Eternal Melody

Tetsuo does not see her for a few days.

He naturally assumed that she was recovering from her fever since he seldom saw her at work or another ball. He does not ask about her condition, but he knew that at one point, it grew dire since Ran started to fuss about bringing her food. From what he understood, she was refusing meals.

His eyes widened when he spotted who was at the gate. There stood a girl with long brunette hair wearing a red and white colored sports jacket and a pair of denim-colored shorts.

"Ah, welcome back."

"Sumire-san."

The girl was not alone, but Terashima was with her. He tapped her shoulder. "Hey, remember?"

A deep sigh escaped her lips before she quickly bowed. "I apologize for my behavior the other night."

Her behavior? It took him a moment to understand what she was talking about. Is she apologizing for crying?

"You do not have to apologize."

"That's what I said to Yuhi, but he told me to come here."

"Didn't you want to discuss the song too? I figured you would kill two birds with one stone this way."

These two-- Tetsuo observed them. A part of him understood now why Jun liked to observe people. Unless one looks like this, it will be hard to tell. They treat each other as equals, and they care a lot for each other. At a glance, anybody can tell they care, but it is hard to see the amount of love and affection unless one looks properly.

Terashimas phone started to ring. A deep sigh escaped his lips.

"Are you going?"

"Going to sprint to the live conference."

"Idiot! Why didn't you say so sooner? Arrgh, poor Hino will be waiting."

"Hey, don't worry your pretty face about it." Yuhi pinched her cheeks. "On second thoughts, this face isn't that pretty recently, your eyebags look awful, and your complexion isn't good."

"T-that is uncalled for!"

"It's called honesty, right?"

This is the first time he has seen Sumire-san lose a verbal battle. Sure enough, the girl could not argue about that.

Tetsuo watched as a downcast expression appeared on her face. "Will I see you later?"

"I will be home early, at 6, so work hard until then."

Her eyes brightened when Terashima said those words. "Alright! Then I will cook dinner."

"We can do that together, and let's shop for ingredients too."

So Sumire-san can smile like this too? There was a gentle look in her eyes, one he never saw before. After a few more parting words, Terashima hurriedly turned away, yelling at someone on the phone as his figure disappeared into the distance.

"Should we head inside Sumire-san?"

"Okay."

The distance between the gate and the mansion was not a lot, but the walk felt much longer than usual. Tetsuo occasionally caught her glancing over at the rose bushes and her gaze softening as she murmured. "Silly Ran-chan."

So she knows Ran is taking care of the garden? Tetsuo found it unusual that Ran would do something like that, but the other two said it was normal. It seems he is the only one who does not know. A deep sigh escaped his lips.

It did not take them long before they reached the inside of the house. He led her the foyer where he was previously working and cleared the desk.

"So about the other time," Sumire mumbled. "Your right."

So he was right.

He noticed that those lackeys are after the brown-haired girl, so he grew suspicious of her connection with the infamous Yakuza young teen leader. It seems that they weren't merely acquaintances; something happened in the past.

It is something those people who like her will dislike. Ran knows, doesn't he? That explains his odd behavior of sticking to her even more than before. Though he always against being completely open about it before. He doesn't hold back now.

So that's the reason.

The enemy leader, for sure, is someone special to her. She cares about him even though he's causing her the most pain.

He would have asked more, but judging from her expression, she would not say another word on this.

He sighed; it seemed that he would need to pry that information another time. "Your looks can be deceiving," Tetsuo commented. "You say your personality is difficult but other people would see it as plain cruelness."

Sumire does not counter that, so he took this as his cue to continue.

"I don't know what happened in your past, but it's clear as day that you have a connection with that man that is causing headaches for people." He continued.

He watched as her expression shifted and carried on.

"You can't just assume that everything is your fault. It wasn't your choice to destroy your homeland, nor was it your hands that killed your people."

"But…"

"I did not say that to comfort you." Tetsuo made sure to add this. "So do not bother countering my words."

That's right, and he isn't trying to comfort her. There isn't any need to do that. After all, she is very strong, even if he doesn't say this. Even if he didn't say this eventually, she would conclude things. But perhaps a part of him wanted to be part of it.

A deep sigh escaped her lips. "You know Tetsuo-kun, you're very difficult to deal with."

Tetsuo blinked, surprised at her words. "Difficult?"

"Mm, I discussed this with Kou before, but I already knew from the moment I met that you that I would not be able to behave as normal." She trailed off. "You said it yourself that I have a strong and nasty personality that comes across as cruel to others. For me, that is the only way I can survive as a person because I lack the skills to function as a normal human."

"Sumire-san.."

"Tetsuo-kun, have you read Osamu Dazais no longer human?"

"A little."

"I think I can relate with the protagonist. No matter what I do, I cannot seem to fit in. I can try to force my way into a circle, but even when I laugh and interact with the other people there, I will think to myself, ah, what is the point in this? At some point, my behavior will look un-natural to others, and they will distance themselves from me. Whether or not they will notice, but some will point out that I am not sincere."

Tetsuo did not interrupt and allowed her to speak. Indeed, he often heard those rumors about her. Some people assumed that Sumire-san was looking down on them, and then some thought she simply hated them.