Ch. 13: "I Propose a Union~!"
“You know, I have yet to be up here.” Reina said as she eagerly looked out the window of the huge Yokohama ferris wheel. The car was steadily making it’s way towards the top and the couple was curled up together inside, taking in the amazing view of the city lights at night.
“I don’t usually go, either.” Risa agreed, slightly distracted. Her mind was half on the date and what resided in a small box in her pocket and half on her father’s disapproval of tonight.
“Something on your mind?” The yankii, always in tune to her lover’s moods, picked up on this right away.
“Well, it’s just that,” Risa began, leaning backwards to pull Reina in against her shoulder, “I was thinking about how our whole relationship has seemed to be one big struggle, from the misunderstandings that brought us together in the first place, to the fiasco of our first anniversary, to the day to day struggle of hiding from everyone and now the pain of and from our respective families.” Reina wondered if she should be worried because the words Risa was saying and the actions of holding her so close and now stroking her hair were in direct contrast to each other. “It’s seemed like we’ve done nothing but fight and struggle to get where we are now. And I don’t think it’ll stop any time in the near future.”
“But,” The yankii ventured, “Even normal relationships are like that.”
“True and our situation is as unique as it gets, I guess, so it stands that it should be twice as hard for us.” the bean agreed with a nod, “Well, I was thinking about all of this and how I would have never thought myself capable of getting through these tests intact, when it dawned on me exactly why I can stand being put through all this.” She shifted and brought Reina up to face her lovingly smiling face, “I will never be happier anywhere else than in your arms. If my family were to disown me, if we were forced from Morning Musume, even if the world itself were to ridicule me, I could stand it because at the end of the day, I can come home to you.” She removed that distracting box from her pocket and opened it to show her lover the contents; Reina gasped, “And I know, without any doubt in my heart, that I could continue to face anything life threw at me if you were by my side. Tanaka Reina, will you be my wife?”
The stunned yankii found herself with her breath caught in her throat, staring at a golden ring with a good sized diamond at the center, surrounded by much smaller insets of sapphires on one side and emeralds on the other. Completely speechless, Reina could only nod, tears forming in her eyes from happiness, and lunge forward to meld their lips together in a passionate kiss. When they broke apart finally, Risa slipped the ring onto Reina’s finger.
Looking down at her new accessory, the yankii chuckled. “What?” Risa asked, tilting her head.
“It’s just-” Reina grinned and shook her head, “Nothing, you’ll see later.”
Ch. 14: "I Accept this Union~!"
After a short ride on the train, the two found themselves on a quiet street in Tokyo’s business section. There was nothing said between them, nothing that needed to be said, and they held hands contentedly. Reina led them down the sidewalk, for once quite confident about where she was going, and they soon stopped in front of a rather large hotel.
Risa began to laugh, “Well, it’s definitely more classy than a love hotel.” They made their way into the lobby and to the elevators, where Reina hit the button for the very top floor, “A penthouse suite?” the bean asked incredulously, but her lover merely smiled and said nothing. They got to the top and the yankii pulled out the keycard to the door in front of them, letting them inside.
The suite was enormous, basically a large apartment, equipped with a full kitchen and dinning room, living room and master bedroom, as well as a guest room and a jacuzzi tub in the main bathroom. Risa would find this out later, when she explored the suite, but for now, the only thing she noticed was the elaborately set up dinning room. A cart was paused in the middle of the room, seeming to hold a full course meal on it, complete with a server to cater to them and a chilled bottle of wine. The table was adorned with a simple dark red table cloth and a single candle stick held inside a slim glass casing.
“Oh Reina, this is amazing.” Risa breathed as her lover led her into the room and held out her chair for her.
“Only the best for the best.” The yankii quipped charmingly, seating herself. That was the server’s cue to bring out their still steaming food. They ate daintily, more interested in each other than anything else, until dessert came. Both were flushed from the wine and Reina couldn’t keep the grin off of her face as the lids were lifted off the rich slice of chocolate cake. When Risa looked down at her plate, she noticed an extra adornment resting on top of the dessert.
Her breath was taken away by the small gold band, the top design twisted into the infinity symbol and inlaid with a sapphire and an emerald. When her voice finally did come back to her, she giggled breathlessly, “I guess we had the same idea.”
“Yes, that’s what I was laughing about earlier. Similar stones and everything. Great minds, huh?” Reaching out, Reina plucked the ring off of the cake and held it in front of her lover, “Speeches have always been more your thing than mine and I‘ve always been more blunt, so, I love you. Will you marry me?”
“Yes!” Risa exclaimed, still breathless as Reina slid the ring on her finger. They stood and met next to the table in what would be a precursor to many more passionate embraces that night. The server, smiling broadly at the sweet scene, took their plates away and wheeled everything out unnoticed, making sure to hang the ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign on the door.
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A double chapter today, to make up for my lack of time.