Your Advent Calendar 2021

Day 12

Ezim

Hello Corinne,
Today is Sunday the 12. of December and the golden middle!
Let’s celebrate a special event …

The marriage of Maho and Toru now draws a definitive line between the long-standing relationship of our two main characters. But just that was what Taka wanted, wasn't it ...?

The invitation that landed in the mailboxes three weeks ago did not surprise either of the brothers, but it was now a final turn for the singer and front man of "One Ok Rock", with which it was inevitable to deny.
Even though a whole year had already passed without the guitarist's usual closeness, Takas eyes were burning so treacherously at this moment, and he hardly dared to look ahead. To the tall groom, with the blond almost shoulder-length hair, who was standing in front of the altar in a visibly expensive suit. Toru held his hands in front of his chest as if praying and smiled nervously. Taka noticed his friend's tenseness; he knew every little emotion of the man he could read like an open book. After more than 15 years, ... Toru was like Taka's own diary.

The music started to play and those who still hadn't given their attention to the back of the church at this point, now turned around. The gate swung creakily open and two little girls, in pink tulle dresses pranced lightly across the cold stone floor, through the aisle between the rows of seats. They carried a white, lace-trimmed pillow, with two rings attached, between them and waved their free hands to their relatives and acquaintances.

"Oh, look how cute," Hichan chuckled, but no reaction came from his seatmate. He suspected bad things to come, Taka's gaze still fixed stubbornly forward, oblivious to the bridesmaids.

"Hey, ... get a grip on yourself. If you mess up his wedding, he'll definitely find a new singer," he almost threatened, but so quietly that it was inaudible to the people around.

"It's alright, ... don't panic," the elder dismissed casually and joined the manners of the company, waiting for the bride with a blank stare, his mind drifting back and forth to the past. Hiroki sighed in relief. For a moment, he thought he had made a mistake in showing up here, in this idyllic little village, with this intergenerational family, ... with him. But lord again, it had been a whole year and Taka should have been over it by now. After all, it was his own decision to break up his ever-secret relationship with his bandmate and best friend.

The incident after their last concert, finally turned out to be helpful, because the enormous confusion of Toru, the relationship between him and the psychiatrist Maho, very quickly became closer and the two became a couple. Yes, that's right, Takahiro wants this at any cost.

An energetic tug on his suit sleeve and the loud applause snapped him out of his thoughts. Hiroki again asked him to stand up. 'Hu? ... When did we sit down? ,  ran through Takahiro's mind.

The first visitors in the benches had already stood up and formed a trellis for the bride and groom and their wedding witnesses. The two girls, dressed in pink, strode forward again, grinning mischievously at each other, knowing full well what was about to happen in front of the church, as baskets filled with rice and cherry blossoms swung on their thin hands.

Takahiro took another deep breath and forced himself to smile, but the constant blinking betrayed the all-too-familiar itch in his eyes. He had learned to block out a lot of things, to appear emotionless and uninvolved. The past year had aged him years, physically and mentally. But now his friend looked all the more relaxed and happier. ... So much better. Takahiro secretly thought he had fulfilled Toru's most fervent wish. The latter was clearly a family man, because even his band members were important to him above his own well-being. That is why the half a year younger would never have admitted that he would like to become a father.
As the bride and groom passed, the men's eyes met again, the first contact since a long time. Taka felt as if he had been caught.

'How could I stand to be without him for so long? How shitty am I living without this man ... without him. It was all my fault ...' it came to his mind now, then he swallowed hard and felt this huge lump in his throat. Wasn't it himself who wanted their contacts to be limited to short impersonal phone calls? No meetings, face to face, no ... he couldn't have survived that.

'A whole, long ... year, without him, without those sleepy eyes and gently curved lips.'

Then they nodded to each other just noticeably, and that brief moment said more than a thousand words. The love had stayed, it would never leave. No matter what happened, it was still there.

A small glimmer of hope for an eventual reconciliation?

Oh right..., we know it already and so … have a nice Sunday!