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Another rumble of thunder reverberates throughout the main hall of the old building. The sound of of rain continues to batter down from above, each drop pounding against the heavy wooden rooftop. The excited buzz of chatter fills the inside of the rooms as everyone tries to set up in this tiny room, everything more cramped together than it was earlier on the beach.
Souda slumps down on the folding plastic chair he dragged over from the beach, and looks up to the annoying jerk trying to fix up the drenched flowers while they bleed vibrant colour into the white arch. He sees Togami, the actual Togami, not that skinny, stuck-up arsehole, rest a hammy hand on Tanaka's shoulder reassuringly.
The doors at the back of the room open and Souda spins in his seat for a glimpse of his beautiful, gorgeous, perfect, oh... It's just Hanamura bringing through another bowl of something. Smells like a beef stew, maybe? Aw, shoot, he thinks, Why'd I hafta pick the seat next to this demon of all people?
"What're you staring at, virgin? You're not crying already, are you? Ha! You actually are!" Saionji sneers.
"I ain't crying! It's rain! It's raining!" Souda shouts back, and gets a dirty look from Koizumi the next seat over for it.
"Souda-kun, there is no need to yell," she scolds, then mutters under her breath something about boys and their stupidity that he doesn't quite catch.
"Yeah, stu-" a roar of thunder cuts Saionji off, and confirms that it is, in fact, raining. Even if they can't see the storm stuck inside this humid little room.
Almost as if timed, the doors open as the thunder fades away. Mioda starts up her screamo cover of Here Comes the Bride, which she had worked on with Tanaka's input earlier. To make sure that the sounds do not "sabotage the auditory functions of the Four Dark Devas of Destruction."
The lady of the hour herself begins to walk down the aisle. She is, in Souda not-at-all biased opinion, perfection itself. Her long blood red dress trails behind her as she takes small measured steps, smiling at Tanaka as he pretends he isn't nervous.
He isn't going to cry. He isn't. This is her day, damn it, and he is not gonna ruin it any more than the storm already has, with his pathetic crying.
He notices now that she is drenched from the rain, her hair still dripping onto the floor around her. But... It doesn't make any sense. She was getting ready in this building after all, and the rain had started before they'd even finished the set up at the beach. He can't think of any reason why she would have gone out into the thunderstorm.
He's not going to cry. He's not. This is not sadness. It's... it's... it's that he feels bad for her, being tricked by that jerk's over-the-top theatrics.
She reaches the arch, bent slightly out of shape by the low ceiling of the old building, and turns to face Tanaka. Souda can't see her expression anymore, but from the way Tanaka glances away and blushes, he's pretty sure her bright smile has softened into something sweeter. Togami starts speaking and Souda tunes out his voice as the pounding of rain on wood seems to cut him off from the reality in front of him.
It feels like static is filling his ears and his body has gone numb and he isn't going to cry so he glances around without moving his head to see if anyone else seems to be affected by this strange feeling and they're all looking straight ahead at the happy couple and he sees Mioda absentmindedly tap a few keys without her usual pasion and energy but even so they seem to pound through his skull and the smells from the feast which have wafted over all of a sudden feel ten times stronger and they're all mixing together in a nausiating way and he can feel a burning behind his eyes and he's not crying that's just the rain because the humidity in here is just too much and he can't breathe and why the hell is he acting so selfish this is supposed to be Sonia-san's special day her most important day and he just needs to breathe before he gets noticed by Saionji who is sat right next to him by the way and at least she's watching the wedding like he should be and why isn't he why not just need to look up and look at her and look at him and just this is this is it's just-
As he glances back to the main event, he realises that they're almost done.
Is a wedding supposed to take this long? He wonders to himself as Togami looks away from the happy couple towards the crowd, and says,
"Speak now, or forever hold your peace."
Souda wants to speak. He wants to say something, to stop this from happening. He imagines how he'd stand up, and say something ultra cool, and Sonia-san would look at him with those eyes she only looks at that jerk with. But Hinata and Kuzuryuu have spoken to him, separately and together, on several occasions over the months since the engagement was announced. This is Sonia-san's choice, and he knows this. He knows that he shouldn't've needed it spelled out to him so many times. He doesn't want to accept this. He has to accept this.
A moment passes, and no one has said a word. It seems like no one so much as breathes, and the only sounds in the room are that of the raindrops continuing their assault of the old building's roof. Even the thunder seems to wait for this eternity within a moment. Then Invading Black Dragon Cham-P shifts in his seat slightly and the spell is broken.
"You may now kiss the bride."
Souda closes his eyes. He has managed to stay composed this whole time, to not break down from the unfairness of it all. This should only take a moment, so noone will notice if he can't bear to watch this one moment. A round of applause soon erupts, both from the people around and the sky up above. Bringing his hands together in his best attempt of a show of support, Souda tries to not let his jealousy ruin this.
He opens his eyes and Sonia-san is facing the crowd with a huge grin on her face. He forces one to his own face, fake and pathetic but the best he can manage. Tanaka catches his eye, and he'd rather if Sonia-san had caught his eye, but then Tanaka just nods. Maybe he'll never get over this, but maybe he'll learn to be okay with it.
Maybe, they could all be okay.