Eternal Melody

YUHI

A man with dark long hair stepped out with a frustrated looking expression. The clothes he wore resembled the style from their past lives, so Yuhi felt nostalgic seeing it. There is nothing wrong with modern day clothes, but he does miss the simple style from the past.

"Why the hell did you decide to just come home now? Didn't you get my messages?" Rayne lectured.

"I did, but like I thought it was a ploy from our other relatives." Sumire shrugged. "Besides, if you wanted to talk to me, you should have contacted me directly."

So, Sumire knew he was alive but she didn't know for sure until Lucifer confirmed it.

Sumire grabbed hold of one of the spears. "I have to say brother, do you even train these people? Their aim is sloppy."

The guards were looking at Rayne for instructions most-likely to deal with this strange woman, but Rayne simply exhales deeply.

"Put your spears down."

"But Lord, they destroyed the gate."

"Doesn't the owner have the right to do whatever they want?" Rayne snapped.

"The owner? Then is she-"

"-W-welcome home Lady Sumire." The guards who were hostile moments ago suddenly dropped their spears and 

Rayne walked over to their group and flicked Sumire's forehead. "Brat, can you not destroy things for even five minutes?"

"I wanted to make a flashy entrance!"

"Or you could have just sent a note and we would have received you." Rayne sighs. "Forget it, you clearly don't know what is happening here."

"Are you being attacked by Lucifer?" Yuhi spoke up.

Rayne nodded. "I don't know if it's Lucifer exactly, but it's definitely the black alice-" Rayne paused seeing Toh and his gaze dimmed as he pulled a spear out and aimed at Toh.

Sumire suddenly left his side to block the blade. "Put that down."

"Dear sister, I did hear the rumors. But are you serious? Didn't you see the barren lands when you landed? That's his doing!!"

At those words Sumire turned to Toh. "Is that true?"

Toh sighs. "It was before I met you beautiful."

So, that's the reason why Mashima was so adamant in coming with them. If he attacked K region under Lucifer's orders before, it's no wonder he doesn't want to come here.

"Okay, I trust you."

Rayne was shaking his head in disbelief. "You can't be serious. I'm not letting him inside."

"Dear brother, didn't you just say that I'm the owner?" Sumire challenged. "If anyone dares touch him including you, well let's just say it won't end well."

"But, is it okay for you to touch him?" Rayne prodded.

At those words Sumire's cheeks flushed and she let's go of Toh's arm which subconsciously grabbed. "Just tell us what's going on. You said you're being attacked?"

"Yes by the black alice organisation."

Yuhi turns to Mashima. "Is that-"

"It's the other fractions. Lucifer has been too busy focusing on the child, so the other leaders have been taking over more." Toh explained. 

Amongst the other three leaders, the only brazen enough to attack K region would be Jian Hijiri. Mashima nodded in confirmation. "No doubt it's him."

"He really isn't stopping."

Toh sighs. "I don't understand him at all, to do all of this when he clearly cares about her."

Yuhi's gaze dimmed. "If he cares about her, it's in a twisted way."

Toh raised his eyebrow. "It's the first time I've seen you this hostile. Let's have a mini session here, do you hate Jian Hijiri?"

"I do."

A complicated look flashed through his face. "I don't know whether it's good thing that you're both so hung up on vengeance against the same person."

"You're talking about Sumire." Yuhi said understanding.

Toh nodded. "The hatred she has towards Jian is extreme. Even with no memories, when she saw him she immediately felt repulsed. I had to stop her from attacking him."

"But you stopped her." Yuhi pointed out.

Toh sighs deeply. "Let's not talk about that when you two just made up."

Right, if they venture off into that territory. Yuhi is afraid that his temper will return.

"Did you get the snowglobe?"

Yuhi nodded.

"When I asked her why a snow globe, she laughed and said that every time you guys met it was during winter."

Now that he thought about it, it's true. It was winter when she went to find him in the sixth life, winter when they were both reincarnated and found one another. Winter when they met in the facility in this life. Winter when she first went to his concert.

Yuhi sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. "She needs to be more considerate."

Toh sighs and shakes his head. "No, I'm glad she is so honest with me. Sometimes hiding the truth leads to grave consequences."

'I just learned that lesson myself not too long ago.'

Yuhi nodded in agreement, his gaze turned to Sumire and Rayne who were talking to each other in hushed voices. Yuhi understood the reason why. Rayne clearly doesn't trust Mashima. It makes sense, because even though Mashima insists that he is on Sumire side, he still remains a member of the black alice organisation.

Rayne suddenly halts and points to a set of rooms. "Mashima can stay there."

Seeing the large amount of security in the hallway, Sumire looked like she wanted to protest.

"It's okay, beautiful." Toh said. "It's better than the dungeons."

Sumire sighs. "Don't even joke about it. If anything goes wrong, just call me?"

"Phone signals are weak here." Rayne pointed out.

"That's not what I meant."

Yuhi immediately understood. Right, the two can communicate through their minds. 'I really want to try and see if I can do it too.'

Sumire looked very reluctant to leave Toh but eventually agreed. She peered in his direction. "My dear, if I go over and hug Toh, will you be upset?"

Yuhi blinked and shook his head. Sumire kissed his cheek and went over to Mashima. Mashima seemed to understand already what she was doing, since he wrapped his arms around her waist drawing her close. The two were saying something in hushed voices.

Mashima leaned over and kissed Sumire's forehead as Sumire hugged him.She quickly rushed back and clung to his arm.

"Okay, let's go."

As Yuhi looked back at Mashima, he couldn't help but think the real pitiful one wasn't him. Sumire mentioned before that the one suffering the most is Mashima. But, this is his first time seeing it with his own eyes.