Chapter 222 – Wedding (3)

Rows and rows of seats were filled up as the wedding was beginning to start. Everyone was hurrying to their seats because they knew that the ceremony would start any second now.

Takei was already standing at the altar with the priest who was going to read them their wedding vows. He had spent an extraordinary amount of time greeting the numerous guests who all came here to celebrate his wedding with Akari.

Among the guests were his grandparents, parents, sister, friend circle, coworkers, and many more people who wanted to come to the wedding. Takei had gone around and gave his and Akari's greetings in her place.

Since Takei was initially an introvert and wasn't the most social person alive, it had drained a lot of his social battery having to go around and greet everyone. However, he was happy to do it because he knew that they were all here to support him and Akari in their wedding.

Just like how all the guests were here, all of the groomsmen and bridesmaids were all here and assembled on the left and the right of the altar. Among them were all of Takei and Akari's friends over the years. Throughout the course of college and their work lives, the two had met many new people and eventually made some lifelong friends that they could rely on.

"Three minutes until the ceremony starts..." Takei nervously muttered under his breath.

The last time Takei was this nervous was when he took the entrance exams to the university of his dreams. He wasn't sure if he was going to be able to go to that school or not due to the rigorous entrance exams and the large volume of students applying. There were surely far smarter students than him, which was Takei's main worry.

However, he started to forget about those worries because Akari was doing her best to support him at the time. Seeing the girl he loved try so hard for him made Takei realize that he wasn't inferior to anyone else. As a result, he passed the entrance exams with flying colors and proposed to Akari on the spot.

She's the reason I was able to make it so far in life... No, Akari would slap me if I said something like that. Let me rephrase that... Akari is the reason why I can smile nowadays.

That girl helped me overcome all of my fears and trauma during the most crucial moments of my life, and for that... I'm eternally grateful. She helped me out of some dark places, which is the reason why I can be here today.

I remember some moments where Akari would talk about the concept of fate and destiny. At those times, I just brushed off the idea because I didn't believe that every event was set in stone already, and I still don't believe that to this day. However, there was only one thing that I believed was fate.

It was my meeting with the person known as Akari Akazawa. As soon as we met, the two of us were tied together by the red string of fate. It was already decided from that very moment that Akari and I would be together forever.

When we first met, she introduced herself as Akari Akazawa. I thought it was a pretty name at the time, but I couldn't help but dream of her having the same last name as me. Now, I don't need to dream anymore. After this wedding, Akari would officially be changing her name to Akari Tanaka.

For that, I was incredibly excited.

"The ceremony is beginning to start, so can everyone please stand up and be prepared to welcome the bride?"

Just like the priest had stated, the wedding ceremony was about to begin. Takei looked at his watch and noticed that it was exactly the time stated for the beginning of the event, so he fixed his tie and focused all of his attention on the doors.

His future wife was about to come out of those doors, so Takei promised himself to not miss the moment.

After a second or two of waiting, the doors to the venue began to slowly open. Many people leaned over the rows of seats to try and catch a glimpse of the bride. Takei wanted to do that as well, but he was the groom and didn't want to look weird.

Once the doors were fully opened, it revealed two people who were standing at the entrance. One of them was Akari's father, Haruto Akazawa, and the other person was, of course, Akari.

Akari was wearing a simple yet magnificent wedding dress. She had decided on a vanilla-colored dress with many layers of frills on the lower half. There was one large white ribbon around her waist area and some miniature flowers adorning her chest. To say the least, Takei was speechless with how beautiful and enchanting she looked.

"Beautiful..." Takei's true thoughts leaked out unconsciously.

Akari's father walked her down the aisle just like they had planned to do. A father walking his daughter down the aisle to get married, it's truly a grand sight.

As she walked down the aisle, Takei tried his best to maintain his composed expression, but everyone else in the venue knew that he was beyond elated on the inside.

When Akari and her father reached the altar, they briefly hugged before her father let go and cheered her on. Her father was always fond of Takei for being so kind to his daughter, so he had no lingering feelings about giving his daughter away. He knew that Takei would surely love and cherish her.

Now that Akari had arrived at the altar, the priest was about to start reciting the wedding vows. Takei and Akari held each other's hands and stared deeply into one another's eyes.

"Your dress looks wonderful," Takei whispered.

Akari faintly blushed and tightened her hold on Takei's hand. "How do I look then?"

"Ravishing. Just completely ravishing," Takei answered truthfully.

The two managed to sneak in a short conversation as the priest got his speech ready. Now that he was done collecting his bearings, the priest began to read out the wedding vows.

"Good afternoon. We all have gathered here today to witness and celebrate the love between two very beautiful individuals. We are here to watch their devotion, respect, and love for one another as they wish to display their love for the world to see."

The priest continued on with his speech for a while since he had a lot of topics to cover. It was a long speech that encompassed the relationship of Takei and Akari as well as the relationships they had with the people around them. There was laughter, sadness, excitement, and many more emotions felt by the crowd as the priest went through his speech.

After going through all of his cards, the priest finally reached the part that everyone had been waiting for.

"Now, it's time to unite these two once and for all. Do you, Groom, take the bride as your wife, to love her, to cherish her, nurture her, and support her, in times of joy and in times of difficulty? Do you promise to stay by her side no matter what happens, even in the face of something unimaginable? Do you promise with all of your heart and soul to honor this vow till death do you part? If so, answer now."

For Takei, he had already known the answer to this question for a very long time. There was no need to think at all.

"I do."

The priest nodded and turned towards Akari.

"Do you, Bride, take the groom as your husband, to love him, to cherish him, nurture him, and support him, in times of joy and in times of difficulty? Do you promise to stay by his side no matter what happens, even in the face of something unimaginable? Do you promise with all of your heart and soul to honor this vow till death do you part? If so, answer now."

Just like Takei, Akari had already known her answer to this question for a very long time. She had been practicing in secret for a while, so her answer was almost instantaneous.

"I do."

With that being said, the marriage between the two was finally official. From now on, Akari would be known as Akari Tanaka.

The ring girl quickly came by and presented the two rings for husband and wife.

Takei took the initiative and grabbed Akari's ring. "May I place this ring on you?"

"Of course, dear." Akari fidgeted nervously as she realized that they were both husband and wife now.

Takei gently but carefully placed Akari's wedding ring on her ring finger. It had fit snugly since Takei had received her measurements beforehand.

"Ehehe, I'm really a married wife now~"

"Yes, yes you are."

The two were grinning happily as Akari did the same as Takei and placed the ring on his index finger.

"Fits like a glove," Takei said as he inspected his ring finger.

Wow, I'm really married now. We're going to have so much fun!

"Now that you two are done with the exchange of rings..." The priest coughed to clear his throat. "I now pronounce you, husband and wife! You may now kiss the bride."

Doing as the priest instructed, Takei leaned Akari's body back and lifted her chin up to give her the best kiss of her life.

"And now it is my pleasure to introduce to you... Mr. and Mrs. Tanaka!"

—

Wedding arc (3/4)

WOOOOOOOOOO!

Serious-san: WOOOOOOOO!

Sugar-chan: WOOOOOOOO!