AN: Sorry, this chapter is a lot of rambling. And I needed a little comic relief from all of the sexiness in previous chapters. Also, I'm going to change the name of this to "Stand By Me" after I post this chapter. I'll keep "Just Say It" in the description, in case you're looking for it, for a while.

For the next couple of months, Ritsuka and Soubi consumed themselves in the planning of their wedding. They decided that a summer wedding would be the best, because Ritsuka would be out of school by then and Soubi wouldn't have any classes to teach. They exchanged e-mails with Kio to find out when he would be able to come back into town, and after a lot of pruning, they narrowed it down to June 20th, which would fall on a Saturday that year. It also just happened to be the first day of summer, even though it always felt like summer started way before then. Ritsuka found something strangely romantic about the day.

They decided to have the wedding in the park where they first met, and have the reception on the roof of their apartment building. Soubi had taken Ritsuka up there a couple of times, and it had an amazing view of the twinkling Tokyo lights at night. Ritsuka couldn't think of anything he enjoyed more than just sitting up there with his legs dangling over the edge of the building with Soubi, watching the sun set behind the cityscape.

Ritsuka decided that he was going to wear white. The idea of being treated like a bride turned him on for some unfathomable reason.

After a while, he was reminded that he needed to find a best man. Or, rather, a 'groomsmaid of honor.' Ritsuka giggled whenever the term crossed his mind. He didn't really know why it was a big deal, but he figured he had the perfect person in mind.

So one day around the middle of March, he was walking home with Soubi. Yuiko had decided to walk with them, because Yayoi was out sick that day and she didn't like going home alone. She had been chatting idly with them about her day and the problems she was having in math when Ritsuka interrupted her mid-sentence.

"…don't really understand the formula for finding the derivative of a natural logarithm, and-" (That's right; Yuiko was in calculus, mostly because of Ritsuka's gracious tutoring over the years.)

"Yuiko, I have something to ask you."

He looked across Soubi's body at her and she looked back, confused and a little disgruntled that he interrupted her.

They stopped walking and Soubi walked a few paces ahead, lighting a cigarette as he went, to give them a little privacy.

"I was wondering if… I mean, if you don't want to, you don't have to, but… I thought you might like to…" Ritsuka started. He felt awkward asking Yuiko something like this.

Yuiko raised an eyebrow and looked at him inquisitively. All of the irritation she had previously felt had left her face.

"Would you like to be my… er… maid of honor?"

Yuiko's face split into a wide, toothy grin. She glomped Ritsuka and he staggered back, thrown off balance.

"I would love to, Ritsuka-kun!!"

Ritsuka looked relieved. "Um… well… ok then. Thanks."

Yuiko and Ritsuka caught up to Soubi and she chattered nonstop about all of the things she'd be able to help with. Ritsuka looked at Soubi and rolled his eyes, but smiled. Soubi just smirked back at him, with an expression that pretty much screamed, 'you asked for it.' Ritsuka snorted and half-listened to Yuiko, saying, "yep" or "mhmm" at each of the pauses. When it came time for them to part and go separate ways, Yuiko rushed him again and they actually fell over. Ritsuka clawed at Soubi's arm, trying to free himself from Yuiko's bone crushing hug. Soubi laughed. He couldn't help it. He grasped Ritsuka by the hand and pulled him up, causing Yuiko to roll off him. Ritsuka lifted Soubi's arms and put them around himself, protecting himself from being attacked again. Yuiko stood up and apologized, then ran off excitedly towards her house, yelling back that she'd text him later.

Ritsuka sighed and looked up at Soubi. "So who is going to have to deal with her as your best man?"

Soubi smirked. "Kio."

Ritsuka snorted. He felt kind of bad for Kio, but he could just see Yuiko dancing with Kio during the requisite 'couple's first dance.' The image caused him to laugh so hard he thought his lungs might explode.

Then Ritsuka thought of something, and his face fell immediately. He had completely forgotten about Yayoi. He felt kind of guilty for not asking him to play a role in their wedding, too.

"What's wrong, Ritsuka?" asked Soubi, noticing the sudden change in Ritsuka's mood.

"I forgot about Yayoi. He's going to be angry." Ritsuka looked devastated.

Soubi looked over at Ritsuka thoughtfully. "Well… it would probably be easiest for me to find someone to be my… what was it you've been calling it?… groomsmaid. Then you could ask Yayoi to be your best man."

Ritsuka studied him. "Yeah, that could work. But who?"Soubi smiled sweetly and gazed off into space. "I think I know the perfect person."

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Soubi and Ritsuka stood outside of the middle school and memories came flooding back. For Soubi, they were mainly memories of feeling like a pedophile. For Ritsuka, they were memories of all of the times that Soubi had waited for him there, all of the times he'd kissed him there, and all of the times he'd actually consented to it. They were waiting patiently for the bell to ring so they could go inside and not feel like creepos. They had come to see Ritsuka's sixth grade teacher, Shinonome Hitomi. Ritsuka found it unbelievably hilarious that she still hadn't lost her ears. He didn't ever dare to bring it up though, because she would just storm away in a huff, muttering lividly about how she was going at her own pace and that no one should tell her what to do. Ritsuka also found it a little funny that Shinonome-sensei still acted flustered around Soubi. This is going to be interesting, Ritsuka thought as he heard the bell ring and the rumbling chaos of hundreds of feet. He looked over at Soubi. He was wearing a smirk on his face and looked highly amused with the situation he'd put himself in. "She might just run away as soon as she sees me coming," he said earnestly.

Ritsuka giggled. "Please try to be nice to her. She's our only chance."

Soubi nodded, and once the crowd lessened, grasped Ritsuka by the hand and pulled him towards the front door of the school. Ritsuka had called Hitomi during her lunch hour and asked if he could see her in his old classroom after school. She agreed, tripping over her words, thrilled that one of her favorite students was coming back to visit her. Ritsuka had failed to mention, however, that Soubi would be accompanying him, and when he pulled open the door to the classroom and Hitomi saw Soubi stride in with Ritsuka, her ears drooped slightly and a reddish tinge came to her cheeks.

"Oh. Agatsuma-san. I didn't know you were coming, too."

Ritsuka walked up to her and hugged her briefly, feeling a little awkward about it. But it made her smile, so he figured he could deal with it. "Soubi has something to ask of you," Ritsuka said, pulling away from her and going back to Soubi. He looked over at him and Soubi nodded.

"Shinonome-sensei-"

She cut him off and said, "Please call me Hitomi-san. You too, Ritsuka-kun. I'm not your teacher anymore. We're just friends now."

Ritsuka looked pleased and Soubi nodded, continuing, "Very well, Hitomi-san. I came to ask you if you'd play a part in our wedding."

"What do you mean?" She looked confused.

Ritsuka spoke up. "Well, it's a little weird, but we'd like you to be one of Soubi's… er… groomsmaids."

Her face went blank, then she laughed at the term. "Groomsmaids? I've never been one of those before. But of course, I'd love to."

Ritsuka grinned at her. "You'll be paired with Yayoi."

She flushed. "Yayoi-kun?"

"Yes."

"Oh well, it's not like we haven't been stuck together before."

Ritsuka laughed. He knew she was recalling the time they all went to the amusement park together, and Yuiko dragged Ritsuka onto the Ferris wheel with her, leaving Yayoi and her to go together. He bowed slightly and said, "Thank you, Hitomi-san. This makes things a lot easier."

"Please, it's an honor," she said, averting her eyes, "especially since I'm so annoying to Soubi-san."

Soubi smiled at her sweetly. "You're not nearly as annoying as you used to be. You're still a childish woman, though."

Ritsuka slapped him on the arm. "I said to be nice, Soubi!" Hitomi looked devastated and tears welled up at the sides of her eyes. Ritsuka went over to her and looked indignantly at Soubi. "Apologize."

"I'm sorry, Hitomi-san. It slipped out," Soubi said, thoroughly amused.

With that, Hitomi excused herself from the room and ran off towards the staff room.

Ritsuka sighed and took Soubi's hand. "What am I going to do with you?" The corners of his mouth twitched. "It was kind of funny, though."

Soubi kissed him. "I'll try not to offend her anymore. Within reason. I am human, after all."

Then the couple walked out of the school into a bright, sunny day.

"So, what do you want to do today?"

"Whatever Ritsuka wants."

"Let's go surf the internet. We need to find someone to perform our ceremony. It's not like we can get a pastor or something."

Soubi grinned. "No, I don't think the church would like us very much."

They walked home, stopping by the Seven Eleven to buy more cigarettes. Ritsuka bought them, and was way too excited about it. He'd recently gotten a job as a stock boy at a local market. His wages weren't good, but having even a little money made him feel less dependent on Soubi for everything. Soubi was occasionally anxious about the situation, because Ritsuka worked really late sometimes, but for the most part, he was happy because Ritsuka was happy. That's all he needed to survive, he often thought. As long as Ritsuka is happy, I don't need anything else.

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Ritsuka was becoming exponentially more anxious and excited as the end of school approached. Only eight days after his high school career came to a halt, he would be a married man. He'd been having trouble concentrating almost all year due to senioritis, but for the last month or so, he found it futile to even try. He usually just stared towards the front of the classroom, his head resting on his hand, daydreaming. He didn't really have to try anymore -- he'd already gotten accepted into the liberal arts program at the university. All he had to do was coast and not fail. He did just enough of his homework to pass with a decent grade. His test scores were always excellent, even without studying, so he didn't really have to try hard to pull an A.

Ritsuka's afternoons were filled with planning. One day at the end of May, he, Yuiko, and Yayoi went to a tux shop to get fitted. He had forbidden Soubi to go with him, mandating that he see him for the first time on their wedding day. Soubi had said, "Ritsuka, you're such a girl sometimes," and tickled his sides. But he respected his wishes and was nowhere in sight as he tried on a pure white tuxedo with a purple silk tie and cummerbund.

Yuiko's eyes started leaking when he walked out of the changing room. "Ritsuka-kun! It's perfect!"

Ritsuka smiled at her and turned around to look at himself in the three-way mirror. He usually didn't really like how he looked, but he stared at his reflection, stunned."I'm… I'm hot," he mumbled with disbelief.

He turned around and looked at his backside, giggling at the tails of the tuxedo coat. He glanced up at Yayoi. His face was red.

"What do you think, Yayoi?" he asked with a smirk.

"… It looks good on you…"

Yuiko turned to look at him, indignant. "He's sexy, isn't he Yayoi?! Even you have to think so!"

Yayoi mumbled something.

"What was that?"

"I said, 'If I were gay, I'd definitely hit that.''

They all broke out into a raucous laughing fit, and Ritsuka went back into the changing room to take off the suit. He brought it out and told the shop keeper that it was the one.

"Can you keep it here for me until the day of the wedding? I don't want my fiance seeing it."

"Of course. We'll keep it in the back for you. And you get a discount, because it's for a wedding. Instead of $500 to rent it for a day, we'll give it to you for $250."

"Okay. Can I pay for that now?"

"Yes, of course."

He withdrew his wallet from his jeans pocket and pulled out a wad of cash. Yuiko and Yayoi's eyes widened as he counted out the said amount and replaced the rest in his wallet.

"Where did you get all of that, Ritsuka-kun?!"

"I've been saving most of each of my paychecks," he said simply. "I didn't want Soubi to have to pay for this."

"You're such a romantic, Ritsuka-kun!" Yuiko wailed. She turned on Yayoi. "Why don't you do things like that?!"

Yayoi glared at Ritsuka. He smiled, embarrassed, and mouthed, sorry. They're so cute, he thought.

The trio left the shop and Yuiko asked, "Ritsuka-kun, what are Yayoi and I supposed to wear?"

Ritsuka hadn't really thought about it much. "Uh… I don't know. What do bridesmaids and best men usually wear?"

"Well, they usually wear one of the colors of the wedding. What are yours?"

"Purple and silver."

"Ooh! I have a pretty silver dress. I could wear that, if that's ok, Ritsuka. And Yayoi can rent a suit with a silver tie and vest."

Ritsuka nodded. He would be completely lost without Yuiko. "Thank you for all of your help, Yuiko. I wouldn't know what I was doing if it weren't for you."

Yuiko beamed. "It's just my job."

With that, the three friends parted ways, and Ritsuka walked home quickly, eager to see Soubi, his life, his love, his passion. Only twenty three more days, he thought, and I'll be his for all of eternity.