Dizzy
T minus 5 minutes.
Izumi nervously straightened the hem of her white dress as Orimoto Kasumi fastened the veil on her blonde hair. Mother and daughter were, as they hurriedly prepared, repeating an argument they had gone through more than twenty times over the course of Izumi's engagement. They had resolved all other conflicts: whether to have the wedding in Japan (Izumi's preference) or in Italy (Kasumi's preference), finally settling in Japan with a Christian ceremony. Although the groom had voiced a desire for a traditional Japanese wedding, somehow Kasumi always got her way.
The argument in question, however, was one battle that Izumi refused to let her mother win. "I can't beleive you actually want to subject me to this."
Kasumi sighed. "It's traditional for a wife to take her husband's last name. As much as I want you to carry on the Orimoto name, Izumi, it's just not possible."
"In this day and age, lots of women keep their maiden names."
"In America maybe."
"Sometimes men even take their wives' last names."
Kasumi, ever tradtional, looked horrified. "You can't!"
"Maybe I'll ask him."
"He'll never shame his family like that."
"What, you think I wouldn't be shaming the family taking on a name like that? You should have thought about it before you pushed me into an arranged marriage. Nobody does that anymore, except in anime."
"Now, now...Koji and Etsuko and your father and I have planned this since you were born. And he's a very nice boy."
"Boy, indeed. He's five years older than me." Izumi gathered her dress at the signal from her maid of honor.
"It's a nice name," Kasumi murmered to herself, watching her daughter step out into the aisle.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The newlyweds shared a chaste kiss and smiled at each other.
He really isn't such a bad guy, Izumi thought to herself. In fact, he's kind of nice. If this hadn't been arranged by our parents, I almost might have fallen for him.
"You okay?" he asked, looking at her with concern in his obsidian eyes.
And then, there's the name... "I'm fine," she whispered back as the proceeded down the aisle amid cheers. Izumi turned her blonde head to look at her new husband. "I was just thinking....what would you say about getting 'our' name changed?"
Koushirou laughed quietly, immediately sensing her dilemma. "As much as Izumi Izumi rather suits you...I don't think that will be a problem at all."
~the end
Omake:
Izumi tapped her foot impatiently, watching the older woman enter information into her computer. "I said, it's Izumi."
"Your family name?"
"No. Both."
The secretary looked terribly confused, peering closer at Izumi's driver's license. "All right...you want me to change 'Orimoto Izumi' to just...'Izumi?'"
"No. It needs to be Izumi Izumi."
"And is that your given name or your family name, miss?"
"It's my legal name. I married an Izumi."
"But I thought your name already was Izumi."
The blonde put her palm to her forehead and sighed a long sigh of defeat. "I just knew this was going to be a problem."
Shi: I was just looking for an excuse to write a Kouzumi/Izushirou. Isn't that a farking hilarious couple name? Okay, maybe not...