The Look Book

Akane rapped three times on the second-story apartment door, waiting for a response. She'd had the same song stuck in her head all day, and it was driving her crazy."Sneak, baby, sneak, baby, hide your face, so no one figures out it's…"The door snapped open, and Akane swallowed the verse she was quietly singing with a nervous laugh. "Hey, Izumi!"The brunette grinned, bouncing Mioto on her hip. "Hey, Akane. C'mon in." She chuckled a bit. "The kids are in the back room. Can I get you a drink or anything?"As Akane stepped into the entryway, she heard a familiar voice calling out from the living room. "Alright, that's it, I'm gonna get you, you little bugger!" The sound of a child giggling followed the voice of the girl Akane loved more than anything in the world.Akane turned the corner, finding Ranko sitting on the couch in a pale yellow dress, hunched over a wired gray controller in almost the shape of a dog bone, intensely focused on the futuristic racing game on the television. Indeed, Hoshi's new Super Famicom had been a fairly constant presence on the Sando family television since Christmas.Ranko's nephew Hoshi sat on the floor, laughing. "You're never gonna beat my time, Auntie!""Oh, yes I am! Get over there, you!" Ranko laughed determinedly, leaning left and right as she steered her little purple hover car on the screen as if her body could somehow lend a little extra centrifugal force to its turning radius.Akane watched for a moment in silence, smiling quietly to herself. These were the moments when she loved Ranko the most, when she wasn't trying so hard to be the perfect housewife, or the perfect singer, or the perfect student and cheerleader. When she let her guard down and allowed herself to just be a regular, happy person with a family and friends and a life that was finally, finally her own.After going unnoticed for a few moments, she shook her head with an amused smile. "When you're done, Ran-chan?"Ranko looked up. "Oh, hey, Akane! I didn't hear you come… aw, crap!" Her momentary distraction had caused her to crash her vehicle, securing her loss."Woooo! I got you, Auntie!" Hoshi giggled, turning around and doing a little victory dance."Yeah, you sure did, buddy. I'll get you next time, though! Better keep practicing!" Ranko grabbed the boy, pulling him into a tight hug. "I gotta go talk with your mom and Akane for a bit."Hoshi nodded. "Can I come?"Ranko looked up, making sure Akane and Izumi weren't looking, before making a grossed-out face and sticking her tongue out. "Oh, you don't wanna. Trust me on this one. It's weird girl stuff." But after your mom and dad head out for their date tonight, me and Auntie Akane are gonna stay here and hang out with you, so we'll play some more in a little bit while she does some icky math homework."Ranko stood, tousling his hair and walking to the little dinette table where Izumi and Akane sat. The table was buried in dozens of glossy magazines, mostly displaying photos of women in a sea of white. Akane held one of the magazines, pointing to a photo of a woman in a long white wedding gown covered in what looked to be pearls, with a long train coiled up on the floor around her feet. "This one is amazing."Ranko grabbed herself a can of soda from Izumi's refrigerator before pulling out one of her wooden dining chairs and sliding into it, looking over the photo. "Yeah, Akane. You'd look freakin' stunning in that."Izumi giggled. "She was thinking for you, blockhead."Ranko sputtered, almost spitting her grape soda back into the can in her hand. "Say what now?"Akane grinned devilishly. "What's the matter, Ranko? Don't you want to be pretty for me on our wedding day?"The redhead hid behind the back of the chair, flushing furiously. "I mean, of course I do, but…" She risked a peek back up at the catalog, breathing a sigh of relief at the number under the photograph. "I mean, there's no way we could afford something like that."With a grin, Izumi shook her head. "Oh, don't you worry about that, little sister." She bounced Mioko on the table gently, holding her by the hands carefully."Why not, Izzi? You got some rich uncle you've been holding out on me?" Ranko smirked. She cocked her fist coolly and considered giving a playful nudge on her arm, but decided against it considering she was holding the baby."Well, it was going to be a surprise, but…" Izumi smiled. "I'm going to try and finish my fashion degree this semester. It's gonna be tough with the baby, but the biggest part is a masterwork project, where I have to design and make a really intricate outfit. So, I've decided I'm going to make your wedding dress myself. It'll be my gift to you, and I can take care of my class requirement at the same time."Oh, shit, Ranko thought. She's gonna make me the girliest girl who ever girled, and I'm gonna have no choice but to let her because she needs it for a grade. "That's… really generous of you, Izzi!"Izumi smiled, making a wide-eyed expression toward her daughter to keep her entertained. "I'm really looking forward to it. Akane and I were just discussing some ideas.""And I suppose I wasn't going to get consulted?" Ranko rolled her eyes a bit.Akane smirked. "Oh, don't worry. We all know you'd get married in a tee shirt and jeans if we let you, but you're just gonna have to suck it up and be fancy for me."The redhead rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on, I'm not that bad. I'd wear a dress." She looked her fiancee over with a playful smicker. "I suppose you're worth a little makeup.""Oh, you suppose, do you?" Akane laughed, but she did understand how difficult this was for Ranko. The reality of it was, over the last few months since they'd moved in together, Ranko had been taking on more and more of the effeminate roles in their relationship. Between her school uniform, cheerleading and her stage work, she was almost always in skirts and dresses anymore, and Akane had largely had the freedom to spend most of her time in jeans and tee shirts as she usually preferred. If anything, Akane half-expected Izumi would try to put her in a tuxedo.Izumi looked up at her sister and her fiancee as Mioto began to fuss. "Do you girls mind if I feed her while we talk?" Receiving no objection from either of her guests, she draped a thin blanket over her shoulder, pulling her daughter under it and adjusting her dress to expose her right breast to her under the drape."Ranko's right, though, Akane. You and I have talked about the wedding a bunch since Christmas, but we've really not had much chance to ask Ranko what she wants. So, what do you think, little sister? What are the most important parts of the wedding to you? What do you want to wear, eat, where you want to have it, any of that stuff. If we figure out what things are most important to you and Akane, we can get a lot of the big stuff sorted out and the rest is just details."Ranko blushed. Never in a million years had she considered that anyone would ask her that question. After months of getting used to the thought, she was a lot more comfortable with the idea of being a wife than she was with the idea of being a bride. "I, um…" She looked up at Akane nervously.Akane reached over, taking Ranko's hand in her own. There was a little clack as their matching promise rings contacted each other, which never failed to get a blush out of Ranko. "Hey. There's no wrong answers here, baby. Just talk to us." She smiled, pulling a stubborn wisp of Ranko's hair behind her ear for her. "Tell us how you want our special day to be, beautiful."Ranko's face was as red as her hair. "I…" She smiled contentedly. "I want to call myself your wife at the end of it. Everything else is negotiable."Shaking her head, Ranko's fiancee gave a little chuckle. "I love you too. But, seriously. Think about it. I know you haven't dreamed about it as long as most girls do, but, try?"Ranko rested her forehead on the back of her chair, mostly to hide her face. She was glad that at least Izumi understood that she hadn't spent much of her childhood acting like a girl, even though none of her sisters had any idea why."I… well, I thought we could do it at the Phoenix. It's home to me, it's got everything we need, and it would save a lot of money. Plus, the apartment upstairs is a great place to get ready and stuff."Akane nodded. "I couldn't agree more. It's perfect. See? We just made our first wedding plan!"Ranko smirked. "Somehow I don't think they'll all be that easy." She thought for a moment, blushing as she smiled sweetly up at her fiancee. "I want to sing."Izumi bobbed her head. "I kind of expected that, but performing's going to be awfully hard all dressed up, isn't it?""I don't care. I'll change if I have to." The redhead flushed, looking down and away. Some things were harder to say when you could see someone's reaction in real time. "I… I'm no good at saying what I feel sometimes. But singing what I feel… that I can do." She looked up to Akane, a sincerity in her eyes that, for the first time in the conversation, wasn't also tinged with fear. "On that day, I don't want there to be any doubt about what I feel."With a broad smile, Izumi jotted something down in a little notebook she pulled out from under one of the bridal magazines. "Okay, then we'll have to make sure to have all the Dragons, and plan time for you to rehearse."Ranko nodded. "I'd want them all there anyway. They're all my friends, and Akane's too. Obviously, I want Mom, all my sisters, and the kids there, and your sisters too, Akane."Akane frowned, looking down at the table, responding in a glum voice. Her mood had changed entirely. "Yeah, for sure."Wincing, Ranko reached out, taking her lover's hand. "Hey. I'm sure your dad will come around in time. He might talk a lot of shit right now, but he wouldn't miss being there for you when it really counts." I'm going to make sure of it. I promise.Izumi patted her daughter on the back through the blanket. "I'm sure we can get Kaito's parents to watch Mioto for the day. I appreciate that you want everyone there, but babies can be pretty disruptive to events like that and it's just better for everyone I think. Plus, I want to be able to focus on you, little sister."Oh, I'm sure you do, Izumi. "Sounds good to me."