An Unheard Voice - Chapter 31: Chapter 31

"Toya! How would you like to model for me, but I'm serious!"
... I'm about to block Akiyama's number. This is like.. the 500th call I've received. Not including the texts and voicemails. It's the middle. Of. The. Night.
Plus.. An just told me about.. the whole situation, so would it really be okay to be hanging out with them right now..?
"Wait! Don't hang up! Please, I'm begging you! Toya!!" They sob, and I take my finger off of the button, sighing. I wonder what it's like to actually be Akiyama's 'model'.. might as well give it a try. I hang up, but agree before turning my phone off.
I stay still for a few moments before throwing myself on the bed, already regretting my decision.
Akiyama sends me a bunch of emojis and then the information. Today..? I guess I can... I'll have to ask my mother when my father gets picked up, though.
Should I tell Akito about my plans today..? Wait, that'd be too.. clingy..? I- I mean, we've only just started dating about 2 days ago.. it's really nerve-wracking talking to him now!
I get another call, and furiously picking my phone up. If it's Akiyama, I swear I'll..
.. it's Akito. Blushing, I pick it up, my heart already beginning to race.
"Uhh, I know you want that dumb kiss and all, I'm trying not to be loud so the raccoon doesn't hear me, but I had a question.. Is it too late to cancel..? I don't want to do it anymore..."
... Huh? He sounds tired. Plus, why is he even calling anyone at this time?
"Go to sleep! You have a big day tomorrow! Ugh, stop using your phone late at night!" What sounds like Ena shouts at him, knocking the phone out of his hands.
"Shut up, you hag! Some people want to make time for their--"
They begin yelling but I don't think Akito is fully awake, and second after I hear him scream the phone hangs up.
I laugh quietly to myself, putting my phone down. It sounds like he's busy tomorrow.. that's alright, I am too, anyway.
But it doesn't seem like the call was for me. I wonder who he made plans with.. let me go to sleep before I think too deeply into it.
"Goodmorning~!" My mother bursts through the door, holding a cup of coffee. She hands it to me, but squeezes my arm. I'm scared... "So? How's my precious son and his new boyfriend? Have you guys talked yet?" She says almost passive aggressively, her eye twiching. I can't really ignore her when she's interested in what I'm doing...
I shake my head hesitantly, blushing even more. She begins brushing spot more aggressively, taking a deep breath before Smudge bites her.
"Ow! Oh, sorry... I must have gotten carried away..." She apologizes, kissing my forehead before standing up. "I won't bother you anymore, but talk to him for crying out loud! Also, Mizuki already told me you accepted their offer. Have fun!" She pinches my cheek, humming and dragging smudge and spot off of my bed and walking out.
... I'm scared but relieved she hasn't done anything too extreme.
I arrive at the location, and hesitantly walk through the door. I had a bad feeling so I showered before arriving.
"Toya!" Someone yells, startling me. Saki giggles, waving and hugging me tightly. "I missed you!"
I smile and hug her back. Wait, I feel like Akiyama didn't tell me something considering the fact that Saki's here.. or Tsukasa could be here? I get excited by the thought, and try looking around for him.
Akiyama then takes my hand, leading me inside. Where is this place..?
"Welcome to.. um, somewhere that is not mine." Akiyama faces An, who rolls her eyes.
"Heya, Toya! This is my dad's friend's place, and she managed to let us borrow the place today! Only for a few hours, though.. but don't Worry! Nothing professional, it's just for fun. Nobody is here except for us." An smiles, fixing my hair.
"Yeah! Come on, follow me!" They grab my hand, leading me to another room. This place is beautiful...
... But I feel like it's meant for something. We walk into the room Ena is in, and gasps when she sees me.
"He actually agreed!" She squeals, and Akiyama nods. Ena wraps her arms around them, kissing their cheek, and Akiyama swoons.
"Uh-oh, we're losing them." An sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose. Ena let's go, and rushes to me, yanking my arm. I have legs, you know..!
She sits me down, and already begins working on my face. The others are whispering to each other while glancing at me. Is this some sort of prank..? I feel like something going to happen.
"Crap.. do you think he'll be mad..?"
Once Ena finishes, Akiyama rushes out while Azusawa starts fixing my hair. She looks apologetic, but I decide not to ask. After all, she's a very honest person so I now definitely know something's up.
After Azusawa finished with my hair, Akiyama came out with something behind her back. I blink, tilting my head. They awkwardly laugh, and reveals it.
.. It's a wedding dress. Seriously? I should get up and walk out right now.
"Ehe, I forgot to tell you.. the theme I'm going for is 'wedding'.." They shrug, and I stare at them blankly.
I didn't have a choice, did I..?
I am wearing a dress again. A wedding dress. Although, I will admit the dress design is amazing, as expected of Akiyama.. they all squeal after seeing me walk out, especially Saki. Azusawa claps, complimenting me.
"Hurry, I can't keep stalling! He's getting suspicious!" An whispers, but paused when she sees me. I freeze, growing embarrassed. "He reminds me of myself when I was younger and taking photos here..." She fake sobs, wiping her eyes.
"An, you had that photoshoot about a year ago." Akiyama turns to her, who cackles and shuts the door.
I blush as Ena hands me the bouquet, wiping the sweat from her forehead and sighing, obviously proud.
And why is everyone running in and out..?
"Do we still have the wig from the play?!" Akiyama shrieks, throwing stuff out of the box.
"What?!" Ena shouts, gripping onto my hair as she's fixing it with Azusawa, who looks completely drained.
"N-No, but.. you don't have to have long hair to be considered a bride..?" An nervously laughs, and shrugs.
"That's true.. oh well, just let them fix your hair!" Akiyama huffs, accidentally throwing a water bottle at my head. Ouch.
"I mean, the dress wasn't exactly intentional, but.. you were kind of a backup model. Both of my friends canceled because they didn't want to get 'married' which was stupid, so.. But it's okay! The groom wasn't our first choice either, Aki-- Mmph!!" Akiyama reassures me, but Ena covers their mouth.
Wait-- If the theme is a wedding, and I'm supposedly the bride... Is this considered having an affair?! I mean, yes, its just a photoshoot, but still!
Would Akito hate me because I suddenly had a wedding photoshoot with someone I don't even know?!
"Tsukasa won't be here today unfortunately, but I am!" Saki offers me her arm, smiling. I nervously take her arm, a bit embarrassed. I'd be too humiliated to do this if Tsukasa were here...
She hums as she leads me somewhere, frequently looking around and checking if I'm okay.
"Everyone should be here by now, so let's hurry!"
We eventually get outside, and it really does look like an actual wedding ceremony.. except there's cameras and lights everywhere. I'm kind of getting nervous seeing all these cameras, but then again, it's just us--
"Toya?"
I turn back around immediately, seeing Akito at the right side of the wedding altar, and getting his hair pulled by Ena. She finishes, fixing his tie and smirking at me. They- I knew it! I knew something was up!
He's in a suit! Is he supposed to be the groom?! My face flushes, and I freeze again. I can't move-!!
They definitely did this on purpose! My mother told them, didn't she?! But.. why are they so calm about this..? I honestly expected a bunch of texts and calls. I think it's better that way considering that I forgot to silence my phone...
"Ena, this is too low, even for you! You're going to overwhelm him!" He hisses, scowling at her.
"When you go low, I go lower! Plus, volunteered. He looks stunning, don't lie."
Saki walks me down-- or, drags me down the aisle as I'm completely speechless, and she grins widely after placing me in front of Akito.
"I.. T-Toya, I--" Akito stammers, his face completely red.
"Shut up and hold each other, I only have this place until like 6." Akiyama demands, angling the camera. Ena walks up to us, placing his hands on my waist, and lifts mine to his shoulders.
We're too close-!! I'm afraid he'll hear my heart racing.. ugh.. I hope this will be over soon. Not that it's because I'm with Akito, this is just really.. embarrassing to be in a wedding dress in front of him..!
"Now pretend you're kissing, since you both are wimps. I'll just edit it." Akiyama waves their hand for us to do it, continuing to take pictures.
Akito stares at them for a second, and looks back at me with a flushed face.
"Are you.. comfortable with.. kissing me..?" He mumbles, looking at me as if I'm against that. Of course I am!
"I.. I can't.. see m-myself wanting.. to kiss anyone else b-but you, Akito.." I gulp, looking away from him.
"O-Okay. Just let me know when--"
"Whenever you're ready. But make it quick!" Akiyama glares at us. Well, it's not like we have all the time in the world to take photos.. I'm completely okay with this. And I'm sure of that.
".. Okay. On the count of three..." Akito whispers and holds up 3 fingers, pulling me closer to him. My face flushes, and I nod.
"You know, I still can't believe I got Li'l bro to actually agree to getting dressed up." Akiyama says to An, and Akito gets closer to my face, clearly nervous but.. it's cute.
"But Toya looks really pretty. Seriously, they're having a photoshoot of being married but they're still not dating." An huffs, crossing her arms.
"To be fair, we didn't even tell them the th-"
He freezes for a moment, and finally gets to the last number before Akito presses his lips onto mine, and I can tell he's calmed down. I thought I was mentally prepared, but.. I slowly close them, returning the kiss.
".. eme."
All of their jaws fly open, looking completely shocked. Azusawa fixes her glasses for a moment, even cleaning them. Ena drops all of her supplies, freezing. An and Akiyama are completely stunned, except Akiyama slowly raises their hand to take a photo before standing still.
After a few moments, Akito pulls away, turning to Akiyama with his eyebrows furrowed, embarrassed.
"You happy now..?" He asks as his ears turn red.
I turn to the others as well, still bright red. I kissed Akito! I- I kissed him!!
A minute passes, and none of them have blinked. Until An shrieks, they snap out of it.
"Holy shit! Did they actually kiss?! Mizuki, show me the picture!!" An panics, grabbing the camera from them.
"AHHH!!!" They drop to their knees, beginning to bawl their eyes out already. What the?!
"A-Ah! Congratulations!?" Azusawa claps, obviously not believing what she saw. Ena screams, shaking Akiyama.
"HOLY CRAP?!"
... Huh?
This continues for about 5 minutes as Akito and I stand there while watching them.
"What the hell are you all doing?" Akito asks, holding me tighter and frowning.
"Why didn't you tell us you were dating?!" An shouts at us as she's crying.
"Wait- you didn't know?" He tilts his head. They didn't know..?
"Of course not! What the hell do you take me for, a stalker?!" She replies, wiping her tears. We stare at her blankly, and she frowns.
"I'm so f-fricking happy for you two!!" Akiyama cries, hugging Ena closely. Thank you, but you might want to calm down...
"I-- I would like to-- thank my parents for birthing me so I could witness this moment--" Ena says in between hiccups, reading off of her phone. I look at Akito, confused, but he's smiling. He looks happy...
He looks back at me, and kisses my forehead.
"I forgot to mention this, but you look really beautiful." He chuckles, and my face turns red again.
"I'm so happy with all the pictures I got." Akiyama says, staring at all of them intensely as we all walk outside of the store. I should move away...
"Now all you need to do is get married and have 25 babies!!" An says, throwing her arms around Akito and choking him. I don't think it works like that.
"Awh, summer break is ending already. Whatever, more Toya photos to sell..." She shrugs, but Akito grabs her shoulders.
"You're not selling anything. Got it?" He glares at her, and she nods, her face getting pale.
"O-Okay! Ugh, why do I feel like you're going to be even more protective of him now..." She frowns, rubbing her shoulder. Akito scoffs, ruffling her hair.
Ena suddenly walks up to me and hugs me.
"I just wanted to do this. I'm glad, and not only because it was infuriating watching you two act so gay as friends. It's.. relieving to see him happy now that he's dating you, I guess. Thank you." She whispers, hugging me tightly. After a while, I hug her back, nodding.
That makes it the two of us, then.