Chapter 4 – The Wedding
She smiled and sighed. "As long as no one else comes." She whispered. She went with him into the room. "I'm tired now."
"Then let us sleep," he whispered following her into the room.
Seeing that there was only the typical four-posters, Kurama went over to two of them and pushed them together to make a double bed for him and Yuka to share for the next two nights. He stripped off his shirt and climbed under the covers motioning for Yuka to follow his lead.
She smiled and climbed into the bed beside him. She put her arm over his chest and buried her face in his neck. "Good-night my love." She whispered. Then she drifted off to sleep.
"Good night dear heart," Kurama whispered back. "Sweet dreams. I will wake you at breakfast."
He held her close to him afraid that something (or someone like Hiei, Harry or Ron) would attempt to steal his dearest fiancé from under his nose during the night. Slowly weariness overcame his active mind and he slept peacefully for the first time in little more that 500 years.
About an hour or so later, Kurama awoke to feel a presence enter the room through the window that he had opened mentally before he reached the room earlier that night. He saw a young man no older than Yuka or Harry sitting on the window sill as if he owned the room.
"What do you want?" he asked quietly not waking Yuka as he slid from under the covers. "Why are you here? Dammit answer me!"
He growled the last sentence at the intruder. The person allowed the moonlight to fall on his face and Kurama instantly recognized the humanized form of the son of the King of the Judgment Gate, Koenma. "I am here to see how you are coping to being the fiancé of a half breed, my dear man," he grinned around his pacifier. "Now how is she doing? Don't look so shocked like you've never been asked that question before, man. You know how damn well I feel about it. The only girl that ever really loved you was a human girl that had to have her memory erased. I didn't not want you to go through with the marriage to that girl because of her heritage and what it would have done to Raizen's family line, Kurama."
Yuka growled in her sleep. She sat up quickly. "Kurama? What is it?" She asked, half asleep. She noticed the man on the sill and gasped. "Who are you? What are you doing here?" She drew closer instinctively to Kurama. She felt a bit safer when he put his arm around her.
"It's alright, love," he whispered. "It's just Koenma-sama. He was just leaving us to rest in peace. Go back to bed and get some sleep, lovely lady. I will be there shortly."
With that Kurama gently pushed Yuka back toward the bed and turned back to Koenma to tell him that everything was working out just fine only to see that the young man was back in his usual form of a binky sucking toddler.
Yuka went back under the blankets. "Very strange." She whispered to herself. She curled her tail around her and closed her eyes.
"Koenma, look," Kurama started. "I know that you're worried about me getting my heart broken again but this is different from the last girl I fell for. Yuka is level headed and smart for her age. She loves to joke around and laugh for the sake of others. I will be in the underworld with her in two days time. Just give her a chance to cope with the idea of being engaged to another demon. I promise to take care of her from now until the day I die. Now if you please I was enjoying my sleep until you so rudely interrupted it by trespassing. Now leave."
With that Koenma disappeared to more than likely run to Yama with an extravagant tale about how Kurama beat him tirelessly for a half hour non-stop. Kurama let out a sigh of relief that the brat was gone and that he could return to his peaceful slumber with his fiancé. He climbed back under the covers and cuddled close to Yuka to tell her that nothing could harm them from now on. He felt her snuggle into his chest as he pulled her ever closer. I love you, Yuka, my love, he whispered in her mind just before he drifted off to sleep.
((Fast forward.))
Yuka blinked as the sun streamed in through the open window. "What am I doing in here?" She glanced over at still sleeping Kurama and smiled. The events of the day came flooding back. She kissed him lightly on the cheek. "Good-morning sweet heart." She slipped out of the blankets and went to get dressed.
"Morning," he grumbled. "Why up so early, love? I smell breakfast."
He pulled her to him and kissed her lightly on the lips. He felt her smile and decided to let her go get dressed before both were late for the morning meal and classes. Just as he was about to pull his shirt from the night before on, Mugen teleported into the room, nearly giving Kurama a heart attack. Mugen handed Kurama 16 bundles of black clothe, then teleported back to the great hall to his seat at the head table. Kurama undid the white strings around one of the bundles to see that they were robes like what Harry, Ron and the other students were wearing, only these had a special patch where the house crest would be. It was a crescent moon over what looked like a silver ribbon surrounded by little pinpricks of white thread. It was later that he figured out that the silver ribbon was a river and the pinpricks of thread were stars.
When Yuka walked back into the room, he showed them to her. He could see the excitement in her eyes for him. I think that the room of requirement is needed for our honeymoon and our usual suite here, he mentally told her as she flung herself into his arms nearly knocking him over onto his back on the rough carpet. Yuka, love, I do not want to get rug burn before our wedding. It might be there when we get to the underworld. Besides my body hasn't been able to heal too well as of lately because I am getting older and my healing capabilities are becoming limited.
She pulled back. "Sorry love." She hugged him fiercely though. "I love your robes!" She gushed. "They're beautiful." She kissed him. "I'm just so excited! What is the underworld like?"
"Well it's really like a major city only slightly more authentic, sort of like Kyoto in Japan or a few cities in Italy," he answered. "I get around so that is why I know about Italy. I never knew that someone could love robes that I just received. Let me get these other robes to the rest of the gang and I will tell you everything you want to know about the underworld, alright, love?"
With that he picked up the other 15 bundles and headed to the dorm that Hiei, Kuwabara and Yusuke were in. After he arrived at the room that his friends were staying in, Kurama heard arguing between Hiei and Yusuke about who would be the best man in his wedding to Yuka. Kurama barged in without knocking and everything went disturbingly and quietly still. Hiei looked like a deer in the headlights (as the saying goes) and Yusuke looked like he had just seen the ghost of his ancestor, Raizen.
Yuka had followed him. She smiled at the others. "Why stop talking as soon as we come in?" She slipped her arm through Kurama's. She swished her tail. "Classes begin very soon. Breakfast comes first though."
Hiei and Kuwabara looked dumbfounded and Yusuke still looked like he had seen Raizen's ghost. "Guys, look, school robes," Kurama said handing 12 of the remaining 15 bundles to the respective people. He guessed that there were four for each of them on his way down and he kept the three that he knew would fit him just like the one back in the dorm that he was currently sharing with Yuka.
"You're right, lovely lady," Kurama whispered. "but I doubt that the other students will want to be left out of having private classes with the head master." Because every one of them is either to snotty to appreciate the beauty in life like love or too idiotic to even realize that there is love in the world, he said mentally to Yuka.
She kissed his cheek. "I love you so much." She sighed. "Let's go to breakfast."
"Yes let's go to breakfast," he agreed, feeling her soft lips on his cheek. "I love you more than you know. After this pack your things and get ready to leave. Besides I want to know this school's layout before I get totally lost when trying to find my way to either the headmaster's office or my classes."
With that Kurama allowed himself to be dragged out of the room and toward the Great Hall for breakfast with the other students.
((Fast forward two days))
The day of the wedding finally arrived and Kurama was giddy with excitement. He was dressed in the typical underworld wedding apparel. It was a decadently decorated formfitting top of the finest silk. The needlework was what bought Kurama in the first place because it reminded him of the crest on the robes that Mugen Jinoshi had given him a few days before with stars surrounding a crescent moon over a thin sliver of silver ribbon that was to signify the flowing river of life for all races and kinds. He had on a pair of loose pants the same color of the ribbon of river that ran along the bottom hem of the shirt. In his hands he clasped the very thing that would signify the bond between the fox demon and the young half breed wolf. It was a small wooden box with light red velvet lining and a black velvet cushion. On this cushion rested a specially handcrafted pendant that Kurama had put half of his soul into for safe keeping. Now the real problem was getting Yuka to put a little of her soul into so that it could rest safely in a desk drawer of King Yama.
Yuka stared at herself in the mirror. She could hardly recognize herself. She wore a long off white gown that had no sleeves. Delicate white, silk flowers bordered the bottom. Around her waist was a string of pearls. In the center was the same design that was on Kurama's suit. She smiled and ran her hands over the smooth silk. She had gloves that went up to her elbows. Her smile faded a bit. "I wish Daddy could be here."
Kurama heard the music start and saw his beloved being walked out by none other that Koenma himself in human form. She looked dazzling in her soft off white sleeveless gown. He could tell that she was scared, happy and sad all at once.
What's the matter, love? he mentally asked worried that he had missed something while she was getting ready. You look like you are happy, scared and sad all at once. This is supposed to be the best day of our lives. Let us go back the home that I had Koenma prepared for us after the ceremony.
I'm okay, my love. I just wish my parents could see me. She now beamed as she walked down the isle towards her very soon to be husband. She felt her heart swell with pride when she saw him. He was extremely handsome in his suit. She stopped in front of him and smiled. I am ready for whatever life will throw our way.
So am I love, he answered. Now come and a small part of your soul will soon join mine, love. And thank you for the compliment on my looking handsome, he added. Or did you forget that I am an empath as well? The music stopped as soon as Yuka was beside him. King Yama started on his long speech about how joyous this day was for the underworld and how everyone should be happy for the souls that would soon be joined together, meaning the two standing before him.
At long last, he got to the part were the two would exchange vows and Yuka's soul would join Kurama's in the pendant that was sitting between their knees (they were kneeling after King Yama started to talk) on the black velvet pillow in the red velvet lined box.
A slight glow surrounded Yuka as King Yama started to chant something unknown to anyone present. Kurama could see that Yuka was shivering with fear. A thin tendril reached out from the glowing girl and reached toward the pendant. It touched the pendant, drew back for but a second, and wrapped itself around it. The tendril broke its contact with yuka and "sunk" into the small item which glowed a bright reddish purple color before returning to its natural state of silver. Yama picked it up and hung the light chain around his neck and smiled at the two sitting before him signaling that the ceremony was done and that they should enjoy themselves the rest of the afternoon. Kurama smiled at Yuka, grabbed her hand and practically dragged her out of the small building and toward a seemingly horseless wagon until Yuka saw that it was being pulled by two extremely thin, scaly horses with slimy leathery wings tucked up against their bodies. They were threstrals. Yuka knew about them because of the way that harry and a few other students thought about them in between classes. Kurama knew about them through Yuka and the mental link that they always had going. Kurama wasn't scared of them and he knew that Yuka wasn't by the way that she held herself and how she kept her feelings hidden from his empathy skills.
When they entered wagon she smiled. "Was that my spirit? Was that it joining yours?" She snuggled against him. "My husband..."
"Yes love that was your spirit joining mine inside the pendant that king Yama put around his neck," Kurama replied. "Now that we are married, I think that we should have a bit of fun in the home Koenma prepared for us." He smiled devilishly at her, knowing that she couldn't resist him for much longer than she already had.
((Fast forward a few days. They are back at the school and they are in the headmaster's office))
"You have to be a bit more forceful when you want to cast this," Mugen was saying to the transfer students. "I do believe that Kurama and Yuka are the only two getting the hang of this particular spell."
Yuka smiled. Then frowned when another wave of nausea hit her. She had blocked her thoughts from Kurama for the past few weeks. She knew it made him uneasy but she didn't want him worrying about her being sick. 'Why do I feel so crummy?'
Kurama was worried about Yuka because every time he tried to reconnect their mental link he ran into a steel wall. That's when he knew that something was definitely up so he decided to talk to Mugen about his worries for his wife. He arrived at the statue that "guarded" the headmaster's office, touched it and it leapt aside allowing him to climb the slowly upward spiraling staircase. He knocked on the door and Mugen bid him to come in.
"I wanted to talk to you about Yuka, sir," Kurama said breathlessly as a wave of pain swept over him. "She hasn't been responding to my mental prods for the last couple of weeks and I have been starting to get worried about her. Do you know what could be causing this? She's been avoiding me as well whenever we're on our way to classes. If you could just check in on her I would be deeply grateful to you."
"I see your problem," Mugen replied. "In fact I think that you can find her in the girl's restroom on the second floor. It's haunted by a ghost of a young girl that died around 50 years ago. It's been out of order ever since. Now go check on your beloved."
With that Kurama raced toward the second floor girl's bathroom to see if his wife was alright. He was scared more than he was worried because his thought processes lead him to one final conclusion: Yuka committed suicide and was stuck in this haunted bathroom where no one would find her. Please be safe love. I don't want to lose you, not now, not so soon after our wedding, he thought to himself.