Chapter Text
Hitoya carefully wiped her lipstick off his face with his fashionable pocket square before returning to the reception.
Jyushi was already dancing again. She was pulsing with a high pale light. She was a woman. She caught his eye and smiled with her lip ever so slightly between her teeth.
Hitoya wasn't watching where he was going. He bumped into Hifumi. The man let out a little yelp and a splash of champagne became a puddle on the floor.
"Excuse me," said Hitoya.
"No worries!" said Hifumi.
"But your drink, I'm sorry," said Hitoya.
Hifumi waved him off. "Ah, that's nothing, the champagne flows like water at a party like this!"
Hitoya studied his face. He appeared sincere. In any case, if Hifumi remembered the incident he had partially witnessed in the sacristy, he did not let on. In fact, he may have even forgotten, for all Hitoya could tell. He was bubbling even more than the champagne. "I swear," Hifumi babbled on, "if somebody got married every day, I don't think anyone would ever make a fuss over something so silly as a spilled drink." Hifumi gasped. "Speaking of which!" he continued. "I think she's going to throw the bouquet soon! Oh, I hope I can catch it."
"I thought you were already married," said Hitoya.
This seemed to dampen Hifumi's spirits a bit. "Ah," he said. "I guess you could say that I'm engaged to be engaged." Hitoya regretting embarrassing him. He wanted to move the conversation along, but he couldn't help his curiosity.
"Engaged to be engaged?" Hitoya repeated. "Not even any ring?"
Hifumi took a sip of his champagne. It seemed that he was trying to avoid answering right away. "I'm not materialistic," he said, at last. Was that really the best he could come up with? Hitoya felt a surge of pity.
"Well, if it's any consolation, you're legally already considered married under common law."
Hifumi brightened. "Really?" he said.
"You bet," said Hitoya. He reached into the pocket of his tuxedo and pulled out a business card. "So, if you ever get it in your head to leave him, I'll be sure to get you a great big payout."
Hifumi laughed. "Oh, that's a terribly mean joke! You're so bad," he said, swatting Hitoya's offering away playfully. "I don't think I could ever bear to be apart from him. We've been together since high school."
"Really?" said Hitoya. "I can't imagine that. When I was in high school, talking to girls made me so nervous. I couldn't quite manage to get my feelings out."
"Well, personally, I can't imagine being afraid to talk to girls," said Hifumi. "But you shouldn't feel bad. I've suppose I've been very lucky in this life. Who knows? Under different circumstances, I might have had it even worse."
That was a strange thing to say, Hitoya thought. He was running out of ways to reply.
He was saved when the band stopped playing. "It's time!" said Hifumi. He chugged the rest of his champagne. "Hold this," he said, offering the empty flute to Hitoya. Before Hitoya could refuse, Hifumi scampered to the gaggle of single women waiting to catch the bouquet. Hitoya found a table to set the glass on, and turned back to watch. Jakurai had her back to the crowd, poised to toss the bouquet of roses over her shoulder. It flew through the air like a swan. Dozens of clutching hands reached out greedily for it, but it was caught long before most of them even had a chance. Jyushi had merely reached up and plucked it from the air, which had been effortless at her great height. There were cheers and laughter. Jyushi began to cry behind her smile. Hifumi gave her a hug. He was saying something to her. Hitoya moved closer to hear.
He hadn't heard the question, but he heard Jyushi's reply. "Of course I do! I certainly hope to be, someday."
That was it.
He reached into his pocket.
He may have bumped into a woman or two on his way to the center of the dance floor where Jyushi stood. He cut between her and Hifumi, as if the other man was not there at all.
He took her hand and looked her in the eye.
He pulled the ring out of his pocket. The tears that had welled up in Jyushi's eyes began to pour silently down her face.
Hitoya did not kneel. He felt there was no need. "Let's get married," he said.
A hushed circle had formed around them. Hitoya could hear someone laughing, someone jeering, and Hifumi softly whispering in a confused voice. "How old is she?" Hitoya heard Hifumi say.
Hitoya ignored them. "Well?" he said.
Jyushi realized she had failed to give an answer. "Yes!" she said. She practically leapt into his embrace. She hadn't even taken the ring. Hitoya found her face and kissed her deeply. He heard an uneasy murmur permeate the crowd. Good, thought Hitoya.
He broke away from Jyushi and put the ring on her finger. At least one brave soul began to clap.
Hitoya was the only person in the room not looking at Jyushi. He was scanning the crowd for the bride.
At last, he saw her. She was restraining Ramuda, whose face was puffed up in a childish display of rage. His fists pinwheeled impotently as he struggled to get away from Jakurai and pummel the much larger and stronger man who was upstaging him at his own wedding. Hitoya smirked at the sight of him, and then raised his eyes to meet Jakurai's.
He did not expect what he saw.
He had imagined for her an expression of confusion, of hurt, of wistful sadness, or even of embarrassment or anger. But what he saw on her face was a contortion of simple, straightforward disgust.
Hitoya's felt as if frost was creeping up the skin of his back in prickly little crystals.
This wasn't supposed to happen. She wasn't being fair. How could she judge him, after all they'd been through?
Jyushi was holding her left hand up to the light, admiring the sparkle and shine of her newest bauble. Hitoya grabbed her hand out of the air. "Come on," he said. "Let's get out of here."
Jyushi wiped another tear from her eye, and nodded.
The crowd parted for them, giving them a wide berth. Hitoya grit his teeth.
Fine, he thought. Let them. Let them live forever without ever getting what they want. Let Hifumi live and grow old with a man who was too afraid to act like a man. He wouldn't live that way. He would reach out and take what he wanted, no matter the cost. No one could stop him.
The door swung shut behind him. The clatter of the city traffic was a welcome cacophony after the harsh silence of the reception hall.
He had led Jyushi all the way to the corner of the block, trying to remember where he had parked his motorcycle. But I don't have my motorcycle, he thought. I'm in Tokyo. I took the bullet train from Nagoya yesterday.
He stopped abruptly. Jyushi stumbled beside him in her platform shoes. He suddenly felt very ridiculous, having to look so far up at her.
She looked down at him with a puzzled expression. "Where are we going?" she said.
It was a good question. He didn't know. He would take her back to his hotel room. Could he really do that? What would the staff think? He could forget about what they thought. He would have to. A creeping thread of unfurling logic reminded him that the judgement of strangers would follow him for the rest of his life. He had not even considered all the relationships he had just destroyed. Oh, and there was his friendship with Jyushi's parents. That was gone forever, almost certainly. That would be a quite a blow.
Oh god. What about Kuko? What would he think of this? He wouldn't be happy. Kuko should have just come to the wedding when he'd been invited, but he had been too stubborn. This would not be good for the group. But then again, Kuko was a hard sort. He would get over it eventually, if not completely, enough for the group to remain together.
And of the group... He hadn't thought about how the fallout might hurt his career. What would the tabloids say? It would be a nightmare. But he was a musician, and a wealthy professional, and he knew how the game worked. People like him would get what they wanted, if they dared to take it. Yes, that was the way of the world. The world worked that way. Yes. Yes, all of their careers would be safe.
But Jakurai. What could he do about Jakurai? All of this had been for her, but she was too blind to see it. He couldn't come up with anything to comfort himself about the matter of Jakurai.
Hitoya turned away from Jyushi's penetrating gaze. He could no longer deny it. He was trying to talk himself through the fact that he had undoubtedly just made the biggest blunder of his life. Under no circumstances did he truly want to marry this girl. Not a woman. A girl. But it would be a disaster to let her know. It would be a disaster to let anyone know.
"Come here," he said. The apprehension on her face dissipated. She leaned into him for another kiss. "You asked me where we were going. Do you still want to know?"
She nodded.
He smiled.
"We're going to the courthouse."