Eternal Melody

Chapter 645 Being careful

　　"Jun-kun, Jun-kun. Are you okay?" Sumire immediately turned to Jun. But he was unresponsive. There were dark-colored bruises all over his face, neck, and arms. 

　　'This is awful; how could they do this to him?' Sumire saw him clench his stomach and paused. Did they kick him repeatedly in the stomach too? That will cause problems. She ought to call Sa- no Atsuro. Atsuro would be better for this.

　　Jun-kun is so silly; how could he stop her? Should she go over there and make that woman suffer even more?

　　Her thoughts broke off hearing approaching footsteps; a frantic-looking Iwa Ran stood.

　　"Jun-" Ran trailed off, and his eyes widened when he saw her. "Crap."

　　Sumire glared at him. "Since when?"

　　"For a while now."

　　'For awhile?' But how come she didn't notice anything? No, why didn't he tell her? Something similar happened when they were in Tsukuhara too. Jun-kun promised her that if anything like this happened again, she would be the first one he consulted with. 

　　"Don't cry about it. You should understand why Jun did this." Ran walked over and picked Jun up.

　　"I know, I understand," Sumire mumbled.

　　It makes sense even if she feels hurt that he did not consult with her. 

　　"Let's carry him somewhere safe."

　　Ah, in that case-

　　..

　　The safe place she asked Ran to bring Jun to was Yuhi's atler. This is in a private area where other students often didn't visit. She learned from Aika it was because the other students didn't want to disturb Yuhi's creative process. The moment she opened the doors, Yuhi stepped out.

　　"Ah."

　　Yuhi looked behind her and opened the door fully. "Come in."

　　'He has bed hair. Did he just wake up?' and the first thing he did, was he about to search for her? Ran quickly went past her, and she remained frozen at the door for a few seconds until Yuhi walked back over to her.

　　Yuhi bent down and brushed his forehead against hers. "Is my temperature still high?"

　　"A little," Sumire admitted. She ran her fingers through his black locks, combing them slowly. "You have to learn to do this on your own."

　　"It's easier for you to fix it."

　　"That is what lazy people say."

　　Still, she doesn't dislike this situation. Sumire grabbed hold of his hand. "Let Jun-kun use the couch; for now, you can lean on me if you get dizzy, Yuhi-san."

　　"I like this arrangement better than the couch."

　　Even when he is sick, he still finds a way to flirt with her. Then again, he has always been like this. That day he confessed to her didn't he say something along the lines of, 'I wanted to show off my war scars. Hey, do you think I look cool?'

　　She had to stop herself from hitting him. 

　　Sumire turned to the couch; Ran had just finished placing Jun down. He was looking at him with a concerned gaze. No, there was a mixture of anger in his eyes. Now that she thought about it, Ran has always treated Jun very well. She always found that unusual, considering how he is normally cold towards other people.

　　"So, who saved Jun?"

　　Ran pointed at her, and Sumire shot him an angry look. How could he rat her out so easily?

　　One of the things she promised Yuhi-san at the beginning of their relationship was 'no fighting on the school premises.' It made sense, though. She is an art student; her hands are precious. She shouldn't do anything that would damage them. 

　　At those words, Yuhi brought her fingers to his lips and kissed her fingertips slowly. Uh-Uh? After the initial surprise wore off, she felt her cheeks burn. What is he doing? Why does it feel so weird?

　　He is just kissing her injuries, but somehow-a large sound disrupts her train of thought. Sumire turned to see that Ran had knocked over a tray of small paints.

　　Yuhi also glanced over and sighed. "Hey, I just organized that."

　　"Isn't it your fault for leaving it there?"

　　Despite the normal response, Sumire couldn't miss the look on Ran's eyes. Ah, so this is what Kou was trying to tell her. The reason why Ran would be so against Yuhi his feelings for her, huh? Quite some time has passed since she last thought about it, but Ran likes her a lot.

　　He was so obvious about it back when they were both attending Tsukuhara high, to the point that she couldn't feign being oblivious. 

　　'I am in a better emotional state now to give him a proper reply. But, if she does. Won't it make his relationship with Yuhi-san even worse?'

　　She needs to think about this one carefully.

　　"Why is Jun-kun being bullied?" Sumire decided to ask directly.

　　"We don't know much about it."

　　Yuhi took something out of Jun's pocket. It was a small note.

　　You saw something you shouldn't have.

　　"This?"

　　"It was delivered after one of our shows. The next day the bullying started at school."

　　"So the culprit is a student here?"

　　"Not quite." Yuhi shook his head. "If so, they would have left this note in Jun's locker in school, but they delivered it to the dressing room. They made all of us aware."

　　"So, are they trying to provoke all of you?"

　　"It seems like it. So far, the only one falling for it is Ran."

　　"H-hey!" Ran exclaimed.

　　"What, you know it's true."

　　Ran sighed, frustrated. "I don't have a good temper after all. When I saw that note, I thought it was just another silent threat. We are top idols; we tend to receive just as much hate as we do fan letters. However, when I noticed Jun's bruises, I got angry. How come I treated it as a joke? Jun knew it was serious from the start."

　　"Do you think Jun-kun knows what this note means?"

　　"Most likely, but the idiot isn't saying a word." Ran said, irritated.

　　Sumire scanned the message card carefully. Why does it feel like she has seen something like this before? 

　　It took her only a few seconds before she loudly exclaimed. "Ah!"

　　'They are warning cards. I make the cards, but somebody else writes the warnings. When the boss gets mad, he orders that person to send them out.'

　　Toh, Toh made these cards. He mentioned it when she was searching for some paper to write on.

　　So, could it be whatever Jun-kun saw was related to the black Alice organization schemes? The leader found out and sent him that card. But what about the bullying? She can't figure this out on her own.

　　But if she were to call 'him,' then Yuhi might get upset. Sumire shook her head. Right now, she needs to find out everything for Jun-kun's sake.