Chapter 19: Epilogue
Meroko POV:
On a coffee table, near the entrance of the large and beautiful house in the wealthy suburbs of Tokyo, sat a gold framed portrait of a traditional Japanese bride and groom. They stood, smiling, under a great red pagoda, sakura blossoms floating around them. The sweet memories were forever captured in time and serving as a reminder of that special day for all who attended, including myself. The couple were Mitsuki and Takuto, married a year after Takuto's grand proposal on stage at the end of their first ever joint tour. They chose to do it at the very shrine that Kousei had become a priest at and he had performed the marriage ceremony for them! I didn't think it would be possible, but Mitsuki and Kousei remained friends after everything that happened, even to this day. I smiled to myself, thinking about how wonderful the past six years had been for my dear friends. I had been watching over them evey day and watching their lives unfold; their music careers had skyrocketing success and were still going strong, their family had grown… I suddenly heard the pitter patter of little feet on hardwood floors behind me. I turned to see a little girl of four years old, wearing a pink dress and dark-haired pigtails, running around with a very determined look on her face. She seemed to be in a hurry, looking for something.
"Satsuki," called Mistuki as she headed for the entrance of the house, holding a chubby baby boy in her arms who was just a little over a year old by now, "Our guests are here, come to the door so we can greet them!"
"I'm coming, Mama! I just have to find my treasure!" the little girl replied excitedly as she pulled out a folded up piece of paper from a toybox. She beamed with a satisfied smile as she looked at it and then dashed for the door as Mistuki pulled it open.
"Hi! Welcome Wakaoji's!" Mitsuki said cheerfully.
"It is so good to see you! Wow, Takeshi is getting so big!" Wakaoji sensei said.
"I know, right?! Soon he will be keeping up with the others!" Mitsuki said.
"We brought pudding for dessert!" said Ooshige.
"Oh my, it looks great! Please, come on in!" Mistuki said and the couple came in. Behind them followed Hiroyuki, now a handsome boy of nine years old resembling his father, and another little girl of six years old, Kiyomi, who looked like Ooshige.
"Hello Kira-san." The two children said in unison.
"Hello you two! Aaah, you are as cute as ever!" Mitsuki said swooping in for a group hug with kids. They giggled and hugged her back.
"Hello Doctor Wakaoji, Wakaoji-san! Hiro-kun, Kiyomi-chan! Want to play prince and princesses today?!" Satsuki piped in, the last part being directed to the kids of course.
"I call being Cinderella!" Kiyomi yelled running with Satsuki towards the backyard. Hiroyuki shrugged, following behind them less enthusiastically. The poor kid often got stuck playing this "lame girly game" as he called it but he tried not to complain too much since the girls would also play his favorite game afterwards.
"Hey! You guys are here! Come on to the patio, the food is almost ready." Takuto said, walking into the room from the kitchen. He had been making lunch for the whole group, Korean barbecue to be exact. The adults would eat first and then the kids would get their turn after some play time.
The adults sat down, catching up about their successful careers and so forth. I mainly liked following the kids around, making sure they stayed out of trouble. In the middle of their game, Satsuki pulled out from her dress pocket the piece of paper she had retrieved from her toy box earlier.
"Hiro-kun, this is for you!" she declared, handing it to the boy.
"Huh? For me? What is this?" he asked surprised.
"It's my precious treasure, I want you to have it!" Hiroyuki opened it curiously, and at seeing it his face turned red. I flew over to see what made him so flustered, it was a giant heart with wings and glitter and the words "I love you!" written in the middle. Satsuki was beaming.
"It's my heart! Because I love you, Hiro-kun! Now we can get married!" She cheered as she hugged him tightly. Hiroyuki looked super uncomfortable and Kiyomi was cracking up at the situation, "Hiro and Satsuki, sitting in a tree!" she taunted. The adults heard the commotion, everyone thought it was cute except Takuto who quickly came over and pulled his daughter off of his godson. "Hey little lady, you are way too young to be planning a wedding! Don't leave your papa behind at least for another 30 years!" he said flustered himself. I couldn't help but laugh at the scene. I could feel in my heart that these people I loved so much would continue to be happy as I watched over them for many more years to come.
THE END