Best Friend

The girl sniffled, doing a little stomp and holding back a cry as she stepped inside the pink room. In her eyes was another girl wearing a school uniform and long dark brown hair—the very same one Taku had saved.

“Guuuuurl,” she started, wiping away the tears that had ruined her makeup-caked face. She fanned herself with both hands. “Yuyu-chan… It’s totes nice to see dat yoor doin okeey. Like… I’m sooo hapi right naw.”

“Samantha-chan…” Yuyu replied with a weak nod, her tears welling and falling mere moments later. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry for leaving you all… I thought…” She shook her head. Her glistening eyes turned to Mr. Takeshi and Sebastian Benjamin Noir. She briefly smiled at Taku. Then, she faced her best friend again. “I’m so glad that you’re all alive—”

Samantha hugged her. Yuyu paused. And like the brave girl who had kept herself strong until this very moment, wide-eyed and mouth half-open, she hugged her friend back.. Her tears fell silently at first. Then, she started sobbing. Soon, she was bawling, straight up burying her face in Samantha’s shoulder as her cries became louder and louder.

Mr. Takeshi wept too. In the background, Sebastian Benjamin Noir materialized a black handkerchief from his sleeve to elegantly wipe his tears, but the old man dragged him toward the two girls for a group hug.

Yayoi was out of the room.

Taku looked at Teri, on the verge of crying his eyes out and one step away from begging him for a hug too. Or rather, it seemed like he wanted permission to join the other party for a hug. Pure. But no. Not right now. Teri nudged Taku’s side with his shoulder.

Taku nudged back, making Teri chuckle. He glared at Teri and pressed his back against the wall to watch the other party’s reunion. “I’m so glad…” he mumbled, his face stiff, his lips pressed upward, and his eyes red, on the verge of breaking into tears. “It must’ve been so hard… Thank you… Teri. Thank you… Yayoi…”

Teri smiled at his friend. “You too, man.” He found it natural to clap Taku’s shoulder and ignore whatever it was that was happening on his face. “You did good.”

But what about him?

They had more important matters to discuss, but Teri couldn’t bring himself to break their wholesome reunion just yet. Teri crossed his arms. He just couldn’t shake the mental snapshot of Mr. Takeshi and Sebastian Benjamin Noir being afraid of him. The more he thought about it, the heavier his heart got.

His left eye was itchy. He wanted to touch it. Very much. And it itched even more, as though taunting him. He cupped his chin. They seemed happy. Mr. Takeshi. Sebastian Benjamin Noir. Yuyu. Samantha. Would they betray Teri and his friends? Did they choose to team up with them because of Kisaragi Kaito? Were they actually open to saving Sachi in the first place? Did he have to create countermeasures? At least the other two were basically non-combatants.

But wait.

Mr. Takeshi’s strength was self-explanatory. The same could be said for Sebastian Benjamin Noir too—well, to some degree. But it didn’t add up. If the only reason they failed was getting stabbed in the back because of Sachi’s doing… They must have thought that their current lineup was enough against the Witch, or at least their passage to safety. That meant Samantha-chan was strong.

They had the capacity to betray them.

That was the only thing making sense. Should he really create countermeasures? Right here? Right now? But that meant… Taku. Yayoi. He didn’t see their faces back then when he was talking with Mr. Takeshi. Would they betray him too? Was it because he wasn’t supportive enough? Was it because he failed to save Sachi? Teri grimaced.

“Hey Taku… This is gonna be very weird to ask,” Teri whispered, looking at his right hand as it started to shake. It didn’t stop even when he balled his fist. He couldn’t find the strength to lift his head to look at his friend. “Are you… afraid of me?”

Taku snorted. “You serious? Where is this coming from?”

“It’s…” Teri felt his friend’s eyes on him. It annoyed him to realize he was Yayoi-ing it. “It’s just a thought. Actually… Nevermind. Because you know… how I talked or anything? Is it me? Am I scary? Maybe it’s because of how I behave? I don’t know. I was just… Yeah… It’s really nothing…”

“If it’s really nothing then you wouldn’t be talking like this, man…” Taku bumped Teri with his shoulder. He eyed him up and down. “But to answer your question… Nah. I think you’re like a fucked up cinnamon roll…”

“What?”

Taku raised a brow as he thought to himself. “The cutest—”

“The fuck is cinnamon roll?”

Taku chuckled, dropping his honest grin the moment he noticed Teri was really clueless about it. “The bread… that has… cinnamon on it. Anyway, I said so because you’re kinda sweet? Kind, yeah. You’re also so selfless it’s borderline suicidal; that’s the fucked-up part. Actually… or a golden retriever… because you put others before you or something…”

“That…” Teri smiled as his heart sank. That wasn’t like him at all.

“Yo…” Taku grabbed Teri’s shoulders and pushed him deeper into the pink room, far from the door. He leaned close and whispered in his ear: “Is this about Yayoi?”

“What?” Teri tried to raise his voice, but Taku covered his mouth. “The fuck you mean?”

It seemed that the other party stopped crying altogether. They occupied the opposite corner of the room, catching up. Yuyu and Sebastian Benjamin Noir caught him looking, so he looked away. In a moment of panic, his eyes jumped to the floor, to the ceiling, to the tables with dead dolls, to the wall, to the door, and then to Yayoi. Their eyes locked, but only for a moment. She lowered her head and looked away.

Teri fucked up.

“Relax, man. It’s not like you can hide it from me,” Taku continued, pushing him against the wall. “It’s like when both your parents are fighting secretly. You guys give the same vibe. It’s kinda annoying to be honest.”

“What?”

“So, what happened?” Taku shook Teri, forcing himself in his view. “You really thought you could hide shit like this from me? You gotta tell me, man. I swear. I take my eyes off you two and this happens. What is it?”

“I don’t know,” Teri replied with a lopsided grin.

“Dude.” Taku shook Teri again, looking like he was about to slap him on the cheek. “Talk. Or else…”

“What—”

Taku shook Teri for the third time. “I’ll slap it out of you real hard—”

“I don’t know…” Now the other group was looking at them. Great. Teri smiled. It seemed they got the message and started talking amongst themselves again. “I really don't, okay? It’s just I thought we’d be okay. We failed to get Sachi… but we got out alive and we got Mr. Takeshi’s party with us. But she’s avoiding me. She’s not looking my way. I don’t know if I’m doing something wrong. And I find it more frustrating…” Teri breathed, still keeping his voice low enough that it was barely more than a whisper. “I find it more frustrating than that… it felt like… our eyes were only meeting so I could see her look away. Do… Do you have any idea what’s wrong with her? What’s wrong with me? Is she afraid… of me?”

“Dude…” Taku froze. “I dunno.”

“Then what is this for?” Teri replied, almost shouting, but Taku shushed him. “What… Why were you asking me in the first place—”

“To let you come to terms that something was wrong,” Taku interrupted, smiling at him innocently. Teri couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen it. “I kinda wanted to be cheesy about it. I was hoping you’d know the reason so I could tell you off… but you don’t, so…”

“So?”

“You have to talk it out with her and figure out what’s wrong. Then, you fix it,” Taku continued. He winked at someone—probably somewhere in the other group or Yayoi, which made Teri shiver. His friend looked back at him. “As far as I know… and from what it looks like, Yayoi seems like the reasonable type… I think you can do this. You can talk to her… You don’t have to wingman me anymore. If anything, I think I can help you talk to her privately. I think that’s what she needs too.”

“I…”

Teri grabbed Taku’s hand, gripping it tightly. He gazed at his friend without fully knowing what his face looked like. Once again, he was made aware of who he was. He furrowed his brows. His lips trembled. For a moment, he forgot how to breathe.

“Why… isn’t it you then?” Teri muttered, biting back a few more words. “Why are you telling me to do it? You know full well that I can’t talk to her like you… I can’t cheer her up, much less make her feel a bit better. I’m not—”

“Exactly,” Taku replied, still keeping his innocent smile. “You’re not me. I’m the Wizard King. No one can talk to the goddamn Wizard King like a bro. It’s lonely at the top. It’s a fact that I gotta live by. Other than the fact that you’re the only one who has a problem with her… I really think that she needs you more than me, more than anything or anyone in this room. No one could talk to her like you could. Things would change if killing each other was on the table but… let’s not pay attention to that—at least for now.”

“Taku…” Teri smiled at him, almost in surrender. “Are you afraid of me?”

Taku smiled back and peeled himself away from Teri. He dragged the silence for a few more seconds, making it more dramatic before he slapped him hard on the face. Teri pushed himself back in the corner, confused. The other group turned their heads toward them.

“Do you think I’d do that if I’m scared of you?”

“I mean—”

“No,” Taku interrupted with a bit of a laugh. “I would not. I am a bit of a coward, thank you very much. Do you see me doing that to Mr. Takeshi? How about Sebastian? How about—actually, I won’t slap a girl. Anyway… So?”

“No.”

“Right.” Taku finger-gunned Teri. “No one here is afraid of you. Anyone here can and will kick your ass. And just so you know, it’s not because of fear that we’re sticking around. So, instead of asking that question like a dumb fuck, let’s change it. Do you think that we’re glad that you’re here?”

Taku stepped away and revealed everyone in the room. They were all drenched in this weird pink light. But Teri could look past that. Mr. Takeshi. Sebastian Benjamin Noir. Yuyu. Samantha. He thought about Yayoi. Even her. Even if she was nowhere in sight. All of them. It would be unfair to say that they were smiling at him. But they were unafraid.

Teri lowered his head.

“So…” Taku forced himself into Teri’s view again. “What do you think?”

Teri chuckled. He lifted his head and faced his best friend, smiling ear to ear. He knew what the answer was—for a fact. But now he just wanted to fuck with him. “No.”

“YOU MOTHERFUCKER—”