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The day before, Kaoru had texted Kokoro to discuss some questions about an upcoming gig. Something about “how to best communicate our fleeting message” in “spreading beauty to as many denizens of the world as possible,” thus could Kokoro “so kindly” come over after school to Haneoka, room 3-B to meet one-on-one. The thing was though, on the way there, Kokoro had run into Kanon and Misaki exiting class, and then she had spotted Hagumi jogging during baseball practice. It was always better to have them all together to discuss band issues plus, Kokoro loved having everyone in one place together. Kaoru surely wouldn’t mind.
When they stepped into the classroom, pink rose petals fell from above. The curtains were closed to allow the plentiful tealight candles to glow softly in the darkness. Strong violin music emanated from a CD player in the back where Kaoru was perched, moderately high on a stack of chairs. Her posture was elegant, almost regal.
Everyone halted to take in the room’s decorations.
“What the…” Misaki croaked.
Kanon gasped.
Hagumi exclaimed, “Wow! Kaoru-kun, you did all of this?”
Kaoru’s poised, smooth expression faltered once she noticed the plus three. However, she collected herself in an instant and returned to her unruffled mask. “I was not expecting the company of others. However, I’m delighted that all of you can witness this.”
Kokoro couldn’t imagine what this was for, but her heart was already pumping in anticipation. She walked towards Kaoru and gazed up. “This is incredible! Are we having some kind of party?”
Kaoru chuckled. “You’re close, my dearest kitten.” She lowered herself from her chair throne with an initial attempt at grace but then scaled it like a rock-climbing crab, clearly having not planned how to get down. After catching her breath, she faced Kokoro, taking her hand.
“Kokoro, we’ve been entwined with each other for a mere fleeting four months, but I feel that our hearts were destined for one another since birth.”
“Oh, cool! I'm having fun too!”
“And now that I’m in my third year, I’ve been pondering the question of the future. Soon, I’ll graduate from the halls of high school and enter the world as an adult. Like a bird finally leaving its mother's nest, I must choose the path I wish to fly. And it is with you that I wish to fly with.”
Letting go of Kokoro’s hand, Kaoru kneeled onto the floor and pulled out a small, velvet box. Misaki let out some kind of choked, squawking noise.
“Kokoro Tsurumaki, would you grant me the honor of marrying you?” Kaoru opened the box and inside was a small golden ring with a rose sculptured onto the band. It was modestly pretty, likely no more than 3,000 yen. Her grin was easy but the sweat shone on Kaoru’s face.
Kokoro quietly contemplated Kaoru’s words: this proposal, graduation, and implicitly, the future of Hello, Happy World! Kaoru’s outstretched hand just trembled slightly as the seconds ticked by. If anyone behind Kokoro was breathing, she couldn’t hear it. Then she smiled at Kaoru so brightly, so easily.
“Yeah!”
It was about two minutes after Kaoru had shouted in joy and carried Kokoro out of the room, both of them laughing, that Kanon realized something.
“Um…Should we clean up the room?”
The tealights were half melted and the rose petals had already wilted. After no response, Kanon began carefully blowing out the candles.
Misaki sighed.
“Hagumi, let’s go grab a broom.”
While Kokoro was game to not play by anyone’s rulebook, there were certain formalities that Kaoru insisted on, which she ultimately didn’t mind. Besides, it was always wonderful to meet new people.
“Oh, you brought one of your band friends over!” The woman dried her hands on a dish towel and approached the two. “You’re…Kokoro, right?”
“Yep!” Kokoro stuck out her hand for a firm and bouncy handshake.
The way Kaoru had described her mother was as “a noble maiden” who had taken her in and raised Kaoru on her all on her own, with “more kindness than someone like me could ask for.” So, someone probably not as flashy, but still patient and warm-hearted.
“It’s so nice to meet at least one of you. Kaoru never brings anyone over, she’s so busy elsewhere with school, and drama club, and the band, and all sorts of things I’m too old to keep up with,” she lightly chuckled.
At this, Kaoru cleared her throat, loudly. “Mother, I have something to confess.”
“Oh? I guess this must be quite important if you’re using that voice,” her mother said, not a hint of irony in her observation.
“I,” Kaoru cleared her throat again, “Last night, I took my darling’s hand in my own and sung of our love. I proposed committing to our union through vows, and now—in the glory of the morning light—I’m happy to announce that we, Kokoro Tsurumaki and I, Kaoru Seta, plan to be married!” She threw her hand up, placed the other on her chest, and then quickly took a bow. “So I hope, Mother, that you grant us your blessing, even if it’s…fleeting.”
A wave of silence fell over the room as her mother took it all in. Her head was tilted in consideration. Her expression was placidly opaque.
“Hmm…” Ms. Seta turned to Kokoro. “Are you enjoying yourself too?”
Kokoro nodded vigorously. “One thousand percent!”
“Ah, well…I suppose that’s nice then. I don’t fully understand whatever band business you both are up to, but I’ll give you my ‘blessing’ anyway.”
Kokoro cheered as Kaoru sprung up, her face flushed with glee.
“Thank you!”
“Of course, sweetheart.”
The rest of the afternoon was spent together over a fresh lunch of homemade omurice while Ms. Seta told anecdotes of Kaoru as a toddler (which drove her daughter to cries of embarrassment). Kokoro hadn’t ever eaten a lunch so delicious before.
Catching both of her parents in person and in the same room was a task not even the women in black could manage, so a video call would have to do.
“Hi!” Kokoro waved at the split screen on her laptop.
“Hello, Kokoro dear. Is something wrong with the credit cards? Because if the staff aren’t taking care of it, I can—”
“Honey, I’m sure it’s nothing to do with the credit cards. Getting both of us on the phone would warrant something more important than that I imagine.” Mrs. Tsurumaki checked her watch as she leaned in towards the screen. “I do have a flight to Thailand in forty minutes though, so it’s best if this is quick.”
“No problem!” Kokoro gestured at Kaoru standing off to the side to sidle up closer so she’d appear on camera. “Mom, Dad, this is Kaoru Seta, my fiancée.”
“Fiancée?” both parents repeated quizzically.
“It’s a pleasure to acquaint myself with the people who raised such an enchanting young woman,” Kaoru said as she briefly bowed (or something close to it, as one can manage while also sitting on a couch). “It’s no wonder that such magnificent beings as yourselves produced such a sweet hummingbird.”
“Kaoru proposed to me yesterday at school! I’m so excited!” She took Kaoru’s hand in hers and held them up, like a winning team of the sports festival. Despite the sweat, Kaoru’s hand was easy to grasp. “And she wanted to meet both of you before we got married and I thought it’d be nice to get your blessing since we just got one from Kaoru’s mom.”
Her father tapped his chin thoughtfully. “Well…I suppose times have changed much more than we thought since we got married, haven’t they, darling?”
“I have to agree, I remember when our sweet Kokoro was only a baby in my arms. The years really do fly by,” her mother sighed, her gaze unfocused and nostalgic. “And I apologize for any rudeness, but it’s a pleasure to meet you too, Kaoru-san. I’m delighted to meet my future daughter-in-law.”
Kaoru stood up, her shoulders straighter, her chest puffed out. “Truly, I cannot find the words to express my joy at this, so I shall have to borrow them from the great bard, ‘You, and your lady, Take from my heart all thankfulness!’” she shouted and then bowed. “Though even that seems too little, shall I recite a sonnet in full to express my ebullience, how indebted I am to you, to—”
The man let out a mirthful laugh. “You’re too lovely. Unfortunately, business demands more of us than we can share. As long as you’re happy, we’ll be glad to support you two any way we can.” Her father was beaming with pride. “Just let the staff know if you need anything and they’ll take care of it.”
“…I’m pretty it’s supposed to be the future child-in-law who asks for a blessing on their marriage,” Misaki replied to no one listening.
Kokoro thought that the weather was the best during summer, so a July wedding it would be. This left only four months for planning, plus school, plus the band. Despite this, though she had never thought over her own future wedding ever before, Kokoro (and a hired team of some of the best wedding planners in the country) tackled it like a whirlwind.
Though she initially thought about renting out that cool castle down in Kyoto that she had heard about before, Kokoro decided the ceremony would be held at the local wedding hall that opened last year, remembering the advertisement posters hung up in Kaoru’s room. Plus, it would be easier for everyone to get to. (It took some…persuasion for the venue staff to look past their ages, but nothing a smile couldn’t do!) The reception would be on the KT Smile Sunshine Deluxe, the biggest of her yachts so everyone invited could fit, though tightly docked throughout the night for Michelle’s sake. Speaking of, Michelle would be the officiant, provided that she got her certification. (Michelle initially protested, saying that “bears can’t perform marriage ceremonies for humans” but once again, nothing that a smile and a little bit of diplomacy with Michelle Land couldn’t take care of.) Every small detail and choice was an opportunity for Kokoro to play out her every whim. She even took extra care in designing the invitations, all of them cute and light, with a motif of winged Michelles announcing the date and location.
Still, Kaoru had ideas of her own too. She saw peonies, violets, carnations, lilies, and, obviously, roses. Hundreds of candles were a must. Her vows and speeches would be peppered with monologues from the great bard. She did initially insist on both white doves and horses to be released once the ceremony ended, but Kanon, plus the wedding planners, talked her down to a more conservative single flock of doves.
However, there was one idea that both of them were equally passionate about.
“And then we’ll perform afterward!” Kokoro yelled as she slapped her hands on the café table.
“W-we?” Kanon yelped, about to eat the last bite of her cake. “What do you mean by that?”
“Hello, Happy World! of course! Don’t worry, there’s a big enough stage on the ship for all of us.”
“Oh, I’ve never performed at a wedding before,” Hagumi said, bubbly and eager.
“Wait,” Misaki began, “why would you want to do that? It seems like…a lot when it’s your own…wedding.”
“All the world’s a stage, particularly when you’re captured by the throes of love. What better way to pay tribute to our future marriage than through the fleeting beauty of song,” Kaoru sighed.
“Are you sure you want something ‘fleeting’ to represent your relationship?”
Kokoro charged on with, “It’s the most fun that way. We’ll put on a big show to make everyone smile!”
“But shouldn’t this be more than just having fun and making everyone smile? I mean it’s…marriage, kind of?” Misaki’s eyebrows furrowed at her own words.
“What else could be more important than that?” Kokoro asked.
Misaki didn’t answer, returning to her sandwich, quiet for the rest of lunch. Something was niggling at her, but Kokoro could wait until she was ready to say it.
Kasumi | 3:32 PM
OMGGGGGGGGG
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Kasumi | 3:32 PM
Kasumi | 3:32 PM
IT’S SO SPARKLY
Kasumi | 3:33 PM
DIED VERY ONE ELSE GET ONE TO
Arisa | 3:33 PM
Do you have to spam us like this???
Arisa | 3:34 PM
And check your spelling before hitting send
Saya | 3:35 PM
Yep, just checked my mailbox too
Rimi | 3:35 PM
I can’t believe it!!!
Rimi | 3:36 PM
Do you think it’s a real wedding??
Arisa | 3:36 PM
Obviously not, the law changed with this kind of stuff. They haven’t even graduated yet
Tae | 3:37 PM
oh, i didn’t take you for the jealous type rimi
Rimi | 3:37 PM
TAE I DIDN’T MEAN IT LIKE THAT
Lisa | 4:21 PM
isn’t it WILD
Yukina | 4:27 PM
What is?
Lisa | 4:29 PM
omg sorry, I meant the wedding invite
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Lisa | 4:30 PM
I mean I knew they were a funny couple but I didn’t expect this
Sayo | 4:30 PM
I got one of those too.
Yukina | 4:31 PM
Oh right. I never took notice. Though Seta-san is certainly…an odd character.
Lisa | 4:32 PM
anyway I can’t wait to go! It’ll be fun to dress up and watch what’s everyone gonna wear?
Yukina | 4:35 PM
Why would I go? I’m not sure if that’s a good use of our time. Plus I don’t know either of them very well.
Sayo | 4:36 PM
I agree.
Lisa | 4:37 PM
awwww!!!! come on!!!!
Lisa | 4:38 PM
pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease
Rinko | 4:39 PM
I think maybe it’d be nice for all of us to go, if there’s nothing else special for the band that day.
Lisa | 4:39 PM
YEAH!!!
Yukina | 4:46 PM
Okay fine.
Ako | 5:13 PM
SIS THIS TIME IT’S REAL????
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Hina | 5:42 PM
:O
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Aya | 5:46 PM
What???
Maya | 5:46 PM
WHAT
Hina | 5:46 PM
got it in the mail :V
Eve | 5:47 PM
Oh my!
Aya | 5:49 PM
I just checked and there’s one in my mailbox too!!!
Aya | 5:51 PM
It looks like everyone from their schools are invited?
Eve | 5:52 PM
Yay! I can’t wait to see a real Japanese wedding!
Himari | 7:03 PM
[IMG20024413042018 attached]
Tsugumi | 7:05 PM
Oh! My mom told me about a big catering job from the Tsurumaki family this morning. Maybe this is what she meant…
Tomoe | 7:07 PM
Oh yeah Ako texted me about that during practice
Himari | 7:08 PM
AND YOU DIDN’T SAY ANYTHING
Tomoe | 7:09 PM
Well we were kind of in a groove, I didn’t wanna derail us
Ran | 7:10 PM
I agree, it was the right choice
Moca | 7:10 PM
aw poor hii-chan
Himari | 7:11 PM
SHUT UP
Chisato | 8:56 PM
Kanon what’s going on
[IMG1640503042018-DOWNLOAD attached]
Kasumi | 9:52 PM
Congratulations to you two!!!!
Kokoro | 9:59 PM
Thank you!!!!!
After a practice session that was mostly going over the wedding set list, Michelle had taken Kaoru and Kokoro aside for a chat.
“So, for one of my duties as the officiant, I have to ask you both to attend an appointment of pre-marriage counseling. As a way to strengthen your relationship before the wedding and to make you’re um, ready for the commitment.”
The pair were so impressed. They never knew that bears could be so committed to the sanctity of marriage. So they arranged to have a private meeting at Kokoro’s home, just the three of them at the end of the week.
“So,” Michelle glanced at the novelty-sized clipboard provided by one of the house staff, “first, I want to ask, why are you getting married to each other?” Looking to Kaoru she added, “Please keep it concise.”
Michelle looked between the two girls seated on the couch in front of her, not sure who would reply first.
“One day, I woke up and I just knew,” Kaoru said, flipping back a strand of hair.
Michelle nodded. “Okay.”
Kaoru’s gaze turned afar as she continued, “Thinking back to that fleeting moment when I met my princess, Kokoro, I—”
“So, Kokoro, what about you? Why did you say ‘yes’ to her proposal?”
“I thought it would be fun!”
“Fun?”
“Yeah, Kaoru and I have so much fun together, so this would be even more of that!”
“I think that…marriage is more than having fun though. What will you two do when you have fights? Or go through tough times?”
Kokoro had never considered that. She leaned back and thought for a moment. “I’m not sure.”
“See? And Kaoru, the way you act, is that sustainable? Are you going to do that forever? For a marriage, sometimes you need to be serious!” Before Kaoru could even respond, Michelle continued, waving her arms up and down, “A marriage isn’t a live show, it’s your future! You have to think through these things! You can’t be so impulsive all the time!”
She was definitely more energetic than usual, even compared to when she was onstage. Finally, she took a big, calming breath. She said more tiredly, “I’m not even sure if this wedding is real or not, can a teen—I mean, bear officiate a wedding? And we—you’re still in high school. You can do a wedding anytime when you’re older, does it have to be now?”
Kokoro blinked and looked at Kaoru, who seemed equally caught off guard. Evidently, Michelle was very serious about this, and it was only fair that Kokoro put just as much concern into answering, so she stewed in her thoughts for a few minutes. Kaoru beside her did similarly, her eyes closed and her chin between her fingers.
Kaoru broke the heavy silence first, her voice softer but still strong. “I believe…there’s no time like the present. When you feel something’s right, you have to hold it as tight as you can. I don’t know what the Fates have in store for me, for us,” she glanced at Kokoro, “as everything is fleeting, but that is only more reason to embrace it. I choose to enjoy what I love while I can, however that may appear.” Her hands were now folded together but fidgety, as if she worked out the words on her lap.
Kokoro gently placed her hand over Kaoru’s and then separated them to interlock their fingers together. Her heart pounded but she wasn’t nervous, only eager, almost jubilant, just like when Kaoru knelt for her (both times).
“…And what about you, Kokoro?” Michelle asked, more muted in her tone.
Kokoro replied with a smile, “Like I said, it’s fun. And having fun makes me happy. A different kind of happy than when we play as Hello, Happy World! but isn’t that wonderful, more kinds of happiness?” she giggled. “Doing the band hasn’t always been easy but it’s always been worth it. And that sounds a lot like marriage to me.” She leaned closer to Kaoru, letting her head rest on her shoulder. “And promising to give each other more smiles, more happiness, isn’t that marriage too?”
Michelle’s big eyes made it difficult sometimes to know where she was looking, but Kokoro suspected she wasn’t at anything in particular at all. Just mulling over their answers.
“…Yeah. I guess so.”
Soon Michelle took her leave of the pre-marital counseling, concluding that the point of it was an exercise for its own sake, not a verdict. At least, that was according to where she received her Bear Officiant License™. As the two girls hugged Michelle goodbye for the night, she mumbled, “I apologize for yelling. That wasn’t…very nice of me, as a counselor or a bandmate.”
“No worries.” Kokoro patted her on her plush arm. “You’re our friend, you just wanted to show us that. I’m glad you could be so honest.”
“...Right. Thank you.”
When the two of them were alone (or, as alone as someone plus a Tsurumaki could be), they settled back on the couch. Kokoro, for once, was quiet, reflective even, but only for a moment.
“Kaoru?”
“Yes, my dove?”
“I’m glad we’re getting married,” she stated bluntly, sweetly.
There was a slight blush on Kaoru’s face when she quoted Nietzsche, but she quoted him with gusto, “There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness.”
As it turned out, the wedding hall couldn’t accommodate even a quarter of Haneoka, let alone the student bodies of both schools, various family members, the Tsurumaki staff, and so on. There wasn’t enough time to renovate the hall to make space (and besides, that was the one line the venue drew a line at), so a stadium and some large TV displays were booked out instead. The invitees allowed to attend the ceremony were a select number: some friends, some family, some staff. Still a tight fit, but at least no egregious fire code violations.
Inside the venue, guests chatted amongst themselves, before the clock struck three and the doors opened.
Kokoro was dressed stunningly. In her hands was an overflowing bouquet of white and purple orchids. Her ivory dress had an iridescent bodice with the cutest ruffle skirt cut above the knee, topped with a large bow against the small of her back. As she sauntered and skipped down the aisle, the freshwater pearls strung upon her hair shimmered.
Gazing ahead, she saw Kaoru lushly decked out in an ornate, white tuxedo, decorated in gold and red. Her hair glittered in the sunlight that streamed through the windows. In the news later, after debating the legality of the ceremony, they would note that the stadium roared with shrieks the moment she appeared onscreen.
A flutter started in Kokoro’s chest standing in front of Kaoru. The sunlight, the warmth, the flowers, the harp music, even the staring crowd and cameras—both despite and because of all of this—it seemed like the altar was a warm, cozy island just for them.
Their vows meandered, skipped, and danced. For every verse Kaoru recited, Kokoro exchanged a laugh. If anyone was bored ten minutes in, she didn’t notice. Touching Kaoru’s hands to slide on the ring, that flutter turned into something bright and coursed through her veins.
Never had her understanding of “forever” and “today” as the same felt so true.
“And now I pronounce you…” Michelle trailed off as she looked between the two of them. “Wife and wife.”
Kokoro giggled as Kaoru leaned in for a kiss.
When they exited, hand in hand, as the doves soared above, Kokoro had two simultaneous wishes: For this to never end and for her new future.
Hello, Happy World! arrived ahead of the guests, allowing time for setup, costumes, mic checks. The usual. Singing was like coming back home, but now she had a wife! And it was Kaoru! How lucky was she! Though not everything was perfect.
“Too bad Misaki couldn’t make it,” she sighed. “It would’ve been nice to have a photo of all of us onstage.”
Michelle only silently nodded in shared sorrow.
Once everyone else arrived, most of them initially raised an eyebrow at the newlyweds onstage but it didn’t take long for the guests to start pulling each other onto the ballroom floor. Ms. Seta waved at them from below and took a few photos with her small camera. (The Tsurumakis weren’t available to attend, but they had wished the happy couple a hearty “Congratulations!” on the way over by phone.)
The laughter, the smiles, the dancing, now this was what having a big wedding was for.
About five songs in, Kaoru said she had to attend to something and asked for a short break to quickly freshen up. “A prince can’t let her fleeting image fall,” she said before darting away.
Seconds later, Kokoro’s stomach growled. She realized her earlier breakfast seemed much farther away than she had remembered and they were about halfway through the set list, so Kokoro announced the intermission while staff speedily arranged a more upbeat but unobtrusive soundtrack.
Kanon insisted on changing out of their costumes as to not get food on them, yet oddly enough, they couldn’t find Kaoru in the dressing room.
“Huh, that’s weird,” she observed but thought nothing more of.
Seated with everyone else at the head table and halfway through a plate of spaghetti though, Kokoro realized something. “We forgot to cut the cake!” she cried out. “Where is it though…” She spotted a decorative display that seemed like it should have a glorious multilayer cake, but none was there.
As if right on cue, a mysterious caped figure swooped down onto the stage. She raised her arms, sharply posed.
“Hello, dear passengers! You may not know me but I’m no stranger to the maiden of this ship! Plus a few lucky companions of hers,” she chuckled.
Hagumi yelped. Michelle still sat, frozen and staring. Kanon was wide-eyed as she looked to the ballroom floor, where the guests traded some glances that ranged from excited to panicked.
Kokoro gasped. “Miss Thief! You’ve returned!”
“I have, my dearest kitten, and I’ve come here to announce that I’m the one responsible for the missing cake, fufu.”
“How devious!” she exclaimed. “What have you done with it!”
“You’ll have to find out, my mistress of the sail!” she proclaimed, and with that she hopped away somewhere backstage.
As she stood up for the chase, the smile on Kokoro’s face couldn’t be bigger.