Stars Fell on Tokyo | ✓

16 | the newlyweds

  AUGUST 1963  

      AFTER THE MONTH of July, Louanne hadn't realized that a couple of weeks had gone by, Rei and Haru's wedding had been announced that it would take place at the Imperial Hotel, Tokyo. The neighborhood was bustling to get ready for the event, not that she had ever seen anyone get this excited for a wedding but then again it's one of the happiest moments in anyone's life. Louanne's long silky black hair was put into a bun, leaving a piece of home in her hair as her grandmother had fastened a pastel pink sash around her waist.

       "Oh, this is such an exciting day for all of us," Sobo Chō squeals, "I remember our wedding being just like this,"

       "What was it?" Louanne asked.

       Naoki walked into the living room, trying to finish tying his kimono. "Two years before we had Jiro and I opened up my ramen shop, I didn't have a lot of money at the time to arrange the event and I was kind of getting cold feet,"

       "You were nervous, Grandpa?"

       "Indeed I was! I wasn't sure how I could provide for us but the long story short was that we got married underneath a sakura tree," he answered before he planted a kiss on his wife's cheek.

       "That must've been romantic," she said.

       There was no doubt that they were a spinning image of Louanne's parents and as of today, she was hoping to see Kohei again since she would be leaving by summer's end. Sobo Chō spent her time cooking part of the meal, of course, Lou helped as well. It reminded her of how she would sit and watch her mother bake Haupia. The kitchen was filled with the smell of coconut and pudding for three hours and little Louanne hadn't moved from her seat at the table.

       By the second that it was time to go, it didn't take a genius when the gray clouds slowly started rolling in, meaning that it was going to rain. Kohei once said that the summer rain in Japan is what he admired the most, it was his other sense of peace besides drawing his manga. Louanne gripped tightly on the skirt of her kimono to not trip over herself.

       Going to a wedding wasn't Louanne's first time since she had to be the flower girl for the friend of her mother's but she could vaguely remember it clear as day or in this case, clear as the rain.

       When they arrived at the venue, it looked more like a mansion than a hotel and the building had her in awe. It was bigger than she could ever imagine. Her eyes immediately lit up when she saw Kohei standing at the front entrance greeting the guest along with his parents. She felt her heart pound when she saw him in his flattering kimono, granted that she was unbalanced by her geta. He was more than delighted to see her. Kohei did his best to fall over his feet as he ran to her with open arms as yelled, "Louanne!"

       "Kohei!" Louanne called back to him before she shrieked when he picked her up, swung her around, and then set her back on the ground.

       "I knew that you would come!" he said until corrected himself when he saw her grandparents, "and I'm sure that Haru will be glad to see you guys as well."

       "Congratulations! Are you excited that your brother is officially tying the knot today?" Sobo Chō asked, letting out a hearty giggle.

       "Not as excited as my mother but I've heard that weddings are the happiest in everyone's life," Kohei smiled, looking at Louanne and then back at her grandparents.

       The white clouds settled in the ocean blue sky around 1 p.m., with not a single hint of grey. The guests had flooded into the grand entrance of the Imperial like this was a spectacle. Louanne happened not to mind big crowds as long it did not smother her or make her too uncomfortable. But she knew that Kohei was going to have a challenge because of his social anxiety even if the event had nothing to do with him. She'd hoped that he would only look at her during the ceremony or imagine himself as one of the characters from his manga art.

       Around 1:30, the chattering had quieted down as the wedding announcer spoke in the traditional language before the orchestral music began to play. Haru as the groom had walked out first with his mother, then Kohei with his grandmother, and a couple of the older groomsmen walking out from the back with the bridesmaids. Louanne and her grandparents sat on the third row while only two of them were reserved for Rei and Haru's families. She looked at Kohei's worrying eyes as he fiddled with his hands, his nervousness kicking in like he was on the verge of wetting his pants, figuratively and quite literally speaking.

       "Love, look at me," Louanne mouthed once his eyes fell on hers.

    He understood her at that moment and kept his sole focus on him as the Buddhist officiant led the program. Rei looked helplessly in love, staring into her future husband's eyes before the old man officially pronounced husband and wife. When the words had left his lips, Haru and Rei had shared a passionate kiss under the glowing light at the cherry blossom-covered altar. The room was filled with cheers and applause as the married couple marched down the aisle in an orderly fashion. Louanne had seen her parents' glimpse when they walked by her and she smiled.

***

       After several toasts to the groom and bride from the parents, the music and the dancing soon followed and Louanne indulged herself in the food as it went on. Sobo Chō and Naoki had joined the dance floor once their favorite song began to play, leaving Louanne once again alone at their table. But it didn't bother her much when Kohei walked by.

       "I should've known that you would be sitting here by yourself again," Kohei teased as he pulled out a chair and sat next to her.

       Louanne giggled. "Well, at least I have a plate full of this solid yakitori to keep me company,"

       "Ouch! I've been replaced by a plate of my favorite food!" He pressed his hands over his heart dramatically and laid his head flat on the table.

       Amused by Kohei's theatrical performance, she added humor by leaning over to his cheek, kissing him softly like how it always is in fairy tales. One kiss from their true love can break the spell. He groaned as he was awoken by her natural beauty and they laughed together, falling into each other's arms. Louanne and Kohei watched on and on as the dance floor was filled with drunk guests and happy-go-lucky dancing their hearts out to the song of Kyu Sakamoto.

       Suddenly, the tempo had changed to a melodically slow song and the air was different too. Maybe they noticed it as well. It was a very familiar song that even Louanne can recognize. Her Japanese was rough as she was still adapting to her father's heritage and the language. Kohei was gazing at the half-empty dance floor and then he looked right back at her. She stared deeply into his brown eyes, realizing that they are indeed windows to the soul.

       "Would you like to dance with me, Lou?" he asked her.

       "To be honest with you, I've never danced with anyone before," she replied.

       "Yes, you have. Remember at the boat house?"

       Louanne scoffed. "No, I remember that part. I'm talking about never dancing in front of a crowd before especially at a wedding,"

       "Oh, you have stage fright, then?"

       She nodded.

       With that, Kohei stood up from his seat and took her hand. Louanne wasn't completely in shock by his actions yet until he started to lead her to the dance floor. Her cheeks were flushed red and she felt her knees quaking with fear as they got closer.

       "Kohei, I don't know about this! You know how embarrassed I am right now!" she shrieked. "I don't know how I feel about having a bunch of people staring at us."

       "Hey, you don't have to worry about them. Right now, it's just you and me,"

       He gently pulls her into his arms and she rests her head on his chest, reminiscing what it was like at the boathouse. She has to tell that soon this little summer romance of theirs would be ending in a matter of a couple of weeks from now. The home was calling her name and she had hoped that the place called paradise didn't forget about her.