The crowd roared after Tetsu and Eita finished their first of several colab tracks during the encore. Earlier, they announced that they'd be releasing a joint album of singles and duos the next year, with a possible tour for select cities to follow. Then, when Tetsu set up to sing his solo set, Eita went to what passed as a backstage area and waited for Hayato.
"Are they here, yet?" he asked Hayato, his manager and friend, as he quickly changed clothes.
"Just arrived," Hayato replied. "They should be here any minute..."
"Took you long enough, Semi-Semi!" Tori announced his presence as he appeared around the corner. "We were about to start placing bets on how long it'd take."
"Don't call me that!" He gave Tori a dirty look, but then smiled at his friend, and at Toshi, who finally joined them. "I wasn't going to be too long. I wanted to elope this past winter, but she wanted our friends with us, so we set it for spring, instead."
"Elopement? How scandalous!" Tori didn't look the least bit scandalized.
"Where is she, anyway?" Toshi asked, looking around for her.
"She'll be back in a minute," Hayato answered. "And no congrats yet!"
"What? Why not?"
"Let's just say she's blissfully unaware of our plans."
"Plans? If you've already asked, and she said yes, then why...?"
"Call it a formality, I guess?"
Hayato handed over a small pink velvet box to Eita, who took it gently from him. Tori was already crowding him and Toshi was all eyes. Opening the box, he revealed what was inside.
"Ooooo," Tori crooned. "That practically screams Yacchan! She'll love it."
"I hope so," Eita said nervously, closing the box. "It took forever to find the perfect one."
The sound of a camera snapping a round of pictures intruded, but no one saw fit to reprimand Iwaizumi, who held the camera, or Oikawa, who was leaning against the corner of the temporary wall.
"Dare I ask for an interview with the happy couple?"
"I'll leave that up to her," Eita replied. "But don't count on one right away."
"Tsk. Spoilsport. Still, I call first dibs."
"Wouldn't think of anyone else before you. Also, say nothing to Hitoka, got it?"
"Surprising our little star, are we?"
"Who's a little star?" Hitoka asked as she walked up with Kei behind her, fluffing her hair. "Kei, stop that!"
"I just want it to be perfect," he complained as she dodged him.
"Kei, stop! It's fine. It's fluffed enough. Though why we went to all this trouble is beyond me. I didn't have to change..."
Her voice faded into nothing as she realized who was standing in the hallway. Eita watched her face as her expression went from happy to confused and then something comically in between. Good thing she'd been distracted enough by Kei that he had time to quickly hide the box in the pocket of his cargo shorts. Kei gave him a wink and a thumbs up.
"What are you doing here?" she asked everyone. She turned to Tori and Toshi. "Weren't you going to Okinawa for a vacation?" Toshi shook his head, and Tori tried to look innocent while looking everywhere but at her. And whistling. Hitoka rolled her eyes and then looked at Oikawa and Iwaizumi and simply raised an eyebrow.
"Well, I met the deadline I spoke of at the shrine," he shrugged helplessly. "Oh! Yahaba and Kyotani's trial will be held in November in Takashima."
"I know," she said slowly. "It still doesn't explain..."
"Kuroo's wrapping up his set. Eita, you know which songs you're going to sing?" Hayato interrupted.
"Yep!"
"Alright, good. Now, get out there!"
Hayato half shoved him out from backstage and he made his way out to where Kuroo stood waving at the crowd.
"You ready?" Kuroo asked, loud enough for him to hear.
"I have never been so ready in my entire life!"
"Good luck, dude! And congrats!"
"Thanks!"
Eita turned to the crowd and waved, picking up his guitar from the stand he'd left it on, and adjusted the mic.
"Thanks again for coming out to support us, guys! We really do appreciate it! Now, I hope you're ready, because this encore performance will be the best one yet!!"
From backstage, Hitoka's smile grew wider with each song he sang. They were all her favorites, and like any self-respecting fangirl, she sang along with him and the crowd who went wild. She watched as he played his guitar, scanned the crowd with his eyes, stopping at various points, gesturing for when he wanted the crowd to sing along with him, and again when he wanted them to quiet down. He loved this; loved being onstage. She could just tell how happy he was to be performing again.
And then, something occurred to her as she caught sight of the big screen tv behind Eita onstage. Pictures started flashing up there, starting with the ones she'd taken in Osaka, where they first met. Each successive picture was of either her, or them together, in various places around the country. Including ones from Shiraito Falls...
She felt a pair of hands settle on her shoulders and squeeze gently. Looking up, she saw Kei smiling down at her.
"What?"
"Nothing. Keep watching."
"What's going on?"
"You'll see, big sis."
"She's so tiny, and you call her big sis," Tori joked from beside them.
"By virtue of her being older than me by almost a month."
Tori was about to say something else, when the music stopped, and Eita had gotten the crowd down to a dull roar. He stood up from the stool he was sitting on, went to put his guitar on its stand, and went back to the mic.
"For those of you following me on various social media platforms, and my official website, you should have a good idea of what today is. What it means to me. Right?" Most of the crowd clapped and cheered and some even shouted their answers. "You got it! That's absolutely right! Good job, guys! Exactly two years ago today, at Osaka castle, I met the love of my life. Though, I should mention, I had a little help with that meeting."
"Guess that's my cue," Tetsu said as he passed by to go back out onstage. He shook Eita's hand and then picked up his guitar, sitting on the stool to start playing a very familiar song. The crowd started cheering, but Eita signaled for them to settle down again. He took the mic from the stand and started singing 'Hand to Hold' and made his way to where Hitoka stood waiting.
She felt Kei let her go, and she put her hand into Eita's, who slowly pulled her back out onstage with him. The crowd roared to life, cheering wildly, and she barely heard Eita singing at all. She waved to the audience, and smiled when they started chanting 'Yacchan!' and 'Semi!' And the jumbo screen had cycled through all the photos, only to finally stop on their favorite one.
And then something else clicked. They were both wearing the same outfits they were wearing that very first day. He was wearing his maroon, scoop-neck t-shirt, khaki cargo shorts, and his Teva sandals. She was wearing a baby blue dress dotted with tiny daisies, and her favorite pair of strappy white sandals.
With her hand still in his, he slowly spun her around until she was in front of him, facing the audience, and finished singing her song. She barely noticed when Tetsu stood up, took the mic from Eita, put it back on the stand, and went backstage. Her attention was completely on Eita as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, just like in the picture. He bent just enough so that his face was close to hers, just like in the picture. But, instead of holding up her phone to snap a selfie, like the picture, in his hand was a little pink velvet box.
"Eita?"
"Open it, baby," he whispered in her ear. He held onto the bottom of the box, while she lifted the lid.
"Oh, Eita," she said, feeling the tears spill over.
"I know I asked before, and you gave me the best damn answer I could hope for but... Marry me?"
"Yes!"
He took the rose gold ring from the box, and slid it onto her finger, letting the lights catch the small, brilliant cut, pink diamond. The audience ooohh'ed and aahhh'ed and congratulated the pair. Eita happily pulled her to the mic and kept his eyes on her.
"She said yes this past winter," he told the audience. "She said yes again tonight. I knew I'd found someone special when we first met. I probably fell a little in love with you that day. It wasn't until you showed me your little getaway in Karuizawa that I knew I loved you, and wanted you in my life forever." He wiped away her tears. "Are you ready?" he asked after he put the mic back on the stand.
"Ready for what?"
"For anything. Everything. Being my wife," he listed off with a shy smile. "But most importantly, are you ready to leave here?" Eita leaned forward so that his lips just barely grazed her ear. "I wanna celebrate. Alone. With you."
Hitoka whispered her answer, and nodded her head, in case he didn't hear her over the cheering crowd.
Eita picked her up and swung her around before carrying her off stage, past their friends who alternately patted him on the back and bent to kiss her cheek and congratulated them. Past the row of security guards, who just happened to be the same officers from Lake Biwa, and now kept curious onlookers from getting too close. Next to their car, Hitoka smiled brightly at Mika and the healer priest from Shirahige shrine, who offered their congratulations as well. And then, she noticed a few faces she didn't recognize.
"These are the people who found your messages and called us," Eita explained. He introduced her to each one. And then, he came to two young teens, their parents behind them, and both kids had a shock of unruly orange hair. "This is Shoyo Hinata, and his twin sister, Natsu. They didn't find a note, but they did help in identifying who took you."
"Is this your lady friend, Mr Semi?" Natsu asked, looking quite starry-eyed at him. Her brother whispered something in her ear. "I wasn't doing that, Shoyo!" She looked apologetic. Then, she smiled brightly at Hitoka. "You're even prettier in person, ma'am! I can see why he loves you."
"Natsu!" Shoyo reprimanded his sister. "Sorry, ma'am." he bowed.
"It's alright. Thank you so much. Eita and our friends were able to find me sooner with your help."
Shoyo's hand went to the back of his neck, his face flushing. "We only did what anyone else would do, ma'am."
"Can we take a picture?"
"Natsu!"
Hitoka and Eita laughed while they took the kids' phones. Their mother offered to take the picture for them, and once they were all in place, she took the picture on each phone.
"We can send you a copy, if you'd like," Shoyo offered while Natsu did a happy little dance and kept saying her friends are NOT going to believe this.
"Send it to my email on the website," Eita told him. "Thanks again for your help, Hinata. And you too, Natsu."
"No problem," he replied. "Come on, Natsu, they gotta go!"
~*~
In the spring of the following year, the small group of friends gathered at Shiraito Falls, at the place that had served as a romantic getaway and a meeting place. But now, it served as a sort of outdoor cathedral, where Hitoka Yachi and Eita Semi exchanged vows. As soon as they finished the ceremony, a soft, warm breeze rustled through the trees, carrying with it a myriad of sakura petals, not including the ones thrown by their friends.
//fin