This has been something that I've been wanting to do for the longest of times, and today is finally the day! Once again, do note that each chapter may not be related to any other chapter in any way. This is just a collection of stories to address some of the unanswered questions that may arise from my BlueFlora fanfic, The Times We Lost. Most will be focusing on the supporting and minor characters of that fanfic, but let's start with something simple, shall we?
Please do read The Times We Lost first, as these chapters will build upon the events of that story. And, as a result, will contain major spoilers for that story.
Disclaimer: I do not own BanG Dream!
"So… today is the day, isn't it?" the redhead asked her friend as she continued to run a brush through her friend's hair. As she did, Tomoe added with a teasing smile, "So, how nervous are you?"
"Very." Ran admitted, fidgeting with her clothes a bit but unable to do much else while her hair was being brushed. Hearing a short chuckle, Ran tried to look as far back as the brush would allow her, "And what's that supposed to mean? This whole… wedding… is nerve-wrecking!"
"I wasn't laughing because of that," Tomoe said in a warm voice, trying to reassure her friend, "It was more that I find it funny that of the five of us, it's you and Moca who tied the knot first. Does that make sense?"
"I guess… especially after everything that happened, yeah…" Ran muttered as she slumped down, accepting her fate as Tomoe made the finishing touches to her hair. After a short period of silence, Ran decided she had to say something again; and, having taken a deep breath to try and calm down, that was exactly what Ran did, "That… Tomoe… thanks…"
"You really don't have to. As we've always been saying, we're friends, and friends do these kinds of things for each other!" Tomoe grinned as she took a step back to examine her handiwork. Content, she took a mirror and held it up at various angles so Ran could see it, too, "And? What do you think?"
Ran was surprised to see what Tomoe did. Ran's hair wasn't naturally messy, but Tomoe managed to style it incredibly well; not a single strand of hair was out of place anymore. Tomoe had pulled the hair and tied it into a low ponytail while letting several strands on either side of Ran's face loose to frame her face.
This was also to help accent the pure white gown that Ran was wearing, the front ending just above her ankles and the back trailing out a bit. Both Ran and Tomoe had to admit that it suited Ran a lot more than either had expected it to.
Ran was about to comment on how she looked, but somebody beat her to it. Somebody who wasn't there in the room with them before.
"Amazing! Ran-chan, you look amazing!" an excited voice came from the door before a familiar figure rushed in. Turning to Tomoe, she added, "Onee-chan! Lisa-nee and Hii-chan are almost ready with the bride and they asked me to see if you were ready."
"Thanks, Ako." Tomoe smiled as she greeted her little sister who nodded vigorously in response. With a motion towards Ran, the redhead added, "I've made sure that Ran looks ready. It's up to Ran now whether or not she is ready emotionally."
"I'm not…" Ran muttered softly as she turned to the two sisters with a somewhat shaky smile, "But I probably won't ever be, so… let's do this."
"Well, then let's go!" Tomoe said while placing a reassuring hand on Ran's shoulder. Ako hurried over to open the door for the two right when Tomoe added, "Your Moca is waiting~"
"Honestly… I was fine with just submitting the necessary documents…" Ran muttered with a sigh, though her reaction elicited smiles from the other two in the room with her, "But since Moca wanted that ceremony so much…"
"Even after all this time, Ran's still the same as always~" Tomoe grinned, receiving a glare from Ran and a laugh from her sister.
Unfortunately for Ran, the glare wasn't very effective while Ran was already wearing that dress. It did, however, cause Tomoe to join Ako in laughing at Ran's expense before they all left.
In another room with a very specific person who was wearing a similar gown as Ran, things weren't going as smoothly as the other people there would have wanted.
"Where is it?! I know I put it here somewhere! Lisa-san! Hii-chan! Help!"
"Calm down, Moca, we'll find it together." Himari tried but to no avail. Moca was in a panic mode and was throwing everything in the room around in search for that special item. That special item that still remained nowhere to be found.
"Himari, that's not how you calm down somebody who's panicking…" Lisa chuckled before stepping up to Moca. Lisa placed both her hands on the younger woman's shoulders and shook her. With a calm and gentle voice, Lisa tried to get to Moca, "Moca, deep breaths. Inhale… exhale… inhale… exhale…"
Moca was still struggling slightly to get away from Lisa's grip at first though, slowly but surely, she synchronized her breathing to Lisa's words. It was only a matter of time until Moca managed to calm herself down. With Lisa's help, of course.
"Thank you, Lisa-san… and sorry…" Moca added quickly as she lowered her head. Lisa waved off Moca's words, though, which Moca was thankful for.
It was only then that Moca remembered why she was panicking earlier in the first place.
"Where is it?" Moca asked as she looked around, though a lot calmer than earlier. Turning to her childhood friend, Moca asked, "Hii-chan! Have you taken anything that was here when Lisa was doing my hair and make-up?"
"Uh, I may have taken a small box that was on the shelf…" Himari admitted, trailing off as she pulled it out from her purse. Moca's eyes widened when she saw it and made a mad dash for the box. Himari didn't try to stop her, as she knew that it was Moca's by seeing Moca's reaction, and soon it was in its rightful owner's hands. With an apologetic look on her face, Himari added, "I'm sorry, Moca, I looked into it thinking that you may have forgotten to give your ring. Why is it so special to you—"
The words had barely left Himari's mouth when she realized the answer to her own question. She didn't need to hear Moca's reply anymore to know. And, judging from the way Lisa looked away painfully as well, neither did she.
"It's not mine…" Moca trailed off as she fumbled with the box, eventually taking out the simple yet elegant necklace. Moca took a few seconds to look at it with a pained look in her eyes before putting it on herself. Satisfied, she then turned to Himari with a wavering smile, "It's my mother's. It's the last that I have of her."
"Moca…" Himari breathed out, tears welling in her eyes as she knew how difficult of a subject it was for her childhood friend, "I'm so sorry, I didn't know."
"It's okay~ Hii-chan couldn't possibly have known anyways~" Moca smiled, trying to brighten up the mood a little bit. Starting to make her way out, she looked over her shoulder and added, "Are you two coming? We can't make Ran wait too long or she'll get grouchy. I mean, more grouchy than usual."
Suppressing a giggle, both Lisa and Himari caught up to Moca and walked on either side of her. They all knew where they were going next.
About an hour had passed, and Tomoe and Himari were currently in a small room outside of view to reconvene to get the others up to date. Tomoe and Himari had just entered after escorting Ran and Moca respectively when an exhausted Tsugumi walked in herself.
"I helped everybody get seated as we planned," Tsugumi panted, slightly out of breath at all the walking that she had been doing earlier. Looking up, she added, "Where are Ran-chan and Moca-chan? Shouldn't we have started by now?"
"There has been a slight problem…" Himari trailed off with an awkward smile, sharing a look with Tomoe whilst doing so, "Why don't you explain?"
"The rings are misplaced," Tomoe said matter-of-factly to Tsugumi who visibly deflated upon hearing the news, "We've found them again, but it is going to take a while to get them here. For now, we need to keep the guests pre-occupied until Ran and Moca are ready."
"And that is where you come in, Tsugu!" Himari picked up without missing a beat. Tsugumi turned to her with a surprised look, and even Tomoe seemed like she was caught off guard. Himari didn't let this bother her, however, "Go out there and say something funny to keep everybody distracted!"
"Say something funny… how?" Tsugumi asked, looking perplexed and not understanding what Himari was saying. Or why Himari suddenly broke into a giggling fit when Tsugumi finished.
"What Himari was trying to say…" Tomoe began, bonking Himari on the top of her head and ignoring the yelp of pain and protests from her that followed, "Is that we need you to distract them. In whatever way possible. And you're the best at doing that, which is why we need you."
A short silence followed where Tsugumi was contemplating her options and Tomoe and Himari were looking on hopefully. Finally, Tsugumi sighed, "All right…"
"Thanks, Tsugu!" Himari cheered, patting Tsugumi on her shoulder before hurrying off. Tomoe wasn't far behind her but made sure to reassure Tsugumi that they only needed fifteen minutes at most.
"Fifteen minutes, huh? Right! I can do this!" Tsugumi tried to reassure herself as she took out something from her pocket. It was something that she had been saving for the right time, but… "This would be as good a time as any for this! Let's do this!"
Not long after, Tsugumi found herself shuffling to the front of the room. Everybody in the audience appeared to be slightly bored or looking around in anticipation. Tsugumi gulped, now more sure that she had to do what she was about to do.
But could she?
Tsugumi shook her head vigorously to rid herself of those thoughts and stepped up to the front. It wasn't about whether she could or couldn't. She was going to do it. The thing that only she, Hazawa Tsugumi of Afterglow, could do.
"Th-Thank you for coming, everybody!" Tsugumi began, her voice a bit shaky as she wasn't used to being the center of attention as much anymore. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she took out her cue cards and read, "A scar indicates that something is missing. You lost something important, and there is a hole in your heart. Having that empty hole can lead to anger, hate, despair or… it can make you reach for the sky."
"And today, we will see the two people who made me believe this more than anyone finally be officially together. Two people who, despite all the hardships that they have faced to get here, finally did get here," Tsugumi finished, receiving some polite applause from the people present as she stored her cards in her pocket again. Turning to two of the doors in the building that were effectively opposite to one another, Tsugumi said loud and clear, "Mitake Ran-chan! Aoba Moca-chan! That is your cue!"
Everybody, Tsugumi included, looked at the two doors in question hopefully. But it was all in vain as nothing happened. It then hit Tsugumi that she might have been speaking too fast, so the fifteen minutes hadn't passed yet.
Clearing her throat and, a bit louder this time, Tsugumi tried again, "Mitake Ran-chan? Aoba Moca-chan? It's your turn!"
This time, however, something did happen.
Both doors were opened so forcefully that they almost flew off their hinges. And while everybody knew who would be coming out from the doors, they weren't ready for what they were about to witness.
A collective gasp could be heard from the crowd when they finally did find out.
I did my homework: the 'legal' way of marrying is by registering through submitting documents; a ceremony isn't 'necessary'. Adding this bit of trivia to clear up possible confusion regarding Ran's comment at the end of the first section of this chapter.
I hope you all enjoy this chapter, and look forward to the next one! Please leave a review telling me what you thought of this chapter (bonus points if you include the 'why' in your review) and I will see you all next time! Take care!