One day to the dream wedding
"This really is the dumbest idea of all."
Disgruntled, Mamoru looked at his cards hidden from the others, slamming them down on the table with an offended grunt
"I check."
"Mamoru, we're all with you and will make sure that Fake Unazuki is always with one of us. Only at the wedding ceremony will we discreetly move her to the bridesmaids' side and say afterwards that she had to leave immediately. All this will never come out, I'll make sure of that."
With a wink to Minako's friend, who was sitting right next to him, Motoki put his two cents in.
"I raise."
Disillusioned, Alan looked first at his cards and then at his barely-there stack of game chips in front of him
"I fold. Hah, there goes that expensive engagement ring for Minako. Hopefully her costume jewelry will do for now."
"Alan, don't even try. My sympathy for you is completely limited. Last time you whined just like that and then totally ripped us all off in the end. Kobayashi, you're up."
With a raised eyebrow, Motoki now looked at his former fellow student. The one addressed looked up, somewhat confused, and then held up three cards.
"Well, foul on you."
Motoki let his gaze wander further into the round, which ultimately lingered on Ryo. Challengingly, he grinned at him
My money's on Ace-King with you."
A slight sigh came from the shy man.
"Motoki... Do you actually have any deeper meaning in your slogans, or do you think you can deduce my grandfather's middle name from the texture of my shoelaces like Sherlock Holmes?"
"Oh yes my dear Ryo, you are just jealous of my psychic abilities. I know besides the fact that you have an unspeakably lucky hand right now, for example, that tomorrow's wedding will be a complete success."
Now Rei's friend also interfered and revealed his concerns
"I hope you're right, because if we were laying cards instead of poker right now, Mamoru's future would be really bleak."
"Yuichiro, stop with your temple-inspired doom and gloom. Why don't you make some good luck ribbons for the bride and groom? I've already taken away your entire monthly earnings tonight, because you're as open as a book. Lucky you are at least fucking rich and don't need the pay. Whereas I do wonder sometimes why you still get paid for heating Rei's bath water up on a regular basis."
"I just do it so she can relax. I care for the needs of the woman I love more than anything else in this world."
"Careful, he's bluffing."
Alan muttered conspiratorially to Mamoru as he raised his index finger slightly and extended it in the direction of the shaggy-haired temple priest. Yuichiro looked conspicuously unhappy at his cards.
The groom of tomorrow merely raised an eyebrow
"I don't know, to me it could just be the truth the way this one looks. Mhm... really hard to read that guy. Unlike Umino, Yuichiro really is a more complex fellow."
"What's that supposed to mean, please?"
Naru's long-term friend gave Mamoru a nasty look
"Well, that it's obvious from the tip of your nose whether you have a good hand or not."
Motoki didn't make a face at his words and quietly thought to himself exactly what the rest of the illustrious poker group had in mind as well
Umino's cards were always reflected in the huge lenses of his glasses, which regularly helped the other players to win against him. Now, too, he made a typical general error by standing up and loudly exclaiming
"In the name of the flop, the turn, and the sacred river... ALL IN!"
Motoki only acknowledged his desperate action with a mild smile
"Brave Umino, very brave... With a triplet!"
The young man with glasses nearly dropped everything from his face at Motoki's revealing words... His face color changed to a rich shade of red within milliseconds
"You sorcerer! How do you do that?"
The rest of the guys just had to roar with laughter at this, which only made Umino more suspicious
"There's cheating going on here! You are all in cahoots! But just wait, I'll figure out how you do it... and then you'll wish you had never cheated. Because the good Lord sees everything, ha!"
Somehow Umino had spoken something true... although no one wanted to admit it at that moment. Especially not Mamoru, who now directed a rather skeptical look at the real doll sitting across from him.
Motoki had already picked up the bridesmaid's dress from the bridal store that morning, and had dressed Randy Reika immediately when he arrived back at Mamoru's penthouse. As a matter of course she sat together with the boys as a dinner partner since then.
Thanks to the usual wedding custom that the bride and groom are not allowed to spend the night together on the day before their wedding, Usagi had made herself comfortable for one last evening with her girlfriends at Hikawa Temple, while the men had opted for a leisurely round of poker at the penthouse. Including real doll, but according to Motoki, that was already somehow part of the inventory of their illustrious company.
Tomorrow would be the day of his wedding. And also the final farewell to Randy Reika. It sounded more dramatic than it really was; she was only supposed to serve as an Unazuki copy and substitute for the wedding ceremony and then go back to her box. While the wedding photos would be taken of the bride and groom, Motoki would unobtrusively pack the doll into his car and drive with her the short distance to the harbor. In an unobserved moment, she would then be pushed into the harbor basin. Far away from all surveillance cameras.
So everything was perfectly planned. Well, at least in Motoki's opinion.
As Mamoru turned to his best friend, their eyes met and simultaneously it came from their lips
"I calle."
Satisfied, Motoki sat back and revealed his hand
"Well, I guess you have to lay your cards on the table, Mamoru. Then you can also admit at the same time that I'm the greatest poker player the world has ever seen... Full House!"
Motoki grinned confidently at himself, but was immediately proven wrong when Mamoru took off his poker face and grinned disarmingly at him while showing his cards.
"Royal flush my dear!"
Whoever had put on the best poker face here was far from being out of the game... Only THAT Mamoru did not know yet.
————————-
The day of the dream wedding
"Hurry Mamoru, the coast is clear!"
The groom, along with his best man and the pimped out and solemnly dressed rubber doll, best concealed in a cardboard box decorated with a thick red ribbon, dashed down the hallway to the elevator. As the doors closed, Motoki took one deep breath in and out
"Okay, I talked to Unazuki on the phone again. She can hardly get down from the toilet and only feeds on tea, water and soup... if it stays in. Sounds a lot like noro virus if you ask me."
Mamoru grimaced in disgust at Motoki's words.
"I didn't want to know that exactly, but well, if she's out of action, we can actually bring the doll to the wedding, just... What exactly are you going to tell Usako and the others?"
"Don't you worry about that. I've come up with an absolutely ingenious plan and already explained it to you in large parts yesterday. First, I told Unazuki and the girls this morning that I was able to book a substitute bridesmaid through the bridal store who bears a strong resemblance to her, and second, as the best man, I have the power over the photos. I have already discussed everything with the photographer and explained to him the somewhat messed up situation. He will retouch the photos as if it were Unazuki in the pictures. Have I also mentioned the fact that the substitute is deaf and dumb?"
Mamoru's mouth remained open at so much ingenuity. Thoughtfully, he looked at the digital display of the floors they were descending in the elevator one after the other. To his great relief, the elevator did not stop at the first floor, but continued blithely down to the underground parking garage. As the doors opened and both friends entered the deserted underground parking garage, Mamoru finally found his voice again
"So if this all really works out the way you told me, we'd finally be rid of them without Usagi ever getting wind of the whole thing?"
Satisfied, Motoki looked at Mamoru while blindly maneuvering the doll into the trunk of his car
"That's right!"
Remorse suddenly began to gnaw at Mamoru as he took a seat next to Motoki and fastened his seatbelt
"To be honest, I find it hard to believe that I'll be taking a Real Doll to my own wedding ceremony. But what if it all comes out in the end? Oh, maybe I should just tell Usagi the truth, I never wanted there to be any secrets or lies between us in our marriage. Usagi is the best and most honest person I know. There will never be anyone else for me. She means everything to me... And so much more."
"Awww, you said that really nicely now, still-"
Motoki now put on a serious face again, sure of his plan
"we need to get rid of Randy Reika once and for all. Then we can all finally sleep easy."
Now Mamoru looked at his best man, somewhat puzzled
"We?"
"Of course WE... or do you think it's fun for me to constantly pretend in front of Reika that I've come up with a new, great surprise for you every day so that together we can really let loose in the last days of your bachelor existence? I actually wanted to take advantage of the time and do all kinds of fun guy stuff with you!"
"Didn't we kind of?"
Thinking about the last few days, which were more like an emotional roller coaster for the two friends, Motoki had to grin a little bit
"Well, somehow it was also quite funny, at least we experienced something together! One day we could tell our grandchildren ... errr, oh no rather not. Well, never mind. We'll be right there, by the way. Are you excited yet?"
Excited was actually the understatement of the year. Who, for heaven's sake, isn't nervous as hell just before their own wedding? And in Mamoru's case, there were even more aggravating circumstances. The normally calm, introverted young man was sweating his ass off and was quite happy that he didn't have his suit on for the wedding.
The wedding ceremony, well. Of course, a very special location had been chosen for the dream wedding of the year. The famous Embassy of the Kingdom of Jewels was a worthy backdrop for the dream couple Usagi and Mamoru. Right after his proposal, the first thing they had done was to book rooms in this very special building, as it was one of the hottest wedding venues in all of Tokyo and it was altogether quite hard to get hold of one of the hotly sought-after dates in the first place.
The embassy was a sort of white, multi-story, neoclassical style palace. On the first floor there were several large halls, each including smaller adjoining rooms for wedding parties. The first floor was used for conferences of all kinds, and the actual embassy was located on the upper floor. Even as Mamoru and Motoki drove the carriage through the large gate, which was richly decorated with gold leaf, they almost felt as if they had landed in some kind of modern Versailles
"Geez!" Motoki whistled through his teeth impressed "I didn't think the embassy was so imposing in reality. Have you been here before?"
"I actually attended a reception here once, including a masquerade ball. It's been a while, though. Come now, the girls and Usagi will be arriving next, Makoto just sent me a message that they are on their way. We can't lose any time and have to place the doll inconspicuously in the room where the wedding ceremony will take place later."
So much for Mamoru and Motoki's previously discussed strategy... if it weren't for the damned reality.
In high spirits, the two friends unloaded the box from the car and carefully pulled out the contents.
"Best take them in your arms, in case we run into someone on the way, we'll say that-"
With a raised eyebrow, Mamoru looked at Motoki
"What, that we're mushroom pickers? Or marine biologists?!"
Snubbed, Motoki looked back at Mamoru
"Nonsense! We're saying, of course, that you're going to marry your real doll here and now. Believe me, you're definitely not the first to come up with such a crazy idea. Just the other day I read in the newspaper that-"
"Motoki... just shut up."
Mamoru was fed up with the whole lie structure and camouflage. Mr. Akyama would also be present at his wedding ceremony. At the express wish of Usagi, who got along very well with the friendly doorman. Only how he should get out of this thing again with the story about the drunken fiancée, his fooling around in the elevator with her and the koi carp aquarium he did not know at the moment either.
One should simply not lie, because the truth always comes out.
He would tell Usagi everything even before they would be married. He just didn't want to start his marriage with her with a lie. Purified in his mind, Mamoru bravely carried Randy Reika through the impressive corridors of the embassy until they finally arrived at the large double doors to the "Hall of the Moon," today's ceremony hall for their wedding. Briefly, Mamoru set the doll down and stood behind her, somewhat exhausted.
"So, we'll go in there now and pick a nice spot for her. Then you'll have plenty of time to change and freshen up."
With these words, Motoki grabbed the two handles of the French doors and pushed them wide open.
At that exact moment, something green and pinkish flew through the air in a high arc and landed right in his hands.
"A bouquet of flowers?"
Puzzled, Motoki looked first at the bouquet, which was in pale pink and embroidered with pearls, and then in complete bewilderment at the loose hundred pairs of eyes that were looking at him in complete surprise. Well, not all of them were looking at him in surprise, a not exactly small percentage of young, female, unmarried pairs of eyes with associated women were staring at him in a mix of anger, disappointment and jealousy. One, however, seemed more than relieved that she hadn't caught the bridal bouquet.
That is, the very bouquet that Motoki now held in his hands.
Quickly, he tried to look at Mamoru, but couldn't see him at all to communicate the next action with him through his eyes, as he was looking straight into the dark green glass eyes of Mamoru's rubber doll instead of ocean blue ones.
Somehow he had to save the whole thing!
Shortly decided Motoki sank on his knees and held the bouquet of flowers to the sex doll with trembling hands. How was that again when he proposed to Reika? Ah yes, right!
"My dearest Reikaaaauuunazuki... we... have known each other now... oh yes... already... well, a little ... sort of, so... Uhhh"
God, how the hell do you propose to a Real Doll who has your fiancée's name on her (and is boldly tattooed above her butt as a tramp stamp), has the sinful body of a famous porn actress, and has the lovely, innocent face of your baby sister?!
"What I'm saying is..."
In the background he could already hear voices mumbling amusedly and half contemptuously something like "he doesn't dare" and "loser!" or "better practiced in front of the mirror before",
then he took heart, reached with his free hand for the ring box for the bride and groom whose best man he actually was today, and held out Usagi's wedding ring to the real doll.
"The truth is that I want to spend my whole life with you and as a token of my eternal commitment and love, I want you to have this ring...w-will you be my doll...? er I mean... wife?"
At this, the whole hall held its breath.
Including Motoki, Mamoru, and obviously the Real Doll, who looked down at him silently while Mamoru continued to hold her unobtrusively from behind.
Motoki was sweating like hell. He hadn't even thought that far in his spontaneous leaps of thought, that yes, she would have to answer him. So no matter how, but an answer... a reaction expected here EVERYONE and while all eyes on the duo - which was actually a trio, or not, depending upon view evenly - stared spellbound, the unbelievable happened.
The doll formed its lips and suddenly emitted a sound well known to Mamoru and Motoki
"Give it to me!"
"Uhhh... what?"
Completely perplexed, Motoki was still kneeling on the ground while Mamoru shifted about faster than his best friend. Quickly, he rushed over to help him. In his very own way
"She means the ring and the bouquet, you idiot!"
"What? Oh... ahhh!"
In the next moment the ring was already stuck on the finger, whereupon the doll again made the lips synchronously to her following exclamation
"Yes yes yes oh YES!"
A clapping sound was heard by Motoki as if through a fog around him, while he got up from the floor and embraced Mamoru's doll heartily. Bride style, he unceremoniously lifted her up, waved in a pompously happy manner to the now applauding and whistling crowd... and froze when he looked into an all too familiar face
Panicking, he turned to Mamoru, who was still standing beside him
"The... the inspector! There! The bride's father is... the guy from the health department !!!!"
Like maniacs, they ran. Motoki gasped horribly under the weight of the doll. Somehow they had to park her inconspicuously until the wedding ceremony. But where? The wedding hall was already completely omitted as a storage place, since quite obviously before their wedding a wedding was already in full swing. Quickly they needed another, good, better! Idea!
"Come on, let's go up to the second floor. There are a lot of empty conference rooms. I bet there's nothing going on there this weekend."
The two wedding crashers stormed up the stairs to the second floor at Mamoru's suggestion and finally came to a loud gasping halt in front of a large oak door. Carefully, Mamoru pushed down the door handle, but the door was locked. So were the next three doors they tried their luck on.
"That's useless!" Mamoru was about to give up and turn back, when Motoki grabbed the doorknob from the backmost room on that floor and opened the door.
As luck would have it, they once again saw a familiar face.
"Hey, but what are you doing here? I know you guys!"
The track guy from Yoyogi Park looked at the three of them a bit puzzled... and with him about a hundred other people, all of them dressed in the most dazzling... latex clothes. Some had leather caps on, some were even masked with balaclavas. A whip could be heard cracking in the background
"But... What...?"
Motoki stammered, completely taken off guard by the rather disturbing sight that presented itself to him and Mamoru, most of which was studded with rivets, rakes, and grommets. The people seemed as if they would start throwing a sadomaso party at any moment.
Looking at Randy Reika in Mamoru's hands, the track guy obviously saw the light for the reason of the unexpected arrival of the new guests
"Are you guys here for the awards ceremony or what? We were told that there was a very special trophy for this year in the course of our "Andrews Cross Run". It's amazing that they thought of a Real Doll. It must have been expensive, guys!"
Motoki still didn't understand a single word while the track guy whistled through his teeth appreciatively as he took a closer look at Randy Reika
"Uhhh, Andrews Cross run?"
The two friends gazed in disbelief at the gaggle of the most bizarre birds of paradise in S attire they had ever laid eyes on. The track guy, who was dressed today in some sort of black jogging latex full body suit, rolled his eyes and then explained to the two obtuse men in front of him
"Yes but of course! In addition to the professional runners, there are every year also a lot of different groups that may also participate in the cross-country race. So also our club... us, that is by the way the "Golden Gais & Friends"... ah, and there comes our president."
"Well you two pretties?"
Mamoru was shocked to the core when he turned around and looked, to his horror, into the heavily made-up face of "Golden Thunder". It was hard to believe, but the gilded yakuza liver sausage drag queen had actually made it from his nightmare straight into reality
"Wahhhhhhhhh !!!"
Screaming, he ran off with the doll in his hand and yelled over his shoulder to his best friend, who remained rooted to his current position
"Motoki, pick up your legs and run as fast as you can!"
Golden Thunder eyed the highly nervous blond man in front of him with interest
"You want to go already? But Lovelies, can't you stay a little longer and keep us company? In a moment, the "Naughty Naru" will make her grand entrance, and you must not miss it under any circumstances. There it will bang properly. Rrrrrrr."
"Uhhh... m-maybe next time, I have to rush to a wedding now... g-goodbye!"
Motoki nimbly ran after Mamoru, who had already stopped one floor up in front of a large window in the hallway, completely exhausted. With effort, he slipped the wedding ring intended for Usagi off Randy Reika's left silicone ring finger
"Okay, there's no point to any of this, I'll just throw it out the window now, it's just the backyard on that side anyway, right?"
Before Motoki could say anything back to him, Mamoru had already opened the window wide and was about to hoist the doll over the ledge, when the two heard voices below them
"Ah, this place looks really splendid, Hina. This would actually be the perfect place for our wedding... oh um, but what?"
Slightly confused, the Mamoru-Motoki hybrid from the speedboat in Gyeon Park first looked at the two/three protagonists above him, but then decided to wave cheerfully to them
"Oh hey, hello, there's the woman and her lifesaver from the park! How are you? Are you going to a wedding today?"
Puzzled Motoki also stuck his head out of the window
"Oh uhh yes yes, my best friend here is getting married today and we two are part of the wedding party."
"Well then we wish you all the best for the future, this is one hell of a location. And do me a favor and say „yes yes yes oh YES", okay? Ahahahaha!"
Mamoru stuck his head back in and looked desperately at his best friend
"Motoki, this is never going to work. We just can't get rid of her! I'm going to go down there and tell Usagi the whole truth."
"But-"
"Nothing but! I can't build a marriage on a foundation of lies! It's over. Come on, let's go."
A thousand things went through Mamoru's mind on his walk to Canossa while carrying the Real Doll on his hands. Fear was a predominant feeling in this. Usagi would surely divide him in two. At least verbally she would take him apart properly. But it did not help anything.
Courageously he knocked against the heavy wooden door of one of the adjoining rooms of their booked wedding hall. When there was no answer, he pushed down the door handle and entered the room armed with the rubber doll.
To his surprise, it was deserted. Only a few candles in two golden candlesticks in the two corners on the other side were burning, illuminating the otherwise dark room.
"Mhm, aren't they here yet or what?"
Curious, Motoki slipped inside as well and inspected the room, frowning slightly
"So back there in the corner, the doll wouldn't even be that tooo noticeable. Let's park it there for now. You don't have to jump right in with your explanation."
With these words Motoki grabbed the doll and carried it to the other side of the room. He grabbed a red velvet blanket from a chaise lounge and unceremoniously threw it over the Real Doll.
This was not a second too soon, as several voices were already approaching their room. Mamoru and Motoki looked at each other
"It's the bridesmaids!"
"And the boys!"
Immediately, a whole bulk of wedding guests marched through the room; Rei, Makoto, Ami, Minako, Naru, and Reika formed the vanguard, immediately followed by Kobayashi, Ryo, Yuichiro, Alan, and Umino.
All of them, unlike Motoki and Mamoru, had already dressed up and looked quite fantastic. Before the two friends could say anything - in greeting, for example - a not-yet-dressed Usagi burst in the door. Appropriately, she was wearing the sports clothes that Randy Reika had previously worn in the forest. The "just do it!" saying Mamoru recognized immediately and prayed fervently that Usagi would behave true to this motto and let the wedding take place anyway, despite the truth that was about to come to light.
"Mamo-Chan there you are!"
A little out of breath, she looked at her future husband. If Mamoru hadn't known better, he would have thought that she had put on a slightly contrite face. But that didn't matter now, he had to tell her the truth here and now. Next to the covered doll, a door to the park of this beautiful mansion stood slightly open. A possible escape route if things did go completely wrong.
"Usako. I'm glad you're here, because there's something I really need to tell you before we get married."
Now Usagi was a bit surprised and looked curiously at her groom.
"Yes, what Mamo-Chan?"
Mamoru gathered all his courage and grabbed his fiancée's hands
"Something happened at the Bachelor party that has been bothering me ever since. Call it a more than strange and unfortunate coincidence."
Big question marks were literally written on Usagi's face now
"But, what exactly happened at your bachelor party?"
It's now or never, Mamoru!
"I received a gift from an old friend named Richard from America, who I used to hang out with every now and then during my semester abroad."
Now Usagi was quite bright-eyed. So were all her friends, who had gathered around her and were listening intently to Mamoru's tale.
"That guy... Richard... he misunderstood something terribly back then because I never - and I swear this as true as I stand here - shared the same passion as he did. He was in bed with someone else every night and wanted me to "enjoy myself" as well ... but I never did! Never ever!!!"
"Mamo-Chan, I..."
"No Usako, please don't say anything now but just listen to me. You are the most precious and important thing in my life and I never wanted, want and will even look at another woman!"
Deeply Mamoru breathed in and out. So far, Usagi's complexion was still as it had been at the beginning of his somewhat confused explanation, so there was probably quite some hope that she might take the unspeakable gift in stride after all.
"I just want you to know that before I show you what Richard gave me."
Mamoru let go of Usagi's hands. Slowly, he walked backwards across the room, his gaze still fixed on his fiancée
"He totally misunderstood something and probably only meant well but-"
"Mamo-Chan!"
Mamoru had finally arrived at the doll, turned to face it, swallowed hard, and then lifted the velvet blanket off the doll with a spirited tug.
After that everything happened at once
The frightened faces of Usagi and the girls when the artificial image of Unazuki looked at them were only the beginning. But before anyone could even say anything to the doll, Mamoru's slightly clumsy action caused the candlestick next to the Real Doll to wobble and finally fall on top of Fake Unazuki Reika along with the burning candles. Within seconds the candles started a fire on the doll and a poisonous stench spread immediately... and with it sheer panic
"She's on fire! She's on fire! Unazuki is burning!!!"
all the men shouted madly, racing around the room like startled chickens, gesticulating wildly and making no sense at all. Makoto was finally the first of the girls to wake up from her state of shock. She quickly grabbed the fire extinguisher right next to her and raced toward the rubber doll engulfed in bright flames
"Get out of the way Mamoru, I'll handle this!"
she yelled with wild determination, aiming at the flaming doll
Within seconds, half the room was covered by the white foam of the fire extinguisher and the fire was extinguished. Fortunately, no other objects had been affected by the flames.
Unfortunately, the same could not be said for Randy Reika. It had burned to the ground. Only the sad steel frame covered with foam suggested that there had once been some sort of human body with silicone skin covering in a custom-made festive robe.
Mamoru didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Slowly he turned around to his wedding party... until his eyes found his bride. The corners of her mouth twitched suspiciously, until all at once she began to laugh out loud at the top of her lungs
"Hahahahaha"
And with her all the female attendees as well. The male part of this illustrious celebration society looked back and forth from the burnt rubber doll to the groom and the girls, completely dumbfounded
"But... What...?"
Mamoru finally brought out. He wasn't really sure if they hadn't all gone crazy after all. Usagi wiped her tears of laughter from her face and finally turned around to the front door
"Unazuki, you can come now, the show is over."
The boys could hardly believe their eyes as the door opened and Motoki's beaming little sister came striding towards them in an immaculate bridesmaid robe. When her eyes fell on the remains of the doll, she went wide-eyed and crossed her arms reproachfully
"Say, was that really necessary? Why did you torch Randy Reika, then?"
Now Mamoru didn't understand anything. Well, nothing at all. Usagi finally walked up to her fiancé, and while putting on an apologetic expression that was more like that of a dachshund that had just eaten away all the barbecue stuff, she explained to him and the rest of the group of men
"Mamo-Chan... so the thing with the doll... that wasn't Richard's stupid idea... it was... ours."
"What?????"
"Well, thanks to Allan, I've known about your special roommate in America for ages."
"Allan?" snubbed Mamoru looked at his friend, who in turn looked slightly reproachfully at his girlfriend Minako
"There's really NOTHING to tell you in confidence, either."
For this, he only earned a slightly apologetic smile from Minako. Unmoved by Allan's comment for Usagi continued with her explanation
"I was sure that you would never be unfaithful to me, but disappointed that you didn't tell me about him at all, I was a bit. And then when you said that Motoki would throw a bachelor party for you, the likes of which Crown had never experienced, the idea formed that we could send you a very special gift to go with it. We had let Richard in on our plans, but somehow he was so freaked out that he said he would actually like to give you the gift himself. We were then responsible for the configuration and name of the Real Doll... Including the special features like a surveillance camera."
"Camera?"
It was more of an echo than a question from Mamoru. Suddenly, a light dawned on him as to why Usagi had always called in the most inopportune situations over the past few days... they had been spying on him and the others through the doll all the time!!!
"Yes, a waterproof camera to be exact, hidden in the right glass eye. Microphones were also built into it."
"Usako... are you telling me that you planned all this from the beginning?"
Mamoru was absolutely stunned. Never would he have even remotely assumed that his Usagi - who was actually usually as open as a book to him - would be capable of such an action.
"Well, not quite. We were just going to have a little fun with you at the bachelor party, but then you actually tried to get rid of that doll secretly... and that's when the whole thing kind of took went a little out of hand. We wanted to stop you guys much earlier and clear all this up, but every time we showed up, you guys took off or did the strangest things."
Now it was Motoki's turn to look a proper charlie
"You... you guys have been there? The whole time?" as he said this, the individual actions gradually came to his mind "The cleaners at the Crown... the people at the recycling center... the walkers in the park..."
"Yep. Were all us. Mamo-Chan. Are you very angry with me now?"
Angry? Mamoru, along with Motoki, had gotten himself into the biggest mess imaginable. He had tried EVERYTHING to get rid of the doll. And now Usagi was asking him if he was angry with her?
"Angry? Relieved is more like it. Infinitely even. I have to admit that it was a bit... unusual what you all did there, but... I probably had it coming to me."
A slight grin escaped Usagi's lips at his reply, and her eyes widened as Mamoru took her in his arms and looked at her urgently
"From now on, Usako... nothing shall come between us. Let's always be honest with each other and please... marry me now."
Usagi looked deep into her groom's eyes, and before kissing him, she promised
"From now on, there will never be any secrets between us... I love you."
It was almost all the slightly premature ceremony, with all the bridesmaids and groomsmen here in this slightly demolished room... but there was one thing that had to be cleared up before the wedding.
"Uhhh... and what are we going to do with the remains of the doll?"
A legitimate question from Yuichiro was that, to which Motoki came up with a rather unusual answer...
——————-
Dear readers! It's almost finished... but of course there is an epilogue coming. I hope you liked it so far. If, let me know an send me a comment / review / like - whatever comes into your mind.
Love
Danni-Bunny