Chapter 19: Wedding Bells

As anticipated, the Akasaka-Orlandi wedding was much larger then originally thought. Somehow Keiichiro and Kei’s small quiet wedding had turned into the event of the season; courtesy of some nosey bridesmaids and one meddling best man. Getting frustrated with the chaos, Mint was actually standing on a table in her bathrobe with a towel on her head shouting orders when Ichigo and Ryou entered the reception area. Upon sighting them she smiled coyly and jumped down to greet them.

“Well, you two walking into a room together is a sight I haven’t seen in years!”

“Oh now Mint, you know the two of us standing in the same ROOM together is a sight you haven’t seen in years.” Ichigo raised her brow and smiled. Mint laughed.

“Ah, and being in London made you develop a sense of humor?” Ichigo shrugged and excused herself to go find the bride’s room. Mint inched over to Ryou and nudged him. “So… how does it feel to see her again?” Ryou blushed and immediately scurried off to the groom’s room. A pleasant look of satisfaction washed over Mint’s face. She shrugged emphatically. “It’s good to have things back to normal!” With that said, she returned to her primary function of the day: bossing people around. The role I was born to play, she thought to herself.

Kei immediately bustled up the skirt of her dress and rushed over to Ichigo to give her a hug. Things were almost as chaotic in the dressing room as they’d been in the reception hall. Retasu waved and rushed over from the other side of the room where she’d been assisting Purin with her hair and makeup. Ichigo-onee-chan is back, Purin cheered in her normal hyper way.

“Good to see you all too!” Ichigo hung her coat and purse up in the closet and examined Kei’s dress. It was long and flowing, yet A-lined in a beautiful creamy gold color. The top design was an elegant of the shoulder look which drew attention to the long black curls decorating her neck and shoulders; a sparkling tiara and veil adorned her head. “Kei, you look gorgeous.”

“Really? Because I feel nauseous!” Kei plopped down on the nearest thing that could be considered a seat, her gown flailing out underneath her.

“Kei, I brought you those crackers you wa--. Hey, Ichigo’s here!” Zakuro smiled warmly and gave Ichigo a quick hug in passing before delivering the common cure for nausea over to the nervous bride-to-be. “How was London?”

“Interesting. I got to see and do a lot of things I definitely wouldn’t have had to opportunity to do here. Meet a few guys… dated a bit. Nothing special really. Just glad to be home I guess.” Ichigo walked around, examining the room, as she talked.

“Well, if you want to see something REALLY interesting, you should wait till the reception to get to know Kei’s friends from high school and college.” She winked at Kei. “Oh the stories they’re telling me!”

“Oh, dear God.” Kei lay back. “What exactly are they telling you Zakuro?”

“Well, there was the skinny dipping incident in middle school.”

“I’m going to kill Morgan.”

“Oh, and the Go-Fish game New Years Eve 2000.”

“O-K-. I think that’s enough.” Kei sat up quickly and requested someone help her step into the shoes she’d bought without thinking about the fact she’d be standing in them for about thirty minutes or so. Retasu and Ichigo each grabbed an arm.

“Big day Keiichiro—how are you holding up?” Ryou gave his friend a quick pat on the back and sat back as Keiichiro struggled with his tie.

“Fine, why do you ask?”

“Because you just tied your fingers to your neck.” Keiichiro chuckled and untangled his fingers.

“Did Ichigo make it in okay?” Ryou rolled his eyes. The nagging had resumed.

“Yeah, she got in right about the time I did.”

“Ah, good.” Keiichiro paced around the room nervously causing Ryou to suppress his laughter. Could it be that Keiichiro was actually too nervous to get on his case? Come to think of it, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen his old friend so visibly… nervous.

“Don’t worry. Kei’s the best. You two will be very happy together.” Keiichiro looked down, smiling, and nodded. I know, he replied.

“One second I’m walking on air and the next… well, someday you’ll get married and then you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about.” He winked at Ryou before returning to their mirror to double check his attire.

The wedding went off relatively without a hitch. There was no tripping down the aisle or fainting at the alter… and Kei’s butterflies disappeared soon after taking Keiichiro’s arm at the end of the long walk. As they stood up at the front of the room, Ichigo glanced around her. There were several people she didn’t recognize, but it was probably safe to assume that most were Kei’s family and friends from the states. All Mews stood beside her as the bridesmaids with Ichigo as the Maid-of-Honor; the aliens had yet to depart, for whatever reason. Ichigo was sure she’d find out after the wedding. Keiichiro had enlisted them as groomsmen to balance out the many bridesmaids. As quickly as it had begun, the rings and vows were exchanged. The happy couple was announced before everyone for the first time as Mr. and Mrs. Keiichiro Akasaka. The organist began to play the march as they headed back down the aisle. Ichigo’s eyes met Ryou’s as they met up in front of the alter. Together, they headed down the aisle as well followed by the others.

“That was something wasn’t it?” The five girls were sitting back with their shoes off while the catering crew began their clean up.

“I’m going to get Kei back for these shoes when I get married,” grumbled Purin rubbing her feet.

“Well, I think things went perfectly!” Mint dug her fork back into the chocolate cake she’d been nibbling on for the last hour or so. “Thanks to my direction, of course!”

“Yeah, if it’s one thing you’ve always been good at Mint it’s definitely standing around while you tell everyone else what to do.” Ichigo nudged Mint who pretended to glare at her. Both girls giggled. It was fun—the five of them being together again. It would be a weird two weeks without Kei and Keiichiro, who’d already left for Rome on their Honeymoon.

“Shall we escort you ladies home?” Pai approached, tux and all, and smiled pleasantly. He extended his hand to Zakuro who acknowledged him and accepted. Ichigo glanced quickly over at Retasu, who was unfazed. She would later find out that Pai and Retasu had decided against pursuing the relationship beyond friendship. They had both since started seeing other people, Zakuro in Pai’s case.

“Oh my goodness, look at the time. We really must be running!” Ichigo looked around bewilder as everyone around her scurried away giggling like school girls. Ichigo turned to find Ryou walking towards her.

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They couple walked together in silence towards a new café that had opened up not that far away. It had been a lovely day and it was quickly turning into a beautiful evening. The street lights hummed to life along the sidewalks while they walked down the quiet sidewalk. A wisp of Ichigo’s red hair flowed in front of her face; Ryou observed her brush it away with her long, slender fingers. She was all he could think about in that moment. Had he really been so foolish as to ever let her go? He’d lost her because he feared loosing her. After having had years to review this, he’d come to the conclusion that he was the single most idiotic person in the world. Now too much time had passed; surely when she was abroad she’d met somebody… and even if he hadn’t, how could she ever trust him again. The sound of Ichigo’s voice brought him back; they were outside of the café.

“Ryou…” Ichigo looked up at him. “Are you seeing anybody?”

“No, no.” He looked down and struggled against a blush. “And you?” Ichigo shook her head. “Oh… Well…” Ichigo stepped closer.

“Are you going to kiss me or what?” Those words took Ryou’s breathe away; Ichigo draped her arms around him and tenderly pressed her lips to his.

“You’ve changed since you went away,” commented Ryou with a goofy expression on his face. You got a problem with that, she asked. No, he replied with a despondent shrug. Hand in hand, they went in for Coffee.

THE END.

Sorry this took so long. I’m not going to go into it, but there’s been a serious family emergency so my fanfictions have had to be on hiatus for awhile. I’m starting back up though, so look for updates to the other two stories soon.

Ja!