Marriage Partner

When they arrived at the burger shop, they simply ordered a few burgers and fried chicken before sitting down to wait.

"Has Hino replied yet?" Sakura Adachi asked.

"Not yet, maybe she'll respond tomorrow. Could she have already gone to bed? I remember that back in high school, she rarely went to sleep before midnight. Maybe preparing for the wedding has worn her out... Sakura, do you think preparing for a wedding is exhausting?" Shimamura Hougetsu asked, looking a bit curious.

"Why are you asking me? I wouldn't know—I've never been married," Sakura pouted, then gave Shimamura a sidelong glance full of implications.

But Shimamura's attention was entirely on her phone, seemingly oblivious to Sakura's glance. This left Sakura a little frustrated, puffing out her adorable cheeks in mock irritation and deliberately looking away.

"Neither of us has been married," Shimamura finally set her phone down and gazed at the menu on the burger shop's screen, though her thoughts were still on the topic of marriage.

"So... Shimamura, do you want to get married?" Sakura asked, lowering her head slightly, her hands clasping tightly on her lap. Whenever she felt nervous, her hands would instinctively grip together.

In contrast to Sakura's nervousness, Shimamura seemed completely at ease, swaying back and forth in her chair with a light smile, apparently not picking up on the deeper meaning in Sakura's question.

"Speaking of weddings, I remember when my cousin got married, she privately complained to me about how exhausting it was. She couldn't sleep well the night before, and she had to get up around three in the morning to start getting ready—putting on the wedding dress, getting her makeup done by the stylist, and all that. I was just a bridesmaid, but even that left me feeling completely worn out by the end of the day."

"Is it really that troublesome?" Sakura's eyes showed a hint of concern.

"Yeah, it is. My cousin even told me that before the ceremony started, she felt so tired that she wanted to give up."

"That's not a good thought... in any way."

"But she also said that although the preparation and the morning of the wedding were tough, when she walked into the chapel, accompanied by her father, amidst the applause of her family and friends, heading towards her beloved groom—now her husband—she suddenly felt that all the exhaustion and hassle were worth it."

The true essence of a wedding only lasts for those few precious moments.

"Could the guest holding ticket number 23 please come to the counter? Your order is ready," the burger shop's intercom announced.

Hearing the announcement, Sakura and Shimamura momentarily snapped out of their conversation about marriage, realizing that they were indeed the guests with ticket number 23.

Their burgers and fried chicken were ready. While it might have been more convenient to eat at the shop before heading home, Sakura's discomfort with eating in public spaces meant they opted to take their meal to go. They left the burger shop with their dinner in hand and rode their bicycle home.

To their little home.

After graduating from university, they had chosen to live there.

It was a modest two-story apartment. Initially, they had considered moving to a bigger place, but since they had just graduated, they didn't have much money. Moreover, they had already borrowed a significant sum from their parents to start their yakiniku restaurant, so they were hesitant to ask for more money to rent a larger house.

After all, neither of their families was particularly wealthy.

So, they settled for a room in this two-story apartment—not too big, not too small.

"Phew, time to eat," Sakura said as she placed the bags from the burger shop on the table, sitting cross-legged on the tatami mat, ready to dig in.

They had wanted to get a double bed, but the limited space in the room made it impossible. If they put in a double bed, it would make the room feel cramped.

So, faced with a choice between a double bed and a tatami mat, they reluctantly chose the tatami. Every night before bed, they had to move the table aside and set up their bedding on the tatami.

"You should hurry up and eat. I remember you didn't have time for a proper lunch," Shimamura said, picking up the small socks, jacket, and pants that Sakura had left on the floor, and putting them in the bathroom.

"Yeah, yeah, because a box of vegetables suddenly arrived at the shop, I only had time to eat a single patty before I had to rush to the restaurant. By the time I finished washing the vegetables and preparing them, it was already time to open the shop," Sakura explained, eating a crispy chicken sandwich while she spoke.

Neither of them had the habit of wearing pajamas, so whenever they were at home, they usually only wore basic clothing, at most throwing on a shirt.

"How were the vegetables? If they're good, we can order from that supplier again," Shimamura said, sitting down and taking a big bite out of her thick cheese beef burger.

"They were pretty good, all fresh. Although a few of the carrots and cilantro seemed a bit old, next time we order, maybe we can ask for a discount."

"They said it was the lowest price."

"Uh-huh, but there's never really a 'lowest price' with merchants. It's all about negotiating to a fair price. Right now, the vegetables are still a bit expensive. We should aim to lower the price by another 1,000 yen."

"Wow, you're really good at haggling."

"Good at haggling? I guess I'm okay," Sakura said, scratching her black shoulder-length hair bashfully.

Ding-dong.

As they ate their burgers and watched TV, Shimamura's phone buzzed with a message notification. She picked it up to see that it was a reply from Hino Akira.

"Oh, Hino finally replied," Shimamura said with a slight lift of her eyebrows as she opened the message.

"Let me see," Sakura leaned over, looking at the message from Hino Akira. The first thing they saw was a photo.

In the photo, two fair, delicate hands were clasped tightly together, with matching rings on each finger gleaming prominently.

Below the photo was Hino's reply:

"I've sent you both the photo. Use your clever little brains and guess who my partner is!"

Sakura and Shimamura stared at the photo for a moment, then simultaneously realized:

"These hands... they look like Hino's and Nagafuji's!"

Hino and Nagafuji, hands clasped, rings on fingers.

Sakura and Shimamura would definitely attend this wedding.

This very special wedding.

Why was this wedding special?

Because there was no groom—only two brides.