One last thing to remember!
F/F - Favorite food
Enjoy...
~
"Oh my god, Y/N! You're gorgeous!"
Y/N turned as red as the long cloak she wore. Sewing Girl - who she now called Satin - was tracing the fine cloth in her fingers. Beneath the cloak, Y/N wore her Sakura uniform, now clean and rid of imperfection. Satin had sown and repaired everything herself.
"You wanted your outfit as a 7th Wonder to be Aka Manto's." Satin held Y/N's shoulders, raising a brow. "I thought you were in a pickle with that?"
"This is not for Aka Manto." Y/N held Satin's hands. "This is for Osane."
Sewing Girl's face changed, her eyes glistening. Y/N turned her attention to Yashiro.
The Daikon was beside her, combing her hair. Y/N winced as her best friend forced the comb through a split end. She supplied, "Really, Y/N! You're beaming! Have some confidence in yourself!"
Y/N let a chuckle slide as she patted down her shirt collar. "I just can't believe this is all happening... that you're all with me, that everything's okay now."
Yashiro hugged her tightly, nearly knocking Y/N back. "Of course we're with you! We'll always be!"
Y/N wrapped her arms around her. Y/N stifled her tears. "But I'm a ghost, Yashiro. And one day you'll leave this school. And after that..."
Satin pinched her cheek. "Don't think too much about the future! What matters is we're here, and still very young and thriving!"
And with that she catapulted herself into the hug. Y/N couldn't take both their weights, and the trio fell to the ground.
Laughter filled Satin's sewing room. Tears were shed, which were laughed at, too. After a while Y/N got up with a smile, catching her breath-
"Thank you. I.... I'm so lucky to have you both. Long ago, I thought I'd never have friends. But here we are." She looked at them meaningfully. "No other ghost is luckier than I."
"Y/N!" Yashiro clutched her heart.
"Stop it. My eye's already caught enough." Satin fanned her face rapidly.
"Hey, girls!" Mitsuba called out from the curtained windows. He was clad in a fancy black suit. "Are you gonna be late or WHAT?!"
"Coming!" Yashiro bolted to her feet, Y/N and Satin rushing out of the room with her.
~
Hanako had never been more nervous in his life.
He stood underneath the shade of the Confession Tree. His military uniform felt hotter than usual, his cloak heavy, and he kept readjusting his hat. He wanted to ask Tsuchigomori for advice, but the teacher only waved him off, saying- "I've got to get the audience in order!"
Speaking of the audience, a great crowd was gathering before him now. It was a late afternoon, and the setting sun streaked the sky with soft shades of pink and orange. The school was deserted, the students all gone home; the school garden was a perfect venue.
White chairs stood on the grass, and an aisle cut through the middle. Paper lanterns traced its perimeter and were strung up across the trees, ready to be lit when night fell. The left rows were occupied by Sakura Wonders, while the right was filled with those from Kamome (however, some ecstatic Mokke had dashed to the other side to scream with the Orphaned.)
An unexpected sigh reached his ears, wise and gentle. Hanako melted with relief - of course, the Tree would give him advice!
"Thank you! I knew you'd understand-" Hanako began, but the Tree's words cut his.
"She's coming."
The phrase silenced the crowd.
In the other side of the garden, Y/N fought through her dizzying emotions. She felt her heart was going to burst, her soul ascend without her, the butterflies in her stomach invite a whole zoo... but one look at Hanako in the distance, who looked just as nervous as her - somehow, peculiarly, magically - got back on her feet.
Gentle music filled everyone's ears. Sakura stood in a conductor's suit, waving a baton in her right hand. Before her was a select choir of Mokke and Orphaned, who swayed to the beat as they played their instruments.
Y/N had read about weddings in books before, but it wasn't those stories that were guiding her now. Her heart willed her onward as she took slow steps, like she was learning to walk for the first time.
There was so much going on around her. The Mokke making elephant noises as they blew into their tissues... the Orphaned quickly passing them more... Yako the fox watching proudly, curled up next to Tsuchigomori, who, for the first time, did not carry his pipe. On the other side: the Geisha, with a wistful look... Temari, who vehemently argued to Stain that he was not crying... and Angelo, with a finally-not-so-chilling smile.
All of these; the music... the setting sun... was a blur. She could only focus on the boy before her, and when she finally stood before him, under that Tree that had become the keeper of many unforgettable moments, a helpless smile found its way to her face.
The music stopped. Everyone's eyes - Wonder and human - settled on the two cloaked ghosts.
"We are gathered here tonight, to set things as they should." The Confession Tree began, nearly seizing Y/N from her reverie. But one look at Hanako - who looked like he was going to collapse - and she felt lightheaded again.
"As we all know, Sakura and Kamome have a Rift, both tangible and intangible, and we were almost made enemies. But now the storm has passed, and we have these two courageous, bold, and talented youngsters to unite our two sides.
First. 7th Wonder of Kamome, do you agree to defend our school, and keep its balance with Y/N, until fate wills it not?"
Although Hanako trembled, his reply was firm. "I do."
The Tree continued.
"And you, 7th-to-be Wonder of Sakura, do you agree to defend your school, and keep its balance with Hanako, until fate wills it not?"
"Yes." Y/N blurted, cried inside when she realized she said the wrong thing, then shut herself up when two figures emerged from behind the Tree.
It was Mitsuba, who walked over to her side - and Kou, who walked over to Hanako's. Both held a black pillow that each carried an odd, shiny thing. Y/N racked her brain to remember what it was...
"A mermaid scale?" Y/N couldn't help guessing aloud. And to her surprise, Hanako replied with a smile-
"Even if we're ghosts, we should be bound, right?"
Y/N's eyes shone. From tears? Happiness? Memories? Perhaps it was all. She and Hanako took them, and as they ate it the Confession Tree grandly boomed-
"You may now kiss!"
"AHHHH!!! OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!"
Y/N stumbled back at the Mokke's scream. Suddenly the Kamome Wonders were in defensive positions, the Sakura rearing into offensive, eyes once full of emotion now full of accusation.
"What was that?! Did one of you hurt the Mokke?" Yashiro demanded. Temari fired back-
"How do we know it wasn't the Orphaned?!"
Y/N backed away from the hulabalu. 'Oh no... Don't tell me. Is he back?' But then Y/N found the Mokke who had screamed. It was bouncing around Hanako, who was hiding his face.
"7th Wonder... you've never cried in front of all of us!" The Mokke fussed. "What's happened?!"
Guests from both side stilled to a stop, warily putting down their fight to focus on Hanako.
Y/N rushed over to him, heart racing wildly. She held him in her arms. "Hanako-kun?"
She tilted his chin up, and she saw his tear-streaked face. But he had a wide smile, and his eyes shone with unmatchable happiness. "I.... ah, i-it's nothing.... It's just so hard to believe..."
Now Y/N was crying, herself. "Why, you! Y-you gave us a false alarm... almost tossed us into another battle...!"
Hanako sniffled, then stuck his tongue out, throwing his hands up innocently.
"You!" She repeated, torn between feeling beyond annoyed and beyond in love. When she couldn't decide, she shook her head and kissed him.
The crowd around them soared into a cheer that could wake the whole world.
~
When the cake had been cut (the Mokke scarfed down 90% of it) and the well wishes for the couple were granted, it was time for their first dance. This time the Geisha obliged to lead the choir (so that Natsuhiko could steal Sakura away, much to her horror.)
Y/N looked up as Hanako dipped her, the hymn of the waltz slow and gentle. "Why were you crying?"
He pulled her back up, and with it, sighed. "It just feels so... wonderful. After all we've been through. It's finally come to this."
Y/N swayed to the left, her red cloak trailing the grass. "'All we've been through'? Like when you granted my first wish?"
"Mhm. And when we had to say goodbye..."
She looked away in embarrassment. When she saw the Confession Tree, she looked back at Hanako again, flustered. "That transfer. I'm so sorry I ruined your first confession-"
Hanako silenced her with a kiss, then whispered, "Forgiven."
Y/N tripped on her cloak. The couples dancing around them stared at her in concern, and the Geisha paused the choir worriedly, as Y/N hastily got on her knees and stammered, "I-It's fine!"
Yako (now in her human form) shrugged. "She says she's fine!" And she turned back to Tscuhigomori. The other pairs nodded, the music returned, and they danced on.
"Would you stop catching me off guard?!" Y/N hissed as Hanako held her again.
"Aw, don't get so flustered. We're bound now." He leaned in cheekily. "Expect a lot more of that coming your way."
"Hanako." She held a finger to his lips.
Hanako broke into a chuckle. "Sometimes you remind me of that girl who first came to me long ago. Anxious, a terrible stutterbug, and afraid. You're so different, now. And it's been my greatest duty as a Wonder to see you through it all."
Y/N's ears tinged red. "If anything, Hanako, I'm honored I stumbled into the bathroom that day. If you could only change, too, and be less mischievous..."
"Aww, admit it! You like that part of me."
Y/N rolled her eyes, but kept her smile.
When the Geisha's music had reached its crescendo, and the couples had bowed to each other, a tink! cut through the crowd.
"Attention, everyone!" Yashiro belted, tapping a spoon to a glass. She looked more ditzy than usual. "Ladies and gents, this is the moment you've been waiting for... the feast! To Kamome and Sakura!"
The crowd echoed, "Kamome and Sakura!"
If the first dance had been graceful and magical, the banquet was chaotic and rowdy. There were two tables lined with food; one for the mortal palette, and the other cooked by an unspecified gourmet ghost.
"What's the chef's number?! This is great!" Y/N was going to cry for the hundredth time that day as she bit into the most heavenly F/F she had ever tasted.
Her question was drowned out by Mitsuba waving a photo, crying - "WEDDING PHOTOS! GET YOUR PHOTO HERE!"
An interested Temari approached the ghost, then left as quickly when Mitsuba said, "That'll be 1000 yen!"
Y/N walked through the sea of talking ghosts and people, and spotted a familiar dirt-blonde girl, looking focused on a chair she sat across an easel. She was painting something on the canvas.
"Shijima!" Y/N approached the Wonder. The girl looked up, seemingly startled, almost dropping her brush.
"I didn't see you in the Battle. Where were you?"
"The other Wonders needed my help." Shijima fixed her glasses. "Have you heard of the clock keepers? Or the god of death?"
Y/N gulped. She didn't realize Kamome faced such dire problems so regularly... and that she was now the leader of such intimidating spirits!
"I hardly noticed you were here. What are you doing?" Y/N tilted her head, changing the subject. "You're pretty far from the crowd."
Shijima laughed daintily. "That's what I like to do, don't mind me."
"But don't you want to try the food? You know... it's the least I can do, to thank you for getting my memory back."
The artist smiled at this and nodded to her painting.
Y/N looked at it. She couldn't hold a gasp as she saw Shijima's intricate oil painting of her and Hanako, under the Confession Tree.
"Sh-Shijima, it's..."
"...just a sketch!" The girl cut in, loading her brush with color aggressively. "Barely done! Not yet perfect!"
'You're kidding.' Y/N thought at the back of her head, but said instead, "It's beautiful, but..."
Shijima read Y/N's worry and waved her off. "Think of this as your way of thanking me! Besides, what if you want to relive tonight again? You and Number 7 only need to jump into this canvas and voila!"
This eased Y/N's worries, and she smiled back. "I wish it would never end."
"Guys, guys! I have an idea!" Yashiro suddenly addressed the crowd again, standing on a table. Her daikon legs wobbled as she held up a filled wine glass to the starlit sky. "Let's all say what we want for the future!"
Y/N spotted Hanako conversing with Kou and jumped in. "Sorry to interrupt. But uh... Yashiro's usually not that confident. What's she on?"
To her shock, Kou had the same spaced-out look as Yashiro did. He spoke, slurred and slow, "Tonight was the night we discovered our helpless love for grape juice."
"Grape juice...?" Y/N said, startled, then whirled to Hanako. "GRAPE JUICE! You didn't label the wine and juice containers?!"
Hanako defended himself. "Don't look at me, I didn't prepare-"
But before he could reply, Yashiro was speaking again, pointing at the crowd at her feet like she was a rock star on a stage.
"I spoke to Kou yesterday, and I finally found it in me to tell him, 'Hey, can you ask Teru if he likes me?' Teru approached me today, said yes, and now Y/N and Hanako aren't the only ones on a date tomorrow!"
Her audience hooted and cried, then Kou climbed unto the table, hugging an abashed Mitsuba a bit too tightly. Satin caught Yashiro as she waltzed off the "stage."
"Me and my feisty buddy here-" Kou began, fighting to keep Mitsuba from scrabbling away. "We're gonna' fulfill his dream of photographing all ghosts known to Wonderly kind!"
Loud applause followed, and even Mitsuba was silenced to astonishment. Satin took the stage next, and a string of dreams followed-
"I wish to open my own clothings shop!"
"I wish to work on changing my rumor!"
"Garble, garble, grunt!"
"I want to be more of a man!"
"Me and my brothers will grow our treasure trove when we steal from every student of Sakura!" A Mokke screeched manically, and the crowd roared with support (most especially from the Orphaned.) Hanako laughed, turning to Y/N-
"Did you hear them? We have so much to deal with already-"
He stopped. He saw the look on Y/N's face; unsmiling, teeming with worry. Hanako held her hand.
"Hey? Are you okay?"
Yako nudged him. "7th Wonders, it's your turn!"
Hanako waved her off and addressed the crowd, taking Y/N with him.
"We need to get some fresh air! It's all so much to take in, you see!"
The crowd stirred with concern, but then Tsuchigomori threw at Yako - "What was that all about, when the Geisha read your fortune?"
"OOOOH! SOMEONE NEW TO PUT UNDER THE CONFESSION TREE?!" A Mokke sneered.
Hanako and Y/N left the chaos behind. They walked further, deeper into the garden, until the laughter faded, the music was replaced by the chirping of crickets, and the moon and the stars were theirs alone.
They settled on the grass. Hanako faced Y/N, holding her hands.
"Something's bothering you."
Y/N looked like she wanted to protest, to say that she was just a little tired, but she sighed. Hanako could read her too well.
"I know I'm a spirit, and the Aka Manto thing is out of the way, and we've united the schools and all those wonderful, crazy things... but how am I going to lead the Sakura Wonders now, if I have no powers?"
Hanako gave her an are-you-serious look. He whistled, and one of his hakujoudai appeared. Its blue light glowed softly as it spun around Y/N like a hyper puppy, enshrouding her in white smoke.
When it cleared, Y/N's jaw fell. Suddenly her outfit had transformed to a uniform that matched Hanako's perfectly, cloak and all.
"How indeed? How will you?" Hanako pouted.
"Really, now!"
Hanako looked her over, and he snapped to attention. "Right, I forgot!"
And Y/N felt a sudden weight on her head, which nearly scared her out of her soul.
"Y/N the Bathroom Ghost!" Hanako spread his hands grandly, a wide smile on his face as Y/N blushed under the hat he had placed on her, identical to his.
"Okay, okay but...." Y/N readjusted the hat so it fit her snugly. "For reals. How am I leading all these spirits?"
Hanako cocked his head, willing her on. Y/N couldn't help but laugh-
"Fine... Hanako-san, Hanako-san. I wish you would help me!"
"Granted."
● ● ●
"Hey, have you heard? The 7th Wonder of Sakura!"
"Yes, yes! I heard she's a real nightmare... she slashes you if you say red, and strangles you if you say blue!"
A third Sakura student interrupted the talking pair of friends.
"That's an old tale. Now the new 7th Wonder has a red cape, and a blue... what was it? Lantern? Orb?"
"Nothing weird's happened since last year when Y/N and Osane vanished." The first of the friends put a hand to his chin thoughtfully.
"Tell me the new one!" The second friend cut in excitedly.
"Hold your horses!" The third student laughed. Then the trio gathered into a tight circle, two listening earnestly.
"Well, I have an exorcist-buddy from Kamome - a crazy blonde one, at that - and he tells me the 7th Wonders of Kamome and Sakura are actually partners! They work together, to keep the balance of the two schools! Some even say they work for the good of all ghostkind!"
"No way!" The second gasped.
"But they're so far apart?" The first interjected.
"They're ghosts." The third spread his hands and wiggled his fingers dramatically. "A distance for us is a hop to them, and the impossible is the doable!"
Far above them, two figures watched from the shelter of a tree.
"Could that boy not be more talkative?" The first shook her head.
"We can scare him off later." The second sharpened his kitchen knife. "Speaking of - did you hear? A new boundary's appeared in the Rift. Want to search it?"
"Ready when you are!"
He flashed her a grin, and they sailed over the talking students. A black cape billowed in the wind, a red hakujoudai at his heels as a red cape followed close, her specter a bright blue.
To survive is to find meaning in the suffering.