Eternal Melody

Hino sighed and took out a handkerchief, and he passed it to her. "You're crying again; you should really tell Yuhi."

"No, I don't want him to drop everything and fly over to me."

"He won't be, he will just be paying a visit. Come on, it's almost been half a month. Surely he can take a break."

Sumire shakes her head. "If he sees how weak I am, he will surely stay here with me."

"But, recently, you keep having nightmares. It's not good for you."

"I'm okay, Hino, really." Sumire tried to give him a reassuring smile, but he still looked at her, filled with concern. "It's truly okay, my anxiety isn't as bad anymore. I stood in front of that crowd earlier and didn't panic, right?"

She still felt a bit afraid, so she focused her attention on Hino. Seeing him there for her, she understood why she could stand there calmly because Hino was by her side. She would have broken down if she had been alone, but because Hino was there, she was okay.

'I wonder if it's okay for me to tell him that, or will he misunderstand me?' Sumire debated in her head but decided not to say it.

"That's true. But if you need anything, I am still here."

Her thoughts break off when Hino reaches over and gently squeezes her hands across the table.

"Thank you."

"Eh?" Sumire looked at him, confused.

"For treating Yuhi so well. Since I have known him, he has never had much luck with women. At first, I thought there was something wrong with him seeing and dating such strange women. But, then, later on, I learned about your presence, and it made more sense." Hino mumbled. "At first, I didn't think he was serious about you."

Sumire didn't say anything but continued to listen.

"After all, Yuhi never treated any women well. I just couldn't see him being sincere toward women. As much as I want to defend him, those rumors about him were correct after all."

"You were his manager then, Hino. Didn't you try to stop Yuhi from sleeping with random women?"

A troubled look flashed through Hino's face. "I tried Sumire, but he was out of control. Whenever I turned to look away for a moment, he would be making out with another woman. Yet whenever I saw him do that, something felt wrong. I don't know how often I received news from the media that he spent the night with some weird woman in a hotel. I had to bail him out so many times. The first time I walked on him and a woman, I was in for a shock; all I saw was a lifeless look on his face."

Just the thought of Yuhi being together with another woman was enough to anger her. This is why she never asked for the details about it before. Yuhi always thanked her for being so understanding, but the reality is if she had heard the details, she would have gotten angry.

"Hey, calm down. You're going to crush the life out of that mug."

Sumire sighed deeply. "I just don't like the idea of Yuhi being together with another woman."

"Yeah, I figured, or rather Yuhi said it himself. He said your jealousy is really cute, and whenever he dropped some details, your face would go red from anger, and you would puff your cheeks."

"W-what else did he say?" Sumire felt her cheeks redden hearing Hino's words. She could already imagine Yuhi saying it and boasting.

"Well, I don't think I should be the one saying it. By the way, this was before he learned I liked you."

"Uh, right," Sumire replied awkwardly, and she stood up. "Do you want to watch a movie? We can wash the dishes later."

"Yeah, sure."

This is bad, after all, being left alone with Hino. Even though she trusts him not to do anything, she feels a bit strange every time she hears about his feelings. Sumire walked over to the TV and flicked it on. She cautiously joined Hino, who was already sitting down on the couch.

"By the way, your birthday is coming up."

"Ah yes."

"I cleared your schedule out, and you have a leave of absence from the University." Hino trailed off. "Do you already have plans?"

"No."

"Then, make it with me. Rather, I already have an idea of what to do. So if you turn me down now, the tickets will go to a waste." Hino takes something out of her pocket.

"An aquarium?"

"Yeah, it was either this or the amusement park, and something tells me that you prefer looking at animals overrides."

Sumire laughed. "You guessed correctly, mister." Her gaze softened, seeing the tickets. This aquarium had opened up shortly after Yuhi left, and she had been meaning to go. But she didn't like the idea of going alone.

Hino must have wanted to know that she wanted to wait until Yuhi returned.

"I'm not Yuhi, but I can't think of another place that would make you happy right now."

"Then, when are you picking me up? Or are we meeting over there?"

"I have some meetings to attend to first, so we can meet up there."

"If you are busy, you don't have to-" Her sentence fell short when he flicked her forehead.

"Don't be a fool; those meetings are for your sake."

"For my sake?" Sumire repeated, puzzled.

"Hmm. I can't tell you just yet, but an amazing offer is for you."

"Then I'll trust you, Mr golden manager. My life is in your hands." Sumire joked.

In the past two weeks, they have gotten a lot closer. She doesn't remember when was the last time she felt so comfortable around another person. Asami and Aika are good people but don't have much in common. On the other hand, she and Hino had similar hobbies. She truly saw him as a good friend.

They were watching a random movie; she felt nervous after hearing Hino's feelings again, so she didn't check what she clicked. She just had to pick a random mushy romance film that any normal teenage girl would like.

"You know, what's the point of romance movies?" Sumire asked.

Hino sighed. "Says the one who picked it." He turned to the screen and grumbled. "The same as all the other romance films. A normal girl will fall for the most popular guy in school. That most popular guy is dating the cutest girl in school, whom everybody hates because she is a bully. The normal girl changes her appearance, and that popular guy falls for her instead."

Sumire raised her eyebrow. "Something tells me you watch stuff like this often."

Hino sighed and paused for a moment before pausing. "Before everything became awkward with Cas and me, she often dragged me to watch such movies. Yuhi also made me tag along on his dates with Touko too."

"Don't even get me started on musicals. I love music but do not see the point in musicals." Sumire passes him a bag of chips, and Hino takes some.

"Finally, somebody who understands. It just seems strange that people burst out singing about everything, even something serious."

"Right? It doesn't make any sense. I prefer plays and books turned into movies."

Hino laughed. "Like a Shakespeare play adapted into a movie?"

"Correct; you can get a chocolate bar for that answer." Sumire passed him a chocolate bar, only for him to bend down and take a bite. She looked at him, startled. "W-what are you doing?"

"Yeah, I thought so. This chocolate is bitter. Do you have any lollipops instead?"

Sumire couldn't say a word as she stood up and walked over to the kitchen cabinets. This is weird; maybe they shouldn't spend so much time together. But if she did push him away, she knew how heartbroken he would be.