PHASE 2 - HE USED TO BE LOVE DRUNK

Opposite of what Asumi-nee told me, I panicked.

"I-I have to hurry!" I cried. "I have to fix my mistakes! I have to tell him that I love him!"

"Damn right you should." Asumi-nee and Ayano said in sync as they both made the holding-the-hips pose.

I picked my phone and dialed Rikkun's number. But it seems that it wasn't even ringing. He should have turned it off.

I also tried calling Heushac and Miss Awane, but all of their phones are unattended. Are they doing this on purpose!?

"Hello? Is Rikkun there in the house?" I called Key as a last resort.

"No. He went to the supposed 'reception' venue in Evenstouch Restaurant. Don't bother. He doesn't want to talk to you right now."

"W-Why!?" I cried.

"Isn't it obvious?" Key said in a monotone.

"...Auuu…" I held my aching head. "I-I have to get there fast!"

I hanged the phone and then bolted forward, activating my to run with amazing speed. The red lightning streak was left on my trail as a result.

<>

It was already dark when I finally reached the Evenstouch Restaurant. It is the best five-star eating place in Heightsburg, and their menus are guaranteed to make your wallet empty. Now I really feel like committing suicide. Rikkun worked hard for that confession, and yet… I rejected him…

As I open the door, loud music blasted to my face. Disco balls showered dancing rainbow lights. I thought this was a gorgeous restaurant, but there are bottled beers on each and everyone's hands that it has just turned into a bar!

There are a lot of students here, and all of them are wearing the uniform of Dradecim National High! I remember their faces. The whole Parade Club is here! Even my fellow Idol Club members!

I don't have a face to show them, so I hid beside the counter of the restaurant. But little did I know that a fellow Gate Guardian is taking his sweet time there.

"Oh, Tiara." A deep voice grabbed my attention. It was Benedict the emo kid with thick eyeliners that has a wish of dying after fifty-three hours. He's even drinking quite a lot of beer. "You know you're not allowed here. The Aether Crusade and the Idol Club just signed an operation for a manhunt against you. Consider this as your first warning."

"M-M-Manhunt!?" I shrieked. "A-Anyway, I have to talk to Rikkun! It was a misunderstanding! Where is he?"

"Who knows?" Benedict uncaringly said as he used a spell to wrap ice in his not-so-cold beer.

"M-Mister Benedict! Stop using your powers out in the open!" I sermoned.

"Oh, so should I be more like that idiot over there?" Benedict pointed at the sofa ten meters away from us.

That sofa was filled with girls with scanty clothes. And at the center of the seat is Kristoff. Drunk Kristoff.

"You gals won't believe me, hic! B-But to tell you the truth… I am a Gate Guardian! I fight monsters from different dimensions and save the world from the deadly sins!" Kristoff bragged.

"Wooooow!!!" The girls around her were amazed. To add that up, he magically materialized a bow and an arrow, and he fired at the bull's eye of the dart board.

I can't do anything for his secret now… I just hope his girlfriends are drunk enough to consider his bragging a lie...

I looked around and I saw my fellow Idol Club members playing dangerous games! Miss Awane is at the center, blindfolded, smashing watermelons with her barbed bat! Now there's red fruit blood crawling on the floor!

"Yeeeeeaaaaah!!!" Miss Awane removed her blindfold and slammed it on the floor. She makes a good watermelon serial killer.

This place is such a mess! It will be bad if a teacher spotted us in this kind of place!

"Oh hey, Miss Tiara Hikari!" Mister Kent sat beside Benedict and laid a plateful of roasted peanuts on the counter. "Are you looking for the great Friendzonelord Alaric?"

"Y-Yes!" My eyes twinkled. "Did you happen to see him!?"

"Ssssshhhh!!!" Mister Kent kissed his index finger. "Don't be so loud! The peanuts are sleeping!"

"E-Eh?"

I give up! They're all tipsy here! If I'm going to find Rikkun, I will only have to rely on myself!

<>

"Attention please!"

It was the emcee, who is my classmate and class rep Divina. Drunk Divina. Everybody went silent for a second as she made a loud proclamation with her deafening mic.

"We are now at the main event of the evening! Let us now call, in the blue corner, wearing school uniform, dirty socks, and unwashed undies, Heushac Efilion!"

"Woooo!!!" Everybody shouted. Beer showered all over the restaurant.

"And now in the red corner, the champion, the arrogant, and the king! Wearing a bloodied white tuxedo and a shattered heart, our one and only Friendzone Master, Alaric Eisenhower!"

"YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!" He got the loudest cheer out here as if it's the second coming of Jesus.

The red curtains opened, and revealed Heushac and Rikkun sitting comfortably on the stage! And they are both holding a mic... For this is a duet competition!

"...Rikkun!!!"

I was about to rush to the stage, but Mister Kent caught my arm. He slowly shook his head, silently telling me: "Let him be."

Everybody went silent as the speakers unleashed a sad song.

"I remember the daaaays… when you're here with meeeee~"

Rikkun's voice and tone were so pathetic that it makes me feel more embarrassed for him. He's not singing. He's shouting. But I know his 'shout' comes from the depths of his broken heart.

I have to wait for the right moment before talking to him. For now, our ears should endure.

<>

I think this is the right moment. His performance ended a few minutes ago, and now, he's laying in the audience sofa, drowning himself over some liquor. Even Heushac feels overwhelmed and is trying to talk Rikkun out. But no good.

"Ric. That's enough." Heushac repeatedly slapped Rikkun's back.

"Shut up! Why the heck did this shit have a Season 2 anyway! Who the frick is still reading this!? That ending should've been the last! I can't believe it! I can't believe it! Forever and ever!? Ha! That's what she said! Toujours et a Jamais!? Toujours et a Jamais my ass!!!"

Then Rikkun started to cry manly tears.

Heushac sighed, which is a sign that he already gave up. He gazed around, trying to search for something that could calm his best friend down... and he finally saw me.

He stood up and went in front of me. Seriously, I want to run away from them but I think this is not the time to chicken out.

"Since it's your fault in the first place, you walk him home." Heushac said in a serious tone.

"E-Eh!? I-I-Is it okay? I-I thought you all hated me for outrightly rejecting him?"

"Why would we hate you? You love Ric, right? You just don't want it to be official because of your duties as a shrine maiden and a member of the Idol Club." Heushac tilted his head. "But you still love him, right? That's all that matters."

I was dumbfounded. I never thought that even if I screwed everything up, they still know my true feelings. I know Mister Kent and Benedict know the reality too. I'm really glad that they still believe even if I have doubts about myself.

But Heushac is wrong about the shrine maidens and the Idol Club. Those two "cults" that I have devoted my life into wanted Rikkun and me to be together. And they're both quite persistent.

I made a nod with a determined face, answering the putrid friend's question.

"Good." Heushac smiled. Then he walked away from the scene.

<>

I sat down on the long sofa beside Rikkun who is still crying while biting his chicken wings. His mouth is full of barbecue sauce, and there are even stains on her tux. I bowed down, trying to formulate the words I should say.

"Uhmm…"

"Hey…" Rikkun cut me in as he pressed his face forward. "...You look like Diadem's twin."

"I-I am Tiara!" I shrieked.

"Oh…" Rikkun made a couple of hiccups and then he unleashed his rage. "What are you doing here, ya wanker? I thought you love me! You saved me seven million times! You even confessed to me during the raid! But you… Ya rejected me in front of so many people. You said that I'm important to you… You said that you love me… Was that a lie!?"

"I-It's not!" I cried. "I really like you!"

"That's a lie too, right!? All of those dates… All of those memories… they are just nothing for you! So shut the hell up and die in the burning stake, ya witch!"

After releasing a tantrum, he immediately tossed a chicken wing to my face. It's not that powerful, but now my forehead is oozing with the delicious sauce.

His actions and sharp words really hurt me, but I won't falter.

He's just disappointed and drunk, so I won't take his words seriously.

With determination, I will never give up!

"Haaaaah!"

"Pwah!" Rikkun cried.

I just made an uppercut straight to his stomach. And that rendered him unconscious, completely pacifying him.

Now I can easily walk him home.