The Wedding

You sit in your seat next to your mom in the front row of seating. When the bridal march starts, you stand with the crowd turning to watch the twin aisles splitting the seating into thirds. Down the left aisle comes Mr. Nameru walking arm in arm with Iyasu. Marching down the right aisle is your father with Akasuki on his arm. The two brides reach the dais in unison, the fathers hug and kiss their daughters on the cheek before taking their seats.

You sit next to your parents watching the ceremony take place. Tasukeko hands the ring to Akasuki, followed by the reciting of her vows sliding the ring onto Iyasu’s finger. Iyasu’s sister fulfills the same role, before the doctor recites her vows slipping a matching ring onto Akasuki’s finger. “With the power vested in me, I declare you Mrs. and Mrs. Yamada. You may now kiss the bride,” the officiate concludes the ceremony. Everyone claps as the dual brides kiss, and you hold back your tears of joy watching your sister get married.

They turn to the crowd, and the ground rumbles under the center section of seats. The seats shift causing the aisles to merge into a single clearing. The newlyweds walk hand in hand down the newly formed exit. With the ceremony over everyone makes their way to the reception hall. You follow the crowd inside, the venue workers already working on picking up the outside seating used for the ceremony. After the meal and toasts, it’s time for the first dance. The doors in back are opened to give access to the dance floor.

You stand in the crowd watching as Akasuki and Iyasu come together to dance for the first time as a married couple. “Hey, boss,” Tasukeko says arriving next to you. “Hmmm, so I’ve got my sights narrowed down to two prospects. We’ve got your cousin over there,” she says pointing to your cousin Yusuru. You already know why she’s interested in him but that doesn’t stop her from explaining, “I heard about his vibrating quirk,” she quickly shakes her hand imitating your cousins ability to vibrate his body parts at a high frequency. “But on the other hand, we have the other maid of honor. Akasuki says the doc’s quirk is genetic, so she’s my best chance at experiencing the tongue your sister is always raving about,” you try not to think about all the times Akasuki has talked about Iyasu’s extending tongue. “I would ask who you’re eyeballing but it’s pretty obvious who you’ll be chasing.”

“Wait what? Why is it obvious?” you ask confused since you hadn’t put much thought into it.

“Well duh, it’s her right?” Tasukeko points across the dance floor, and just past the dancing wives you spot the emerald haired woman of your dreams. Tomoko is here! How could Akasuki not tell you? If it wasn’t her wedding day, you’d have some strong words for her. “Oh, my. You didn’t know she was here,” Tasukeko says reading your dumbfounded stare.

Pairs of dancing couples slowly join the brides on the dance floor. With the line broken, you cut across the dance floor. “Would you like to dance?” you ask holding your hand out to the hero. She smiles placing her hand in yours. Your heart sings as the two of you make your way among the dancers. Her arms wrapped around your neck, you hold her around her waist, swaying with the music.

You stare into her yellow eyes while silently dancing to the music. You don’t know what to say. It’s been a couple years since you last saw the stunning hero. “How have you been?” she finally asks breaking the silence between you.

You go on about how business has been booming lately. That Akasuki has been killing the development side lately. Tomoko talks about how well the Pussycats have been doing, you already know everything she’s telling you. You’ve always kept a close eye on her, but you let her tell you anyways. The songs change, but your partner doesn’t. You and Tomoko change pace with the rhythm, grinding to the fast songs and swaying to the slow. All of your feelings swelling, remembering your past encounters with her. How you have these magical nights together, but they never seem to last. You want to believe, but you’re scared that it will be the same as always. You’ll talk for a couple days, then communication will cease as Yamada Support gets a big job or the Pussycats are called for a series of disasters. You shake the doubts away, deciding to live in the moment.

You take advantage of Akasuki’s open bar between dancing. You watch the brides cut the cake, your sister shoving cake into the doctor’s face. Tasukeko nudges you in the side as Iyasu licks the icing from her nose. Tasukeko’s phone pops into existence in her hand, pulled from her hammerspace, taking a photo of the married couple covered in cake. Her phone disappearing without a trace, replaced in her hand by her drink.

Even after all these years, you’re still amazed by Tasukeko’s quirk. You can’t even imagine effortlessly being able to make objects disappear and reappear at will, or even your sister’s ability to change her body. It’s your own quirkless nature that feeds into the amazement. There’s been plenty of times in your life where you’ve felt lesser, especially growing up with Akasuki. You can’t even count the numbers of times as a kid where Akasuki would unscrew parts from your chair, or nail the bathroom door shut with you inside. Trapped in the small room, powerless to escape, trapped.

You can feel your heart rate raising, your memories setting off a panic attack. You try to steady your breathing, running through your practiced breathing exercises. You push the images of being trapped under the snow from your mind, try to focus on Heiwa. Damn it, it’s been 9 years! When are you going to be free of the avalanche? “You ready to dance?” You open your eyes, Tomoko is holding your hand bouncing back and forth, demonstrating her near constant energy. You smile, the avalanche forgotten once again as you follow her back onto the dance floor.