Dream Star

Lila's gaze fell on Haruka, who fell asleep on her chest. 'Well, it seems like she won't be able to escape for a while.' Still, it doesn't bother too much. She reaches over and doves her hands in his hair. 'It's softer than she last remembered.' Then again, she doesn't have the luxury to spend sweet moments like this with him. Haruka is an idiot most of the time who pounces on her rather than flirt. Still, it's better than before. When she is with him, she no longer feels so alone.

However, there are still occasions where Lila felt alone. Whenever she felt that way, she would feel incredibly guilty. Haruka is doing his best and working so hard on her happiness. But in the end, nothing has changed; all she does is push away those who care for her.

"Is he all right?"

Lila looked over and spotted silver hair. That's right, Kiryu was here today. "Mm, he's sleeping now."

"I heard…"

"He's okay," Lila muttered. "He's fine; he won't do anything like that again."

Kiryu nodded, "Alright, but are you okay?"

"I'm fine; I'm not the one who is hurting. Haruka is in a lot of pain, Kiryu."

He lightly brushed his hands across her cheeks. "This also hurts you, doesn't it?"

Lila laughed, "It's unfair for you to notice, the thing is Kiryu it's like this. I like Haruka; that's why whenever he gets hurt, it hurts me too. Haruka is suffering a lot---" her sentence fell short when she saw Kiryu's gaze. He is so unfair right now. Why is he looking at her like that?

"Anyhow," Kiryu suddenly let's go of her. "Are you going to the souriee?"

"Ah-huh."

"You know it's a trap, right? Zane set it up."

"I will still go," Lila nodded. "It would be stranger if I don't. Besides, I think we've stalled long enough. How are things with Hyou4?"

"Well, they are prepared for anything."

"Ah, so they've accepted you as their new leader at last. I was worried that you wouldn't be able to handle it."

Kiryu sighed, "Well, it's not like there is much for me to do. Still, you already know everything, huh?"

Lila laughed, "While it looks like I've been slacking, I haven't. So those falcons.."

"It's harder than we thought to locate them. For some reason, there is no trace of them in the security cameras across the city."

"Any chances they are avoiding the cameras?" Lila questioned.

"No," Kiryu shook his head. "If they avoid it, the detector should pick them up."

"Then, they used Zane's ability."

"About that, do you know anything about it?"

Lila paused and sighed. "Well, it's hard to explain. But based on what I have learned so far, we ought to be very careful when he approaches us."

He reached over and patted her hair, surprising her. "Kiryu…"

"I wish you wouldn't push yourself so much. I'm always worried about you."

Lila laughed, "I'm sorry…"

"Then again, it isn't so bad. I do like thinking about you all the time."

'So stupid, and so honest.' The reason why Kiryu is more open now is because of her, isn't it? Ever since she chose his song at the festival, the two of them have gradually gotten closer. However, this is as close as she can let him get to her.

"So, I have a question for you, Lila."

She raised her eyebrows when she sensed his changed tone. 'Did something happen?'

"Well, I want to know. When did you fall for Haruka? I mean, you were in love with me during that time I saw you briefly in July."

Lila looked at him dumbfounded; she couldn't believe he even asked this question. Is he serious? "Isn't this question weird, what are you thinking," Lila muttered.

"Sorry," Kiryu apologized. "I know I'm acting too straight forward. However, I'm curious. Won't you give me an answer?"

"When we're in London.. It happened gradually," Lila answered truthfully. "I can't tell you the exact moment when. A lot happened back there, and I was testing the waters with our relationship…."

Kiryu sweat fell, "Testing you say…"

"Can you blame me? He was such a player before we dated. He used to fool around with women right in front of me.." Lila sighed at the memory. "Well, it's not like he did that deliberately, my timing was just bad. Still, there were a lot of complications at first."

"And yet?" he urged her for an answer.

"Yet, I slowly realized something. Haruka..is more fragile than he seems. He reminds me of myself, which played the key part in my decision. I already knew that he needed help; my initial purpose of going to Light town was to help him. However, I didn't realize the extent of his pain until I got to know him."

She didn't realize how broken he was - until she saw how bad his coping methods were—drowning oneself in alcohol? Fooling around with other girls? His unhealthy lifestyle, such as bad meals.

"Whenever someone tried to get close to him, he would lash out and push them away. He couldn't accept other people's kindness. So it was natural for him not to care about his wellbeing. The way he abused himself showed that he didn't care about himself at all," Lila trailed off. "I'm no better than him. For the longest time, I couldn't see what was right beside me this whole time. So many people cared, but all I did was push them away. Like Haruka, I couldn't accept it. I felt like I didn't deserve their kindness. It's fine if I'm alone, this way I won't hurt anyone."

However, in the end - all this did was worry the people around her. "Did you know Kiryu, humans can't live without the warmth of another person. No matter how much they insist, they are okay by themselves."

"Sorry," Kiryu suddenly apologized.

"You have nothing to feel sorry for. I couldn't expect you to know since I kept pushing you away."

"Even then, I'm sorry. You helped me get over my anxiety and pain. You brought me to the light, but doing that only caused you to suffer more. Tell me, Lila, by helping Haruka, your not in pain?"

Lila shook her head, "I'm not, that's why I felt like this time something had changed. I'm still insecure and anxious about many things. However, step by step, I believe everything is getting better now. By loving Haruka, I've learned to love something about myself."

Their relationship didn't start well. Most people would have left Haruka by now.

So many questioned her decision and actions.

"That's why you'll go?" Kiryu asked.

"I will. I want to find out the truth with my own hands," she laughed lightly. "Even if I say that, I already know it's something to do with me. That person insists on foolishly protecting me like you once did."

"You heard what she said, Haruka."

At that comment, her eyes widened alarmed. Lila tried to escape - but Haruka immediately grabbed hold of her. He reached over and stretched her cheeks out.

"So, you were planning on going behind my back.."

"Pretending to sleep is so unfair!"

"Tough luck."

"Kiryu, traitor!" Lila exclaimed, realizing something.

"Hey, now, he had to know."

But even so, did they have to work together like that? Lila glanced down at her feet. "If I tell you I will be fine, what will you say?"

Haruka sighed, "Honestly, what are you thinking? Are you crazy my wife? I know your brave, but this is about Zane of all people. Don't you know how insane he can get? Please use your pretty little lead to think for once. I mean, I know you're cute and all but you're not a ditz…."

Lila blinked when she heard Haruka's scolding. 'Is he scolding or praising her? He called her cute..' Haruka must have realized what he said since he suddenly pulled away from her.

"Alright, you two, let's go already."

She glanced down and noticed something. "Haruka, hand."

Why aren't they holding hands?

Haruka looked over and pointed at Kiryu. But Lila frowned, "Hand," she repeated.

At that comment, Kiryu interjected. "You know if you don't want to so badly... Lila, want to hold my hand?"

She turned her attention to Kiryu. Kiryu's hands? Ah, recently, when Kiryu held her hand, it felt very comfortable. Before she could accept his offer, Haruka grabbed hold of her hand. He looked very troubled, and Lila beamed happily.

"Happy?" Haruka muttered.

Lila nodded, "Yes."

He sighed, "You're so very silly, you know? What's with you and this hand thing...and you're always clinging to me when we're outside. I thought you disliked public acts of affection."