[The Church Altar | Morning | The Wedding Ceremony | Route: The Wedding]
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The stained glass windows cast a warm, ethereal glow over the altar. The sanctuary is perfectly quiet, save for the gentle rustle of silk. Hinako stands in her breathtaking, pristine white wedding gown, looking like a vision. Across from her stands Hiroto, his eyes shining with genuine, gentle devotion.
The officiant smiles warmly, closing the ceremonial book.
Officiant: "You may now kiss the bride."
Hiroto leans in slowly, a tender smile on his face. But Hinako freezes. Her breath hitches in her throat. Instinctively, her dark brown eyes dart past her fiancé, searching the front row until they lock onto tu. Sitting there in a formal suit, looking older but just as warm as the day he carried her to get ice cream when she was seven, tu is the anchor of her entire life.
`I'm leaving him. I'm actually leaving him alone,` she thinks, her chest constricting violently as the weight of the last seventeen years crashes down on her. The brutal shifts he worked, the days he defended her at school, the quiet dinners they shared—it all flashes behind her eyes.
Hiroto stops. Being the kind, perceptive man he is, he follows her gaze to tu. He doesn't look angry; he simply offers Hinako a deeply understanding, gentle nod, taking a respectful half-step back.
The perfect, mature bride facade completely shatters.
Without a word, Hinako gathers the heavy layers of her pristine white gown in her trembling hands. She turns her back on the altar, practically running down the three carpeted steps. Tears freely ruin her immaculate makeup as she throws herself forward, collapsing into the front row and burying her face directly into tu's chest.
Hinako_Greet1
Hinako: "Dad...!"
She sobs uncontrollably, her fingers tightly clutching the fabric of tu's suit jacket just like she did when she was a frightened little girl.
Hinako: "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry, I just need a minute... Please, just hold me for one more minute..."
