Eternal Melody

”Correct, it seems her debut will happen next week.”

Next week but doesn’t she have her first solo live concert then? Sumire sighed. It seems those people are directly trying to confront her now. If that is the case, then she no longer has to hold back either.

”Befriend her, but do not make it too obvious.”

”I see your planning to use me as bait.”

”Why not? People don’t know about our relationship anyway.” After all, they seldom met in the open. She doubts anybody knows her, and Eli are acquainted. 

”That is true.”

To think Nagawa Mira would become this desperate to take her down. When she dated Sano, that woman always talked about how vulgar the entertainment industry was. She remembers having to sneak around searching for agencies and places to sing without that woman noticing. Calling her vulgar and saying if she debuts, she is no different than a prostitute. 

Now that very same woman is encouraging her daughter to enter the entertainment industry. She never thought of the entertainment industry as dirty; if she truly did, she wouldn’t send her precious daughter into the lion’s den. 

So she only said those words to put her down? Her eyes twitched, annoyed. 

”Queen, are you angry?”

”I just thought of something unpleasant.”

Eli chuckled. “You’re quick to lose your temper as usual.”

”That isn’t a good thing. So if she is debuting next week, she must have prepared for this a long time ago. D entertainment won’t just accept anybody. If I think about the rooster Shin gave me, there are a lot of people whose specialty is singing.”

It seems they are trying to take her down using what she is good at. However, they don’t seem to understand how she put in triple the effort after she switched companies. She wanted to repay the kindness the people in her new agency showed her. As an idol, she has to excel in all fields. How hard did she work to practice dancing?

”It seems like you are planning on crushing them.”

Sumire chuckled. “Since they want to play that type of game.”

”If anything else stands out, I shall report to you.”

”Please do.”

”Before I go, how are your powers? Have you adjusted- have you remembered everything now?”

”I have. It is hard to believe that I forgot about it.”

How could she have forgotten about these beautiful and yet frightening flames that burn inside her? But now that she remembers everything, she won’t allow those people to escape any longer. 

Just the mere thought of it, she felt the burning sensation inside her. Destroy, destroy – until there is nothing left. No that is wrong; she does not need to use her flames for such a purpose. She does not have to be the same as those who came before her.

Her thoughts broke off when somebody snatched the phone off her.

”Don’t provoke her; she needs to eat. Yeah, I understand.” Yuhi quickly ended the call. He turned to her with a frown and caressed her cheeks. “Your eyes are red.”

”Ah, I guess I got worked up.”

”It’s a good thing you remember now. But you should still be careful, don’t use it unless you have to. In other people’s eyes, having the flame power is a sign of destruction. It is not a good power to have.”

”I never saw it that way. Sure sometimes, I hear voices that tell me to destroy everything. But, I already understand why these flames were given to me.”

”The reason you were given those flames?”

”Yes.” Her gaze softened. “You see, Yuhi, I have always felt very powerless ever since I was a child. Perhaps it was due to my bad habit of comparing myself to others, but before I knew it, I started to question why I was alive. There was nothing good about me. Unlike my siblings, I did not excel in anything particular. I was born with a weak body too, and I got sick easily. But after seeing someone get badly beat up one day, I rushed over and tried to help them. Of course, I couldn’t do anything.”

Yuhi did not say anything, but he squeezed her hands. 

”It turns out that they paid the person getting bullied into acting as the victim. The entire scenario was a setup so they could beat me instead. I was lying down on the ground unconscious for hours; then those people came back with a group of strange older men. It sounded like they were making some type of transaction.”

At those words, Yuhi’s gaze darkened. “What?”

”U-h, hold on, wait, don’t get angry.”

”How can I not?”

”Well, this is something that happened before we met Yuhi-san. Let’s see. I think it’s the reason why I was sent to the facility. My powers must have woken up then. I think I caused an incident.”

”That explains it. Your parents came frantically in the middle of the night.”

”They did?”

”They seemed startled that their daughter had an ability. It seems this is not the first time somebody in your family has had it. But it has not happened in a long time, so they didn’t know what to do.”

”Um so..”

”The loud noise woke up, and I was going to complain. But when I saw you, I volunteered to help. I mean, uh,” Yuhi’s cheeks reddened. “You were so pretty even as a child, so..”

”Ah, you fell in love with me at first sight.”

Yuhi’s cheeks turned redder, and Sumire laughed. This is fun; recently, he has been the one teasing her. Sumire wrapped her arms around his neck. “For loving me for so long, thank you.”

She is truly thankful to him. Even though she still has thoughts that she does not deserve anybody’s love and attention. If the love is coming from this person, she thinks she can accept it.