PHASE 13 - BACON, EGGS, AND PATTIES

Gate Guardian for Dummies, page 2.

You can spot a Gate Guardian if there is golden cross sigil is at the center of their eye. Only fellow Gate Guardians can see these things, and they are not visible to normal humans.

But the person in front of me is different. He has this red sclera and a triangle shape sigil on his eyes. All I can trust here is my guts. My spine tingles, and I can feel a malicious aura in him.

This man is dangerous.

“Oh, did I scare you?” The man made a smirk. “Don’t worry, I’m not an Eidolon. I’m just here to guide you. You can call me The Outsider.”

Suddenly, the blizzard stopped. No, it seems like the time completely stopped. The snow are floating midway in the sky as if everything has been locked by time.

There was a deafening roar of an earthquake, which shattered the cliff I’m standing! I fell into the dark nothingness as my vocal cords failed to produce my screams!

>

I opened my eyes and realized that I was in my room, inside my house, in Mirose Grande. I heard my mother calling out my name, so I immediately went to the dining room.

Our breakfast was unusual and delicious! Fried bacon with eggs, and pure beef patties. I was sure that my mother won’t buy these things because bacon and patties are unhealthy, but who cares? I should enjoy the food!

During the breakfast, I noticed that my father was reading the newspaper. The front page contains the combination of 123456 as the jackpot in a lottery, and there are seven winners of this. This day is full of unusuality.

I went to the school by riding the bus, and as usual, I was late and got scolded by Macho Steel once again. The day went on without me doing anything unusual in particular. I feel like I’m not in control of myself. What’s worse is that I noticed that I’ve been spacing out.

It seems my life here was on autopilot.

During lunch, Tiara sat on my right and Jeannette on my left. The nerd squad completely abandoned me, as they seated at the other table near us.

Suddenly, there are this three ladies who seated in front of us. These girls look beautiful, but that didn’t give me a “Wow” factor. It seems like they are our upperclassmen, and they are not here to confess their feelings to me. They all had their full attention to the Japanese lady beside me.

“You’re Tiara Hikari, right? We’re inviting you to the idol club! Your adorable smile and your well-endowed features will surely be of use!”

“I-I’ll join!” Tiara had her sparkling puppy eyes again.

“Thank you for accepting!” The three seniors then exited the scene.

“Why did you accept their offer outrightly?” Jeannette asked while having the spoon stuck in her mouth.

“I-It’s because my dream is to become an idol one day. I wanted to sing and dance in live televisions.” Tiara hallucinated as she drools over.

“We shrine maidens are not allowed to own any gadgets inside the Kozukata Shrine, so we only had the television as a form of communication in the outer world. And that mountain has a really bad reception even for radios. We can only watch the Idol Channel. And because of that, we became a fanatic.”

I blinked.

Now, I am in front of the Kozukata Shrine. I must have spaced out while being on autopilot again.

I don’t see any shrine maiden in this place. I know that there’s something weird in this day. I first went to my room inside that very shrine and noticed that my watch’s compartment was broken, and the Weapon Gem inside was not there!

I immediately went to Tiara’s room.

But there, I witnessed a brutal happening.

There was a shrine maiden lying on the ground, bathing with her own blood.

“Tiara!” I shouted as I went to her side and picked her up with my arms.

She was no longer breathing, and she has this black eyes as if she was exhausted. She was too pale and white as if she’s already a corpse. There was this katana that was pierced through her heart. This is... my Weapon Gem!

“No no no no… Tiara, please wake up!” I screamed.

“R-Rikkun?” Tiara muttered. “A-Are you there?”

I immediately held her hand and gripped it tight. Tiara must have lost her ability to see because she has lost too much blood. Who made this horrible thing!?

“I… I’m happy… that you were here for me… for the last… seconds of my life.” Tiara made a smile, and tears went down from her eyes.

“Don’t talk like that! Hang in there, I’ll carry you to the hospital-”

Tiara used her last ounce of strength to caress my cheeks with her hand full of blood.

“Rikkun… I… don’t want to go… I… still want to spend more time… with you...Rikkun… Help me… please… ”

After saying those words, her hand fell. Tears rushed down to my cheeks without me knowing. My mind was no longer functional. I could not feel anything.

I feel so empty.

She was no longer here in this world.

I looked in front of me, and there, he stood. That man with the red scarf. He’s just there, looking at me with a smile on his face.

I was about to release all my rage by shouting at him, but everything faded. The universe I’m currently in was shattered like glass as if everything ceased to exist.

>

“Ric, wake up.”

It was Jeannette, who was pinching my cheek. It’s still dawn, and I need more sleep.

“Ric, wake up! We have to catch that express bus!”

I moved away and asked for five more minutes but then she smashed a pillow on my head!

“Ow!” I cried. “What the heck is wrong with you!?”

“We have to go home!” Jeannette shouted in the same tone. “I still have to catch that bus to Myrrh at noon! We have to be fast and early!”

“Then go travel all by yourself.” I grabbed my blanket and lied down on my bed once again. “I’ll go home later.”

“I’ll buy you a doujin.”

“Okay, I’ll just brush my teeth.”

I immediately stood up and packed my things hastily. But then, there was a voice that I was longing to hear.

“Oh, you’re leaving early, Rikkun…” Tiara came out of the blue.

I immediately focused my attention on her. She’s wearing a short tank top that reveals her sexy belly, and shorts that reveal her soft thighs. Too oblivious to her clothing. It’s clear that she just woke up because of Jeannette’s loud voice. But moreover...

Tiara is completely fine! Thank God it was just a dream!

I had the urge to hug her but I resisted myself. Not reasonable for me to be hysterical just because of a nightmare.

<>

There’s nothing in particular that happened to me during weekends. I spent my free days in front of a gaming computer, playing Fortnight and watching all movies related to Infiniti War.

My only concern is on Monday. Everybody hates Monday.

Especially that this particular Monday, whereas our breakfast consists of bacon, eggs, and patties.