btw, the fukuda sogo wedding clothes are highly hindu based. im not hindu myself, so i dont know much, but the ceremonies will be similar to khmer wedding ceremonies, bc that's what i am. and im tired of writing about having weddings at a church when im not even christian (no offense) anyway i dont own knb or its characters so enjoy
"Shuuzou."
"Yes, Father?"
The king was laying down in his bed sick with an incurable disease.
"The arrangements are done. You are set to marry the prince by tomorrow."
"So quickly?"
"If we were to give them time, they could quickly build reinforcements. Your future husband is no regular prince. Within only two years of training, he became a general and an admiral. In which, compared to you who took a good five years, is much more dangerous."
Shuuzou grumbled under his breath at the comparison. And to think that brat was younger than him too.
"As quickly as he has risen, he could easily train his people to become as ruthless as he is."
"Why do you want Fukuda Sogo so bad anyway? They're a small kingdom with nothing of value."
"As I have said, the prince is an outstanding general and would be of good use to our forces."
"But why not have him marry one of the Miracles? They too are great generals."
King Nijimura shook his head. "I have already asked the God of Fate in a prayer. He came to me in my dream and told me, if we wanted this marriage to be successful, he has to marry you."
"Pssh," Shuuzou rolled his eyes, "Really, Father? Gods aren't real. If they were, then thunder would strike down a tree nearby and prove me wrong."
The Crown Prince jumped in surprise, when not even a second later, lightening struck the large pine tree that was right next to his father's bedroom window. He looked at the king, who had on a deadpanned look, "They're real son."
He grumbled again.
...
...
...
"Nijimura-cchi~ I heard you're getting married to the second prince of Fukuda Sogo?"
"Congratulations, Nijimura-kun."
"Mura-chin, will there be sweets at the wedding?"
"Oha Asa has predicted good fortune coming out of this marriage."
"Gihi, old Niji finally has a fiance, ei?"
"What a great tactical move. As expected from His Majesty."
His vein popped out in annoyance as he tried to ignore his friends' words.
"Could you guys stop? It's already bad enough that I had to break it off with my woman and she slapped me in the face afterwards."
Kise Ryouta put a finger to his chin, pondering on who it could have been. Then, the thought finally came to him. "Oh! You mean the daughter of noble that controls the ports?" he made a disgusted sound, "No offense, Nijimura-cchi, she's really not suited for you."
"I would like to agree," Kuroko Tetsuya stated with his stoic as ever face, "She's not very faithful."
Murasakibara Atsushi munched on a bowl of snacks as he spoke, "It's true, Mura-chin. I've seen her give sweets to other men. She's a bad person."
"Oha Asa agrees," Midorima Shintarou pushed up his spectacles to the bridge of his nose, "if you were to marry her, you'd be bringing in a bad omen into the castle."
Aomine Daiki picked at his ears and flicked the earwax out the window, "She's not even sexy. Or appealing. Mai-chan at the tavern in town is so much better."
"She would be of no use to you," Akashi Seijirou said casually as he sipped on his tea, "We still have full control over the ports. There is no need for connections with that family."
Shuuzou groaned loudly and sat back in his chair, "Would you guys shut up! You're not making me feel any better!"
The six rainbow-headed generals ignored his complaint and began talking amongst themselves on what the prince looked like and how the ceremony would be set.
If it weren't for his father asking, he wouldn't have ever thought to marry the prince. He would've immediately gone to war with them and crushed their forces. But all is said and done. There was nothing he could do to stop it now.
...
...
...
By the request of Queen Haizaki, King Nijimura agreed to have the entire wedding done the traditional Fukuda Sogonese way, with the exception of the reception being done the Teikonian way at the King's castle. By Fukuda Sogoese tradition, weddings were to last an entire week. But because of modernization and with work schedules, weddings were cut short for two days. But not for the royals. A royal marriage was a national holiday and the citizens were quite grateful. That meant no work or school for a full week. They got to eat good food and drink as much as they wanted and they could party? It was like a vacation to them!
Shuuzou had absolutely no clue on how he was supposed to act. So he had to rely on the priest and his fiance to know what to do. Not that he even knows what the guy looks like. For all they know, the prince could be using an impostor so that he could get out of it. Shuuzou groaned. He should've thought of that!
When the wedding dressers from Fukuda Sogo entered his temporary dressing room, he was baffled by how many outfits he had to change into. Teiko and Fukuda Sogo may be close distance wise, but religiously, they were thousands of years apart. The grandest a Teikoian wedding would be was to marry in elegant white robes at the Shirogane Church and vow to stay faithful until death do them part. But Fukuda Sogo was a whole different story.
The weddings of royals from Fukuda Sogo were always held at the biggest temple there was, dedicated to no other than Leo, Sekhmet, and Ifrit, the lion triplets. Any crimes of theft, damage, or any harm done to the temple ended in execution. Therefore, the citizens respect the temple highly, as if the three gods lived in there.
When preparing the temple for the grand ceremony of the life bonding moment, the monks and priests join together to start a one day ritual a day ahead in order to ask for the blessings of the three gods, to allow for the marriage and for them to personally witness the marriage for themselves the day of.
The temple doors are left open the entire wedding ceremony so that the citizens could also take a glimpse of the wedding, and some were even lucky to see the bright aura of the godly trio in the past. The citizens take that time to not only pray for the marriage to be everlasting, but also for the happiness of the kingdom and their families.
With the marriage being the first ever to allow marriage with an outsider, the citizens were worried for the fate of their kingdom, as they were afraid that the three gods wouldn't allow a stranger that knew nothing about their religion to marry into the royal family. Talk was speculating in the town and it was making Shougo nervous.
What if Leo, Ifrit, and Sekhmet objected the marriage? Wouldn't they be doomed?
But that shouldn't be possible. He already talked to Leo and she didn't think anything wrong of the idea. They've already made a deal so there wasn't much to worry about.
Except for the fact that he'll be the first royal in Fukuda Sogo history to marry a partner of the same gender. The idea caused him to be all jittery and he couldn't calm down.
For the first session, the parade, Shougo was getting ready in one of the temple's rooms. He was dressed in a navy blue dhoti woven with silver designs made from silk. Leaving his chest bare, a long navy chiffon drape of five meters was wrapped and tied around his waist three times before being thrown over his left shoulder, secured to the back with a jeweled pin. The maids secured the clasp of the jingling silver bangles around his ankles and wrists, before finishing the outfit with a jeweled headpiece laid carefully on his hair.
The headpiece had a sapphire as the center laying on his forehead, held together by a series of thin silver chains that hung low and weightlessly on his head. It was a woman's headpiece, but Shougo had to bear with the fact that he had to take the role of the bride rather than the groom since he had been 'proposed to'.
For the necklace, it was a sapphire-bejeweled piece that was sure to be an eye catcher. With the properly dressed maids as his guide, he was led to stand in front of the closed temple doors.
The banging of a gong signaled the start of the parade. Traditional Fukudan Sogo music was being played by the royal musicians in a gazebo nearby. His nervousness increased as he heard the citizens outside happily cheering for the stranger to their kingdom.
Now, all he had to do was wait for his husband to arrive the temple doors.
...
...
"Nijimura-cchi! This is so cool! Who knew a small country like this would have such elaborate clothes and jewelry? It looks great on all of us!"
Traditionally, the wedding was supposed to have only the bride and the groom. But because of Western influences seeping through the tight Fukuda Sogonese walls, their weddings were modernized so that the married couple could have their set of groomsmen and bridesmaids. For Shuuzou, his mother-in-law allowed for the Miracles to be his groomsmen.
Shuuzou wore a similar outfit as his bride, but the colors were reversed. Instead, his dhoti and drape were majorly silver, with some navy blue embroidery. The Miracles wore silver dhotis as well, but had on navy blue Sherwanis with a diamond pinned at the breast pocket, giving them a polished Western look.
"Kise-kun, Fukuda Sogo has been here much longer than we have."
"If you had done your lessons correctly, Kise, then you would have known that Fukuda Sogo is not just a little country."
Kise pouted, "Midorima-cchi! You're so mean!"
Akashi looked at his clothes with fascination, "Midorima is right, Kise. Fukuda Sogo is quite interesting. The tale behind it's creation really perks my interests. It is said this country had a father country, possibly the first kingdom in the world. And not only that, this country is protected by three gods, in which we'll supposedly be seeing at today's ceremony."
Shuuzou never slacked on his studies, but he wasn't as interested in Fukuda Sogo as to search into it's history and culture.
The banging of a gong started the parade. "Prince Nijimura Shuuzou of Teiko has arrived!"
With a priest leading in the front, Shuuzou followed at a steady pace and sneaked glances at the people of his husband's citizens. Strangely enough, instead of rejoicing, they were...crying? Did Fukuda Sogonese citizens usually cry at weddings?
Behind him were the Miracles, Murasakibara and Midorima holding up umbrellas over his head to keep out the sun. Following them were the nobles, captains from the royal army, and their wives carrying 36 trays varying from fruits, to beans, to grains, and to wrapped desserts.
Arriving at the big golden doors of the temple, there were three pairs of bridesmaids, each pair holding a long string of red flowers. In pairs, the miracles were instructed to give money envelopes to each bridesmaid and take the string of flowers from them to open the path.
Kuroko and Kise went up to the first pair and gave the money to their respective bridesmaid, taking the string of flowers and returning to their spot in the parade. Midorima and Aomine went to the second pair, and Aomine didn't miss that chance to wink at the busty woman, who in turn scowled at him. Lastly, were Murasakibara and Akashi, both somehow intimidating their bridesmaid without meaning to. Once the three strings of flowers were taken, the six bridesmaids formed a line in front of the temple doors and bowed to Nijimura. He was instructed to bow down before the three gods before proceeding to meet his bride.
Once he did, the big golden temple doors were gently pushed open by the surprisingly strong bridesmaids, finally revealing his bride.
"Prince Haizaki Shougo! Do you allow this man to enter into your holy house of marriage?"
Nijimura took a good look at his husband. They were around the same height, however his husband's build was bigger than his. But surprisingly, as such a talked about commander, he had no battle scars. The prince had glistening silver hair, almost rivaling the color of his clothes. His face was stern, yet calm when he spoke.
"Yes, I allow Prince Nijimura Shuuzou to enter into this holy house."
Nijimura was directed to stand in front of his bride. A bridesmaid brought a bowl of holy water in which Haizaki dipped his hands in. Rubbing them together, he sat on his heels and prayed to Nijimura's feet three times, sprinkling the holy water onto his bare feet. He rose and carefully took a hold of a heavily rose-flowered lei from another bridesmaid and placed it over his new husband's head, letting it rest on him like a necklace.
Nijimura had done the same, putting the lei over his husband's head, the palm of his hands ever so slightly brushing against Haizaki's soft, fur-like hair.
After the ceremony at the door, a priest lead the two to sit on cushions that were were placed in front of the gold statues of their three deities. The groomsmen and bridesmaids sat in a horizontal line behind them.
The others that were behind them placed their trays of food in front of the wide altar and walked to their spots behind the bridal party.
"Queen Haizaki of Fukuda Sogo and Queen Nijimura of Teiko has arrived!"
The two queens, dressed in traditional Fukuda Sogonese queen attire, sat to the side of their respective sons.
Monks and priests alike sat behind them, creating a half moon around the bridal party.
"Today we are celebrating the marriage of the two princes. In prayer we shall call forth the presence of their holiness: the Goddess of Strength, Leo, the God of Fire, Ifrit, and the Goddess of Health, Sekhmet. With this, we hope for the blessings of the three deities to officiate the marriage between Crown Prince Nijimura Shuuzou of Teiko, and Fukuda Sogo's Little Lion, Prince Haizaki Shougo. We shall begin!"
The Teikonians noticed all of the Fukuda Sogonese putting their hands together and followed suit as the monks and priests chanted their holy prayer in an ancient language unknown to them.
At the end of the chant, the entire kingdom vibrated. And just as Akashi had hoped, the three deities had shown themselves, each stepping out from their respective statues. The sight was an awe to the Teikonians. They never thought the day would come when they got to actually meet gods in person.
"Goddess of Strength, God of Fire, and Goddess of Health. We, Fukuda Sogo, ask for your blessings to officiate the marriage between Crown Prince Nijimura Shuuzou and the Little Lion."
When Ifrit spoke, his deep voice could make anyone tremble in fear. "Little Lion, this is quite the risk you are taking. Do you realize that?"
"Yes, as the Little Lion, it is my duty to take any risks involved with bringing peace to the kingdom."
Nijimura noticed Haizaki flinching when Sekhmet spoke, "As this was not as severe as the duty of the last Little Lion, I give you my blessings."
"Leo, what do you say?"
"I give you both my blessings. With this marriage, the kingdom of Fukuda Sogo will once again become peaceful. Let us commence the ceremony."
It seemed that wearing navy blue and silver first was a must at every wedding, so that once the marriage was blessed, the three deities could change the clothes into the correct colors. Ifrit created a ball of deep red fire in his hands and little balls fell off of it, flying to the navy blue parts of the bridal party's clothes, changing it into a burgundy color instead.
Leo had done the same, creating a ball of golden light and then throwing it up into the air for it to explode into glitter, changing the silvers into gold.
Lastly, Sekhmet casted a warm light into the air, and with the combined prayers from her siblings, the warm light transformed into rose petals and scattered, covering the entire temple along with the people in it.
The citizens and the Teikonians watched in awe at the blessing ritual. Not even Crown Prince Shindo's wedding was as grand or as beautiful as this.
The bridal party put their hands together and bowed to the three deities three times, with their palms touching the floor each time.
The monks sat in front of the three deities and the priests brought bowls of holy water to put in front of the lead monk. For a good two hours, the monks chanted their set of prayers and whipped the holy water onto the bride and groom with long grass leaves.
Nijimura and the Miracles internally groaned at the long prayer. They were not used to sitting on their bottoms with their feet put to the side beneath them. Thankfully, the monk session was over and they were given a half hour to change into their next out fit.
"Holy gods! I thought my legs was going to fall off!"
"I spotted Murasakibara, he was bound to fall asleep if it weren't for me pinching him awake."
"I can't help it, Aka-chin. It's so boring~"
"Hell yeah it was," Aomine stretched his tense muscles before putting on a hot pink Sherwani. "But really though? Pink? What are we, girls?"
The dresser explained that it was queen that chose the colors, she had no control over it.
"Oha Asa said that pink is the lucky color today. You should be happy."
Nijimura just shook his head at their conversation and prepared to change into his next outfit. Unlike the others, his Sherwani was a blush pink with slightly gold accents, and wore a 24K gold chain, with a ruby pendant.
After successfully changing into their second outfits, the groom and the Miracles headed back to sit in front of the two queens, the three gods gone back to their realm. Haizaki appeared afterwards, wearing a blush pink Sherwani as well with a silver chain and a diamond pendant, his bridesmaids wearing hot pink sarees. The pink actually accentuated Haizaki's features quite well, making him look attractive and innocent, which Nijimura sure he wasn't.
The third ceremony was the ring exchanging ceremony. Both queens gave their treasured rings that were passed down from generation to generation to their sons.
Haizaki went first. He held Nijimura's left hand and slipped the wedding ring onto his ring finger. As he was doing so, Nijimura noticed the lion-shaped ring that was on his husband's middle finger. Was that why he was called the Little Lion? No, wait. That goddess said something about the little lion before him. What exactly does that mean?
It was Nijimura's turn. He held Haizaki's slender hand and slipped the wedding ring onto his finger quite easily.
"The ring exchange is complete. Now we ask our honored guests to come up and join in the knot tying ceremony."
With their backs to the statues, they both sat on cushioned chair, Nijimura sighed thankfully for them, and rested their arms on the pillowed table that was placed in front of them, their hands put together in a prayer motion again.
Queen Haizaki went first to set an example for the Teikonians. She grabbed two white strings, one for her son, and one for her son-in-law. She tied one on Shougo's wrist while giving him her blessings, "Son, I hope that you can make the most of this marriage." And then, to Shuuzou, "Also, I hope that you can learn to love him and forgive him for any rash actions."
Shougo turned his face away, only Shuuzou spoke, "I will try my best."
When Queen Nijimura came, Shougo was quite nervous. She smiled at him, but he didn't know how to respond to that. "Haizaki-kun, I know that you might resent us for this, but I hope that both of our kingdoms can come to love each other. Take good care of my son."
"...Yes, Your Highness."
"Please, call me Mother. We'll be living together after all."
Shougo looked up at her, she was kind and understanding. Maybe they'll get along. "Yes, Mother."
Prince Shindo tied the white string around his brother's wrist and gave him a small flick to the forehead. "Ow!"
"Don't be rude over there and try to get along with people for once, will ya?"
"Hah? Says who?"
Shindo flicked him again. "Ow!"
"Says Fukuda Sogo's future king, idiot." Then, he tied a string around Shuuzou's wrist, "Don't mind him, he's just an immature punk most of the time."
Shuuzou chuckled and turned to look at his husband, who was fuming and sending death glares at his brother-in-law. "Sure thing."
Some of the older generals and their wives came to give their blessings with an all too serious tone, but Shougo got the jokes behind them and only laughed in return, the old grandpas laughing with him.
Then, a mixture of Teikonian and Fukuda Sogonese nobles took their turn in tying the strings around their wrists and giving them their blessings.
Finally, the people Shougo were waiting for, his cousins had come.
"Prince Hanamiya Makoto, Prince Yamazaki Hiroshi, and Lord Furuhashi Koujiro from Kirisaki Daichi!"
"I thought you wouldn't have made it with such a short notice."
Makoto had on his signature smirk and tied the string, "Fool, how dare you underestimate the speed of our horses."
Hiroshi smacked his head playfully and grinned, "Of course he will, Aniki. He's dumb."
"Damn you, Hiroshi! Say that again when I knock you off of your damn stallion!"
Hiroshi stuck his tongue out, "Try me, ba~ka~"
Koujiro pushed his cousin aside so that it could be his turn, "You're so fucking annoying, Hiroshi. Shut up and move over, it's my turn."
"You tell him, Kou."
"Prince Narumi Daisuke and Lord Tsubuku Masahiro from Josei!"
"Aye~ my cousin's finally got himself a mate! The party music better be good!"
"Shut up, Daisuke!" Daisuke only grinned like a fool before going back to his seat.
"You sure have grown up quickly."
"Uncle Masa, please, you're making yourself sound old."
He bellowed out in laughter and ruffled his nephew's hair.
"Prince Kobayashi Keisuke from Onita!"
Silence between the two cousins had started to tick Nijimura off. Were they just going to stare at each other like that?
"Keisuke."
"Shougo."
"..."
"..."
Then, Shougo started laughing, and Keisuke groaned out loud. "HAHA! SUCKER!"
"This is impossible! I was so sure that I was going to get married first!"
"Not with the pace you keep approaching your girl! You better pay up before you leave!"
Keisuke grumbled. Nijimura had to assume they had made a bet of some sort.
The priests chanted something before ending the ceremony.
"The knot tying ceremony is now complete! The wedding shall continue tomorrow!"
By the time everyone had finished tying their knots onto the couple, it was sunset and both arms of the princes were filled with white strings up to their elbows.
The Miracles sighed in relief and went to the dressing room to change back into some more comfortable tunics and trousers. Everyone was allowed to go rest at their guest rooms in the castle. However, the bride and groom still had a few things to do before going to rest.
Before leaving the temple, the priests told them both, "You must pick up all of the rose petals that were gifted by her holiness Sekhmet. Let the maids draw a bath and add in all of the petals. And tonight, you both must bathe together. Leave no petals behind. The three have allowed you to climb upon their statues for petals that are out of reach. Miss even one petal and your marriage will be cursed."
Once they were alone, Shougo fell to the floor and rolled around with his head in his hands. "Argh! This is complete and utter bullshit! I should've been married to a cute girl but I have to get married to this bastard!"
Irritated, a vein popped up from Shuuzou's head. "Well, excuse me, I never wanted this either! I'd rather kill you at war!"
Shougo stood up and shouted, "I could say the same! I'd rather have your head crushed beneath my feet!"
"I had to break up with my woman because of this!"
"Well, I have to leave my damn castle and live with you!"
They both groaned and began their tiring task.
With baskets provided by the temple, the two placed their collected rose petals in and searched every nook and cranny for the rest.
Shougo panted and rested his hands on his hips, "Finally, we're done!"
"Wait."
Shougo turned around to see his husband approach him, his hand reaching for his head. Instinctively, he backed away, swatting at his hand. "Woah! What do you think you're doing?!"
"There's a petal in your hair."
"What? Where?"
Shougo felt around but couldn't find it. Impatient, Shuuzou grabbed at his hands. "Stay still. You can't find shit."
"What the fuck you just say?!"
He grabbed Shougo's head and pulled him closer to pick off the petal. The younger prince got a whiff of his husband's body and found it to be quite...pleasant. Shougo mentally slapped himself. What was he thinking?!
"Are you done yet?!"
"I am now, there were a few hiding in your nappy fur."
"My hair is not nappy! And it's not fur!"
Nijimura smirked and put the petals in his basket. "Nap~py~"
"Damn bastard!" Haizaki took a swing at him, but the older swiftly dodged it, the basket of flowers held up above his head, "Watch it, or else we'll have to pick this all up again."
The younger huffed and picked up his own basket, making his way towards the carriage that was waiting for them outside. Nijimura followed and sat the opposite of him, which was a bad choice in the long run. Now, he had nowhere to look except for his husband.
A look of surprised passed Haizaki's face as the carriage driver hadn't watched the night road well enough to see a big dent in the path, causing the carriage to tip over ever so slightly, the midnight breeze blowing away some of the petals out of the windows of their ride.
"Oi! Stop the carriage!"
"Yes, sir!"
"Hey, where are you going?"
Shougo seemed to be annoyed by his question when he paused for a moment before jumping out, "To pick up the petals, idiot! It's bad enough already that I have to get married to you, I don't want to be cursed with bad luck during the entirety of it!"
Nijimura sighed and jumped after him, "Me neither, damn it!"
With only the moonlight to guide them, the married couple began searching for the fallen petals.
"Oi! Did you search over there yet?"
"Can't you see I'm doing that right now?!"
"What about over there?"
"You're closer! You go check!"
After a good ten minutes collecting the missing petals, the two returned to the carriage, making sure the petals were securely on their laps before instructing the driver to continue.
In their haste to get the night over with, the two didn't notice one last petal perching upon the branch of a tree.
okaaayyyyyyy i was gonna include the bathing part, but this chapter is already long enough, 4k ya know
ya girl usually only does 2k words per chapter
but thank you to Osora98 for following! i do apologize in advance if this story gets to be boring!
i will try my best to keep this entertaining for you all!