THE RED STRING OF FATEHiros.h.i.+ma. Nagasaki. B43. MOAB. Salted Nukes. Castle Bravo. Tsar Bomba. Kamehameha.
All those explosions are nothing compared to the one I"m getting right now. I was so mindblown that all my nerves in my pebble brain short-circuited, and now I"m lost in this endless feeling of romance.
"Tiara Hikari… I love you… Will you be my girlfriend?"
The man of my dreams said. He is my knight in s.h.i.+ning armor. For all those seven million timelines that I have repeated, this is the only life that I ever had a confession from the one I truly love.
"...Rikkun…" I bowed to hide my red face. I was so lost in thought and endless questions echoed unto my consciousness.
Is this really the truth? Am I dreaming right now? What makes Rikkun say that to me? I thought he loved Necchan! But why is he confessing to me? I know it"s my lifelong wish to be loved by him, but…
...I thought we would only stay as friends forever...
"W-What?" Rikkun hanged his jaws. "W-What do you mean f-f-friends forever…?"
s.h.i.+MATAAAAA!!! I was narrating out loud! Quick, Tiara! Take it back!
"U-Um I-I…. Ahahaha… I…I mean… y-you… O-Of course!"
You"re making it worse, me! I can"t stop the stuttering nonsense! My brains won"t work! I"m not ready for this! Maybe I"ll just apologize for now!
"I-I-I-I"m sorry, Rikkun!" I made a powerful yet polite bow to the man in front of me. Never did I know that he"s too close, and I made an accidental headb.u.t.t to his nose!
"Pwah!"
Rikkun held his nose, but it didn"t stop the bleeding. Now his white tux is stained with dark red liquid! I"m getting everything worse! I"m such an idiot! The longer I stay here, the more I embarra.s.s him! I should escape from this scene, quick!
"I-I-I-I"M SOOOOOOOOOO SOOOOOOOOORRRRRYYYYY!!!"
I shouted as I ran away as fast as a racing motorcycle. I went five blocks away, zigzagging my trail, hoping that no one can follow me.
I freaked out.
No. I already freaked out when the man I loved for eternity proposed to me to become his girlfriend.
When I thought that I was already in a safe area, I went in front of an electricity post and slammed my head over and over.
THUD! THUD! THUD!
"I"m such an idiot! Idiot idiot idiot! I"m so stupiiiiiid!!!" I cried. "Tiara you idiot! You had one job!"
As soon as the electric post curled because of my continuous beating, I decided to go home, to my original condo unit. I can no longer show my face to Rikkun…
At least, not now…
<>
As soon as I open the door to my home, I was surprised by sudden cheers.
"LONG LIVE THE LOVERS!!!" Asumi-nee shouted.
Pooooooot!!! Ayano blew her party horn.
I made a short "Eeek!" sound. After a moment, I sighed to calm myself.
"Wait, where"s your groom?" Asumi-nee tilted her head. Ayano was also having a curious face.
"I...I…" That"s all I could mutter. I was so ashamed of myself that I don"t want them to look at me. I covered my reddish face with my hands.
Suddenly, Ayano picked up her smartphone and opened the social media app. "Hey, Asumi-nee. Alaric"s confession is all over the web! Ten thousand shares in just a half of an hour! Cool!"
"Let"s watch it~" Asumi-nee said.
"W-W-Wait!" I tried to s.n.a.t.c.h the phone, but they evaded my attack!
<>
Watching the video made me realize my mistakes in a third person"s perspective...
"Tiara… I love you…Will you be my girlfriend?"
"...I thought we would stay as friends forever…"
"W-What!? W-What do you mean f-f-friends forever…?"
"U-Um…I-I…. Ahahaha… I-I mean y-you of course… I"m so sorry, Rikkun!"
Thud!
"Pwah!"
"I-I-I"M SOOOOOO SOOOOOOOORRRYYYYYYYYY!!!"
Swoos.h.!.+
There was a long awkward silence. Everyone… the Parade Club, the Idol Club audiences, and even the Drama Club…. Miss Awane and even Macho Steel who was looking at the crime scene was dead silent.
And Rikkun became stone as if he was glared by Medusa.
The silence only broke when Heushac started to strum his guitar and sing a sad song with a surprisingly awesome voice.
"Love hurts~ Love wounds~ Love scars~ Aaaaand marks~"
The leader of the Parade Club, Gerrick, raised his voice and made a proclamation!
"THE KING OF REJECTIONS HAS BEEN REJECTED!!!"
Then the whole Parade Club joined the music.
<>
Asumi-nee and Ayano are dumbstruck and their mouth continued to open wide. I just hid my face in embarra.s.sment.
"Way to go, Tiara!" Ayano made a heavy pat on my back! "You have utterly defeated the Arrogant King! I never wanted that guy in the first place!"
"E-Eeeeh?" I cried.
Asumi-nee pressed her face forward and took a good read in my shaking blue eyes. "Are you sure about that decision? I won"t interfere if you really don"t like Alaric, but considering his efforts getting wasted like that…"
I bowed as I silently cried.
"Asumi-nee… I… I like him… I love him more than anything but…"
"EEEEEEEEH!!!!???" Asumi and Ayano exclaimed.
"I-It"s true… I won"t repeat timelines seven million times if I didn"t love him in the first place…"
"What a b.i.t.c.h you are, Tiara!" Ayano glared. "I liked that guy! I was s.h.i.+pping you two together!"
"If you two didn"t end up married together, I"ll kick you out of the shrine!" Asumi-nee angrily shouted at me. "The shrine business would plummet if you failed to marry Alaric, remember that! He"s helped a lot on our fortune-telling business and souvenir shop!"
I really can"t understand Asumi and Ayano sometimes...
"W-What should I do…" I cried. "Now I don"t have the courage to tell him what I really feel… Now I"m too embarra.s.sed to show my face… Auuu.."
"Don"t stress too much about it, Tiara." Asumi-nee patted my back so hard that I almost thought my lungs would fly.
"E-Eh?"
"During the Christmas Raid, Jeannette gave you a part of her soul, right?"
"Y-Yes…"
"And you said that in all timelines, Jeannette and Alaric are soulmates. Now that Jeannette is gone, and her soul now resides on your heart…"
"You guys are now meant to be together!" Ayano finished the sentence.
"I-Is that true!?" My eyes are now filled with hope.
Asumi gave a safe smile at me as she uttered the words that would keep me alive for a hundred more timelines.
"I can now see the red strings of fate between you and Alaric. So don"t panic. Rest a.s.sured."