Eternal Melody

Sumire may hate the idea, but she won\'t make a fuss. His gaze fell on the list in his hands. Now then, to address the homesickness issue. He decided to call her friends over.

His thoughts broke off, hearing the sound of large footsteps. When Sano comes marching into his office, Hino isn\'t surprised. He sighed deeply. "Can you not come in like a raging bull? Don\'t you have your own reputation to keep?"

"I just heard word that you convinced the entertainment board to send nanairofeather here to Tokyo."

"Correction, I asked them to send representatives per city to participate in a contest I plan to hold. The guys in Nanairofeather just happen to meet the requirements."

He thought long and hard about how to get those guys here for an official reason, and this is what he came up with.

Sano\'s gaze dimmed, and he slumped on the couch. "Give me a break already. How can I get close to her with them around?"

"So, you know how important they are to her?"

"Of course I do," Sano grumbled. "Senbi Nao is a huge pain to deal with. Whenever we went on our dates before, that guy would always be a third wheel."

"So you are worried about him?"

"No." Sano trailed off. "This guy." He pointed to a sheet of paper with a list of the representatives that said \'Tachibana Masaru.\' "Swap him out with someone else."

HIno raised his eyebrow but nodded. "Alright, I\'ll do that. But don\'t be surprised if he shows up here anyway."

The minute he suggested this idea, this guy was at the top list of candidates that the board wanted to come over. Hino understood why Tachibana Masaru\'s popularity and talent were completely different to the rest of his team members.

He looked at the lists for a few minutes before making his mind up.

Star Town Representatives

Alto Mikaze

Senbi Nao

Senna Masaro

Sano looked at the second name with a very disturbed look on his face.

"I can only do you one favor, Senbi Nao or Tachibana?"

"Senbi," Sano mumbled. "At least that guy hasn\'t punched me in the face yet."

Hino only sighed, hearing his friend\'s words. Sometimes he wonders why he is even friends with this fool, who always seems to make enemies with anybody he meets.

It\'s normal for Sumire\'s friends to dislike Sano. But, Hino noticed over the years that people end up disliking Sano one way or another. Actually, that part of him was oddly alike to Sumire. They always seem to make enemies, even if they do not do anything.

Hino finds his friend glancing around at the office. "She isn\'t here; she has a high fever, so she is staying home."

At those words, Sano bolted up, and Hino stood up and stopped him. "Don\'t go."

"But if she is sick, she will need a doctor."

"I asked KusajiAtsuro to look after her."

Sano looked furious at his reply, and Hino interjected. "I don\'t think you should be seeing her for a while. D entertainment openly declared that they would take down Sumire, and you\'re one of the company sponsors. If you keep seeing Sumire, you will put yourself in a difficult position and her."

At those words, Sano sighed. "I miss her."

"I know you do, but staying away from her is for the best."

Sano reluctantly nodded. "Regarding Tsueno. I finally found out what type of deal he struck with the boss, and can I just say for somebody so smart, he sure makes stupid decisions."

"Is it regarding why he was experimented on?"

"Yes, he underwent a similar procedure that I went through, but it was much tougher. In fact, the only reason why I got off unscratched was because they used the data from Tsueno\'s experiments."

Was Tsueno that desperate to get his powers back?

"For Tsueno, his powers are the only thing that he has to protect Sumire. So, I can understand why he was desperate to regain it."

Hino raised his eyebrow after hearing those words. "This is rare. Are you sympathizing with someone?"

"I\'m not a complete jerk, you know. Besides, you realize the main reason I stopped bothering Sumire back then was because I knew Tsueno would take care of her."

"You could have fooled me. I thought it was because of the restraining order Kanagawa Ren made sure to get for Sumire."

Sano looked even more troubled. "There are too many annoying guys around her."

"But you trusted Tsueno."

"I\'m not stupid, you know. I can tell when someone cares for her, and Tsueno would do anything for her sake."

So many people care for Sumire, though. Is Sano implying the only genuine one is Tsueno Mamoru?

"Anyhow, we need to get in touch with him. It seems like the media are starting to catch on that he is alive; before they publish the news, we need to get in touch with Tsueno first."

Tsueno needs to be on \'their side\' when they explain it to the media; otherwise, it would be bad for Sumire.

"You don\'t have to worry about that. If the media go too far, Tsueno will step up. He won\'t let them hurt her."

So confident. Indeed it is times like this why he remembers putting up with Sano. He truly isn\'t a completely bad guy, but due to his upbringing, some of his beliefs and values hurt others.

"What about your case? I don\'t trust Lucifer-"

"Fine, don\'t interfere," Sano interjected.

Hino knew that whenever Sano got like this, he wouldn\'t be able to say anything.

"Anyhow." Hino turned to the amended list. "Hopefully, this will cheer her up. She acts strong, but I know she must be lonely. Seeing her old friends may do her some good."

"She doesn\'t need them, she has me."

Hino looked at him with a disturbed expression. This guy is truly never going to stop. Even if Yuhi and Sumire get married, Sano won\'t give up.

"After you finish, take me to see her."

Hino sighed. "Sano, I don\'t think you should see-"

"No, you have to let me see her now. I just got away from Lucifer."

He sighs again, Sano is way too obsessed with Sumire. It\'s like he doesn\'t even care about his own dignity anymore. That girl can be really scary, she was the one who did this to Sano. It seems her \'plan\' worked far too well. This is definitely going to backfire on her in the future.

"Alright, but if she tells you she doesn\'t want to talk to you, then you have to respect it."

He knew Sumire well by now. Her act is far too flawless, she definitely wouldn\'t push Sano away.

"She won\'t push me away."

This confidence- Hino sighed deeply. Well, all he has to do is watch over them. As long as he is around, Sano won\'t do anything stupid.