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“Weddings are boring,” Takeru says, awkwardly adjusting the cuffs of his shirt.
“Opinion noted,” Nana says, raising her eyebrows as she fastens the bow in her hair.
Riku laughs. “To be fair, they kinda are. The actual bit where they exchange rings and stuff is adorable, but the whole lead up and everything like that is such a drag.”
“Get over yourselves, you two,” she says. “I don’t care what you think about weddings, at the end of the day. Because this is Ayumu and Hozumi’s day.”
Takeru rolls his eyes. “Oh really, I hadn’t noticed.”
That makes Riku splutter with laughter all over again. Even Nana has to giggle. After all, Hozumi and Ayumu got engaged seven months ago, and this wedding has been a huge talking point for all of this time. But the day has finally come, and she’s not going to let her two whining boyfriends make this all about them.
When he has managed to stop laughing, Riku puts his arm around Nana and kisses her cheek. Takeru grimaces, grateful that he isn’t getting kissed too. The three of them have been dating since Stride brought them back together in high school, but Takeru is aromantic, which means their relationship works differently to others. And this basically means that Takeru likes hugs and they all live together, but he never kisses them. But Riku and Nana don’t care; they share plenty of kisses.
“We’re not being serious, Nana,” Riku says.”We’ll be on our best behaviour, promise.”
Nana smiles.
---
It’s official. Ayumu and Hozumi are husbands! And Nana is so happy for them.
Now wearing matching wedding rings, the couple hold hands and can’t seem to stop smiling. Nana rushes over to them and pulls them both into a joint hug.
“Congratulations, you two!”
“Thanks,” Hozumi says, looking so handsome in all blue, his blond hair held out of his face by a blue headband.
“You think it went well, then?” Ayumu asks, his cheeks red. He’s twenty three years old, but still reminds Nana of the awkward second year she met when she first joined Hounan, a boy more interested in Shogi than Stride.
“Definitely,” Nana says, pressing a quick kiss to his flushed cheek. “It was wonderful. I can’t believe you two are finally husbands.”
Hozumi squeezes Ayumu’s hand. “Neither can I. It’s like a dream. Hang on… where’s Takeru gone?”
Nana and Riku turn around to find that Takeru is no longer with them. He better not be groping a random stranger’s calves to feel their muscles. And as Ayumu and Hozumi laugh, they run off to find him.
They find Takeru outside, talking to a clearly excited boy of about ten who is accompanied by a teenage girl. When they get close enough, they can hear the boy babbling, “…and it’s so amazing to meet you in person! I know all about your history and I’m a junior competitor too! Do you ever think I could become as good as you?”
Ah, so Takeru is being babbled at by one of his fans. Everyone continued their careers in Stride after leaving school, and the seven Hounan Stride members are kind of famous across Japan these days. In fact, they’re still a team – next year, you might even see Nana, Ayumu, Hozumi, Riku, Takeru, Heath and Kyousuke at the Olympics. Riku looks at her and smiles. And without alerting Takeru to their presence, they listen to their boyfriend’s response.
“I think it’s possible,” Takeru says. “You need to train hard and push yourself to get stronger and faster. But even more than that, you need to love Stride, and you need to trust your teammates. Because you can’t win Stride without them by your side.”
The boy is staring at Takeru with sparkling eyes. “Wow, thanks. You trust your team, don’t you?”
“I certainly do. If you’re as big a fan as I think you are, you probably know the important fact about my Stride team.”
“Oh yeah! You’re all dating, aren’t you?”
Takeru nods, smiling slightly. “Of course, you don’t literally need to date your teammates to understand them, but as long as you trust each other, you have a chance. Oh, by the way, I think two of my teammates are spying on us. Would you like to talk to them too?”
Riku laughs. “He spotted us.”
“How?”
But the two of them wander over nevertheless, and join Takeru in talking to the fan. The boy soon asks for autographs, and when Riku asks if he wants to see Hozumi and Ayumu too, he says, “Nah, it’s okay. Hozumi’s my cousin and we see each other all the time.”
And Nana laughs, before trailing back inside to see the rest of the wedding reception