"Kenji, this thing need to be put on the stage!"
"Okay!"
There he is! Finally!
Eri was panting really hard, exhausted from all the running. The town square, where the festival was held was really huge, it really took her a lot of time to finally find Harima. He was busy carrying things around for setting up the stage before he spotted Eri, who was looking so tired, breathing in and out one at a time.
"What are you doing here, Ojou?"
"Hige! I was looking all over for you! What are you doing here?"
"I'm helping them preparing for the stage. There will be bands performance later…Hey! You didn't answer my question!"
"I told you already, I was looking for you,"
"What for?"
Eri took a big gulp.
"I…need to tell you something. Can you listen to me for a sec?"
"Sure, but I need to finish up my work first,"
"Please, I need to tell you now!" Eri said while grabbing Harima's hand.
"Can't we do that after I finish my work?"
I don't know if I will have the same strength and courage at that time.
"Please, I'm begging you,"
Harima hesitated for a while. "Okay, but be fast. My boss will get mad at me if I'm not doing my work,"
"I will. I promise,"
"So what is it?"
Eri's heart beat so fast she felt like it can explode any time.
"Actually, I…"
Suddenly, loud rock music was played through the speakers.
"Actually, I really like you,"
"HAA? WHAT DID YOU SAY? I CAN'T HEAR FROM ALL THIS NOISE!"
Damn it, why they want to test the speaker at the time like this? But, this is a chance, right? I can tell him everything without him knowing what I told him. It's the same as a confession, just he won't know that I am actually confessing
"Actually, I really like you. I had fall in love with you. After you went missing, I had spent so much time and money to look for you. For the past three years I had been searching for you. I hired a private investigator to look for any information about you. I even give up on being a hair stylist and become a stewardess instead so that I can go anywhere in the world and hoping that one day I will bump into you or something,"
"OJOU! I REALLY CAN'T HEAR YOU! MAYBE WE SHOULD TALK SOMEWHERE ELSE!"
"I was worried. I don't know if I can live without you. My dream is to be loved by someone who loves me as me. Not some guy who only like me because I'm beautiful. It was you. You're the first guy who actually saw the true me. You're also the first guy who had become friends with me not because of my beauty and I can only show my true self in front of you,"
There was a pool of tears inside Eri's eye.
"HEY! DON'T CRY WHEN I CAN'T HEAR WHAT YOU SAID!"
"I'M NOT CRYING! Besides, I just want to tell you my feeling that I have been kept all these years. Now, everything had come out and I don't know how to control it anymore,"
The tears started to roll down her cheeks.
"You helped me a lot back then. I really want you to see that there is somebody who watches over you, who will always there beside you, who always care for you. I really want you to look at me. You remember when I challenge you in that chest game? I really hope that you could…
The music stopped.
"…marry me and be together…"
Eri suddenly realized that and she had said that pretty loud to be hear by Harima and everyone else around them.
Oh, my God. What did I just said? Why the music stopped at the time like this?
Harima was in shock. He didn't know what to say after hearing that. Everyone started to talk among themselves.
"Is she for real?"
"She just asked Kenji to marry her."
"Who is she, anyway? I've never seen her before."
"I heard she was a princess from some country and Kenji's ex-girlfriend."
"I want a girl to propose to me too. I'm so jealous."
"Kenji is a lucky man, isn't he?"
Oh, come on. This is all a big misunderstanding. How I want to clear this up? But, I want to know what Harima get to say.
Eri looked at Harima who was still looked confused of what just happened.
Someone pat Harima on the shoulder and said,"Kenji, come on. Don't jut stand there. She's waiting for you, man,"
"Yeah, Kenji. Just say 'yes'. For a beautiful girl like her to propose to you, you don't have to think about anything. Just say 'yes'." Some other guy pat Harima's other shoulder. Both of them must be Hige's colleagues from the ship company, Eri thought.
"So, what will you say, Kenji?"
YES! YES! KENJI! GO! GO! KENJI! YES! YES! KENJI! GO! GO! KENJI! YES! YES! KENJI! GO! GO! KENJI!
The crowd suddenly got excited.
"I…"
That single word from Harima had made the crowd went silent.
"Yes, I think I will marry you,…Ojou…" Harima's face turned red.
What?
Eri saw Erina in the crowd. She looked at Eri with angry eyes and tears coming out from them. She then turned away and left.
A guy took a microphone on the stage and spoke through it. "Can everybody hear that? Kenji said yes. So everybody is welcome to the wedding tomorrow that will be held in our town church. Kenji, as a dedicated worker of our company, your wedding will be sponsored by Kranky and Berg Ship Pvt. Ltd. So every one, let's party!"
A band suddenly appeared on the stage and performed their song. Every body started to dance, but Harima and Eri still looking at each other, couldn't believe of what just happened.
"Wait…" Eri just realized.
"The wedding is…" Harima also seems to just realize what the guy had just said on the stage.
"TOMORROW?" Both of them yelled with surprise.
