In hindsight, Hyakkimaru was glad that he did not marry Okowa.
Granted, he had been under the spell of a mischievous ghoul when he had declared his desire to marry her, but even when he was being dragged to the altar, he did not know what marriage was. He should have known what marriage and a wedding was considering that he had been engaged, but his obliviousness was made abundantly clear when he had asked his fiancé for details on their wedding. He did not even know what it meant to be husband and wife. He had only been engaged for a few days, and he still did not know what 'marriage' meant. Even when Okowa had explained what a wedding was, he still did not understand. However, he felt that if he had pressed Okowa for details, he would have come across, as Dororo would say, an idiot.
But Okowa had commented that once they were married, then they would be together forever.
Now that he thought about it, he was happy that the wedding had been canceled. Okowa was nice and pleasant to be around, but he didn't know how he felt about spending the rest of his life with her.
Such thoughts caused him to frown. Even now, the subject of marriage still confounded him. Was marriage an official agreement where two people agreed to be together forever? If so, then it must be a strong and special occasion. After all, the villagers had come together for a celebration when Okowa had declared that she was to be married. Marriage must be an important thing if it attracted such a crowd. But why was a ceremony required if two people wanted to declare their devotion to each other? Hyakkimaru felt that he could express his desire for companionship without the ceremony.
He could only think of a few people in his life whom he would want to spend the rest of his life with, and that list was woefully short. But Dororo was on the top of that list. He would gladly spend the rest of his life with her. The young child's constant presence was a testimony that she wanted to be with him as well. But what made their companionship different from Okowa's and her new husband was the acknowledgement from the entire village that Okowa and her husband were finally together.
Perhaps, he mused, this 'marriage' thing made everything official if two people were to spend the rest of their lives together.
He glanced down at the comforting soul walking beside him. Dororo's spirit shone ever so bright in his dark world, and he smiled as her voice reached his ears. Just as Dororo had once said, she could talk enough for the both of them. Hyakkimaru was fine with hearing Dororo's stories as her voice filled the silence.
But right now, he had something important to say. It was at the forefront of his mind, and it was so sudden that he stopped walking.
So engrossed in her own story, Dororo proceeded to walk a few more steps until she realized her companion was not walking with her. A confused squeak escaped her mouth, and she rapidly turned to look at him. "Eh? Bro! What's wrong?"
Hyakkimaru held out his hand, focused on his little companion. "Dororo, let's get married."
He could hear Dororo's startled yelp and the sound of her stumbling. Concerned, he focused on the bright light that was Dororo's spirit.
He heard Dororo sputter. "Marriage?" There was a beat of silence, and then she slowly laughed. Hyakkimaru frowned. This laugh sounded different, as if it was not genuine and it had to be forced.
If Hyakkimaru had his sight, he would have seen the intense look of confusion on Dororo's face. "Really bro," she scoffed. "You shouldn't joke about stuff like that."
He cocked his head. "Not joking."
Dororo blinked. "Wha-? You're really serious?"
"Really serious."
She scowled. "Hey! Don't joke about this! I mean it!" Suddenly wondering if Hyakkimaru was under the influence of a ghoul, Dororo looked around for any signs of danger. The last time he had made such odd declarations, a curse had been involved. She grits her teeth. Great. Now she just needed to find a rock and the head of a stupid ghoul to bash it against.
"Dororo." Suddenly, Hyakkimaru was standing in front of her. His prosthetic hands rested on her shoulders, and he was kneeling before her. Fixing his blind eyes on her, he smiled. "Not joking. I really want to marry you."
Dororo gaped at Hyakkimaru and searched his face for any signs of trickery before she realized that he would have to be under some sort of spell to pull off any kind of joke.
She sputtered, feeling her cheeks turn red. "But why would you want to get married?"
"So that we can be together," he replied.
"But we are together!"
"Marriage would make it official."
She frowned as her 'bro' used the big and new word 'official'. "Do you even know what that means?"
He cocked his head. "Marriage means we will-"
"I meant," she interrupted with a huff, folding her arms across her chest, "do you even know what 'official' means?"
He paused, and his glass eyes drifted upward for a moment as he contemplated what she had said. Then, with a rueful sigh, he shook his head and looked to her for answers.
Dororo tiredly sighed and ever so slowly, like she was talking to a child, said, "That means we'll be together forever!"
He smiled, as if her response pleased him. "Yes."
"No!" she exclaimed.
A look of hurt came across his features, and Dororo instantly regretted her outburst. He lowered his hands until they hung limply at his sides. "Do you not want to be together?" he asked. His voice was soft, and Dororo felt an overwhelming sense of guilt. Suddenly, she could not look at him.
She sighed. "I do want to be with you," she admitted. "But marriage is a different meaning of 'being together'."
"What's wrong with marriage?" he asked.
"Nothing," she slowly said. "It's just...marriage is different!"
"Why?"
Oh boy. They were back at the 'why' stage. Even now, Dororo struggled to find the proper explanation to present to her determined companion. Apparently, she was too slow in trying to find a decent explanation, because Hyakkimaru came up with his own solution. "If marriage is not wrong," he said, "then we can get married." He said it so simply without realizing the meaning behind his words.
She choked, her words seemingly leaving her and her cheeks flaming red. "It-well...I'm too young!"
He looked confused. "You mean we have to wait to be together?"
She resisted grunting in frustration. "No, I mean I'm too young to get married."
"I can wait."
Dororo's hands became fists and she grit her teeth. Boy, her papa would be so thrilled at the idea of this man's, or a boy in this case, willingness to marry her. The problem was that Hyakkimaru did not know what marriage really was.
She patted his shoulder, as if soothing a child. "Bro, listen," she cleared her throat. "When a man and a woman meet in an elaborate ceremony with the intent of being together, that is marriage. They will pledge to love and be together until death parts them. Then, they will have little children and start a family." To stress her point, she said, "if we get married, then we would be like my mama and papa. We would be together in that way."
She watched as he frowned and tried to make sense of her words. An expression of horror flashed across his face, and Dororo felt a sense of satisfaction that he finally understood what marriage meant.
His hands were back on her shoulders, desperately pulling her close this time. "Dororo, you will die like your mama and papa?"
Dororo blinked. "Eh?" She wiggled out of his hold. "What? No!" She tried to put some distance between herself and Hyakkimaru, but the young warrior did not seem to understand the need for personal space, and he followed her. "Marriage would mean you and I would be together like my mama and papa were, and like how your mama and papa were! We would be together like our parents are together!"
Hyakkimaru frowned, and a look of disgust crossed his features. "I don't want to be like my papa."
Dororo groaned. "What I mean is, we would be married as a husband and wife, then would have children because that's what happens in marriage."
"I don't want children. I just want to be with you."
Under any other circumstances, Dororo would have felt touched by his words. In fact, she still was. There was something about being wanted that warmed her heart. Her pensive face faded away into a smile. "Bro, I want to be with you too, but…" she trailed off when an idea struck her. She knowingly grinned. "But, you know, if I marry you, I can't call you 'bro' anymore."
He blinked, taken aback. "Why?"
"Because it would be weird if I started calling my husband 'bro.' People would get the wrong idea."
"You don't have to call me 'husband'," he said. "You can still call me bro." He lowered his hands. "I won't call you 'wife'." His hands left her shoulders and found their way into her hands. His cold, prosthetic hands clenched hers, and he sighed. "I just want us to be together."
Dororo watched him, and her eyes drifted down to their clasped hands. Slipping her right hand out of his, she touched his face. Rubbing her forehead against his, she chuckled. "We are together, silly," she said, pulling back.
He stared at her with hesitant hope. "Forever?"
"Ya!" she exclaimed with a grin. "I'm the only one who can take this ridiculous hard journey with you." She looked at him thoughtfully. "You really want to get married?" At his small nod, she giggled as her pent-up exasperation left her. "Fine bro, if you insist, then I will only marry you so we can be together." She held out her hand, waiting for him to shake it.
Happiness shone in Hyakkimaru's expression as he clasped her hand. "Okay."
It wasn't like she had ever received a proposal before, but Dororo could only marvel that this was by far the oddest proposal she had ever received. But with a careless shrug and a smile, she merrily walked alongside her companion.