224 It was my fault

Ichinose Arashi is a member of the elite circle, so he has been raised with traditional values. So his reaction was normal. He blamed himself for not listening to her. She told him repeatedly that she had a boyfriend already, and yet he didn't listen. Sumire couldn't blame him too much, since Sano and her had been dating in secret.

'I have never seen a trace of another guy.' Of course he would think that way.

"I didn't think I had it in me to do something immoral as being a third party. But that still happened."

Sumire bit her lip. "Senpai that was-"

"If Tsueno is staying over here so casually, I guess you have broken up with Nagawa?"

She slowly nodded her head.

"It was my fault wasn't it?"

Sumire wanted to tell him that it wasn't his fault. But, if she thought about it. Sano started to act strangely, after that incident. It was after he saw Arashi with her, that strange things started to happen. Like her finding other women's garments in his bedroom, smelling other women's perfume on him.

She recalled Sano's expression last time they saw each other. He still loved her, and yet he let her go and did those despicable things. Was it due to his insecurity and jealousy towards senpai? If she, talked to him properly. Then perhaps she would have her answers.

But even if she learns about it now, their situation won't change. She will never return to him. She is together with Toh now and she has no plans to leave him.

"It doesn't matter anymore."Sumire whispered. "I am dating someone else now, and he is very kind to me."

At those words Arashi seemed surprised but she noticed him moving slightly away from her.

This is for the best.

"By the way this neighbourhood seems pretty good. It's large, spacious and has less people."

Sumire was thankful for the change of topic. Eventually Arashi will meet Toh and she will have to introduce them to each other. She wonders how Toh will react? So far Toh has proven that he is different from San. But will that change after he meets senpai?

'I am afraid, I don't want Toh to change. I don't want his kisses to feel more like desire than love. I don't want to lose the happiness I have obtained even though I do not deserve it.'

"Then why don't you move here?"

Arashi who was drinking a cup of water almost spat the contents out. "Rei, I don't think your boyfriend will like that."

"It was just a casual suggestion. It's not like we will be living together."

But, maybe she ought to stop being so dense. Arashi is right. No guy would like it if their girlfriends past fling is living in the same neighbourhood. She has briefly mentioned Arashi to Toh before. But, he wasn't paying much attention and focused on soothing her.

Arashi shakes his head. "Despite what you know about my wealth. This neighbourhood is beyond my means. I'm actually surprised Tsueno is living here too."

"Right next door." Sumire paused. If he knew that, he must have done some digging around. So, he isn't completely oblivious.

"More importantly, that doesn't look like a normal cold. Is he sick?" Arashi asked.

As if she realized what he was implying, Sumire turned to him. "Do you want me to admit that he has some type of life threatening disease, that I can't for the life of me figure out where it came from?"

Arashi raised his hands in mock surrender. "I'm sorry, this issue must be sensitive to you."

"I appreciate you being so blunt, everybody around me has been dancing around the issue. He is sick, and I know what his sickness is. But, it just seems weird."

Ru is the strongest evolved human with the sonic sound ability. With that ability, he should be able to fend of diseases. So, how did he get into such a state? Moreover, they have always been together. How did he hide it? Since when did he have the disease? There are far too many things she doesn't know.

Unfortunately with the state of the underworld right now, she is unable to do any proper investigating.

She pulled out a metal pot from the cupboard and threw meat and herbs inside it, alongside some water before stirring the contents. She planned to make stew too.

"If you'd like I can look into it for you."

Sumire looked at him with a complicated expression on his face but eventually nodded. With Arashi's connections and power, he will be able to find out. Sumire quickly agreed.

"How did you know where I lived?"

"I asked my cousin. Uh, Futaba."

Sumire blinked. Huh? Did he just say- Sumire recalled Futaba's reaction earlier. That's why Futaba insisted that she went back home instead of the company.

'I should feel betrayed that she didn't tell me Arashi-senpai was her cousin. But, I understand her family circumstances is difficult.'

"I see."

The conversation afterwards ranged from mundane topics to his travels and the concur. Eventually they finished cooking and brought the dishes into the living room.

Ru was sitting up on the chair with a pained look on his face. Sumire moves her own chair closer to him.

"Ru, I know you want to sleep. But, you need to eat." Sumire pointed to the food on the table.

"Yeah."

Hearing his weak tone, Sumire picked up the spoon for his soup and started to feed him slowly.

"Mashima is really doing a good job teaching you, this is very good."

Sumire's eyes lit up at his compliment. This is what she wanted to see, the reason why she worked so hard to learn how to cook. To see him happy.

After feeding him a few spoonfuls, Ru regained some of his energy and started to eat on his own. The entire time Arashi had been eating silently but Sumire noticed that she was watching him carefully.

Mamoru turned to senpai. "So, did you come here to ask Ki out? I think it's a bit too late though."

Arashi laughed weakly. "I always have such bad timing."

Sumire blinked. Huh? Wait, did he really come here to confess his feelings for her again? Right, he didn't seem surprised that Sano and her had broken up. Back when they first met, she simply thought of him as a typical guy raised in the elite circle. But the more they got to know each other, the more time they spent together. She realized he wasn't like the others.

*Unedited*