I felt the afternoon breeze chilled through my skin as we walked towards our destination, apparently there was a sudden changed of plans. Because the practice was cancelled today, Kotori could work early and made it in time just for the movie. This was a simple problem solving on my part, there were two tickets and three of us. So technically, i was going to be ruled out but there was a twist, i couldn't remove myself out of the equation. Umi invited me and i happily accepted her invitation so if i back out it would just hurt the sea girl's pride. After all, Umi was the type that had a strong sense of responsibility so she couldn't go back on her word even if she wanted to.

"Umi-chan i think it's fine for me to go, i plan to marathon my favorite anime anyway." I already knew what her next reply was going to be but a part of me was still hoping that she would allow me to leave.

"No! We will watch the movie together, Kotori can you really make it in time?"

"Yeah i'm sure of it, the movie will start at 7 right?"

"There you have it we just need to wait for her and about the tickets, i am going to buy one more so you don't have to worry."

"Haha... then what are we waiting for, let's go!" Sometimes, i was scared of myself for making absolute calculations.

After our long walk we arrived in Akihabara, we were welcomed by the colorful lights and busy atmosphere. This place never ceased to amaze me, it was always filled with lots of people and anime stuff. There were a number of maids and maid cafes too. Honestly, i couldn't discern which maid cafe Kotori was working. I just followed Umi and Kotori until we stopped on a certain maid cafe. For some reason, this area was somewhat familiar to me then after a few minutes it hit me, this was the cafe that Kotori sang the "Wonder zone" in one of our lives. We successfully accompanied Kotori to her workplace and wished her good luck. We were about to say goodbye to her when i saw how Umi became melodramatic as she held Kotori's hands.

"Really Umi-chan, you will see her again at 7 there's no need for you to go full Kosei Arima."

After we dropped Kotori to her work, we found ourselves with a plenty of time to spare. We decided to roam around the place till the meeting time. Meanwhile my Honoka-sense was tingling, this showed that there was a restaurant near the place. I dragged Umi all over the vicinity until we found that eating place, a simple pizzeria with a classic italian design. We seated ourselves and about to order the pizzeria's specialty when i heard a very familiar voice.

"So you like tomatoes, that's weird." I was sure of it, that was the voice of Nico so if she was here then-

"Why are you asking me this anyway." I knew it, that one was Maki.

"Cause i want to know you better, I promise that i will be a better girlfriend remember."

"Do-do what you want...is not like i am happy or anything."

"Wow so i am in the second episode of 'The melacholy of Kousaka Honoka' now."

Of all places we encountered these two lovebirds here, just when i thought that i would only deal with Kotori and Umi at the end of the day. And to make it worse, their table was adjacent to us, but luckily they were preoccupied with their lover's talk to notice us. Speaking of preoccupied, my blue haired friend here was still in the daze too, i started a conversation but "Umi EXE has stopped working, please insert a Kotori to her side." On the bright side those two still had not noticed our presence yet. My small dream for the moment was to be able to eat my pizza in peace despite of the situation.

"Oi! Honoka, Umi fancy meeting you here." Such fragile dreams. That happened fast, like they had a keyword or something.

"Ah...oh Maki-chan, Nico-chan i didn't notice you at all since when did you two arrived." I feigned ignorance as always.

"What are you talking about, we already been here you're just so dense that you don't notice." Wow, so this was reversed psychology. Then, looked at Umi, that girl had never said a single word since it became just the two of us.

"You're really so dense Honoka. Seriously, they are just table away from us." She recovered quickly and with a heck of a timing too.

"Ahaha...i can't help it, i'm just thinking of the pizza."

"I'm not dense, i just choose to not care."

"Whatever, let's order some pizza now."

And so my pizza arrived with cheese, pepperoni, mushrooms and a little bit of grief as a bonus topping. We chatted about many things but i was secretly fishing for information, apparently these two were here because they came to watch the same movie and just passing time until the premiere. So there was a chance that i would see them again after this. Usually, i didn't ask things like why the world was so cruel to me because it was a rhetorical question but i was going to ask anyway.

"Why is the world so cruel to me?"

After we finished eating our pizza, i urged Umi to leave. This was Akihabara after all so there was many things to do. Although, i couldn't buy the newly released DVD or anime figures at the moment because of a certain reason. We were about to leave when the pair made a conversation again to me one last time.

"Umm...Honoka...thank you! Because of you i realize that i really love Maki, thank you Honoka," Nico said it, slightly bowing her head to me.

"It's not a big deal, i'm just happy everything is alright now." Preserving the happiness of nine of us was my 'Raison d'etre' anyway.

"Me too Honoka, thank you...for this. I will never forget it."

"Just promise me you two will not fight again okay, just talk things first before making a decision." It would make my life a bit peaceful.

I smiled brightly as we bid them goodbye. I just hoped that this time, this pair were not going to bicker in the later future. It would be a huge help for me indeed, considering that i could discard my peacemaker role. We paid the tab and ventured towards the door but before i made my exit, i glanced to them one last time and smiled.

"Don't worry, i'm going to make sure that everything is going to be fine for us," I muttered that to myself as i chased my blue haired friend who was already a meters away.

With our stomach full, we continued our stroll around Akihabara. Honestly, i wanted to visit some anime shops but i had my very meticulous and old fashioned friend as a companion. I recalled the time when she came along with me on those shops. I was buying some anime merchandise when she wandered off on her own, and almost drifted in the R18 section. It was a heart-stopping moment for me but i managed to save her before she could learn about the darkside of anime. Since then, i vowed to never enter any anime shop if Umi was with me. Well generally, she didn't like anime especially those anime girls that showing a lot of skin so we went to her place of choice, an old music store? For a second, i was worried about their relationship, Kotori was the one making decision to their dates for sure. We were about to enter when we heard a familiar voice AGAIN.

"My, my Honoka-chan and Umi-chan fancy meeting you two here," Nozomi said in a teasing tone.

"Ah nice timing, we are about to grab some parfaits at the usual place. Do you want to come?" Eli suggested.

We encountered another muse couples again and to make it worse, they were the high leveled ones. This kind of situations made me wished that max repel should exist in real life. Once again, i resigned to my fate as i recited another rhetorical question in my mind.

"What kind of fate is this?"

"I don't mind do you want you to Honoka? I can show you this store on another time."

"Of course, we have some time before the movie after all," I said cheerfully but in my mind i carefully weighted which was heavier. On one hand, if i went to the music shop, i would probably die on boredom. On the other hand, if i went with my senior, it would be just a non-stop flirting between them. So its tied between boredom vs flirting and since it had almost no difference, i chose the latter. "I can't wait to see what the cafe looks like."

And so with two new additional party members, we trod our path to the cafe that Nozomi and Eli frequented to. While walking, i saw how the two casually holding their hands and Umi was busy fiddling her cellphone. A few minutes later i initiated a conversation, my first topic was if they were here because of the movie too and i was relieved to hear their answer, so it were only Maki and Nico this time. I was going to ask for more when i noticed that Umi stopped moving.

She looked at me then suddenly bowed her head. "I'm sorry, i have to go to Kotori now...umm Honoka you know where the movie center is right?"

"Of course, i will meet you up there." So it was a luxury for me to spend some alone time with one of my childhood friends now.

"Don't worry Honoka-chan we're almost there."

We continued our walk but my luck was never changing, not only Umi left me for her girlfriend but also i was stuck on dealing with the star couple alone. If i ever found myself trapped in Hope's peak Academy with 14 other unique students and a despair maniac bear, my title would be ultimate misfortune. Spoiler alert: I was the one who was going to die at the first five minutes of the episode so there was not even a classroom trial for me. My train of thoughts was interrupted when i bumped on my senior's back. It seemed that we already arrived, the place was an open cafe with lots of flowers as the main motif. I carefully examined the store sign, the name was 'Secret garden' written in a gold font. My seniors already took their seats, feeling comfortable but for me it was the opposite. This was the first time i visited these kinds of place, so naturally i was nervous

"Honoka what's your order?" My hands were at the menu but i still failed produce a solid answer. These two were regulars here so they most likely ordering the usual and by usual i bet this 'Garden of lover's parfait', so i couldn't mimic their order. I was still pondering for my choice, but the waitress already approached me.

"Can i get your order ma'am?"

"Hopes and dreams, please."

"Um..ma'am, we don't serve that here can you please pick another one?"

"Ah, coffee please," i said, going for the common choice.

"We have coffee ranging from the ordinary blends to the high quality ones. What do you want ma'am?"

"Ah just black coffee, the darkness of the coffee complements with the story of my life," I said coldly.

"Ah...uh would you like it hot or cold, ma'am?"

"Cold please, i mean even if i pick hot, it can't warm my heart anymore," I said it again with a cold voice.

"..If..if you want..we can add some-"

"Listen miss, i like my coffee, just like my future: Cold, dark and lonely. What's the point of adding it anyway? We live alone, we die alone, and everything else is just an illusion, isn't?"

"Ah..uh...so...black..coffee, i'll be right back."

After giving my order, the waitress slowly crept away from me. I didn't understand at first why she was acting like that until i realized, i turned off my normalcy again. This was bad, i showed it to these two lovebirds here. I was about to panic when i saw the pair, they were in their own secret garden showing their affections with each other. This was probably the first time, that i was genuinely happy when they were flirting and ignoring me. The reason i called them power couple was that the fact that they were not afraid to show this kind of view to anyone. Their relationship was well known in the school and supported by a vast majority of students. However, because of this, these two were always showing public display of affection approximately 70% at the time. Like always, i could only find solace in the girl's bathroom but before i could go, they finally noticed my presence.

"Ah Honoka-chan, i'm sorry i didn't notice you. I am just so happy."

"No i don't mind, i'm happy when you're happy," I said cheerfully. I wasn't even trying to hide, in fact i was just sitting in front of these two. So my stealth skills were greater than solid snake now.

"Actually we just want to thank you, if we never join the muse. I wouldn't be able to realize my feelings for Nozomi."

"Aww you're making me blush Elicchi."

"Well it's the truth anyway, i love you Nozomi."

"I love you too Elicchi..." Well it could've been worse in my opinion. But hey at least they didn't...and they kissed, it probably lasted for few seconds but i saw it at the very last moment. Once again i cursed my luck in the inside as i kept my smile on the outside.

Soon after that our order arrived, Nozomi and Eli shared a large couple parfait complete with pink ribbons and hearts while me just sipping my plain black coffee. For some reason, i received four complementary cupcakes with letters aligned as 'HOPE' and a note saying "Don't give up" along with my order. I watched the two, feeding each other with only one spoon. But it didn't bother me now because i already saw the worst. After finishing our orders we chatted for a bit, our topic was the student council works. This was a peculiar topic for me but i already had a hint of where this was going, so i played dumb at the moment. With the time of the movie premiere at hand, i excused myself and said goodbye. I was already walking towards my path but i turned back and waved at them one last time.

I rushed to our meeting point and bumped with few people along the way. Luckily for me, the movie theater was not far from here. So this answered why Umi left me, she knew the cinema's distance from that cafe. After a minute of searching, i found my childhood friends, standing at the main entrance patiently waiting for me.

"Hey Umi-chan, Kotori-chan i'm here now," I shouted cheerfully.

"Good your just in time, let's go now."

"Umi-chan no need to rush, i'm sure there are many seats left."

"I know but it can't hurt to be careful so let's go now."

We entered the movie center, it was crowded with a sea of couples that would watch the same film like these two. I saw the movie poster and it was a full blown romantic movie with the biggest stars as cast, no wonder Umi and Kotori were excited. My ashen haired friend handed me my ticket as we proceeded to the viewing area. I immediately noticed the amount of people in those padded seats, i tried to find Nico and Maki but it was too packed. A few minutes later, we found some seats on our own at the lower row. While waiting for the movie to start, i felt my cellphone vibrated. I hastily opened it and found a text with a picture, from Hanayo and Rin in the ferris wheel together.

"Thanks Hanayo-chan and Rin-chan, this is what i need the most in my situation." Well, on the bright side their date was successful meaning they would not bother me any time soon.

"Honoka what are you doing? Turn that off, the movie is about to begin."

With Umi's scolding, i quickly hid my cellphone and focused my eyes on the movie. It was the first half of the film when large amount of people were crying, i turned to my childhood friends and they were bawling their eyes too. I didn't understand what was happening, there was not even a single bit of reason to cry in this movie. But i guessed this was what i got for watching the ending of angel beats without even shedding a tear, i was qualified to enter the salty spitoon for this. As the movie progressed, i found myself bored already. Well, the film was not boring but it was not interesting either. Generally, all love stories basically had one ideal plot, that was the leading man and the leading lady would always end up together ALWAYS. It just varies with their meetings and interactions. About the ending, some people incorporated some twist like both or one of them would die in the end or an unfinished ending that would leave to the viewer's imagination what happened next, but for me it was too repetitive already. When i watched with this mindset, i easily spotted some flaws and inconsistencies like how did they fall in love with each other within a limited amount of time? Could love really work that way? How could you tell that it was true love if you just met her for a day? Needless to say, i already knew the answers to my questions which made the whole process boring. With all my contemplating, we finally arrived to the film's climax. The cliche kissing scene at the end between the two leads. For some reason Umi was staring intensely at this scene. Back then, the bluenette was always terrified when we watched similar scenes, saying that "So shameless" over and over again. So with her current actions concluded my theory that she and Kotori kissed already.

After the movie ended, we found ourselves at the main entrance. My two childhood friends were not moving, so i initiated a conversation. "Come on girls let's go home now," I said with a bright smile, marching my way home but my two friends were still not moving.

"Umm...i'm sorry Honoka-chan, we have some plans after this..." Kotori had an apologetic look when she said that to me.

"We will visit a cafe that Kotori is talking about after this, you can go home on your own right?"

"Ah..of..course, i..am not a a kid..you know." I never cried at the movie but i felt like crying now. "Honoka, just endure it, fai..to da..yo.." I was just extra baggage for them and already considered the possibility of something like this happening. But in the end, i was never prepared enough.

"We will be going now, Honoka-chan." Kotori excused and bowed her head to me before leaving. I let them leave first, so they couldn't see my teary face.

"Okay...see..you..tomorrow.."

And with that i walked to my home alone. There was a cold night wind that was blowing on that day but it didn't matter. All i wanted to do, was to go home and sleep the night.