Tsuki - Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Hannah and Toshihiro’s wedding day was actually not hot, as the previous week had been, and Hannah was extremely grateful since the heat was extra hard on her while she was pregnant. She left the apartment early that morning after giving Toshihiro a map to the park where their wedding was to take place.

Toshihiro almost didn’t want to let her leave, since it was the first time she had ever left while he was home, but he looked around, and realized that her wedding dress wasn’t in their apartment.

Hannah and Yume, the cashier that could speak English, went first to get their hair, makeup, and nails done. They went to a salon that specialized in accommodating tourists so that Hannah could communicate to them in English, and be sure they understood her. She had her hair arranged up off her neck, and her makeup lightly applied.

As for her nails, she decided not to get a fake set, as her nails were naturally long and beautiful, so she had them painted a shimmering opalescent to match her dress.

After they were done, they went to the shop that had made their dresses. Yume was not the maid of honor, but she was a bridesmaid. Their dresses were ready, and had been made to from a design Hannah had managed to convey to the seamstress.

Yume had originally wondered why they didn’t just buy their dresses from a bridal shop, but Hannah wanted to make sure her wedding dress was made so that she wouldn’t be overheated during the ceremony.

As a result, the entire dress was crocheted out of a very lightweight cotton yarn in an open diamond pattern. It resembled a spaghetti-strapped summer dress, but it clung to her body down just past her privates, and then the crocheted portion of it ended. After that, the skirt of her dress was made out of silk scarves that came to her mid-calf. The whole dress was white, and actually did cover her mostly modestly, even though the holes of the diamond pattern were big enough to see through.

Yume’s dress was similar in style, but was made out of red cotton, and wasn’t crocheted. She twirled to watch her skirt flare, and admired herself in the mirror. It was a gorgeous dress!

Meanwhile, Toshihiro was pacing his apartment with one eye on the clock. He didn’t want to put his tuxedo on too soon, because if he did, he might get it sweaty, or accidentally spill something on it.

There came a knock on his door, and Toshihiro figured it must either be Keichi and Kyo – who had taken him out to a strip club and gotten him slightly drunk last night – or his family.

It turned out to be his family, who had traveled overnight on a train to get here in time.

“Toshihiro, are you insane?!” His mom demanded the moment he opened the door. “How can you possibly think about marrying an American girl you’ve only known for four months?!”

“Mom, I-“

“Where is she?” His mom wondered as she looked around the apartment. “And where did you get all of this stuff?”

“Mom –“

“Toshihiro-chan, are you telling us the truth?” His older sister asked. She was only older than him by a year, and had decided stay with their parents to one day take over their farm. She had been dating the same guy on and off for five years, and had a hard time imagining Toshihiro with a girlfriend.

“Yes, I-“

“Well,” his father asked, putting a hand on his son’s shoulder. “Where is she?”

“She’s off getting ready,” Toshihiro finally got to finish a sentence.

“How could you get married before we have even had a chance to meet her?” His mom asked.

“It’s not exactly as if we have had time to come visit. This is the first break I have had since I met her.”

“So, why are you rushing into marriage so soon? Usually, you bring the girl to meet your parents before you ask her to marry you,” his dad pointed out gently.

“This is going to sound… bad, but it’s really not. Her dad came to take her away one day, and I was so afraid to lose her, that I insisted we marry. He wouldn’t let her, until she told him… that she’s pregnant,” Toshihiro explained with a blush.

His family gaped at him, and then burst into loud comments that all jumbled together incomprehensibly.

Toshihiro noticed that it was time to put on his tuxedo, and vanished into the bathroom. When he reemerged moments later, he found his family having a whispered discussion.

He sighed. “Listen, I love Hana, and I am going to marry her today. I am happy you are all here, but if you can’t accept my decision, you can go home.”

“It’s not that, Toshihiro-chan,” his sister said. “It’s just that we didn’t expect this, and you didn’t think to warn us.”

“You only called to tell us that you were getting married about a week ago!” His mom practically sobbed.

“And you haven’t told us anything about your Hana-san,” his father pointed out.

“Hana is… hard to explain. She’s… She’s…” Toshihiro thought about how to accurately convey the wonderfulness of Hannah, and there was a knock at the door.

“Hey Hiro-kun! If we don’t get going, we’re going to be late!” Keichi called through the door.

Toshihiro looked at the clock, and gasped. How has so much timed passed? He opened the door and told Keichi and Kyo – who had told him that they had seen Yuki and them as they were ogling strippers last night – smiled at him from outside the door. Both wore clothes suitable for a wedding, and both still thought Toshihiro was the luckiest bastard in the universe.

Toshihiro looked back at his family. “Are you coming?”

“Oh Toshihiro-chan! How can you even ask that?” His mom cried, and rushed to hug her son.

Toshihiro smiled, and squeezed his mom tightly, and then led his family to the park Hannah had rented for their wedding. It was a park Toshihiro had never been to before, and he looked around in amazement.

The park had been decorated in red and yellow, and was already filling up with people Toshihiro had never met. He hoped that Hannah hadn’t invited too many people.

Sakura and Yuki approached Toshihiro, and he heard his brother comment softly about how pretty they were. He laughed softly.

Sakura gave him a brief hug, and wished him a “Happy wedding day!”

Yuki took Toshihiro’s hands in hers, not trusting herself to let him go if she hugged him. “Are you sure you want to marry her?”

“Yuki-chan,” Toshihiro admonished gently.

“Because I would marry you in a heartbeat!” Yuki said this because Sakura had told her that the three of them had seen what had happened.

“Yuki-chan,” Toshihiro said sadly. “I love Hana.”

“I know! I just had to try!” Yuki kissed Toshihiro quickly, took Sakura by the hand, and ran to find a seat.

“I’m going to go sit as well,” Kyo informed Toshihiro. Keichi was the best man, and he followed Toshihiro as he wandered around looking at everything.

“How did you afford all of this, Toshihiro?” His father asked. “Have you gotten a part time job?”

Toshihiro shook his head. His money to pay the rent each month came from his parents, who sent him as much as they could, so they knew he could not afford this.

An American looking woman beckoned to him, and the man standing next to her translated her words into Japanese. “Toshihiro, come stand over here, we will begin soon.”

Toshihiro looked at his family, and they indicated that they would sit next to his friends. Taking a deep breath, Toshihiro went to stand by the wedding officiant. Keichi followed him.

“If you would like your brother to stand as a groomsman that would be perfect.” The officiant said via translator, and Toshihiro beckoned his brother, who was seventeen, to come stand with him. His brother blushed slightly, but complied.

Toshihiro looked around, wondering where Hannah was, and saw April glaring at him from the bride’s side of the guests. He winced slightly, and noticed that her brother was next to her. Hopefully, he would prevent her from doing anything to disrupt the wedding.

Just then, a limousine pulled up to where the aisle began. A man exited from the front passenger side, opened the back passenger door, and helped the occupants out. The first one he helped out was a Japanese girl in a red dress who was holding a small bouquet of red and yellow roses.

She stood looking at the crowd, and took a few deep breaths. The officiant signaled to the small orchestra, and they began to play music. She squared her shoulders, and began to walk down the aisle.

The officiant pointed to the spot the girl should stand just as an American brunette was helped out of the car. She was also wearing a red dress, and holding a small bouquet of red and yellow roses. She promptly squared her shoulders, and headed down the aisle. This was the maid of honor, Hannah’s cousin.

Meanwhile, the officiant was narrating the members of the wedding party for the benefit of the guests, and the translator was translating.

Lastly, Hannah’s father and Hannah were helped out of the car, and Hannah’s father escorted her down the aisle. Toshihiro felt his heart constrict painfully at just how beautiful she was, and he had to consciously remind himself to breathe!

Hannah and her father stopped several feet away from the officiant, and the woman asked who gave away the bride. Her father gave a small smile, looked at Hannah, and replied that he did.

“Thank you daddy,” Hannah hugged him as the translator finished translating, and the officiant pushed Toshihiro forward to accept his bride.

Hannah placed her hand into Toshihiro’s, and they moved a little closer to the officiant. They immediately got lost in each other’s eyes, and everything faded away. They couldn’t see or hear anything else as they stared at each other with expressions of adoration.

The officiant gave a few blessings, and asked Toshihiro to repeat after her. The translator had to say Toshihiro’s name several times, and even then, it took the officiant saying Hannah's a couple of times to break the spell that gripped them.

They both blushed, smiled, and gave the officiant their attention. The woman chuckled, and had Toshihiro say his vows. Then, she had Hannah say the vows, translated of course.

The couple forgot they were still in public the moment their lips met, and had to be interrupted as their kiss ran overly long.

The park was also set up to serve as their reception area, and the caterers called everyone’s attention to the tables laden with food, both American and Japanese gourmet.

The guests ate, and as they did so, the orchestra relocated to a place better for dancing, and began to play a variety of music, from classical to jazz/swing to the orchestral version of many pop songs. The guests all found it strange to party with so many people that didn’t speak the same language, but there were enough Japanese people that spoke American to translate for those that didn’t, and soon, everyone was getting along fairly well.

Hannah’s father, who had brought along his own translator, found that he had a fair bit in common with Toshihiro’s parents. Well, as far as farming and nutrition was concerned. Hannah’s father was a big supporter of sustainable farming, and nutrient dense food.

Finally, the newlyweds were able to slip away to go enjoy their wedding night.

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