Chapter Text
In everything and in nothing, my heart is yours.
Busy wasn't a strong enough adjective to describe how you felt at the moment. For the past few weeks, your calendar app had been filled with a never-ending list of tasks and appointments, the dates nearly swallowed whole by the sheer magnitude of multicolored boxes on the screen. Each time a new task was completed, you were almost immediately out the door again, rushing off to fulfill your next duty.
It wasn't that your new job was particularly stressful—in fact, you considered it to be the least of your worries at the moment. But in between moving back to your hometown, adjusting to your new office, and managing your responsibilities as Mika's official maid-of-honor, you were beginning to wonder if you would ever catch a break.
Today was no different. With only three months left before Mika and Suguru's wedding, you were scrambling back and forth to ensure that all the preparations were going as planned. Mika had assigned you a list of vendors that you needed to check on, including her florist and cake designer, which left you driving through town most of the morning. After confirming that all the flowers had been ordered and the cake design was exactly as Mika and Suguru had envisioned, you were finally able to move onto the biggest event of the afternoon: Mika's final wedding dress fitting.
You met Mika in the parking lot of the wedding dress boutique, with the papers and sketches of the planned floral arrangements and cake in your hands for Mika to see. She gratefully admired the papers, thanking you for your hard work before the two of you made your way inside the boutique.
The boutique owner, Asahi Azumane, greeted the two of you as you stepped inside. "Welcome in. This is Mika's dress fitting, correct?"
"Yes, the final one hopefully," Mika said, revealing her excitement with a beaming smile. Asahi led the pair of you to the back of the boutique, where the fitting rooms were. Mika was escorted into one of the fitting rooms with another consultant, while you were instructed to sit in the central area, with the mirrors and platform. Just as you were finally able to take a seat (for the first time the entire day), you received a text message from Kita.
Kita: Doing okay?
You: Yes, with Mika right now at her dress fitting
Kita: 👍
With that, you took a deep breath and leaned back in the seat. Although it was a Saturday, there weren't a lot of people in the back of the boutique, with most of the crowd still out on the floor looking at the dresses. Mika had chosen her dress months ago, but in between all the alterations and the hectic schedule of a soon-to-be-bride, this was the first time that you would be seeing the dress since she'd made her decision. While you were waiting for Mika to slip into her dress, you thumbed through the pages of the dress catalogue on the side table next to you.
The catalogue was filled with a variety of gorgeous dresses, displaying every type of silhouette and style. You pursed your lips subconsciously, your own thoughts wandering to the kind of attire that you would want for your own wedding day.
It was hard not to imagine what your own wedding would look like, especially since you'd been so involved in the planning of Mika and Suguru's wedding. Would you also have a big engagement party beforehand? An indoor or outdoor wedding? Who would be the people in your entourage as you chose your wedding attire and arrangements?
Maybe it was starting to feel more real now that you and Kita had moved back in together in your hometown again. In fact, that's where Kita was right now, finishing unpacking the rest of your boxes as you ran all the wedding errands with Mika.
Of course, you didn't want to get ahead of yourself. There was no point in planning a wedding if Kita wasn't going to propose, but...it was hard not to think about it. Although you and Kita had discussed your future plans, and the both of you had agreed that marriage was a step that you wanted, he hadn't been clear on the timeline. Still, the desire lingered in the back of your mind as you continued to examine the catalogue.
Before you could reach the end of the catalogue, the door to Mika's fitting room swung open, and Mika stepped out into the central area, the train of her dress held up by the consultant behind her. She stepped up onto the platform, and you let out a small gasp of awe as she slowly turned around to face you.
"Well?" She held up the front of the skirt and swung it side to side, showing off the intricate embroidery across the front. Mika had chosen an A-line dress with the perfect amount of subtle detail and sparkle that trickled down from the neckline to the hem of the skirt. "How does it look?"
"You look beautiful, Mika," you said sincerely. "I think all the alterations paid off. This fits you perfectly now."
"I know, I'm so excited!" Mika said, a giggle escaping her chest. "Do you think Suguru will cry?"
"He definitely will." You could picture it already. It was perfect.
The rest of the appointment went smoothly as well. Mika's dress was wrapped and packaged, and the two of you were making your way to the nail salon where Mika was planning to test run her next set of potential bridal nails.
In the waiting area of the salon, the two of you pored over the different colors and designs they had on display. At Mika's insistence, you were also going to do your nails, a simple French tip with flower detailing across your ring fingers. Once the two of you had finished paying for the appointment and were standing outside of the salon, Mika let out a gasp, causing you to furrow your brow in concern.
"Is something wrong?" you asked.
"Do you know how Suguru and I were taking our pre-wedding photos out in the park next to the lake yesterday? I think I accidentally left one of the bags with our stuff in the park." Mika looked up at you with her eyes full of worry. "But I need to get to the dinner that I'm having with Suguru's parents tonight. Do you think you could make the stop and grab it?"
"Yeah, no worries," you reassured her. "Text me the location, and I'll grab it."
"Thanks, (Y/N)! You're the best." She wrapped her arms around you. "I'll send you the location, but first—"
She reached into her purse to pull out a comb and quickly ran it through your hair. "Perfect."
"Were the flyaways that bad?" you joked.
Mika let out a quick hum, but she didn't directly respond to what you said. Instead, she placed a brand new lip gloss into your hand. "This is my gift to you for helping out today too! Apply this in the car and send me a picture so I can see what the color looks like on you."
"Alright, thank you." You let out a small laugh, simply because the nonsensical gift-giving was exactly what you expected out of her. "I'll send you a picture once I'm in the car."
"Thank you, (Y/N)! Let me know how everything goes!" With that, Mika hurried off to her own car and sped away.
As promised, you sent Mika a photo of how the new lip gloss looked on you, to which she replied with a "Looks great!" message that had obviously been sent through her speech-to-text function. You entered the location of the park into your navigation app and drove off.
By now, the sun was already beginning to set, creating doubts in your mind that you would actually be able to find Mika's bag. When you actually arrived at the park, the sun was almost fully below the horizon, setting the sky awash in a red hue. You stepped out of your car and followed the path that Mika had instructed you to, carefully scanning the surrounding area for any signs of a black duffel bag.
As you walked though, you realized that the low light inside of the park was making it impossible to see anything beyond the trees. However, just as you were about to give up and turn back around to the car, you heard the zip of electricity around you. In an instant, the path lights flicked on, illuminating the walkway. The surprise was enough to stop you in your tracks momentarily. Were the lights on a timed schedule or something?
While you were caught off guard, you decided to keep going. With the lights on, there was now a higher chance that you would actually be able to find Mika's bag. Would she have left it next to the path? Maybe underneath one of the larger trees?
At some point, you were now close enough to hear the water from the lake crash into the shoreline. You followed the path around a corner beyond the treeline, only to be stunned by the sight in front of you.
Gone were the standard path lights that had led you to this spot. Before you was a dock extending over the shoreline of the lake that was covered in candles whose flames gently swayed in the breeze. The trees had been draped with strings of fairy lights that shrouded the greenery in a warm tinge. Flower petals had been scattered throughout the entire area in different shades of pink. In the center of it all was Kita, who stood with a bouquet of roses in his hand and a gentle smile on his lips. "(Y/N)."
"Shinsuke?" You blinked, lips parting ever-so-slightly in surprise. "Is this...?"
He walked towards you swiftly, took one of your hands in his, and placed the bouquet in your other arm. "(Y/N)," he repeated your name with a deep breath, and you realized that his hand was trembling. Instinctively, you wrapped your hand around his and squeezed it to comfort him. His eyes softened in response. "I'm not great at expressing my emotions, but...I've never been happier than when I'm by your side. I'm so thankful to have you with me. I don't think I would ever be unhappy doing something with you, whether we're moving cities or eating dinner or finding you a new shower handle."
It was impossible not to let out a small giggle at his words. Kita's irises looked like they were shimmering in the light, never once wavering away from yours. His gaze felt like it was piercing through you. Your heartbeat quickened as the weight of what was happening finally started to sink in.
He continued. "You...make even the mundane things feel bright and beautiful. I love you more than I think I could ever express in words."
Something hot was welling up in the corner of your eyes, and before you knew it, tears were falling down your cheeks. He let go of your hand and used his thumb to swipe tears away. Still, despite the tears, you were beaming up at him. "I love you, Shinsuke."
It seemed that Kita was also getting caught up in the moment. He lowered his head and quickly wiped his own tears away with the back of his hand. With another deep breath, he bent down and lowered one knee to the ground. When he looked back up at you, it felt like even the beautiful scenery around you was no longer there. It was just you and Kita together with each other. One of his hands reached into his back pocket to pull out a velvet ring box, which opened to reveal a dazzling ring. "(Y/N), will you marry me?"
You weren't sure how the next sequence of events unfolded, so overwhelmed by the emotions inside of you. In fact, you weren't even sure that you were breathing during any of this. All you knew was that you were soon in Kita's arms, kissing his cheek, and telling him that there would be no greater joy than to marry him. Within seconds, the ring was on your finger, and Kita's lips pressed against your forehead.
"Oh my god, she said yes!" a voice yelled out from the bushes behind you. You turned around to see Mika and Suguru standing there, the leaves attached to their clothes a testament to the lengths they had taken to hide themselves. Mika ran up to you and nearly tackled you in her embrace.
"How long have you been here?" you asked in shock, once Mika had released you from her death grip around you. "Did you help plan all of this?"
"Of course! The location was my idea," Mika stated, proudly puffing out her chest. "I bet you had no idea, did you?"
"I got the whole thing here too," Suguru said. He smugly pointed to the camera that was draped around his neck. "But you better be grateful, because there was a rustle in the bushes while we were waiting, and I thought I would have to fight off a bear to film this."
Mika rolled her eyes and whispered to you, "It was a bunny."
"I can't believe you guys." The smile on your face was so wide that your cheeks were starting to hurt, but you couldn't bring yourself to care. "I really thought I was here for your bag."
Kita walked over and placed his hand against your hip, pulling you closer to him. "Did you like it?" he asked, his voice just loud enough for you to hear over the sounds of the water behind you.
"I loved it. Thank you, Shinsuke," you whispered earnestly as you met his eyes.
"That's our cue to leave," Mika said, jabbing Suguru in his side with her finger. He let out a yelp, but Mika was unfazed by this. "Call me later! We'll set up a time to do your official engagement shoot too!" she declared to you, making the call sign with her hand and pulling Suguru back towards the direction of the parking lot.
"I will!" you yelled with a laugh, watching as the two of them disappeared out of sight.
Now that it was just you and Kita again, you wasted no time pulling Kita down by his shirt collar and kissing him on his lips. He responded eagerly to your touch, using his hand to tilt up your chin to deepen the kiss. When the two of you pulled apart and he leaned his forehead against yours, you knew the meaning of his expression instantly—adoration. The knowledge made something in your chest bloom.
"You look beautiful." His silver hair was falling into his eyes as he gazed down at you, and you brushed the longer strands back with your fingers. As you pushed back his hair, you noticed the glassy sheen covering his eyes again, and you laughed affectionately at the sight.
"Are you going to cry again?" You teased, but you didn't know if the direction was directed towards him or you, as your own eyes were beginning to well up with tears again as well.
He chuckled in response. "I'm really happy with you."
"I'm so happy with you too," you whispered.
Kita took your hand in his once more. His lips pressed against your ring finger, bringing a warmth that contrasted with the ring's cold metal. "I'm yours, (Y/N). Forever and always."
You closed the distance between your lips again, and even without the ring and the flower petals and the scenery, you knew that his words extended beyond just love or desire.
It felt like a promise.