Eternal Melody

Chapter 653 Scandal

　　Yuhi's eyes widened when he saw the photos on his phone. It was a picture of the school bullet board, not just any images but pictures of Sumire beating up the thugs that hurt Jun.

　　There was a video of people gathering around. One that showed Aika was removing the pictures. But it was far too late, people had taken photos on their phone, and we're posting it online.

　　Sumire peered over. "What's wrong? Why do you look so scared?"

　　It was far too late for him to hide his phone; she had already seen everything.

　　"I'm sorry, Yuhi-san, this will cause you problems."

　　"No, this isn't your fault. When I find the bastard who posted these photographs, I'll make sure they pay."

　　Who dared to do such a thing?

　　Just the mere thought of it irritated him and caused his blood to boil. Is it the media? No, the media seems to be focusing on the Nagawa Sano rumor. 

　　Yuhi kissed her eyelids softly. "How dare anybody harm you, my precious wife."

　　"Y-Yuhi."

　　"It's fine. I'll get them. Don't go to school for a while; stay here. Just wait. I'll crush the people who made you suffer." Yuhi trailed off. "I'll find somebody with ice powers so they could assist."

　　"In doing what?"

　　"In freezing their hearts ensuring that they do not die. Then I will personally tear each limb apart and disfigure their body."

　　Sumire blinked and laughed softly. "Right now, I am feeling very loved."

　　Yuhi stared at her, speechless. "You know any normal person would call me crazy."

　　"Really? I think it's sweet. I received quite the confession there." Sumire wrapped her arms around his neck and mumbled. "Truly, thank you so much, Yuhi. If it were the past me, I would have broken down seeing this. It still hurts, but you are with me." Sumire kept placing kisses on his neck, and he groaned. 

　　She is so cute; what is she doing right now? "Hey, can we do something?"

　　"Do what?" Sumire teased.

　　"Something you'd like." Yuhi picked her up and brought her over to the couch in the living room. "Do you mind?"

　　"Mmm, not at all. But be careful, don't harm the little one."

　　Hah, she has to remind him. Be careful, huh? Not a single day has gone by since they started dating where he hasn't treated her preciously.

　　________

　　In the end, they got halfway through doing it when the girl eventually broke down. It seemed like she was suppressing her emotions.

　　She finally fell asleep. Yuhi caressed her hair.

　　'I'm sorry.'

　　He recalled what she said earlier and clenched his fist. Damn those people. How dare they do this to her? What he said about finding somebody with ice abilities isn't a lie. If he uses his connections, he could easily find somebody like that. 

　　Despite Sumire saying that, he found him attractive saying those words. He knew that the girl hated it when he did cruel things on her behalf. 

　　She held herself back from staying by his side for so long because she wanted him to focus on his career. If he did something like this, it would damage all the hard work he has built so far. It would destroy her efforts to stay away.

　　Sumire endured so many lonely days without him after rejecting him. When he briefly visited her in star town, he saw with his own eyes how damaged and broken her gaze was. 

　　'I wanted to take her away immediately.' But he couldn't. She cried so much.

　　Yuhi stroked her face gently. He bent down and pressed his lips against hers. 

　　"I'll do everything for you," Yuhi whispered. "So please, Sumire, please smile. Don't cry anymore."

　　"..."

　　"If you want to escape and live somewhere in a place where nobody knows you, we can do that."

　　"..."

　　"I will give you everything, everything you want."

　　"..."

　　"So please, please do not suffer."

　　Yuhi said each word desperately. This girl had already experienced enough. If there is truly a god out there, please stop torturing her. 

　　His thoughts broke off when Hino entered the room.

　　"Did you take care of it?"

　　"It's not that simple."

　　At those words, he glared harshly at Hino. "Then stay here and watch her. I will handle it."

　　Hino sighed deeply. "I understand how you feel, Yuhi, but this isn't a simple matter. Sumire is clearly visible in these pictures."

　　"Tsk."

　　"It's odd, though."

　　"What is?"

　　"During this time, everybody should have been in class. There were no students passing by in the surveillance cameras either."

　　"Isn't it obvious somebody from that group took the photos?"

　　Hino shook his head. "No, I rounded all those people up, and they all looked terrified. Sumire did a great job scaring everybody, so I doubt any of them had the nerve to take a picture."

　　"Then-"

　　"Somebody took this from a classroom." Hino trailed off. "Nakura is checking the scene; he said it would be easier to identify if he stands from that position."

　　If Shin is working on the case, it won't be long before there are results.

　　"Why do people do this to her?" Hino suddenly mumbled. "When I first heard the rumors about her, I thought that maybe there was something wrong with her. I thought maybe she did something wrong. But, after I got to know her. No even during our first conversation, I immediately noticed that she was a good person."

　　"I ask myself that every day. Why is there so much malice against a girl who doesn't even have parents anymore? She has struggled since her parent's death, not even before then. But why do people keep enforcing a negative image on her?"

　　The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. It's unfair, just when she has finally returned to the stage. Just when she could sing again- Yuhi paused in mid-thought.

　　'Just when she could sing again?' 

　　"Let me see those pictures again."

　　Hino pulled out his tablet from his bag and passed it to him. Yuhi carefully looked through the pictures.

　　When he first saw the pictures, he was too angry to look at it properly. But now that he has calmed down a little. 

　　"It feels malicious. The person who took these is clearly very hostile towards Sumire."

　　"Isn't there any other criteria? Sorry to say this, but your girlfriend isn't exactly popular in school either."

　　"I think we can narrow it down. Iro road is an art school, but there are many students who wish to enter the entertainment industry. There are many who have been scouted, too; you should know this. You have scouted people from school too."

　　"Then do you think it's somebody that was scouted recently?"

　　Yuhi nodded. "Think about it. Sumire re-debuted with you as her manager, although she isn't formally part of our company. Currently, you are focusing on her, aren't you?"

　　"She actually signed a temporary contract with us." Hino trailed off. "Word shouldn't have spread, but she does come to the company often. Somebody I recruited must have seen her."

　　"We should go through the list of people you recruited."

　　Yuhi was positive that they would find the culprit or culprits. The solution seems too easy; however, how many times has he seen a similar-looking situation?

　　The entertainment industry contains too many dark secrets. People would resort to bringing somebody down the moment it starts to impact their chances.

　　How disgusting, how vile. For something so petty, they dare hurt his treasure, his life.