I love this story, and think that it deserves the award it got. Too many people on this forum get upset (or write posts that imply that they're upset, which for all intents and purposes on an online discussion board is the same thing) just because a story didn't play out the way they wanted it to. Throwing around pejoratives like "poorly written", "no emotional weight", etc. is easy. We don't know the reasons for Momo getting married, but it's clear to me from her facial expressions and actions that it's not "lip service" when she says she loves Kou. She asks Kou if it's really okay that they're holding hands (supported below), even though they broke up and Momo is marrying someone else. She refrains from wearing her new engagement ring because she thinks Kou might be sad to see it. These are not the actions of an attention-seeker, or someone who would want to get a rise out of Kou.
The lack of directional indicators for the chat bubbles on page 9 make it a little unclear who is asking if it's okay to hold hands. But if Kou didn't want to hold hands, she wouldn't. She threw away her ring and other memorabilia of their relationship, and destroyed the marriage registration form. She also rejects Momo's attempt at a kiss one page later. Clearly she has no problem performing actions that convey the message that she's moved on and accepted this. Therefore she's okay with holding hands, which leads me to believe that Momo is the one asking if it's okay. Momo is still concerned for Kou's feelings, and doesn't want to hurt her any more than necessary.
Kou is an interesting character to me as well. Kou isn't hostile or angry. She doesn't say "Oh I forgot to rip up that marriage registration form we filled out four years ago". Instead she keeps it a secret, saying she forgot her cell phone. We find out that's a lie, since the marriage form is sitting in a random drawer in the middle of the room, where nobody would keep their cell phone. Did she not want to start a fight? Or did she not want to make Momo sad? She's on good enough terms with Momo to keep talking with her and hold hands, so I'm inclined to believe she doesn't think Momo's actions were spiteful.
Kou is a woman of few words. We don't get much of an inner monologue in this one-shot; only two lines.
On p.5, "Momo-chan is getting married next week." No judgment, anger, or sadness. It's plain that this breakup and Momo's upcoming marriage is something inevitable and something Kou has come to accept. This terse line, combined with her ripping up the marriage form and throwing away the possessions of their old relationship, comes off as Momo trying to convince us that she she doesn't care about Momo anymore, and that she has no emotions about this turn of events.
On p.17-18, "Goodbye. Goodbye, Momo-chan. Thanks for the happy memories. Farewell." This is the emotional goodbye that she wanted to say but didn't. This line and Kou's tears show us that she's not "over it" at all. But even though she's heartbroken and obviously still in pain, she doesn't resent Momo. She gives no indication that she thinks Momo is lying about loving her. She's sad, but she understands that it's okay to be sad. She can be sad and thankful at the same time because their happiness together was real, even if it's over now. I'm not usually a fan of the narrative summary/theme text in Yuri-Hime shorts, but "Even this heartache is dear to me" works well in this one.
So I strongly disagree with people who say things like "one of the worst I've read", "not a hell of a lot of depth", and other things to make themselves feel better after reading a sad story. Manga is a visual medium; not everything has to be spelled out in chat bubbles. Otherwise no short manga could have "a lot of depth", which is patently untrue. You weren't invested? Fine. You didn't like it? Fine. But insinuating that the author was trying to elicit irritation and annoyance is way off-base. They managed to reach many peoples' hearts, and apparently one of them was the head of an award committee.
Also I really like the title. At first glance it appears to refer to Momo, who is the one getting married in a week. But when we see the marriage registration form, the one indicated in the "wife-to-be" column is Kou.
I love this story.
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