"N-no, that's not it. I was just concerned." Mamoru trailed off and caressed her cheek. "Did it hurt?"
"A-a little." Sumire stammered. "C-can we not go into details?"
Besides, she was half drunk and not really conscious. Whether it hurts or not, she only found out the next morning when she woke up with sore muscles.
Mamoru nodded and retreated his hand away. "I think you know already. But even when we are not together, normally, I have people follow you when you go to dangerous places."
"I know."
"This time, I relaxed a little because Asahi was going with you. With her personality, I knew she would never allow anything bad to happen to you."
"Yes."
"Ki, just be careful next time. The guy you met just happened to be a nice guy. But coincidences like that do not happen a lot. Most of the time, you will meet a bad guy who wants to take advantage of you."
"I understand; please don't worry so much."
Even if she says this, he will worry. No, he will worry even more after this talk. She decided to change the topic and took out a book from the side table.
"Ru, have you read this yet?"
"No, but I nagged your president to give me a copy so I could check out the contents."
This book she is holding is a biography on her life. It was something the president suggested. 'There are many people who are curious about you.' It is not like their curiosity is something good. But, she does understand what he was trying to do.
Words have a way of moving people. If they read her story, then there will be fewer critics. Of course, it would not completely dismiss all the hate people have for her. No matter what evidence she presents people, there is no way to completely change somebody who has made their mind up. But it is a step in the right direction.
"If you read the title, it shows I am looking for my missing sister."
"That's-"
"That's the object of this book, to find my missing sister. The chance of finding her is really small. She may be dead or not be in Japan even if she is still alive. She may not even read this book if she's in Japan. She may not even announce her relation to me. But even so, Aki wanted to grasp onto any chance, even if it's no more than a five percent chance. Aki has worked hard for that five percent chance."
Mamoru closed the book. "Do you want to see her? Your sister?"
"Aki wants to see her, and when Yuhi was still around, he encouraged me a lot, too, since he knows how much I've always wanted a family. I also have a few things I want to ask her. But, I am afraid that if we find her, then Yuhi will marry her since she was Yuhi's fiance." Sumire said.
It was something she discovered when Yuhi joined the Holy knight's headquarters. More like she overheard his conversation with Aki. It surprised her when she learned that Yuhi was part of a fallen prestigious family. His circumstances differ from her, and the accident that took his parent's life happened when he was even younger.
To think they would share a different type of connection.
Sumire felt the tears desperately fall from her eyes as she buried her face in her hands. "I've always been worried about what I would do if Yuhi left me. "
Even though she was the one who turned him down, she understood whenever she listened to his songs that he only had her in his mind.
"If you're that worried about it, you should let him know."
"If Yuhi doesn't want me anymore, I can't say that."
Even if he loves her deeply, if he ever meets her sister again, who knows what would happen? " Then I'll speak to him on your behalf. "
More and more tears fell from her eyes then. It's something anyone can say, and yet when this person says it, she can't help but feel relieved.
"Thank you, Ru, for being with me."
She would have truly fallen apart if it were not for him. When Yuhi left, she regretted it so much, but the reason she did not fall into despair is, without a doubt, because of Ru.
...
At Tsukushara high school, a few hours later.
Sumire exhaled deeply as she changed her shoes. She can't believe this. Why did the university suddenly back down? She and Ru received the news when they were about to leave the house this morning.
It was a simple message, 'We apologize, but your rights to visit have been declined.'
It's so unusual that they back down. Moreover, they suddenly could not get in touch with the clients that requested the case. Ru decided to call them to request for visiting rights through them, but they didn't answer their phones.
'It's better to die than disappear.' The clients are most likely dead already. The university probably wanted to hush up and cover up the matter.
It seems like there is no choice; she has to meet with that guy at the end of the week. He will surely get her in.
Ru said he would report to Aki and told her to head to school. But the morning is already almost over; should she go to the roof and skip until later?
Her thoughts broke off when somebody blew air inside her ear, and her eyes twitched, annoyed. "Nao! Stop messing around."
There stood behind her with a lazy smile on his face was her childhood friend Senbi Nao.
"You are the one who had a spaced-out look on your face. Careful, what if you end up in another dimension and not return?"
Sumire hits him with her bag. "Are you calling me an alien?"
"I am just worried about the Princess who skipped morning lessons and is only coming in now."
She sighed at his words. "I dropped by the company, and the president wrote an excuse for me."
"Oh, nice making that guy do some work."
"But Nao, you're late too."
"Unlike you, Princess, I actually had some idol work to do."
But it's rare for him to take it seriously. Nao always says that being an idol is low on his life priorities. He isn't planning something, is he?
"Let's head to class. If you show up now, maybe you can still save face."
"I suppose that is true."