Advice

The reason why Zane wanted her so badly was because of her blood. It does seem like it is very special.

But more importantly, Haruka rushed over to Lila; he managed to catch her on time. Austin Akari had drank a lot in the span of a few minutes, and she was swaying sideways due to the loss of blood. The moment she fell in his arms, he heard a familiar voice.

Austin Akari was looking at them with wide eyes.

"Li-Lila-san?"

"Oh, thank goodness," Lila mumbled weakly as she briefly extended her hand out. "Akari-"

Akari grabbed hold of her hand and sobbed. "You are far too careless. Brother will hate me again."

"I will protect you, Akari, don't worry about Kiryu."

Haruka knew that he couldn't scold his wife despite his worry for her. Look how happy she is to see that her friend is okay, even though she is in a bad state now.

Austin Akari then begins to explain her experiences.

"It was hard for my mother to shelter me in the Hyou4 headquarters. There were a lot of people who sought shelter, and many were commenting that I was getting special privileges. Mother insisted that I had a weak body and couldn't possibly use my powers to fight the infected. But, some did not care. I did not want to keep putting my mother in that situation. Hyou4 needs to be united, after all. Infighting will only lead to more deaths. So I left and wandered around."

"But that must have been difficult for you," Lila mumbled. She cried again, and Haruka wiped her tears with his sleeve.

"It pains me when you cry. I know you are emotional and feel sad for her, but please stop."

Lila laughed and snuggled into his arms. "Mm, okay. I'm sorry."

Haruka felt somebody watching them and saw Austin Akari looking over with a tender expression on her face. It was not a resentful look, but he felt uncomfortable. He is not used to people accepting them. Since he started dating Lila, he has endured so much grief.

"Does it shock you that much?" Akari spoke up.

"It does."

"I am Kiryu's half-sister, but we have never had a good relationship. I do not accept your relationship just to get back at him. Initially, I was one of the people who urged my brother to confess to her. But I always felt that there was something wrong, they were happy, but something was missing. I think deep down Lila-chan was waiting for you, and my brother knew that too."

Waiting for him, huh? He turned to look at Lila and saw how red her face was. Huh?

"Wahhh Akari, why did you say it like that? Now he knows!"

"You mean you haven't told him how after you saw him in a magazine once, you said he felt familiar and kept watch of his activities-" Akari quickly covered her mouth, but it was far too late.

He looked at the girl in his arms with a half-amused expression on his face, and she covered her face with her hands. But he drew them away.

"It seems you have loved me for so long. When were you planning on letting me know?"

"I-I didn't like you then! I just thought you were familiar." Lila exclaimed.

Haruka only continued to laugh. She is so cute when she is angry.

"It is nice to see you two getting along." Akari suddenly coughed, and Lila looked over-worried. "It is alright; you know how frail my health is. Now I have returned to my old strength; the cold in this tower is getting to me."

"Ah, right, you are weak against the cold. Uh, let's see-" Lila trailed off, and he grabbed hold of her hand. "Uh, Haruka, just a little. Akari can't stay here in these conditions."

Haruka sighed, took out a small crystal from his pouch, and passed it to Austin Akari.

"Oh, it's warm?"

"It has magic from someone with light evolved genetics. You can find a lot of these around since there is nothing but rubble around. If people with light evolved genetics fight and their powers land on the rocks nearby, it turns out like this."

To be honest, this one is particularly rare, and he wanted to give it to Lila. But he does not want to risk her using her powers right now.

"Rather than risk heating up this tower, sleep with that around you, and it should warm your body enough."

"Thank you."

Lila tugged on his shirt with a pout. "I want one too."

Dear wife, why do you always make things so difficult?

"I will get you one next time Zane is allowed out."

He got this during the last time they let Zane out.

Lila suddenly wrapped her arms around his neck. "Forget it. I will just take something better." The girl was sucking his blood before he knew it.

"Lila-chan is so childish; now that you are married, you need to know a few things," Akari advised. "One, if you think she used to get jealous before. Now that you have put a ring on her finger, if you even look at another girl for two seconds, you're going to hear an earful."

Two seconds?

"What if I pass by somebody accidentally?" At that comment, Lila stepped on his foot, and he sighed. Well, that answers that question.

He should ask Austin Akari for more details when Lila isn't aro- she bit him harshly.

This girl is so whimsical at times. But he loves even this childish side of her.

Kouta and Takehiro make their way over.

"Akari-san, I am glad your-" Kouta's sentence fell short when Takehiro rushed off and grabbed hold of the girl's hands.

"Thank goodness you're okay now!"

Akari blinked and laughed. "Thank you so much for helping me, Yamasaki-san."

This guy is far too bold. Then again, he recalled him doing the same thing with Lila. Back then, he thought this guy liked Lila and had bad intentions when he grabbed her hand like that. However, seeing this now, it is clear that this guy is just foolishly honest.

"Where is Mikami?" Haruka asked.

One of the reasons why he suggested that they come here was because he wanted to meet up with Mikami. That guy helped develop the medication too, and if he recalled correctly, he had something he wanted to talk to him about.

This is when Kanehera Kouta spoke up and briefed them on the situation. Lock and keys? Haruka frowned. It felt familiar, but the moment he tried to make sense of it, his head started hurting.

Lila stopped drinking his blood and caressed his cheek. "Haruka?" Lila asked, concerned.

"It's fine; my head just hurts a little."

A troubled look appeared on Kouta's face. "I thought he had all his memories back, but is there still an issue?"

"There are certain events like the time they captured him that are still blurry." Lila trailed off. "That woman must have done something."

"It's not good for your health if you're angry."

"Of course I am angry!" Lila exclaimed. "Look what that woman has done to you. How could she even think of touching what is mine?"

Haruka was about to say that he was flattered that she was so worried about his well-being until he heard the second half. Geez, she is seriously going to drive him mad.

"The famous PDA, we haven't seen in a while, Kou-chan. What do we do?"

"Idiots, the lot of you."

Akari turned to them with a serious expression. "Lila-chan, Karashima-san, there is also something I have to discuss. Does that person have the power to travel back in time?"