"It felt right, deep inside, when I informed the others that my name had changed. That one little gesture, a bit of ink on paper, and my life had taken on an entirely different meaning."
- Motoko Nakakami; 'Heavenly Sword, Revised Edition'
Chapter VII:
Drinks All Around!
July 28, 2006
Shinmeiryu Dojo, Kyoto, Japan
1226 hours, local time
Half an hour had passed since the end of the duel against Tsuruko and Motoko's subsequent acceptance of Seno's proposal. Currently, Tsuruko, Naru, and Keitaro were eating lunch, the elder Aoyama treating the Tokyo University couple like the honored guests they were. Neither Motoko nor Seno were present at the dinner table.
Seno winced as he felt coarse fabric brushing over the sword injury that he had been dealt early in the battle. His body jerked slightly, just barely sloshing the water in Tsuruko's hot spring bath. He quickly regained control of himself and returned to laying with his chest against the side of the bath, his arms resting on the platform that contained the bath, and his head resting on his arms.
"Did I hurt you?" Motoko asked, pulling away the washcloth she'd been using to clean the blood away.
He shook his head abortively, incapable of fully performing the action due to the placement of his head. "It's just a little sensitive," he answered. "It's okay."
Smiling, she leaned back down and continued to scrub away the dried blood, being as gentle as she possibly could. "I'll try to be more gentle," she said. "I've almost got it all, anyway."
Nodding, he let his eyes slip shut and laid his head back on his arms, a sensation of sleepy, contented warmth filling his body at her soft ministrations. "Mmm, you're good at this," he sighed. "You might put me to sleep if you're not careful."
As she carefully scrubbed away the last spot of blood, she leaned forward and kissed his shoulder. "One of your secret weaknesses?" she asked. "Getting your side washed in a hot spring by a girl?"
"Not just any girl," he murmured. "The girl of my dreams. The love of my life."
"Your soon-to-be wife?" she suggested.
"Naturally."
Taking the washcloth in both hands, she dipped it into the water to soak it, then brought it up and laid it on his left shoulder, beginning the process of washing his back in a slow, gentle manner. He sighed in contentment again, and she knew he was drifting ever closer to falling asleep. So in order to keep him awake, she asked, "Any more weaknesses I should know about?"
"I should make you figure them out on your own," he murmured. "But since you're making me feel so good, I'll tell you. I've got quite a few. The big ones are playing with my hair, vacuum cleaners, and hair dryers."
She tilted her head to one side, not stopping the movement of her hands over his back. "Playing with your hair I can understand, but vacuum cleaners and hair dryers?"
"I don't get it either," he said. "But every time I hear a vacuum cleaner, and when I hear a hair dryer that I'm not actually using, I just feel very relaxed, and feel like curling up somewhere."
"It makes you feel calm and happy?"
He nodded. "Very much so."
She smiled and slid the washcloth up his spine, causing him to shiver. "I'll remember that," she said. Twisting the cloth in her hands, she squeezed the soap out of it, then dunked it underwater again and began to wash the soap off his back. "The more ways I know to make you happy, the better."
"You don't need to go out of your way to make me happy," he replied. "All you need to do is be with me."
A few moments passed between them in comfortable silence as she washed away the last of the soap from his back. Setting the washcloth aside, she slid closer to him and laid on his back, resting her head between his shoulders as she wrapped her arms around his waist. "That is something I will do regardless," she whispered. "Therefore it is not enough."
In what little part of his conscious mind remained unfogged by the warm, comfortable bliss that had taken hold of him, he noticed very acutely that she was form-pressed against him. It went without even having to consider that they were both very much naked.
And yet, another part of his mind reminded him, truthfully, that there was nothing wrong with the way she was laying against them, or the fact that they were bathing together. They were engaged, after all, and if Tsuruko had any say in it, they'd be married before the day ended.
"Don't you want me to wash your back?" he asked.
"Later," she murmured, snuggling into him. "I don't want to move from here. I just want to stay lost in this moment. Forever."
He smirked, almost immediately recognizing where her words came from. "Armageddon," he said.
She lifted her head slightly, looking at him. "Pardon?"
"What you said," he replied. "'I just want to stay lost in this moment forever.' It's from the theme song of the movie Armageddon."
"You know it?"
"Most of it."
Laying her head down on his back, she closed her eyes and held him tightly. "How does it go?"
He was silent for a moment as he played the song through in his head, and then he began to softly sing it for her, singing in almost-perfect, non-accented English. "Lying close to you, feeling your heart beating. And I wonder what you're dreaming, wondering if it's me you're seeing. Then I kiss your eyes, and thank God we're together. I just want to stay with you, in this moment forever."
As he sang, the vibration of his voice singing an octave lower than his natural tone passed from his body and into hers, warming her entire body and gently pulling her along on the sleepy path she was already traveling. Within moments, she was resting fully on Seno's back, her arms loosening just slightly, indicating she had fallen asleep.
Noticing that she was sleeping, Seno opted to continue simply humming the song. He wanted to turn and hold her in his arms, but figured doing that would awaken her, and he was perfectly content to let her sleep on his back. It had been a trying couple of days for the two of them, and he would fight to give her any and all rest that he could give her.
So with peaceful thoughts of spending his entire life in her arms filling his mind, he too succumbed to the inviting bliss of slumber.
With a very pleased, borderline smug, smile on her face, Tsuruko silently slid the door to the bath shut and stood up, padding softly down the hallway toward the dining room. Naru and Keitaro both looked up at her with curious expressions. The elder Aoyama smiled at them.
"They fell asleep," she said. "He was singing a love song to her."
Naru smiled warmly. "That's so sweet. I'm glad that after everything, they're finally able to just relax and enjoy being a couple."
Tsuruko chuckled. "Ho, ho, ho, I think that they will be able to enjoy being a couple not as long as you think."
The brunette blinked. "What? Why not?"
"Because it will not be long until they are married," the master swordswoman answered matter-of-factly.
Keitaro and Naru both almost fell backwards off their chairs.
"Well, you've got a point there," Keitaro replied with a chuckle. "This is probably a stupid question, but are you going to come to the wedding?"
"Of course I will." She smiled. "After all, they're getting married right here."
"I sense you're leaving 'tonight' off the end of that sentence," Naru said.
"You're good."
She sighed. "Just like you, Tsuruko. Always doing things for other people without them having a say in it."
"You misunderstand me, Naru," Tsuruko replied, her tone serious. "I'm not forcing anything on them. I just believe that since he came all this way to ask for my permission, and she came all this way because she feared for his safety, that they should be rewarded for their dedication by allowing them to be married immediately, here. It would be a private little ceremony, just to make it official."
The elder Aoyama paused, and took a sip of tea. "They're perfectly free to have another, grander ceremony that all their friends can attend later, when they have time. I simply don't want them to leave here without what they came seeking: marriage."
"Makes sense," Keitaro said, nodding. "Crude, arbitrary, but it makes sense."
Setting her cup down, Tsuruko made her usual shift from deadly-serious to innocent and carefree in record time. "I'm glad you agree with me, Keitaro!" she said with a smile.
1436 hours, local time
The first thing that Seno noticed upon returning to consciousness was the lack of comfortably-steaming water surrounding him. In its place was the soft, comfortable warmth of a king-sized bed. The envelope of heat surrounding his body indicated that he was up to his chest in the covers, which felt as if they were an extremely-soft fabric, likely made from something that he couldn't even identify the name of.
He next noticed that Motoko was asleep on his left side, her head pillowed on his chest, and her left arm draped over his stomach, holding him securely like an oversized plush bear. His own arm was wrapped around her shoulders. Smiling, he gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze and simply watched her sleep.
Lying there, with her hair spread out around her face like a curtain of black silk, she looked so innocent and helpless, and an overwhelming urge rose within him to protect her. Shifting his left hand from her shoulder, he gently ran it through the soft, raven-colored strands. The feel of her hair made the comparison to silk even more apt.
"You two look very peaceful," Tsuruko's voice called out from the far corner of the room. "It's a sign of how much you love each other, that you are so comfortable with sleeping in each others' arms."
Seno looked over to see his future sister-in-law seated in a chair across from the door, a smile on her face as she watched the two of them. "I thought we fell asleep in the hot springs," he said.
She nodded. "You did. But spending too much time in a hot spring can make you sick, so I brought the two of you here to the guest bedroom in my home."
"Thanks for keeping an eye out for us. I guess it was kind of irresponsible of me to fall asleep in the hot springs like that, since I had Motoko with me."
The elder Aoyama tilted her head to the side. "You suggest that it would be acceptable for you to come down with a sickness as long as Motoko does not?"
He shrugged slightly, being cautious not to disturb his still-sleeping fiancée. "I'm more concerned with her health than mine, is all," he replied neutrally.
"I see." Tsuruko picked up a cup of tea, seemingly out of nowhere, and sipped it. "In marriage, however, you and Motoko will be equals. Therefore, your health and well-being is just as important as hers. You should also look out for yourself, if for no other reason than a high state of health on your part will make Motoko happy."
"You get off on being right all the time, don't you?"
"I don't 'get off' as you are familiar with the more base American line of thought behind that saying, but I do enjoy it, yes."
At that point, Motoko took in a deep breath and stretched in place, a sign that she was waking up. Surely enough, her dark-colored eyes snapped open a second later, having recognized the fact that she was no longer where she had fallen asleep, and that she was unsure of who was holding her in their arms. Her eyes fell on Seno's face and she immediately relaxed, smiling sleepily as she laid her head back on his chest.
"How long was I asleep?" she asked, tracing her left index finger along his stomach.
"I don't know. I only woke up a short while ago, myself." He nodded in Tsuruko's direction. "Tsuruko took us out of the bath and brought us in here."
The elder swordswoman smiled. "Now that you're both awake, we can talk about your wedding," she said. "How does tonight sound?"
As expected, the faces of the betrothed couple were a study in absolute shock. "T-tonight?" Motoko uttered. "But what about…we're not ready…we don't have any–"
Holding up a hand to calm her younger sister, Tsuruko explained herself, "It would only be a simple, private ceremony just to make the marriage official. No need for anything fancy for now. Just a simple exchange of vows in front of family, myself, and witnesses, your friends Keitaro and Naru. If you so desire, you can hold a larger gathering for all the rest of your friends when you're more suitably prepared for it."
Motoko was still skeptical, but Seno nodded agreeably. "Kind of like in Independence Day when Will Smith got married to that one girl, damn if I can't remember her name, right before going off to make the alien mother ship all 'splodey."
Tsuruko simply nodded as if she had any idea what he was talking about. She didn't. "I have no idea what you're talking about, but the analogy is apt, if random and crude."
"Why do you want us to be married so soon, aneue?" Motoko asked.
Her sister smiled. "It's what the two of you came here seeking," she said, as though the answer were self-evident. "Seno came seeking my permission to marry you. Even though you didn't know he was here for that particular reason, you still feared for his safety and came to stand by him, as any wife should. Since the two of you came so far to seek marriage, I feel it would be improper for you to leave without it."
The younger Aoyama would've hit the floor if she wasn't already laying down. "Only you could make such leaps of logic, aneue…"
"Mmm, but they sound good, don't they?"
The swordsman looked away from Tsuruko, calmly watching his fiancée. "Motoko? Is it okay with you?"
She looked to him, and for a moment, it was silent as she stared into his eyes. Then she smiled, snaked her left hand across his stomach to find his right hand and take it in hers, lacing their fingers together. "Of course it is," she replied. "As long as it is with you."
He nodded to her. "It is."
Smiling widely, Tsuruko stood up from her chair and approached the door. "Well, then," she said. "Come and get me when you are ready. Like I said, you needn't concern yourself with fancy outfits or any ornamentation. I'll see you two shortly, then."
With that, she walked out of the room, shutting the door behind her.
The couple laid together in the bed in silence for a long while, content with basking in one another's warmth. He returned to gently stroking her hair, in response to which she sighed happily and snuggled up closer to him. A smile crossed his face as he thought of how much she had changed since he had known her; from the lonely, rigidly-in-control girl she had been when he first showed up at the Hinata, to the content, emotionally-rich woman he held in his arms. She had grown up a lot since that time, in no small part due to his own influences, though one would be hard-pressed to get him to acknowledge he was that big an influence on her.
"What are you smiling about?" she asked, drawing him out of his musings.
"Thinking about how much we've changed since we've known each other," he replied. "I remember how you used to be when I showed up at the Hinata. You were always in control of yourself, and you were violent, too. Well, you're still violent, but you know when to act and when not to."
She smiled. "Getting beat by you so much taught me that," she said.
"It wasn't so much that I beat you all the time," he replied. At her questioning look, he explained, "Yes, I know I've beaten you almost every time we've sparred, but that's not what I'm talking about. That didn't teach you discretion. It was all the times that I intercepted or blocked your attacks on Keitaro and made you think about why you were trying to attack him."
"Calling me on Bushido helped, too."
"Noticed that, did you?" he asked, grinning. "Anyway, there was one thing I noticed about you on top of having control to the point of it being painful, and being violent."
He paused, and she knew he was waiting for her to ask what he meant. He always did that; it was just another of his little quirks. "What's that?"
"You were lonely," he said simply, then gave her a one-armed squeeze, as though trying to prove to her that she was no longer alone.
As if she needed to be reminded.
"Though you were in so much control of yourself all the time," he continued, "there would be times when you'd let your defenses down, your mask would slip away, and I could see that you were sad and alone inside. That you wanted to be held, to be loved, but you were afraid that it would make you weak."
She went very still as she likewise thought back to those days. There were many, many days that she would cry herself to sleep at night, lamenting for a love she wished she could have, but felt would be detrimental to her. Most of her anguish had been caused by the knowledge that she did have strong feelings for Keitaro, but his heart belonged to Naru.
But thanks to Seno, she had come to realize that her feelings for Keitaro were little more than the girlhood crush that every girl experiences before she even knows the true meaning of love. Seno had shown her the meaning of love.
"Sometimes," she whispered, "I still think that love will weaken me. But even if it does, I don't care."
He smirked. "Motoko, before we fell in love, how many times did you beat your sister?"
"Never."
"And since?"
"Today."
"You see? Love has strengthened you, not weakened you." Smiling, he leaned forward and kissed her forehead.
She nodded and rested her head in the crook of his arm. "Lying here like this, with you, I think I finally understand why aneue gave up the sword to marry. Like me, the sword was her passion in life, her love. But after meeting her husband, she realized all the things the sword cannot do. It cannot comfort me when I am sad, it cannot warm me on a cold night, and it cannot love me as you can. I will not give up the sword, but it will no longer be the sole driving factor in my life. Our love, our future, whatever that may bring, will be what guides me."
All he could do after she finished that monologue was stare, dumbfounded, at her. He knew full well that she was very intelligent, and had more than her share of common sense, but what she had said would've given appreciative pause to such persons as Shakespeare or Hemingway. Just as he was about to comment that she should consider writing romance novels full-time, she spoke again.
"But there was something I wanted to ask you, when we got carried away talking about everything."
"What's that?"
"I looked through a couple of your Star Wars books and magazines, and a lot of them held mention to these people known as the Mandalorians," she said. "You're a fan of these Mandalorians?"
He smirked. "I've jokingly called myself a 'Mando-ronin' occasionally," he replied. "But yes, I am very much interested in their culture and language."
She nodded. "I… hm. I wonder. Do they… Do Mandalorians marry?"
The group gathered at the Shinto shrine behind Tsuruko's home shortly before nightfall. Tsuruko knelt on a cushion beside the shrine while Naru and Keitaro stood together a short distance away, hand-in-hand. Motoko and Seno knelt in front of the shrine, their eyes closed in a meditative state. Three incense candles burned on the shrine.
After several minutes of silence, the couple opened their eyes almost simultaneously and looked up. Tsuruko, smiling, handed them both a sake glass. They each took a glass, then bowed toward the shrine before drinking the contents of the glass at the same time.
Without a word spoken, both reached forward to take hold of the jug that the sake was held in, and refilled their glasses; hers first, and then his. Then they extended their arms to each other and drank from one another's glasses, again, at the same time. With that completed, they leaned forward and set the empty glasses on the shrine.
Tsuruko opened her mouth to speak, but Motoko held up her hand. "Wait please, aneue," she said.
The elder Aoyama shut her mouth, curious about this deviation from the normal tradition, and tilted her head to one side, smiling faintly.
"We sort of came up with our own little idea to finish this off," Seno explained. "See, Motoko got into some of my Star Wars magazines back home and learned a little about the Mandalorians, who have their own culture and everything. I told her about their wedding ceremonies, and she suggested that we conclude our own by reciting the Mandalorian vows."
Her smile widening, Tsuruko nodded.
Motoko and Seno turned in toward each other, and linked both their hands together. Together, they both began to speak in a language that only Seno came close to truly understanding: "Mhi solus tome, mhi solus dar'tome. Mhi me'dinui an, mhi ba'juri verde." It was over as simply as that, and they leaned inward to seal their marriage with a kiss.
Keitaro leaned over to Naru and whispered, "What did they say?"
She only shrugged in reply.
Tsuruko looked across to them and calmly answered, "They swore that they would be one when together and apart, that they would share all, and I didn't get the last part."
Leaning back from Motoko, Seno blinked at his new sister-in-law and said, "The…last part is a promise to raise warriors. But how did you know the rest of it?"
She smiled. "I didn't. But I figured that such concepts would be universal." She turned her attention to her sister. "Now, Motoko, don't be stubborn as I was."
Motoko blinked. "Aneue?"
"I was adamant about keeping my maiden name," Tsuruko explained. "When I first married, I was headstrong and convinced that because my swordsmanship was better than my husband's, that I should keep my family name. Whether you keep Aoyama or take Seno's name, it is something that you should only base on what you feel in your heart." She winked at her sister. "Besides, nowhere in our family traditions does it state that the heir of the Shinmeiryu must be unmarried or still have Aoyama as their surname."
For once, the only reaction Motoko made to her sister's meddling attempts was a smile. "I already made up my mind," she said, then looked into her husband's brilliant green eyes. "I am taking his name."
Almost as if on-cue, Tsuruko's serious demeanor shot out the window. "Hmm, something's missing," she mused, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. After a moment, she snapped her fingers. "I know! You have no rings."
Chuckling nervously, Seno would have scratched the back of his head if he wasn't still holding Motoko's hands. "Well, we didn't exactly have time to go ring-shopping," he said.
"That's true," the older swordswoman replied. "You can go do that tomorrow. For now, I have an idea." She reached into her ceremonial kimono, clearly looking for something. After a few moments of searching, she produced a length of red, rope-like silk about a foot long. This seemingly-random spawning floored both couples.
"The hell…" Seno muttered. "You got a bag of holding in there?"
Tsuruko closed one eye in a wink. "Where do you think the shrine came from?"
Bam. Both couples, floored again.
Without warning or preamble, Tsuruko leaned forward and tied one end of the silk cloth to Motoko's right wrist, and the other end to Seno's left. She then leaned back and smiled at the couple. "I read about this a short while ago. It's apparently become all the rage recently in America. It's called a hand-fastening, and it seems to be a replacement for couples who don't want to have a standard Westernized wedding. For you two, it will suffice until you get rings."
She stood up suddenly, and glanced toward the setting sun. "Well. It's getting late. It would be rude of me to send you all home at this time of night, so I'll prepare another guest room for Keitaro and Naru, and Motoko and Seno, you two can stay in the room you were in before."
All four of them immediately caught on to Tsuruko's hidden meaning. "Aneue!" Motoko cried, her face burning red.
Her sister grinned. "You have nothing to be nervous or shy about, Motoko," she said. "You are married now."
With that, she retreated inside the house. Keitaro and Naru quickly followed, leaving the two newlyweds standing outside, half in shock over what Tsuruko had planned. Laying his free hand on Motoko's shoulder, he smiled at her reassuringly.
"We don't have to do this now," he said. "We can wait until later, when you're ready."
She shook her head slowly. "No, I am certain I'm ready now," she replied. "I just…" Her blush deepened.
Stepping forward, he hugged her as best he could without hurting her arm that was bound to his, and kissed her softly. "What's wrong?" he asked. "What is it?"
"I… I don't want to disappoint you," she whispered. "I want to be good enough."
He smiled and slowly began to lead her inside. "Motoko, 'good enough' doesn't do you justice," he told her, love and honesty flowing through every word. "You'll be fine."
July 29, 2006
Shinmeiryu Dojo, Kyoto, Japan
0703 hours, local time
Seno awoke the next morning to feel fingers gently stroking his head, and a voice humming softly in his ear. He turned his head slightly to the left, to see exactly what he had expected to see: Motoko lying beside him, a smile on her face, as she ran her fingers through his hair. Her smiled widened slightly as she noticed he was awake, but she kept up her ministrations, remembering how he had told her yesterday how he enjoyed just what she was doing to him.
"Good morning," she whispered to him, bringing her other hand, the one still bound to his own, around to lace her fingers through his.
With warm shivers running through him at every touch of her fingers on his head, he looked at her through half-lidded eyes and smiled. "Good morning," he replied. "You seem very happy this morning."
She grinned. "Of course. You made me this way."
Knowing exactly to what she was referring, he felt his smile begin to shift into a smirk. "Oh? And what, exactly, did I do to cause you to all but glow this morning?"
Shifting closer to him, she wrapped her left arm around his chest and held onto him like an oversized teddy bear, laying her head on his shoulder and closing her eyes. "Last night," she replied dreamily. "I felt more alive, more complete, than I've ever felt before in my entire life. And it was all because of you."
He shook his head slowly. "It wasn't just me," he replied. "It was both of us."
"Mmm," she murmured. "Last night was… perfect. It was love, and compassion, and tenderness, and everything we've felt for each other, magnified a thousand times." She took a deep breath and sighed happily. "It was everything I had imagined, and more. Thank you, Seno, for allowing me to experience that with you."
He kissed the top of her head. "You're welcome, Motoko," he said. "I'm glad that I made it so enjoyable for you."
"'Enjoyable' is not a strong enough word, my dear husband," she replied. "I don't think that a strong enough word exists."
"Truly a shame." Without the option of putting his left arm around her, due to the restraining length of the silk cloth binding them, he gently stroked her left arm with his right hand. "We should get up soon. I think I smell food cooking."
She chuckled. "Seno, I don't think my legs work right now," she said.
He was silent for a moment. "Hm. Neither do mine. We… really wore each other out, didn't we?"
"It was worth it," she answered simply.
An hour later, the newlywed couple made their way into Tsuruko's dining room, freshly bathed and dressed. They had quickly discovered that getting arms through sleeves was impossible with their wrists bound together, and had been forced to shortly undo one end of the binding so that they could dress themselves.
As soon as they entered, Tsuruko looked up from the table and gave them an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry," she told them. "I forgot yesterday that it wouldn't be possible for the two of you to dress while bound together."
"We found that out," Seno replied, smiling ruefully. "We had to take it off long enough for us to get dressed."
As Naru and Keitaro came out of the kitchen, both carrying a tray filled with breakfast entrees, Tsuruko asked, "So, are all of you going back to Hinata today?"
"Much later on," Seno replied, nodding his thanks to Naru as she handed him a plate of food. "Motoko and I had planned on seeing about finding a jeweler today, so we could go ring-shopping."
"Oh, then you should go to the mall near the university," Tsuruko said. "They have quite a few jewelry stores, so you would have a wide selection to choose from."
The couple exchanged a glance, then nodded. "We'll do that, then," Motoko said. She glanced over at her husband. "After breakfast, then?"
He nodded as well. "After breakfast it is." Then, from around the side of the table, he produced a bottle of strawberry-flavored Yoo-hoo. He shook it up in his right hand, then attempted to twist the metal bottle cap off. After three failed attempts, he swore under his breath and used a napkin to help him remove the cap.
Motoko blinked. He hadn't gone to get the drink from the refrigerator, not that she thought Tsuruko would have such a drink anyway, and he hadn't brought it with him, so she was left to wonder where he got it. "Where…did that come from…?"
He looked toward her, smirked, and took a gulp of the drink. "Bag of holding," he replied simply, almost causing her to fall out of her seat. "No, Keitaro passed it to me under the table." He grimaced slightly. "It isn't all that great. The hell'd you get this from, man?"
"Naru and I found it when we were out shopping," his friend explained. "Since you like strawberries so much, I figured you'd like it."
To the swordsman's left, Motoko silently took note of another of her husband's favorite things. Seno, meanwhile, shrugged and continued drinking the pink liquid. "Well, it's not terrible," he said. "I mean, I can drink it. I don't care for it, though."
Tsuruko smiled as she watched the two couples interact. Without the other tenants of the Hinata, this was but a mere sampling of how everyday life at the apartments was like, but even still, Tsuruko knew that she was watching Fate unfold itself.
Over the past several months, she had had her doubts about pronouncing Motoko fit to inherit the Shinmeiryu after her younger sister had managed to destroy the demonic entity living within the Hina blade. At the time, it had appeared that Motoko had found her inner strength and drive to continue improving, but as the days passed, Tsuruko found herself doubting that. Several times, she had considered retroactively nullifying her decision, and forcing Motoko into that marriage with Keitaro.
But now, watching the pure, untarnished love that flowed between Naru and Keitaro, and Seno and Motoko, she knew that her decision to declare Motoko the winner of their little bout was the correct one. She also now knew that the source of inner strength her sister had displayed during their duel had stemmed from Seno, even though she wasn't aware that he was its source. Never was this more clear to her than when Motoko threw herself into a battle for the sake of her beloved, and had managed to not only best Tsuruko, but thoroughly trounce her and destroy her sword, all in a single blow.
"Oh, that reminds me," she said softly.
All conversation at the table ceased as the two couples turned their attention to the elder Aoyama. "Aneue?" Motoko asked.
Tsuruko smiled at her sister. "I have a wedding present for you, Motoko," she said.
Motoko blinked confusedly at her sister, then felt a weight settle itself on her left shoulder. She looked over to find Shippu, Tsuruko's yellow crane, perched on her shoulder and looking down at her with what could be construed as an amused expression on its avian features.
"I'll entrust Shippu to you," she said, smiling. "Take care of him, now."
"But…why would you give Shippu to me?" Motoko asked. "You've had him since I was a little girl."
"I have always thought of Shippu as a sort of guardian spirit," Tsuruko replied. "He has always been by my side through all of the hardships I've had to face. I can't quite put my finger on it, but I can sense that you, too, will be faced with severe hardships in the near future. Though you will have Seno and your friends beside you, you can think of Shippu as an extension of my spirit, also staying with you." She set her cup down and looked off to the side, tapping her chin with a finger. As usual, this was a sign of her demeanor shifting from serious to whimsical. "I understand why you look up to me as much as you do, but I still do not think that I deserve such praise, especially since you have the courage and strength to devote yourself equally to your husband and the sword, whereas I could only devote myself to one or the other."
Three of the Hinata tenants took on a confused look at Tsuruko's mention of future hardships, but Seno appeared contemplative. Motoko looked to her husband, and realization flashed in her eyes, before they darkened with anger. She knew what he was thinking about, what that 'hardship' doubtless was.
Then she forcibly pushed those thoughts away, and reached over to squeeze Seno's hand. When he looked over to her, she gave him a smile. "Come on," she said. "We've got plenty to do today."
Kyoto University Mall, Kyoto, Japan
0915 hours, local time
Another hour later, Seno and Motoko stood in one of the many jewelry stores inside the Kyoto University Mall, a sprawling indoor shopping complex located within walking distance of the main campus of Kyoto University. It had everything from retro toy stores to clothing stores to game and music stores, and stores catering to the more 'rebellious' generation, such as Hot Topic and Spencer's. There was even a food court and a movie theater.
As the couple looked into the display cases, a saleswoman approached them. "Can I help you two find anything?" she asked, smiling sweetly.
"Maybe," Motoko replied, glancing at the woman. "We're looking for wedding rings."
"You're getting married?" the woman asked. "How wonderful! Congratulations!"
Seno chuckled. "Actually, we're already married," he said, raising his left arm and, by way of the silk cloth still binding their arms together, raising Motoko's as well. "It's a long story."
"I see," the saleswoman said. "So you're looking for a set of rings to make it a little more official, then? Well, let's start with a couple questions. What sort of rings are you looking for? Simple, elegant, extravagant?"
The couple looked to each other, and Seno nodded to Motoko, letting her take charge of the decision-making process. She smiled at him, then turned to the saleswoman. "I think that something simple, yet elegant would do nicely," she said.
Nodding, the saleswoman turned away and motioned for the couple to follow her. "I think I have a few items that will be just what you're looking for," she said. "Judging by the way you two carry yourselves, I wager that you are both practicing swordplayers."
Once again, the couple exchanged a glance, this one surprised. "She's good," Seno said. "Not many people have been able to pick out that I'm a swordsman unless I'm carrying Shinaijou with me."
Motoko smirked. "That's because you dress and act like a beach bum."
He grinned. "Naturally. It's the only reason why I dress like I do." He paused. "Aside from the unparalleled level of comfort my choice of outfit offers."
As they talked, the saleswoman walked behind one of the display counters and opened it up, taking out a pair of rings. They were simple rings, nothing more than two bands to be worn around the finger, with no jewels of any kind attached to them. Their coloration suggested that, despite the silvery sheen, they were not made of silver. "Here we go," she said. "These are made of 18 karat white gold, and I think they'll suit the two of you perfectly. Would you like to try them on?"
"Yes, please," Motoko replied with a smile, holding out her hand. The saleswoman handed one of the rings to her, and the other to Seno. Motoko slipped the ring onto the third finger of her left hand and then stared down at it, occasionally turning her hand over. Despite the fact that it was several sizes too large for her, she still liked the way it looked on her hand. She turned and held her hand out toward Seno. "What do you think?"
He reached over and gently took hold of her hand, tilting his head to the side as he looked at the ring. Then he looked up into her eyes and smiled. "Perfect," he said. "Not as beautiful as you, though."
She flushed. "Flatterer. Put yours on!"
"Already did," he replied, smirking, as he held up his left hand, palm toward himself, and showed her the ring hanging loosely around his finger. "Too big for me, too."
The saleswoman smiled. "Do you like them?"
Seno looked over to his wife, who was once more staring down at the ring she wore. He smiled. "We'll take 'em," he said.
"Excellent!" She produced a piece of plastic with nearly two dozen holes of varying sizes, that Seno recognized as a device used to measure the size of one's finger for a ring fitting. "Now if you'll just give me your ring fingers, I'll get your measurements so we can fit these rings for you."
After a few moments, the saleswoman had gotten the measurements of their fingers, and the couple had given back the display rings. The saleswoman then printed them up a claim check and told them it would take about three hours for the rings to be finished.
As she turned to walk away, Motoko suddenly stopped and called out, "Oh, I forgot! I'm sorry if this is troublesome, but I would like to have Seno's name engraved on my ring."
The swordsman blinked and grinned sheepishly. "Heh, I didn't even think about that," he said. "If it's not too much trouble, could you also put her name on my ring? As well as the date of our marriage, July 28, 2006."
Smiling warmly, the saleswoman made a note on her copy of the claim ticket. "It isn't any trouble," she said. "That's a standard request for this type of ring anyway. So, Mister Nakakami, we have your cell phone number, and we'll call you when your rings are ready."
"Alright, see you in a few hours then," Seno replied, waving jauntily before slipping an arm around Motoko's waist and leading her out of the store. "So we've got a couple hours to kill. Any ideas?"
"A few, but none that could get rid of two or three hours," she replied. "Want to just look around?"
He smirked. "Sounds good." Looking around, his eyes fell on one of his favorite stores. "Hey, they've got EB Games. I think I've still got a discount card that's good there."
"Then what are we waiting for?" she asked, smiling. "You love your games almost as much as you do me."
"Quite true, quite true," he replied, leading her into the game store.
Once inside, it became obvious that Motoko still had quite a bit to learn about the world of video gaming, as she simply followed Seno around, looking in wide-eyed amazement at the vast variety of video games and consoles to choose from. Seno, on the other hand, was like a fish in water as he angled directly toward the PC console section.
"Hey, check this out," he said, picking up a box labeled 'Battlefield 2142.' He tilted his head to the side, looking at it curiously.
"What is it?" Motoko asked, picking up another copy of it and turning the box over to read the back.
"It's apparently the next title in the Battlefield series," he replied. "It's a first-person shooter genre, kinda like Lucasarts' Star Wars Battlefront. I personally find Battlefield to be a lot more clumsy in terms of gameplay and control system, and lost interest in it once Battlefront was released." He paused. "Besides, I get to play as an ARC trooper in Battlefront. Instant win."
"So it's some sort of futuristic version, hm?" she said, turning the box over in her hands.
"I guess. But it stood out because it seems familiar to me, somehow…" He blinked. "Oh! Now I remember! I read a fanfiction a few weeks ago, that the main character came from this game. The basic plot was it was some kind of future war, and this soldier guy fell through some kind of temporal vortex and ended up in the Hinata in the modern day. It was a pretty awesome story. Dude even taught Tama-chan to salute."
The corner of her lip quirked up in a smirk. "The Hinata? We were all there?"
"Well, I wasn't. Dunno why. Maybe the guy who wrote it thinks I'm too cool to be in his fic, or maybe he's jealous of me or something. No telling. Funny thing is, I've seen a whole lot of fics based on or around the Hinata. Sometimes I even confuse those fics with reality."
She laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck, then pulled him down to kiss him gently. "If you ever need a reality check after today, you just remember to look down at your hand," she said. "Then you'll know what's real and what isn't."
He grinned. "Mmm, if you're going to kiss me every time I have an identity crisis, perhaps I should have them more often."
"Don't push your luck," she replied, rolling her eyes.
He smiled in return, and they continued to wander the store, with him pointing out various games, and her subtly keeping an eye on which ones he showed more interest in than others. He paused at the wall display of Play Station Portables, and she took note that he seemed very interested in them, even while pretending to look through a display rack of assorted anime.
I wanted to surprise him with a gift, but since we're still bound together, I can't really do anything without him knowing about it. Oh, well.
As he read the back of one of the PSP boxes, she reached out and pulled another one off the shelf, drawing his attention. "Eh? Oh, you want a PSP, Motoko?"
Grinning, she winked at him, then began walking toward the counter. "Yeah, but don't even think about buying it for me," she replied, pulling him along behind her.
"Find everything you were looking for?" the cashier asked as she put the PSP on the counter. He entered a few commands into the register, then turned back to her. "Do you have an EB Edge card?"
She started to shake her head, but Seno's arm snaked past her, holding out his discount card to the cashier. The man scanned the card, handed it back, then scanned the PSP. "Okay, with the ten percent off, that'll come out to ¥20653."
Motoko reached into her small handbag and produced a debit card, which she handed over to the cashier. He ran it through the scanner, handed the card back to her, then waited as the printer produced two receipts. One he placed in the bag with the PSP, and the other he set before her, along with a pen.
As she signed the receipt, she smiled faintly. "I'll have to remember to get all of my identification cards changed," she said, looking back at Seno. "My name's not Aoyama anymore, after all."
Her husband smirked as she handed the pen and receipt to the cashier, who then handed her the bag with the PSP in it. "Thanks, you two have a nice day," he said.
With a nod of thanks, the couple left the store. As soon as they were outside, Motoko held the bag out toward Seno. "Here," she said, smiling.
"Do wha…?" he muttered, taking the bag and blinking confusedly at his wife. "You…bought it for me?"
Smiling still, she looped her arm through his and started walking, with no destination in mind. "Of course. It's your wedding gift from me."
He grinned ruefully and leaned over to kiss her temple. "Now I feel bad," he said. "I'm going to find you something now."
She shook her head and leaned against him. "Don't even think about it, Seno," she replied. "Besides, just think of the rings as my wedding gift."
"That's not fair," he said, unable to do away with the smirk he was wearing. "You can't just turn around and tell me that the rings are your gift."
"I just did," she said, sticking her tongue out at him. "So what's next?"
"Humm, humm," he replied, looking around the section of the mall they were in. "Hey, an arcade!"
"Eh?"
"Come on!" he called, grinning, as he pulled her along behind him.
Over two hours later, the couple finally emerged from the arcade, soaked in sweat, breathing heavily, but both wearing smiles. They paused just outside the entrance, Seno leaning against a nearby wall as Motoko stood nearby, bent partially over with her hands on her knees.
"You…" she breathed, "…are never…getting me… in an arcade… ever again…"
Her husband grinned and laughed silently for a few moments, before clutching at his side. "Ow… Hurts to laugh…" he muttered. Still, he was grinning. "Okay… next time… I won't make you play DDR for a straight hour. I should've known better." He shook his head. "But it was just so fun playing it with you, even though I suck."
Her face was already flushed from the exertion of nonstop Dance Dance Revolution, and so her reaction to his statement was all but invisible. "I had fun, too," she said, smiling. "It was good exercise. Perhaps we should try to convince aneue to play?"
"That would be worth any beating she dishes out," he replied with a laugh. "Though, watch her totally smoke the hardest song, on the hardest difficulty level."
She tilted her head to one side. "Do you really think she could?"
He shrugged. "My plans like to backfire like that."
As she paused to mull that over, thinking back to the various plans she'd seen him enact in the past, his cell phone began to ring. Moreover, it began to ring with a very distinctive, very familiar ringtone. "Is that… the Final Fantasy fanfare?"
He grinned as he produced the phone from his pocket and stared at the face, which displayed a number he didn't recognize. "Would you seriously expect anything less from me?" With a practice flick of his thumb, he flipped open the phone and raised it up to his head. "Strife Delivery Service."
She groaned and planted her forehead in her left palm. "I thought I'd be used to it by now…" she muttered.
"Hm? Oh, yeah, this is Seno. Right. Yeah. They're done? Awesome. We'll be right over." After the conclusion of that very brief conversation, the swordsman flipped the phone shut with his index finger and returned it to his pocket. "Well, they got our rings ready for us. Ready to go pick 'em up?"
"Of course," she replied with a smile, taking his left hand in her right and walking toward the jewelers'.
The couple proceeded directly to the counter upon entering, where the same saleswoman from before was waiting for them, with a ring box sitting on the counter before her. Smiling, the woman pulled open the lid of the box and slid it across to the couple. Both rings rested side-by-side on the inner lining of the box.
With his free hand, Seno grabbed the smaller of the two rings, Motoko's, and looked it over, turning it in his hand to look at the inner side of the band. As requested, his name was engraved into the band, along with the date of their wedding.
Anticipating his next move, Motoko smiled and held out her left hand. Smiling in return, he gently took hold of her hand and slipped the ring onto her ring finger. As he let go of her hand, she testingly flexed her fingers a few times, acclimating herself to the ring's presence.
Then she picked up his ring, taking just a moment to run her finger across her name engraved along the inner surface, before pulling up her right arm. The silk cloth binding his left arm to her right caused his own arm to come up as well, and she smiled as he obligingly pushed his finger through the ring she held out.
With that complete, she interlaced the fingers of both her hands with his, then stepped forward and leaned up to kiss him.
July 29, 2006
Hinata Apartments, Hinata, Japan
1702 hours, local time
"We're home!" Keitaro called out, holding the front door open for Naru, Motoko, and Seno to pass through. The two ladies stepped inside with a nod and a word of thanks to the manager, but Seno reached up, grabbed the door himself, and nodded for Keitaro to precede him in.
Inside, Kitsune looked up from the couch as Shinobu peeked out from the kitchen. "Hey, welcome back!" Kitsune said. "The conquerin' heroes have returned!"
Shinobu stepped out of the kitchen and smiled at them, bowing forward partially. "Welcome back, guys," she said. "Did everything work out?"
"Yeah! What was the big idea, runnin' off to Kyoto like that and scarin' the life out of Motoko?" Kitsune asked Seno.
Motoko held up her right hand, and Kitsune obligingly let the swordsman off the hook. Temporarily. "Before we continue this interrogation, I think that it is fitting I should reintroduce myself."
At first, Kitsune's confused expression matched that of Shinobu, but then realization slowly dawned on the fox woman. "You didn't…"
The swordswoman gave her friend a wry smile and held up her left hand, palm in, to show them the ring she wore on her third finger. "I am Motoko Nakakami. Pleased to meet you. Again."