Matchmaker: Yukimura Seiichi (Chapter 3)

Third Chapter: ...And They Meet


The day that all of them had been waiting for had already arrived. For the women, they were busily preparing themselves, and the bride, for the special day.

Satsuki, Kaori and all the other bridesmaids were up on their toes, trying to fix whatever little problems arose that day and trying to keep Yuna the bride, in a calm state.

But they didn’t have to do much, because unlike most brides on their wedding days, Yuna was totally calm and composed. Her face was glowing with happiness. She didn’t even start breaking down crying because she’s going to be a bride soon.

Her best friend and maid of honor looked like she was about to cry, and she was nervous as she kept fidgeting and kept glancing at the clock in the dressing room and at Yuna who was sitting down, already dressed in her white strapless gown, looking more beautiful than ever.

Satsuki was nervous as well, she didn’t know why. Maybe it’s because she’s one of the maids or because it’s her cousin’s wedding, but there she was, kept looking at the mirror, touching her loose curls and checking on her gown if there was anything wrong with it.

“Relax Satsuki,” Kaori smiled. “You look like it’s your wedding,”

Satsuki smiled weakly, “I don’t know why. But it’s like there’s so many butterflies in my stomach, it’s driving me crazy.”

“Maybe there’s someone out there that you’re going to meet later?” Yuna asked. Satsuki shook her head, “Who, Nakao-kun?” she laughed. “Yeah, I’m sure I’m nervous to see him.”

Then she looked at Yuna, “You look calm for a bride,”

Yuna shrugged. “I don’t know, but I really feel calm…” she said and laughed, “Maybe it’s because I’ve helped and watched my sisters in law on their wedding days…”

“Yeah…four weddings, I guess it became a norm to you already.” Kaori said. Yuna nodded. “I guess.”

Her best friend, Mika, a tall slim woman with red hair came over and smiled at Yuna. “I think we should place the veil now.” Yuna smiled, “Okay,”

Kaori looked at Satsuki as they watched Mika and the make up artist putting on the veil on Yuna. “It’s really starting soon huh…”

Satsuki smiled, “Yuna-san’s going to be your sister for real now.” Kaori laughed. “Good thing they’re moving to their own house, I can’t stand the lovey dovey acts already…” she looked at Satsuki, “You still nervous?”

“More than ever,” Satsuki said, rubbing her hands together.

*

In a few more minutes, the ceremony will begin. All the guests were already seated inside the hall and Yukimura was already inside waiting with his best man, Sanada, the priest and the ring bearer kid, Yuna’s smallest nephews.

They were right out the closed door, fixing their hairs, gowns, flowers, and the bride’s outfit too. Satsuki helped fixed the flower girls, also Yuna’s nieces, with their flower baskets and then she walked to the back, behind where Yuna was, all ready, and stood beside Kaori.

“This is it,” Kaori whispered. Satsuki nodded her head. “When we’re going out of this hall, it’s no more Masaki Yuna-san,”

Kaori nodded, “Hello, Yukimura Yuna-neesan,” she smiled.

“Everyone’s ready?” Mika asked and they waited for Yuna’s nod of approval. The bride was still calm and collected, smiling all the way from the dressing room to the door.

Then Mika gave a single nod and they could hear the “Here’s Comes the Bride” music from inside the hall and waited for the door to be opened.

Taking a deep breath, Satsuki and the others waited for their turns to enter the hall. From outside, she could see the hall decorated with bouquets of colorful tulips, Yuna’s favorite flower, and she could see the people looking at them.

And she saw her cousin, right at the front, smiling calmly as he saw them.

The flower girls were already spreading flower petals all over the red carpet, but the bride suddenly stopped walking.

Satsuki’s eyes widened and so did Kaori’s and the others when they watched Yuna turning around to face them. Yukimura blinked in surprised and the guests looked on quizzically too.

“W-what’s wrong Yuna?” Mika asked. Yuna looked at all of her bridesmaids, her face suddenly paled and she gulped.

“I-I’m scared,” Yuna whispered out of the sudden.

Satsuki, Kaori and Mika blinked their eyes in surprised. “Now you’re getting cold feet?!!” Mika whispered, shocked. Yuna’s father signaled to the organ player and the music behind them stopped playing.

“What’s wrong?” her father asked.

Yuna nodded weakly, “I don’t know…it feels overwhelming now…like I’m getting married and I’m gonna have a husband and-and a family soon…and I won’t have time to see you anymore and…”

Satsuki looked shocked as she watched Mika and Yuna’s father trying to calm down Yuna. She looked like she was at the verge of crying. All of the guests were looking at them weirdly.

Satsuki walked forward towards the nervous Yuna and smiled. “Daijoubu!” she said, placing her hands on the bride’s shoulders and squeezing them tight. Then she gave Yuna a hug and whispered, “You don’t want Seiichi-san to be worried seeing you like this right…you’ve been waiting for this for a long time.”

Yuna nodded her head and calmed down. Then she broke the hug with Satsuki and smiled. “Thank you Satsuki,” she said. “I’m okay now…”

Satsuki smiled and then broke into a laugh. The guests who were watching, realized what happened and started laughing too.

Yuna flushed red from embarrassment. Her father smiled at her and looked at the organ player. “Um, we can continue,” he said grinning. The musician nodded his head and continued playing the music.

The ceremony resumed again and this time Yuna walked down the aisle towards her future husband calmly, and upon arriving, kissed her father on the cheek and took Yukimura’s hand as she stood beside him.

Satsuki smiled watching the lovebirds and took her seat beside Kaori at the front bench. She loves watching movies about weddings, and seeing one herself, one that felt close to her, it was something unforgettable.

*

Akaya blinked his eyes and stared in disbelief. He was surprised.

One second there he was sitting inside the hall, waiting for the ceremony to begins and then the music started and he stood up, watching the bride walking down the aisle.

Then she stopped halfway and that caused a small commotion. He, along with the other guests, watched how the father of the bride, and the maid of honor trying to calm her down.

Then Akaya watched one of the maids walking up to Yuna and gave her a comforting hug. It worked and Yuna was once again relax as she walked towards her future husband and the priest.

That was something different than how a normal wedding would go, but that didn’t surprise him as much as the bridesmaid did.

It was no mistake, he thought. That familiar look, that hair, those eyes, that smile. He knew that bridesmaid.

Yukimura Satsuki.

But what was she doing here on his ex buchou’s wedding?

And a few moments later he hit his head for his stupidity. She was there because it’s her cousin’s wedding. Duh.

Akaya watched the said bridesmaid as the ceremony starts. He heard the couple exchanging vows, but his eyes were fixed on the bridesmaid sitting at the front, watching the couple intently.

It’s been a long time, since he last saw her.

*

Niou watched his junior interestedly. He had only met Akaya an hour ago, but the latter had never failed to amused Niou.

He had amused Niou before in junior high, and then in high school, and when he became a professional tennis player, and now here in the hall. Niou studied the younger man who watching the ceremony intently.

Only it wasn’t the couple who were exchanging vows that Niou noticed Akaya was watching. It was the bridesmaid that was sitting near the couple.

Of course Niou was aware of whom Akaya was staring at. He had known the woman, Satsuki to be exact, for a long time, and he knew the history between Akaya and her.

Smirking to himself as he watched how obsessed Akaya was looking at her, Niou nudged Yagyuu.

The latter turned, looking displease, being interrupted from watching the ceremony. He raised an eyebrow when he saw Niou’s grin. Then he saw Niou pointing to his left and Yagyuu turned and saw his junior, Akaya staring intently at something.

Yagyuu followed Akaya’s gaze and saw whom the latter was staring at. Then Yagyuu smiled to himself, getting the hint, and he pushed his glasses high up the bridge of his nose.

*


Akaya watched as his newly wedded senior walked with his bride, basking under the rice grains thrown by the guests. It was a tradition for luck and Akaya was eager to throw the rice but he had already thrown his entire share. He scanned the guests, Yagyuu was the farthest left, Jackal was with his date across him with Niou and Marui. Then he saw Yanagi beside Sanada who was throwing his rice with a face full of concentration. Akaya wanted to laugh but his mirth subdued when he caught a familiar face.

Satsuki was standing beside Kaori and the other bridesmaids, laughter in her face as she tossed the rice. Now that he had seen her, Akaya noticed that her hair was shorter than before and she had grown taller. Akaya almost mentally smack himself. Of course she had grown taller; it’s been five years since he had last seen her.

Akaya smiled and tried to near her. It was quite difficult with the crowd but he managed to close the distance. He wouldn’t miss a chance to talk to her, it had been a long time since they had met and between the years they hadn’t even exchange words be it in any form of media.

However, a pair of hands grabbed his shoulders, interrupting his effort. Akaya looked up, feeling slight annoyance seeping through his skin when he lose sight of his old friend. He blinked when he recognized the owner of the hands.

“Momoshiro,” Akaya mouthed, blinking again at the sight of the spiky haired man. Beside him stood a woman with light brown hair and Akaya instantly realized who she was.

“Tachibana,” he murmured and Tachibana An laughed good-naturedly. “Thank goodness you remember us, Kirihara,” Momoshiro grinned. “Thought all the fame had gone to your head.” “Nah,” Akaya replied and studied them for a second before pulling a snicker of his own.

Though they had once been in different schools that were rivals in tennis arena, somehow out of the courts, Akaya liked them as his friends. They had shared a lit of memories before; either good or bad and Akaya was glad to meet them again.

“Doing good, Momoshiro?” Akaya asked, eyeing them with interest. An smiled as she replied after sparing Momoshiro a glance. Akaya had knew them as an item since school days and he himself couldn’t decided either he was surprised or not seeing the two persons still together. He remembered his past days and wondered out loud how their current lives were.

He learnt Momoshiro was working as a junior chef in a hotel and An was working at the management section in the hotel. Akaya wiggled his eyebrows when they mentioned they worked in the same building and Momoshiro and An laughed. “Ah, Kirihara,” a voice said and Akaya noted Ohtori’s presence not far. He was standing with a few Hyoutei ex-members and Akaya waved excitedly.

“I thought I heard your voice,” Ohtori explained with a smile. He shook hands with Akaya. “How are you? I heard you had an injury,” he asked. Ohtori was taller than Akaya and he still spotted a short hair cut for his silver hair.

“You look fine, Kirihara,” Shishido said and Akaya nodded. “Yeah, it wasn’t much. I’m pretty okay, I guess,” he answered and Momoshiro grinned. “Of course, Kirihara’s made out of hard stuffs. Remember all those injuries he had before?”

An giggled, “He never passed a match without a scratch, ne?”

“Kirihara was always a bit passionate,” commented Ohtori. Shishido nodded and motioned to Oshitari, who was nearing them. “Yeah like him and his romance novels.”

They erupted into laughter and Oshitari regarded them curiously. Soon they had exchanged stories and Akaya listened to his old friends interestedly.

*

“Akaya,” Marui called and inclined him to come near. The redhead was dressed in a blue shirt and golden-brown stripes tie. Akaya placed the empty punch glass on the tray a waiter was holding. He walked and felt tiny sparks of pain but ignored it as usual. The pain ignite every now and then but his condition was getting better.

Akaya noticed that all his senpai-tachi were standing in a small group and their faces were plastered hints of smiles. He tilted his head slightly. “Wassup, Marui-senpai?” he asked.

Sanada was standing beside Niou who was two persons away from Akaya and he looked bothered. Akaya could relate the feeling, everyone will feel uncomfortable standing beside a man once dubbed as the trickster but the Sanada Akaya knew always manage to hide his emotions from appearing in his facial.

“Genichirou is nervous about his speech,” Yanagi informed him and Akaya grinned as he nodded in agreement. “Naruhodo,” he muttered slowly. Sanada fixed his eyes on the younger boy, irritated. Niou was smirking beside Sanada and pulled out two sheets of papers from Sanada’s clutch.

“Yo mitaimishai,” he began, “Sanada wrote down his speech.”

Sanada had furrowed his eyebrow, a sign that usually made Akaya run as if avoiding a plague back in days Sanada was the fukubuchou. His lips were in a tight scowl and he glowered at the silver haired man. “Niou. Give that back or you—”

“Run a hundred laps?” smiled Yanagi. “How nostalgic Genichirou, but it won’t work now.”

Sanada glared daggers at the snickering Niou. He had clenched his fist and his eyes had darkened dangerously. Yagyuu pushed his glasses. “Niou-kun, please don’t pester Sanada-kun anymore. He’s already troubled.” Jackal’s lips twitched and Sanada glanced at him slowly and the half-Brazilian gulped his laughter.

Yanagi took the papers and handed it to Sanada. Marui popped a bubble and grinned at the latter along with Akaya. “To let Niou-senpai take that, you’ve became careless, fukubuchou,” Akaya said. “Tarundaro,” he intoned and Sanada smacked his head.

“OW!” exclaimed Akaya and Sanada smirked. “I could still beat you, Akaya,” he declared and Akaya’s eyes glinted. “Well, we’ll see ‘bout that.”


*

“Nakao-kun!” Satsuki tried without attracting attention. Luckily her friend heard her and smiled as he neared her excitedly. He wore a white shirt with puce tie and Satsuki greeted him.

“Took you long enough, eh, Nakao-kun?” she asked and watched as the man moved his hand to tidy his short brown hair. “They already made the speeches and everything.” He gave her a smile and explained how he was caught in traffic. Satsuki nodded and touched her green ruffled chiffon dress. “How do I look?” she asked.

“Very pretty,” he commented. “It suits you.” Satsuki smiled as she thanked him and introduced him to a few of her relatives. Nakao smiled and bid them politely, his greenish-hazel eyes shinning.

After taking a few bites and downed a glass of punch for each, Satsuki stood beside him near the food table, scanning the guests. “Wow, Yukimura-san had invited a lot,” Nakao voiced, glancing here and there. Satsuki grinned, “Are you trying to find someone to hit, Nakao-kun?”

Nakao turned at her and winked. “Hm, maybe,” he said and looked again at the guests. The air was laced with music and couples had begun dancing. Satsuki was about to pick another glass of punch when Nakao tugged her hand softly. She turned to look at him. He looked anxious and claimed, “Satsuki-chan! There’s famous people here!”

Satsuki blinked. “Famous people?” She didn’t remember Yukimura having any actors as friends…

“There’s that tennis star!” Nakao pondered, “Um, what was his name?”

Tennis star? Satsuki smiled and couldn't help nodding, understanding his sentence. “Ah, Echizen-kun right? Seiichi-san and him—Hey!”

Niou had took Satsuki's arm and pulled her close to him. He grinned at Nakao and explained that he wanted a dance with Satsuki. Nakao nodded and waved at them before he himself disappearing into the crowd. Probably trying to find someone that interest him, Satsuki thought and looked at Niou.

She shrugged as Niou tried batting his eyes and laughed as they danced. “I better take my chance to dance with you while you’re still unattached, Suppi,” Niou said and Satsuki feint a frown. Suppi was Niou’s pet name for her since school days.


He led the dance, and she swayed along with him, moving to the beat of the music. She smiled after a while, enjoying the dance. How often does she get to dance with a handsome man like him?

Niou smiled back, and there was something secretive written in his smile.
Satsuki couldnt decipher it, but then he raised their arms and let go as he twirled her.

Before Satsuki could stop twirling, she blinked her eyes. When she stopped and was about to ask Niou what was wrong, another pair of arms touched her and before she could turned and see who it was…

Yagyuu took her hand and continued the dance for her. "Yagyuu-san?' she asked, surprised by the changing of dancing partners.

Yagyuu just smiled at her, "Well, Niou can't hog you all night…"
Satsuki raised an eyebrow and took a glance at Niou who grinned at her in return and turned to ask another woman to dance with him.She then turned her attention back to Yagyuu and pushed any suspicion away.

Well.how often does she gets to dance with another handsome man like Yagyuu?

"But then again," Yagyuu said in the middle of their dance, and Satsuki looked at him, "hm?"

Yagyuu smiled, "I can't occupy you all night too..." he said and gave her a twirl and pushed her from the back gently. Satsuki was pushed forward and before she could ask, Yanagi took her hands and smiled, "May I have this dance?"

Satsuki felt confused, why were these men passing her around to their friends? She glanced at Yagyuu and saw him with Niou smiling at her. Not far away from them, Jackal and Marui were standing, looking at them eagerly.

"Let me guess," Satsuki said as she swayed to the music, "Everyone gets a turn” she voiced her opinion, regarding the ebony haired man curiously. Yanagi nodded his head, a smile that seem almost similar to Niou’s previous smile. "One way to explain it," he said. Satsuki laughed, "Okay...I can handle that.”

They danced for a few minutes and just as Satsuki began to enjoy her time with Yanagi, their dance came to a stop. Satsuki smiled at Yanagi and they both bowed their heads to each other. Then just as Satsuki turned, she saw Sanada standing in front of her, one hand extended. He didnt speak a word, but Satsuki knew him to be more action than verbal.

However, the thought of Sanada dancing with her flickered a splash of surprise to herself. She gave another smile, took Sanada’s hand, and led him to dance.

All through their dance, Satsuki had to admit, she should have given Sanada more credit. Despite looking aloof and stone like, the man knew how to dance. He didnt move rigidly, but he led her gently following the music.

Sanada moved ever so slowly, taking into consideration, her two steps to his one. Like Yanagi, he ended the dance slowly and just as Satsuki bowed at the man, the next man, Jackal was already waiting for her. Satsuki laughed and took his hand and continued dancing again. "Maybe I should charge all of you.”

Jackal laughed as well, "I think you got paid well enough from your boss.” Satsuki rolled her eyes, "Don't talk about him now, I'm trying to enjoy the dance.”

Jackal smiled, "You do know he is here.”

Satsuki nodded, "But I can pretend," The half Brazilian smiled, "Maybe I should pass you to dance with him next," he joked. Satsuki tilted her head, still smiling, "I would dare you to, but I think Marui-san wants a turn next,"

"Damn right I do," Marui Bunta said, appearing beside the pair. He grinned at Satsuki, "Sorry old mate," he said to Jackal who chuckled in reply. Jackal released her hand and Satsuki faced her redhead senior.

Marui took the next lead and he was grinning at her throughout the dance. "What’s so funny?" she asked, her voice curious. Marui shook his head, his violet eyes gleaming. "Nothing...I just remembered that the best ones gets the last dance."

Satsuki smiled, "You're saying you're the best one?" she joked.

Marui shrugged, as he twirled her, "I could be, but not for you," he winked and pushed her from behind. Satsuki was once again pushed forward and before she could stop herself, to look at Marui, and asked him what he meant, she had bumped into someone.

"Ow," the man in the black suit said. Satsuki quickly composed herself and gulped, as she faced the man's back. "I-I'm so sorry," she said, looking at the man's messy black hair.

Watching the man's back and his messy hair, reminded her vaguely of watching a certain boy in yellow and black jacket, swinging his racquet over his messy black hair.

Her eyes widened in surprised, as the man turned to look at her, and she saw that the man in front of her was the boy she remembered in her past. She eyed him; the feeling of familiarity enveloped her, making her heart almost beating quickly than before.

"A-Akaya,” the word came out of her mouth faster than she could stop herself. It had been a long time since she mouthed that name. Until then, she had never realized how she missed saying it, saying his name.

Akaya, on the other hand, blinked in surprised when he saw Satsuki standing in front of him, looking shock.

written by Ra1