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Tsumugi is criticizing the bride.
“Her movements weren’t exaggerated enough,” he says, words clear despite his drunken state. “The emotion wasn’t conveyed clearly enough, and the groom—he was pretty good, I thought his actor used the space of the stage well during his monologue—but he took up too much space when she was around. He should’ve shifted his movements to draw more attention to her.”
Tasuku nods. “Yes, but her delivery of the final speech, when the rival broke into the room, that was good. She had good enunciation. You would’ve done better in the movements department, though.”
“They’re always like this,” Homare sighs, two seats away from Guy, on the other side of Hisoka.
It’s one of the reasons they have this seating arrangement; Tsumugi and Tasuku have to sit next to each other, or else someone will be between their frantic conversation about the acting in one of the more recent plays they went to see. Usually, Guy would be happy to join in on their discussion, but he’d been occupied on the day they went to see the wedding-themed play.
“It’s a June bride thing,” Azuma had laughed, when Guy expressed confusion on there being a wedding themed play showing for only a single month. “The troupe wanted to make this month special, I assume. Isn’t that right, Tasuku?”
Tasuku nodded. “They’ll do reruns later in the year, though.”
“Artificial scarcity...” Hisoka had mumbled from his place on Azuma’s lap. Guy blinked at him, but Hisoka’s eyes stayed firmly shut as Azuma pet his hair. “They want it to seem important to watch now… but it’s really not…” His breathing evened out; there he went, out like a light.
It’s hard to imagine Hisoka falling asleep at random when he’s in the middle of downing drinks, though. Unlike Homare, whose attention is caught between the rest of them, Hisoka seems to be chugging his drinks faster than Guy believes is healthy. The others, including Hisoka himself, have repeatedly assured Guy that it’s okay, but regardless, Guy is always surprised.
Guy makes a mental note to count how many Hisoka buys, both to avoid potential problems in the health department, and to make sure that Homare’s wallet doesn’t get emptied by the sheer amount of alcohol being brought over—seeing as Homare is paying for Hisoka’s share.
“Them being theater junkies is cute though, isn’t it?” Azuma rests his chin on his fist with a small laugh.
“Is it…?” Guy doesn’t know if cute would be the word he’d use, but Azuma is always like this, so Guy has gotten used to it. “I wish I could have seen the play,” Guy comments idly.
“Oh?” Azuma turns his full attention to Guy, sweeping his hair away from his face. “Are you interested in marriage?”
“No,” Guy says. “I’ve never thought about it much, as an android. It was my duty to follow Citronia until I was unusable. There was no room for other relationships.” Homare is obviously listening, his eyes widening, and Guy feels something like concern well up in his chest as those red eyes start watering. “Of course, it’s not like that anymore,” Guy clarifies, frowning.
But it comes too late. Homare, leaning across the table and clutching his drink in his hands, has begun to cry. His emotions are only intensified by the alcohol he’s been drinking, and he ends up reaching for Hisoka.
“Get off me, Arisu,” Hisoka grumbles, but doesn’t shrug off his clingy roommate. “I’m sure Guy is fine.” He takes another gulp of his drink, and Guy eyes him warily.
“But I’m putting myself in his shoes!” Homare sobs. “He was never allowed to…!”
“Mikage is correct,” Guy says. “It’s not a problem.” In fact, the alcohol has made him feel looser than normal, and he can feel his lip twitching upwards at the concern that Homare is showing. Guy takes a sip of his drink as Azuma speaks again, turning towards Homare.
“There, there,” Azuma is too far away to pat Homare, obviously, but he still makes the motion in the air. It’s such a silly thing that Guy smiles more openly than before. “Now, maybe Guy would prefer to be married to us.”
Homare doesn’t seem to hear, but after a moment it seems he’s not crying about Guy anymore. Instead, he’s mumbling something about his publisher. Hisoka takes another drink, disregarding the grown man in tears beside him.
“Married to you?” Guy’s eyebrows furrow. Did he mishear? “What do you mean, Yukishiro?”
“Oh? You haven’t heard?” There’s something sinister about Azuma’s smile as he leans closer to Guy, lowering his voice until it’s just above a whisper. His yellow eyes glint in the light. “The entire Winter Troupe, sans you of course, is married to each other. We decided it around our third performance.”
Guy chokes. Automatically, his eyes scan the table for wedding rings, only to find none. “Really?” he asks as calmly and emotionlessly as possible, which comes easily.
Azuma laughs airily. “Ahaha, you’re interested? It was Homare who brought the idea up, with Izumi’s help. So, we’re married. Basically.” He waves his hand, as if the rest of the details aren’t important. Guy would very much like to disagree.
Guy glances at the others for help, but the only unoccupied one is Hisoka, who turns to them and opens up his mouth, as if to say something. He then closes his mouth, looking away. Obviously he’s chosen not to save Guy from his confusion.
“I see. However…” Guy closes his eyes. When he opens them, he settles them on Tsumugi and Tasuku, still in the middle of their heated discussion. “I didn’t know. I can’t imagine all of you being wed. I’m sorry.” Well, that’s not true. They’re all very close as a troupe. But being married wasn’t something Guy had even considered.
“Oh? And why can’t you imagine it?”
Guy pinches his eyebrows together. He distinctly remembers Tasuku almost attempting to stab Homare during the run of Die by the Sword, when the latter got too enthusiastic in reciting a poem, which frankly makes it hard to imagine the two of them being in love.
If they were married, surely Tasuku would’ve snapped out of character and put down his prop sword. Right? Is that not correct? Guy isn’t just unknowledgeable of romance, right? No, he’s sure he’s not. He’s watched movies and read books with romantic subplots, but still…
He makes a mental note to look up some things related to romantic love.
“I don’t know if you’re joking or not,” Guy says. He decides not to voice his thoughts. He is not looking. He has decided to not think.
Azuma just laughs. “Maybe you should ask someone else, then?”
Guy looks around at the Winter Troupe. Tsumugi is saying something about wedding dress costumes and movability, and Tasuku is responding with something about other costumes unrelated to marriage—they’re so busy and absorbed that Tasuku is practically about to lean against Tsumugi. Probably best to leave them be.
Homare seems to be trying to join the two so-called theater junkies, but isn’t having much success since he, like Guy, hasn’t seen the play they’re discussing. Hisoka makes brief eye contact with Guy, shakes his head, and goes right back to ignoring him.
Guy lowers his eyes to the table, too embarrassed to say anything about marriage, even to Hisoka, who obviously knows something, whatever it is.
“Yes, yes, it’s a joke,” Azuma says after only a moment has passed, patting Guy gently on the shoulder. “Or maybe it’s not, who knows? Either way, we should probably start wrapping up for the night, yes?”
Startled by the admission of a joke, Guy nods in agreement, and the topic of marriage is dropped for the night.
Guy is thankful that their troupe doesn’t have practice the next day, excluding the individual practice most of them end up doing anyway. The lack of practice is a good thing, seeing how some members, though not Guy personally, like to sleep in.
However, this particular day, Guy is also glad for the lack of a collective Winter Troupe gathering for other reasons. Today, he would like to ask a troupemate a question, preferably before their next practice.
It’s unusual how desperate he’s become for answers. It just caught him off guard, Azuma’s joke, and the possibility that maybe he wasn’t lying. It’s not as if the idea is particularly uncomfortable, but where had the thought of them being married even come from? The reason why Guy is so fixated on it eludes him, but he’s sure he’ll figure it out in time, if he can just understand why Azuma told that particular joke.
The feelings are a little incomprehensible, but it’s not bad. Guy tries not to think about it too much.
Obviously, he needs a second opinion, which of course means waiting in agony for when he’s alone with Tsumugi for gardening that morning—closer to afternoon, really. Guy closes his eyes and tries to ingrain these emotions blooming in his heart to memory. Blooming, of course, like the many flowers in the courtyard they tend to.
“Okay, I have the fertilizer,” Tsumugi says from behind him, and Guy turns around.
The thought of asking Tsumugi about marriage makes an unfamiliar feeling stir inside Guy. Anxiety and unsureness aren’t usual to him, and the prospect of asking their leader something so strange and personal—
But Azuma had nearly asked if Guy had wanted to join their marriage, so maybe it wasn’t as personal as it seemed.
“I have a question,” Guy says cooly, as Tsumugi leans down to drop the fertilizer next to the flowerbed. Guy moves closer until he’s crouching next to him, nearly shoulder to shoulder. “Although…”
“Hm?” Tsumugi tilts his head, his blue eyes meeting Guy’s green ones. “Is there something wrong?”
“No,” Guy furrows his eyebrows, “not exactly. Last night Yukishiro said something, then later claimed it was a joke. I simply wanted to know your opinion on it.” His heart is beating faster than he thought it could outside of a physical workout. How strange.
Tsumugi nods, turning his body so that he’s still crouched by the flowers, but obviously paying attention to Guy instead. He looks a little ridiculous with his elbows resting on his knees like that.
“He said that he and the rest of the Winter Troupe were married. I was unaware that…” he had said that Azuma confessed that it was a joke, “I mean, it’s a strange joke to say. I didn’t believe him entirely, and I’m a bit ashamed of it, even if he then admitted that it was false.”
Guy’s reaction that night was less composed than normal. He knows that Azuma wouldn’t hold his shock against him, but regardless, he feels the need to confess that to Tsumugi’s welcoming and open expression. At this very second, Tsumugi is pressing his lips together into a muted smile, which Guy stares at with a characteristic emotionless face.
Tsumugi then bursts out into giggles, unable to contain himself and falling onto the ground gracelessly, which cuts off his amusement. He keeps smiling at Guy as Guy kneels forward to make sure that he’s okay.
“I’m sorry,” Tsumugi says, pushing himself up again and wiping a dirty hand on his apron. “I just, I forgot about that.” He laughs again, this time a little quieter. “We’re not married, no, but Homare did say something about that. That our bond is like being bound by a common destiny,” he shakes his head with a fond smile. “In sickness or in health, in happiness or in sadness…”
“Like a marriage,” Guy nods.
“Our bond really is like that,” Tsumugi says, his eyes soft as he looks to the flowers. The wind blows his dark hair and the petals alike. The garden around them rustles. “But we’re always getting closer, bound by fate or not. And that includes you, so I guess you could say that you’re joining our marriage. If you’d like.”
Guy smiles. It sounds quite nice, actually. To accept that they’ll get closer to each other… “Of course.”
There’s more rustling behind them, and Guy turns around to meet eyes with someone as footsteps come behind them. The someone in question is grinning, and has definitely heard the tail end of their conversation. He claps his hands in excitement when he realizes he’s been noticed. “Oooh!”
“Citronia,” Guy greets.
“You’re getting married!?” Citron exclaims, beaming. “I never thought you’d get married without telling me you were dating, but I’d love to throw you a wedding—!”
“Um, Citron…” Tsumugi stands, stepping closer to Citron. “I think you got the wrong idea—”
“—I have to tell the others that you’re leaving us temporarily for your wedding, yes—!”
“Citronia?” Guy calls after Citron as the man turns on his heel to exit the courtyard. Exchanging a worried glance with Tsumugi, Guy sighs faintly, pushing himself to his feet. “I’m going to take care of this, and then I’ll be back.”
“It’s fine,” Tsumugi waves him off. “I’m sure he’ll listen to you… eventually.” He seems more amused than Guy would’ve expected from this sort of situation, which eases Guy a little. It’s good to know that Citron’s mistake didn’t offend Tsumugi. Still, he has to tell the others that Citron misunderstood, before he tells everyone about Guy’s supposed marriage.
Guy steps near the exit from the courtyard. From the inside of the dorms, Guy thinks he can hear Tsuzuru saying, “It’s engagement, not arrangement, Citron, and what does that even mean—”
“Tsumugi proposed to Guy?!” Homare says loudly, nearly in unison with Tasuku’s exclamation of “Tsumugi’s getting married?!” as Guy opens the door and steps inside.
“Arisu… be quiet…” Hisoka says sleepily, hugging his plush penguin tighter while Azuma laughs into his hand.
“You’re saying that to me and not Tasuku?!”
Tasuku sighs harshly and looks up to meet Guy’s eyes with a question of whether the marriage is the truth or not. But before their eyes meet, Guy thinks that Tasuku seems fond of this relationship, even if he doesn’t know how to show it easily. Guy can relate.
Since, well, if Guy had to choose to get engaged with anyone, the Winter Troupe isn’t a bad group to get married to. After all, if they’re truly connected by shared destiny, then surely they’ll be there for each other in more ways than just as fellow actors.