It was already 11 pm and Harima just finish his shift for today. He was so happy to get his paycheck of the month and thinking about giving himself a treat at the bar not far from his work place. It had been a couple of months since he arrived at this small town. At first, he was thinking of staying there only for a few days but then he was attracted to the peacefulness and beauty of the town and decided to live there. He found himself a small apartment and a job. He had been traveled since Tenma went to Karasuma to America and Harima's heart had never been broken before. He went to many places, hoping that someday his heart will be healed. It took him many years until finally he could accept that Tenma chose Karasuma over him. Sometimes, he did remembered her but it was just good memories of the two of them. She was his first love and he knew that it was not easy for him to forget even after his heart is owned to someone else in the future.
The bar was only 15 minutes walk from his work place. He came there often and got to know the bartender a.k.a owner of the bar pretty well. He told the bartender about almost all of his life stories. About how is he fallen in love with Tenma, how she always misunderstood things and end up with a lot of troubles, how he always thought that Tenma was also in love with him but she loved Karasuma instead, how his heart was broken and start to draw manga, how he had a fight with Karasuma when Karasuma dumped Tenma because of his sickness. He always talked about Tenma until recently, he felt that the bartender was bored of his story of Tenma and started to tell him about his other friends. Yakumo, who is a great cook and used to be his manga assistant, Hanai, who always want to pick a fight with him, Eri, a rich girl with a high pride but had help him from become a delinquent like he used to be. Harima also told the bartender about how he had to be Eri's fake fiancée just to get her out from her arranged marriage, she shaved his hair to bald, he accidentally confessed to her and get a kick after that, how they both went out and realized they didn't brought any money. Then Harima realized he talked so much about Eri lately. He kept thinking about her until sometimes got frustrated with it. Why she kept popping out of my head, he thought. He tried to ignore it and thought it was nothing until he went to the bar that night.
As he stepped into the bar, there were only a few people as usual. Only four or five people sat at the table and one girl was sitting on his favorite place at the counter. Under the dim light, he saw the girl had a shiny golden, long hair with his head on the counter facing sideways. She looked thin, wearing a black short-sleeves T-shirt and a pair of tight jeans. Her hand was holding a big bottle of tequila. "Welcome," the bartender said.
"Who is she? She's sitting at my place," Harima sounded angry.
"She's a traveler looking for her friend. She was very upset when she came here and ordered that bottle of tequila," the bartender explained.
Harima didn't care. He didn't care how upset she is. He wanted his sit back.
"Hey, missy. You're sitting at my place. Get up," Harima patted the girl's shoulder.
"First come first serve, mister," the girl said, turning his head to face Harima.
Harima was so surprised and almost fell. He recognized her, that golden eyes, that beautiful face, just without the pigtails she used to have in high school. It was that girl, Sawachika Eri, the girl that was in his head lately.
"Ojou!" He realized that he said it very loud as the people in the bar suddenly turned to him.
"Sorry, everybody. Just continue with what you were doing," he apologized.
"Eh~?? Hige~?" the girl said while staring at Harima.
Oh no, she recognized me. I don't want to meet anybody from my past at this moment.
The girl stared at Harima's frightened face for a few minutes. Then she said, "You're not Hige. You don't even have a hige. And you're not wearing any sunglasses,"
She was right. Harima didn't have his beard and moustache anymore because that will remind him of Tenma. He didn't even wear his sunglasses and his hair was short and spike. She must be really drunk, he thought. He was sure of it by looking at the bottle of tequila that almost emptied.
"Sorry. My bad. I thought you're my friend. Sit here. Order what you want. My treat. Mr. Waiter~~," she said and waving to the bartender.
"It's okay. I'll pay it myself,"
"Don't be shy. Come on. Don't want a girl to treat you, huh?" she put her hand around Harima's neck.
"It's not like that," he said while removing her hand. "I just don't like some strangers to treat me without any reason."
"Eh~? You're no fun. Mr. Waiter~, one more bottle of tequila please~," she then finished up the one that she was holding.
Harima ordered his usual and watched Eri drank that tequila like she was drinking a bottle of mineral water. He thought of leaving after finishing his drink, but with all the questions in his mind, he can't leave just yet.
"What are you doing here?" Harima questioned Eri.
"Drinking. Can't you see what I am doing right now?" she replied, finishing the tequila she ordered minutes ago.
"No, I mean, what are you doing here in this town? Business or something?"
"Oh no. I was looking for my friend. I heard he was here. I even thought I saw him this afternoon at the market. I tried to chase him but he just disappeared. Stupid me, haha,"
Is she looking for me? Nah, it can't be. I'm more like her enemy than a friend. "So, this friend of yours, he's a guy right? What happen to him? He went missing?"
"Nah, he ran away from reality. A girl broke his heart and he can't accept it. That selfish jerk Hige! He was damned slow. He didn't even know that someone else cares about him too. Stupid, stupid, stupid Harima Kenji!" she was very loud especially on the 'stupid' part.
Harima Kenji? That's me right? Does this mean she was looking for me? But why? "You were looking for me…I mean this Harima guy, why?" Harima was afraid to ask this but it seemed that his curiosity won over his cowardice.
"Why? You ask me why?" she stood up and put her face in front of Harima's. Harima leaned a little backward and almost fell down but he managed to hold on to the counter. "Let me tell you why," she sat back on her chair and crossed her arms and legs, and said, "BECAUSE I LOVE HIM!" This time, it was really, really loud.
Harima looked around and saw no one was there. It was already past 12 am and all the customers were already left. Good thing no one could hear her, except for him and the bartender.
"You…love…him?" Harima was really surprised. She didn't mean that, right? This maybe some kind of a mistake, he thought.
She put her hands on Harima's shoulders and she looked straight into Harima's eyes. "I spent 3 whole years looking for him. I've been all over the world just to find him. And I have no regrets in doing all that. You want to know why? Because I want to see him. I really, really want to see him," tears rolled down her cheeks. It was not the first he saw Eri cried like that. The bar suddenly became very quiet. Only the sound of Eri's sniffing could be heard.
"Hahahaha! What am I doing, telling some strangers about my love life?" her laugh broke the silent but Harima could see her tears still didn't stop. She sat back on her chair and raised her hand to order another drink but before she did, she collapsed on the bar counter.
"Hey, Ojou!" Is she okay? Then Harima heard she snored. She's just asleep, thank God. She really did make me worried a little just now. Harima gave a sigh of relief.
"Kenji, you better take this young lady back to her place. She can't sleep here," the bartender said.
"But, I don't know which hotel she stayed. And I don't have my bike right now."
"She told me before that she stayed at NiiC Inn. It's only take 5 minutes walk from here. You know where it is, right? Just go straight along this road… " the bartender tried to show Harima the direction but Harima interrupted instead.
"It's okay. I know the place. Thanks anyway," Harima put some money on the counter as the payment for his drink. "This is not enough," the bartender said.
"Huh? But I have my usual."
"That young lady doesn't pay yet."
What? She even said she wanted to pay for my drink. There goes my salary. He took out some notes inside his rusty wallet and gave them to the bartender. The bartender just smiled. "Thank you," he said. Harima lift Eri onto his back and walked out from the bar as he heard the bartender said 'Come again' in a cheerful voice.
"I ended up paying for you. Now I don't know if my money is enough for me to eat before I get my next paycheck. You owe me, Ojou," Harima said to the unconscious Eri.
It was also not the first time he piggyback Eri. He even felt that she was lighter than the last time. Is she eating right? Maybe she's on diet, he thought.
Suddenly, Harima felt that Eri's hands that were placed around his neck were getting tighter. "You're awake, Ojou? I didn't mean anything, okay? I just want to take you back to your inn…"
"Don't leave me, Hige," she said with tears came out from her closed eyes. Harima heard that and put him into silent. He totally forgot the whole thing that just happened at the bar. He walked slowly with all the thoughts in his mind.
Finally, he stopped. He turned his head a little so he could see Eri's face and said, "I won't leave you. I promise." His mind was cleared. He didn't have any thoughts or doubts anymore. Tomorrow he will tell Eri how he really feels. He will end her 3-years-journey for good. "I promise you, Eri," he said as he walked under the starry sky, hoping that tomorrow will be a nice day for him to start a new purpose of his life.