Daiki grunted after feeling the bright light coming from the bedroom window piercing his eyelids. He heard Ryosuke’s loud voice splitting his eardrums, making him pull the covers over his head, “Get your up, Arioka!”, Ryosuke shouted and laughed at his friend’s state - flopping like a fish inside his blanket.

Defeated, the poor boy sat up and faced his friend with such a dishevelled look, “Ugh”, he fought the urge to strangle Ryosuke but noted the unbearable pain radiating from the back of his head. He struggled to speak after feeling dryness in his mouth. “Remind me to lay off alcohol for like… forever”, he used his hand to cover his eyes from the blinding sunlight shining at him. He shifted his vision at Ryosuke and watched him throw a spare t-shirt to cover his half- body.

“When you knocked on my door last night, I thought you were finally inviting me to your bachelor party. I was gutted to see you already drunk! You didn’t even wait for me”, Ryosuke mocked while waiting for the older one place his head over the shirt.

“Why am I even here?”, Daiki asked and tried to remember the events from last night.

“I think you just missed me too much and started to get clingy”, Ryosuke chuckled, “But no thanks to you, I had to sleep on the couch!”.

“Huh? Why?”

“I kicked you out into my living room but you kept climbing in bed with me while mumbling Amu’s name”, Ryosuke complained. He tilted his head from side to side to alleviate his stiff neck from sleeping in an uncomfortable position for such a long time, “Things I do for you, seriously”.

It was unusual for Daiki not to banter back so as soon as the younger boy saw his best friend’s troubled expression, he invited him to a cup of coffee he already prepared in the kitchen, “You better start getting ready. It’s 2pm, you slept almost the whole day”.

With this, the two boys went over to Ryosuke’s kitchen located opposite his living room. “Thanks, Ryo”, Daiki sat down on one of the chairs and felt satisfaction with the hot beverage. He was on his second sip when he noticed his friend already dressed as if ready to go out, “I thought you’re off today? You have your date with Rio-chan, right?”

“I do… that’s why I made sure to finish all my shoots this morning. I only have one more to do this afternoon then I’m off to get ready for my date. I just decided to drop by to check if you were still alive”, Ryosuke replied while pouring a glass of water for himself to drink.

“With the amount of alcohol I drank last night, I’m surprised that I still am”

“The rehearsal dinner didn’t go well, huh. The missus already giving you grief?”, not knowing when to quit, Yamada continued to mock but was not expecting the boy's sudden change of expression. 

“I broke the engagement off”, Ryosuke made a wrong decision to take big gulp from his glass while waiting for Daiki’s reply. It was already too late when he realised, and water started spurting out of his mouth.

“Dude!”, Daiki pushed his seat back in surprise and minded his shirt after being sprayed spontaneously. 

“I don’t know why you’re complaining, that’s my shirt!”

“Oh yeah…”

“Never mind that. What happened?”, Ryosuke twirled a chair next to him and felt the need to sit down, “Did you finally have an epiphany?”

“I told her I’m in love with someone else”

“And?”

“She knew it was Amu”, Daiki placed his hand on his forehead, trying to remember his last conversation with Mayu, “It felt a bit off. It was like she was already expecting me to break our engagement”.

Ryosuke was about to question his friend further when the boy’s phone suddenly went off, “Tsk, it’s my alarm. I have so many things to finish off before my date with Rio, so I had to time everything”, he was itching to hear more of Daiki’s story but he was obviously more anxious not to be late on his date with Rio, “I have to go, but you better finish your story later!”, he urged before giving him the spare key to his apartment, “Here, stay as long as you want. Just promise not to burn my house”.

“I’ll try”, with a hurried goodbye, Daiki watched his friend shuffle for his belongings before going outside, “Enjoy your date”.

--

Ryosuke dashed towards the apartment’s private parking lot and mentally checked that all of his belongings are complete. He smiled, having thought that only within a couple of hours, he’ll be able to spend some time with his girlfriend. With much excitement, he opened the door leading to the exit of the building but stopped abruptly with the sight of a familiar girl standing right outside. 

“Satoko…”

--

Meanwhile…

With a heavy heart, Amu stepped closer to her friend hoping to get a decent explanation for her actions, “Wh-Why?”, she looked at her with teary eyes and tried to convince herself that it was all a lie. However, the words she heard next gave her more questions than answers.

“I didn’t plan for you to find out this early, but oh well”, Mayu claimed but did not feel any guilt for the emotional distress she gave her childhood friend, “I never liked you, Amu. Ever since we were kids, you always get everyone's the attention – even the attention of my dad. He always compares me to the oh-so-great Amu Kitagawa and it just makes my skin crawl”.

“I treated you like a sister”

“That’s your mistake, not mine”, Mayu sat down and crossed her legs before giving off a smirk, “I swore to take your happiness, so I took Daiki from you”, she paused and even admitted how good she felt seeing tears from Amu’s eyes. With this, she continued on, “I was the one who sent the pictures to Johnny-san 2 years ago forcing Daiki to break up with you. Your precious boyfriend even fought for you, but I sent an anonymous threat to the Jimusho without leaving any trace. Only recently I carried out the second part of my plan; to get Daiki agree to the arrange marriage”.

“Why did you even invite me here?!”, Amu clenched her fists in anger. All this time, she was wishing for the girl’s happiness, not knowing that she was the main reason she could not protect hers. Her happiest memories with Daiki flooded her mind all at once before feeling utmost longingness for the years they spent apart just because of Mayu.

“Simple - I want you to see me take Daiki away from you”

“I genuinely cared for you, Mayu. But now that I know the truth, I know to pursue my happiness for once”

“No way I’ll let you do that”, Mayu scoffed as if sure of her victory, “You know why? Because if you do anything to stop this wedding, I will make sure that Daiki and Ryosuke’s careers will be over”, Mayu threatened before throwing a pile of pictures on the coffee table. She threw it in a way that Amu would get glimpse of the printed photographs. The young girl held her breath and felt petrified, seeing another side of the same person she previously considered as family, “I still have photographs of you together and if you tell anyone about this, I will announce that he cheated on me and will play victim. Plus, I will publish photos of Ryosuke and Rio”.

Amu froze on her place and was unable to counter the girl’s threat - she felt trapped and helpless, “I didn’t know you were this desperate”.

“I don’t care what you think. I will do anything to make your life miserable, so you better go back to your lonely life in New York while I’m still being nice”

--

Mayu’s words kept ringing inside Amu’s ears even after she left the building. It took her awhile to process the truth she heard from her former best friend and part of her still wanted to believe that it was all a prank. She felt her bottom half collapse on the concrete bench right outside the building of Mayu’s agency and without even realising, tears started pouring.

“Pull yourself together, Amu!”, the poor girl wiped her own tears while thinking of a way to save her friends. She does not know how to counter Mayu’s threat but unlike two years ago, running away is not an option. With an attempt to shake her mind off from reality, she wanted to seek comfort with her best friend, Rio.

She pulled her phone from her skirt pocket after making sure that she did not leave any clues that she was crying. She waited for a few rings and soon heard her friend’s greeting. Amu smiled at first, but then frowned upon the girl's sullen voice, “Rio? What’s wrong?”.

--

“Amu-chan… why do I even try?”, Rio answered her friend while looking at the well-organized table with a number of home-cooked meals she spent so many hours to prepare. She pressed the speaker phone button and placed her mobile down on the table before resting her head on the back rest of her sofa, “Yama-chan cancelled on me again”, she explained before releasing another sigh.

“EH?! WHY?!”, the sound of Amu’s loud voice echoed within the hallow halls of Rio’s apartment, “He promised not to cancel this time”.

“He said the director won’t let him go until they finish the last scene. They’re running behind schedule, so he’s forced to stay”, Rio replied while struggling to supress tears from her eyes, “It’s my fault for keeping my hopes up”.

Amu expelled her breath sharply and was already formulating her lecture on Ryosuke, “Give me a few minutes, Rio-chan. I’m on my way. I don’t want to be alone tonight either. I need to get things off my chest”.

Immediately, Rio sensed what the girl meant and suggested something they knew they’ll both regret, “Amu-chan, do you want to get a couple of drinks?”.

“Eh? Is that a good idea? You know how bad we are when drunk”, Amu and Rio only got drunk once but it was not a good experience. Both ended up sleeping on Rio’s apartment floor while wearing Daiki and Ryosuke’s shirts (don’t ask how).

“You’re right. But I just want to do something tonight. I’ll just spend my monthsary with you”

“Aww, I’ll be honoured”, Amu smiled before running towards the subway, “Text me the address and I’ll meet you there in half an hour”.

--

“Rio-chan… I think I’m drunk”, Amu blinked four times having felt a tingle on both of her cheeks.

“Amu-chan, you only had like three sips from your beer. You’ve gotten worse at drinking”, Rio teased but in reality, she knew that she was not doing well herself. She only managed to drink half of her beverage but already felt her cheeks burning up.

“By the way, how’s Mayu? You were in a panic earlier. Is everything okay?”

“Eh? Uhm…”, Rio furrowed her eyes upon seeing her friend pulling an expression she always uses whenever she’s about to say something doubtful, “Yeah… everything’s great”.

“No, it’s not”, Rio caught her lie almost immediately, “You and Dai-chan have the same look when you’re lying…”, she continued but immediately noticed her friend’s troubled expression. Her face went blank and tilted her head low, “You don’t have to tell me, Amu. But you should know that don’t have to carry everything on your own. We’re here for you; me, Yama-chan and Daiki”. Rio reassured the younger girl and somehow gave her the resolve to go through Mayu’s threats.

Amu’s smile extended and suddenly felt the urge to give Rio a big hug, “Thanks, Rio-chan”.

--

Both girls exchanged stories for a while and laughed at each other’s misfortunes. Amu may not have the courage to tell her friends what she’s going through but at least for now, she can just enjoy her best friend’s company.

Half an hour had passed when Amu noticed her beverage almost half empty when not a single drop was found on Rio’s. She was surprised when she saw the older girl already starting her next bottle of beer, dedicated to forget her failed monthsary date. Amu was about to warn her best friend to slow down when she noticed an unfamiliar man tapping Rio from behind.

“Rio-chan… I didn’t know you were coming”, the man greeted and was successful in grabbing Rio’s attention.

“Ishihara-san?”, Rio blinked twice and had completely forgotten that she was invited to a staff party by the same man, “Is this where the party is?”.

“Yeah. I did send you the invite”

“I’m sorry, I completely forgot. I just came here to spend time with my best friend”, Rio explained and politely introduced Amu to the latter.

“Why don’t you guys join us? Our table is just at the back. I’m sure everyone would be glad to see you there”, Ren pointed at where the rest of the staff members are while pulling Rio’s arm to their table. On the other hand, the two girls had second thoughts of going since Ryosuke clearly instructed Rio NOT to associate herself with Ren.

“Uhm, I don’t think that’s a good ide-“, Rio was about to decline but Ishihara’s persistence was too strong for her.

“Come on, it’ll be fun”, he insisted. The two girls did not have much choice but to follow the boy’s lead. It only took them a few turns in the restaurant when they found a private room with at least 15 people inside. Everyone almost cheered when the two girls entered the room, most of them are complete strangers to both girls, “Here, sit next to me”, Ren guided the two to sit down and offered them strong alcoholic drinks.

--

“Rio-chan, you don’t have to drink that”, Amu whispered but it was too late. Rio already had a few sips of her drink, knowing well that the boy sitting next to her will not budge until she had tasted it. Amu was also forced to drink but did not have as much compared to what Rio had.

The bitterness of her beverage stung the back of Rio’s throat and helped in accelerating her heartbeat. The girl suddenly felt her head feeling heavy, to a point of almost passing out.

“Here, have some more”, Ren poured another shot in Rio’s glass and did not take ‘no’ for an answer when the girl declined. While Ren was busy minding Rio, Amu’s eyes landed on the weird tablet-like object on the bottom of her friend’s glass. The effervescence coming from it somehow disguised its presence.

Alarm bells started ringing inside Amu’s head when she started to realise that she too drank the same beverage. After fighting the pain radiating from the back of her head, she quickly urged Rio to stand up and move away, “Rio-chan, we need to go”, she firmly said and competed against the loud music in the room.

Rio struggled to hear her friend and the banging headache she’s experiencing made her unable to think coherently.

“These two girls are mine”, Ishihara manically grinned at his friend before turning back to Rio and Amu. The younger girl took this as signal to call for help. She quickly pulled her phone from her pocket and excused herself outside the room. She was lucky that Ren was busy tending Rio when she sneaked out.

Without any seconds to spare, she immediately dialled Ryosuke’s number, “Come on! Pick up!”.

--

Daiki took advantage of the peace and quiet in Ryosuke’s apartment before deciding to finally head to the Jimusho to pick up some of his stuff before his early shooting the next day. By the time he got to the parking lot, it was already 8pm.

He casually stepped away from his car after hearing the double ‘beep’ which indicated that his vehicle is securely locked. This is when his eyes noticed his best friend and a familiar lady exiting a black van parked just a few meters away from his car. Daiki squinted his eyes to see clearly and gasped when he saw Satoko shaking his hand before returning to the said vehicle.