"And with this...I take thee..."
Chapter 3
It took Inuyasha a long time to comprehend the human ritual of marriage. Bonding for life he had always understood, as it was a common custom amongst hanyous and even between youkai and humans; but the wedding ritual itself was something that only humans performed, and the whole business confused him. When Kagome first tried to explain it, he became rather annoyed. "How many times have I thrown my body between you and death—and how many times have you done the same for me? What words could we possibly say that would mean more than that?" Kagome didn't really have an answer for that, of course, but eventually, she made him understand that it was just something that would mean a great deal to her, and could he please just go along with it?
Kagome had hoped that Inuyasha might understand her desires well enough to be willing to propose to her formally—her favorite fantasy was of Inuyasha in a tuxedo, kneeling grandly before her with a bouquet of roses in one hand and a diamond ring in the other. She tried dropping hints, but Inuyasha never picked up on any of them; and after Kagome had spent the better part of one afternoon talking in circles around the topic, Inuyasha finally blurted out in exasperation, "So, what is this about? You want to get married, or not?" At that, Kagome figured that it was the best "proposal" she would ever get out of him, and she decided to quit while she was ahead.
Kagome's mother was overjoyed when she heard about the engagement. Kagome knew that her mother would be happiest if the ceremony could take place in the modern era, but even the thought of taking Inuyasha to some government office to apply for a marriage license made her head spin, and she couldn't begin to imagine trying to convince him to take a blood test. Every time she thought about it, she foresaw the same enraged explosion: "They want my blood? For WHAT?" So she soon settled herself to a ceremony in the feudal era, and her mother (to Kagome's great relief) agreed that it was the right choice. "Of course I'm sad that I can't see my beautiful daughter's wedding," she said, "but if you have it here your friends can't attend, and I know how important they are to you. Just be sure to bring me some pictures, and I'll be happy! We'll have a party for the two of you afterwards."
Although Inuyasha eventually warmed to the concept of the wedding itself, he never really understood the concept of "ceremony," and Kagome quickly grew weary of answering his questions and fending off his "helpful" suggestions.
"No, Inuyasha, we can't just 'say the words and get it over with now.' It has to be special."
"Yes, Inuyasha, you have to dress up too. Everybody does."
"No, Inuyasha, we can't 'just get Hatchi to do it.' I am not going to be married by a tanuki!"
Fortunately for both of them, Inuyasha finally relented and let Kagome have her way with the wedding, and he usually wandered off to play with the cat whenever Kagome and her mother began talking about the ceremony. Which, frankly, made everyone much happier.
Kagome spent her last night as a single woman in her mother's house. Her mother threw her a splendid party, inviting her friends from high school, neighbors, and many longtime friends of the family. Kagome had long ago developed a plausible history for Inuyasha: he was an exotic foreigner, dashing and mysterious, a little troublesome sometimes...but then again, what man wasn't? Kagome's girlfriends had met him long ago when they were all in middle school, and they remembered him as being cool, even "dreamy," so Kagome was fortunately spared from manufacturing too many details, and she let her friend's memories and colorful imaginations direct the conversations. As for the honeymoon, Kagome would only say coyly, "He's taking us camping, somewhere far away and romantic." Everyone showered her with gifts and warm wishes for a happy future, and they went long into the night talking and laughing, regaling each other with tales of men and their foibles, the care and feeding of husbands, and such secrets as women only tell each other when their men are not around.
Inuyasha spent his last night as a bachelor watching his friends get plastered. Miroku had suggested many extravagant and indulgent possibilities for the evening (all of which presumed that he could elude Sango); but Inuyasha, for all of his bluster, was a bit of a prude, and vetoed Miroku's every suggestion. Inuyasha finally acceded to a simple, men-only evening, and so the four friends—Miroku, Inuyasha, Shippou, and Hatchi—headed into the forest and settled down around the fire.
The evening had begun civilly enough, with Miroku coaching Inuyasha on the ceremony, and cautioning him about the importance of the ritual sake that symbolized his joining with Kagome as man and wife, and how he should not make faces at the taste or spit it out in disgust. Inuyasha didn't drink—he didn't like the taste of alcohol any more than he liked the taste of curry—so after he fought down a few practice sips, he quickly pushed his cup aside and let his friends happily drink the night away on their own. Shippou very bravely tried to keep up, but he had not had Miroku's years of practice, and he was soon belly up and snoring—although shortly before he passed out, Shippou offered Inuyasha the only real piece of advice he received all evening: "You have a good heart, Inuyasha. Don't pretend you don't, because we know better. If you're ever in doubt, listen to your heart; it'll lead you down the right road."
Shippou's early exit from the evening's festivities was a source of great amusement to Miroku and Hatchi, who laughed uproariously as they swore loudly to take up the burden of making Inuyasha's "last evening of freedom" memorable despite the failures of their fox-demon friend. With a redoubled zeal they began pounding down toast after toast to Inuyasha and his bride, to their lives together in wedded bliss, to a home bursting with happy children, and to the prodigious conjugal duties Inuyasha would have to perform to beget those children (this last was accompanied by much chortling and elbowing in the ribs, much to Inuyasha's embarrassment and disgust). Their toasting continued with round after round offered to the heroic exploits of their beloved comrades in arms. Miroku began with reasonably chaste praises of Kagome's valor and beauty, but Hatchi countered with some significantly more ribald exaltations of Sango's prowess both on and off the battlefield, and soon they were offering dueling toasts that became increasingly more lurid and improbable...a contest in which Inuyasha had no interest and to which he paid little attention. It was well into the early morning when Inuyasha returned to Kaede's village, with one snoring body draped over each shoulder and the third tucked into his kimono, and he dumped the sleeping revelers unceremoniously on the floor of the house they had been loaned for the night and left them to find some peace and quiet (and a few hours' sleep) in the high branches of a nearby tree.