no tags, 1523 words , Kindaichi/Kunimi. SORRY I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT JAPANESE WEDDINGS
The worst part, Akira thought, was that Yuutarou genuinely hadn't expect things to go south the moment Hanamaki offered to help plan their wedding.
"Hanamaki-senpai is an event planner," Yuutarou had explained honestly while looking down at his ipad, his hair still wet and his glasses threatening to fall off the bridge of his nose every time Yuutarou broke a combo. "He planned movie premiers and even Kitagawa Keiko's wedding!"
Akira had absently toweled at his own hair while watching his best friend turned boyfriend turned fiancé make distressed noises over an idol-themed rhythm game. "Hanamaki-senpai is the personal assistant of an event planner. His boss planned Kitagawa Keiko's wedding. She's divorced now."
That had jolted Yuutarou out of his tapping enough to open his mouth, then close it. "We're not getting divorced, I hope."
Akira just laughed and took a seat, half on the couch and half on Yuutarou's lap. "We're not even married yet." Then he had had kissed Yuutarou and forgotten about anyone from their old volleyball team.
In retrospect, that was Akira's first fatal mistake.
His second mistake was getting sucked into helping with the new merger at work, defaulting any and all wedding planning to Yuutarou. The most Akira had done was drop printed invitations onto his coworkers' desks and clear some vacation dates with his boss. Akira didn't have a lot of people on his invite list. His family had known about Yuutarou since their Seijou days, and Akira's mother seemed more concerned about her vegetable garden than the upcoming matrimony of her only son and his childhood friend. The only person he actually cared about inviting was Ami-chan, Akira's thesis project partner from university who enjoyed teasing Yuutarou every time he brought food for them during agonizing periods of report writing.
His third mistake was spending too much time with Oikawa Tooru (former senpai, current celebrity athlete) to normalize Oikawa's erratic behavior. Akira worked with enough overwhelmingly ambitious people in his life to turn a blind eye to their enthusiasm. So when Oikawa sighed fondly over the phone at the news of their engagement, Akira had missed the glaring signs of impeding danger.
Everything comes to a halt when a scheduled venue visit with Hanamaki turns into a tour of a renovated theater ballroom. "No," Akira says the moment he spots the chandeliers hanging off the ceiling. He can feel Yuutarou thrumming with nervous energy next to him while the venue staff looks curiously between them.
"No?" Hanamaki raises an eyebrow. "Is this ballroom not large enough for your taste?"
Akira frowns. "Not large enough? It's too large."
Hanamaki gives him a blank look that used to be reserved for Oikawa's more dramatic moments. "There are 200 people on your guest list."
"What?" Akira says as Hanamaki begins scrolling through something on his phone.
"Kindaichi okay'ed them."
"What." Akira says again and grabs onto Yuutarou's arm as his fiancé tries to escape to the bathroom. "Show me."
Hanamaki just shrugs and hands over his phone. "We're on our fourth revision." He's off to speak to the venue guide, giving Akira enough time to tighten his grip on Yuutarou's arm while scanning through the list.
The first thing that comes to mind is: "Why is Kageyama Tobio on the guest list for our wedding?"
Yuutarou makes a small noise that sounds like "Oikawa-senpai suggested it?"
The questions Akira wants to ask are: Are you marrying Oikawa-senpai? Why are you such a push over? Why would Kageyama attend our wedding? Instead, he takes a deep breath and looks at Yuutarou. "What else did Oikawa-senpai suggest?"
"A playlist for the reception?" Yuutarou offers, then shrinks a bit on himself when Akira stares at him to continue. "He also recommended a tailor, a limousine service, a smoke machine, and-" He stops when Akira puts a hand on his chest.
Thankfully, Hanamaki has enough sense to wander back to them without the guide. "So I'm guessing this location is a No?" He looks half sleazy, and half amused.
"What part of this wedding has Oikawa-senpai not touched?"
It takes a moment for Hanamaki to gather his thoughts. "Well. He hasn't photobomed your engagement pictures yet, although he mentioned getting a certificate to officiate the ceremony." He looks between Akira and Yuutarou, then nods to his phone in Akira's hands. "Oikawa’s number is #5 on my speed dial."
Oikawa shows up two days later at their apartment with Iwaizumi. "Kunimi-chan! I just landed back in Japan when I checked my voice mail! Distraught, I had Iwa-chan drive us here instead of dinner."
Yuutarou offers a meek "welcome back" while Akira says "then go to dinner."
Behind Oikawa, Iwaizumi just lifts two take out bags. "I brought enough for all of us." On cue, Yuutarou hurries into the kitchen to grab utensils while Iwaizumi follows.
"How could you cancel the venue, the caterer, and the smoke machine?" Oikawa demands while making himself comfortable on the couch.
Akira feels an approaching headache. "Because it's my wedding."
"You're so mean, Kunimi-chan!" Oikawa wails. "I used to be your favorite senpai!"
"Sure."
"Mean!" Oikawa repeats and unwraps his designer-looking scarf. "Is this because of the officiant thing? Iwa-chan says I don't look trust worthy enough for the job. Tell me the truth. Would you prefer if Watari did it? He does have a homey, depending vibe to hi-"
Akira leans against the wall and folds his arms. "It's everything. It's our wedding, Senpai, not yours. Just because you eloped doesn't mean you can take over our wedding."
While Oikawa makes tragically affronted noises, Yuutarou and Iwaizumi returns with stemming hot bowls of ramen. Yuutarou looks at bit apologetic as he sets the bowls down on their table, but Iwaizumi just seems unsurprised. "Kunimi is right."
"Iwa-chan is terrible." Oikawa throws his head back on the edge of the couch. "I want an annulment."
Yuutarou says "please don't get divorced" while Iwaizumi says "No you don't."
As if remembering that Yuutarou is the other participate in this upcoming marriage, Oikawa rounds on him instead. "Kindaichi-chan! You should really go out with a bang! Don't you want to invite all your friends and family members to celebrate your love for Kunimi-chan? Haven't you been in love since Mad Dog-chan knocked Kunimi-chan out with a spike and you cried because you thought he had died? Don't you want your wedding to reflect the expanse of your love for Kunimi-chan?!"
The pause in the room is poignant as Yuutarou gulps.
Akira admits that Oikawa has a point. Even he is a bit lost on how to respond. Meanwhile, Oikawa looks searchingly at them while Iwaizumi just looks hungry.
Eventually, Yuutarou straightens up. "You're right, but I think everyone in my life already knows how deeply I care for Akira." He flushes at his own words and plows on. "It would be nice to have a big ceremony, but I think every day is a celebration when you're with someone you love. This wedding isn't really end game, but just a stop along the way. I'd be happy with anything, but if Akira wants something small and quiet, then I want to respect his wishes and make him happy."
Everyone is silent as Yuutarou turns to Akira and smiles shyly.
"Good job," Iwaizumi says eventually. "Can we eat now?"
Oikawa just looks shocked. "Well. Okay. I'd glad you know what you want."
"I'm glad too." Yuutarou ducks down to look at his ramen. "I just want Akira to be happy. But... If he's okay with it, maybe you could still officiate for us?"
"Fine," Akira says and feels lighter than the day he'd been knocked unconscious by Kyoutani's spike and woken up in the infirmary to Yuutarou confessing his love to him. "That's fine."
In the end, they keep Oikawa's playlist and the light machine. They have an evening ceremony at a small venue, the light machine projecting an array of stars onto the ceiling as their guests mingle and dance. Their tuxes are from the rental company Ami-chan's uncle owns, so they get a huge discount and spends the left over money on extra cake. Akira's parents, having known Yuutarou's family since middle school, chats happily with their longtime friends and new in-laws.
Kageyama doesn't show up, but their entire team from Seijou does. Kyoutani even cracks a smile when Matsukawa brings up the volleyball-to-the-face story, and Akira is light and running on enough champagne to laugh along. Half way through the reception, Oikawa tries to give a speech and is stopped only when Iwaizumi pushes him off the stage. Left standing alone and under everyone's scrutiny, Iwaizumi ends up telling stories about Yuutarou and Akira instead. Oikawa, along with the audience, laughs over a shortened summary of the planning fiasco. Iwaizumi doesn't cry, but he does get a bit teary eyed when recounting how Yuutarou stood up to Oikawa.
"This is better than Kitagawa Keiko's wedding," Yuutarou decides with an arm around Akira's waist.
Akira puts a hand over Yuutarou's. Like years ago in that bright Seijou infirmary, Akira takes one look at Yuutarou's earnest face and says, "Yes."
FILL: TEAM IMAIZUMI SHUNSUKE/NARUKO SHOUKICHI, G
The worst part, Akira thought, was that Yuutarou genuinely hadn't expect things to go south the moment Hanamaki offered to help plan their wedding.
"Hanamaki-senpai is an event planner," Yuutarou had explained honestly while looking down at his ipad, his hair still wet and his glasses threatening to fall off the bridge of his nose every time Yuutarou broke a combo. "He planned movie premiers and even Kitagawa Keiko's wedding!"
Akira had absently toweled at his own hair while watching his best friend turned boyfriend turned fiancé make distressed noises over an idol-themed rhythm game. "Hanamaki-senpai is the personal assistant of an event planner. His boss planned Kitagawa Keiko's wedding. She's divorced now."
That had jolted Yuutarou out of his tapping enough to open his mouth, then close it. "We're not getting divorced, I hope."
Akira just laughed and took a seat, half on the couch and half on Yuutarou's lap. "We're not even married yet." Then he had had kissed Yuutarou and forgotten about anyone from their old volleyball team.
In retrospect, that was Akira's first fatal mistake.
His second mistake was getting sucked into helping with the new merger at work, defaulting any and all wedding planning to Yuutarou. The most Akira had done was drop printed invitations onto his coworkers' desks and clear some vacation dates with his boss. Akira didn't have a lot of people on his invite list. His family had known about Yuutarou since their Seijou days, and Akira's mother seemed more concerned about her vegetable garden than the upcoming matrimony of her only son and his childhood friend. The only person he actually cared about inviting was Ami-chan, Akira's thesis project partner from university who enjoyed teasing Yuutarou every time he brought food for them during agonizing periods of report writing.
His third mistake was spending too much time with Oikawa Tooru (former senpai, current celebrity athlete) to normalize Oikawa's erratic behavior. Akira worked with enough overwhelmingly ambitious people in his life to turn a blind eye to their enthusiasm. So when Oikawa sighed fondly over the phone at the news of their engagement, Akira had missed the glaring signs of impeding danger.
Everything comes to a halt when a scheduled venue visit with Hanamaki turns into a tour of a renovated theater ballroom. "No," Akira says the moment he spots the chandeliers hanging off the ceiling. He can feel Yuutarou thrumming with nervous energy next to him while the venue staff looks curiously between them.
"No?" Hanamaki raises an eyebrow. "Is this ballroom not large enough for your taste?"
Akira frowns. "Not large enough? It's too large."
Hanamaki gives him a blank look that used to be reserved for Oikawa's more dramatic moments. "There are 200 people on your guest list."
"What?" Akira says as Hanamaki begins scrolling through something on his phone.
"Kindaichi okay'ed them."
"What." Akira says again and grabs onto Yuutarou's arm as his fiancé tries to escape to the bathroom. "Show me."
Hanamaki just shrugs and hands over his phone. "We're on our fourth revision." He's off to speak to the venue guide, giving Akira enough time to tighten his grip on Yuutarou's arm while scanning through the list.
The first thing that comes to mind is: "Why is Kageyama Tobio on the guest list for our wedding?"
Yuutarou makes a small noise that sounds like "Oikawa-senpai suggested it?"
The questions Akira wants to ask are: Are you marrying Oikawa-senpai? Why are you such a push over? Why would Kageyama attend our wedding? Instead, he takes a deep breath and looks at Yuutarou. "What else did Oikawa-senpai suggest?"
"A playlist for the reception?" Yuutarou offers, then shrinks a bit on himself when Akira stares at him to continue. "He also recommended a tailor, a limousine service, a smoke machine, and-" He stops when Akira puts a hand on his chest.
Thankfully, Hanamaki has enough sense to wander back to them without the guide. "So I'm guessing this location is a No?" He looks half sleazy, and half amused.
"What part of this wedding has Oikawa-senpai not touched?"
It takes a moment for Hanamaki to gather his thoughts. "Well. He hasn't photobomed your engagement pictures yet, although he mentioned getting a certificate to officiate the ceremony." He looks between Akira and Yuutarou, then nods to his phone in Akira's hands. "Oikawa’s number is #5 on my speed dial."
Oikawa shows up two days later at their apartment with Iwaizumi. "Kunimi-chan! I just landed back in Japan when I checked my voice mail! Distraught, I had Iwa-chan drive us here instead of dinner."
Yuutarou offers a meek "welcome back" while Akira says "then go to dinner."
Behind Oikawa, Iwaizumi just lifts two take out bags. "I brought enough for all of us." On cue, Yuutarou hurries into the kitchen to grab utensils while Iwaizumi follows.
"How could you cancel the venue, the caterer, and the smoke machine?" Oikawa demands while making himself comfortable on the couch.
Akira feels an approaching headache. "Because it's my wedding."
"You're so mean, Kunimi-chan!" Oikawa wails. "I used to be your favorite senpai!"
"Sure."
"Mean!" Oikawa repeats and unwraps his designer-looking scarf. "Is this because of the officiant thing? Iwa-chan says I don't look trust worthy enough for the job. Tell me the truth. Would you prefer if Watari did it? He does have a homey, depending vibe to hi-"
Akira leans against the wall and folds his arms. "It's everything. It's our wedding, Senpai, not yours. Just because you eloped doesn't mean you can take over our wedding."
While Oikawa makes tragically affronted noises, Yuutarou and Iwaizumi returns with stemming hot bowls of ramen. Yuutarou looks at bit apologetic as he sets the bowls down on their table, but Iwaizumi just seems unsurprised. "Kunimi is right."
"Iwa-chan is terrible." Oikawa throws his head back on the edge of the couch. "I want an annulment."
Yuutarou says "please don't get divorced" while Iwaizumi says "No you don't."
As if remembering that Yuutarou is the other participate in this upcoming marriage, Oikawa rounds on him instead. "Kindaichi-chan! You should really go out with a bang! Don't you want to invite all your friends and family members to celebrate your love for Kunimi-chan? Haven't you been in love since Mad Dog-chan knocked Kunimi-chan out with a spike and you cried because you thought he had died? Don't you want your wedding to reflect the expanse of your love for Kunimi-chan?!"
The pause in the room is poignant as Yuutarou gulps.
Akira admits that Oikawa has a point. Even he is a bit lost on how to respond. Meanwhile, Oikawa looks searchingly at them while Iwaizumi just looks hungry.
Eventually, Yuutarou straightens up. "You're right, but I think everyone in my life already knows how deeply I care for Akira." He flushes at his own words and plows on. "It would be nice to have a big ceremony, but I think every day is a celebration when you're with someone you love. This wedding isn't really end game, but just a stop along the way. I'd be happy with anything, but if Akira wants something small and quiet, then I want to respect his wishes and make him happy."
Everyone is silent as Yuutarou turns to Akira and smiles shyly.
"Good job," Iwaizumi says eventually. "Can we eat now?"
Oikawa just looks shocked. "Well. Okay. I'd glad you know what you want."
"I'm glad too." Yuutarou ducks down to look at his ramen. "I just want Akira to be happy. But... If he's okay with it, maybe you could still officiate for us?"
"Fine," Akira says and feels lighter than the day he'd been knocked unconscious by Kyoutani's spike and woken up in the infirmary to Yuutarou confessing his love to him. "That's fine."
In the end, they keep Oikawa's playlist and the light machine. They have an evening ceremony at a small venue, the light machine projecting an array of stars onto the ceiling as their guests mingle and dance. Their tuxes are from the rental company Ami-chan's uncle owns, so they get a huge discount and spends the left over money on extra cake. Akira's parents, having known Yuutarou's family since middle school, chats happily with their longtime friends and new in-laws.
Kageyama doesn't show up, but their entire team from Seijou does. Kyoutani even cracks a smile when Matsukawa brings up the volleyball-to-the-face story, and Akira is light and running on enough champagne to laugh along. Half way through the reception, Oikawa tries to give a speech and is stopped only when Iwaizumi pushes him off the stage. Left standing alone and under everyone's scrutiny, Iwaizumi ends up telling stories about Yuutarou and Akira instead. Oikawa, along with the audience, laughs over a shortened summary of the planning fiasco. Iwaizumi doesn't cry, but he does get a bit teary eyed when recounting how Yuutarou stood up to Oikawa.
"This is better than Kitagawa Keiko's wedding," Yuutarou decides with an arm around Akira's waist.
Akira puts a hand over Yuutarou's. Like years ago in that bright Seijou infirmary, Akira takes one look at Yuutarou's earnest face and says, "Yes."