The Black Wedding
Cast:
Cure Black, Misumi Nagisa - age 21
Misumi Tsutomu - Nagisa's husband - age 23
Cure White, Yukishiro Honoka - age 21
Shiny Luminous, Kujou Hikari - age 19
Cure Bloom / Cure Bright, Hyuuga Saki - age 19
Cure Dream, Yumehara Nozomi - age 17
Cure Mint, Akimoto Komachi - age 19
Dark PreCure, Tsukikage Sumire - age 17
Misumi Ryouta - Nagisa's brother - age 14
Misumi Tomoe - Nagisa's sister - age 4
Hyuuga Minori - Saki's sister - age 14
Mishou Kazuya - Cure Egret's brother - age 22
Dorodoron, Tsuchimonji Domon - age 24
Coco, Kokoda Kouji - age 24
Nuts, Kokoda Natsu - age 22
Cobraja, Kuchinawa Masaru - age 23
Shirabe Otokichi - age 59
October, 2010
By tradition, the bride does not see the groom on the day of the wedding before the actual event. While it would be a considerable stretch to call the upcoming event 'traditional', Nagisa has enough to worry about that this particular tradition makes things a little easier. For example, the fact that her wedding dress is more of a layered costume. Even having spent the previous day going over the event's script, the elaborate theatrics caused such problems in rehearsal that the original dressmaker has come in to alter the dress at the last minute.
Said dressmaker, Kuchinawa Masaru of Cobraja Fashion Designs, bears only a little responsibility in this situation. Even though the theme wedding was her bridegroom's idea to begin with, Nagisa has been so deeply involved in planning this even this sort of problem can be considered a result of her own recklessness. The dressmaker's- protege? -a high school girl who seems to always wear exactly one elbow-length glove, regardless of the time and place, practically pushed the man into it, saying "how often does one get the chance to sew a wedding dress?" It's not like she hasn't taken responsibility, since she is also present and helping with the final adjustments.
Even having been called in at the last minute, the ribbons that must be adjusted are integral to a stunt he personally considers hilarious. Cobraja does so without complaint.
Several rooms away, Honoka, who would be maid of honor were she not already married, discusses other last minute arrangements with the best man. Among other things, one of the bridesmaids has been stood up and needs an escort at the last minute. This problem and others are quickly addressed, mostly thanks to Honoka. The best man struggles to keep up with her wide variety of skills and acquaintances. He is a great deal more confident and capable than he was only a few years ago, but Dorodoron is still Dorodoron.
Indeed, as he is in the midst of boastfully insisting that he can find a guy to escort that bridesmaid, Dorodoron's phone chitters, distracting him. Even with a spider-like toku mask obscuring his face, it is obvious that the words on the screen have dealt a blow to his spirit.
"My girlfriend just dumped me."
In a way, this also counts as a solution.
The signal is given, and the organist begins to play. An older man with an unusually curled mustache, his son-in-law is another friend of the groom. The wedding march that begins has dark overtones, in keeping with the theme of the wedding.
The first bridesmaid to enter is Cure Dream. Even though Nagisa graduated from Lilium Girls School a few weeks before Nozomi began attending, Nozomi's involvement in all spheres of school activity soon brought them into contact, and they have become good friends. Nozomi's dress is crimson trimmed with black, patterned in an elaborate gothic design, with a black lace choker and a black headdress trimmed with silk roses. Her hair has grown longer since middle school, but she is wearing hair extensions to make the proper effect. She is escorted by Kokoda Kouji, formerly her teacher and now secretly her betrothed. Coco's costume consists of a black suit with violet stripes down the sides, with a silver-white cape, bracers, and belt. When they reach the stage, they separate, walk to opposite sides, then wait while the ceremony proceeds.
The next couple to enter in the procession is Saki and her fiance, Kazuya. Being similarly ambitious, Tsutomu and Kazuya are on good enough terms that Kazuya is one of several groomsmen. For today, Saki has been persuaded to style herself as Cure Bright, rather than her favored title, and the Moon is the theme for both of their outfits. Kazuya wears long-sleeved black robes with pale yellow trim and an ornamental monocle. Saki wears a long black dress with similarly pale ribbons and lace. Her hair is styled vertically, with her orange-red hair spiking out in all directions, and she carries a masquerade mask with a leporine aspect. They also walk to opposite sides of the stage.
Following them are Ryouta and Minori. Technically, Minori is not Ryouta's girlfriend. She even declined his invitation when he first asked, only changing her mind when she heard about the occult theme of the wedding. Ryouta is wearing a white suit with a pale blue tie. Minori is costumed in the role of a fallen magical girl. Specifically, she has received her sister's old Cure Bloom dress as a hand-me-down, modified with black frills in place of white and glossy black hearts which were originally pink. A pair of custom contact lenses make her gaze appear glassy and vacant. At the foot of the stage, Ryouta pauses to pull out a small obsidian disc that he swings before Minori's face like a pendulum. Minori's movements stiffen, and she quite intentionally enacts a more deeply enthralled Cure Bloom as she separates from Ryouta and they take their places on the stage.
The maid of honor is Hikari. The villain-themed design for Shiny Luminous is split vertically down the middle, a dress that is pink with yellow ribbons on one side and black with white ribbons on the other. She has even attached a fake black braid on one side, opposite the golden one that is braided from her real hair. As a result of being stood up by yet another now-ex-boyfriend, Hikari is escorted by the best man, whose situation mirrors her own. Aside from the toku mask, he is actually dressed in an almost ordinary tuxedo... if tuxes were ordinarily bright blue.
With all the last minute preparations, Honoka barely makes it to her seat ahead of Nagisa's entrance. Being already married, she is not a bridesmaid, but Cure White is still dressed to match the theme. Her dress is light blue with white embroidery, with long loose sleeves and a hem that seems to float just above the ground, along with a wide brimmed white witch's hat. Next to her, Kouya wears a black suit with pale blue trim, unusually constructed in that buttons are the only fasteners. He is only a little taller than Honoka, and is not taller than her hat, which is why he is wearing a hat himself, a black stovepipe hat trimmed in the same pale blue as his suit, and likewise adorned with buttons. Honoka's hat is just barely taller.
Once Hikari and Dorodoron reach the stage, they also split to either side. Out of all those up there, they are closest to where the bride and groom will stand. The organist changes music, several forceful chords bridging the gap as the march slows into the darker tempo that accompanies the activation of the fog machines and the appearance of the groom.
Appearing through a cloud of mechanically generated fog, Tsutomu is wearing a long black robe with scarlet trim and ornamental lacing. He carries a walking stick topped with a red painted carving of a serpentine dragon, and he has applied hair extensions to his Fu Manchu mustache. Upon surmounting the stage, he raps the walking stick against the platform three times. This is followed by a thunderclap, and flashing lights... all staged, of course, but one could easily forget that this man is an ordinary college student who plans to take the civil service exam.
Beneath his costume and theater makeup, Tsutomu is sweating heavily. He has not seen his wife-to-be since the day before. No exam has ever terrified him like the idea that Nagisa may have changed her mind.
The music transitions to a traditional bridal march, and Nagisa enters.
No part of her body is visible within her immaculately white dress. A sheer white veil covers her face, with heavier veils drawn back over her hair and the rest of her hair. Her hands are covered by pink gloves, which protrude from long, puffy, white sleeves that are tied at intervals by white ribbons all the way up to her collar. Similar ribbons are visible down the sides of the dress, almost to the long skirts and petticoats that hide her feet entirely from view. She walks down the aisle at a stately pace, escorted by her father, who is wearing an ordinary three-piece suit. Reaching the steps, she ascends gracefully to the stage, still without revealing her feet.
Tsutomu steps forward, his arms held high. When he speaks, his voice echoes from the speakers placed throughout the room.
"You have come to me, Nagisa, as I knew you would! All of my toil, all of the planning, days and nights of gut-wrenching terror! All of it was for this moment! Now, you are here with me, and I am here with you! Nothing else matters beyond this. And now..."
He taps his walking stick against the floor. The artificial lightning and thunder return on cue.
"And now, my dearest, you must marry me!"
"No, Tsutomu..." Her voice echoes from the speakers as readily as his did.
Nagisa steps forward, holding her arms out on either side, while Nozomi and Hikari sweep in from behind her. Starting from the bows where her sleeves met her wrists, they untie the ribbons and pull.
And pull.
All of the white ribbons that have been tied in small bows from her wrists to her shoulders are actually two single ribbons on either side, which gradually come undone as the two bridesmaids continued to pull them loose, splitting the white dress open-
On Nozomi's side only. On Hikari's side, in spite of all of the last minute adjustments, the ribbons get caught just as they had in practice.
"Not again!" Honoka gasps in exasperation. She was present to see this happen repeatedly during rehearsals, and nearly gets out of her seat to aid the bridesmaids.
At the last moment, Hikari turns so that her back is to the audience. She turns back a moment later, having produced a pair of scissors from somewhere on her person. A moment later, the snagged ribbon is cut. The rest of the bows come undone as the pair quickly pull them loose, and Nagisa's white dress splits open.
Underneath it, she is wearing another wedding dress. This one is less traditional, fits her better, and from collar to hem is mostly black. Pink lace trims the edges, and a pink sash adorned with a heart-shaped buckle hangs from her waist. As she steps out of the bottom half of the white dress, her feet become visible for the first time, clad in glossy black high heels.
She tosses aside her veil and headdress, revealing her bright orange hair topped by a glittering tiara.
"No, Tsutomu! It is you who must marry me!"
Tsutomu steps close to her with a grin on his face. "With pleasure!"
The rest of the ceremony mostly follows the traditional script.
Among the seated guests, one other PreCure of Nozomi's generation is present, Cure Mint. Nozomi has heard that Tsutomu regularly asks Nuts to recommend books, and that, or possibly alcohol, is the foundation of their friendship. Unlike Nozomi, Komachi is openly engaged: her diamond ring sparkles visibly on her hand. She will be getting married in six months time. Not being a bridesmaid, Komachi's simple dark green dress only lightly touches the wedding theme.
Throughout the spectacle, she has been taking notes at a rather frenetic pace. At this rate, Nagisa's wedding might become a horror novel.
Even this supervillain-themed wedding does not dispense with the rituals of the bouquet and the garter. The bridesmaids are quick to gather all of the girls and unmarried ladies from the crowd, including the dark-haired high school girl who seems to be in a state of shock and steadily mimes cutting with scissors with her fingers.
Minori catches the bouquet, and is ambushed immediately afterward by Komachi, notepad in hand. Komachi is especially interested in how Minori got roped into playing a hypnotized thrall despite being a bridesmaid, but Minori lets on that she actually really enjoyed it. The custom contact lenses that made her gaze look unusually glassy and vacant were even her own idea.
A similar gathering is orchestrated for the garter, this time without any shell-shocked high-schoolers. The garter flies high and ends up striking Coco in the face.
After the rituals, there is still music and dancing, as well as cake. As one of the younger girls present, Minori has difficulty finding a partner, especially since Ryouta has seemingly vanished. As she stands and watches other dance, she feels a tug at the hem of her skirt. Looking down, he sees Misumi Tomoe, who is wearing a black dress that makes her look like a four year old version of her sister, except that Tomoe's dress has a stronger emphasis on pink ribbons and includes a frilly little hat. She seems to have something to say, so Minori kneels down. After looking around carefully to be sure that the neither of her older siblings are nearby, Tomoe draws close and whispers into Minori's ear.
"You like big bro, right? I can be your cupid!"