Some people called it the red string of fate, like a thread slowly woven into a tapestry, that simply starts with a proposal. Parents bring their kids to the Shaman, who arranges a marriage between two people, an arranged marriage meant to be of the most fruitful and prosperous sort.
And Kiki's restless in a way that defies words, terribly so, and she just wants to leave. She's old enough for the arrangement to be made, but she's less than eager for it. She's been the only one living with her dad since her mother's passing, and being married off fairly young, still felt disastrous for her.
But then again, she'd never liked the idea of arranged marriages anyway, so it was probably more of an upset, an unsettling of the culture, than any real gripe against ones she'd seen. Of course, she knew her parents had been here before, that they'd been set together.
And a prosperous marriage had ended with widowhood, and a lone child taking care of the last living parent of hers. And it certainly wasn't an ideal situation to grow up in, so Kiki's less interested in meeting her small town's solutions head on.
If only, she could just take her father and leave and discover some other place with different customs. But yet, her father is one for the customs, and he'd been happy with her mother up until her death and happy to have Kiki. She'd never felt unloved in her home, just had to step up and help out a whole lot more.
So, now she'll likely have to leave her father's home, leave him alone to care of himself, and marry a stranger and somehow help the stranger to live and thrive. And so, she's standing here, making all appearances of herself like one who intended to be here, who wants to be here. No use in upsetting the Shaman, as that might lead to a less than happy marriage, but mostly, she's worried that she'll disappoint her father.
"Mitsuhide Rouen." The Shaman answers with the reflective ease that must come naturally after arranging marriages for decades.
She smiles and nods as if she somehow knows who that is; she's never even heard of Mitsuhide before, but she doesn't want to express that.
"He's a good man, right?" Her father asks with concern for her own wellbeing, and Kiki remembers that despite traditions, her father mostly just wants to keep her safe and happy.
"Yes, his father was a soldier." The Shaman answers, to perhaps show the uprightness and self-sacrifice that he'd grown up seeing.
"Was?" Her father asks.
"Yes." The Shaman offers no other explanation, and Kiki wonders what it will be like to meet another person who grew up having to help out a little more around the house. At least, they will have something to bond over.
Meeting Mitsuhide is a bit of an event, as she's dressed in the finest of dresses, and prepared like a woman living the most exciting of moments. She's not sure if they'll even like each other, let alone take to the arrangement with the ease and sophistication required of them.
But Kiki's going to do her best for her father, as denying an arranged marriage could have disastrous consequences for her family and town sympathy for the family of the one denied. And Kiki's not interested in making her father's life miserable, just in making it better.
"You should tell me if anything's not right." Her father sighs as he helps pull her hair up into a bun, though it's a little messy in design. He's not used to making hair look fancy.
"Okay, I will." And Kiki turns to her father and reassures him with the warmth that she does feel. She's not sure what she'll do in the future, but she definitely doesn't want to destroy her father's life in any way.
"Good." He tells her, "You look beautiful today."
And Kiki feels that familiar swell of compassion and warmth; this must be hard on her father, and yet he's encouraging her and helping her out. That kind of love is the kind that she's especially in awe of.
"Thank you." Kiki smiles at him, all sophistication lost for a moment of familial warmth. She knows that somehow they'll pull through this.
"Mitsuhide?" She questions at the same time he speaks.
"Kiki?" And he looks surprisingly dashing in his suit, and just looking at him, one could tell the effort that was put in to try to make this day go great.
"I'm Kiki Seiran." She tells him with dignity, and Mitsuhide's eyes go wide, both in recognition and surprise.
"I'm Mitsuhide Rouen." He says, and offers a hand to her for her to take and shake. It's such an interesting, almost formal way to meet one's fiancee.
"It's nice to meet you." She tells him, and Mitsuhide startles.
"Nice to meet you too." He's all smiles, "Mom said it would go well."
"I hear you live with just your mom?" Kiki asks, aware only moments after that leaves her lips how awful of a statement that is to make, how painful it very well could be.
"No." He tells her and smiles, "I have little sisters too."
"Oh." Kiki answers, "First to be married off then?" She asks, mainly, because she knows being her father's only kid, she definitely is too.
"Yeah." His smile does turn sad too, "I don't want to leave them alone."
"I don't want to leave my father alone either." Kiki asserts.
"You're like me?" And she realizes that he and his mother must have not asked the same question her father did, unless the Shaman gave them an even more odd answer than he gave them.
"Yeah." Kiki tells him, honestly; it's best to tell the truth after all.
"I wonder if we could keep both our families close?" He asks, and Kiki finds that sometimes a solution is offered and is possible.
"We probably could." They could merge the whole family into one place, something that typically isn't done. She's never heard of such a solution, but she's not going to just up and leave her father, and Mitsuhide doesn't plan on leaving his mother and sisters behind.
"I hope so." And perhaps this engagement might turn out well after all.