I will make sure you live happily

"I understand that, and I don't want Kiryu's sacrifices to go to waste either. But when I saw my hand disappearing like that, I finally understood how things won't go my way just because I wished for it."

She felt the girl trembling and bit her lip. "Mommy, my condition is getting worse right? That is why you two came back."

"Lila," Yuhi said softly. "It's not as bad as it looks. Yes, your mother and me came back here when we sensed your condition worsening. But we also returned because we have a solution." He took something out of his pocket. It was one of the shards they collected.

"Ah this-"

"We managed to get them all. All left is the remaining keys; if we put them inside the keys and the lock, it's still possible to save you."

"Use it on Haruka."

Sumire sighed when she heard Lila's fast decision. Just now, she was crying about her upcoming death, but hearing that there is a way to save her. She immediately passed this method onto her husband.

"If, if you can only save one person. Save Haruka."

As the one partly to blame for things getting this far, she should accept that choice. But as a mother? How could she possibly accept sacrificing her own daughter- as she thought if the world needs a sacrifice, it should be h- her thoughts broke off when she felt Yuhi's menacing glare.

Her sweatdropped. She doesn't even have to say anything for him to understand. Still, there should be a method where nobody has to sacrifice themselves. The method Yuhi-san and her found can only save one person.

'Kiryu-kun's life force is more stable, so he has more time, unlike Lila-chan and Haruka-kun. If they fix the world, they can slowly work on Kiryu-kun's treatment. But Lila-chan and Haruka-kun cannot wait.'

"That sphere of dreams, that should have enough energy."

"Yuhi-san, we can't sacrifice-"

Yuhi shook his head. "Just think about it; most of the dreams in that sphere are most-likely dreams of the people who admire Lila. I am sure if we ask Karashima, he will confirm this too. We can use the lock and keys on Karashima. But we can use the energy from Lila's fans from that sphere."

Her husband is truly clever; she would never have thought about that.

"But the sphere, Sophia should be guarding it."

"Oh that's easy. That girl is strong, but I am-" Sumire paused when both Lila and her husband said no. Her sweat fell. "Uh, you two, but I am probably the only one who can go."

"Definitely not."

Lila nodded. "Father is right, mommy, you cant go. Or rather, were going to need you more than ever. If-" Lila bit her lip. "If I can't last till the end, mommy, you will have to sing."

Her eyes widened when she heard her daughter's words. So even though Lila-chan wants to fight against her fate, she has resigned herself for the worst-case scenario?

"Your such a good child," Sumire mumbled. "I know you don't want me blaming myself. But I truly am sorry. Suppose I didn't leave and remained by your side. Perhaps this would not have happened. I would have noticed it and stopped their plans a long time ago. You would not have had to lift a finger and just continued to sing happily."

"That's not-"

Sumire shook her head. "This is my fault. Lila-chan, you do not have to worry. I will make sure you live happily."

After chatting for a while, the girl eventually fell asleep. Sumire, however, did not leave her side and continued to hold her hand.

Yuhi hugged her from the back, and she laughed. "I like the back hug."

"Yeah. Are you fine? Do you want to cry too?"

"No, I have no right to cry anymore." Her gaze fell towards Lila. She seemed uncomfortable sleeping since she tossed and turned several times. But the moment Sumire tightened her hold on her hand, the girl relaxed. "She was like this even as a child too."

"As a child, huh?"

"Oh- I'm not trying to blame you, Yuhi-san-"

"No, I also have something to confess to. I shouldn't have left to go abroad at that time. I heard from the others that Lila's birth was the hardest for you."

Sumire laughed weakly. "She was truly a fighter even back then." Her thoughts broke off when Yuhi turned the chair around, so she faced him. He kneeled down to level with her and brushed his forehead against hers.

"Oh, if you do this, I will cry." Even though she had just said it, she felt the tears fall already. "Yuhi."

"It's fine, Sumire; we are together now. As long as we are together, we can save her."

….

Sumire made plans to head over to the assembly and talk to those people to give them a gentle reminder not to forget their place. But she ended up falling asleep. When she woke up the following day, she heard the sound of a familiar baby wail.

Ah right! She asked Makino-chan to fetch Hoshiko.

She thought it would cheer Lila-chan up if she saw her sister. The moment she exited the room and headed towards the sound. She found her husband in the doorway.

"What is it?"

Yuhi leaned forward and kissed her lips. "Good morning."

Sumire blinked before laughing. He still greets her the same as he does when they first started dating. He is so silly and foolishly honest.

"By the way, what do you think of that?"

Sumire entered the living room area and saw Hoshiko on the mattress and Lila peering over at her curiosity.

"She has been like that for quite some time now."

Her sweat fell truly; where does Lila-chan get this side of her from?

"When she does stuff like this, it reminds me of when you used to sneak those looks at me after we did it-"

She stepped on his foot at those words, and Yuhi looked at her with a troubled expression. "You know, ever since we returned from Lucifer's place, you're strangely bashful whenever I mention how intimate we get."

"T-this is not the time and place for that," Sumire mumbled as she averted her gaze. She felt her cheeks heat up.

'I feel so stupid when I am around Yuhi-san. I am already thirty-eight, and yet I still act like a teenage girl madly in love for the first time. It is not my fault, Yuhi-san does these things that are bad for my heart, and he-' Her thoughts broke off when he grabbed hold of her hand.

"This is hard. But I guess a moderate level of affection should be fine."

Oh, she gives up; this is making her heartbeat worse!

Sumire turned back to the scene before her and saw Lila mumbling how cute Hoshiko was. Her sweatdropped, of course, it was this reason. Even when she was younger, Lila has always liked cute things.