After a two-hour-long performance, the vast venue fell into silence.
The graduation live had ended, marking the conclusion of the Kessoku Band. You had a beginning and an end, once struggling at the very bottom, giving everything just for the chance to perform, and later standing tall upon the grandest of stages. Though reluctant, you had no regrets for the effort poured along the way.
In the end, you fulfilled your dream.
Standing at the summit, overlooking all beneath, you could not help but feel a little dazed as you looked back on the journey, as though all of this had not really happened, but was only your imagination.
A few days later, the band disbanded smoothly.
Now, freed of every burden, you could finally devote yourself entirely to preparing for your wedding. Your elder sister, Seika Ijichi, upon hearing that you were getting married, was filled with happiness, but also with worry.
An elder brother is like a father, an elder sister is like a mother. Because your father had spent so many years working overtime and traveling, she had taken care of you herself for much of your life. Now, looking at how much you had grown, her eyes shone with tears.
At your final live, thirty-five-year-old Seika Ijichi sat in the audience, gazing at you shining upon the stage, and all she could see was her twenty-year-old self. You had achieved the dream she never could, carrying her along with you to the pinnacle of rock.
To her, her little sister was the most precious treasure of her entire life.
"Sis…"
Nijika Ijichi turned her face slightly, glancing at Seika, who was still asleep beside her.
In the days that followed, perhaps because you had finally relaxed, the side effects of all those years of exhausting effort grew worse. You often suffered headaches and moments of distraction. Whenever that happened, Toru would urge you to rest, and in the end, most of the wedding arrangements fell to him.
One month later
You chose Meiji Shrine as the site for your wedding, holding a Shinto ceremony, one of the most prestigious forms of traditional Japanese weddings. After a few practice runs, you began sending invitations to family and friends.
Ikuyo Kita, upon hearing the news, was slightly disappointed. She preferred Western-style church weddings.
"Kita-chan prefers Western weddings?"
"Mhm. Maybe in the next rehearsal, I'll try it with Kitahara-kun."
When Ryo Yamada received the wedding invitation, her cold expression betrayed no surprise, as though she had already anticipated this outcome. But when you told her the wedding would be at Meiji Shrine, she quickly clutched her stomach, recalling some less than pleasant memories.
It seemed that Miss Ryo's stomach illness was far from cured.
"Eh? Ryo's stomach hasn't healed yet?"
During the rehearsal for your wedding ceremony, Hitori Gotoh observed everything in detail, muttering to herself that she would also choose this place when she got married one day.
Time swiftly passed, and at last the day of your wedding arrived.
[You have triggered a special event. Enter?]
Nijika Ijichi, with a trace of nervousness in her heart, let her consciousness sink into the simulator.
◇
Autumn. The ginkgo leaves carpeted the tree-lined avenue outside Meiji Shrine, one of the finest spots for autumn leaf-viewing.
Morning.
Meiji Shrine Outer Garden, Meiji Memorial Hall.
By the great torii gate, many tourists stopped in their tracks.
A traditional Japanese wedding is elaborate, involving the procession, the purification, the ritual of three sips of sake… but even so, it could not compare to the complexity of a Chinese traditional wedding.
The bride wore a pure white shiromuku kimono, a symbol of purity and innocence. The groom was dressed formally in haori, montsuki, kaku obi, hakama, tabi, zori, and held a white fan.
Before the eyes of the gathered tourists, a solemn and sacred procession slowly approached. The groom was dignified and handsome, the bride wore a white cotton hood that concealed her face.
"The bride is so beautiful."
"Wow."
"Holy..."
Hearing that last familiar word in his mother tongue, Toru sighed at how many tourists from his motherland were here. He followed the Shinto priest leading the ceremony through the torii, the gate that symbolized the entrance to the divine realm, walking along the path of worship.
The marriage application had already been submitted several days before.
So, in truth, they were already legally husband and wife. The wedding was more like a formal ritual.
A wedding is one of the most important and happiest moments in a girl's life.
Toru believed it was something that had to be properly celebrated.
They crossed the worship path.
Inside the shrine, under the guidance of the head priest, equivalent to a pastor in a church, the bride and groom began the solemn and intricate ceremony.
First came the ritual of exchanging cups of sake, known as san-san-kudo, or the three-three-nine times ritual.
"Now, we shall perform the san-san-kudo ceremony."
With grave dignity, the priest presented three stacked sake cups upon an ancient ceremonial tray, setting them before Toru and Nijika Ijichi.
Two shrine maidens poured the sake.
"Groom, please drink." One said respectfully.
Toru nodded, accepted the cup, and drank in three sips.
The process repeated three times, for a total of nine sips.
Nijika did the same.
When the ritual ended, the priest bowed deeply. "Now, the bride and groom will exchange rings."
This part was much simpler.
A shrine maiden carried the tray bearing the rings and approached them.
"Groom, please place the ring on the bride's finger."
Toru picked up the ring, lifted Nijika's left hand, and slid the silver band onto her ring finger.
Looking into her face, lightly adorned with makeup, beautiful beyond words, a wave of happiness surged in Kitahara-kun's chest. It was a feeling he had never once experienced in the simulator. He felt as though this was not a virtual romance, but that he was truly standing beside a gentle, beautiful girl, stepping into marriage together.
"Bride, please place the ring on the groom's finger."
Nijika nodded slightly in gratitude to the shrine maiden, then took the ring and gently placed it on Kitahara-kun's left ring finger. As she looked at her husband's face, and the boundless tenderness reflected in his eyes, she lowered her head shyly.
After this came the vows.
Unlike a Western wedding, where the pastor leads the exchange of vows, in a Shinto wedding the vows are spoken by the bride and groom themselves. Their words are not directed to each other, but to the gods, asking for divine blessings upon their marriage.
"On this auspicious day…"
As Toru recited his vows, Ryo Yamada, seated among the family and friends in the shrine, gazed at the blissful couple. Her heart churned with complicated emotions.
No matter how much she envied them, what could she do?
To Toru, she was nothing more than a bassist friend.
Ryo could not help recalling a haiku or er.. poem she had once read:
Once you have seen the vast sea, no other water will suffice.
Except for the clouds of Mount Fuji, no other clouds will do.
Passing through gardens, I cannot turn my head,
Half bound to the Way, half bound to you.
But in the end, she was neither the sea nor the clouds.
Pitifully, she was only one of the flowers in the garden, not even given the chance to be glanced at by Toru.
Elsewhere, Ikuyo Kita was far less sentimental than Ryo.
She prayed earnestly in her heart for the couple.
Great gods, please let Ijichi-senpai and Kitahara-kun be together forever.
May they always be happy.