Eternal Melody

"Say, do you think it's okay? If we allow that guy to meet with her?"

Atushi stopped cleaning the glass and pulled out his lighter and a cigarette. "It's not as though there's much choice right now. Honestly speaking, I'd rather have it, so she doesn't have any engagement partners right now."

That's right, especially considering these circumstances. "However, in the end, she is still a member of the top class elite. She needs a fiance. She has nobody left in her family other than the few guards and elders that survived or weren't present at the incident. She has to make use of any connections she can get. Though I doubt she ever saw it that way."

"True, she isn't that type of person." Jae chuckled. "It was funny how she didn't recognize me for a while after she came here."

"I found that odd too. You two met before."

"Right, she is my life savior, but-" Jae trailed off. "Maybe it is better if she doesn't know that."

Atushi was about to say anything when the doors opened, revealing a woman with long purple hair. She looked towards Sumire and Yuhi on the couch, and a relieved sigh escaped her lips. But she quickly turned to the windows and pulled the blinds down, and closed the curtains.

"Asuka-chan? What is the problem?"

"I controlled the news as much as I could. I reported it to my captain too, but I don't know how this got posted." Asuka pulled out her tablet and placed it on the counter.

Atushis eyes widened when he saw the news report.

IDOL KILLER STRIKES AGAIN

"At one today, somebody killed a waitress with a gun. Strange enough, most of the workers gave the same answer like somebody instructed them to do so. It was around three when the police finally came; before then, there was plenty of time to dispose of the evidence. The rumors of the killer is the one and only Ibuki Sumi--" Atushi stopped mid-sentence.

Wait what? What is this?!!

"Asuka!"

"I tried! But if they can bypass Hyou4s security, then that means it can only be--" Before Asuka could finish her sentence, they hear a large pounding sound on the doors.

Jae walked towards the window and carefully peeked through the blinds. "Kiragi-san, were you rushing to tell us this because people followed you?"

Asuka nodded. "I don't know where they came from, but there are a lot of them. Somebody also gave the reporters a tip that they have seen Sumire coming here."

Somebody? Atushi gritted his teeth. A reporter who is that persistent in following Sumire there can only be one.

"Ibuki-san?"

"We know you are in there; please don't hide."

Atushi sensed the mocking tone in their voices and clenched his fist due to his sudden burst of anger. This was a setup.  Atushi was about to march up to the door, but Sumire grabbed hold of his hand.

"It's fine."

"But-" He hadn't realized when she woke up no she was never sleeping from the beginning. Quite some time has passed since she did anything like this, so he almost forgot. Whenever something bad happens, she will take responsibility for it even if it is not her fault.

"Asuka, how many people are outside?"

"Two hundred."

"I see."

Atushi's gaze fell on his hand, and he noticed a spec of blood.

"Your bleeding."

"Wahh- really?!"

Atushi sighed and quickly took out the medical supplies."  How's that? Did the blood stop?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"It did? I used the juice from shoujiou roots. It's good for stopping blood. It also prevents anemia. When it starts to bruise, scorch some tsuwabuki leaves and make a paste to put on it. "

As he explained this, though, he noted Sumire stared at him, "What is it?"

"I just thought that you're nice after all."

He hears Jae chuckling in the background, and he sighed.

The thing is, she is really serious about that, isn't she? "I'd ask what sort of impression you've had of me up until now. But something tells me I'd rather not know."

"Fufu, is that so? Who knows, you'd probably have gotten a nice response."

She's messing around with him. But he supposed she has always been like this.

His eyesight moved towards Sumire, who was combing her hair with her fingers. There was something about this sight that reminded him of something. He watched her a bit more before he realized something whenever he looked into her eyes before it looked like he could see the illumination of the moonlight.

Ah, moonlight; whenever he thought of that, he begins to think of their senpais. After all, their group M5 represents the moon, doesn't it? As he was wracking his brains on the matter, he did not notice that the girl was staring at him at a closer range.

He only realized because Jae commented about waking Yuhi up. "W--what is it?"

"I just thought that you'd changed a lot, haven't you, Atushi?"

Huh? Where did that come from? "That's quite random."

"Aha, you think so?"

Yeah, he does. She has had plenty of chances since coming here to say something like that to him. "But that's true, hmmm how to put it? Just now, you pulled an expression on your face that I had not yet seen before, so I felt the need to say it like that."

"In other words, it was random."

Sumire laughed softly. "Ah, I'm caught?!"

"Moron."

But the girl only responded with a laugh causing him to sigh. Even though they are older now. He can see that some things about her won't change at all. He supposed a part of him is glad about that, yet he occasionally wonders if that is the case.

When she first came here, after she sang on stage, she would break down backstage. For sure, those tears are not a lie and those hazard eyes either. Recently it appears as though she is much calmer than before.

It's Yuhi's influence, but there's something different here.

"Sumire, you told me before that were just empty shells waiting for something to happen, correct?"

Sumire nodded. "I did." Her tone changed, and he knew instantly that she sensed what he was about to ask.

"I didn't mean--"

"But I did not get that feeling when I first read the lyrics to M5 debut song." Usually, when anybody sings, it's difficult to pay attention to the lyrics.  But after the conversation they had then, he found himself looking at the lyrics carefully.