Mizuki turned and walked away from Sora, opened her closet, and started pulling off her clothes.
"Mizuki!" Sora protested.
Mizuki glanced back at him and asked, "What? You've already seen me completely naked, my underwear aren't going to hurt you."
He raised a hand to cover his face for a moment, but didn't reply, so she finished undressing. She took the bridesmaid dress out of her closet and pulled it on.
Then she walked over, turned her back to him, and demanded, "Zip me up?" He pulled the zipper up, and she turned back to him and waved her arms. "See?" she asked unhappily.
He couldn't prevent the amused grin that spread across his face, but he did tell her, "About twelve I think, not five." She sighed unhappily, and he asked dryly, "Are you going to your sister's wedding to pick up guys?"
"No!" she protested with a shocked expression.
"Then why does it matter how old the dress makes you look?" he asked more gently.
"It's going to be shown in pictures for the rest of my life," she complained.
He laughed.
Mizuki watched him laughing with an aching pang, and said quietly, "I've really missed you Sora."
His laughter died as he froze, and protested, "Mizuki, I can't…"
Mizuki's mother opened the door, stuck her head in and said, "Oh thank the gods, you got her to wear it! Thank you so much. It's time to go! We're leaving now!"
Mizuki grabbed Sora's arm and told him, "Just come, you can tell me that later."
He didn't resist as she pulled him to his feet.
--
A couple minutes later they were all assembled in front of the apartment, where Mizuki's brother in law Kyohei looked at Sora in surprise and said, "We won't all fit, we've got eight people and seven seats."
Sora told him, "I have a car."
"I'll ride with you then," Mizuki insisted quickly.
Sora frowned. "Mizuki," he protested.
She replied forcefully, "I know where the wedding parking reservation is, I can give you directions."
He looked at her again, and gave up. "Okay," he agreed.
--
When they arrived at the entrance of the hall, Sora's eyes widened with surprise when Shinichi grabbed his hand and said nervously, "Oh thank the gods, someone I know! Thank you so much for coming."
Mizuki tugged on Sora until he bent down and she whispered, "His parents just sent him a check, and it seems like all his friends are net only."
He looked at her uncertainly, but didn't resist when Shinichi begged him to stand with him, while he finished greeting his bride's many family and friends.
--
After the ceremony there was a reception, with food, wine and dancing. Sora sipped hesitantly at the glass Shinichi had pressed into his hands, looked around until he found Mizuki again, and walked over to her.
"Sora! Will you dance with me this time?" she asked with a grin.
He shook his head, and replied, "No. I'm sorry Mizuki, I really can't…"
An elderly lady who still stood well over a full head taller than Mizuki interrupted, and demanded that Mizuki introduce her. Mizuki introduced him to her grandmother and was pleased by his polite replies to her inquisitive questions.
After a little while Sora looked at Mizuki still clinging to his hand and sighed. He told her, "Go dance Mizuki, I won't sneak away."
--
He watched with growing irritation as Mizuki danced with a series of old men and children even younger than she was.
Shizune appeared in front of him suddenly and demanded, "You have to dance with me Konami-san."
Sora refused, "I don't want to dance."
Shizune grinned and told him, "Shinichi is dancing this one with Mizuki, and you can't refuse when the bride demands a dance, because I'm not allowed to refuse to dance with anyone who asks today!"
She grabbed his hand and dragged him out. He danced reluctantly, while she told him how pleased she was that he'd come. He responded politely enough, but she regarded him with a puzzled expression.
"I hope you won't keep fighting with Mizuki," she told him.
Sora stared at her, and she looked back at him questioningly. "I'm not fighting with her," he said uncomfortably.
Shizune grinned at him. "Okay."
--
Mizuki spent her dance with her new brother in law glaring at Sora. When he asked why, she told him grumpily, "He wouldn't dance when I asked him."
Shinichi laughed at her.
--
A few dances later, when Mizuki was between partners, Sora walked over to her and demanded a little angrily, "Can't you dance with anyone near your own age?"
She looked up at him with surprise, and then replied unhappily, "You won't dance with me, so why do you care?"
His skin flushed with emotion as he tried to counter her words, but he couldn't find a reasonable reply to give her, and finally admitted, "I don't like seeing you being treated as a small child."
She blinked at him, looked around, and then confessed, "It's fine. It doesn't matter who I dance with anyway, everyone is related to me, except a few people's boyfriends and such." She looked at the glass he was carrying and at his flushed face and asked suddenly, "Sora, are you drunk?"
The music ended just as Sora shouted back at her, "I'm not drunk!" Everyone stared at them. He covered his eyes for a moment and then set his glass down carefully on a nearby table and turned back to her and said, "I'm sorry Mizuki, I can't do this, I'm leaving now."
"Sora!" Mizuki protested with an agonized cry as he turned away.
He stopped and held out his hand, but he didn't look back at her. She ran forward, took his hand, and they left quickly. They walked for a ways with her having to almost run to keep up.
After a few blocks, she gasped at him, "Where are we going?"
He stopped abruptly and she almost fell. He caught her by the shoulders and said, "Sorry. Maybe we should get food, I didn't really eat anything, and I think maybe I did drink too much. Shinichi-san kept replacing my glass even though I never emptied it."
"Okay," she agreed.
They found a sandwich shop and sat at a little table outside. A server came and took their order.
Mizuki leapt to her feet again a minute later and gasped, "Oh no!"
"What's wrong?" Sora asked.
"I don't have my wallet or even my phone, because of this stupid dress," she explained anxiously.
He gave her a bitter look and told her, "I can afford to buy you a sandwich Mizuki, don't worry about it."
"Okay," she agreed hesitantly.
"And I'm sorry, I think maybe I am actually a little drunk," he told her unhappily.
Mizuki looked at him and then stepped closer. A moment later she crawled into his lap and knelt there with her arms around his shoulders.
"Mizuki," he complained.
"Don't drink because of me Sora," she insisted anxiously. "I don't ever want the reason you got drunk to be me. Please don't do it again?"
"I won't," he promised seriously.
She kissed him and he didn't protest, but he looked at her unhappily when she stopped. She sighed, slid off his lap, and went back to her chair. After a minute she said, "If you drank too much you shouldn't drive again tonight. Do you have somewhere to stay?"
He shrugged. "I can get a hotel room."
"Have you already found a job since you got back?" she asked abruptly. "Is that what you were trying to tell me? Sorry I just pushed all of those ideas at you without asking."
"No. Not yet," he replied after a moment. "I've applied to a few places, but since Eri-chan finally agreed to marry Takumi, I've mostly been helping him with wedding stuff."
"It's a lot of work to set up," she commiserated.
"Yeah," he agreed.
The food arrived a moment later, and they ate in silence.
--
After they finished, Sora searched for a hotel and then told her, "There's one a few blocks away."
Mizuki stood up, reached out her hand and said, "Okay, let's go."
He looked at her for a long moment before taking her hand and standing up.
They walked to the hotel without talking much, but while Sora was checking in, Mizuki asked suddenly, "What about your car Sora? The wedding parking reservation is only for this evening. Should I ask my father to move it? He's one of the designated drivers."
The concierge asked, "Is it nearby? We can have a valet pick it up and move it to the hotel parking garage."
Sora gave him the key and the car's location.
"Is there any luggage you'd like to have brought up to your room?" the concierge asked.
"Just one large duffel in the trunk," Sora replied.