Sekaiichi Romantica VS. The Real World

Part 9: The Case Of The Junjou Sentiment

*RYLA'S POV*

The wedding was outdoors on a bright sunny day. I suppose the universe was happy for this couple to get married so everything worked out as planned. In the real world, something or the other goes wrong in the wedding preparation, the couple has cold feet or the bride realizes that her true love is someone else and then runs away by sneaking out of a window in her wedding dress. That's all the weddings that I have seen in Toronto so far. In my family, nothing like this ever happens. There is a whole system of arranged marriages that we follow. So I know that I won't exactly get to choose my husband, but I trust that my parents will find someone who will take care of me, my kid, and provide financial stability for the family. But I have plans after high school. I just ain't gonna get married like that! I need to be something before I can share my life with someone else.

"Yo! Chiaki! Over here!" A man in a white tux waved and called out; beckoning for Chiaki to come forward. "I'm gonna kill you!" He yelled as we got there and he pounced on his back thus causing the sleek man to fall on the ground! I just gaped at them and stood a step back with my hands forward as a defense mechanism.

"I-I-I can't breathe! Y-Y-Yuu! GET OFF OF MEEEEE!!!"Chiaki grunted with all his might; being crushed under the man's weight, the one who basically jumped on him.

"Wait, are you, Mr. Yanase; Mr. Yoshino's best friend?" I recognized the man after Chiaki mentioned his first name.

"The one and only! Ahh! I see you know the real him, eh? He usually doesn't trust people that easily." Mr. Yanase said with a wide grin.

"GET OFF OF MEEEEE!" Chiaki grunted again and Mr. Yanase finally got off of him and gave him a hand to get up.

"BAKA! You missed the ceremony!" Mr. Yanase yelled at Chiaki. Now, that justifies why he pounced on him in the first place. As I saw that genuinely happy man before me, it was pretty evident that he is completely over Chiaki now. I'm sure that Hatori-san has nothing to worry about. Yes, I know what has transpired between these three men ever since middle school; Chiaki shared everything with me. Even though his stories are all about his lover and his best friend, which is heavily based off of a gay outline, I don't really find it that disgusting. However, the way I am born and raised is supposed to make me a typical homophobic, but after coming here and falling for Chiaki at first sight, I suppose my perspective of love has changed after all. "Oh! You should meet my husband! I'll call him right away!" He smiled and went running to look for his significant other.

"Well, well, well. Look who it is! Ryla and her Chiaki guy, huh? So you're the guy that Ryla keeps talking about and never shuts up!" A familiar voice called out. I whirled behind to see Olivia and Onodera standing behind us.

"Olivia? Onodera-san? What are you guys doing here?" I asked in surprise.

"Well, Ritsu got an invitation to the wedding too! After all, this is a huge deal! And we're here on a date! Aren't we honey?" Olivia smiled and replied. Okay, it was awkward for me to see Olivia and Onodera-san on a date right after that epic party that he planned for Takano-san.

"Hold up! You invited us to Takano-san's birthday, right Onodera-san? I came with my boyfriend there remember--" Chiaki started to reply but then he got interrupted with Olivia's hissy fits.

"FINE! FINE! ALL THESE MEN ARE GAY! CAN'T EVEN HAVE A CUTE ONE TO MYSELF! COME ON, RYLA! I WANT JUICE!" Olivia yelled, grabbed my hand and dragged me out of the scene.

Despite my protests, she kept dragging me and we bumped into a tall man with black hair and a white tux. As I looked at him, I guessed that he must be Mr. Yanase's husband; the famous manga author, IJUUIN-SENSEI!

"We're so sorry, sensei! We should have watched where we were going!" I bowed and apologized for literally making a horrible impression on one of the most well-known mangakas in this world.

"Come on, Ryla! The man's not that upset, right? I mean look at him; he just married the love of his life what reason is there for him to--" Olivia spoke but then trailed off for some reason. I lifted my head up to see the man literally scanning us with his blue eyes widened. "Is everything okay? Or did you seriously hit you that bad?" Olivia asked with concern; which she should have done in the first place.

"You two are together? How come?" That's what came out of his mouth, in an unusually surprised tone. Clearly, he was panicking. And his hands became so sweaty in those few seconds since we bumped into him.

"Umm... because we're kinda like sisters?" Olivia and I looked at each other in question and then looked at Ijuuin-sensei, whose eyes were still widened.

"The Beckons sisters right? Actually I-I have heard a lot about you from Mr. Yoshino if that makes any sense." Ijuuin-sensei started to fidget with his fingers, clearly trying to hide or cover up his misconception about us being lovers.

"No, you must have heard it wrong, sir. I am Olivia Beckons and she is Ryla Hussman. We meant that we are like sisters, but we aren't actually related." Olivia replied, which actually shocked that man because his eyes were widening again. She then turned to look at me and said with her arms folded, "You must be really close with Chiaki because I know that you wouldn't just tell anybody that we are like sisters! Man, you're moving too fast with this thing Ryla."

"No! I don't remember telling Chiaki about our friendship! Olivia, do you honestly think--" As I started to explain that I didn't tell Chiaki anything about Olivia, I suddenly got cut off by Ijuuin-sensei.

"So, Eleanor didn't tell you!?" He yelled in surprise.

"What?! Who is Eleanor!? Okay, sir, you seriously have mistaken us for someone else! We are not even from here. We are from a different world!" I elaborated on the situation for the man to take a hint, stop with his peculiar questions and leave us alone.

Suddenly, there was a huge explosion! The huge BOOM! sound almost made me deaf. Everyone was screaming at the top of their voices. Olivia grabbed my hand and we took cover under the table only to discover that Chiaki and Onodera-san have already been hiding there!

"What the hell is happening?!" Chiaki yelled in terror. Honestly, I don't blame him. Anyone would be terrified.

"Alright. We need to get out of here. Mr. Yoshino, take Ryla and make a run for your car. Olivia and I will do the same." Chiaki nodded in agreement and we both ran at our full speed towards the parking lot. The last I remember was turning around and seeing Olivia and Onodera-san running together hand in hand. She must really like him if she trusts that he's going to keep her safe.

In the meanwhile, Chiaki and I were in a pathetic condition. We both were limping. Our clothes were torn and covered with dust. But luckily, none of us is seriously injured. We returned to Hatori-san's apartment, just to see him drenched in tears with Euadine and Phellie trying to console him. The three of them came running and literally sucked the remaining life out of us by hugging us so tightly that we couldn't breathe. It was clear that they knew about the bomb blast. I looked over at the television screen flashing the wedding screenshots over the news. The headlines said that the security footage even caught a glimpse of the person who attacked the event. Although the picture wasn't that clear, the person sure was familiar. I just couldn't place it in my memory.........................................