“Do you guys know each other?”, Mayu tilted her head and placed both of her arms across her chest after witnessing Amu and Daiki’s reactions upon seeing each other. She was quite surprised at how her fiancé looked at her best friend as if he’d known her with such familiarity.

Not wanting to raise Mayu’s suspicions, Amu cleared and tried her best to act casual in front of her ex-boyfriend, “Eh? Uhm, no. We don’t”, Amu shook her head vigorously to avoid any further interrogation from her friend. However, at the back of her mind, she is already cursing her luck, “He’s quite famous. I always see him on TV and magazines”, she chuckled nervously and avoided eye contact.

Mayu then turned to Daiki as if waiting for his turn to explain. With this, Daiki gulped and mentally dug his own grave, “She looked familiar, I thought I’ve seen her somewhere”, he lied while wishing for a miracle to make his fib believable.

“I see”, Mayu looked at Amu’s flustered face and then back to her fiancé who is now struggling to even pour water on his glass. Lucky for Amu and Daiki, the girl decided to accept their story in an attempt to salvage the evening.

--

“Dai-chan, this is my childhood friend, Amu”, Mayu started their introductions, “She’s going to be my Maid of Honour”. With this, Daiki extended his hand and waited for Amu to accept his friendly gesture. However, at the back of his mind, 101 questions started to build up about Amu’s sudden appearance just a few weeks before his wedding day.

As soon as their fingers touch, electricity bolted up their spines. All Amu wanted now is to crawl underneath the table and stay there until morning. “N-Nice to meet you”, she stuttered and quickly withdrew her hand from Daiki’s grasp.

Amu then sat down and abruptly took a sip from her glass to stop herself from looking at Daiki. She had forgotten how much she is drawn to this man and all at once, mixed feelings came rushing back. “I need to calm down”, she said to herself before hearing Mayu call for her attention.

“So, Amu-chan… Is there a special someone in New York yet?”, Amu nearly choked after hearing her friend’s question. This is something she does NOT want to talk about in front of Daiki. Her gaze consequently landed on the boy who also appears to be uncomfortable about the question.

“Eh?”, Amu coughed a few times before turning her head to face her.

“Come on, I haven’t seen you in almost 2 years. I’m getting married soon and I want to be invited to your wedding too”, Mayu replied excitedly.

“Uhm… no”, she didn’t lie about this. After all these years, no one ever compared to how much she loved Arioka Daiki. She could not help but think how funny fate turned out to be. Her best friend is now arranged to be married to the only man she ever loved. “I’ve been quite busy with my studies, so I don’t really have time to date”.

“Souka”, Mayu struck a thinking pose and her face suddenly lit up when an idea hit her, “Dai-chan should set you up with someone while you’re here. How about Chinen-kun?”, she suggested. It was now Daiki’s turn to choke from his own water. He somehow felt irritated at Mayu for even suggesting Amu to be with another guy.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea”, Daiki tried to calm himself, fighting the urge to just pull Amu away from all the tension. For some good reason, his eyes keep stealing glances at Amu and even admitted how much he misses every corner of her face. He tried his best to stay focused, but his heart pounded viciously just by the sound of her voice. If it wasn’t for Mayu being there, he would’ve just pulled her for a hug.

“Why not? It can’t be Yamada-kun since he’s going to be engaged to Satoko”

“He’s going to be what?!”, Amu said this a bit too loudly and it was already too late when she realised.

“Johnny-san is suggesting for them to get engaged too. Not many people know. I’m close with Satoko, so she told me”, Mayu informed, making Amu's concerns quickly escalate. Does Rio know about this? The girl stole a quick glance at Daiki and the latter slowly shook his head as if saying: ‘don’t-go-there’.

Amu was about to question her a bit more when the waiter started serving their dinner. Mayu already appeared distracted by the sight of the food so Amu was not given another chance to ask further.

--

The evening went by slowly for both Amu and Daiki. The three of them went on ahead with their awkward dinner and talked about plans for the upcoming wedding – from the dresses, flowers, guests and even the first dance. Amu was happy to see her friend excited but deep inside, her heart ached knowing that Daiki will never be hers. Maybe this is the closure she always prayed for.

After an hour, the tension was finally cut when the three of them said their goodbyes. Daiki’s eyes never left Amu’s figure until she disappeared into the dark alleyways of the opposite direction. He wanted to at least send her home but remembered that he is with Mayu. He is supposed to be prioritising her right now but like a magnet, his mind was stuck on his ex-girlfriend.

Daiki quickly sent his fiancé home and did not dare stay another minute even though Mayu wanted him to sleepover. After a stern rejection, he stomped his way towards the apartment of the only person he knows that can answer all his questions: Yamada Rio.

As soon as he reached her apartment door, he started abusing the doorbell, not minding the nearby neighbours. To his surprise, it was Ryosuke who answered his call, “Dude, any louder and the whole of Tokyo will know where you are”.

Daiki ignored his friend’s banter before barging his way into the living room and found Rio flicking through her tablet while grinning at some photos, “Rio-chan, I have a bone to pick with you”. Sensing the boy’s intimidating tone, Rio quickly dropped her iPad on the table and Ryosuke was quick to hide his girlfriend behind him.

This is when Daiki’s eyes landed on the tablet and saw pictures of him and Amu in a restaurant, “Wait, you guys were in the restaurant earlier?”.

The couple exchanged guilty smiles before finally confessing, “We didn't want to miss your reaction when you see Amu”.

“So, you knew she was coming?!”, Daiki started to massage his temples and felt the urge to bang their heads together for torturing him this much, “Why didn’t you tell me that Mayu is Amu’s childhood friend? Was she the one we were hiding from 2 years ago?”.

Rio confirmed this with a single nod, “In my defence, I thought you already knew. I mean, I kept giving you hints. I even called her the ‘evil princess’ at one point”.

Daiki scuffed his hair in frustration. He felt silly for not realising this sooner, “I finally convinced myself that I’m over Amu but why can’t I stop thinking about her?!”, he mumbled. He was about to ask more questions when the three of them heard the doorbell ring once again.

“I’ll get it”, Rio volunteered and opened her apartment door. A smile was immediately plastered on her face upon seeing her best friend standing outside, “Amu-chan!”, she nearly shouted which alerted one particular boy inside the apartment. Can this day get any messier?

“Thank God I got the correct address”, Amu was impressed at herself when she successfully found her best friend’s place despite her messy instructions over the phone the other day.

Without further ado, Rio gave her friend a tight hug and almost felt tears of happiness flow through her eyes, “Don’t get me wrong, I’m so happy that you’re here but it’s already late! Why are you still out?”.

“I needed someone to talk to”, the girl complained while watching Rio invite her inside her home, “You have no idea who I saw this even-… EH?!”, Amu’s sentence fell flat as soon as her eyes landed on the same person responsible for the emotional rollercoaster she experienced the entire day.

“Surprise?”, Rio uttered before feeling her boyfriend pulling her closer to give the couple some space. It’s been awhile since the four of them were in the same room, but no one dared to utter a word.

-

“H-Hey”, At last, Daiki was able to remove the block on his throat upon seeing the girl for the second time today.

“Uhm… I didn’t realise you had company, Rio-chan. I’ll just catch up with you tomorrow”, Amu excused herself and attempted to go. However, before she could even take a step, she felt a sudden pull from behind and saw Daiki’s hand tightly wrapped around her wrist.

“Can we talk?”, the boy requested – his voice nearly breaking.

Amu took awhile to agree to his request but eventually gave in when the boy refused to release her hand. Soon, Daiki guided her outside the apartment to avoid the stuffy feeling inside Rio’s apartment.

“You’d think Game of Thrones is intense. This is far worse”, Ryosuke commented and earned a nod from his girlfriend while they watched the couple exit the room.

--

Daiki led Amu into a nearby park only 2 minutes away from Rio’s apartment. He watched as the girl took comfort on one of the swings. For the first time today, he was able to smile remembering how much the girl loved their park dates when they were still dating. He gladly took the swing next to her and gently moved himself back and forth while finding the right words to say.

“How’ve you been?”, he asked in genuine concern. It feels so good asking Amu in person rather than asking Rio every day to check up on her.

“I’ve been better”, she replied and refused to look at him. She’s afraid that if she did, all the feelings she tried so hard to bury all this time will pour out and she would not have the stre