TRADITION
Chapter 6
The Party
From the large French doors leading to the backyard of the Hitsugaya Manor and down the stairs, the vast yard, floored with stones of different sizes, was decorated with a theme of lights and paper lanterns. Metal patterned tables and chairs (1.) were scattered around. The center pieces were tempered green glass with a single white carnation along with transparent Chinese marbles around it. A small band of violins and other harmonious instruments were assembled on a small podium towards the back playing a gentle tune. As more and more people dressed in formal attire arrived, Hitsugaya-sama decided to make his entrance. Wearing a traditional black and white tuxedo, with a purple tulip in his chest pocket expressing his sense of royalty, Hitsugaya-sama stood at the bottom of the stairs, tapping his champagne glass with a fork. The guests in the yard hushed and turned to look in his direction. From there he began to speak.
"Thank you all for gathering here tonight. It was quite rushed but nevertheless unexpected that my son, Toshiro, was to be wed in order to take my place as the head of the Hitsugaya Manor." He paused a moment to search the crowds reactions. They all seemed to be pleased. His eyes then caught the glance of a certain person, making his lips slightly curl upward. He detached his glance and turned back towards the French doors to call his son over to join him. Toshiro, wearing a black suit, white shirt, and light blue tie with his usual naturally spiky white hair with no attempt to style it further, reluctantly walked through the opened French doors to stand next to his father, as the audience clapped lightly. His father then continued his speech.
"Being as I just informed Toshiro of our family tradition a week ago, I thought I would be kind enough to leave him the responsibility of choosing his own partner. The time has finally come and he has chosen. Please welcome Toshiro Hitsugaya's fiancé, Momo Hinamori." The crowd clapped and waited patiently for the girl's arrival. All eyes turned towards the dual doors. From there she emerged, wearing a light blue gown. It was sleeveless, starting from above her bust. The part of the dress on her torso was covered in sequins and it was tied at the back. From her hips, the dress funneled out just above her silver heels. She wore no jewelry with the exception of dangling blue earrings. Her hair, normally in a bun, was curled and out to caress her smooth skin. She wore light makeup and faint blue eye shadow with pink lip gloss. Momo was brighter than all the lights. (2.)
She descended down the stairs towards Toshiro and his father. At first she felt uneasy and nervous but seeing Toshiro, her best friend, made her feel a little better. Toshiro on the other hand was just the opposite. He was fine, carefree at first. When Momo arrived, his breath caught in his throat. He had only seen Momo with her hair down a few times even in all the years they'd known each other. Her dress was modest but it had a sense of purity in it, and he liked that. It may have been the circumstances that made Toshiro see Momo in a different way but nonetheless he did.
Toshiro held his hand out for her and she smiled as she took it. Toshiro couldn't help feeling a head rush. He led her to the large head table with a white table cloth and two empty seats. They sat down and the attention of the audience soon went back to their own tables. They could finally talk now. Toshiro, whose hand never let go of hers, leaned over to her.
"You look beautiful," he whispered. Momo's heart jumped as she felt his warm breath tickle her ear. She barely let out a soft 'thank you' as he backed away to look up at a couple come to greet them.
"Toshiro, I'm so proud of you!" the girl, who looked about their age, said gleefully. She had long black curly hair, hazel eyes, and was wearing a dark purple cocktail dress with black pumps matching her black earrings and eye shadow. She also had a unique cross necklace. Her gaze shifted to Momo. "She is so pretty!" The girl then continued to go on about Momo's attire and features while the guy, wearing a dark suit with a black shirt underneath, tried to calm her down.
"Hiroko, stop!" He said, his attempts failed though as 'Hiroko' continued. He turned Toshiro and apologized as he dragged the girl back to their table. Toshiro chuckled softly while Momo looked at him questioningly.
"That's my cousin Hiroko Kumaki, or now it's Irie," Toshiro started. "Her dad worked for my father before he died when Hiroko was ten." Momo looked empathetic towards Hiroko, who just smiled and waved.
"She's been my favorite cousin, even though she's not really my cousin," Toshiro continued. "Two years ago she got married to Takumi Irie. He's an orphan of another rich family from Kyoto and he was also subject to the eighteen-year-old marriages. The difference with them is they were already together, going out, in love, whatever you want to call it.
"Her mother Rei is there next to her. At first she was against the marriage but finally gave in. Hiro's sister Yukiko is also there. She was always bugging me when I was little. Now she doesn't really talk to me." Momo listened carefully, soaking it all in.
"Is there any other important people I should know about?" she asked innocently, while pondering as to why he never mentioned someone so special to him. Toshiro gestured toward an old couple to the right of them.
"The Yamada Family," he replied. "They took care of my dad and his sister when his parents died. They also took care of Takumi. Oh and straight ahead, the woman that looks like she has a stick up her ass is my aunt, the one I mentioned, and the guy next to her is her husband. Their kids didn't come. She always hated my mom and me, so naturally I hate her back." Momo frowned.
"Hate is a strong word, Shiro-chan," She scolded with a small pout on her lips.
"So is love but you see how many times that word is tossed around," Toshiro countered. (A/N Quote of Mero :P). Momo sighed, deciding it was better not to argue with that statement. There was a small pause in there discussion as a servant boy came to bring them apple cider in champagne glasses, for they were still underage.
"Oh," Toshiro said unenthusiastically, and suddenly. "There are some people I'd rather you didn't approach. At your ten o'clock, act like you are taking a sip of cider." He looked away towards his father who was chatting with the Yamada's. Momo did as instructed and saw a middle aged man with grey hair dressed in a tuxedo with a monocle. Next to him was a woman with dirty blonde hair, pale skin, and wearing an orange cocktail dress. Next to her was a younger girl that looked the same but was wearing a ruby red cocktail dress. The dress along with her lipstick and nail polish stood out marvelously with her blonde hair. She was looking at Momo, who quickly looked away and put her glass down.
"Who are they?" Momo whispered. Toshiro looked back to her, with a serious look on his face.
"They are the Akai family," stated Toshiro. "The man is Yoshio. He inherited his father's rather large estate and business. A couple years back he went to England and married Megumi who already had Mari, the girl in red. I think Megumi was married to a rich diplomat who died suddenly. My father tried to set me up with Mari last year and now I know why." Momo raised her eyebrows at this. They stopped talking to each other for a while as supper was served: potato soup. Momo took quick glanced at Mari. She felt a little uneasy with her self-conscious thoughts.
'Flow-y blonde hair… big red lips… big boobs! I'm nothing compared to her!' She thought. She wanted to ask Toshiro why he didn't pick Mari but she thought it best if she didn't pry.
When they were finished eating, Hitsugaya-sama directed the people's attention to Toshiro's table. Yamashi walked down from the stairs while carrying a ring cradled on a small blue pillow, and he presented it to Toshiro, who shakily picked it up. He gently took Momo's hand into his own. The light applause faded into the background as Momo and the rest of the spectators watched him put the ring on her finger. She felt sudden warmth in her face. Toshiro slowly looked up until he and Momo were back to eye level. Although he didn't smile, he gave her a look only his best friend would understand.
'Things are going to be fine.'
END OF CHAPTER 6
A/N
1- TABLE IMAGE:
h t t p : / / e c x . i m a g e s - a m a z o n . c o m / i m a g e s / I / 5 1 H H V 2 E F 9 R L . j p g
2- MOMO'S DRESS:
h t t p : / / i m a g e . m a d e - i n - c h i n a . c o m / 2 f 0 j 0 0 k B S a P e C J f l b T / L i g h t - B l u e - P r o m - P a r t y - D r e s s - R S - 1 1 7 - . j p g
Wow.. that took ages! Finally finished! I apologize for the delay *bows* Also please excuse any grammatically/or any other errors I missed. =)
In my delay, I've reread all of my stories and boy there's a lot of errors. On top of that, my writing is sooo boring. I'm ashamed of myself…. But hey I'm older and wiser now and I feel I've made improvement. Let me know what you think XD
PS: the quote was from my best friend Mero :P She's awesome haha
-HK-