Gate Guardian - Song Of The Frozen Soul

Let"s skip to my most favorite hour of the day.

Lunch!!!

I"m busy chomping down the quarter-pounder aloha burger while Rikkun is beside me, talking to the blonde beautiful girl in front of us.

Oh, about our subst.i.tute teacher… We thought that Necchan had some plot armor and alive, but it was a false alarm. At first, we were so shocked to see Lord Freya, but it just happens that it was only Mrs. Noctis, which is Necchan"s mother. It"s really hard for all of us to distinguish her from our deceased friend.

"I was already a teacher here in Dradecim National High before I had a comatose. I originally planned to have my daughter Jeannette enter this school..." Mrs. Noctis said.

"You can teach in Mirose Grande to have it all easier. Now you have to ride a bus every day." Rikkun said.

"Uh-uh." Mrs. Noctis waved her index finger to Rikkun. "I told you that I will facilitate your training! I still have to teach you how to use your G.o.d Core and your newly-acquired Weapon Gem."

Back during the holiday breaks, Mrs. Noctis applied to become Rikkun"s private tutor regarding on Gate Guardian matters. It"s only natural for him to strive to become stronger since he"s now the leader of the Aether Crusade. He may lack power and experience, but he gave the whole group"s trust in her back. But still, he has a lot to learn.

And oh! Mrs. Noctis is the past, Lord Freya. So she"s extremely smart and powerful.

"There"s another thing." Mrs. Noctis made a smile that is about to release good news. "You said that you are on a quest on finding twelve G.o.d Cores. It just happens that my niece owns one."

"Really!?" Rikkun smiled with joy. "Who is it?"

I don"t know why Rikkun is so happy about it. What"s with the twelve G.o.d Cores anyway?

Mrs. Noctis showed a picture on her phone. It was a cute teenager with golden-blonde long hair and pink eyes. She"s really beautiful in that black maid dress. Now there"s another Jeannette look-alike.

"He"s Eliseo Fontaine. Don"t let his cute looks fool you, he has the G.o.ddess Core of Venus!"

"H-He!?" Rikkun and I exclaimed as we pushed our faces closer to our subst.i.tute teacher. "A boy, wielding a G.o.ddess Core of feminine beauty?"

Mrs. Noctis ignored our question and continued to discuss. "He"s currently residing in the Brightmore Town. It"s quite a long ride, but if you managed to recruit him in the Aether Crusade, everything will be worth it!"

"B-Brightmore Town!?" The two of us exclaimed again. Then we both looked at each other"s eyes.

"...R-Rikkun…" I muttered while trembling. I don"t wanna go back to that place!

Rikkun"s eyes are silently saying "Me too."

But we don"t have much of a choice.

<>

Afternoon came. The bell rang from the tallest floor of the campus. Students are now packing up, ready to go home. But some of my cla.s.smates preferred to stay on their seats and have a buddy chit-chat time with their friends.

"...Ummm… Rikkun…" I pinched my friend"s sleeve. "Can I have a moment, please?"

"Sure." Rikkun answered casually. "What do you want to talk about?"

"The G.o.d Cores… Why are you searching for them?"

Rikkun made a deep sigh. He straightened his back and glared at me with his emerald eyes. "I had a grim , and that involves the safety of the whole universe. In order to save everything, we have to collect twelve G.o.d Cores."

Something doesn"t feel right. I may be an idiot, but I still have a woman"s intuition. So I held his hand tight and gave him a serious gaze. "... Something is telling me that it"s not everything. I know if you"re hiding something, Rikkun. Because I"m a psychic. I"m a witch!"

"Uh… I originally planned on telling everything once we"re halfway through, but... " Rikkun made a smile as he scratched his head. "Fine, I"ll tell you everything…"

Rikkun inhaled deeply as he tried to explain everything to me.

"The universe will blink out of existence once the Frozen Soul wakes up. And the only thing to prevent it is to sing the . And you… You are the only one who can sing it."

"M-Me!?" I covered my mouth with my hands.

The is an omnipotent spell capable of granting all the singer"s wishes. But it has one flaw. It will consume the soul of the caster and delete her existence. Being the one who can sing it, I have a great responsibility in my hands.

But I…

...I"m scared…

I don"t know if I can really do it.

"The Outsider said that the only way to prevent the drawback of the is to collect twelve G.o.d Cores. That is why I"m searching for it… to save you…" The handsome blonde smiled at me and patted my head. "We still have a lot of time to search for it. We have a one-year deadline. That"s quite a lot of time."

"B-But when the time comes and we failed to gather twelve G.o.d Cores… I will still have to sing it… right?... I have to do it even if the song erases me."

"I will never let that happen." Rikkun gave me an honest stare.

There"s a look in his eyes telling he"ll never leave me. Why is he always too concerned about my wellbeing, even though I have made a terrible thing on him? I humiliated (accidentally) him in front of all the students in Dradecim National High. And yet...

"...Rikkun… Don"t you hate me? … I shamelessly rejected you, but… you"re still talking that you"re going to save me..."

"Idiot." Rikkun smiled as he started to pat my head. "Why would I hate you? I don"t care if you rejected my feelings. All that matters is that you"re here with me... Actions speak louder than words after all."

W-W-Whaaat!? He heard what I said last night! He"s just pretending to be asleep at that time!

My face is now all-red, so I bowed to hide it. What"s happening to my heart? It"s beating so fast now, like an engine ready to explode! I hope he"s not hearing my throbbing chest.

If I have to confess, the perfect time will be now! I think his school reputation would go back to normal if I gave my "Yes" to his confession even if it"s one-day delayed! He knew what I said last night anyway! Go, Tiara, go! Don"t chicken out!

As the man I secretly love was about to turn his back, I held his right hand with both of mine.

"Rikkun!"

I mustered my courage to press my face towards him. His face is now rosy-red, blus.h.i.+ng like mine. The two of us got lost on each other"s eyes.

"Rikkun… I..."