Chapter 4: FormaL GreetingS

Knocking was crystal clear in the small apartment as the two tenants thought about what was announced on the news. The press conference highlights showed the bright smiles of the four visitors as they made publicly known the new moon home of the DearS, if they so choose to go, and a welcome to all humans of every creed to come and visit them in their new long term home. An opportunity that the sole human in the room wanted to take, but the contemplation of the news had to wait until after the new guest left.

With a sigh, Ayu opened the door without looking. "Hello," she smiled, eyes closed, "what can I help you with this evening?"

"Oh Ayu," came the familiar soft voice, "Ren is so happy to see you again!" the soft voice caused the closed eyes to open and a screech of joy to come from the two.

"If you are done making known our visit, can we go in?" questioned the only male there in annoyance.

"Of course come in," the former beach DearS insisted. "Neneko! Ren, Takeya and Miu are here!"

"Don't forget about China!" exclaimed the fourth member of the group. Coming into view Neneko's questioning look was easy to read along with Ayu's: who?

"Anyways," Miu quickly began, "we came to visit with both of you."

"What about Harumi?" questioned the Japanese girl.

"Mother In-law?" pondered Ren openly. Thankfully the others were quick to recover.

"We're planning on stay there this evening," Miu explained. "With all that has happened recently, Takeya felt he owed her a longer chat then a short visit," seeing the look of disbelief from the life time friend, Miu corrected, "Of course we all thought that we should get to know our dear mother in-law a little better."

Thought so, thought Neneko, "So what brings you here, other than a short social stop?" no matter how long it takes, she will enjoy this brief visit.

"We have some questions." China simple said.

The confusion on both Ayu's and Neneko's faces were clear as the now apparent blush on Takeya's. "Questions…" began the roommates.

"Yes," began the teal haired beauty, "Ren wants to know if Neneko is familiar with marriage laws. Such as if a man can he more than one wife in Japan."

The confusion was still growing. "We also wanted to know something else," Miu continued. The look in her and the other two by Takeya began to make shivers run down Neneko's spine.

"Does Neneko still want to be Takeya's Bride," finished China. At the word of bride Neneko as out cold and red faced. Visions of her dream Wedding kept playing in her mind, and she could longer deny the one life goal she believed that could never be.


Later that evening after they revived Neneko, and insured her that they were not joking, the long discussion began. In japan Takeya could only have one wife, legally, in such a case only one of the three ladies in Takeya's life currently could be his wife. That being said, the three broke off and in hushed tones quick discussed how that would impact second question they had. Returning Ren asked Neneko directly, "Does Neneko still want to be Takeya's bride?"

Silence filled the room as Neneko found three, no four pairs of eyes on her and one very red young man looking off elsewhere. She could tell that it was not his idea; just as she could tell he was just as curious. Did she love him? Of course she did, but she feared that the government would not recognize the union. Yet somehow she answered the question. "Yes," came the quite words; by time she knew it, it was too late.

The silence in the room was gone, now replaced with fear and panic in Neneko's mind, as she watched in horror as the three DearS mouths formed smiles. Thinking the worest, she prepared for her fate, another broken heart, but this time there would be no healing salve.

"That's just," Miu spoke with energy, "perfect!" quickly she pulled the shocked Japanese girl into a corner as the three wives of her friend began to make plans for her apparent upcoming nuptials.

Neneko could not believe her ears as the three plained out guest list, the location, and so on. It was as if they knew this was for certain. Finding her voice and clarity of thought, she spoke slowly, "Are you nuts?"

"No." replied three voices.

"But he can only have one legal wife in Japan." rebutted the bespectacled female.

"And we chose you." China returned.

"Okay," surrendered Neneko, "but he hasn't asked, nor have I ever told you how I felt about him."

At this Miu smiled. "I could tell how you felt about him after my own long contemplation," light shown in her eyes as she spoke. "I reflected long and hard during our travels and then talked with Ren about them. Takeya felt the same about you." the pink haired DearS explained.

"Takeya was to embrassed to ask, continued Ren, "so Ren thought that Ren would for him and asked Miu and China to help."

Looking at her longtime friend, Neneko too smiled softly. "What about the marriage law?"

"As a society, we DearS have no marriage customs," spoke Miu, "but we feel that Takeya still needs the familiarity of a family from home. So we agreed that he should marry, but to someone who understood what it meant to be married."

"So in other words," Neneko understood, "me." She saw that her answer drew nods from the three. "What about you three?"

We are still his wives, but we only need the approval of our fellow DearS." China answered. "We don't care for government recognition."

Neneko finally came to understand what the three wanted. Alright then, she agreed, "I'll become Takeya's formal bride. But none of you better interrupt us as we consummate our marriage, or any time after that."

The three had no problem with that request, and so the plans resumed, now including the bride. After some planning Neneko realized that not only her family, but his had to be told about the upcoming marriage and the engagement; however the three said that they would return tomorrow to speak with Neneko's family and Takeya's would be told that evening. It was then that they were joined by the other female in the room. "Yes?" Ren asked.

Ayu had come closer with a very red face. "Would you mind if I joined in as one of Takeya's wives?" her answer was three smiles and one clear look of confusion.