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She stood in front of the long mirror examining her wedding dress in the mirror. The pure whiteness stood out as a stark contrast to the bright colors of her quinceañera dress, not to mention how the ornateness of the wedding dress stood out in comparison. A slight blush spread across her cheeks, her dark eyes blinking while a deep sigh left her chest. She saw her sister standing behind her, smiling into the mirror.
“So, is this wedding your dream come true?”
“It still feels like a dream.”
“I still can’t believe the groom’s family is paying for the entire wedding.”
Another sigh escaped Rachel’s lips, her thoughts turning to the fact the norm for Cuban weddings was for the bride’s family to pay for everything; Ryo’s family, on the other hand, wasn’t Cuban – wasn’t even Hispanic and apparently, the grooms family paid for the cost. However, there was also the Shirogane family status and the wedding needing to be of a certain standard.
She swallowed, those fearful thoughts of feeling as if she were taking advantage of Ryo playing in the back of her mind knowing full well the wedding – her dream wedding – wasn’t something her family could afford. Of course, Ryo’s family played it up as their way of contributing given the fact they wouldn’t leave Japan until the time came for the wedding; this didn’t change the fact she found herself marrying way above her own family’s status.
Rachel’s eyes closed, a feeling of dread eating away at the back of her head. Veronica leaned forward, whispering into her ear. “You’ll be fine.”
“Are you sure.”
“Yeah. I’m going to go check on how things are going elsewhere with mom, so you sit here enjoying that dress of yours but relax. You and Ryo love each other, and that’s what matters, not the price tag.”
Rachel let out a groan, her eyes rolling into the back of her head wishing her sister didn’t specialize in psychology. Taking another deep breath, the sound of the door opening and closing, leaving her alone to her thoughts; another sound, the sound of something slipping under the door, drew her attention over to the door. Her eyes caught sight of a white envelope pushed under the door.
She walked over, leaning over and picking up the envelope in a gloved hand. Lifting it up, she opened the letter. A sharp gasp escaped from her lips as she read the line. “I know what you did last summer and so will he.” Someone definitely planned on ruining the wedding, making her dream wedding end up a pile of ashes that would never resurrect. She held the letter in her hand, reading the rest of the letter carefully, taking in the accusation.
“Are you dressed?”
“Keith?” Rachel turned her head so she looked at the balcony. While she didn’t see him, she did clearly hear his voice, but her thoughts turned quickly to the accusation in the letter. “What…”
“If you’re worried about bad luck if I see you in your wedding dress, I thought that was if the groom saw you.”
“How did you get onto the balcony?” Letting out a sigh, she waved her hand, knowing full well Keith did some form of par cor to get to the balcony – the last thing she needed was for him to end up falling. “Never mind. Get in here.”He came in, flopping onto the couch, his facial features twisting into a scowl, but more importantly – “Are you drunk?”
“Am I?”
Her eyes darted down, taking in the accusation of her having an affair the previous summer with Keith. She took a deep breath, frustrated with her current predicament.
…
In fact, she’d first met Keith another time he’d managed to get drunk – drinking wasn’t really his thing in the first place, something he only did when something really bothered him, as he preferred keeping his senses acute as he was a pilot at the garrison.
Of course, she’d heard of him from Lance given the fact her younger brother constantly complained about Keith since their days as cadets at the garrison because apparently Keith ended up favored unfairly, although she never quite understood why Lance’s idol – Takashi Shirogane – who was considered a gifted student wouldn’t choose to mentor another gifted student, Keith, but then perhaps Lance’s issue came from not being considered a gifted student in regards to his career choice.
She’d also not expected her older sister, Veronica, to show up at her apartment with someone who’d ended up drinking too much. “He got drunk because – well, you’ve heard the news regarding Takashi Shirogane dying, right?”
“Why isn’t it Lance?” Rachel let out a sigh, letting her sister in and watching Keith collapse onto the couch, wondering why she’d ended up in this position. The sun shown outside of her apartment, wishing her sibling's life hadn’t intervened with hers; she simply wanted her own place after having grown up in a farmhouse having shared a room with Veronica most of her life.
“He’s not normally like this, but drinking certainly exasperates…” Veronica paused as if contemplating what to say. “Some of his more eccentric qualities.”
Which felt odd, given the fact her younger brother wasn’t much younger than her meaning Keith wasn’t much younger than her either.
…
Keith, though, did have eccentric tendencies.
In the back of her mind while Rachel watched Keith sitting on the couch in the room where he mused over things she remembered Lance once telling her he hated the fact Keith was as anti-social as he was, but it was more of Keith not really understanding certain social constructs which were, in turn, frustrating – not because she found Keith annoying, but more of because his understanding of social situations often left him in some rather awkward situations.
“Yes, you’re drunk.” Rachel let out a sigh. “And you climbing around outside the building is a problem.”
“Why?”
“You could have fallen. How do you think I would feel – how Ryo would feel – if you doing a face plant into the ground outside on our wedding day.”
The color drained from Keith’s face. He placed a hand over his eyes. “Oh.”
“Oh?” Rachel waited for an answer, yet didn’t get one. “Why are you drunk?”
“Lance.”
“Lance?” Rachel wondered if she really wanted to know why, but she wondered if he were the one sending her the accusation, given the fact he hated Ryo almost as much if not more than Keith.
“Bachelor’s party.”
“That was last night.”
“Lance is Lance.”
“I see.” Rachel placed her hands on her hips. “You also don’t drink anywhere near this much unless something is bothering you. What’s bothering you.”
“Yeah. I guess something is.” He looked her in the eye and she swallowed, remembering the accusation of having an affair with Keith the summer before, wondering if he secretly held feelings for her which would in turn make her marriage to Ryo ever so awkward.
…
Sometimes she wondered why she ever thought deciding to let Keith room at her apartment and effectively become her roommate, but then remembered effectively doing so honestly upset her younger brother. When he learned Keith moved in, the things which came out of his mouth were far from pleasant, the accusations making her definitely frustrated if not outright angry, so doing it because it upset her younger brother didn’t at the moment feel like a thing.
She pitied Keith but tried explaining away the relationship particularly when she never thought she’d pick a male for a roommate with the idea doing so upset Lance so she didn’t feel like she was letting her room with her out of unselfish reasons – which felt strange, but then she didn’t know what to think of Keith from the day they first actually met beyond the fact it became quite apparent really quickly he needed looking after.
After all, there were Keith’s eccentric tendencies, his lack of understanding when it came to various things in life. On one side, Keith was quite intelligent, reading various books – anything he could get his hands on, but on the other, despite said intelligence he really didn’t understand relations with other people, at least not until he got to know them.
That one day Veronica brought him into her apartment meant getting to really know each other, yet she sympathized with Keith and the fact his older brother died. Of course, him getting drunk pretty much meant spilling his guts out and not holding back due to no longer worrying about others reacting negatively to his odd understanding of the world around him, yet she got a major dose of his personality that day.
“I am so sorry! I shouldn’t have bothered you like that.”
“No, you weren’t a bother.” And he didn’t feel that way given the fact he most often kept to himself, wanted to keep to himself. He did join her for meals, freaked at the idea of invading her privacy, and a few other odd things – the fact he was awkward and felt awkward interacting with others he never hid from her, nor did he hide it from Veronica. His walls went up whenever Lance visited, although Rachel couldn’t blame him given the fact Lance often goaded Keith constantly in an attempt to get a rise out of him.
Today though, Keith was yet again drunk, lying on the couch looking at the ceiling attempting to keep his feelings in.
“You’re drunk.”
“So?”
“What’s wrong today?” Rachel looked out the window, noting Keith hadn’t been her roommate for more than a month, but she hoped she wouldn’t regret it.
“I met Ryo.”
“Whose Ryo.”
“Ryo Shirogane. Shirogane Ryo I guess if you’re speaking Japanese.”
“He’s related to you and Shiro?”
“He’s…” Keith paused. “He wants me to move in with him. Is pissed off I’m living with you.”
“Is that any of his business?”
“I don’t know. Probably.”
“Probably?”
“He’s Shiro’s brother.”
“Then he’s your brother as well, or are you still struggling with accepting the fact that Takashi Shirogane is your brother? Or does this have something to do with the fact you believe you and Shiro are half-siblings with different mothers.”
“Ryo says he’s my twin brother.” Keith’s voice strained, yet she realized suddenly normally Keith would be outside, as he enjoyed the summer weather and was quite active, yet he was now not doing this.
She also realized what the problem was, having listened to him rant about how guilty he felt for not accepting Shiro as his brother – insisting on “like a brother” when referring to him; he struggled with forming a solid relationship with his older brother. “You’re worried about how to react this time around, aren’t you? That you’ll mess up again?”
Although, in truth, he’d not messed up despite the fact he felt that way. “Yes.”
…
“Shiro’s not here for Ryo and your wedding.”
Rachel’s lips pushed together, thinking what he said over. She then pushed his legs up so that she had room on the small couch. She patted his legs gently. “Yeah, it would be something like that, wouldn’t it? Why my suite instead of Ryo’s?”
“I don’t want him to see that I’m drunk.”
“He doesn’t like it because he worries about you, you know.”
…
She’d learned that quite quickly when she first met Ryo. In fact, he seemed a bit paranoid at the idea of his twin brother rooming with a girl let alone a girl taking advantage of him, but he glared daggers at her when he sat down on her couch because she insisted they meet, and before summer ended. Seeing him, she could definitely see they were twins.
“So…”
“Look, nothing is happening between Keith and me. Why would you think…”
“I’m fully aware of the fact Keith is autistic. He may not remember me from when we’re younger, but I do remember him.”
“That’s rather harsh given the fact he hasn’t had an official diagnosis, isn’t it.”
Ryo closed his eyes. “Keith is… different. Always has been. In particular, he was always easy to take advantage of. I would know.”
“You mean to say you were one of the ones who picked on him.”
“I didn’t pick on him. Just… took advantage of it. Probably shouldn’t have in some situations, in others…”
“He’s fine.”
“He’s living with a girl.”
“Sexist much?”
“I’m not…”
“Keith wouldn’t harm a fly unless said fly were a giant fly threatening to attack innocent bystanders, so you don’t need to worry about me. Got it?”
“Why would I be worried about you?”
“Did it ever occur to you the reason Keith is living to me is because I’m actually aware of his issues and don’t have a problem with them?”
“That…”
“He and I are friends – like siblings, which is more than I can say for the two of you.” Oh, how she enjoyed digging that one in. “I mean, the two of you may be biologically related, twins even, but you’re complete strangers. He doesn’t like dealing with strangers. It’s part of him being autistic as you so unkindly threw out without thinking, but he’s also quite smart and a really nice guy, so give him more credit. He doesn’t need you protecting him. I mean, he can hold his own against all of my brothers, particularly the one who’s always an asshole to him. So please, get over yourself.”
The look on Ryo’s face was priceless, yet… “He’s my brother. I’d thought I’d lost him like I’d lost Takashi, then I find out – oh my gosh, he’s actually alive and that Takashi kept it from me. Don’t tell me to worry when I’m already aware of his record at the garrison for disorderly conduct.”
“Quite a bit of which can be blamed on my younger brother, just to let you know.”
“Even more reason not to trust you.”
“I’m not my brother. If he wants in my place, he’s got to treat Keith nice, otherwise, I kick him out. Which, by the way, is a lot of fun.” Rachel narrowed her eyes. “Keith is an adult, he’s a functioning individual, so this is not your decision.” She watched him swallow. She then took a deep breath. “Of course, I’ve already told him avoiding you is a sucky idea and that he needs to grow a pair rather than worrying about messing up his relationship with you over trivial things that it actually seems you’re already aware of. And if he wants to move in with you, fine. Give him time to get to know you at least.”
“That…”
“I really am just trying to look out for your brother.”
…
She definitely liked how Ryo cared about Keith even though sometimes said caring nature could be as infuriating as Keith’s eccentricities on a bad day – and today was one of those days it seemed. She remained calm, even when someone knocked on her door – the someone being her younger brother Lance, who barged in without her saying it was okay to enter. “Is Keith… oh good.”
“Good? Didn’t the bachelor party end quite a bit ago?”
“Well, yeah. I kind of kept Keith drinking, and may have mentioned Shiro just a few minutes ago and then… I lost him out the window.”
“Yeah. I can tell this is all your fault.” She held up the letter, waving it. “Did you write this letter?”
“What letter?” Lance gave her a blank look.
The next thing she knew, Keith snatched the letter, his eyes widening upon reading it. She looked at him, watching the color drain from his already pale features. “Keith…” He stood up from the couch, that look on his face when he was determined to do something. “Keith, what are you thinking.”
“I’m telling Ryo.”
And with that, he took off. Rachel hissed at her younger brother. “Lance!”
“What? I didn’t write it, whatever it is.”
“Stop him! I can’t go after him in my dress.”
“Come on. You have…”
“Ryo can’t see me in my wedding dress,” she hissed.
“Oh.” He took off, closing the door behind.
A knock came at the door what felt like hours later. “Rachel?”
Rachel took a deep breath. “You know seeing me in my wedding dress is bad luck.”
“I know. I know the letter’s not true.” He spoke to her through the door.
“Yeah, well, I don’t know who wrote it.”
“It’s probably…”
“Who?”
“Someone who’s angry I choose you over them.”
“Oh?” She didn’t like that.
“Just, some of the people who thought they might stand a chance to, you know, get close to the money and political power which would come from marrying me. I’m sorry you’re having to deal with that.”
“No. I’m marrying you knowing that.” She pinched her bridge. “How’s Keith?”
“Sedated.”
“Wait. He’s your best man.”
“I know. I know. I hope it wears off by then.”
She pinched the bridge of her nose tighter, taking a deep breath. While this wasn’t going like her dream wedding, for some reason it still felt like her dream wedding, chaos, and all.