Eternal Melody

Sumire's nightmares may have decreased, but that does not mean they have vanished. Moreover, every time she gets a nightmare, she has a terrible fever.

It was a good thing he stopped at just kissing her; if he did anything more, it would have been bad. But still kissing her like that, Yuhi felt like he was going crazy.

It was like that back then, too, back when we first saw her bare skin. Yuhi sighed. To think he resisted the urge to do something then, most guys wouldn't have. He isn't a saint either; he is just like those other guys. However, Ibuki Sumire is different.

She is different from all those women who flocked to him. When he spent that night hugging her bare body to keep her warm, Yuhi realized exactly how much he fell for her. He didn't do anything to her even though they were in that situation.

His thoughts broke off when he sensed movement and realized she was awake.

"Mmmm, you're up?"

"Yuhi." Sumire extended her hand out. "It's still night?"

"Yeah, get some more sleep." Yuhi continued to wipe the sweat off her forehead. "You're going to be fine."

Sumire looked at him for a few minutes before mumbling. "I had a nightmare?"

"You were sweating a lot and cried out."

"Yuhi, why do you like me?"

"What's this silly question? Did you forget how I confessed to you?"

At those words, Sumire sat up and tugged on his shirt. "Are you sure you like me?"

"Hey, why are you asking that now?"

Did he do something wrong again? If he did, he wishes she would just tell him. Sometimes it is hard to tell what she is thinking. Her fever doesn't seem to be going away either.

His thoughts broke off when she caressed his cheek, and he sighed.

"Quit messing around. What if I attack you."

"But I am sick."

Does she truly think he will stop because of that reason? This girl underestimates him far too much. Then again, if he wanted to do something, he could have done so earlier.

"You should lay back down."

"Yuhi too."

Hearing her faint petal-like voice call his name weakly, he felt his heartbeat increase and his cheeks reddened. "You are not a child; sleep on your own."

They have to sleep separately today; otherwise, he will really go crazy and attack her nonstop. He just had to recall that time he first saw her bare skin. Yuhi frantically shook his head. He needs to snap out of it.

Sumire innocently tilted her head. "You don't want me anymore?"

'I didn't say that at all.' Yuhi saw her innocent expression and her hands stretched out, indicating she wanted him to hug her. This girl is truly going to bring out his inner beast one day.

Yuhi resigned himself to his fate, and soon he was laying down on the bed, with Sumire nestled firmly in his arms.

"You seem to get fevers a lot at night."

"Is it that hanyou fever thing?"

"No." Yuhi trailed off. "But, I cannot rule the possibility that it has something to do with your powers."

Nightmares leading to a fever; he has never heard of something like that before. The best person who would know this type of thing would be Atsuro. When he thought of the redhead, however, Yuhi frowned. He does not want Sumire to deal with that person.

The other person with sufficient knowledge, the name Makoto Soujiro popped into his head, and Yuhi sighed. 'I would rather not see him, but Sumire will be taking her career seriously from now on. There will be days where she has a late schedule and won't be back till late.'

It will be bad if she gets a fever like this when she is in the middle of work. With Hino by her side, it should be fine. But there will be times when Hino cannot be with her. They need to take some precautions.

His gaze fell on the girl who was staring at him.

"What?"

Sumire giggled. "I was just thinking how lucky I am; you are very handsome, Yuhi."

"You're seriously driving me crazy today."

"If you want to touch me, it's okay," Sumire said, understanding. "I mean, it is Christmas eve; we should make some beautiful memories."

It won't be a beautiful memory, though.

For Terashima Yuhi, sex was not something beautiful; he does not understand why Sumire can see it that way. That panting mess and desperation, how can that be beautiful?

Yuhi looked at the girl's face and saw how pale it was. To think just a few hours ago, she was standing so brightly on stage. Initially, Sumire was not supposed to appear for that many songs, but she sang all the songs in the concert. Didn't she have more songs than Takashi Yumi in the end?

Maybe she just overexerted herself. She has not stood on stage in a very long time and sang that many songs. Hopefully, it is just fatigue.

"I'm handsome, huh?"

"Ah, do you not believe me?"

"No, it's just we both know you're not dating me for my looks."

Even though she has made plenty of comments regarding his appearance, Yuhi understood that she was only saying it in a joking manner.

"Hmm, then why are we dating?"

At those words, Yuhi's cheeks reddened, and he coughed. "Are you going to keep teasing me?"

Whenever he thought back to his second confession, Yuhi wanted to find a hole somewhere and hide for a while. How could he blurt out such cheesy-sounding things? It wasn't like him. He is not the type of person to say flowery words and just tell the person directly. His first confession was like that too. He just directly told her.

"Maybe. But it was the first time, you know? That a man confessed to me like that. It was very romantic."

Yuhi awkwardly coughed again. "It was embarrassing for me."

Sumire's gaze softened. "Mm I know. But I was very happy. I think if you confessed to me like you did the first time, I would have said no."

The first time he confessed and got turned down, huh? Perhaps it was because he went down memory lane earlier and clearly remembered the events from then, but he wants to ask her now.

"Why did you turn me down when you clearly loved me?"

It had weighed down on his mind even though he heard her reasons when she was half-conscious. The fact that she never told him directly bothered him.