Yumeko and Kumi

Yumeko could only stare at the girl in a trance, even though she looked sick and poorly. There is something ephemeral looking about her right now. The girl is oozing with elegance and light. It is similar to seeing a holy being; she is like an angel.

She felt Maika nudge her, and Yumeko nodded. "Y--yes."

"I came here because Huan was worried about you."

Oh- Yumeko felt a jab when she heard Kumi say that name. Just from saying his name alone, she could tell how close they were.

It was almost like Kumi read her thoughts. "Can the others leave the room? I want us two to talk."

Ruka and Maika were reluctant to leave, but Kasumi pushed them out of the room and convinced them that she needed help. But even to the very last second, the two looked very concerned.

"You have good friends; they truly care for you."

"Eh?"

"Just now, the grey-haired one sent a telepathic message saying if I made you cry, she would beat me down."

Her sweat fell when she heard those words. Maika-chan, what is she doing?

"Are you frightened of me?"

"To be honest," Yumeko trailed off. "I do not know what to think of you. I only learned the truth about Atsuya- Huan on that day everything fell apart. A lot of stuff happened afterward, so I did not have time to focus on it."

But recently, things have calmed down, at least after Kasumi-san sent that message. They now have the next course of action and will soon be out of here. However, when she thought about facing him after everything that had happened, she felt very weird.

"However, I do know I feel uncomfortable about your relationship."

Kumi laughed softly. "You are a straightforward girl."

Yumeko quickly exclaimed. "No uh- I am not declaring war!"

"Declaring war?"

At those words, Yumeko averted her gaze. "You two were about to get married. If all this didn't happen, you would have gotten married already, so I-"

"So you're just going to give up even though you still have feelings for him?"

How did she know about that?"

"That part of you is exactly like Lila-chan; when you sing, your feelings pour through. Do you know the reason people underestimated you and looked down on you as an idol at the start of the tournament?"

"The reason?"

Kumi nodded. "There was a reason. It was because you were suppressing your emotions for Huan. I think Karashima-kun realized this too, and that was why he behaved that way towards you for a while."

The reason why he treated her coldly? Yumeko blinked and was startled at those words. She thought Haruka still blamed her for that incident, and yet after her terrible defeat during the first round, he chased after her and gave her advice. Perhaps, she misunderstood this entire time?

"Karashima-kun knew that although you liked both of them, the one you truly loved was Huan. When Huan told me the story, I also got that impression. When you heard that he was about to leave, you did not want to let him go, right?"

"Yes."

"If you truly liked Karashima-kun more, then even if Huan were leaving, you would not care. No, you would have cared, but it would not have hurt you as much." Kumi paused. "You know, it was difficult for me to get Huan to fall in love with me. Even when we got together, a part of his heart always remained with you. We argued a lot about him coming to see you and to resolve things."

Ah, Kasumi-san mentioned that. So their conflict was to do with her?

"I thought it was better if he came to see you; if he resolved things with you, then maybe we can become a normal couple. But he didn't do that; it was only when mother brought up the topic of us getting married did he finally budge. 'It's not fair on you, Kumi. I'm also worried about Haruka, so I will go.' That stubborn fool, he kept mentioning Karashima-kun. But I saw him surfing the net after you passed your audition; he was worried about you.."

"I-"

"I am not an idiot Kanehera-san. I can tell that he still loves you, but I am far too stubborn to let him go. It is not like he does not have feelings for me, even if his feelings for me are more friendship than love. I can live with that as long as I have him by my side."

"But isn't that painful?" Yumeko exclaimed. "How could you possibly be happy with that outcome?"

Yumeko knew she was behaving like a hypocrite; the reason the two could never have a normal relationship was because of her. She is the reason why this woman is suffering so much.

"Of course, I am not happy." Kumi raised her voice. "But what am I supposed to do? He doesn't love me like that, and the more I wait, the worse he will feel. He felt so guilty when he accepted my confession, but he wanted to repay me for everything I did for him. I thought it was okay. I can make this work. But when my mother brought up our marriage, I realized that eventually, we could no longer continue this way. Kanehera-san, I will do anything for Huan; what about you?"

What about her? What does she want to do with that person now that she knows the truth?

'I always regretted not telling him how much I loved him. So when he said he was going to return home, I felt heartbroken. I thought he decided to leave because I never told him how I felt. I thought he was tired of me.'

For so many years, she felt a huge hole in her heart. Ahoji Kumi is correct; she is the same type of singer as Lila-chan. She sings for others, sings for those who are dear to her. That was why when she lost Atsuya and her feelings became muddled, she could no longer sing the same way.

It was only after she watched Lila-chan struggle with love and eventually decided on Haruka did she decide to be honest with herself.

"I want to tell him everything. The first thing I will do when I get out of here is find him and tell him the truth."

She wants to explain everything from that day, no even before then. Her feelings for Haruka were different, and the one she was truly in love with was him.

Her thoughts broke off when Kumi suddenly grabbed hold of her hands. A bright-colored turquoise-colored light surrounded the girl leading to a bright pink light wrapping around her.

"Kumi-san."

Kumi winked. "We shouldn't wait like a damsel in distress to get rescued. Let's do what we can to help, shall we?"

"Yes!"

Despite the girl not feeling well, Yumeko knew she would not be able to stop her. This girl is bright and brimming with confidence, but she also has her own worries and fears. But despite that, she concluded.

'Since when did he have a good guy at choosing girls? Huan, once I am out of here, I will tell you everything and let you go.'

Kumi-san is a great girl, he should treasure her, and she should continue to atone for her past mistakes.