Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Mika, darling! Wake up! Breakfast is ready!”

Hearing the sounds of the familiar voice caused Mika’s eyes to stagger open as his mind awoke. He turned to his clock and saw it was ten minutes after seven o’clock, just shortly after the time he usually wakes up.

He swung his body over his bed and made his way down to the kitchen, grabbing his housecoat and tying it onto his body during the process. He was happily greeted by a small-pink haired lady and large burly man. To him, they were his adoptive mother Krul Tepes, and his adoptive brother Crowley Tepes.

He turned his head to the furthest corner of the room where he heard a fast talking voice. As suspected to him, it was his mother’s agent, Ferid Bathory, nattering on the phone as usual. He never wastes a moment trying to get business for his client. She was a famous actress and Ferid was the best manager in the business, who she was lucky to have. Mika, not so much. He was always annoyed by his voice, hearing it so much.

Mika took a seat at the table in front of him, stretching out his limbs as soon as he sat. In front of him were an extra-large stack of pancakes that were drenched in maple syrup, with a strawberry on top. He felt like he was in heaven having such a meal placed in front of him. Then again, his mother always spoils him with food ever since the day he was adopted from the orphanage. It was always more than he felt he deserved. In fact, this whole life was more than he felt he deserved. He lived in a large mansion, with servants waiting on him hand and foot. He always had new clothes to wear and even had his own car that was already fully paid off. Truly he lived a life of luxury and he spent every day thankful for what he had.

However, with luxury for Mika came guilt. He always wanted to give back to his Mother and everyone else that worked tirelessly to give him the best life he could, but he never found an opportunity… except for one time that he never dared to think about. The memory was a little too embarrassing for him and preferred to keep it under lock and key.

He wanted to get a job and provide for himself for once, but he found difficulty in figuring out what to do. He wasn’t a man who had many talents and not many careers seemed to appeal to him. He was a little jealous of his brother Crowley, who was a famous musician who tours around the world holding concerts for his fans. He knew what he wanted to do and was putting his talents to the best use he could, which was more than Mika was doing.

His mother wanted him to get into the acting business with her, but every time she offered, he politely declined. He once had a taste of acting life when he was young and didn’t much care for it. Even if he did, he wouldn’t be able to take the pressure. Tepes was a big name in the acting industry and he was always afraid of messing it up. He knew how important acting was to his mother, he knew it was her livelihood and the least he could do to repay her for taking him in is to make sure it stays that way by not getting involved.

“Thank you for the food!” Mika exclaimed, as he began to carve into the stack of pancakes. He hummed with delight at the taste. To him, they were the best pancakes he’s ever had. Then again, he says that every time he has them.

“Enjoy them Mika! I had them made extra special just for you!” Mika raised an eyebrow, quickly feeling concerned hearing his Mother’s words. Her mother has always been kind to him but he knew the signs of when she wanted something. She would try and butter him up to make him happy, then spring it onto him; which usually ended up being the same point of topic.

Mika placed his fork and knife on the sides of the plate and dabbed his mouth with his napkin. “Mama Krul, I appreciate all you do for me, but the answer is still no. I can’t act and I don’t wish to act.”

“Come on bro, give Mom a chance, won’t ya?” His brother asked, as he lifted his feet and placed them onto the table, just beside his bowl of Cheerios. The lady rose up from her seat, rolling up a newspaper in her hands and whacked the man’s legs a few times, causing him to put them back on the ground. She puffed her cheeks out at him. “What did I say about feet on the table Crowley?”

“Sorry Mom.”

She sighed and turned back to Mika. “I’m not going to ask about acting again Mika… as per say.”

“As per say?” Mika inquired, raising his eyebrow even further than before. Krul smiled sheepishly and approached Mika, hugging him from behind his chair. “Do you remember your time as Misako?”

Mika’s eyes went wide at the mention of the name. Blush began to quickly fill and heat up his face. He rose up from his seat, causing Krul to lose her grip on her son. He spun around and tried to exit the room as fast as he could without another word, but his only exit way was blocked by her manager. He was still talking on the phone, but he grinned at Mika, informing the blond that he knew exactly what he was doing.

“We got a call from Guren Ichinose,” Krul began to speak. “He’s informed us of an opportunity that we can’t miss out on. His client, Yuu Ichinose, wants to do a sequel commercial from the one you two did back fifteen years ago.”

“He’ll have to do it without me.”

“Impossible. He only asked for one thing, and that was for the girl from back then to reprise her role. He won’t do the commercial without you Mika.”

“Hire someone to look like me then.”

“I already tried that.” Ferid chimed in, snapping his cell phone shut. “Ms. Tepes already knew how you’d react so she had me send over headshots of other actresses disguised to look like you, but he knew none of them were you. I must say Mika, you really made an impression on the young man. He said that he could tell they weren’t you. He recognizes you from your, and I quote ‘Beautiful shimmering blue eyes that put the ocean to shame.’ How romantic is that?”

Mika just remained silent, staying in place.

“Come on bro, it’s no big deal. I’d do it if I could.”

Ferid turned his attention to Crowley. “You’re a little too muscular for the part anyways Crowley. But if you’re keen to wearing a dress, I have a part that you’d be MORE than perfect for.”

“Hm? You don’t say Ferid.” Crowley said, raising an eyebrow of his own. Ferid began shift his eyebrows up and down, which caused Crowley to groan. “Oh, I getcha.”

Mika grunted in disgust, he never did like when Ferid flirted with Crowley. This was just the extra push he needed to escape from his confines. He tried to push past Ferid but to no avail. Ferid managed to grab him and spin him in the direction where he was facing his mother, where she was looking stern and serious. “You’re still keen on not doing this Mika?”

Mika looked away to the ground tiles to the side of him. He knew that making eye contact with her would only end in disaster.

She walked up to him and reached up to grab his cheeks. She forced his head to look directly at her. “I really didn’t want to play this card Mika, and it pains me to do this but I barely ask you for anything. I took you in and gave you everything and anything you asked for and then some, and you won’t do this one little favour for me? When it would really boost up my career and provide a big opportunity for the both of us?”

“…”

“I’m not asking for a lifelong career, just a one minute commercial. I’ll even give you half of what was promised to me.” Ferid coughed, which made Krul turn her attention to him. “Don’t worry Ferid it’s coming out of my cut, not yours.”

“Thank you.”

“So, please, Mika. Won’t you do this, for me?”

Mika began biting his lower lip. He had an internal conflict going on inside of him. He wanted to say no, he NEEDED to say no. He knew it would end in disaster like the last one he did fifteen years ago and he didn’t want to destroy his reputation. But at the same time, his guilt of never helping out was eating away at him. His mother was literally BEGGING him and it would be the perfect opportunity to help. But still…

“Fine.” Mika finally decided, causing both Ferid and Krul to ease up, giving him an opportunity to slip past them and escape back to his room. He shouted back at them as he made his way to his destination. “Keep your money though. I’m only doing this for you Mama Krul. I don’t want blood money to remind me of my shame!”

“That’s fine! More for me then!” Krul shouted back. “Oh! I want pictures too! A whole photoshoot if possible!”

“Out of the question!”

“At least ten!”

“None!”

“Five?!”

“NO!!!”

“One then! At least give me one!”

Mika sighed, being half way up the stairs. “ONE, BUT IT DOESN’T GO ON FACEBOOK OR THE INTERNET!”

“I WANT ONE TO USE AT ONE OF MY CONCERTS TOO!”

“UP YOURS CROWLEY!”

Crowley looked at his Mom and shrugged. “It was worth a shot.”

Finally, Mika was back to the sanctity of his room. He closed his door shut and locked it, making sure no one would enter. He sighed, pressing his back against the door. He was frustrated and embarrassed all at the same time. He really didn’t want to do the commercial, especially with what it entails, but he just couldn’t bring himself to say no. It was for his mother after all. But still, it didn’t mean he didn’t regret his decision and was dreading the time leading up until the shoot.

His eyes focused themselves on the night table beside his bed. Seeing it made him remember an object that he kept inside. He walked over to it and opened the bottom drawer. He reached as far back as he could and pulled out a small heart-shaped box. His lip trembled seeing it once again, with it bringing back all the memories from fifteen years ago. He opened the small box and saw the object that was being kept inside was still there, surrounded by soft tissue paper.

He plucked it from the box and held it up, rolling it around. It was a small marble, no bigger than his eye. In the center of it was a green swirl, the colour of it reminded him of the boy from way back when. He smiled and clutched it to his chest. “Never thought I’d be seeing you again.”

Chapter Text

As Mika stared at the marble that was in between his fingers, he thought back to the day fifteen years ago where he had a fateful encounter, and where everything first began for him.

It was just two weeks shortly after Mika was adopted from the Hyakuya orphanage. His mother brought him to the studio where she was currently shooting a commercial at, giving her newly adopted son a glimpse of her line of work.

He was rather amazed at all the different sights as she showed him around. Never had he seen such elaborate technical equipment in his life. As far as he could remember, all he’d seen was a few cell phones here and there and a few different TVs. At the orphanage he was at, all they had was a television that only displayed black and white images. At his new home, there was a TV that was a lot thinner and played in colour. Now, he was gazing at a whole bunch of different television screens that were stacked on top of one another and were playing the exact same image but from different angles. It was new, but also amazing to him.

The one thing that he didn’t much care for were the people that stopped to greet him. His Mom kept telling him that he was fine and safe, but he couldn’t help but try and hide behind her each time he was greeted and wish they went away. Ever since was placed in the orphanage, he didn’t trust many adults thanks to his parents. His father was an alcoholic that would hit him any chance he got and his Mother kept saying things that Mika didn’t understand but was frightened hearing them. Eventually, the police got wind of what was going on and took Mika to the orphanage before things got worse. That wasn’t to say though that he arrived without any damages to his mentality. He feared adults because of what his parents did to him and felt anxious around them. He was fine with other children, however.

This was like this, even with his new mother. When she first arrived at the orphanage to meet the children, he hid underneath his bed and refused to come out to meet her. When she caught wind of this, she purposely made her way to his room to meet him. She tried to explain that she was a nice adult, but Mika wouldn’t listen, still being scared of her. She decided then to give them some space, staying in one of the corners of the room and waiting. She wanted to prove to Mika that she could be trusted by giving him as much space as needed, while still keeping her interest in him. After the first hour, he peeked out from the sheets, to find her still there, causing him to hide back under. It took another few hours after that, but he finally came out and talked with Krul. Eventually, the two bonded and Mika agreed to be adopted by her. He was still skidderish of her once she brought him home, but it wasn’t as bad as he was.

That is why Krul brought him to the set. She wanted to help him with his anxiety, so she thought it would be best to bring him to work with her, where she knew that her friendly and kind associates would hopefully prove to Mika that not all adults are bad and to be feared. She was hoping to bond with him too and prove to him further that she was a caring mother that he could rely on.

She didn’t mind that he was using her as a shield to hide from the other adults. She realized it would take time for Mika to get over his anxiety and so she accepted that he needed to use her as a crutch for the time being. She just hoped that when she worked that he would be fine.

Krul finally reached the set that she was to be shooting at, with Mika firmly in her hands. She was to shoot a commercial for a wedding store that was having a sale relatively soon. She thought it was the perfect time to bring Mika along because she knew that there would be other children on the set that he could bond with. She knew that he was fine with kids so she was hoping that if he didn’t have any progress with adults, then he would at least make some new friends.

She was secretly hoping too that being on set with her would inspire him to follow in her footsteps with her line of work.

She had Mika sit on a bench just outside of the scene and left to go change. Mika sat and watched the other kids from a distance. His eyes were fixated on a young boy with black hair and green eyes, and appeared to have a pout on his face. He wanted to go over and introduce himself, but there was an adult standing above him, which made Mika terrified. He just sat quietly and waited for his Mom to come back, hoping that no one would come over and talk to him.

A short while later, Krul returned to her son, donning a gorgeous white gown that went down all the way to the ground. Across her face was a sheer veil that she could see out of, but at first glance with Mika, frightened him. She brushed it past her face and revealed it to Mika, which calmed him down. She picked him up and hugged him, which he appreciated. Krul was the only one to ever hug him as far as he could remember, which made him feel loved and happy.

“Ms. Tepes, we have a problem.” the silver haired manager said as he approached the woman. Mika buried his face in Krul’s hair, seeing him. He had met the man before but his visage was too frightening for him. Krul laughed at the display and turned her attention back to Ferid. “What is it?”

“The little girl that was to catch the bouquet? She can’t make it. Sadly, they’re cancelling the commercial.”

“Can’t they just reschedule?”

Ferid shook his head. “They need it done today, no later.”

“Dammit.” she cursed, before she realized she still had Mika in her arms and felt embarrassed cursing in front of him. “Can’t they replace her?”

“There’s no one to replace her. All of the other child actors are male and refused to wear a dress.”

“I see…” Krul bit her lower lip, trying to think of a way to remedy the situation. An idea suddenly clicked into her. She felt bad about doing it, but it was the only one she had.

She placed Mika on the ground and bent down to his level, looking him straight in the eyes. “Mikaela, darling, I have a favour I need to ask of you.”

***

Half an hour later, Krul returned back to the set, with what appeared to be a little girl in her hands. Little did anyone know, the girl was actually her son Mika. She had him dressed up and maked-over to look like one. He wore a pink dress with matching pink shoes and had his hair tied in pigtails. Being so young, no one could tell he wasn’t a girl.

When Krul asked him, he was rather reluctant, but when Krul said that it would just be for a short while and that she’d help him in any way she could to make him feel comfortable with it, he agreed. When she hugged him as thanks, he felt confident and happy with his decision. He felt embarrassed too having to masquerade as a girl but he still went through with it, for her.

“Okay everyone, places!” the director called out, waving everyone involved to the set. “Thanks to our star, Ms. Krul Tepes, the shooting can continue as planned!”

“Mika, you’ll be standing over here,” Ferid said, pointing at a vacant spot behind a bunch of adults. Seeing so many in one place made Mika feel frightened once again. He froze in place and refused to move. Both Krul and Ferid shared a worried glance. Krul bent down to Mika’s level once more and placed her hand on his shoulder. “Mikaela, listen, I need you to be brave for your Mom, alright? I promise you that I wouldn’t ask you to do anything I knew would be dangerous for you. You can trust me, right?”

“B-but…”

She smiled at him. “How about this Mika? Why don’t we pretend you’re someone else?”

“S-someone else?”

“Yes! That’s what actors do after all! Don't think of yourself as Mika, think of yourself as someone different for this commercial! Think of yourself as... Misako Tepes, my daughter who’s brave and strong and not scared of adults. Do you think you can try for me Misako?”

“I- I think I can.”

“Thank you. Come here pumpkin.” She leaned in and gave her son another hug, which eased him. “Now Mommy’s going to get to her place so she’s going to leave you to yourself for a few minutes but I promise I’ll be in eye sight. Be a good girl. Ferid’s going to keep an eye out for you too. You’ll be fine.”

“O-okay.”

As Krul made her way to the fake Church’s steps, Mika made his way over to where Ferid wanted him to be. Seeing the adults in front of him made him feel anxious once more, but he kept thinking about what his mother said, about being a girl who’s brave, which made him eventually ease up.

“Hi there!” a voice said beside him, which nearly made him jump. When he turned around, he saw it was the boy with the black hair and green eyes he was looking at from earlier. There was a large grin on his face and his hand was extended out to Mika. “My name’s Yuu! Yuu Ichinose! I’m your partner for today’s shoot!”

“I-I’m Mi-… I’m Mi… ” Mika gulped and took a deep breath, keeping in mind the person who he was trying to be. “I’m Misako Tepes.”

“Cute name!” Yuu exclaimed, which made Mika blush.

“Okay everyone! This is how we’re doing this! The bride and groom are going to race out of the building, with the bride tossing the bouquet into the audience. That’s when the little girl will catch it and look lovingly into the little boy’s eyes. Understood? I want to get this in one shot, we’re on a strict deadline!”

“Are you ready?” Yuu asked, having Mika nod in response.

“Action!” the director called out, having the cameras quickly begin rolling and capturing the scene. Krul and her groom happily skipped out of the fake building, with their arms locked with one another. They stopped at the stoop of the steps, where Krul tossed her bouquet out to the audience. The extra characters stepped out of the way so that it gave the cameras a clear view of Yuu and Mika’s scene.

The bouquet flew towards Mika and he reached out to grab it, but then, all of a sudden, he noticed that all of the adult’s eyes were fixated on him. Pairs upon pairs of eyes, more than he could count. They were all staring at him, watching him, making him feel nervous and frightened once again. He didn’t feel like the brave Misako, but rather, the scared Mika.

He snapped back to reality when he felt something touch his forehead. He watched as the bundle of flowers he was supposed to catch fell in front of his face and dropped to the ground. His eyes went wide realizing what he had done.

“Cut!” the director shouted, followed by loud groans coming from the adults. Mika looked around and saw that some of the eyes were narrowing at him. They were judging him, he could feel it.

“Ms. Tepes, I thought you said that your daughter could do it!” the director called out. Krul glared at him, about to stomp over in rage, if it wasn’t for her groom holding her back. “Cut her some slack! She’s just a kid!!!”

“Is that really Krul Tepes’s daughter?” “You’d think she’d be better at this.” “There’s no way she’s going to grow up to be an actress.”

He could hear all these comments, coming from the adults. More and more, with their judgeful eyes. He could feel tears well up in his eyes. He wanted to run away and never come back. He felt he let Krul down too, causing him to not want to go back home with her and just go back to the orphanage.

“Hey, everyone gets stage fright!” Yuu said, taking Mika’s hands. He stopped himself from crying and looked at the smiling boy. He couldn’t explain it but seeing his smile made him feel better. “I have something that can help you!”

The boy reached into the pants of his suit jacket and placed a small object in Mika’s hands. When Mika looked at it, he found that it was a marble with a green swirl in it, the colour matching the eyes of the boy.

“It’s pretty!” Mika exclaimed, holding it up for a better view.

“Not as pretty as you though!” Yuu replied, catching Mika off guard. Blush grew on the dress-clad boy’s face from the compliment.

“That’s my most prized treasure! A marble from the orphanage I was at!”

“You lived in an orphanage too?” Yuu nodded. “So was I! Mama Krul adopted me!”

“Looks like we have a lot in common Misako!” Yuu jested. Mika was caught off guard once again, but for a different reason. For a moment, he forgot he was Misako and was himself, but a happier self. Yuu continued, “Idiot Guren adopted me.”

“Idiot Guren?”

“Yeah, I call him that because I heard Dad call him that! He calls me Idiot Yuu too.” Both Yuu and Mika began laughing. “He’s really cool though! He’s like, a really cool adult!”

“He doesn’t umm…” Mika shuffled his feet. “He doesn’t hit you?”

“Hit me? Never! He reads me stories and takes me for car rides in his cool car!”

“I see.” Mika stopped and thought about the man Yuu was talking about. He was starting to realize that, like Krul, perhaps that other adults aren’t like his former parents. Maybe he didn’t need to be so scared and anxious after all.

Mika turned his attention back to the marble that was in his hands. “So how’s this supposed to help me?”

“Back in the orphanage, it made me feel confident and took away all of my worries! It can do the same for you too! I’m sure of it!”

“Alright!” Mika said back. He felt like he didn’t need the marble anymore, but he hung onto it just in case he did need it.

“Okay everyone, take 2! And… action!” the director commenced, having the scene replay for the second time. This time, when Krul threw the bouquet at the two kids, Mika was able to catch it mid-air perfectly. He clutched the flowers to his chest and leaned into Yuu, smiling brightly at him while he did the same.

“Aaand, cut! Perfect! Good work everyone!”

The adults talked amongst themselves now that they were free to be themselves. Mika turned to Yuu and bounced up and down. “I did it! I did it!”

“I knew you could!” Yuu leaned in and wrapped his arms around Mika, which surprised him. He remained still as blush grew on his face. He didn’t know how to respond to this. This was the first time someone other than Krul hugged him. He felt the same warmth and happiness he got from Krul’s hugs appear.

“Good work today Yuu.” a tall and handsome man dressed in black said as he approached Yuu. Yuu turned to him and smiled. “Of course Idiot Guren!”

“This is the man you were talking about?” Mika asked, pointing at him. Yuu nodded, which made Mika’s eyes brighten with amazement. “He does look cool like you said!”

“Oh geez, Yuu, what have you been telling this girl?” Yuu grimaced as a response to Guren’s question, which made him sigh. “Come on, I’m taking you to McDonald’s now as promised. Chicken nuggets, right?”

“Yes please!”

Guren took Yuu’s hand and led him out towards the exit. Yuu turned and waved bye to Mika, who proceeded to do the same. Suddenly, Mika realized that he still had Yuu’s marble in his hands. “Wait! Yuu! Your marble!”

“Keep it!” Yuu shouted back. “Let it continue to help you become an actress! Hopefully we meet again someday too!”

Unfortunately, Mika didn’t live up to Yuu’s expectation. He didn’t become an actress, or even an actor for that matter. He eventually grew out of his phobia of adults, but ever since that day, he developed stage fright and now becomes anxious with anything involving acting. To this day, he still remembers the comments those adults made to him and those eyes that judged him. Chills went down his spine just thinking about it. Now that he was older too, there were more expectations placed on him that he knew he couldn’t live up to. He remembered how the adults also criticized his mother because of his slip up. He couldn’t put her through that.

He spun the marble in his hands and thought. He felt incredibly guilty that he took the boy’s prized possession and never did anything with it since. What was he to say when he meets the boy again? Would he be disappointed? Would he get angry with him? What if too he finds out that Mika’s actually a boy pretending to be a girl. What would his reaction be? There were so many burning questions in Mika’s mind that began to make him regret his decision from earlier. Perhaps it wasn’t too late to back out… perhaps…

“Knock, knock!” Crowley said, as he entered Mika’s room. The blond jumped up with surprise, seeing his brother. “H-how did you get in here? I locked it!”

“Did you?” Crowley looked back at the door handle that he used to enter. “Tell Mom we need to get you a new lock then.”

Mika rolled his eyes. “What do you want?”

“Well, I was worried that my little bro might have second thoughts about this acting thing so,” Crowley swung his hidden arm around to the front of his body and held up a pair of boots in front of Mika. “I thought I’d offer a little enticement for you not to quit.”

Mika eyes grew wide as he examined the boots. They were black, with lace around the front. They appeared to be long in length too, appearing that they could go past his knees. They were thigh high boots, like how he always wanted, but was too nervous to ask for!

He cleared his throat and tried to grimace like before, trying not to look or sound too enthusiastic. “Do you really think you can bribe me with boots?”

“Not just any boots, special from the Mahiru Hiragi line. Only 500 were ever made.”

“R-really?” Mika tried to contain his excitement. He heard about these special, limited edition boots but he never thought he’d ever got to see them, let alone, own a pair! He cleared his throat. “What- what makes you think I even want those in the first place?”

“You don’t want them then?” Crowley shrugged and made his way out the door. “Well, if that’s the case, then I’m sure Mom would-“

“No! I’ll take them!” Mika quickly swiped the boots from his brother’s grasp and guarded them. He realized that he had been played when he saw Crowley’s smile as he turned around. “Deal’s a deal Mika, make Mom proud!”

Crowley left the door, shutting the door behind him. Mika held the thigh high boots in front of him and sighed. He was trapped now, he couldn’t quit even if he wanted to. At least he had a beautiful pair of thigh highs now to help motivate him.

Chapter Text

The day of the shoot had finally arrived, and Mika was less than enthusiastic about the ordeal. He could feel his nervousness growing as he made his way to his assigned dressing room. His mom, brother, and Ferid joined him on the way to it, but it didn’t ease him any.

He had to admit, the building that they were shooting at was fancier than the one fifteen years ago. The walls and floors sparkled, being the cleanest he’s ever seen in a public building. The way to his dressing room felt like a maze also, passing by so many different rooms throughout the long and narrow hallways. Whoever was funding the commercial didn’t spare any expense, which only intensified his feelings.

“Here we are Mikaela!” his mother said, stopping their group in front of a large door with a golden star on the front. Mika blushed as he read the name on the door that was surrounded by hearts, “Misako Tepes.”

“There he is!!!” a voice called out as the door to his dressing room swiftly opened. A person dashed out from the room and wrapped their arms around Mika and began nuzzling their head against his. Being so sudden and unexpected, Mika’s blush quickly intensified and made his face beat red but this time, it was from embarrassment. He could feel his legs trembling too, his thoughts telling him to run and get out of there, that it was too much for him already!

“Now, now Chess, you’re scaring the poor boy.” A different, and rather sophisticated voice stated. The person hugging Mika let go of him and backed away, pouting. “Aww but Horn!”

“No buts Chess. Crowley warned us he’s skidderish and you’re not helping that any.”

It took Mika a few moments in order to calm himself down and snap back to reality. When he did, he looked at the two newcomers to the group. One was a tall woman with blonde hair that was curled at the ends who stood tall and firm, most likely being the one that was his saviour. The other was smaller than she was, almost about Mika’s height. The both of them wore the same long dress that was a little too “open” around the chest area, but in different colours. The taller one was in white while the smaller one had hers in black.

Crowley wrapped his arm around Mika’s neck and shoulders and leaned into him, pointing at the two ladies. “Mika, I’d like you to meet the two loves of my life, Chess and Horn.”

“Hurtful!” Ferid said with a gasp, causing Crowley to shake his head. “These two lovely ladies will be taking care of you for a while. Chess is going to look after your outfit and accessories while Horn is in charge of your hair and makeup.”

Mika gulped, his nervousness quickly turning to anxiety. He felt he couldn’t do this now. It’s not that he doubted his brother’s associate’s capabilities, but rather, he doubted his own. Now that the reality was right in front of him, doubts quickly flooded his mind and caused him to freeze up.

“I wish I could’ve done it.” Krul commented, tilting her head and faking sadness. Ferid came up behind her and patted her shoulders. “Now, now Ms. Tepes. You have yourself to worry about also. Besides, you can always dress Mika up at home anytime you wish.”

“You’re right Ferid!” Krul turned to the son in question. He felt off-put and scared, seeing that there was a sinister twinkle in her eyes. He forgot his own anxiety for the time being and pushed inside the dressing room, taking refuge behind the door. “No one else is allowed in! I don’t want anyone giving Mama Krul anymore ideas!”

Both Ferid, Krul, and the two girls giggled at Mika’s reaction while Crowley groaned. “You mean I can’t come in and watch?”

“No!’

“Fine, I’ll stand guard then for you.” The burly man turned to his Mother and her manager. “The two of you better get going.”

“Yes, I’ll escort Ms. Tepes to her dressing room, don’t worry Crowley. In the meantime,” Ferid opened up one of the binders he was carrying and gave a large stack of papers to Crowley, who raised an eyebrow in confusion. “That’s the script for the commercial. Make sure than when young “Misako” there is done getting ready, that he reads over it.”

“Uhhh… sure.” Crowley said, flipping through the script. He peered up from the pages and noticed a small but sinister smile plastered on the manager’s face. He didn’t pay much mind to it though, as that was normally how he looked as he was conducting business. “I’ll make sure he gets it.”

“Perfect. Ta-ta!”

Krul and Ferid departed to the actress’s dressing room to get ready. Chess ran into the dressing room, with Horn in tow. She looked at the flustered Mika and smiled. “Alright, time to make you look pretty!”

***

Crowley kept true to his word standing guard outside of Mika’s dressing room, ensuring he wasn’t interrupted. He checked his watch and noticed it had been a full hour since they had arrived. He sighed, and continued looking through the script, which he was doing to pass the time. He thumbed through it for the fourth time and noticed something peculiar. The pages went from 16, then 17, to 19, to 20. There was a page missing. He looked around for it but didn’t see it anywhere in the hallway.

“Hey there,” The sudden appearance of a voice caught Crowley’s attention and made him snap to the source. Standing beside him was a young man, dressed in a black tuxedo, holding a bouquet of flowers in his hands. Crowley smiled, realizing exactly who it was. “Hey, you’re Yuu Ichinose! The one who started this whole thing up!”

“The one and only!” he beamed. He looked past Crowley and at the door that was behind him. “Is Misako in there?”

“Uhh, yeah. She’s almost ready… I think.”

“May I see her?” Crowley wanted to say no to the request, keeping his brother’s wishes in mind, but he couldn’t bring himself to say it, seeing the hope in Yuu’s eyes and the bright smile on his face. He sighed. “Let me check.”

He opened the door slightly and poked his head inside. “Hey, are you guys-“

“WE’RE NOT DONE YET!” Chess screamed. A blue high heeled pump was tossed at him, but he managed to move out of the way just in time and have it fly out of the room and into the hallway. He closed the door and turned back to Yuu. “Yeah, I don’t think she’s taking visitors at the moment.”

“Are you sure?”

Crowley walked over and picked up the high heel that was previously used as a weapon against him and held it up at Yuu. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure. I’m not going to ask again too. These things come in pairs and they’re sharp.”

“Well, alright. Can you at least give these to her for me?”

Yuu offered the bouquet of assorted flowers he brought to Crowley, who took it and began examining it to see if there was anything suspicious. He knew that there wasn’t anything dangerous in it, but he liked to pretend that there was so he could seem like a good bodyguard and brother.

As soon as Crowley checked every square inch of the present, he nodded at Yuu. “Yeah, I don’t see a problem with that.”

“Thanks!” Yuu began eyeing Crowley up and down, an idea brewing in his head. “Wanna be my best man?”

Crowley raised an eyebrow in surprise. “Sure, but what for? Do you really want to marry my sister that soon?”

“I wish!” Yuu began laughing, wiping away a tear before continuing. “I mean for the commercial.”

“Oh, right.” Crowley began chuckling, finding that he forgot the whole reason why he and Mika were there in the first place amusing. “Nah, the commercial’s for you and her. I don’t wanna steal the spotlight. But if there’s a part in the commercial for a wedding musician, sign me up!”

“You play music?”

“I- uh- what!” Crowley looked at Yuu and waited to see if he began laughing. He couldn’t believe that Yuu didn’t know who he was! “You really don’t know me? Lead guitarist and singer of Crowley and the Eusfords?”

Yuu shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. “Sorry, not ringing any bells.”

Crowley was speechless, frozen in place from shock. He thought he was a household name, that everyone knew of him! But apparently not.

“See ya later then!” Yuu said, waving at the befuddled man. As soon as Yuu was out of sight, he whipped out his cell phone and made an urgent call. “Ferid, we need to schedule more tours.”

Chapter Text

“OH CROWLEY! COME AND SEE YOUR NEW SISTER!!!” Chess cried out from inside the dressing room, causing the man outside to pause in his chat with his manager. “Yeah, I gotta go now Ferid. Yeah… yeah… I’m not saying that back. Yes I do at least know it. Okay… okay… bye.”

Crowley stepped inside the dressing room and was amazed at the sight he was beholding. There, in the dead center of the room was his little brother, completely made over to look like a gorgeous woman, being presented by the two ladies that transformed him.

At first, Crowley didn’t even recognize his brother. He looked like a completely different person. His lips were coated with red lipstick while his eyelids were covered with light blue eyeshadow. His eyelashes were thicker and longer looking, he couldn’t tell if it was thanks to mascara or if he was wearing fake lashes. His cheeks were coated from two kinds of blush, the makeup and the natural occurring blush from his embarrassment. His blond hair was now longer, going all the way down to his knees, waved at the ends.

His figure was slender, more feminine than before. Krul always did tease Mika about how good he would look in dresses, but Crowley couldn’t believe how well his brother pulled off the pure white wedding dress. The dress in question reached all the way down to the ground, concealing his feet, but Crowley noticed matching white heels poking through the dress. Around the chest area, where it appeared to be quite defined, were small little diamonds that were sewn into the dress. On his arms was a pair of white gloves that stretched all the way up past his elbows. On top of Mika’s head was a diamond studded tiara, with a veil attached that hung behind Mika’s back. And finally, around his neck was a genuine pearl necklace.

“What do you think Crowley?” Horn asked, grabbing Mika’s hand and helping him down from the pedestal that they put him on. Crowley didn’t answer, he was unable to. He just stood there, still in disbelief at how well transformed his brother was.

Meanwhile, Mika began to feel flustered from seeing his brother like how he was. The more it continued, the more embarrassed Mika got. He reached to the side of Horn and grabbed a book. When Crowley still didn’t stop, he tossed the book at him while shouting, “STOP STARING AT ME LIKE THAT!”

Luckily enough, the impact of the book was enough to snap Crowley out of his self-induced trance and able to answer the previously asked question. “Looking good there little bro! You two ladies did a fine job!”

“Thank you Crowley.” “THANKS CROWLEY!”

Mika ignored his brother’s compliment and raced over to the wall mirror to check himself. Chess and Horn had shown him countless times, but he was still worried over his appearance. He kept asking himself questions such as “Was it really as convincing as Crowley let on?” or “Is it too much? Is it obvious because it’s too much?”

“Hey, Mika, got something for you.” Mika turned around and saw a bundle of assorted flowers being handed to him by his brother, who had a large grin on his face. “They’re from your not-so-secret admirer.”

He was reluctant, but accepted the flowers. Inside, there was a tiny card that he retrieved. It read “Can’t wait to see you again! –Yuu Ichinose”

“Awe! How sweet!” Chess swooned, with hearts filling up in her eyes from the sight. “Seems like he really likes you Mika!”

“He- He what?” Mika’s already blushed face grew a couple of shades darker from the thought.

“I must agree,” Chess continued. “In our experience with Crowley, adoring fans would always send flowers to his dressing room. This appears to be no exception.”

Mika didn’t know what to say. The thought of the boy from back then liking him… no, it couldn’t be true. They haven’t seen each other in over fifteen years , there was no way that Yuu did like him.

He turned back and saw his reflection in the mirror. It was then that guilt quickly built up inside of him. Seeing himself dressed up as a girl made him realize that for all of these years, he’d been lying to the boy. If Yuu really had fallen in love, it wasn’t with him, it was with Misako; the person whom he was pretending to be. If he did wait all this time, it was all for a lie. What would Yuu do if he found out the truth? Chances are his heart would be broken and crushed. He didn’t want to put him through that. Besides, even if he was able to keep up the charade, he had no intention to continue acting past this commercial. That means he would only be leaving Yuu again which would probably break his heart also. Either way, Yuu would suffer and there was no way Mika could live with himself if he did do that.

He dropped the flowers to the ground, surprising all three people in the room. He grabbed the sides of his dress and began making his way out of the room, intent on heading towards the exit, but he was stopped as he reached the doorframe by his brother. Crowley’s hand was rested on his shoulder as he stared down. “Hey, what do you think you’re doing?”

“Leaving! I-I can’t do this!”

“We had a deal though.”

“KEEP YOUR DAMN BOOTS!!!” Mika snapped, irritated by the thought that boots were enough to justify potentially ruining someone’s life. He reminded himself that Crowley didn’t realize what was going on and calmed himself down slightly. “I can’t lie to him like this.”

“You mean that Yuu kid?”

“Yeah, him.” He paused and sighed. “Listen, I can’t do this. I have to leave. I could wind up breaking his heart. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I did.”

“And you think that storming off like this wouldn’t do the same? You would be literally leaving him at the altar. A fake one, but still.” Mika didn’t respond, realizing that what his brother was saying was right. “Run if you want, it makes no difference to me. But you’re getting home on your own though. I am not helping cowards out, especially when it comes to Ma.”

The thought of going home as he was terrified Mika. There was no way he could be seen out in public like he was! His knees began rattling from the thought of being out, amongst a large group of people. He would stick out like a sore thumb.

“I- I could… I could ask Ferid to drive me.”

“You do realize one phone call from me and he’ll refuse to help you without a second thought. Or worse, I could have him drive you further away from home and leave you stranded. You know he would do that too.”

Mika bit his lower lip, feeling trapped. He didn’t know what to do. All of his thoughts were getting to him, none of them were pleasurable.

“Listen bro,” Mika looked up to his brother and saw that his expression had changed. It was softer now, more sympathetic. “Don’t worry about that other guy. If you do end up hurting him, he’ll bounce back. He seems like a decent and cheery guy. But you have people relying on you. You can’t run from your responsibilities. Understood?”

Mika looked down to the ground, absorbing his brother’s words. He knew he was right, it was just his anxiety getting to him again. He realized now that he calmed down that no matter what will happen, running away definitely would’ve been the least favourable outcome.

He looked back up to his brother and nodded, causing Crowley to smile with delight. “That’s my bro! Tell ya what too, do good with the commercial and I’ll treat you to anything you want.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know. I’m a famous rockstar, don’t forget! I’ll pull some strings and getcha whatever you want!”

“Thanks bro!” Mika said, with a smile. Feeling joyous, Crowley wrapped his arm around Mika’s neck and began rubbing his knuckles against his forehead. Which, to the brother’s surprise, made his hair shift position. He jumped back in shock, confused as to what just happened. Horn approached the smaller man and began adjusting his hair. “Tsk tsk Crowley, do be more careful. You misplaced his wig now.”

“That’s a wig?” he asked, tilting his head so that he could examine the situation from underneath Horn’s arms. “Huh, so it is. I thought you just used extensions.”

“It was considered but Mika felt it best to go the wig route. He didn’t want his natural hair to accidentally give him away.” Crowley raised an eyebrow, having Chess shrug her shoulders as a response in place of Horn while she was still working.

“There, it’s perfect again!” Horn said, as she stepped back and basked in the sight. Mika blushed and said, “Thanks Horn.”

“All set to go then little bro?” Crowley asked. Mika was about to respond, but a thought popped into his mind. He told Crowley to wait a moment, then raced over to behind the folded screen where his regular clothes were being kept. He came out moments later with a small object in between his fingers. Crowley looked down and recognized the object right away. “That’s the marble from the other day, right?”

“Yeah.” Mika rolled it into the palm of his hand and folded it shut for security for the object. “He gave it to me when we first met to help me with my anxiety. I don’t think I can go on set without it.”

“Awe! How cute!!!” Chess cried out. “He so totally likes you! I know it! I ship it!”

“Chess, p-please.” Mika stammered.

“Hmm…” Horn took a few steps towards Mika, with her fingers resting against her chin. “May I see the marble for a moment?”

Mika was reluctant for a moment, as the object in question was important to him. However, he reminded himself that he could trust Horn with it, seeing as she was gentle with his hair and face during the makeover.

He handed over the marble, gently placing it into the palm of her hand. She walked over to one of the tables and scrounged through the jewelry box that was there. She began fiddling with something that Mika couldn’t see. However, Chess and Crowley were watching on and making impressed noises as they watched her work. After a few minutes, she turned around and presented Mika with a silver brooch that looked like a flower. In the dead center of this brooch too, appearing to be firmly attached, was Mika’s special marble.

“Oh wow Horn! That looks gorgeous!” Mika complimented, his eyes sparkling from the sight.

“Why thank you Mika.” Horn bent down and began pinning it onto the left side of Mika’s dress, just about where his heart would be.

“Aww! I wanted to do that! You know I was in charge of accessories!” Chess pouted.

A few moments later, after securing the accessory on Mika’s dress, Horn rose up and exclaimed “Perfect!”

Mika raced over the mirror to check himself out. She was right, it was perfect. It looked good on him too, he had to admit.

“Ready?” Crowley asked once again, offering his hand. Mika nodded and took his brother’s hand. “As ready as I’ll ever be… hopefully.”

Chapter Text

The sound of an organ playing the traditional wedding tune boomed through the large room that hosted the instrument and seeped into the hallway, where it was audible to both Mika and Crowley who were standing just on the outside and before the large set of double doors that blocked their way. Mika remained still, taking deep breaths in and out, as Crowley was thumbing through the script and telling Mika what to do. “Okay bro, you’re to go in with the veil across your face, and walk slowly. Half way through, you’re to pause and brush the veil to the back of your head, look at Yuu, and then race into his arms while smiling. Then you’re to take his hand and say I do.”

“Sounds… easy enough I guess.” Mika took another sigh. “But wait, doesn’t the groom normally move the veil?”

Crowley shrugged in response to Mika’s question. “I didn’t write the script. ‘Sides, it’s not a real wedding. You don’t have anyone giving you away, you don’t have a pastor doing his spiel or asking if there’s any reason why the two of you shouldn’t be wed.”

“I guess that’s true.” Mika took another deep breath in and out and tried to build up as much courage and confidence that he could muster to make it through the commercial. His brother placed his hand on his shoulder and grinned at him. “Don’t worry bro, you’ll do great!”

Mika smiled, a small blush enveloping his face. “Thanks bro.”

“I’ll be watching from here. Knock ‘em dead.”

Crowley lightly grasped his brother’s veil and draped it across his face then turned to open up the doors for him. Mika began stepping forward, taking small but careful steps into the room. He couldn’t see much thanks to his veil. Everything was blurred to him, but that didn’t stop him from trying to look around the area. On the walls to each of his sides are what he thought to be cameras, all focused on him. He thought about how they were capturing his every move, step by step, effectively making him nervous. However, he drowned out those thoughts with praise. He kept telling himself that he was doing a good job thus far and that he would continue to do it too.

Around him too, he could see the outlines of various people and the shades of their outfits and hair colour. He took note of one particular individual that was sitting at the front of the room, who appeared to be looking back at him. If he had to guess, he would say that it was his mother. The pink of her hair was all too familiar to him, even with the veil blurring it. It was comforting to him to know that she was up there.

He stopped in place when he felt like he was half way through walking down the aisle. He looked ahead to his destination, where he saw two figures standing there. One he assumed to be the pretend priest that was hired to do the commercial. The other he knew exactly who he was; his pretend husband Yuu Ichinose.

Mika took a deep breath in and reached up to grab his veil, swinging it back behind his head as soon as he grabbed hold of it. He heard a small feminine squeal come from the audience as he did this, which he assumed was from his mother.

Mika looked ahead to his co-actor while the other did the same. Their eyes quickly locked with one another, both growing wide with surprise. Unbeknownst to the other, their bodies stiffened and made them immobile. Blush quickly grew on both of their cheeks and intensified once they realized how gorgeous the other looked.

Mika couldn’t take his eyes off of Yuu. His mind went blank, having him forget where he was or what he was doing. To him, all his focus was on was the handsome man in front of him. He couldn’t believe that the happy little boy he met fifteen years ago had matured into the dashing gentleman just before him.

“Psst- Mika!” Krul whispered to him, capturing his attention. She pointed at the tuxedo-clad actor and wrapped her arms around her body. It took him a moment to clue in but he finally realized what she was doing. He was supposed to run into Yuu’s arms.

Mika gulped and stretched his leg out, ready to begin his sprint into Yuu’s arms. However, thanks to the handsome distraction before him, he didn’t focus too much on his foot placement and thanks to his high heel, he accidentally tripped and fell down to the ground.

The audience gasped as they watched the bride take the tumble and fell flat on his butt. Yuu wasted no time to race over to Mika and try and help him up. Yuu took Mika’s hand and cradled his back with his other hand. He said, “Are you alright?”

Mika gulped. Seeing Yuu up close was even worse for him. He couldn’t bring himself to say anything, with a nod up and down being his way of communicating. Yuu smiled seeing this. “I’m glad.”

Yuu turned to the cameramen and twirled his finger in a circle, which meant to the workers to keep rolling rather than stop. One of the cameramen gave a thumbs up to Yuu, signifying that that’s what they’d do.

Yuu helped Mika to his feet but he didn’t let go once he was. Instead, Yuu held his hand firmly and used his free hand to motion Mika to the podium where the two would stand. Mika nodded once more, but more stiff and awkwardly this time. The more that Yuu held his hand, the more nervous he got.

The two finally were in place right where they were supposed to be. Yuu took Mika’s other hand as the pastor spoke a few lines. As he did, Mika found himself getting lost in Yuu’s sparkling green eyes. He couldn’t explain why he was feeling like this all of a sudden, nor did he want to. He just never wanted to break away from those green eyes of his, that he felt paled in comparison to the marble he received from him.

“I do.” Yuu spoke, breaking Mika out of his self-induced trance. Not realizing what was going on, he began frantically looking around. All eyes were on him and he could feel himself being judged once more. Coupled with the man still holding his hands meant that his panic and anxiousness was currently in overdrive.

“I d-d-d-d-d-“ Mika stammered, unable to bring himself to say the line. His brother saw this from the doorway that he promised to stay at, causing him to slap his forehead with his palm. He called out, “I DO!”

All attention quickly turned to the doorway to where Crowley’s voice came from, but he retracted himself from sight before anyone and the cameras saw him.

Mika flashed Yuu a toothy grin once the focus went back onto the duo and began nodding once again, stiffly and awkwardly, hoping that it would suffice. Yuu looked over to the pastor inquisitively, who shrugged as a response. Yuu shrugged back, deciding to just roll with it.

“You may now kiss the bride.”

Mika’s eyes widened with surprise once more, this time realizing what was going on. Inside his mind, he was screaming “A KISS?!?! WHAT!?!?”

Yuu leaned close into Mika’s face, pouting his lips as he did. It wasn’t long before they made connection with Mika’s, which took Mika by shock. As a response, now with his anxiety and panic reaching a level that he never felt before, he pushed Yuu away and began racing towards the exit, screaming and flailing his hands up in the air.

The groom watched, bewildered, as his bride fled the scene. Guilt quickly built up inside of him once the realization of what he did hit him. He didn’t mean to make his co-star run away in fear, but apparently the kiss was too much. He remembered debating on whether or not to include it. He only did because the thought of kissing her got him excited, but now he realized that it was a selfish decision.

When he snapped back to his reality, he saw a hand outstretched before him, belong to the mother of the runaway bride. He took her hand and rose up. He began waving his hand against his throat to the cameramen, which made them cease filming.

“I’m sorry about my daughter Mr. Ichinose. I hope she didn’t cause you any harm.” Yuu waved off the statement and began rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. “I should be the one apologizing. I take it that was Misako’s first kiss?”

Krul nodded. “As far as I know.”

“I think I went a bit too far.” Yuu began to scowl. “I hope she’s alright.”

“I think you just spooked her is all.” Crowley said, approaching the two. He was smacking the script into his hands multiple times. “You see, she wasn’t expecting the kiss is the problem.”

“She wasn’t?” Yuu tilted his head in confusion. “But it was in the script.”

Crowley flipped open the script and showed Yuu the gap where it went from page 17 to page 19. Yuu and Krul’s eyes went wide with surprise seeing this. Yuu grabbed the script and thumbed through it to see if he could find the missing page. He nearly tore apart the concoction of pages in his attempt, which proved to be unsuccessful. “How did this happen?”

“Gee, I do wonder how.” a voice boasted. The three turned and saw Ferid leaning on one of the pillars in the room, with a sly smile on his face. Krul narrowed her eyes at him. “Ferid, what did you do?!”

“Nothing that didn’t have good intentions attached to it.” He began walking towards the three, his arms outstretched. “I was merely doing you a favour and giving our young Misako a taste of what real acting is like.”

“You shouldn’t have done that! It was not your call to make!”

“Oh come now Krul!” Ferid hissed. “She has to get over her anxiety. You always boast about how you want her to join you. I figure, I create a scenario where it takes her by surprise and it’ll show her that she can handle anything when it comes to acting. This way, she has nothing to fear and can join you so you can finally shut up about it!”

Krul’s face was beat red with anger at the present moment. Both Yuu and Crowley could sense how intense it was and began backing away from her.

She stomped towards Ferid and grabbed him by his tie, dragging him down to her level and nearly choking him in the process. “You’re fired! I never want you to work for me or Misako ever again!”

Krul stomped away in frustration. Ferid merely shrugged his shoulders and smirked as she departed. “Well then, it looks like I’ll have more time and focus to put onto my other clients.”

“Wait, I’m your only other client.” It clued into Crowley what Ferid meant as soon as he saw another sly smile form on his lips. “Oh, I get it now.”

Chapter Text

“Misako? Hey Misako?” Yuu called out as he knocked. When he was met with silence, he pressed his ear against the door and heard a faint sound of sobbing coming from the other side. He scowled hearing it, feeling concern for the person that was behind the door. He wanted to charge his way inside the room to try and make the actress feel better, but before he could, the door opened up which took him by surprise.

He backed up to give the person some room and noticed that it was Krul who was departing the room. She closed the door behind her and sighed.

“How is she?” Yuu asked.

“Not well. I explained to her what happened with Ferid but she refuses to leave the room.” She grimaced at Yuu. “I don’t think she’ll be able to finish the commercial.”

“That doesn’t matter to me; I just want to make sure she’s alright!”

“I don’t think she wants-“ Before Krul could finish, Yuu pushed his way past her and barged into the room. He immediately spotted the distressed person curled up in the back corner of the room away from the door, surrounded by two ladies that Yuu didn’t recognize.

“Misako,” Yuu said as he approached the bride, ignoring the two ladies. The blond didn’t turn their attention to him, but instead, tensed up their body. Yuu could hear the mumbled words “Go away” coming from them but he didn’t comply to the request. Instead, he nodded at the two unknown ladies to dismiss them and give him and the bride some privacy. Once they were gone, he kneeled down and placed his hand on their shoulder. “I’m sorry.”

There was a long pause before the bride responded, but Yuu’s words at least caused the tears to temporarily cease.

“What for?” was the response the groom received.

“Everything.” Yuu waited to see if there was another response before continuing. “This commercial was too much on you. I didn’t know if you still had your anxiety so I tried to accommodate in case you did but I see it was still too much.”

“Accommodate?”

Yuu nodded. “I didn’t want you to feel bad in case you messed up so I had the directors be patient in case you blundered. I still remember from fifteen years ago how shaken up you were when you didn’t catch that bouquet. I didn’t want you to feel like that again.”

When the actress didn’t respond to Yuu’s words, he sat down behind her and placed his back against theirs. He looked up at the ceiling and smiled. “You know, maybe this was a bad idea. I started this whole thing up just to draw you out. I haven’t seen your name appear in any works over these years so I didn’t know how things were going with you, I didn’t even know if you were still alive! You can imagine my relief when I had Idiot Guren get in contact with your mother to find out that you were still around.”

“…”

“I got greedy when making this thing too. I should never have included that kiss scene. That was just pushing it. Truth be told, I was just happy seeing you and your beautiful eyes again. That would’ve been enough for me, and it is.”

“STOP IT!” the bride screamed into their body, loud enough to cause Yuu to pause. “Just stop it! You wouldn’t be saying all of that if you knew the truth!!!”

“The truth?” Yuu turned his head as he focused his attention on the bride. “I know that Ferid sabotaged you.”

“Not that you idiot!” Mika cried, raising his head up in the hair. He wiped away a few tears with the sleeve of his dress and began contemplating a decision. He accidentally backed himself into a corner. He could lie to Yuu and be done with it… but something was holding him back from doing it and instead encouraged Mika to tell him the truth.

He rose up from his spot and walked so that he was standing in front of Yuu. He could feel his knees shaking, staring down at him. He couldn’t tell if it was because he weakened himself from crying so much, or because the pain of wearing the high heels was catching up to him, or if it was his anxiety causing it all but he tried to fight it as what he was about to do next would be the hardest thing he’s ever had to do in his life and needed all of his attention focused on it.

“I-… I’m…” Mika couldn’t bring himself to say what he needed to say. Seeing the groom’s gleeful and hopeful eyes stirred doubt and nervousness in him. He needed to continue though. So, as a remedy, he curled his fingers around his bangs and ripped off the wig he was wearing and revealed his natural short hair to Yuu. He glared down at him and burst out what he needed to say. “I’m actually a guy!”

Yuu blinked twice in confusion. “And?”

“And? What do you mean and?” Mika asked, taken aback by complete surprise at the groom’s casual and calm response, not expecting it. He checked Yuu’s expression and found it hasn’t changed from his clueless, gleeful appearance. He was expecting Yuu to be frustrated or insulted, to storm out of the room and never want to see him again. Why he seemed to be fine baffled Mika.

“I knew you were a guy all along.”

“What?! But… how?!” As if Mika wasn’t baffled before, he surely was now and was nearly speechless that apparently Yuu knew such a thing, even when his Mom and everyone else tried their best to conceal his true identity.

“Well, I shouldn’t say that.” Yuu began scratching the side of his cheek while chuckling awkwardly. “What I mean to say is, I knew you were a guy but I always thought you were a girl.”

Now it was Mika’s turn to blink in confusion. The only word he could bring himself to say was “What?”

“Well, back when we were kids, I first saw you sitting alone on the bench on the set. That’s when I knew you were a guy. However, when we were first introduced to each other, you were very feminine and your mother kept referring to you as her daughter and used “she” pronouns. I didn’t know if that was a stage persona of yours or if perhaps you were a transgender person. All I know is, everyone kept referring to you as “she” so that’s what I was referring to you as until someone told me otherwise.”

Mika was completely shocked. He wasn’t expecting such a mature and respectful answer, especially coming from the man who apparently still calls his adoptive father an idiot.

Questions stirred in his mind, but the one that he brought himself to ask was, “H-How did you know I was a guy?”

“Call it a hunch.” Yuu said, shrugging his shoulders. He looked up to see Mika’s inquisitive look on his still make-up covered face and began laughing awkwardly. “Or well, let’s just say your mother may’ve told Idiot Guren she was adopting a son and he may’ve pointed you out to me at the time.”

It took a second for the thought to process in Mika’s mind, but once it was, he groaned. “Don’t tell me she forgot about that!”

Yuu shrugged his shoulders again. “The life as an actor is a very stressful one. She probably mentioned it to Guren and forgot about it when she had to memorize lines or something. I know sometimes I forget my own name when I have to memorize things!”

“Good thing I never got into it.” Mika mumbled, but Yuu was able to pick up on his words. “You never continued acting?”

Mika’s body stiffened when he heard the words come from Yuu’s mouth. His mouth curled into a frown and he began shuffling his feet together, feeling embarrassed for what he was about to say next. “N-… No.”

“Oh.” Yuu said blankly, that Mika took as disappointment. His eyes focused themselves on the brooch he was wearing. Seeing the marble in the middle made him remember the reason he was given it in the first place. He clipped it off of his dress and held it out towards Yuu. “Here, you can have this back. I’m sorry that I wasn’t able to use it for what you gave it to me for, truly.”

Yuu looked at the brooch and saw the familiar object in the center. He looked up at Mika and smiled. “You really kept the marble after all this time?”

Mika gulped and nodded in response. “Yeah. I’ve been treasuring it since the day you gave it to me.”

Yuu smiled, the sentiment of the act making a warm feeling blossom in his chest. He took Mika’s hand and pushed it towards his chest, saying “Keep it, it belongs with you.”

“But- you gave it to me so it would help me act. Which I haven’t been doing…”

“That doesn’t matter to me.” Yuu said, shaking his head. “You cherishing it means that you never forgot about me and that’s what matters most to me!”

Blush formed on Mika’s cheeks. “That is true. Not a day has gone by that I haven’t thought about you.”

“I’m the same Misako.” Yuu said, as he rose up and took Mika’s hands. “I haven’t been able to get you out of my mind since the day we met.”

“Mika.” The bride said, averting his eyes away from the groom’s. “My name is actually Mika. Short for Mikaela.”

“Mika huh?” Yuu tilted his head and grinned widely. “That’s still a beautiful name you have there!”

The blush on Mika’s face intensified, so much so that he had to pull away his hands away from Yuu so that he could cover it up. Yuu laughed seeing Mika like this, thinking that it was cute.

“You know too Mika, if you still feel bad about not getting into acting, there’s a way you can make it up to me!” Yuu said enthusiastically. Mika, as a response, turned his attention at Yuu and raised an eyebrow at him. “And what might that be?”

“You treat me to some chicken nuggets after everything’s done!”

“Chicken… nuggets.” Mika had to repeat those words again as he was unable to believe that they were the words that were just spoken to him. “You’re serious?”

Yuu shrugged. “Hey, I still like chicken nuggets.”

Mika rolled his eyes as a response. “You’re still the same idiot from back then, you know that? But I guess I guess I can do that.”

“It’s a date then!” Yuu cheered. Mika would also, but the mention of a date had him freeze up once more in surprise. “Wait, date? Don’t tell me that was your ploy just to get a date out of me!”

“Nah, not really. I just really want to eat chicken nuggets with you.” Yuu responded, causing Mika to slap his forehead with the palm of his hand. “Well, that’s fine then. I think I can have a certain someone arrange something to give you the best chicken nuggets you’ve ever had. I’ll talk to him once we finish the commercial.”

“We’re still doing the commercial?”

Mika smiled at him and nodded. “Yeah, now that everything is out in the open, I’d like to give it one more try. Besides, if you want those special chicken nuggets, I kind of have to do it.”

Mika collected his wig and turned to go out the door but he was stopped when he felt his arm being held back against his will. He turned and saw that Yuu was grabbing it, with a serious expression on his face which made him worry also. “What- what’s wrong Yuu?”

“I’ve been keeping a secret from you too Mika. I want to come clean before we go back out there.

Mika gulped, anxious thoughts quickly flooding his mind. What could Yuu have been hiding from him? He didn’t know but none of his thoughts made it seem like that this situation was a good thing. “What- what is it?”

“Remember how I said that I haven’t been able to get you out of my mind since I met you?” Mika nodded. “Well, recently, I’ve been looking back on that day and when I do, I feel something towards you I’ve never felt with any other person before. When I saw you on that stage a while ago, I knew what they were. I think… I love you Mika.”

Mika remained still and speechless, completely frozen by Yuu’s words.

Yuu continued. “I just wanted to tell you before we go back out there, considering the nature of the commercial.”

Mika still remained still but eventually, his face broke out into a smile. He took Yuu’s hands and looked him in his eyes. “I wish I could say it back to you, but I can’t. We’ve only really known each other just for a short while. But, I can say that I share the same mysterious feelings towards you that I haven’t felt with anyone else. Maybe we can spend some time together and build on them?”

Yuu’s eyes sparkled with excitement and happiness. “Of course! I’d love that!”

“I don’t want our first date to revolve around chicken nuggets though.” Mika huffed. “I want it be a little more memorable.”

“Of course, of course.” Yuu pulled Mika in closer to him, which caught the blond off guard. “Although, any date I go on with you will be memorable to me.”

“C-c’mon you idiot, we have a commercial to shoot.”

*

“And, action!” the director announced, having the cameramen start recording the commercial. This time though, it was going to be a little different. Mika, now feeling a little more confident in himself and with his familiarity with Yuu, wanted to try something different and a little more realistic for the commercial.

Mika came bursting through the doors and ran towards Yuu, calling out his name as his golden blond locks trailed behind him. Yuu stood at the front with his arms stretching out wide, smiling brightly as his blushing bride came running towards him. Mika leaped into the air as soon as he was just upon Yuu, having his co-star catch him in his arms and place him gently on the floor before him.

As the actor playing the priest talked, the two stared deeply into each other’s sparkling eyes.

“You know Mika, your eyes are still as beautiful as they were back then and still put the ocean to shame.” Yuu whispered to the blond, causing him to blush from the compliment.

“And your eyes are exactly as I remember them, sharp but trusting. Just like that marble you gave me.”

“You may now kiss the bride.” the priest spoke out.

Both Yuu and Mika shared a look of delight with each other, smiling brightly as they did. Yuu grabbed Mika’s waist and pulled him in closer. They both leaned in and pressed their lips against their other’s. Their hearts soared as they shared the intimate moment with each other, feeling like their souls were becoming one at that moment. Neither of them wanted the moment to end, but they had to pull away from each other to signal for the shoot to finish. However, that didn’t stop them from gazing lovingly into each other’s eyes once again, even as the cameras stopped rolling.

“I hope we can do this one day for real Mika.” Yuu whispered to Mika. Mika wrapped his arms around Yuu’s neck and hummed. “I hope we can too.”

***The End***