AN: here's chapter nineteen! I think this will be the last chapter for today, but we'll see. HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

The Perfect Couple

It was the night of the rehearsal dinner. Chris and Mizuki had rented out the same restaurant that Mizuki had proposed in. Everyone had already arrived. They all talked, drank, and laughed, while Miyu ran around preparing everything. She looked for Chris and spotted her with Mizuki as the two of them talked with Pedro and Miyu's father.

She was about to walk straight up to Chris, when her Great-Aunt Megumi stopped her. "Oh, Miyu," she said, "You look wonderful." Miyu smiled. "Good for you." Miyu furrowed her brows together, trying to understand why she had said that, but her great-aunt continued: "Oh, honey, it must be so hard to watch your younger sister get married before you."

Miyu nodded her head. "Yes. Yes, it is. But then I remember that I can still get to have hot hate sex with random strangers and I feel so much better." Her great-aunt nodded. "Enjoy the party," Miyu told her and walked off.

Her great-aunt nodded still, but stopped and made an appalled face when she had comprehended what her great-niece had just said.

Miyu decided not to go talk with Chris just yet. She walked over to the table next to the wall where Nanami was standing as Nanami drank something.

"Whoo! You clean up good. I might even be into you." Nanami told her.

Miyu took her laptop out of her bag, placed it on the table, and turned to one of the workers. "Okay. It's on the desktop under "Chris and Mizuki."

"Okay," the man replied and went over to the table as Miyu walked closer to Nanami.

Nanami noticed her nervous, anxious mood. "You okay?"

"Yep." Miyu told her as she took her drink. She started to guzzle it down.

"Um, that's not water." Nanami told her. Miyu finished the drink and gave it back to her. "Okay." Miyu began to walk away from her. "Okay," Nanami said again.

Miyu walked up to Chris and Mizuki. "Hi," she said.

"Miyu," Mizuki began, "thank you so much for doing all of this. It's great."

"Sure," she replied.

A server came up to them with a tray of food. "Hors d'oeuvre?"

Miyu picked one up. "Oh, look. Pigs in a blanket." She held in front of Chris's face. "Want one, Chris?"

Chris looked at her horrified. "No." She looked over at Mizuki and her expression softened. "I don't eat that stuff, Miyu."

Miyu didn't believe her lie and continued to hold it in front of her face. Chris gave her a serious look; then Miyu pulled it away. "Right. That's right. Got it." Then she stuffed the little hot dog into her mouth. She chewed it and with her mouth still full she said: "Well, I'm going to do the slideshow." She raised her eyebrows she so that it will be fun. Then she turned around to leave.

"Miyu," Chris called out to her and she turned around to face Chris.

"Mmm?" She replied.

Christ thought for a second. "You're only going to say what I wrote, right?"

Miyu swallowed. "Of course. The perfect bridesmaid always does what she is asked." She turned and walked away back over to the table next to the screen.

Chris turned back to Mizuki who talked with her adoptive father. "Not getting cold feet, are you?" Her father asked.

Chris chuckled and wrapped her arms around his one.

"What was that?" Mizuki asked.

"With this one? Never." She told her father.

When it was time for the slideshow, everyone sat at the tables. Miyu stood by the screen and with a champagne glass in hand; she hit her spoon against it to get everyone's attention. Everyone looked and turned toward her; then she began: "Hey, everybody. She greeted. In case you haven't already read, I have been to my fair share of weddings." Everyone chuckled. "So, to start things off, I thought you all should know the truth of about Chris and Mizuki."

Chris looked at Miyu with a pleading look as she shook her head slightly. Miyu stood her ground; then turned to the table where her laptop was set up as she placed the champagne glass and spoon down, picking up a folder with piece of paper on it.

Miyu cleared her throat and read the lines: "Chris and Mizuki are a perfect couple. No, a divine couple. A couple whose love is the stuff of myths. Their compatibility is so exact that it can only be described as having been designed by the gods." The peopled "awed" and chuckled. "Since a picture is worth a thousand words, I've put together a slideshow so you can all see for yourselves."

The slideshow began as a pop version of the song "So Happy Together" played.

Miyu continued with her slideshow: "From the very beginning, Chris and Mizuki were destined for each other." A picture of Chris as a baby was flashed onto the screen, followed by a picture of Mizuki. "Mizuki and Chris as always shared a love of God's furry creatures." A picture of Mizuki as a child while he pet a goat came up on the screen. Next came Chris's picture: a child version of Chris as she held a cat upside down. Everyone laughed at the pictures.

Still, Miyu went on: "As they grew up, they both shared the same level of dedication and commitment to their education." She gestured toward the screen as it changed to a picture of Mizuki graduating; then to Chris who was a cheerleader, flirting with a group of high school football boys. People gasped and laughed at the picture.

"Nice," Mizuki told Chris. She giggled.

"And civic responsibility," Miyu continued. A picture of Mizuki serving soup at a soup kitchen came up, followed by Chris in a bikini holding a car wash sign in her hands as some guy rubbed a soapy sponge on her naked arm.

A woman gasped: "Oh, my." And others laughed and gasped as well.

Mizuki only awkwardly nodded and stiffened a chuckle as Chris looked at the floor nervously.

"He was interested in international affairs," Miyu continued as a picture of Mizuki came up talking business with some other people of different countries. "And so was she." A picture came up of Chris with two European guys around either arm.

"Whoa," someone said. No one really could laugh at these anymore.

Mizuki did not like what he saw and Chris could tell.

"And today," Miyu continued, "Chris and Mizuki still share the same values." A picture came up with Mizuki and his dog Chibi. Next came up a picture of Chris eating barbeque ribs with her diamond ring flashing proudly.

Mizuki took a sip of his champagne nervously.

"Their love," Miyu still continued on, "is based on a deep understanding and acceptance of who the other person really is."

Mizuki rubbed his forehead as he realized that everything was a lie.

Still there were more pictures. A picture flashed of Mizuki with some business partners. Another picture of Chris going to kill some guy with a table. Another one of Chris only a crying baby as she looked at it with a disgusted look. One of Chris freaking out when Chibi came near her.

"The love of two true soul mates: Chris and Mizuki." Miyu said as the music faded.

Mizuki looked at Chris.

"So," Miyu still was not done. She grabbed her champagne glass and said, "Here's to the most perfect couple brought together by destiny. I'm so proud of you, Christine." Then she drank her champagne.

Nanami came up to Miyu's side. "Okay, okay," Nanami said as Miyu walked off. "All right. Well, that was––yeah, so, um… to keep the merriment going, Mizuki's 'little brother' Pedro will like to say a few words. Pedro."

Chris cleared throat as people around the applauded for Pedro as he came up to the front.

"So," Mizuki began, "I guess it's safe to say that you're not a vegetarian."

"Mizuki," Chris began, "that was taken a really long time ago."

"Why exactly were you wearing your engagement ring then?"

"Thank you," Pedro said. "As all of you know, Mizuki is my big brother. But he's more than that. He's my best friend." People awed and murmured. "And now Mizuki has Chris, who's––who's really, really, really cool 'cause she's going to help me start my own cleaning business." He gave two thumbs up to Chris who gasped. "Oh," Pedro began, "Chris told me not to tell you, Mizuki. But I'm so excited. So I'm only doing Mizuki's place right now, but if anyone is in the market for a really good cleaning service, please see me in the lobby. Thank you!" He said and walked back to his seat.

Mizuki looked at Chris disappointed. "That's great." He said and got up from his seat.

"No, it's–– it's not." She stood up and followed him. "Mizuki. Mizuki, wait. Please let me explain."

Nanami stood next to Miyu who watch Chris and Mizuki walk off. "So," Nanami began, "what happened?"

Miyu looked over at Nanami. "He needed to know the truth."

"You could have told him face-to-face." She pointed out. "I mean, I know that my moral compass doesn't exactly point due north, but if I say something's wrong, something's wrong."

Miyu didn't understand her. "You're the one who is always telling me to stand up for myself."

"Yeah, but that's not what you did. What you did was unleash 20 years of repressed feelings in one night. It's was entertaining––don't get me wrong––but if it was the right thing to do, you'd feel better right now." She paused. "Do you feel better right now?"

Miyu was about to answer her when Chris came ran up to her in tears. "The wedding's off." Chris told her. "I hope you're happy." Then she walked off.

Miyu felt terrible. She just wanted to cry and say that she was sorry. She left Nanami and walked toward the door, not even noticing that Kanata was there the whole time and saw everything. And so he followed as well.

NEXT TIME:

YOU DESERVE MORE

STAY TUNNED!