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It wasn’t much of a honeymoon.
Karamatsu had insisted on paying for everything himself, and while he had managed to hide most of his pachinko winnings from his grabby brothers, he’d never had much luck at pachinko to begin with. Not to mention he was already tapped out from staging the wedding. He had saved some costs by making the sparkly painted set pieces himself, but a thousand flowers of every shape and size falling from the ceiling like confetti would put a dent in anyone’s wallet. Plus he’d rented multiple spotlights, and there were the sequin-studded tuxedo and dress, and you were pretty sure he’d also paid for the damages caused by his brothers’ constant heckling and tantrums.
“The ceremony must sparkle as gorgeously as you, my shining Karamatsu*Girl,” he’d declared when you’d tried to at least talk him down to a simpler ceremony. You’d blushed, and he’d taken advantage of your distraction to buy matching pairs of glass slippers.
While Karamatsu slept off his wedding night, you’d crept over to his (blue leather) suitcase and stuffed some money into one of the pockets. His mother had had the same idea, judging by the small wad of bills already inside, with a note attached that was somehow equally complimentary and insulting. But when he discovered them the next morning, Karamatsu immediately turned them over to the lost and found, so that was that.
He’d...tried his best. Playing on the beach was fun, and almost made you forget that you were still within the borders of Akatsuka City. The catered picnic on the sand, complete with a violin player, would ordinarily have been fantastic. But the thought of his draining cash reserves made you anxious, and you being anxious made him anxious. Every time you casually mentioned liking or wanting something, Karamatsu fought through hell and high water to get it for you, so you had to police every single word you said. And every time you offered to pay for anything, or tried to head off a clerk to pay the bill before Karamatsu could, it drove your new husband to tears.
What a treat, to have your very first fight on your honeymoon.
You fled back to the motel, foregoing dinner. It was a dingy little room, barely big enough for the two of you, but Karamatsu had somehow found the time to make clumsy ornaments out of discarded newspaper and scatter as many flower petals as he could collect after the wedding.
You were crying by the time he caught up to you. Between the stress of the day and the sentimental decorations, you couldn’t contain yourself.
“I’m sorry,” you blubbered as Karamatsu wavered in the doorway, unsure of what to do. “I don’t...I d-don’t mean to...I just, I love you, I want this to work, so, p-please, please just let me help ou—”
“NO!” He sounded almost panicked. “You can’t—”
“Karamatsu—”
“I have to! I have to make it perfect!! If it’s not, you’ll...”
You waited. He swallowed.
“...you’ll leave me,” he finished quietly.
“Oh, sweetie...”
Karamatsu stood very stiff, his hands clenched at his sides, as you gently put your arms around him. “You’re so lovely,” he mumbled. It wasn’t his put-on suave voice, but the cracked, high-pitched tones of his vulnerabilities. “The most beautiful girl...in every way, and...i-if I can’t give you what you deserve...”
You pressed your lips to his temple. He jumped, genuinely surprised.
“You doofus,” you hiccuped, wiping away your tears. “I love you, Karamatsu. You. The sparkles are nice, but you’re the only sparkle I need, okay?”
“Do you really think I sparkle?”
“Brighter than any star in the night sky.”
You dined in that night, sitting on the floor of the motel room, finishing off the junk food you’d accumulated during the day. Karamatsu finally accepted some money from you, though probably only because you’d stuffed it into his waistband and he was too flustered to give it back.
On your wedding night, nervous though he’d been, he had insisted on taking the lead. But now he willingly acquiesced to you, let you pamper and console him. You showed him just how much he meant to you.
It was a beautiful night.
Until his brothers drunkenly broke into the room at 4 AM, but that’s another story.