Sumire followed his gaze and noticed that the shoelace on her right shoe untied. Oh?
To her surprise, Nao suddenly bent down and started to tie it.aaa
"You know it's not a bad trait being clumsy, but at least have some self-awareness."
Sumire puffed her cheeks, annoyed. "Are you going to continue to insult me? Geez, just when I was going to compliment you."
"Compliment?"
"You looked like you were having a lot of fun on stage so don't say that stuff."
Even if that is the case, he doesn't have to put it bluntly like that.
"But I suppose something has changed recently."
Despite those vague sounding words, Sumire immediately understood, and her gaze softened. This person needs to learn to be more honest. Eventually, Nao finished tying her shoes, and when he did, he turned to Asahi like he had only just seen her.
"It's amazing how you ignored my presence till now." Asahi commented drily. "I suppose everybody else is a background character when you're in front of the woman you love?"
"Asahi!" She exclaimed.
"Love, huh." Nao trailed off. "It's more like everybody else becomes air."
Wait, what is with that ambiguous-sounding tone? Why doesn't he just deny it!
"Nao, why did you come down here? Shouldn't you be signing the CDs with the others?" Sumire quickly changed the topic.
After the performance ended, a booth was set up so the audience members could buy and get their CDs signed.
"If I didn't come down here, then that idiot Mikaze would have. He spotted you earlier; that was why his tension was high for the last song."
Sumire sweat fell when she heard those words. "I see."
It would have been bad if he called her name and drew the crowd's attention to her. Right now, she is still uncomfortable being around so many prying eyes.
Nao rummaged through her bag andy took a hat out before he placed it on her head. "I know you don't like wearing it, but cope with it till your debut."
"Ah-huh."
"Also," His gaze darkened as he looked towards her hands and legs. "- if you're going to fight, you should avoid using your hands. Aren't you a musician?"
Sumire laughs. "Ah, my, I was caught out already?"
"You should quit trying to hide things."
"Yeah, I know."
"Nao-san, the other two are asking you to come up now." One of the staff members approached them.
Nao turned to her and flicked her forehead. "Don't cause any more problems and just head home, alright?"
The moment Nao left, she felt Asahi's judging gaze; her friend kept shaking her head.
"So, are you truly oblivious to it? I know you're not good with romance, Sumire-sama. But how can you not see that?"
At those words, she briefly looked back at Nao.
"It's not like I don't know!" Sumire exclaimed. "I mean, I'm not stupid."
"So you know all the guys in Nanairo feather like you, right?"
"I know- but like with Nao, it's really hard to tell. You can tell when the person is nice to you, but I couldn't say so for sure with Nao, who insults me."
"What luxurious worries. If we lived in imperial times, you would have enough guys to form a harem."
But none of that matters to her; there is only one person she likes.
"Asahi, you know I-" Sumire's voice faltered.
At those words, her friend patted her back. "The teasing went too far, sorry."
Sumire weakly shook her head as she looked at the guys on stage. "It's not like I don't understand why you brought it up. Eventually, I won't be able to play dumb."
But, she has never once seen them that way. For her, who is struggling to survive in this cruel world every day, things like romance are still foreign to her.
'I don't deserve their love.'
....
A few hours later, at an illegal casino downtown.
The moment she stepped into the room, the sound of people playing and gambling drew her attention. Why do people have to scream whenever they win? She cannot adjust to this atmosphere.
Moreover, these clothes are uncomfortable. Although she wore a mask to cover her face, it would be easy to recognize her if somebody looked carefully. Thankfully there is no chance of that happening with everybody drunk.
'I should hurry up and finish this job; places like this make me uncomfortable.' The last time she went to a casino, vivid images of being pinned down and a group of men remained in her mind. Even though Ru saved her, it was still a traumatizing experience.
"Sumire-sama, my target is over there." Asahi whispered.
Sumire turned to the direction on the right to see who Asahi was talking about. Isn't that somebody from the minister of foreign affairs? Sumire sighed deeply. Why do people who have power resort to such corruption? It is beyond her.
"Go."
"But you-"
"I'll search for the other ones and scout for information too." Besides, according to what Ru told her. There is more than one ring leader in this illegal gambling case. If that is the case, that minister is most likely just a pawn. There must be another fool somewhere here.
Asahi looked at her, concerned. "Please don't go too crazy."
Sumire laughed. "Relax, I am supposed to be on my best behavior."
Her friend did not believe her, but the girl quickly left. Now then, Sumire scanned the room and quickly found the person she was looking for. A forty old man with ash brown colored hair tied in a ponytail wearing a white long-sleeved polo shirt with a brown vest and tie.
Despite how smartly he dressed, it was clear that he was out of place. If she pulled the trigger in a place like this, it would attract attention.
Even if there are many people here, it will not cover up the sound of a gun. However, that was fine with her; in the first place, she preferred old-fashioned weapons such as a sword or a knife.
The dress she wore today allowed her to do that. But it would still attract attention if she killed him here. Sumire thought when she spotted a waiter heading over to their table for a moment.
She quickly made up some excuse of why she wanted to deliver the drinks, and surprisingly he gave them to her. No, it was not surprising. She deliberately dressed this way, fully intending to use her 'beauty' to trick people.
Men are so shallow that they fall for the most simple tricks. "Excuse me for a moment. Here are your drinks."
Her target and his group turned to her, and many wolf-whistled as they stared at her.
"If we knew such a beauty was going to serve us, then perhaps we would have paid extra."
Disgusting, these people are disgusting. Sumire felt her target edge closer and placed his hand on her legs.
That caused the box called restraint in her head to explode. How dare he lay his filthy hands on her?
She maintained her smile. "Then, mister, why don't you pay me for extra services?"
Seeing his foolish grin as he agreed and started to follow her, her gaze dimmed. This man has no idea that he just signed his death certificate. Unfortunately, she is not kind enough to explain this to him.