Choices: The Sequel to Weathering With You

A Happy Wedding

Hodaka, Hina, Nagi and Sora took a plane back to Tokyo and went straight to the docks where they took the next ferry back to Kozushima. The ride was silent and tense, with neither of them speaking a single word for a long time. Hodaka could tell that the ferries that ran to and from his island were starting to see better days. The aisles became a filthy debris trap before twenty miles were done. A drunk lurched unevenly past their cabin and he suddenly found himself against his personal space when he went out to get a drink. Why, anybody at all could move into my cabin without realizing it! We do things an awful lot better in Tokyo. First Class means what it says. Nobody intrudes on you in your own little cabin.

Deciding to take a stroll outside, Hodaka opened the umbrella as a shield. His raincoat was already rumpled and water-logged. Within the next ten minutes, he saw the familiar shape of Kozushima in the distance.

But for the second time in his life, Hodaka was now seeing the place of his birth in a friendly, positive light. He hadn't felt this way since he came back here, after his adventure to Tokyo.

The hubbub at the docks and the shouting daredevil drivers in the maelstrom on the Kozu-hondo made Hodaka's heart race with excitement, and he forgot how boring and provincial his island home was. It was almost the same as he left it, with only a few small changes. There were buildings he'd never seen before, new names above old storefronts, noise and hurry and push. Funnily enough, his bike was still there, just where he left it. No one had even bothered to touch it, and Hodaka decided to come back for it later.

He looked eagerly out the window of the taxi at the houses in Kajiyama, identifying the owners to Hina and Nagi, noting the signs of better times for them. The Makotos had a new roof, the Shimouras a new color paint. Things weren't nearly as shabby as they'd been when he left a year and a half back.

And there was his house! Why it's hardly changed at all! Was it always so close to the street? For pity's sake, I'm just being silly. What difference does it make? I've already decided not to live here anymore.

"This is your house?" asked Nagi when they got out of the taxi.

"Yes, it is," replied Hodaka in a quiet voice.

The outline of the house and it's details were looming above him making him feel small and helpless as they walked up the path. To Hodaka, it felt like ages before they finally reached the front door. He sighed before taking a second glance at his two friends. Hina was on his left, Nagi, carrying Sora, stood on his right. The two that changed his life for the better had given all the courage that he need to walk up to the door and ring the bell.

"I'm coming!"

Hodaka recognized his mother's voice immediately. She hurried from the sitting room toward the door, expecting her friend Nagisa, who she was planning to go to the movies with, but her smile fell when she saw Hodaka.

"Well," she said in a tone that was less-than-sympathetic. "It's about time you got back."

She noticed Nagi and Hina outside the door.

"And who are they? Friends of yours?"

"More than friends," Hodaka said in a civil tone. "That girl is your future daughter-in-law. The boy next to her will soon be the uncle of your grandchild."

"Grandchild?" Etsuko looked confused, as though her son had committed an immoral, unforgiveable act.

"Yes, Okasan. Hina and I are going to be married and we're here to ask you for your blessing."

Within the next five to ten minutes, Hina, Nagi and Sora were introduced to Hodaka's father, who was in a tizzy when Hodaka explained everything.

"Marriage? At this age?"