Subaru P.O.V.

We M4 will have an upcoming concert next week. After a discussion, we have decided to invite Yudetako to come and perform as a guest.

Why choosing her? Of course not because I love her! I just think that she has improved a lot and she has ability to put on a good show in our concert...

I have to make a declaration here... I am not lying!!!!! You know?

Soon, she comes to meet us to have a briefing with the staffs. During the briefing, she does not understand the rundowns. I notice it of course. Please understand! This is not because I am gazing at her all the time!!! I feel that she is looking at me suddenly. When meeting her eyes, I can feel the innocence from them.   She is asking me for help!    Wait! Why am I so excited, and a little bit happy? Shouldn't I feel annoyed? And I feel that my fluttering heart is forcing me to give her a helping hand at once...    However, I am always playful, you know? I can't give up this great opportunity to tease her a bit!  Therefore, I put on my usual teasing smirk and start annoying her. Seeing her face flushes into a crimson red, I can't contain my excitement and call her her nickname " Yudetako ". Her face blushes even redder. 

I know that I should stop now, otherwise, she will be mad and will not talk to me again...

When I am going to show an annoying expression and sign, " Yudetako, come to me... You know, I am always helpful, so I will not leave this stupid tomato alone... " , someone ruins my plan. Nozomu suddenly comes to her side and explains to her. 

I can see, he puts his hands on her shoulder when explaining to her. I can't help but tighten my fists. When seeing them in this close proximity, my heart is getting painful, just like is being stabbed by a sharp knife, especially when she gives him a bright and warm smile to express her thanks. I suddenly have an impossible thought, I want her smile only for me...

When I am so concentrated on them, Asahi comes near me and whispers into my ear, " Subaru kun, do you know that your eyes are so cold and scary? " 

I blush when hearing his teasing words. When turning to his direction, I can only discover that he and Kanata are holding their laughter. They are covering their trembling lips when their bodies are curling to their edges. In such a bad mood, I am forbidding myself to hit them as hard as I could.

After a few days, we will have practices with Yudetako in the M4 special training room at boys' division. When she first enters, she looks around with wide eyes. Soon, she exclaims, " It is so big... It is bigger than our usual training rooms...  " 

When watching her cute face, I cannot help but smile. Even I do not want to admit it, but that is totally a truth.   Seeing her smile will always make me feel calm and soothing...   

I walk towards her and flick on her forehead. I put on my usual cool smirk, and laugh, " Hey, Yudetako! Of course here is bigger than your usual training room! We are M4, the most well-known male idol group in Asia. But you are just a rising idol who is not famous ... " 

She stares at me with fury with a pout. " Of course I know that I am not famous, but do you have to use it to tease me? ... And I am not tomato! Don't call me Yudetako again! I have a name which is Yume! " She snarls with her heating up face. 

I burst into laughter when seeing her tomato-red face. " You see, you are now totally like a tomato! Haha... " I say between my laughter. In the corners of my eyes, I find that her face is getting redder. 

I know, she is getting mad. I realize that I should start controlling myself. When I am going to apologize to her, she screams and stops me from saying anything, " Subaru Yuki! I hate you! " 

Hearing this, I know that I have made her angry this time. Maybe she is overreacted... Or maybe I have teased her out of the upper limit...

She walks past me and towards Nozomu directly without looking at me one more time. When seeing this, why is my heart getting hurt? I gaze at her, but she never looks back to me. She just chats with Nozomu. Soon, she shows her smile to him...    Why is Nozomu again...? 

During the three hours practice, she never talks to me or smiles toward me. She just does these to that Nozomu. When watching them talking in such a comfortable or even sweet atmosphere, I cannot stop my heart from getting painful. I have a sudden thought in my mind,   will I lose her forever?   ... NO! I cannot lose her. This is not because I love her! I just... Aah! I don't know the reason! I just know, I cannot let her leaving from my side! But what can I do now...? She ... she said, she hates me...

After the practice, Yudetako goes to her bag to find a towel to wipe away her sweat. She has found for about five minutes, but she still cannot find it out. She must forget to bring towels. 

Subaru Yuki! This is your chance! Go and lend her a towel!

I grip tenaciously a towel, which is not used, and start going closer to her. However, my plan is always destroyed by one person. Who is he? He is Nozomu of course!

He lends his towel to her. Now in my mind, I just want him to drift off from my  Yudetako immediately. However, everything do not go well as my expectations or wishes. Meanwhile, he gets the towel and helps her to wipe away the sweat on her forehead and cheek. During this, he grips her shoulder and leans his body closer to hers. 

Gosh! I want to hit him right on his face now! Am I in a bad fortune, or else?  I can only stare at them bitterly when biting my bottom lip hard. 

The pain in my lips cannot compare to that in my heart.

Asahi and Kanata come near me, and ask with sarcasm, " Are you jealous now, Subaru kun? "

What? I am jealous? Or course not! When I reply them with a " No ",  I feel a traumatic twist on my heart. I unconsciously place my right hand on my chest when asking myself, what is this devastating feeling?

In the next day, we have a autograph session in a shopping mall as a promotion for our concert. Yudetako also comes to work with us.

As I have not apologized to her, so she is still ignoring me. She is now chatting with Nozomu again... They are in such a nice atmosphere... Why is there a bitter taste on my heart?

I don't want to continue watching them, so I walk to the resting room. On my way, I see some staffs preparing snacks. During autograph session, staffs will always provide snacks to us from preventing us from hunger. 

In this moment, I think of her unexpectedly. I want to see her bright smile again... When thinking of this, I cannot help but giggle a bit in a low volume.

I walk towards them. They seem to be surprised that I would talk to them. I ask them to prepare a chocolate cake to Yume. They are willing to do so even though they don't know the reasons. Why will I ask them to give her a chocolate cake? The answer is so oblivious. She loves the desserts with chocolate so much. When we go to cafe for a rest, she always orders a piece of 75% dark chocolate cake. When seeing her face which is full of satisfaction, I will smile from my deep heart unconsciously. 

When thinking deeply, she starts believing others. Why I say so? She only smiled to me only before making friends with the others. She only trusted me at that time. When her cold heart was melting, she started trusting the others such as Laura, Ako, Mahiru and my M4 friends. She would show her lovely bright smile to them. It is a good progress to her, but, why am I so disappointed? I should be happy... but... my heart seems to miss something...

I walk back to the stage when the event is going to start. The staffs hand me and my M4 friends some biscuits while they hand her a piece of chocolate cake, as my expectation. The others seem to be surprised by her special treatment. She looks at it with shock, but soon her shocked expression is replaced by a true heart smile. She starts eating it with a happy and warm smile. The surrounding people seem to be influenced by her warm smile and grin from their true heart, including me. 

Even she does not know the truth behind this special cake, I still feel joy in my heart. I don't wish for her gratitude, instead of it, I just want her smile.

One night, I come back to school late due to my heavy workload. I am already full of fatigue in my body. 

When going back to boys' division, I hear a familiar voice which is shouting " Only one lap is left! Fighting! ". I already know who is she. I follow the voice and come to my usual jogging pathway. I can see Yudetako jog when sweat is formed on her forehead and stuck between her blonde hair. As I am hiding behind a tree, she does not notice me.

I never expect her jogging in this late night. She must be practicing for her performance in our concert. She is such a stubborn but hard-working girl. Without any of my notice, I start gazing at her with a loving smile. However, meanwhile, I start worrying her. Will she have enough rest? I don't want to see her faint in front of me since this will make my heart hurt more.

She finally finishes her laps and gets rest on the bench nearby. One second before, her eyes are still opening and looking at the starry sky. After a second, her eyes are closed and her body is laying on the cold bench. 

I pad towards her without making any noises which will wake her up accidentally. Soon, I walk to her side. I kneel down in front of her to have a closer look on her face. She looks so peaceful in her sleep. She just likes a sleeping beauty in a sweet dream. I giggle a bit and softly touch her nose. 

Suddenly, she says when rubbing her nose, " Don't touch me... " I am totally surprised by her and I am ready to be blamed by her. However, she does not wake up and continues to enjoy her dream. 

I sign in relief and chuckle with a smile. " This Yudetako... " I caress her hair while lifting her up to my chest. After adjusting the position, I place her on my back and carry her back to her dorm. I carry her back not because I love her. I just cannot leave a pretty girl outside in this late of night.

During the way, her warm breath near my ear just makes my heart flutter out of control. Heat is rising and accumulating on my cheeks and neck. On the one hand, I want this ride to be ended as quick as possible since this feeling is so weird and unknown to me. On the other hand, I want this moment can be lasted forever because of a simple but unbelievable reason. I just want to stay with her...

I bring her back to her own room and lay her down to her bed. Laura suddenly rushes in and sees everything. She is about to scream, but I quickly cover up her mouth. " Please do not wake her up. " She nods, then, I remove my hand. " Can you not to tell this to Yume? " I ask her. She nods again before leaving the room.

Before I leave, I help her to cover her body with a quilt. I kneel down beside her , and plant a kiss on her forehead. " Goodnight, princess... " 

When I am on my back to my own dorm, I flash everything just now back in my mind. Everything bring sweetness in my heart. This brings me a smile on my face too. Recalling back to the moment which was carrying her back to her room, and I had a sudden wish to stay with her forever, I understand something gradually. 

Maybe I am in love with her...? Maybe I really have time for romance...?

Today is the real day for our concert. After the final rehearsal, we still have a half and hour before the real concert. 

Nozomu suddenly asks for a rest. He must be tired for the continuous practices in these few weeks. He goes back to his own preparation room soon.

And I still do not apologize to her, so she is still ignoring me. She decides to visit Nozomu since she feels worried on him. I cannot help but sign with grief.

What can I do now? I am blaming myself that why I do not have any courage to talk to her first.

Third person P.O.V.

When Yume is looking for Nozomu's resting room, she accidentally hears the conservation between Laura and Mahiru. They are here to visit Yume and enjoy the concert.

" Subaru kun is so lack of courage! He did many thing for Yume, but he never told her! "

" Yes! He asked the staffs to give her a piece of chocolate cake in their autograph session since she loved it. However, he did not tell her about it! " 

" And you know? In one night, he brought a sleeping Yume back to her room even though he was tired of his own works. He never left her alone and always took care of her. However, that stupid and dense Yume never knew it and continued to ignore him... " 

" Should we tell her? "

" Of course no! Otherwise, Subaru kun will blame us! " 

Yume leans on the wall and listens everything. Her heart is tightening when hearing their words. " Subaru kun... " She places her hands on her chest since she feels something warm in her heart. However at the same time, there is prickle in her heart.

Soon, she finally reaches the resting room of Nozomu. After knocking the door, she enters the room and notices him lay on the sofa with fatigue.

When noticing her, he sits back and leaves a space for her to sit in. " Are you okay, Nozomu kun? " Yume asks with worry when sitting next to him. " I am fine. I am just tired... I can only feel pinning sensation in my muscles... " 

" Nozomu kun? Please face your back to me? " Yume suddenly asks. Nozomu is confused but he still obeys. After turning around, he feels a pair of warm hands on his shoulder, fiddling and squeezing his muscles with a suitable force. 

" Yume chan? Your massaging skills are quite good! I feel that I am less tired now! Thank you so much. " He says with a warm smile. 

" I am glad that you love it, Nozomu kun... " She smiles back.

They never know that someone is watching them...

Subaru P.O.V.

The concert is going to start. I should ask Nozomu to get ready. Therefore, I am heading toward his resting room.

I will never expect, I will see him together with Yudetako, especially in this close proximity. I feel prickles in my skin when my heart is throbbing in my chest. 

Can I only sulk here without having any actions?  

I shouldn't, I know. 

If I do not do anything I can, I will lose her forever. 

Therefore, I do something with all my guts.

I rush in when slapping the door open. I lunge forward to Yume and yank her away from Nozomu. From their expressions on their faces, they are surely shocked. I then pull her away to my resting room.

When arriving, I push her in with a force and close the door. I am still gripping her bare wrist now. 

" Subaru kun... It hurts... " She mutters when gazing at her wrist, which is holding by my hand.

I snap out from my mind and release from the grip at once. I slowly look down at the ground. I am afraid of meeting her eyes. I am frightened of noticing anger and hate from her beautiful sparkling eyes. Now I think back, I never know that I can be so brave to do something like this...

" Subaru kun...? " She first calls my name to break this awkward silence. " Are you jealous? "

I feel my face is heating up again. I never expect her from asking such kind of question. In this moment, I should answer her with " No " without any hesitation. However, why can't I say it fluently? This seems like I am going to tell a lie...

" O-of course n-not... " I finally stutter some words out, when still refusing to look at her.

" Thank you, and sorry, Subaru kun... " 

I am shocked by her simple words. What does she say? What means by " Thank you " ? And also what means by " Sorry " ? I look up and stars at her with surprises. And I just see her smile at me. That smile is the most beautiful and my most favorite smile to me... I feel my heart has already calmed down...

She slumps on the sofa, and starts speaking, " I know everything... You have done so much for me, but I never notice. I even ignore you for a week. I feel so sorry about it... But at the same time, I want to express my gratitude to you since you have taken care of me so much... " 

I slowly sit next to her, and continue to hear her words. My heart is going to flutter again.

" Since I first met you, you started concerning me. I felt so warm that you wanted to help me to go back to a right path since no one really use their true hearts to treat me. You are the first one. "  She starts clenching the materials on her chest.  " Then, you saved me. You never left me alone and visited me everyday. You chatted with me and cared me. I never knew that someone would do these to me. You even picked me to Four Stars Academy and gave me a new life and dream.  When I had any problems or difficulties, you would appear and give me the most useful advice. It was you. It was you who made me have courage to trust the others. And you even gave me hidden cares, so I really want to say thank you to you for everything... " She gives a bright smile to me.

I am so joyful when hearing her thanking words. I never know, I am such an important person to her. I can't control myself to have a pink color on my cheeks .. But at the same time, I start thinking, why is she telling me all these now? Is she going to leave me, so she gives me an official thank? When thinking of these, I just feel a twist in my heart.

Maybe she notices the sudden jerk on my face,  she unexpectedly pushes me closer to her, when facing my back to her.

What is she doing? Is she going to...?!

Her hands land on my tense shoulder and start fiddling and squeezing the muscles. She is now rubbing and kneading my muscles! I am unexpectedly excited now, just like I have hoped for this for so long!  " Don't misunderstand! I don't have any other meanings in my words. I w-will not l-leave you... " She stutters the last part. 

All the worries in my heart sink. Slowly closing my pair of eyes, I just want to enjoy her massage at this nice moment.

" Your muscles are so tense. You should relax more! "

When hearing her caring words, with a little bit of worries inside, I unconsciously chuckle softly. It is strange that I will feel happy when she is worrying me...

" Your massaging skills are so good! " I try to raise a topic.

" Um? Nozomu says the same thing too! " She replies with amusement.

I raise my eyebrows up, " What? That Nozomu has said the same thing? " I feel prickles in my heart when hearing this name from her.  I just want her to focus on me only...

Yume suddenly giggles, " Well, I always did it to my adopted father when I was little. He always felt painful in his muscles, so I would massage his shoulder after he has finished his works. " Her smile is suddenly replaced by a despairing expression, and she stops massaging me. Her hands are still placing on my shoulder. " But ... I never thought that he would try to kill me... " 

I know, she is feeling sad. She is going to cry. However, I do not turn around since I do not want to see her crying face. I will feel upset when watching her suffering from sorrow.

I grip her hands, which are laying flat on my shoulder, and pull her closer to me in a sudden. She seems to be shocked. Her arms are now wrapping around my neck when her head is touching mine mildly. Looking at us in a distant, she just likes hugging me from the back. When just imagining this, my face is already stained with a crimson red color.

" Yume? " I can feel heat radiating from her cheeks and neck. " I will be with you forever... I will forever treat you well... " I actually don't know what am I saying now since my mind is already go blanked. All the words I said are actually from my heart. 

My hands slowly climb up to grasp her arms around my neck. I bury my head in her warm arms, and softly whisper, " Can you only do it for me, not for Nozomu? " 

I don't look at her due to embarrassment of saying these kind of words. But I never regret to say these to her.

She does not use words to reply to my request. Instead, she snuggles more into the crook between my neck and shoulder, and then she nods. I can feel a greater heat from her. She must be blushing seriously now... Same as me...

Third person P.O.V.

Nozomu is actually surprised by Subaru. He never knows that his friend is such a brave man towards love. 

He follows them and takes a sneak look at them through the gap of the door. He smiles when seeing their hugging scene. 

" Subaru kun... If you continue to deny your feelings towards Yume, I will take her away from you, you know? "

During the concert, either M4 and Yume did a good job in it. The concert was in a great success. And Yume has raised some popularity too.

After it, Subaru waits for his members outside the hall. He looks up to the sky, which is stained with colors of light violet, yellowish orange and reddish pink. A sheen of cloud is adding changes on it. 

He takes a long sigh. He starts questioning himself, " Am I in love with that Yudetako? " The image of Yume seems to form in his mind, showing her popular bright smile. He quirks, " Although I am not sure on the answer, I will spend more time to explore this strange but relaxing feeling... " 

He seems to start accepting the feeling of love...

Without his notice, Yume is gazing at him from a distance. She wants to look at him like this forever. " I know... I love him... Since I love him, so I cannot stay with him as his girlfriend... I don't want him to get injured again.  I wish that I can protect him from danger brought by me by giving up my love... " 

She is still denying her feelings to him...

Will they admit and reveal their love towards each other, and finally get together? But this seems to be a long road for both of them...

This is the longest chapter I have made! Here is 4233 words! I am so proud of myself! But this make you wait so long for this chapter, so sorry about it! Hope you enjoy this! See you in the next chapter!