Eternal Melody

Sora continues. “I didn’t have anyone else then but him. My family was already beyond repair, and that man did nothing but verbally torture me every day. Before I met Yoru, I lived in anguish, it was so painful, and I couldn’t breathe. I just wanted it all to end. I wanted time to stop, for it to be all over. But then, one day, I saw him picking a fight, and for some reason, I helped Yoru escape. I didn’t think he would start following me around afterwards. Before I realized it, we were always together. To escape in that small world, in our refuge with just us two – back then, that was all we needed. The presence of each other. “

Ah, that reminds her of her and Mamoru; the two of them had been the same. They wanted to escape into their little world. 

“But I knew that even though I wanted those peaceful days to continue, something would eventually change. Change it did. That single encounter with Terashima Yuhi was enough to change everything. I was no longer Yoru’s hero; it was all about Yuhi. I no longer had any purpose. At first, I put up with it, but then I reached my limit, so I had to leave before it became too suffocating.”

“You could have joined in.”

Sora shook his head. “We’re similar. So you should understand. People like us will always have a hard time fitting in with large groups.”

Sumire paused at those words. “At first, I thought I would have a hard time fitting in. They didn’t know how to speak with me, but as time went by, that changed.”

“I see.” Sora trailed off. “Then I suppose you finally have a place you can belong. At least one of us can have that.”

She wants to tell him that it’s not true, that it’s a misunderstanding. That he still has a place to go back to. However, she knew she wouldn’t be able to deny it. Sumire was about to say something else, but she spotted Atushi coming from the corner.

He looked over at her with a bright smile. “You came, Sumire? Now that you’re here, maybe Yoru can stop whining.”

“Ah-huh.” Sumire heard Sora turn away. “Sora, your number-“

“It’s the same. Goodnight Sumire-san.”

Sumire watched as his lonely figure disappeared in the darkness of the night. She doesn’t understand his situation very well, and she knew better than to intervene. But now that she has admitted that she sees everyone in Akagumi as family, one day she will have to get invol- her thoughts broke off when she felt Atushi pat her head.

“Did you cry?”

Sumire puffed her cheeks into a pout. “Why didn’t you contact me right away?”

“Yuhi said he would deal with it, and he did.”

“But still.”

Atushi nodded. “I understand how you feel, Sumire. But you also have to understand Yuhi’s feelings. Right now, he is struggling with whether or not he should tell you everything. Let’s face it; you are very careless. If you hear somebody you care for is in danger, you won’t hesitate. That is fine and all. But sometimes, you have to take a step back even at the cost of your justice.”

“I understand, I do, but sometimes it is hard for me to turn away. How can I ignore their pained cries and pleas for help? I am in a position of power.”

Atushi sighed deeply. “I figured you would say something like that. Did you know Yuhi asked for a meeting with Honjo Raizo?”

Sumire blinked at those words. “Yuhi did?”

“What are you going to do? He might find out what happened.”

“It’s alright. I already resolved myself. Besides, it’s not like anything will change.”

Yuhi-san will accept everything about her regardless of how negative it is.

“It seems it was a good choice for you to come here to Tokyo.”

“You even followed me here; your stalking skills are something,” Sumire commented.

“Well, how could I leave a lovely lady alone? Also, it seemed Yuhi was having a hard time before you came here.”

Sumire frowned at that part. “Did you find out who was causing him problems?”

“Yeah, it was the agency that woman who he had to pretend to be in a relationship with who started those rumors.”

“They were already benefiting from the fake relationship; why would they do that?”

“Well, isn’t it because Yuhi never openly showed interest? They probably thought after a long time Yuhi would at least sleep with her, but he didn’t even do that.”

“Those women think they can still mess with my dearest even though he has me.” Her eyes twitched, annoyed. “It seems they no longer wish to live.”

Atushi pulled out his lighter and lit a cigarette before taking a deep inhale. “Calm down; you’re just returning to the entertainment properly. You can’t lash out.”

“So, do I just leave them?”

“No, just show them that they can’t mess with you. You just have to beat Takashi Yumi, no pressure at all.”

Sumire sighed deeply when she heard those words. No pressure? Just the mere thought of it made her worry. 

“What’s the problem if you lose, you can cry to Yuhi, and I am sure he will comfort you.”

She sent him a harsh glare. “You know Atushi, your always unusually harsh with me.”

“You’re going to hate me more when I say I plan to break up with Futaba-san.”

Ah, is that why he had that solemn look on his face? Atushi has been dating her best friend, Momoi Futaba, since last year. But she always thought that his heart was never really with her. Futaba was the one who confessed to him too. There must have been many issues before they became a couple that she doesn’t know about it.

“Why would I get mad? You have the freedom to love whoever you want to.”

Besides, she enjoyed seeing them together. Sumire always felt that there was a large wall between them.

“This came from the girl who turned me down.”

“Atushi, do you truly think it was good for me to come here?” Sumire recalled Yuhi’s expression when they spoke earlier. It wasn’t just Yuhi but even Sora. 

Atushi didn’t reply right away, but he suddenly mumbled. “At first, I hesitated when you said you would come to Tokyo. I already heard from Yuhi how dangerous it was getting over here. If staying in Star town was too painful for you because of what happened, and you wanted to run away. At the very least, I wanted you to find somewhere peaceful.”

“But in those peaceful places, Yuhi wouldn’t be there.”

“Right, even though you did not specifically mention it, I understood you wanted to see Yuhi. Yuhi doesn’t like to talk about his issues too much, but I knew he was having problems. I thought of the best way that I could help you two and thought, ‘maybe it is just better to let them meet and see whatever happens'”

Sumire chuckled. “What an illogical reasoning.”

“I truly didn’t want you to shoulder an even heavier burden. But I knew the day would come where you would remember about your abilities. Before you could even remember correctly, you learned about it, so I suppose it was fate.”