl on the couch. No turned to the girl who was at the window. 

“Trying to run away?”

Sumire laughed awkwardly. “Uh, it seems I can’t make my escape.”

“Sumire!” Atsuro exclaimed. “What were you doing last night?”

“Of course, I was here in the hospital.”

“Liar. I saw you at that gathering. You can deceive others but not me.”

Sumire exhaled deeply as she pressed her fingers against her temple. She looked very troubled. “Listen, this is why I didn’t tell you.”

“Your still hurt, idiot. What would you have done if they caught you?”

“They wouldn’t have. I was only looking around.”

So from their conversation, it seems that Sumire snuck out last night. Last night he couldn’t check on her because he had to accompany Penelope to dinner. So she must have used that to her advantage. This girl is very cunning; indeed, she has changed a lot. In the past, even if she had the opportunity to do something like this, she wouldn’t have.

“Look around? They were armed.”

“A few bullets won’t kill me, and I can dodge just fi-” Sumire’s sentence fell short when Kusaji suddenly sent a kick in her direction. The girl barely dodged it, and she had to do so with her hands. 

“So, you can dodge it?”

“Damn it.”

Atsuro walked over towards the girl and crouched down. He carefully rolled up her hospital gown, so her knees were exposed.

“What did I tell you before? You were previously underweight and very sick. Just because you have gained weight now and have more stamina if you push your body too much, you will get injured easily,” Atsuro pressed on the dark-colored bruise with his fingers, and the girl flinched. “Does this hurt?”

“A little.”

Sano could only stare at the scene with wide eyes. After observing them a little, now he understood why the girl was avoiding Kusaji Atsuro. Sano wondered if the man was conscious of it. But he touches Sumire so easily without hesitating even though she isn’t his girlfriend. So it is not like she hates him, but she wants him to get out of this habit before they talk again.

“I am sorry, Atsuro.”

“I understand why you went, but you need to think about yourself for once. You already went through something bad recently; if they got to you again, you would have wasted that fool’s efforts.”

“I know.”

This is the first time he has seen Sumire like this. She seems almost docile and fragile even though the girl was bickering with Kusaji just a few moments ago.

Sano shook his head and went over to his cabinets to get the medkit. First, they have to stop the bleeding. 

Kusaji opened up the medkit and only pulled out the bandages. 

“You are not hurt anywhere else, are you?”

“Mm.”

Sano watched as the redhead looked towards the girl’s upper thigh, and Sumire laughed awkwardly. “There is nothing there-” Just as she said that Sano spotted something from the corner of his eye.

“When did you cut yourself here?”

“It was when I was in the institute. Ru stopped me before it became worse.”

“Did you see the person I told you about? Don’t worry; he is a harmless person. You can talk to him about your problems, and he won’t disclose it to anybody.”

“I have Yuhi.”

At those words, Sano flinched. 

“Terashima isn’t always going to be there for you. Moreover, if you are serious about returning to the entertainment industry, you need to take care of your mental health. If something like last time happened-“

At that, Sumire quickly bent down and covered Kusajis mouth with her fingers. Atsuros’ gaze met his, and he pulled Sumires hands away.

“Let me tell him.”

The girl doesn’t reply.

“If you won’t let me say it, then get yourself discharged from here and let me take care of you.”

Sano could tell from Kusaji’s voice that he would rather have it that way, but the man still gave her a choice. He thought the redhead would insist more. Then again, he doesn’t know much about this man, the information he gathered before was all useless. 

“You can tell him.”

He immediately understood the situation and turned to the man at the door.

“Razel, please take her back to her room.”

Razel nodded and walked over. He tapped the girl’s shoulder, and she stood up. The entire time she passed him, she didn’t glance his way once and kept her head low. Once the two left, the redhead slammed his fist against the wall causing a small crack to form.

“Damn it. I told her so many times. She never listens to me, and this ends up happening.”

The man’s anger seemed to increase more as he said those words. Sano didn’t say anything and waited until Kusaji called out to him.

“You investigated her, right?”

Sano looked troubled when he heard those words. “I wonder how I got the information so easily. You leaked it?”

“I just wanted you to know just in case you do want to pursue her again; you need to know everything.”

“Is it that bad? At most, the records said there was a lot of self-harm.”

“Right, I omitted something from those records because I thought it would be better if I explain it in person.” He took out a file from his bag and passed it to him.

Sano cautiously looked at the envelope. He didn’t know what he was going to find. But since Kusaji went this far to conceal it, only for him to reveal it now. It must be because of the recent case where the girl disappeared for two months. Unfortunately, he has yet to find out the details of that case.

Those people won’t budge since he isn’t asking them directly. Sano knew they would tell him if he asks them directly, but he isn’t doing that because he wants Sumire to open up to him. It would be better if she talks about it on her own.