A single sip of coffee is all it took to wake Rio’s senses up after a whole day’s worth of work. Juggling her hospital placements and her part-time job in the Jimusho was proven challenging especially with the mission of being ‘Ms Cupid’ to get her two friends together, “I can’t wait for my date with Yama-chan”, she mumbled, resting her head on the table while waiting for her best friend to turn up. See, the two girls agreed to meet each other at their favourite café to catch up before tonight's wedding rehearsal dinner. They therefore decided to meet an hour before Mayu’s agreed time to spend some time with each other and enjoy their favourite warm beverages - just like old times.

Rio rested her eyes for a few seconds before hearing footsteps coming her way, “Let me guess, Yama-chan is too much of a distraction that you can't sleep?”, Amu teased and was successful in making Rio's head jerk up to fully face the latter.

Rio felt her heart skip a beat and finally sighed in relief upon seeing her best friend, “You know it!”, she replied and watched Amu take the seat opposite her. “I’m surprised Mayu wanted to meet here. Does she know this was our usual hangout place?”, Rio was surprised when the girl told her about Mayu’s plan in meeting her in the same café.

“I’m as surprised as you. But then again, this café is quite popular with their pastries. Maybe it’s just a coincidence”, Amu replied before thanking the barista for taking note of her order, “She also said she wanted me to meet someone”.

“As soon as I get a glimpse of her shadow, I’m out of here. I know how much your friend hates me”, Rio rolled her eyes, thinking of the hundreds of times she had met Mayu. Not once did the girl approve of her existence, “Also, why do you need a ‘rehearsal dinner’? Do rich people always need to rehearse their meals?”.

Amu giggled at her friend and patted her shoulder, “Mayu’s not that bad, Rio-chan”.

“But she’s marrying the guy you love! Why am I more upset than you?”, Rio insensitively said. This is something she never intended to get off her chest but could not help but feel frustrated not being able to do anything to get Amu and Daiki together. Rio immediately regretted her statement upon seeing her friend fall quiet, “Sorry, I thought you already knew”.

“I-I”, Amu felt the need to be defensive but slowly cave in, knowing well that she could not hide anything from her best friend. She released a great big sigh and felt the urge to bang her head on the table, “Who am I kidding?”.

“At least you finally admitted it to yourself”, Rio smirked.

“I agreed to go on this trip to find closure, but every time I look at Daiki, I can’t stay composed. I’m happy he’s moved on but—”, Amu’s sentence was interrupted by Rio’s laugh. She stopped midway and looked at her friend peculiarly, “Mou, is my misery that amusing to you?”.

“I’m sorry, Amu-chan…”, Rio wiped a bead of tear on the corner of her eye while stifling her laughter, “Did you just say, “Daiki’s moved on?””.

“U-huh”

“You have no idea”

“What do you mean? He’s marrying Mayu after all”, Amu titled her head in confusion, knowing well that Rio knows something she doesn’t. She looked at her friend and somehow, devil horns started growing from her head.

“Did you know that every day in past 2 years, he’s been asking updates about you?”, Rio started. She crossed her arms and soon found her friend leaning in to listen, “Since you left for New York, half the time, he’s the one texting you to see if you’re okay and if you got home safely. He pretended to be me so he could speak with you”.

“Uhm…”, Amu was unable to speak and suddenly pictured Rio’s messages flooding her memories. She started to massage her temples before feeling the need to hyperventilate, “EHH?!”.

“I bet at some point, you thought I was hitting on you, huh?”

“B-B-BUT RIO-CHAN! I messaged you some secrets. Did he read those messages too?”, Amu panicked and saw her whole life flash before her eyes. This.is.just.too.embarassing.

“Hmm, which secrets? You mean that time when someone asked you for a date?”, as if enjoying her friend’s torture, she continued to confess, “Dai-chan was the one who told you to stay away from that dude because he was so jealous. He was bummed about it for two weeks”.

“B-But I”, Amu was about to question her friend once more when suddenly, a familiar voice called for her name. Amu felt defeated for not being able to hear more about Daiki but decided to drown this feeling upon seeing Mayu and an unfamiliar woman already approaching their table.

Amu heard Rio hiss and immediately knew that she was already too late to run away.

“Amu-chan!”, Mayu greeted and soon, her eyes landed on Rio who was sitting opposite Amu, “Ah, Yamada-san is here too”, she raised her eyebrow before flipping her hair back. She looked at Rio as if she wanted the girl to puff into dust, “I don’t remember inviting you here. Are you pushing yourself to Amu again?”.

Rio felt her fist clench and grinded her teeth in annoyance and fought the urge to pounce on Mayu right there and then. If she wasn’t Amu’s good friend, she would have punched her already.

It was lucky that Amu is there to release the steam off before getting the scene out of hand, “Ah, Rio-chan is with me because she’s waiting for Yama-chan to finish. She’s a doctor and she helps Hey! Say! Jump, making sure they’re in their top condition before concerts and shows”, Amu explained and noticed Mayu give off an uninterested facial expression.

However, it only took a few seconds before her expression lit up. “Actually, this is good timing”, Mayu started before introducing the girl behind her, “You’ll finally have the chance to meet Ms Satoko Miyata, Yamada Ryosuke-san’s future wife”.

--

“Nice to meet you. Thanks for taking care of my fiancé”, Rio watched the beautiful girl extend her hand for hers. The way she called Ryosuke her fiancé ringed continuously in her ear, making cold sweat run down her body. With not much choice, she took her friendly gesture and swallowed her thoughts.

Silence was evident before Mayu spoke again, “Maa, we’ll be late for the party. Amu-chan, should we get going?”, she smirked at Rio and mentally celebrated her success.

“I’ll stay with Rio-chan”, Amu suggested, not wanting to leave her best friend behind after hearing such news. However, Rio held her arm and gave her a reassuring look.

“You should go. JUMP will be here any time soon, so I won’t be alone”, Rio urged the girl to go and did not allow Amu to protest any longer. Giving her friend some time to think, Amu hesitantly went with Mayu.

“I’ll call you later”

------

“I rather watch Ryosuke play his dumb video games for hours than stay in here”, Daiki mumbled to himself after greeting what it seemed like the 99th person on Mayu’s family tree. He spent the whole night meeting his fiance's friends and family without a glimpse of anyone he knew. What’s worse is that Mayu never want him to get away from her sight. The only thing keeping his spirits up was the fact that Amu is in the same room and he gets unlimited stolen glances at her.

For the nth time today, he shot a message on Jump’s group chat, “Where the heck are you guys?”, he typed on his phone and waited for anyone to answer. He begged heavens that someone… anyone from his friends will attend this boring party.

“Sorry dude, stuck with rehearsals”, Ryosuke replied back, “Your fault for getting married”, the boy mocked and did not f