"You look like you're about to piss your pants."

Nowaki jolted and turned away from the window of Miyagi's minivan to face Miyagi, who grinned back at him.

"Ha, I've never seen him like that before!" Akihiko teased from the backseat, leaning forward to lean against the center compartment.

"Ugh, shut up," Nowaki groaned, running a clammy hand through his hair. "I'm just a little nervous."

Nowaki shifted in the passenger seat uncomfortably, adjusting the jacket of his tuxedo. It was all black, of course, with a white shirt underneath and a black bowtie. There was a small blue flower pinned to the flap of his jacket collar, tiny fake droplets of dew on its petals. His wedding ring necklace was no longer around his neck, the ring having been taken by Misaki to give to Hiroki, whom Nowaki hadn't seen all day. It was very unsettling and irritating, and Nowaki absentmindedly gripped at his chest for the ring that was no longer there.

He felt evil for thinking about it, but he really hoped the kid who was going to be the ring bearer was old enough to understand the seriousness of the event. He highly doubted it, though- he was sure Hiroki's little nephew, Kyohei, was barely old enough to tie his shoes.

"Aw, don't worry about it, Nowaki. You look great and you're all cologne'd up and ready to go," Miyagi said encouragingly. "Besides, we're not heading straight to the community center, we're stopping to get a couple drinks first."

"I feel like James Bond," Nowaki grumbled, propping his elbow up on the armrest of the passenger door. "Who wears a bow tie anymore? I wish I had ties like yours."

Miyagi and Akihiko were dressed in identical tuxedos, except their ties were normal-sized and baby blue. Nowaki knew why they were colored that way- he had seen the men of honor uniforms- black pants with baby-blue button-up tops. However, he had no idea what Hiroki was going to wear. His thoughts strayed to the vision of Hiroki in a wedding dress. He nervously licked his lip. He had no idea if he would be able to keep control if he saw his precious soon-to-be husband in a dress.

"If you were wearing ties like ours, it wouldn't be you who would be getting married," Akihiko commented. Miyagi snorted.

"Yeah. Wanna trade ties with me, Nowaki?"

"Wait until your own wedding!" Nowaki barked, snapping his fiery gaze towards his best men.

"Jesus, Nowaki, we're just kidding. Don't make us drown you in vodka," Akihiko laughed, playfully punching Nowaki's shoulder.

"Ah… sorry, guys, this is just really stressful. When I woke up this morning, Hiro-san wasn't there to give me a good morning kiss," Nowaki sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. Akihiko and Miyagi immediately started to shout, teasing Nowaki's sentimental words. Nowaki tipped his head back a little and laughed. "Oh, shut up!"

"Yeah, Shinobu wasn't there when I woke up, either. He must have gone to kidnap Hiroki," Miyagi said after he had finished laughing. Nowaki nodded.

"I wouldn't doubt it. Do you guys know what they're doing today?" Nowaki asked.

"Misaki told me that they're all just going out to lunch, but that's all I got out of him. I doubt that's what they're actually doing," Akihiko said.

"What do you think they're doing, then?"

"Maybe they're talking about sex with us," Miyagi suggested.

"Exchanging sex stories?" Akihiko added.

"No, Hiro-san wouldn't do any of that," Nowaki said. He paused. "Maybe they're practicing kissing on each other."

Miyagi and Akihiko whooped and hollered, Miyagi smacking his palms on the steering wheel and Akihiko bouncing in his seat. Nowaki laughed and slapped his knee, leaning forward as his guffaws grew louder.

"Shinobu would have both of their asses beat," Miyagi said.

"Nah, Hiro-san is the best. His kisses go from soft to wild in less than a second."

"I'm always leading kisses with Misaki, so he's out," Akihiko said, smirking.

"Misaki would be the uke out of all three of them," Nowaki said, glancing back at Akihiko. Miyagi nodded.

"Who would be the seme: Kamijou or Shinobu?"

"Fuckin' Shinobu. He's the lewdest kid I've ever seen," Nowaki said immediately.

"You have no idea."

"Well, whatever they're doing, I'm sure it's perverted," Akihiko said.

"We'll have to get it out of them after the wedding," Nowaki said slyly.

"I bet I could get it out of Shinobu with just a kiss."

"I could get it out of Misaki just by touching him."

"I'd just have to look at Hiro-san."

The three semes immediately started arguing about who would be the better kisser, their voices getting louder and louder. Soon, they were at the bar, and the second their car doors opened, the argument ended. All three men considered themselves as the winner.

They walked towards the bar, their hands in their pants pockets as their unbuttoned jackets flapped in the slight wind. A group of nearby women stared at them as they passed, one of them nearly running into a pole.

"Why is it that I have every member of the opposite sex creaming their panties over me, yet I can't get Misaki to willingly kiss me?" Akihiko muttered, pursing his lips as he walked beside Nowaki.

"He'll warm up to you sooner or later," Miyagi commented from the other side of Nowaki.

Once inside the bar, Miyagi, Nowaki, and Akihiko ordered a few bottles of beer, then walked back outside so Miyagi and Akihiko could smoke.

"What do you think Hiro-san is doing now?" Nowaki asked as he absentmindedly swirled his beer bottle. He was leaning up against the hood of Miyagi's car, watching Akihiko and Miyagi stand in front of them with cigarettes hanging from their lips. Their already-finished beer bottles had been put in the trunk of Miyagi's car to be discarded later.

"Damn, Nowaki, just relax," Miyagi said, watching as wisps of smoke from his cigarette bent and swayed in time to the breeze.

"Yeah. Enjoy your little bachelor party," Akihiko said, smirking.

"Nnn. Sorry."

"We understand your anxiety, Nowaki. We're not judging you," Akihiko said, glancing down at his shoe and shaking a blade of grass off of the polished black toe.

"Nowaki," Miyagi said. Nowaki looked up. "The moment you see Hiroki walking down the aisle, you'll feel better. Trust me. I've done this marriage thing before. I barely even loved the woman, yet somehow when I saw her coming down the aisle for me, everything in the world seemed right again."

Nowaki took a deep breath.

"Okay. I'll try to relax. Thanks, guys."

"Of course."


Nowaki nervously reached for his eleventh cheese cube, his hands shaking as he raised it to his mouth. All around him, people were talking, all of whom were the family members of Hiroki. Normally, he would have no problem with talking to them. However, all of them had the legendary "Kamijou Brow", and their naturally scowling faces had sent Nowaki slinking to the corner of the large gathering room of the community center.

Of course Nowaki had invited people too, like several of his friends from the medical college. But he had yet to see any people that he knew besides Akihiko and Miyagi, who had left to find the men of honor and badger them about Hiroki's status.

"Kusama!"

Nowaki jumped nearly a foot in the air, the cheese cube in his mouth falling down the wrong tube. He coughed violently into his elbow until the cheese cube came back up and slid as a sharp lump down his throat. When he recovered, he looked up with watery eyes.

"When were ya' plannin' to invite me to yo' weddin', kid?"

Emiko smiled up at Nowaki as two men joined her at her flanks: Toshiyuki and Jun. All three were elegantly dressed, the men in dress clothes and Emiko in a black cocktail dress. Nowaki glanced at her hair.

"You cut your hair," he stated stupidly. Emiko pursed her lips and reached up to fluff up her hair, which had been cut short and feathered out at the tips.

"Hoo boy, you must be one nervous sonuva bitch if that's the first thing that you noticed abou' me," Emiko whistled. Toshiyuki and Jun grinned at her sides. Nowaki gulped and looked down at Emiko's hand, where he found a wedding band on her ring finger. His eyebrows raised.

"Hey… you're married," he mumbled, pointing to her wedding ring. Emiko blinked.

"Well, I was wonderin' if you'd ask why we're here, but if you wanna know, then yes, I am married," Emiko said, smiling a little. "Couldn't wear the ring while I was doin' undercover work on Nagasaki, righ'?"

"Yeah."

"Anyway, I'm married to this guy, here," Emiko said, jerking her thumb towards Toshiyuki, who smiled at her and snaked his arm around her waist. "And Jun is my brother-in-law."

"I see," Nowaki said dazedly. "I never would've guessed."

"I'll say. Pretty nervous bou' the weddin', huh?"

"Yeah…" Nowaki uttered. He scratched the back of his head. "What are you three doing here?"

"What does it look like? We're here to watch you git hitched!"

"Is that all…?"

Emiko frowned.

"Well… to be quite honest, we're here on duty. It seems that a few stragglin' rioters booked flights to Sweden and have plans'ta crash yo' weddin'."

Nowaki's heart stopped and his face paled, his eyes widening in horror. Emiko stared at him solemnly until bursting into hysterical laughter. Toshiyuki and Jun smiled apologetically at Nowaki.

"Hoo! I was just kiddin', Kusama! You shoulda seen the look on yo' face! No, the rioters split up the second they done heard that Nagasaki was sleepin' with'ta fishes!"

Nowaki swayed and gripped his stomach.

"I think I'm going to throw up," he moaned.

"Oh, Kusama! Calm down!"

Emiko slapped Nowaki's back so hard that he nearly toppled over.

"You'll do great!"


Hiroki tilted his head forward and shut his eyes so his mother could add the final touch to his hair. She fiddled with a few more locks before pulling away.

"Okay, sweetie."

Hiroki looked up slowly, his eyes peeling open to gaze into his reflection in the mirror. His face remained placid, but inside his heart skipped a beat.

"Oh, Hiro-chan…" Tomoko whispered, clapping her hands over her mouth as her eyes welled up. Hiroki swallowed the lump in his throat and reached up to brush a stray lock of hair behind his ear.

"I…" he breathed, a blush rising to his cheeks. "I'm getting married."

"Oh… oh, Masa-darling, look at him!" Tomoko wailed.

"I'm looking," Masanori croaked from behind his wife, his mustache wiggling a little as his lips trembled. He cleared his throat and reached out to put a shaking hand on his son's shoulder. "Hiroki… you look…"

"Absolutely stunning!" Shinobu exclaimed as he walked into Masanori and Tomoko's hotel room with a bouquet in his hand. Misaki followed closely behind him, craning his neck to see past Shinobu's shoulder. "Here, hold this, Kamijou."

Hiroki took the bouquet and blushed even harder as he held it up against his body.

"Oh!" Tomoko gasped. She whipped out a camera and began rapidly snapping pictures as she sobbed almost hysterically.

"Mom…" Hiroki groaned, rolling his eyes.

"Now the whole picture is comple-" Shinobu began. He was interrupted as his phone started to ring. He grumbled, digging his phone out of his pocket and flipped it open. He rolled his eyes. "Of course."

Shinobu brought the phone to his ear.

"What do you want, Yōh? …No, we're not at the community center yet! You- what? ...Oh, well yeah, Katina has all three of the kids. She's bringing them to the wedding after they've had a nap and something to eat…"

Hiroki shifted slightly in front of the mirror, and the lock of hair he had brushed behind his ear fell out. Shinobu glanced at him, did a double take, then flailed his hand at Hiroki.

"Oh! Oh! Keep it like that! It's perfect! You're so gorgeous!" he gushed. Hiroki felt his blush travel down to his chest. Shinobu scowled. "No, of course I'm not talking to you, Yōh… Well, if I did that, you'd just run off and tell Nowaki, wouldn't you? You'll just have to wait and see… Well, if he's that fucking desperate, tell him that Kamijou is absolutely beautiful and that he'll jizz his pants when he sees him!"

Shinobu snapped the phone shut and swore at it.

"Typical Yōh. Such an old man. He thought I was at the community center playing dress-up in a little corner or something," Shinobu said. Hiroki shook like a leaf at the thought of the community center.

"It's almost time to go, isn't it?" he whispered. All heads turned to him.

"Yes," Tomoko said. Hiroki gave a quivering nod before allowing his mother to take his hand and squeeze. Hiroki took a baby step away from the mirror and turned towards the door.

"You ready?" Shinobu asked, his face suddenly solemn.

"I feel like I'm going to throw up," Hiroki whimpered.

"Hiroki," Masanori suddenly said. He went to Hiroki's opposite side and took his other hand.

"Yeah, Dad?"

"Don't be afraid. The moment you see Nowaki waiting for you at the end of the aisle, everything in the world will be right again."