Chapter Text
How can a wedding be more stressful than it normally is?
Some people will tell you that this celebration of love can get way more agitated if, at the last minute, something unpredictable happens. In many cases when this happens, the wedding is usually postponed and, in the worst cases, even cancelled forever.
Fubuki didn't expect that she would find herself in a similar position.
Her and Mio had decided to celebrate their wedding on Valentine's day so that their dating anniversary would match with their wedding. "I can't wait for the 14th!" Mio had told her while they cuddled in bed and the fox girl felt the same way. Everything was ready for the special day and the only thing left was actually celebrating it.
And then reality came crashing down.
When they had looked for a company to help them prepare, they had been promised that everything would have been handled without any problems.
"Why are the dresses that arrived identical??" Fubuki spoke into the phone, staring at the two pieces of clothing in front of her as Mio couldn't even bare to look at them. They had specifically picked out two different types of white dresses: one was a flowy-like dress with a big gown that Mio had picked while Fubuki had decided to go for something more simple and elegant.
However, the dresses that had been sent on the day of the wedding were not only identical but did not look like either of the ones that they picked.
Fubuki was trying to remain calm as she listened to the lady on the other end of the call, but seeing Mio grow teary-eyed at the sight of the dresses was making her feel more anxious. Next to the wolf-girl was Subaru as she hugged her friend and tried to reassure her.
“Yeah they aren’t what we ordered! Miss, we have the receipts that state what dresses we paid for- We have put our trust in you, you told us that everything would be ready for the wedding and now it’s February 14th!” Fubuki explained to the lady for the 5th time, her head beginning to hurt. “Yes I know it’s Valentine but you promised us that there wouldn’t be any problem and that the fact it was such a festivity wouldn’t be an issue for you.” Mio had started crying at that point, the stress of the situation being too much for her as Subaru took her to the bathroom.
Fubuki felt awful: they were all set, they had been waiting at home for the dresses to arrive and then head towards the wedding location (an ancient Japanese temple).
Hearing another excuse from the lady, Fubuki simply told them that they would file for a refund and hung up. The fox girl sat down on the couch and ran her hand through her hair with her eyes closed, trying to think of a solution to the mess that they had been put in because of the dresses.
“The ceremony starts in about 3 hours, how can we even find 2 new dresses that we like and that fit us in so little time…?” The fox girl looked at what they had been sent and wondered if they could make them work, but judging from Mio’s reaction she wouldn’t want to wear something that she didn’t wish for.
With a soft sigh she stood up from the couch and walked towards the bathroom.
Opening the door she saw Mio sitting on the toilet seat that was lowered while Subaru stood next to her and spared her some pity. When Subaru caught sight of Fubuki at the door, she stepped out to let the two girls have a chat in private, giving her fox friend a sympathetic look and a pat to her shoulder. Now Mio and Fubuki were all alone, the only noise filling the air were Mio’s soft sobs.
“Hey…” The fox girl kneeled in front of her girlfriend, reaching with her hand to caress her cheek in a comforting manner.
“W-why did it have to be today… why us?” The wolf girl muttered between whimpers, her eyes swollen with fat tears that were slowly dissipating into thinner ones. Fubuki could only look at her, unable to say anything meaningful, and hug her tightly.
The fox girl let her girlfriend cry against her shoulder for a while, until the tears were gone but the sadness remained. They had only so little time to find a solution and Fubuki didn’t want to postpone their wedding but what else could they do?
And it was at that point that the fox girl remembered something very dear to them.
She made Mio pull away from her shoulder and held her face in both her hands. “Mio, let’s go somewhere.”
“Huh? W-where…?”
“I know where I can find us new dresses.”
“B-but it’s impossible! The wedding will start in a couple of hours-“ A kiss was placed on her lips, causing the wolf-girl to blush profusely at the gesture. When she felt her girlfriend stop the kiss, she was greeted by a smile that made her feel like everything would be all right.
“You trust me, right?”
Mio nodded, feeling a rush of heat strike her cheeks. Without adding anything, Fubuki grabbed her girlfriend’s wrist and the two rushed outside of the bathroom and out of the house, simply telling Subaru to wait there.
The two girls got in the car and Fubuki drove them towards the city. Mio didn’t know what was going through Fubuki’s mind, but the determination in her girlfriend’s eyes was making her feel like she didn’t need to ask questions. The drive lasted barely half an hour but with the wedding approaching it felt much longer.
When the car was parked, Fubuki got down and so did Mio. It took a moment for the wolf-girl to realize where Fubuki had brought her, but when she was met with the sight of an old cosplay shop, her eyes widened.
“Wait, is that…?”
“Yup.” Without the need of mentioning the name, Mio’s eyes were filled with an almost child-like shine. A smile made its way to her lips as she stared in disbelief at the place that held so many memories. “But… why did you take us here?” that was Mio’s immediate question, glancing at her girlfriend with a confused expression.
“Remember when we became friends and I told you that I really liked cosplaying?” Fubuki asked her and she received a simple nod as a reply.
“You thought it was a great idea to take me here for our first date…” The fox girl laughed at Mio’s sentence as they walked towards the entrance of the shop. “Well, you had fun trying on that maid outfit.” At the comeback, the wolf girl could only hide away her embarrassment as she remembered how the dress had fit her.
Fubuki was the first one to enter the shop, followed soon after by her girlfriend and both of them greeted the store clerk.
The first thing they were greeted with was an immense room filled to the brim with multi-colored dresses, gowns, suits and all the essentials things needed for cosplaying. “It’s been a while since we have last been here…” Mio commented while her eyes moved around the space.
“Yeah, I think it was around a year ago. Yagoo held that Halloween costume competition and we wanted to cosplay as a horror version of Undertale characters!”
“Oh yes! We looked terrific, I am almost surprised that we lost to Calli and Kiara…”
“Well, one was dressed as a nugget and the other was Adam Sandler.” The two laughed at the memory and the silliness of that moment.
“But you know what? I remember something particular about this place.” Fubuki explained, causing Mio to remove her attention from the numerous cosplays and instead look at her girlfriend. With a hand gesture the fox girl told Mio to follow her and soon the two girls were heading up to the second floor of the building. At first there wasn’t much difference: there were a bunch of mannequins set up with different clothes, a couple of swords in cases and rings of various kinds.
And then further ahead was something that caused Mio to do a double take.
Her eyes noticed a myriad of dresses which ranged from white to different shades of colors and Fubuki stood next to the selection with a wide smile.
Mio seemed confused and looked at Fubuki with a ‘I don’t get it’ look. The fox girl chuckled at the look and simply pointed to the tag attached to one of the dresses as Mio grabbed it to read. “White gown… wedding dre-!” Her eyes moved to her girlfriend, back to the dress and then back again to her girlfriend. “But these…!”
“You know how some people do cosplays of characters dressed up for a wedding? I remembered that this shop had a section dedicated to wedding dresses.” Fubuki immediately grew somewhat embarrassed at the statement as she rubbed her arm in a shy manner.
“I-I know that it’s silly, these are all wedding dresses used for cosplay and I know that these aren’t the dresses we picked…” The wolf girl looked at her girlfriend and couldn’t help but blush.
“I am sorry that we couldn’t get what we wanted and- and both you and I don’t want to move the wedding further or wait another year. I couldn’t really think of a better solution and I know that you hated the dresses that they sent us-“ Her explanation never came to its end as Mio grabbed her face and kissed her in a soft and passionate way.
Fubuki was caught off-guard but soon she melted into it, resting her hands around Mio’s hips.
When the two separated a minute after, Mio rested her forehead against Fubuki’s one. “I love you.” She stated, causing the fox girl to grow flushed almost instantly. “I-I love you too but- why are you telling me now?” She asked.
A small smile graced Mio’s lips “You remembered of this shop after so long, you brought me here and made me relieve so much of our past…” Mio felt her heartbeat accelerate at the thought of the many moments spent together in this place. “I was really upset about the dresses and I- well I thought our wedding was going to be ruined… today is a special day for us, after all.” She continued speaking while staring deeply into Fubuki’s teal eyes.
“You came up with a solution while I couldn’t even think straight. I guess I focused too much on the dress that I didn’t think about what really mattered.”
“That sounds kind of cliché.” The two laughed at the sentence. “But it’s true! I spent so much time worrying over the dress and you took me here, made us relive the past and found a solution.”
“But… what if you don’t like the dresses-“
“Well I like you, I like you so much that we are going to get married today.” Now both girls were left blushing profusely. “And you know what? I think it would be a funnier story if we said that we got our wedding dresses from a cosplay store.” As Mio smiled so did Fubuki.
The two kissed again slowly but separated earlier.
“Come on, let’s find a dress for you first!” Mio exclaimed as she grabbed one of the dresses and showed it to Fubuki.
In the end, the two girls spent less than an hour looking at dresses before finding the perfect dresses that, to their surprise, were even better than their original wedding dresses. They managed to race back home, laughing the whole way back and being greeted by a very confused Subaru at the doorsteps. By the end of the ceremony and the ‘I do’s, the couple would share the story of their wonderful dresses that they found at the cosplay store where they had their first date.