Even though we had secured three more shows, the day didn't end on a high note. I waited for everyone to go home and Aki waited for me. I walked her to her apartment before heading to my Business Administration lecture.

As usual, Professor Fuku sat at her desk when I entered the room, waiting for the students to arrive. I approached her.

"Good evening, Professor Fuku," I smiled.

"Good evening, Miyahara. You seem content today. Is it because you finished your project?"

"Actually, it is practically finished. I'll just add more details over the coming month until the deadline."

"Wonderful," she smiled. "Seeing you doing well makes me very happy."

For a moment, we stared at each other in silence. Opposite to me doing well, she was one month away from losing her job, despite all of her hard work and contributions to the degree.

"So, why are you this content?" Professor Fuku wondered.

"I'm far from being content," I replied. "It's just that seeing you always makes me smile."

Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. "Miyahara! You shouldn't be telling me those things; you have a girlfriend."

"No, I didn't mean it like that! I meant that your joyful attitude is contagious. I'm also happy when I'm with Aki."

"Right," she giggled. "Something is bothering you, then?"

I nodded. "I don't know how to approach Umi."

She stared at me in silence. "Please elaborate."

"I should choose my words better," I nervously laughed. "I know you barely know her, but I'm sure you've seen how easily annoyed she gets by everything."

"I have. Has this caused a problem?"

"Not really, but I worry about her, so I talked with her today. It ended up turning into an argument and I might've raised my voice."

"You? Raise your voice?"

"I don't know what got into me either. She walked away weirdly silent, so I might've crossed the line."

Professor Fuku's smile lightened. "Well, you're meddling in her life, it's not weird for someone to get defensive if they're not used to people caring about them. Yelling at her is far from helpful."

"I know. Do you have any tips for me about how to approach her?"

She remained silent for a while. "I don't know if I should meddle, Miyahara. And I don't know her well enough to feel confident about the tips I would give you."

"I just want someone else's point of view. I'll take full responsibility for whatever happens."

"Miyahara, wording," she scolded. "Alright, I'll give you a few tips."

She talked with me about it for the next ten minutes, even though other students had started arriving. She had to begin the lecture, so we ended the conversation and I headed to my seat.

The lecture ended and so did the day. The next morning arrived and nothing much happened at work, aside from recollecting information and statistics about how the album was doing. The number of streams had increased a little, meaning the earnings proportionally increased as well, but they were still far from being enough.

Umi gave me the cold shoulder when I greeted her and the girls, making me upset, but I needed to be smart about the situation.

Right before the workday came to an end, I messaged Aki to tell her what I was going to do. She supported my decision and agreed to go home alone.

The clock struck nineteen and Umi rushed downstairs to escape from me. I expected her to do that, so I was already waiting for her at the main entrance with my arms crossed. We stared at each other, both showing no emotion.

"Move," she grumbled.

"Let's take a walk," I said as I pushed the glass door open for her.

"I'm not your dog."

She stepped out and I walked beside her down the sidewalk. She glared at me once.

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"Are you seriously going to follow me?" she complained. "Don't you have a lecture to attend?"

"No, you're going to follow me."

I raised my arm in front of her to signal her to cross the street. She merely sighed and complied.

Once on the other side of the street, she said, "I'm doing this so you stop giving me headaches."

I didn't say anything, making her look at me in confusion. "You're not going to say anything?"

I didn't even look at her and merely kept walking. She gave up and followed me in silence for a few minutes until we reached a park, which was relatively empty.

"Enough," she grumbled. "I'm going home." She turned around to walk away.

"I'm sorry," I said.

She stopped. "What a surprise. Is that all you have to say?"

I answered only when she started walking again, "I'm sorry."

"Are you a broken record or what? I heard you the first time."

"I'm sorry."

She turned around and pulled me by the neck of my shirt.

"I'm going to punch you in the face if you say it again."

"I'm going to say it as many times as I have to for you to understand. I'm sorry—"

To my surprise, she actually raised her arm and punched me in the cheek. Even though I had fought before, I had never been hit this hard.

"I warned you!" she yelled. "That's what you get for sticking your nose—"

Before she could do anything, I wrapped my arms around her and hugged her. She was speechless.

"Let go of me!" she grumbled, trying to break free, but I hugged her even tighter. "I'm going to scream if you don't stop!"

"I'm sorry," I said once again. "I care about you. Everyone in GIMA does and it's not just because we work together, it's because you're amazing, Umi. You're pretty, talented, and strong."

"Then why do my parents not care about me?! They don't care about their children because we are a disgrace. We are not worth their time."

Her efforts to break free weakened.

"They lied to my face, every time they said they cared about me, but then they got rid of me as soon as they could. How am I supposed to know when someone really cares about me?"

"Did they ever hug you like this?" I answered. "Did they ever follow you to apologize? Were they willing to be punched in the face to show you that they care about you even if you hate them?"

She buried her face in my chest. "Shut up," she quavered. "I hate you."

She tried to hide her sobbing, but her sharp breathing made it obvious she was crying. I didn't move to not disturb her as she let her emotions out. She probably hadn't had the chance to do so in a while.

Eventually, she stopped crying, but she didn't move away from me.

"Let's sit down," I said.

To my surprise, she didn't complain. She swept her tears away and followed me to a nearby bench. We sat down and she stared down at the ground. I gave her a moment to breathe before saying anything.

"Do you want to tell me?" I asked.

She didn't look at me but answered anyway.

"I was kicked out of home as soon as I turned sixteen, forcing me to get a job while studying to be able to rent a place to keep my instruments at. I was lucky enough to find one, but not my little brother. He was kicked out too. He didn't need to rent a place as I did, but he still had needs like everyone else. I managed to provide money for the both of us for a while until I was fired a few months ago. You know the rest."

I stared at her. "That's quite the story. I don't have anything to say, except for how nice you can be when you want to be."

She glared at me. "Are you implying I'm annoying most of the time?"

"Yes."

Her frown disappeared when she looked at me. "Did I hit you that hard?"

"It feels like it's still getting hotter," I giggled. "And it hurts every time I talk."

She looked down at the ground again. "Now I feel bad."

"Why don't you apologize, then?"

"I won't, now that you suggested it."

I smiled. Good, she's still the same but not annoying.

She stood up. "Are you going to the hospital?"

"No, I'll just put some ice on it when I get home."

"Alright. I want to be alone, so I'll get going. Thanks," she added before walking away.

I couldn't be happier with the result, but the pain became sharper once Umi left. Suddenly, something cold touched my cheek, making me jump away. It was Aki, leaning forward with a tall cup of soft drink in her hand.

"Aki? Girls?" I let out, baffled to see all of them standing in front of me. "What are you doing here? Were you spying on us all this time?"

"Spying sounds bad," Aki replied. "We just were worried about our friends, so we wanted to make sure everything was fine."

"So, you were spying."

She kept smiling as she placed the cup on my cheek again. It wasn't full and water dripped from the outside, meaning she had already been drinking from it for a while.

"She hit you hard," Sanae said.

"Yes, but it was worth it," I replied.

"Don't worry, we'll make sure to get closer to her," Astra smiled.

"Actually, it'll be better if you don't," I said. "Just treat her as you normally would and let everything flow naturally, but still show that you care about her."

"Understood," Astra grinned.

I let out a sigh of relief. "Seems like everything is going to be good for the three coming shows."