Ajax presents:
After School
Part 2: The Silver Kimono Wedding
16th September, 1996
"KYAAAAAAAA!!!!"
"Usagi!" Ikuko rushed up the stairs, afraid of
what would have caused her daughter to scream so.
"Usagi! Are you all ri-Kids!! What do you think
you're doing?" Usagi, appearing somewhat soaked,
was chasing Shingo around
the room, who was shaking a tell-tale bottle of
water taken from the fridge.
"Shingo! I only asked you to wake up your
sister!"
"Just come here, you brat! That water was
freezing cold! Mom, help me catch him!"
"WILL YOU TWO STOP!!" At the sight of Mother's
Wrath on Ikuko's face, both calmed down. Shingo,
looking at his watch, exclaimed that he was late
and rushed out, grinning behind his shoulder at
his sister to infuriate her. Usagi was
practically fuming.
"Oh that brat! Will he ever grow up?"
"This coming from someone who nearly overslept
the day before her wedding?"
"Mom! I'm not in school anymore, remember? I can
sleep as long as I want. I'm making up for all
those years I had to get up at 7:30."
"Fine, fine. Why don't you dress and come to the
kitchen? Your breakfast is ready."
Usagi smiled sadly, and when she spoke her voice
was quiet. "It's the last morning you'll prepare
breakfast for me..."
"Oh Usagi..." The two women hugged, then Ikuko
noticed that Usagi was
crying. "Hey, come on... we have already had our
talks and cried our tears, no? Hurry downstairs,
there are some pancakes waiting for you."
"Pancakes. Yummy." Usagi tried to sound
enthusiastic, even though she was still sniffing.
"Be down in a sec."
Later, Ikuko watched as Usagi contentedly ate
her pancakes, though she wasn't eating as many as
she would have in earlier years. "Usagi-chan..."
"Nani?"
"I'm glad we got to spend this month with each
other."
Flashbacks show Usagi and Ikuko cooking,
shopping, sitting at a cafe and chatting happily
in the kitchen while they're waiting for a cake
to bake. "Mom...." Usagi tearfully got up and
walked around the table to hug her mother, a
mimicry of their situation earlier. Just then,
the telephone rang and Usagi, letting go of her
mom, ran to answer it.
"Ayako, hi!...Eh. Sure... Okay, I'll meet you
there then. Bye! Mom, it was Ayako. She,
Naru-chan and some other friends want to meet me
at the mall."
"Okay honey, but don't forget, be back before 3
o'clock. We have to go see Rei at the temple. And
remember, it's your last unmarried day, so have
fun!"
"Will do. Bye Mom!" She walked out the door, and
before leaving the garden took a long look at the
house. It was an old house, the paint chipped and
cracked in a few places and the name-plate on the
door crooked. Her parents had been living there
before she was born. Looking around the garden,
she thought she could see the ghost images from
her memories, her father carefully watching her
making her first steps, her mom leading a crying
Usagi in a uniform for her first day in school by
the hand, playing with Shingo on a toy truck...
Turning towards the gate, she saw herself again,
weaving her daily pattern between home, school
and arcade, getting older as the years went past,
tugging Mamoru, scared expression on his face for
his first meeting with her parents, and finally,
her oldest memory of all: a four-year old Usagi
waiting at the gate at dusk for her father
returning from work, her first sight of a sunset
and her dad sweeping her up in his arms while he
laughed.
Walking out of the garden, Usagi kept looking
around intently, at the places and the people.
Many of them she knew, neighbors, friends. "I
won't be walking this road often anymore," she
thought, "Mamo-chan says I can't go the same way
from his house to town."
Finally, she arrived at the mall. As soon as
they saw each other, the friends began chatting
excitedly like the schoolgirls they no longer
were. When they passed a hairdresser's, the
subject turned to haircuts.
"Hey Usagi, why don't you change your hairstyle?
It's been the same for such a long time! Don't
you ever get bored of it? I bet if you left it
loose, it would just shape itself into those buns
again!"
"Yeah come on, Usagi-chan! Get a haircut!" The
last was said by Naru, who was walking arm-in-arm
with Usagi. Her own hair was much the same even
though she had abandoned the ribbon.
"A haircut? But..."
"You don't have to cut it too short. With your
hair, you could cut it up to your waist and it
would be short for you, but it wouldn't make a
difference. What do you say?"
"Well...." Before she could say anything more,
the friends dragged her into a hairdresser's.
When they came out an hour later, the girls all
had bored looks on their faces while Usagi was
enthusiastically moving her head
to get a feel of her new hairstyle and reaching
up to finger the ends. While it was still the
same style her ponytails were now cut to just
above her waist.
"Wow, you guys were right. My head feels so much
lighter now, and it'll be easier to wash it. Why
haven't I done this before?"
"Well, if you ever do it again, I'm not coming
with you," slurred Naru. (Flashback shows
Naru&friends getting sweatdrops and subsequently
bored expressions as Usagi and the hairdresser
have a long debate on exactly what length her
hair should be.)
The friends spent a few more hours at the mall,
during which Usagi's face got sadder and sadder.
When it was time to leave, they all stood a bit
awkwardly outside the mall, each wondering what
to say. It was finally Usagi who broke the
silence, initiating a group hug with a sob.
"Usagi, I'm so sorry I can't come to your
wedding tomorrow but I promise I'll call you
afterwards...."
"No, you better wait the next day because
afterwards she's going to be busy with her
'Mamo-chan'..."
"Oh you're wicked!"
"You guys, you have to promise you will come see
me..."
"Of course, Usagi!"
"Sure we will!"
Usagi was finally able to get herself together
and leave, walking fast to avoid being late. "I
sure am crying a lot today, she thought, "I
never thought getting married would make me feel
so sad."
* * * *
"How does" puff puff "Rei's grandfather" puff
puff "do this?" Ikuko gasped out, climbing the
staircase to the Shinto shrine.
"He doesn't leave the temple that often," Usagi
replied, "I'm glad he agreed to hold our wedding
here though." At the top of the stairs, they saw
Yuuichiro sweeping leaves. His hair, though still
long, was no longer as messy as it had been. He
had been dedicating himself more and more to the
religion. They bowed to him, and he grinned in
greeting. The two women walked on to find Rei in
her temple robes, sitting under a tree occupied
with making charms.
"Your hair!" Usagi and Rei screeched at the same
time, for Rei's hair was now cut to just below
her jawline, the ends curved inwards. "Rei, when
did you cut it? It looks so nice!"
"I got the haircut two days ago. But yours, it's
so short!"
"Your hair looks very nice, Rei." Ikuko said.
"Tsukino-san," Rei replied respectfully. Her
face took a more serious expression and she
asked them to follow her. She led them into the
shrine, which had been changed a bit to
accommodate the wedding ceremony.
"So. I guess you already know how the
Shinto-style ceremony goes. Basically, the guests
take their place, then the bride and groom kneel
in front of the priest, recieve blessings, drink
a little sake, and that's it. By the way, you
have to bring your wedding papers because grandpa
has to sign those. The ceremony is nowhere as
fancy as those western ones everyone seems so
keen on. Didn't you want one of those, Usagi? I
thought you were dying to
have a white dress."
"Well, I did, but Mamo-chan wanted a simple
wedding, even though he would have gone along
with what I wanted. We haven't invited a lot of
people. I thought I should respect his wishes,
because he has always done what I
wanted. Besides," Usagi continued cheerfully, "I
have a really pretty wedding kimono! It's
lovely."
"It has been in the family for four generations
now," Ikuko added, "my grandmother wore it when
she got married."
Excitedly, Rei asked, "What's it like? Tell me."
"Uh-uh. Secret."
"Ditz. Oh well, I'll see it tomorrow. Bye,
Usagi. Bye, Tsukino-san."
* * * *
"Usagi, where is Mamoru-kun? He hasn't come by
or phoned today," said Ikuko, looking
inquisitively at her daughter.
"He said he didn't want to see me for a few
days, since I'm always at his house arranging
furniture and stuff he said my being there
everyday unmarried and my being there married
wasn't going to make much difference. In other
words, he's getting re-used to his bachelor life
so that he'll be able to understand the
difference marriage is going to make.
I think he's just nervous though. Did Dad get
nervous at your wedding Mom?"
The question prompted Ikuko to chuckle. "He
tripped over his own feet and landed face-down in
front of the priest!"
"Are you serious? Poor Dad! Oh, but what if the
same thing happens to Mamoru? Or even worse,
me?!"
"Relax, dear. All will be fine. I'm sure you'll
have a beautiful wedding. Look, it's late
already, why don't you have an early night so
that you'll be fresh tomorrow morning, instead of
having to race to your wedding?"
* * * *
17th September, 1996
The pinkish light of the rising sun illuminated
the face of the girl who stood by her window,
hands flat against the pane of glass as she
watched the arrival of the new day, a painful
expression on her face. "Itee!" Usagi thought,
"this feels worse than it does on the first day
of school!" Flopping down on her bed, she reached
over to the box of cookies on her nighttable, but
stopped when her stomach told her in no uncertain
terms that that wasn't a good idea. Seeing as it
was still 6 o'clock, Usagi decided to try to
sleep some more.
Half an hour later...
Usagi moaned in her sleep and turned over, the
painful expression still on her face. The sun,
now fully up, painted stripes of shadow and light
on the floor.
Half an hour later...
Usagi reached out to the doorknob of her
parent's room, but stopped when she glanced at
the clock on the wall. She returned to her room
and took out a hanger from cupboard, taking off
the kimono wrapped around it and
laying it on her bed. The kimono was a bright,
cheerful red, with little white flower designs on
it. Usagi touched the fancy silk material, soft
and
flowing beneath her fingers. She sat staring at
it for sometime, and that was how her mother
found her.
* * * *
The three girls worked noisily, laughing and
yelling at each other as they worked on arranging
a huge number of bouquets around the small room
at the shrine. The flowers and the colorful
kimonos they wore gave the room a
festive atmosphere. In another chamber of the
shrine, Usagi's mom helped her put on her red
kimono while her father walked desolately
outside, sniffing and blowing his nose. Somewhere
else Mamoru, looking nervous, was talking to a
young man who was fiddling with a camera.
A little while later Ikuko appeared, dressed in
a formal kimono, and told Rei's grandfather that
the bride was ready. Somewhere outside, Yuuichiro
struck the gong, the loud sound resounding
throughout the shrine, signalling the beginning
of the ceremony. Entering the small room, Ikuko
and Shingo
passed Makoto, Minako, Naru and the young man who
had all sat at the back of the room, and kneeled
down a few meters away from Rei's grandfather.
Rei herself stood behind him in her temple robes
with a bottle of sake by her feet.
Mamoru entered, dressed in clothes similar to
Chad's in black and white. He stopped and bowed
before Rei's grandfather, who placed a sake bowl
in front of him.
About a minute later, Usagi entered with her
father, who led her, crying all the way, to
Mamoru, and then knelt beside his wife who rolled
her eyes at him in exasperation. Mamoru's heart
did a flip-flop. Usagi looked beautiful in that
kimono, he thought. Smiling at each other and
holding hands, the two knelt in front of the
priest.
Rei's grandfather started the purification. His
chanting had a strong, happy tone to it, and his
voice rose in volume until he came to the end.
Then Mamoru and Usagi swore to stay faithful all
their lives, and he blessed them. Rei poured a
bit of sake into the cups, which was blessed as
well, and they drank, Usagi blinking at the
strange taste.
As soon as Usagi and Mamoru put the cups down,
everybody in the room started cheering and
clapping, Minako and Makoto scooping up flowers
and tossing them into the air so that they
showered, colored rain upon the
newlyweds. Rei passed them two charms on which
was inscribed a single word: happiness. Usagi and
Mamoru rose and exited the room followed by the
others.
There was no kiss, not a word exchanged between
the two lovers, only
Usagi's smile and the peaceful, happy gaze of the
husband as he put his arm around his wife. They
advanced towards the ancient tree and tied their
charms on its branches.
* * * *
An hour later...
Mamoru and Usagi, now dressed in normal clothes,
ran out of the car and into the apartment,
followed by cries of "Don't get too loud now!".
Once inside, they stared at each other for a
second before breaking into a grin
and rushing up the stairs, giggling as they
tripped in their hurry. Mamoru's hands shook as
he tried to get the key into the lock. Still
laughing, they
entered his (now their) house and ran into the
bedroom, falling onto the bed and kissing
passionately, moans and laughs through the
kisses. Mamoru started undressing her, his
fingers pulling on the buttons. It was then that
the doorbell rang. Mamoru looked up for a second,
decided to ignore it and turned his attention
back to Usagi, but it rang again. He rolled off
her, groaning angrily. Usagi giggled as she heard
him cuss. Straightening her clothes, she walked
towards the door, Mamoru following and doing his
best impression of Demon From Hell (copyright
Tendo Soun), muttering dark comments under his
breath. Usagi tried to keep a straight face as
she opened the door.
The postman was tired. It was five o'clock in
the afternoon and he had been going from door to
door the whole day delivering people's letters
and packages. His feet ached and his shoulders
hurt. His asthma was bothering
him again. That girl in the next building was
still asking him if he had a letter from her
lover in Indonesia. He handed the packet to the
girl who had opened him the door without even
looking at her, which was good, otherwise he
would have been scared by the threatening
expression on the face of the man behind her.
Said man sweatdropped when he realised his
Threatening Face (tm) No. 53 Reserved for Postmen
hadn't even been noticed.
Usagi closed the door and turned the package in
her hands looking for the address. "It's from
Ami-chan!" she exclaimed happily, "That's so nice
of her!"
"Leave the package, Usako," Mamoru growled
menacingly, pulling her in
for a passionate kiss.
Then Usagi's stomach growled. Very audibly.
Mamoru pulled back with an expression of
disbelief and groaned, half
in frustration and half amusement, as his wife
sheepishly put her hands on her stomach and made
an apologetic face.
"Oh, bother!" he said, and laughing, scooped her
up into his arms and carried her into the
kitchen.
* * * *
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