A/N: I'm so sorry for the long delay in posting another chapter! I hope my readers and reviewers are still here. XD I'll try to update more quickly next time! Thank you so much again to everyone who is reading and especially to my reviewers! I hope you continue to enjoy, and please leave a review! :)
Please note: This chapter is from Ayame's POV.
CHAPTER 4:
As I drove Mine and myself to Gure-san's house early the next morning, I really hadn't the faintest idea of what to expect from my family. Would they be happy for me? Scared for me? Think this engagement was the most reckless thing I had ever done? Well…I had done plenty of splendidly reckless things in my life, so I doubted they'd put that crown on this in particular…But it was still a fear-inducing possibility.
Mine thought I was behaving quite bizarrely that day. My usual confidence—or overconfidence as some liked to call it—had almost entirely flown out of my soul and taken up residence somewhere brighter, cooler, and more peaceable. It had abandoned me, deserted me, casted me aside in my time of need! I was beginning to grow resentful of myself. I wanted to be able to waltz into Gure's house with my usual arrogant stride and wide smile, announce the happy news so loudly that even Kyo would hear it as he brooded away on the roof, and not give a Yuki's ass about the shocked and judging reactions that would undoubtedly come.
But alas, my confidence chose this time out of all times to say, "Au revoir!" And thus there I was, gripping the steering wheel a bit too tightly, keeping my eyes wide as I stared at the road ahead, warranting concerned glances from my beautiful bride-to-be.
We had barely left the driveway when she first discerned my strange behavior and gently asked me about it. I had feigned a smile, closed my eyes in attempt to look joyful—joyful!—about visiting my family, and assured her that I had just drank a bit too much coffee that morning and the caffeine had left me jittery. It was a terrible lie, I know, but my lifelong habit of unfiltered honesty left me ill-prepared for times like these.
She didn't seem convinced—how could she have been?—but she didn't press the issue. She always knew when to leave me alone, when to give me my space. It was one of the many things I loved about her. I tried to be as open and honest with her as I could, but there were certainly many things I had to deal with on my own, and she seemed to intrinsically understand that.
There were the times that I would be staring at her, wishing I could embrace her, knowing I couldn't…and I would suddenly become quiet and sullen. She always asked me what was wrong and if she could help, but when I told her some poorly-crafted lie ("Oh, it's nothing. I'm just tired" was my go-to), she nodded and left me be. Or all those times that she wanted to play in the freshly-fallen snow with me, go on sleigh rides, sing carols door-to-door…and I would tell her that I just couldn't handle the cold very well, she didn't insist or act annoyed by my fragility; she accepted it with a smile and went alone.
Reflecting on this, I became more and more certain that I had no reason to feel so nervous about the announcement. I had every right to marry this wonderful woman! They couldn't tell me differently!
Could they?
Pulling up to Gure's house, I saw Tori-san's car already in the driveway. I had called everyone-or at least almost everyone—in the family the prior night and asked them to meet at Gure's house. It would be a safe meeting place, I suspected, and the most convenient since Yuki, Tohru, Kyo, and Gure himself were already there.
"So, you ready, Boss?" Mine asked as we parked.
I sat still and gulped, perhaps too audibly. "Yes! I've never been more ready!" I blatantly lied as I quickly opened the car door and stepped outside. I tried to tell myself that all I had to do was rip it off like a bandage, the more quickly I did it the less painful it would be…however, whenever I truly had a bandage plastered on my skin, I peeled it off as slowly as possible due to some deadly combination of masochism and a brand of foolishness that—despite the logic that actually did exist in my mind most of the time—I could never quite vanquish from myself.
And so I feared this announcement would roll out in the same fashion. I knew I had the ability to stop that from happening, but the uncertainty about whether I would do the right thing and use that ability remained heavy.
Approaching the door, I poised my index finger over the doorbell, but I didn't have to ring it: Gure-san almost immediately opened the door as we arrived at it.
I plastered on a wide smile. "Shigure! My love!"
"Oh, Aya! Just last night, I had the sweetest dream of you, and now you're here…on my doorstep…"
"Proof that our connection is thicker than even the common blood flowing through our veins?"
Shigure nodded and wiped a fake tear from his eye. "It's almost too beautiful for words!"
"Knock it off, you two." Tori-san's voice echoed from down the hall as he quickly approached the entrance. He looked to Mine with almost sympathetic eyes. "I apologize for their behavior. Though I am sure you're used to it by now."
Mine smiled and nodded. "But I don't mind! Really! I think it's cute, actually."
Hatori sighed. "I suppose I'm the odd man out, then." He then finally turned his glance toward me. "Hello, Ayame. You're looking well."
"Hello, Hatori! You're looking fabulous!" I exclaimed as I dove into him for a hug. He pushed me off him instantly.
"Well, come on in, lovebirds!" Shigure said, taking Mine's hand and leading her inside. "Tohru made some sweet and sour pork stew!" I winked at Hatori and proceeded to prance past him, into the house.
"Oh, hello, you two! I'm so happy you could come over today!" Tohru bounded out of the kitchen with two bowls of soup in hand.
Shigure smiled. "Ah, speak of the devil!"
"You mean 'angel'!" I corrected as I neared Tohru, taking the bowls of soup out of her hands and setting them on the table. I then took her hands in mine and stared into her gigantic cerulean eyes. "You're looking more beautiful and grown-up every day, love."
And then Kyo's voice sounded as he ambled down the stairs. "Somehow when you say that you sound like…Well, you sound like Shigure."
"Kyonkichi!" I immediately scurried over to the adorable little kitty and wrapped my arms around him fervently. His cat ears instantly appeared as his eyes slanted in anger. "What the hell are ya doin'?! Get the hell off me!" he screamed.
"Oh, Kyonkichi, you don't mean such hurtful words, surely…"
"Nii-san, just get off him, okay?" Yuki said, entering from the kitchen, appearing immediately exhausted by my presence.
"Yuki-kun!" I let go of Kyo, who dropped helplessly to the ground, as I replaced him with Yuki in my arms.
Narrowing his eyes, Yuki mumbled, "When I said 'get off him', I didn't mean to invite you to get on me…" Yuki then looked over to Mine and smiled politely. "Oh, hello, Ms. Kuramae. It's a pleasure to see you again."
"And you too, Yuki!"
Hatori spoke up: "All right, enough with the reunions; what did you want to tell us, Aya?"
I finally reached a cessation on my death-squeeze of my darling brother and looked out to the family. "Where are Momiji, Ritsu, Haru, Kisa, and Kagura? The whole family must be present for this empyrean announcement!"
"What about Akito?" Tori-san asked.
The room fell silent for a moment. Mine looked confused, her eyes rapidly darting back and forth between me and the rest of my family.
I cleared my throat a bit and feigned a smile. "Well, I was planning on visiting him tomorrow anyway, so I'll just tell him then!"
Nobody besides Mine bought such a dreadful and obvious lie. They thankfully kept quiet, but the tension in the room remained heightened, and Mine must have wondered why.
Like a bandage…treat it like you should treat a bandage…
"Anyway…Mine and I are getting married!" I spit out finally, wrapping one arm around Mine's petite shoulders. She squealed delightedly at the touch and at hearing the words actually exit my mouth.
My family, on the other hand, did not look so delighted…