Silver Wish

Lila reluctantly left the room after that exchange and slumped on the ground. She slapped her now flushed cheeks. Is it because he is so meek now, but his words seem genuine. In the past, when he asked for such things, she dismissed it easily and said he would say the same with any other woman. But how can she say that now?

"Lila-chan, are you alright?" Her thoughts broke off when she saw Ayase Kotori.

The thing that stood out to her, though, was the movements of her friend. It looked like she was having a hard time walking. The last time she saw this person, it was on a stretcher with such awful wounds.

"Kiryu-kun told me..do you remember now?" Kotori asked kindly.

The girl's kindness made her want to burst into tears.

Kotori wiped her tears with her sleeve and laughed. "Lila-chan, it's good to see you again. Thank you for remembering."

"Was it difficult?" Lila managed to ask.

Kotori bit her lip and slowly nodded her head. The girl crouched down and sat beside her. "It was. I didn't know what he was trying to do for a while. Kiryu-kun took me away from the hospital and healed me. But at first it was very awkward. When we found a proper accomodation to settle into, he suddenly brought home the child one day. He simply said. Do your job in a cold tone before leaving again. Back then he was acting up a lot because he was in a lot of pain, and he didn't want me to see either. He wanted me to fear him but I found out the truth."

"I see."

Kiryu is so silly. Does he truly think that if he behaves that way, the people who care for him will leave him alone? Then again, she also had a similar mindset.

'I thought if I left, Haruka would end up hating me, but in the end, that is not what happened.'

"When you lost your memories, he blamed himself, and when he saw Haruka-san's current state, it looked like he would die of guilt."

".."

Kiryu still blames himself for everything. That person will continue doing so in the future too. He will never forgive himself. Lila knew him very well, and that was why she understood. Will he ever find happiness? She could no longer give her heart to him like she did in the past. Somebody else, somebody else will have to be his ray of light. She cannot save him anymore.

"Do you like him?" Lila asked.

Kotori's eyes widened, and Lila noticed the tears fall from her eyes. "Im sorry, I said I wouldn't- I didn't-I didn't want you to know."

".."

"Lila-chan, you still care for him. I know what your thinking, but it can't be me; it has to be you."

"But I can no longer-"

Kotori weakly shook her head. "You can."

Lila knew she couldn't say anymore and focused on waiting until Kotori-chan calmed down.

"I am sorry about that. I got a bit worked up." Kotori trailed off. "I indeed like him, but at the same time, I think the current relationship we have is fine. Before all of this happened, you kept pushing us closer so we would become friends, right?"

Lila nodded. "Right."

"But truthfully, I think we only got close and became friends when we started traveling together. I fell for him under such strange circumstances. At the end of the day, no matter how kind he is, he is also the reason why I got caught up in all of this."

"Do you blame him?"

"I thought I could. I thought it would be better for me to dislike him. After all, he severely hurt me. If he hadn't stopped, I would have died. It was because of him that I became unable to dance properly." Kotori pointed to her legs. "You see, I may appear fine. But there is a fracture in my leg that doesn't get better. I cannot put unnecessary strain on it."

"That day-"

"If I told you, Lila-san, you might end up crying, so I will save you from such painful memories. I should resent him for taking away my dream. But whenever I saw how much pain he was in, I couldn't do it. Before I knew it, I fell in love with him, and yet I never entertained any ideas of getting together with him. I knew how much he loved you enough to trade away his life, enough to endure any pain or hardship." Kotori paused. "For me, this really is enough, Lila-chan, just being able to help him like this."

'Kotori-chan is too kind; she deserves a normal romance like any other girl.' This is one more person who ended up hurt due to her selfish actions.

Helping Haruka to see the light was her mission, but at what cost? 'I decided then to dedicate all my attention to Haruka, realizing the damage was far worse than I thought.' But perhaps she ought to have spared more thought to those around her too. If she did, then perhaps innocent people like Kotori-chan wouldn't get hurt.

Lila was about to say something when they suddenly heard a large explosion-like sound.

She and Kotori rushed in the direction of the sound, which was one of the end rooms, and found the entire room covered in black smoke. Kotori, however, marched right to the center, not bothered by the smoke, and exclaimed.

"Nobu! What have you done now?!"

"Ouch, that hurts Kotori-chan; why do you have to be so violent?"

Lila saw her friend was pinching his cheeks harshly.

"Tough luck! How many times has Kiryu-kun told you to be careful with your experiments?"

"But this experiment was approved by him. I think I have worked it out now. The components of the drug we got from that adic."

Kotori's gaze turned serious. "You worked it out?"

"Yeah! I mean, we already confirmed that Zane was using his blood, but there is something else inside it. I think this is the real reason why they are going crazy. Not only Zane's blood but that woman called Sophia."

Lila blinked when she heard those words. Eh? Sophia? But Sophia is a normal person. Why would her blood trigger people's abilities to awaken or lead to them breaking down? Nobu must have realized her presence since he walked over to her and looked her up and down.

"I think the cure is obvious. I noticed this when I first met you, but your blood isn't the same as a normal hanyou."

"Right because when mother gave birth to me, Mother already became the Queen of Darkness."

Nobu shook his head. "That's not what I am talking about. For a hanyou, your light power is stronger than your dark one."

Her eyes widened. Her light power is stronger? But how could that be? Ever since she was younger, the darkness has surrounded her.

"You're confusing her, Nobu."

Nobu had a complicated look on his face. "It is hard to say just observing. I want to ask if it is okay if I can get samples of your blood, but Kiryu will kill me if he finds out."

"Then I will ask him for you?" Lila was very curious about this theory of his. How is it possible for her to have more light than darkness?

"Great, if you ask, I am sure he will agree. I guess I should clear things up here first."

Kotori sighed. "I will help." She trailed off. "Lila-chan, Kiryu-kun won't be returning till later."

She immediately understood what her friend was going to say. Lila left the room deep in thought as she proceeded to walk back towards the room. That Nobu person's theory, for some reason, seems accurate.

Many times, she felt that her light ability was powerful, but then what about those voices? The voices she has heard ever since she was a child.