A challenge

She is truly thankful towards this person.

Toh squeezes her hands. "You don't have to thank me. I am doing this because I have secret motives."

Sumire laughs. "Well, at least you're honest about it."

Toh doesn't hide his true self in front of her. He doesn't lie. If there is something he dislikes, he will tell her. That's why she can tell. That whatever feelings he has for her are genuine. Unfortunately, her own heart is such a mess.

Even if she responds to his confession, it won't be because she returns his feelings. It won't be like the confessions people see in movies or dramas. Toh is aware of that, and yet he is willing to face the consequences.

After they ate and chatted, Sumire thought they would return to the station. But instead, Toh showed her around the store and then led her to the back area. He opened one of the doors, and different colored dresses filled the racks in one room.

"Are these all for the opening?" Sumire looks at the rows of dresses with great curiosity.

This is the first, no the second, time she sees so many beautiful clothes in one room. The first was the first time she went to Toh's house. Even though she has been living there for a while now, every time she sees the several rooms filled with clothes, it surprises her.

"Mm, I can open any time, actually. But I first wanted to win the fashion show to give the shop an extra boost."

"I see."

Indeed, the prestige and recognition from winning a contest will certainly help him.

"Do you want to try some on?" Toh suddenly asked.

Sumire backed away, flustered, and almost knocked away one of the racks, but Toh caught her and stopped the rack of clothes from falling too.

"The first time you went to my house, this happened too. You fall a lot, don't you?"

"Um, Masato says I'm very clumsy."

She has already lost count of how many times she has tripped or lost her balance in front of him.

"That pianist, huh? It feels like he likes you."

So Toh noticed? It seems like what Asahi said is proving to be correct. She doesn't know how to feel about her close friends having feelings for her.

"Not just him, but Tachibana Masaru, and there is even Tsueno."

Sensing Toh's change in tone, Sumire blinked. A thought briefly crosses her mind, but she shakes her head. Is he jealous? No, no. Even if Toh likes her, he isn't the type of person who would get jealous of the other guys. Rather, there is no reason for him to- Sumire paused in mid-thought when she saw the look on his face.

Ah, even if he didn't say anything directly. Sumire understood, just watching his face. So, he is jealous?

"I don't see Masato and Masaru-senpai that way," Sumire admitted.

They are her dearest friends, and she has never seen them as potential love candidates. It's probably because she spent so many years in love with Yuhi, but she has never thought of them that way once. She had noticed, however, that plenty of girls crushing on the guys in nanairo feather, even before they debuted as a group. The six of them individually caught other people's attention.

"What about Tsueno?"

'I don't know, Ru. I genuinely don't. I didn't feel disgusted when you confessed just now.'

Her words back when Ru confessed his feelings flashed through her head. It seems like Ru is truly different from the others. She can't outright say she doesn't like him that way. It's true that she never thought of Ru as a potential love candidate. However, he has always been by her side, and she cares a lot for him. She cannot imagine a life without Tsueno Mamoru.

Those feelings are very important. Right now, she cannot give Toh an answer to his question.

.....

At star station.

By the time they returned, everybody had finished at least one run-through of their songs, and some were working on their MC parts. Masaru had dragged her out onto the corridor with a disturbed look on his face. "Did you check the group chat?"

"No, what's wrong?" Sumire asked.

This is the first time she is seeing Masaru this distressed. He is normally so calm. She has never seen anything phase him before.

Masaru takes his phone out and plays a video. It was a video of several men invading the police station, and they're written in blood on one of the walls in the ransacked rooms was.

'I challenge you, demon Princess.'

Sumire frowned. It's a message for her. These people even went so far as to invading the police station. They must have wanted to invade the Holy knight's headquarters, but they couldn't find it, so instead, they did this.

This isn't the first time she has encountered people after her life. Even though Aki is publicly still the leader of the Holy knights. Many in the circle know she is stronger than him and that she beat him in a fight.

However, this is her first time seeing somebody being so direct about it.

Sumire rewinds the video and then pauses when she sees a man with spiky hair wearing a different outfit from the rest. This guy must be the leader. Is he the one who wrote the message too?

"Sumire." Masaru suddenly said.

Sumire flinched, hearing him say her name. He seldom called her by her name. Nothing good ever came about whenever he used it.

"Stay in the Holy knight's headquarters until Mamoru is back."

She frowns. "Why?"

This isn't the first time this has happened. Sure these people are flashier than the last bunch with their challenge message.

"These guys are terrorists. They are on a different scale than the other punks who challenged you."

"But, my skills with a gun won't lose out to anyone-"

Masaru shakes his head. "Don't argue with me on this. This guy is bad news, I did a quick background search and found his wanted poster in several countries."

So, he is that dangerous? If she were to be perfectly honest, rather than being frightened like she ought to be. She was itching for a fight. If he is that dangerous, he must be a skilled fighter. She wants to see how good he is.

Before Sumire could say anymore, the phone was snatched from Masaru's hand. It was Toh. It seemed he had overheard their conversation. When Toh watched the video, he simply frowned.

"There is no need for Sumire to leave my side."

"You're still saying that? Sorry, but on this topic, I shall be stubborn. I don't know what sort of training you have received or how skilled you are. But, I do not think you can protect her."

"She will be safer with me," Toh said firmly.

Seeing the lightning bolts between the two, Sumire sighs deeply.

'As I thought, Masaru-senpai dislikes Toh.' Then again, he made it quite clear that he didn't approve of them living together.