'Why am I not the one standing by her side?' Sano knew he would be unable to take the sight any longer, so he quickly stepped out of the room. The moment he did, the doors behind him shut, and he realized that somebody followed him out.

Kiragi Asuka, she was the first one to notice that there was something different about him. She saw through his gentleman facade he put on.

"It seems that warning wasn't enough for you."

That's right, the warning. It referred to when Sumire's best friend, Momoi Futaba, beat him up. It happened shortly after the incident where Kanagawa rescued Sumire in the bar. It seemed the pink-haired woman heard about it and didn't hesitate to march into his company and beat him to a pulp.

The girl was the only one who hit him, but somebody silently stood by and watched.

"Do you regret not hitting me yourself?"

Asuka sighed. "There would have been no need to. Besides, the one who ended up hurt the most was you and not her."

Sano recalled the words she said that day. After Momoi beat him, Kiragi Asuka approached him with a handkerchief. Her gaze remained cold, and yet there was something there.

The victim from this will be you.

It seemed like the girl already knew that he had fallen for Sumire. If that were the case, then why did she remain so hostile towards him? Sano sighed, frustrated. There is no use trying to figure that out; the people around Ibuki Sumire are very strange. Even the friends she made here in her new school were unusual.

"I came here to deliver this to her, but I was slightly curious too. It seems your relationship with her has changed."

"I don't need another lecture."

The words Eli said the previous day remained in his mind.

"There is no need to lecture. Besides, I doubt that even Futaba can say anything to you now."

Huh? Sano blinked, confused.

"You have changed. There are still many disagreeable parts about you, but you are no longer an enemy. Moreover, it will upset Sumire if we continue to go against you."

Sano didn't understand this situation at all. So is Kiragi accepting him now? He isn't even in a relationship with Sumire now, so this strange acceptance from her friends is odd.

Now that he thought about it, it wasn't just Kiragi. Even that woman who badmouthed him and humiliated him in front of so many people is less hostile. Terashima doesn't seem to treat him as an enemy. It felt very peculiar to him; he didn't understand why these people were behaving this way.

Kiragi didn't say anything more than that and walked away. Sano stood there in the hallway, dumbfounded for a few moments before he returned to the room. For a moment, he stood back since he saw how close they were.

Terashima stood by the bed and leaned forward.

"I'll be back tomorrow morning. I'll bring you breakfast too."

'"T--thank you for the dress."

There was a box on the bedside table.

"Your welcome. I want to go with you, but we will draw too much attention. So don't be careless."

"Yuhi, will he really be there?"

Terashima didn't respond with words and kissed her. Sano froze again, although he already saw this before the sight still left him stunned.

He coughed awkwardly, and Terashima pulled back from her. He didn't say anything else and walked off.

"Uh.." Sumire trailed off and laughed. "You saw that?"

"You're going to the party too?" Sano ignored her question.

He ignored how her cheeks still seemed red and how shy she looked.

"They invited Soujiro and his fiance. So I have to go."

"Too?"

"I'll be attending." Sano kisses the end of her hair. "Do you want to attend with me?"

"I'm going with Soujiro. Besides, what about Penelope?"

"Come with me." Sano brushed his lips against her ear. "It will be dangerous."

"I'm almost recovered."

"Sumire, those people"

"I know why they invited us." Sumire trailed off. "Yuhi said Ru would be there. I want to talk to him; that's why I am going."

"Sano?"

Unconsciously he found himself getting close to her. "Hey, are you wearing perfume?"

"I am; you gave me some after all."

But normally she doesn't wear it. There is no need since she is hosp- Sano paused. She probably wore it because she heard Terashima would visit. Now that he thought about it, she does seem more dressed up on certain days.

"I will take you to the examination, but eat breakfast first."

"Alright!"

Sano paused for a moment. Didn't she already eat with Terashima? He only said that out of habit, but he supposes it doesn't matter.

_______

In one of the many dark alleyways in a certain district in Tokyo, a man with short black hair wearing a black suit and top hat strolled across. There were a group of men on both sides. His gaze fell on the pile of bodies and the broken ruble beside them. He spotted the traces of blood from before.

"Sumire didn't come here, did she?" Yuhi asked one of the men.

"No sir."

But this level of injuries, Yuhi scanned the area and immediately spotted something from the corner of his eyes. It was a brown object, an old pipe.

A deep sigh passed his lips. "There is no need to investigate. I indeed kept some alive, but since Sumire wanted them dead, I would have killed them after getting the information."

It seemed that person determined that these people had no value. But did he really have to go this far? This is an indirect way of courting his wife.

"Sir, what should we do about the bodies?"

"I will call the SF in, and they will take them away, make sure to scram before they arrive."

It is too troublesome for them to move the dead bodies. Besides, if they touch the corpse and get their fingerprints on them, they will all spend nights in cells. Well, except for him, he would never leave any traces behind.

Yuhi exited the alleyway after picking up the pipe and putting it in his pocket. This area of town was a lot livelier than the rest, but the people who come here are different. There were many young people, all wearing unusual clothing. This downtown area is a place for delinquents and other underworld deals.

Now then, what else does he have left to do here? Sumire gave him some instructions, but he was reluctant to follow them all. It is not like he doesn't trust her, but if she continues behaving recklessly before returning to the entertainment industry, it could potentially backfire on her.

From: Sumire

I'm sorry about what I said earlier.

The truth is I would rather not ask you to do such things for me.

But the way I am now, I can't move very well.

Yuhi paused as he read the text and sighed. She doesn't have to apologize. He was the one who told her that he would shoulder all the demons she has to carry.

But is she truly okay with taking a life?