With the sun gradually setting and the dark colors coloring up the sky, the first half of the wedding ended, and the second half—the official wedding ceremony—began.

Bidding the guests “later” were the bride, the groom, and the gang to go get changed into their ceremonial outfits, and bidding the guests “hello” were the entertainers employed to keep the guests entertained during the wait. They put on comical skits, did pantomimes, showed magic tricks, and even sang various classic music.

A good thirty minutes passed, and the boys had changed into their groomsmen clothes, and this time, they weren’t dressed up as guards. They were fancily covered with similar designs as Mr. Shimazaki’s outfit. The only difference was the color—Mr. Shimazaki had changed his formal military sky-blue jacket into a pure white one with black buttons. There was even a dangling sheathed sword attached by the belt buckle that had been exchanged for a much thicker and heavier-looking one.

They jokingly flexed their invisible muscles in front of a twenty-by sixty-three size mirror and even did some so-called of their handsome poses. Laughing it off, Mr. Shimazaki then put them into a headlock before someone knocked on the door and alerted them with a question.

“Sir, the guests have been properly seated downstairs by the grand staircase.”

Instead of a gigantic, good-looking room, the wedding was to be launched right in the middle of the grand staircase with the guests sitting in front of it. The reason for that was because Mr. Shimazaki wanted a quick and memorable entrance where they could walk sophisticatedly down the stairs and straight to the altar instead of the traditional reveal of the bride through the doors. The idea of that was too bland and old for him. Of course, it would be since he was a romanticist like his daughter.

Mr. Shimazaki fixed his attire and let go of Juri’s head as he spoke to the man outside the door. “Are the girls ready yet?”

“They said they’ll be done in about another ten minutes.”

“Jaa, we’ll wait.”

“Hai.”

Mr. Shimazaki walked to a charcoal-colored couch. “Boys, come over here.”

The boys listened and squeezed into the same couch across him, which made him laugh.

“I’m very glad you are here for us. My wife’s family is against this marriage, and so are mine. Well, not Haruka anymore. At least, I hope.” A smile slipped away from him. “I’m sorry to have put you through all of this, but you guys are the best that any married couple could ask for.” He took a deep breath. “Juri…”

Juri stiffened with a smile. “Hai…”

“You whined about why the grand opening was grander than the word itself, right?”

“Gomen! I didn’t mean—”

“No worries. I know. I understand.” He cleared his throat. “It gave me a thought, and I want to share it with you.”

“What is it?” the boys asked together.

“Weddings. Marriage. ‘The only one’ or ‘the fated one.’ Those things don’t matter to us guys. Or at least, not as much as our counterparts. You’ve heard it before or will have heard of it, but they’re important and meaningful because they happen once…and are only meant to happen once. That is why girls value, cherish, and do everything possible to make their wedding dream a dream come true. And that is why I made this event so big. It’s not my duty nor my obligation, but it’s for the sole reason that I love her and appreciate her for being mine and that she’s the woman in my life. I want to be the one to give her anything she asks for, no matter what it may be.”

The boys hadn’t expected this from the elder. They had thought he was a hopeless romantic like Haruka, a romanticist without knowing reason and limits, but they were shown differently and proven wrong. The wise elder, having lived through all sorts of romances, had only one particular reason for his extreme wedding, and that was to simply make his girl happy, and just knowing that, the boys were deeply impressed and had come to respect him even more.

“I’m not saying that a wedding has to be this big or grand, boys,” continued Mr. Shimazaki, “because every girl has a different dream of their wedding. The only jobs you have are to find out which one moves her heart and make the best of it. No matter how weird it may be or how wrong it turns out, what matters is that you tried. You knew. And that it was for her. So, remember that, boys, and make your girls happy… Because their smile is our energy.”

After Mr. Shimazaki smiled and ended his long, deep, and wise comment, Ryosuke had a flash of Mirai’s and Natsu’s images in his mind.

*

Three chimes from a triangle hinted to the audience that the wedding ceremony would begin, so everyone quieted down as a slow instrumental song played in the background, which prompted the audience to stand up and face the grand staircase where the bridesmaids and groomsmen would make their entrance.

Stepping out of the left would be the bridesmaids, and the first was Haruka in a dark-colored peach, strapless, dip hem dress that showcased her figure. Because she was now in bridesmaid clothing, her attire was much simpler than the previous dress she had worn this morning. The only eye-catching detail was the chain cut back of her dress. On the opposite side of the grand staircase was her prince, Shintaro.

Upon seeing her, he mouthed, “You’re beautiful.”

Taking a step down to match her boyfriend, she casually responded with, “Thank you.”

Seeing that the first couple had reached midway of the stairs, it was time for Juri and Mayu to make their appearance. Mayu had on the same dress as Haruka, except her dress was a shade lighter, and her pin-point design was the criss-cross cut at the back. At the same pace with Juri walking down the steps, she couldn’t look at him because she was too shy. To make matters worse for her, she turned as pink as her dress when Juri complimented her quite loudly, “You’re beautiful, Mayu.”

With the music almost ending and having seen the previous two couples at the cue’d places, Mirai and Ryosuke stepped out of their rooms to stand by the doors, waiting for their turn. When the time arrived for them to start their walk, she stepped down a few steps only to stop.

Ryosuke hadn’t moved an inch from his side.

Walk, Ryosuke!

Behind him stepped out Mr. Shimazaki, who was supposed to come out after Ryosuke, but seeing that Ryosuke was still at the top of the stairs as opposed to being midway down the stairs, Mr. Shimazaki gently nudged Ryosuke, and that got his attention.

Ryosuke was brought back to reality with confusion. “Huh?” he dumbly questioned aloud, forgetting that he was currently one of the groomsmen and was supposed to do his job correctly.

Mr. Shimazaki pointed below him and whispered, “Walk down. Walk down.”

The younger boy gasped, realizing his mistake. However, much to his haste, he speedily reached midway of the grand staircase before Mirai, therefore, she also had to speed up her steps to match him.

“Mou, what’s with you, Ryosuke?” she murmured to him as she joined her arm in his.

He stuttered to answer back. His sole focus was to avoid looking at her and to walk down the staircase to the altar, but before doing so, the automatic music stopped and after a three-second pause, the entrance song for the bride played while neither the bride nor the groom was visible.

Ryosuke and Mirai panicked that the wedding march song was playing for them instead of the actual to-be-wed couple, so walking pleasingly to the altar was no longer a choice. They hastened their steps and rushed to the altar while holding in their laughter and embarrassment.

Right when the two friends got to their positions, the official couple showed themselves.

Haruka, quite angry that the walk didn’t go as planned and rehearsed, whispered fumingly to Mirai, “What happened?”

Mirai tried to keep a smile at the couple while answering back, “I asked, but he didn’t answer.”

“I’m going to get him later for ruining it!”

Luckily, the bridal song ended perfectly in time with the arrival of the to-be-wed couple at the altar. With them in sight, the audience sat back down and waited in patience and in silence to hear the pastor make his ceremonial wedding speech.

Mirai stole a glance at Ryosuke, whose face had been flushed a coral-colored pink. Seeing the quick rise and fall of his breathing, she became worried for him because he didn’t look too well.

*

Right after the wedding vows were exchanged, the audience was led to a spacious dining room where dinner was to be served. Following was a heartfelt speech from an elder, male friend of Mr. Shimazaki, who hilariously chronicled the good and bad of Mr. Shimazaki and only the good and beauty of the bride. After the delicious and stuffing dinner, the ballroom opened, but they would need to be changed into their formal outerwear and use their masks, whether they had brought one from home or had bought one on the cruise. Only people with masks could go off into the dance floor to dance as it was a sign that the person was willing to dance.

Because night had fallen, on Mirai’s mind had been Natsu all along. She quickly finished her dinner and told her friends that she probably wouldn’t be back for a while so they didn’t have to worry about her. At the same time, Ryosuke had gone off somewhere too with haste. It was the first time the friends realized that Mirai and Ryosuke were doing something not together.

Reaching the room Natsu was in, she was told that Natsu had fallen asleep and was asked if she would take Natsu to bed. Mirai told the lady that she couldn’t yet as she still had other wedding duties to perform and wouldn’t be back to get Natsu until very late. Mirai dejectedly left without seeing her son. But she didn’t feel like heading back to the dancing room. Also, her legs hurt so much that she didn’t want to stand anymore. She had been walking around in Haruka’s five-inch, open-toe, -colored heel with a strap over her leg and a bow at the side. She could use a breather too.

Making her decision, she walked in the opposite direction and headed to a much cooler, peaceful, and restful place that she could have all to herself—the sun deck. Since there wasn’t anyone with her or out here, the sounds of the splashing tides and the whispers of the cool breeze made her feel at ease. They were the companions she needed. Relaxed and comfortable, she took off the heels and crouched down to massage her sore feet.

Looking off at the distance where the front of the ship was, she recalled the American movie, Titanic, where the two main leads, Jack and Rose, were at the front of the ship, and he helped her “fly” to see the beautiful landscape. Doubting but curious about whether she could see it in this dark of the time, she stood up and casually walked to the tip of the front and held onto the rails. Squinting her eyes and lowering her face to look down, she was softly splashed with the water slapping against the cruise ship. To her disappointment, it was impossible to see how beautiful the water was due to night, so she sighed and released her hold of the rails and instead hugged herself as she shivered.

“Baka, what are you doing?” asked someone, making her turn around and see Ryosuke standing a few steps away from her.

She didn’t expect to see anyone. “W-What..?” was all she could say in utter shock and bewilderment.

He scowled at her and turned her around and gave her a back-hug, which she bashfully tried to escape from. “Stop moving! I don’t have my jacket, so I can only give you me.”

She let out a laugh and stopped trying to remove herself from him. “Baka.”

He pulled back a little, putting space between their heads, and added, “You’re the stupid one. Why are you out here when you know it’s cold and when your back is all exposed?” He put his face closer to her and uttered, “If I had known, I would’ve never let you wear something like that for others to see.”

She looked at him while still being hugged and although they bumped noses, she ignored it and retorted, “Hey, my won’t harm anyone.”

“It’s hideous, don’t you know?”

She gently slapped him on the chest. “Mou, whatever.” Seeing him up close now, a red ear of his caught her attention, so she turned around to face him and touch his red ear, asking, “Why is it red?”

His expression turned sour, and he released her to also touch his ear. “Haruka gave me a scolding for what happened earlier.”

“Yeah, what happened? Why didn’t you walk in sync with me? Was something wrong with my makeup or something?”

His eyes widened as he froze in front of her. He didn’t want to say that it was because he had found her beautiful when he saw her across him and was paralyzed by her beauty.

“Ryosuke?”

“N-Nothing.”

Not believing, she put her hands on her hips and repeated, “Ryosuke.”

“Really. Nothing.”

Knowing that he was going to stay tight-lipped, she resorted to her less-often-used action: simultaneously whining and pouting to beg for what she wanted. She tugged his arm. “Tell me.” It didn’t last long because another cool breeze hit her, and she shuddered again. With her baby hair dancing out of its place, she weakly raised a hand to place them away from her face.

He pulled her closer to him by her waist, gluing their lower halves together, and his hands wrapped around her shoulders to block the wind for her.

Doing so made her almost trip on his leg. She looked at him and was about to playfully chastise him for tripping her but stopped when her friend’s up-close, handsome, worrying expression warmed her more than his hands did.

He didn’t take notice of her staring at him. Instead, he was focused on placing her hair back. When his eyes finally caught hers, his heart pounded louder than a drum, but he couldn’t tell if it was his or hers because their chests were practically on each other.

Their breaths escaped with heat from their mouths, and their gazes locked onto each other, not bothering to look away.

He couldn’t help but look.

And look.

Do nothing but look.

Wrong.

He wanted to do one more thing.

As her heart calmed down, his did the opposite. His heart alerted and hinted him that the one thing he wanted to do was to press his lips onto her soft, moistened, and glowing lips after clearly seeing how divine, elegant, and seductive his friend was looking back at him.

“You’re beautiful…”

His hushed and tender whisper resonated in her ears, freeing her from the paralysis she was in. She wondered if she had heard those words correctly because she was sure her friend wouldn’t say that about her. She was, after all, man-girl.

“That’s why…I couldn’t stop looking at you.”

Thinking it was another joke from him since they were joking moments ago, she heeded a loud, relieved sigh and pulled away from him. “Don’t scare me—wah!” Her back had briefly met the cold bars, so she jumped in response. “Mou, that’s cold!”

Coming back to his senses, he laughed at her clumsiness.

“I…” Something else ca