Chapter Text
Yachi Hitoka comes home from school. She turns the key sluggishly (it had been a long day of third grade), unlocks the door, and pushes it open. Her mother’s heels are haphazardly thrown about near her feet and the apartment is eerily silent, save for a strange sound coming from her parents’ room. Suddenly alert, she slowly walks towards the noise, slinging her backpack off her shoulders and brandishing it carefully, as if to hit an intruder. But what makes her stop, what makes her drop her backpack and cover her mouth in shock, is her own mother— all wrong, a run in her stockings, her hair a mess, her eyes bloodshot, and her mascara running in dark streaks down her cheeks as she sits, collapsed on the floor. Hitoka finally realises what the odd sounds were; Yachi Madoka, the strong businesswoman and even stronger mother, is quietly crying. When she sees her daughter, she starts to sob louder and then wails, inhuman sounds that tear Hitoka’s insides to shreds. Her mother, on her knees, begins crawling toward her, and she thinks about The Ring and other Junji Ito novels that sit in her father’s study.
Her shoulders flinch and her heart flickers, a weak candle flame in her ribcage, as her mother lunges at her. Hitoka freezes in place, makes herself small, and her mother wraps her arms around her, crushing her daughter into her chest. She wails again, the sound harsh against her eardrum. She's so, so scared but her mother’s scent is familiar as she clutches Hitoka desperately.
“Promise me that you’ll never marry, Hitoka,” her voice cracks around the syllables.
“…Mother? Why?”
“Just promise me now!” howls the thing that Hitoka can still vaguely recognize as her mother.
“I-I promise, I promise,” she says hurriedly, smoothing her mother’s garishly matted hair with a shaky hand. Madoka smiles brokenly, and Hitoka’s surprised there’s no flesh or blood stuck between her teeth. She begins to run her small fingers through her mother’s hair, taming the tangles of her honey-blonde hair. Even at this young age, Hitoka realises the responsibility that falls on her. She knows that her mother’s sadness is a demon that will linger for months and years to come. She helps Madoka’s stumbling form into the bath and washes away the dirt and grime of her grief, a quiet affair hidden from the rest of the world. By the time Hitoka has finished dressing her, they’re spent, and mother and daughter cling together as exhaustion takes over both of their minds.
Hitoka vows that she will never break a promise. Her mother, still shivering, is the last thing she sees before she closes her eyes.
~
At twenty-six, Hitoka has not married and has rarely ever even been on dates, though Kanoka, her high-school friend, keeps inviting her to outings and social events with the team. While Hitoka was over the moon when they announced that they made the V-League team, she always declines their invitation because springtime is the busiest time of the year for her line of work. Kanoka often worries that Hitoka is lonely, which she both appreciates and dislikes in the same breath.
It’s not bad , she thinks as she clutches her clipboard to let the florist pass by safely, it’s not like I’m actually alone . And she’s not. She has wonderful friends, wonderful cats, and a wonderful job that she never tires of.
“The cake has arrived, Yachi,” Chikara says. Hitoka nods firmly and checks it off of her to-do list, a small smile gracing her face. She’s been working on getting him to call her “Hitoka”, because even though they’ve been working together for five years, he only calls her that while drunk and always apologizes profusely afterwards, but she’s glad he’s moved past the stiff “Yachi-sama”.
The cake is in place, the floral arrangements have arrived and everything for the western reception was set up last night. The bride is in her room, getting made up. The groom… well, Yachi is almost certain he got no sleep out of sheer nerves (it takes one to know one), so he’ll probably need at least under-eye makeup for the photoshoot before guests arrive. She picks up her phone to send a reminder to the makeup artist.
Yachi Hitoka ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ
hi miwa sorry to bother u but i’m pretty sure ishida-san worked himself into another frenzy last night so could u make sure to use a heavy under eye makeup patch today
sorry if that sounds pushy idk just have a feelingthe better kageyama -3-
No problem! You know I’d only ever let him go out looking his best :)
The tension in her shoulders releases as she laughs at the contact name. She’ll have to tell Oikawa to stop changing them (again).
Yachi Hitoka ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ
you’re the best!! sorry for worrying (._. ;)
“Okay, okay, it’s coming together,” she sighs.
“It always does,” Chikara says, amused, as he hands her a water bottle.
~
Yachi looks around anxiously until she spots one of the bridesmaids. “Excuse me, can you check on Nishimiya-san? She’s been gone for an hour and no one has seen her.”
The bridesmaid stops, gives her a quick thumbs up, then dashes off.
“Yachi? We’ve got a bit of a problem.” Ennoshita walks up to her, concerned. “The table settings haven’t arrived yet, and I can’t get in touch with the company who was supposed to deliver them. And also, the caterers are short a few people. Something about the bug that’s been going around.”
Yachi’s eyes widen. “Really? That’s awful, I hope they feel better! Do you think Shoyou would be willing to step in? I know how busy he is now that he’s just started training again…”
Ennoshita shrugs. “Maybe, I’ll text him right now. Do you want me to ask Narita if he can help out last minute, too?”
“No,” Yachi shakes her head, “He’s out in Malaysia until June, remember?”
“Oh, right,” Ennoshita laments, before tapping away at his phone. “Now, what to do about the table settings?”
“Ah, wait, there you are!” the bridesmaid from earlier runs towards her. “I found Nishimiya, she’s out in the water lily garden, feeding the geese. Do you want her to come in now?”
A lightbulb goes off in Yachi's brain.
“Um, no, actually, I’ll go out and meet her! I wanted to talk to her about something really quick,” Yachi says, then turns to Ennoshita. “Chikara, I think I have an idea for the table settings.”
“You got it,” he gives her a thumbs up, “You’ve always had the best ideas for this kind of stuff, anyways. I’ll go check on the photographers!”
He walks off and Yachi turns to the bridesmaid, “Do you think it would be ok to ask a favor of Nishimiya? I don't want to bother her, and I'm worried it'll be a lot of work.”
The bridesmaid frowns. “What is it?”
“The table centerpieces aren't here yet, and I was wondering if she could make those little paper geese that she brought while we were waiting for the photographers.”
“Oh!” the bridesmaid brightens, “I'm sure it'll be no problem at all! Shouko loves making those things with Shoya, I'm sure it'll be fun for her!”
Relieved, Yachi bids a goodbye to the bridesmaid, walking away to the garden. Nishimiya is sitting at the edge of the pond, on a blanket to protect her simple wedding dress. She spots her approaching, and waves, before signing, Sorry, have I been out too late?
Yachi shakes her head, No, it’s fine, but I would like your opinion on something.
Her JSL is a little rusty, but at Nishimiya’s nod, she signs, The table settings may not be arriving, but I remember the little goose origami you made during one of our meetings. Do you still have those? I would like to use them instead.
Nishimiya’s face lights up. Of course! And I want to see Shoya, we could finish making them together! It might help calm his nerves. Would it be ok if I see him now, or is it bad luck?
No, that would be great! He should be in his room, getting his makeup done with Miwa, the makeup artist. Yachi smiles as Nishimiya excitedly wishes her a quick goodbye, gathering the bread and blanket and rushing off. Yachi heads back inside, too, checking in on the caterers, when she’s bear-hugged from behind.
“Hitoka! It’s been so long!” Hinata smiles. Yachi is unsure of how his face isn’t cracking in half from how wide he’s smiling. “I came right over as soon as Chikara texted! So glad you caught me on my rest day!”
Yachi laughs, “Thanks for coming all this way. I’ll get you acquainted with the caterers!”
~
The wedding is swiftly underway, a synchronized dance of rushing caterers and eager guests and frazzled groomsmen and bridesmaids moving to their places. She watches from the back as the bride and groom cut the cake (chocolate and vanilla, strawberry jam spread, vanilla butter frosting), feed each other, and kiss with icing still on their mouths. Their faces are full of mirth. Hitoka smiles to herself, her chest warm, seeing two people in love. It never, ever gets old. She lifts up her hands, framing her fingers into L-shaped brackets, and takes a mental picture of another perfect wedding.
“Hey, Yachi,” Ennoshita comes into her view. “The table centerpieces look real cute! What'd you do to make that work out?”
“Oh, I asked the bride to make a bunch of them right before the wedding.”
“Really? I would be way too scared of disturbing them on their wedding day to do that.”
“Usually, I would be, too, but I just had the feeling she would want to do it.”
Ennoshita nods, thoughtful. “Well, I can't argue, your feelings have carried us for so long in this business, after all.”
Yachi shrugs bashfully. While it's true, it's still embarrassing to be complimented outright.
“Hitoka, Chikara, we did it!” Hinata almost runs into Ennoshita, bumping Yachi's shoulder lightly. He’s still covered in sauce from serving dishes . She only notices that he’s holding a platter when he whips a napkin off of it, revealing three elegant flutes of bubbling champagne. He wiggles his eyebrows and they both laugh. He hands them both a glass, raising his own into the air. Ennoshita and Yachi follow suit enthusiastically.
“Another successful wedding! Just like old times!” They merrily clink glasses, and Hinata begins reminiscing about the times when he was a college student, helping Yachi with her, at the time, recently opened business. She smiles, content to let Hinata talk her ear off, and takes a delicate sip, the bubbles tickling the roof of her mouth.
Another successful wedding.
~
a few days later
There’s a little building tucked in a side street long forgotten, sitting above an abandoned vending machine outlet, that houses the office of Starlight Wedding Design and Planning. The place was in the price range Hitoka was looking for and she settled here, because she knew she’d never meet couples in the office and only needed it for arbitrary filing and to have a desk warmed by the sun to work off of. Despite all the sweeping and repainting she’s done, it’s still dusty and crumbling, but has served her well for the six hard years she’s worked to increase her clientele in Japan’s competitive wedding industry.
Hitoka taps away at her laptop, brows furrowed as the front door’s tell-tale squeak and bang to signal Chikara’s return.
“Yachi, please.” Chikara sets down a cup of water and an already peeled mandarin on her desk, along with two ibuprofen. “You need to take a break.”
She sighs, lifting her head out of the clutch of her massaging fingers and leans back in her chair with a sigh, smiling gratefully at Chikara. “I’m fine, I promise. I just have to balance out the rest of this budget and then I’ll go home.”
“Can’t it wait?”
She shakes her head. “I’m already a month behind on getting this invoice to them, and we need this money in our account to upgrade to the van we wanted.”
“I can balance it. You need to go home,” Chikara chides with a stern frown. “You need to take care of yourself. Your migraines have been getting worse and worse.” He nudges the two little pills toward her again and she takes them, swallowing them with a mouthful of warm water obediently under his focused gaze. Hitoka winces when Chikara adjusts the lamp on her desk, the light shining briefly in her sight.
He reaches over and shuts off her monitor. “Go home. You can do this tomorrow, or I can get to it tonight. I’ll even clear your inbox out, so you don’t have those notifications haunting you.”
“But—”
“We’re booked until nearly the end of next year! We can’t take on anymore, anyway.” Hitoka frowns, knowing he’s right. She just feels so bad saying no that Chikara’s taken it upon himself to filter through emails. She’s definitely going to give Chikara a bonus at the end of this year. “It’s a good sign. Business is booming. Now go home, Yachi.”
Chikara sends her out the door with a bag of edamame he’d grabbed from the sushi shop next door and some sweets, too. She gets home by practically sleep-walking and by the time she’s in bed, she’s exhausted. She knows that Chikara is right. Her business is doing well, in fact, her business is growing rapidly, so she’ll probably need to hire on more people soon and eventually move into a real office. It’s not just going to be her and three other people running themselves ragged anymore. She needs a proper team, which means more people to pay, which means more weddings, more venues and bookings. It’s going to be non-stop. She’s proud of herself for coming this far, but a part of her wonders if she’ll crumble under the pressure. She’s handling it well so far, but she hasn’t taken a vacation in about three years.
She’s exhausted, but her mind keeps rolling out like a never-ending red carpet of things she still has to get done. She checks her phone guiltily, scrolling through her, as promised, clean inbox. And Ennoshita must have some kind of Yachi-is-doing-the-not-good-things sensor, because she gets a text.
Chikara!
Stop checking your phone right now, put it away and go to bed, Yachi Hitoka.
Her mouth crumples and she tosses her phone away, sighing dramatically. He used her full name, he knows she hates that. However, she can’t help but know that she won’t be sleeping anyways, so she throws her covers off and slips her feet into her worn, pink house slippers to make a late snack and maybe queue up a movie. Hitoka falls asleep to the female lead confessing her love to the male lead.
~
Hitoka swings her soft yellow leather purse over her arm and attempts to sneak down the stairs before Chikara comes in for work. His commute is a little longer, so he always comes in an hour after her. A perfect amount of time for her to meet with a new client. Hitoka quietly steps down the last stairs, holding her breath as she passes the first backs of abandoned vending machines and weaves her way through. When she’d first gotten this office, the lonely vending machines had creeped her out and she thought a ghost might jump out and scare her every time she walked through. It’s no less unsettling walking through the dim lighting, each vending machine cold and unused for years.
“Where are you going?” a voice says and Hitoka jumps about five feet in the air, squeaking as her heart pounds. She spins on her heel to greet a very judgmental Ennoshita, his sunglasses still on.
“To meet with, uh, Kozume-san and Kuroo-san.”
Chikara’s eyes narrow. “Ya~chi~” he says in that syrupy sweet, but deadly tone. “You don’t have to meet with them until tomorrow. We have our calendars synced, remember?”
Hitoka groans, hiding her face. “Okay, you caught me!” she gives in immediately. “I’m meeting with a new potential client!”
“Yachi Hitoka,” Chikara sighs, rubbing his chin. “When exactly are we supposed to plan their wedding?”
“It’s not until November! I’m sorry, they went to Karasuno, so I wanted to meet them.”
“Oh? Who is it?”
“Uh, Shimizu Kiyoko, I think? And, um… Tanaka. Tanaka Ryuunosuke. Yeah, that's what it was.”
Ennoshita’s eyes widen.