Chapter Eighty-Five

Fate Binds

 

Only after Nekohiko and others had exited the hallways of the Shrine and into the lovely, autumn sunshine, did he remember something else he'd forgotten.

Kasuga!

He stopped, unsure, his gaze passing over the Hisome girls flocking around him with their celebratory, self-satisfied chatter. Trailing his eyes to where all of Mikawa's attention went, Nekohiko finally saw her.

She had been among the Hisome girls all this time, and nobody had noticed her. Why?

Because she had desperately tried to disappear in their midst, shying in the back and avoiding eye contact. Nekohiko had difficulties in moving quickly enough in all his layered gowns, but he pushed through it all to get to Kasuga.

"Your Majesty," he said, bowing. "I hope you were fine in my absence while you waited..."

Now that he was aware of it, he found it fascinating that this young girl, with how asocial and reserved he usually was -- would hold off anyone's attention from the dressing room for a whole hour it took for Nekohiko to win his fight and then dress up in haste.

She looked... traumatized. Which Nekohiko could fully relate to.

The Hisome girls were some of the worst people in the Empire. Hanging out with them for a whole hour while trying to maintain a more or less entertaining conversation would be nigh impossible.

Poor Kasuga...

She stood before him in her military dress which was slightly fluffed up with the added new trinkets. Her shoulders were tense, her back straight as a rod, but her face... downturned as though she tried to hide her expression beneath her short straight-hanging hair.

"I was fine, thank you," Kasuga said stiffly.

But Nekohiko only grew more worried. "Are you sure?" he prodded with his beautiful new Sakami voice. "You look miserable! I hope my ladies-in-waiting didn't bother you too much. I know that Hisome women can be a bit intimidating to strangers..."

Or downright bitchy, for that matter. If Nekohiko wasn't Sakami, he would glare at Kiyoko and the others at this moment. But Sakami's genuinely good-natured personality could only muster a sad look at his entourage.

Kiyoko beamed at him proudly. "Her Majesty Nagare was only asking us for advice on how to look more festive at such an event as a wedding." Arrogantly, Kiyoko arched an eyebrow. "Since the Nagare customs do not educate young ladies in that, of course we, as true Hisomes, had to lend our help."

...

Kasuga, the sacrifice you've made for me...

Nekohiko felt quite touched. The girl had decided to use the only thing that these Hisomes could not ignore -- an opportunity to insult the Nagare customs with Hisome superiority.

"It was very educating, thank you," Kasuga said calmly even though Nekohiko could swear she was gritting her teeth.

Then he learned why.

Looking very much dying with embarrassment, Kasuga glanced up at him -- and lifted her face enough for him to see. It was... made-up. Rouge, whitening powder, kohl-eyes, glistening dewy lips and the myriads of other additions...

He gulped, flabbergasted. No, it didn't look bad! The Hisome girls would obviously know how to apply make-up properly and appropriately for the occasion. But it just wasn't... Kasuga. It was the opposite of what Kasuga was like!

Aomi might have found it wonderful, though. And indeed --

"Oh my Heavens!" Aomi gushed, slipping through the Hisome girls and elbowing them out of her way to get to Kasuga. She stopped beside her, eyes wide and round as bowls. "You look so good! And I had no idea you had it in you!"

No, she does not, Nekohiko scoffed. She just looks like a doll. What can be creepier?

Yet even as he continued his way down the Shrine square to the gates, his Sakami personality did not allow him to be impolite. "Future sister-in-law Aomi is right, Your Majesty. I think you look so much healthier and glossier now. It suits you well."

"Thank... you," Kasuga squeezed out.

"See?" Kiyoko slipped to Nekohiko secretively as the two of them marched in front of the rest of the group. "I told you all Nagares would benefit from a bit of Hisome in them."

"Mn." Nekohiko smiled sweetly.

Behind them, Aomi now clung to Kasuga like a vine to a tree. She chatted to Kasuga about such inconsequential things, Nekohiko even wanted to shush her, so annoying it was. Lip rouge and lace and hairpins and perfumed pomade and stuff.

Of course his Sakami-ness forced him to listen to it like the good girl he was.

Sunlight scattered under the pine branches, evoking such a merry mood. The wind fluttered his concealing veil before his face, all of his long hems and ribbons rising up in the air. Half of him ached thinking how much the real Sakami would have loved seeing this, but he knew this had to be done. 

At the front gates of the Shrine stood three people, waiting for the bride.

Sakami's parents, Nekohiko realized when he saw the timid-looking couple who hugged each other with quiet happiness as they watched their "daughter" walking toward them in her full glory. The mother had a clear resemblance to both Suminoe and late Lady Takarashi -- the same pleasing, elegant appearance that all Hisomes possessed. But none of their stately, ominous manner.

Morokata had it too, but Sakami didn't. Now Nekohiko saw why. Sakami's mother was a pale imitation of her illustrious siblings. Her husband was quite an average man, as well. Because of this, both looked ashamed or afraid to be here. Even Sakami's Hisome girls seemed more imposing than her shy parents, and that broke Nekohiko's heart doubly.

These people did not deserve their only chance to see their daughter in the spotlight to be trampled so cruelly.

The third person under the gates further highlighted that fact. Iokirihime. The goddess.

Her eyes shifted to Nekohiko and a trace of recognition flickered there. She lifted her arm as though to offer it to Nekohiko to rely on, and this was the end of her consideration for him.

"Your Majesty," Nekohiko mumbled and accepted the hand. He smiled and nodded at the parents and allowed Iokirihime to lead him down the Shrine steps. "Thank you for escorting me, dear future sister-in-law."

"Mn," Iokirihime said, unperturbed as always.

But Nekohiko could imagine that she was actually being very friendly in her own unique way.

For starters, she had dressed far less impressively than ever and had even tried to diminish her looks with blurring glamors over her face. So as to allow Sakami to be the only shining jewel of today. Yes -- this woman that Nekohiko had never seen do much other than pose in the background and follow everything Morokata did -- had shown genuine consideration to Sakami on this special day.

If only Sakami could witness this and know that in no way she was truly invisible to others...

Nekohiko was in deep depression as he settled down in the luminous ice-crystal carriage that Iokirihime commanded with her magic. Soft snowflakes floated around Nekohiko once he got inside and took his seat opposite Aomi and Kasuga. From Kasuga came the winds and breezes lifting the carriages into the air to ride across the skies, which added to the beauty of the procession. Far beyond them, the other carriages filled up and rose into the air as well -- yet Nekohiko didn't pay them heed.

He was too frustrated with how many people he'd hurt to enjoy the view of the glimmering, silvery and white Nara beneath them -- or the oblivious conversation Aomi was having with Kasuga all the way to the Main Shrine.

Dejected, he glowered out the window. He only reacted when he felt Iokirihime's hand land on his elbow. The coolness of her touch seeped through all his layers.

"Do not be sad," Iokirihime whispered, opening her palm to reveal a dewdrop within which swirled a tiny snowflake. Both preserved perfectly and impossibly -- to never melt and never dry out in the air. Iokirihime passed it to Nekohiko, then Bound it into a small charm hanging off Nekohiko's silver bracelet. "Beautiful," she said.

And that was it.

But Nekohiko still felt oddly moved by this one tiny interaction.

In his coma nightmare, all the Lords and Ladies were interchangeable and blurry. They weren't real people in his consciousness, apparently. They were their titles and positions in his Empire, and enemies of his reign because of how... petty, and greedy, and spiteful they all were. How pathetically human. And how often they had made his life pure hell with their endless disagreements with one another.

For the first time ever, he realized the depth of his actual distrust and derision toward them. It panged him, to finally see this truth in the open.

"...if you grew your hair out, you would be even prettier," Aomi was telling Kasuga all the while. Her index finger was twined in Kasuga's straight, collarbone-length hair, however much that irritated Kasuga. "Actually, Mikawa would look lovely with long hair, too."

"The Nagare tradition requires us to cut off our hair when we devote our lives to serving the Nagare people and the Empire," Kasuga whispered, watching the outside sail by. "We all have to make sacrifices for the benefit of the country. We need to learn humility in accepting that."

"Eeeeh?" Aomi sat up, baffled. "Do Nagare forbid all fun, too?"

Sacrifices for the Empire.

Nekohiko stirred.

And so did Iokirihime. She gave Kasuga her attention, probably only now noticing her there. "The country will take its sacrifices regardless. No need to offer anything," she said tonelessly.

"We are nothing but instruments and weapons for the glory of our country," Kasuga sparked up as though only waiting to clash with Iokirihime in an argument. "Disposable tools, however painful it might be to realize. Thus, striving to be that is the greatest passion of a Nagare citizen -- because it spares the other people the terrible truth. Keeps them safe."

Iokirihime must have already lost interest in the discussion. Or never had any, to begin with. She turned aside to her own window, smooth and fluid as ever.

But she still spoke, after an agonizingly long delay.

"We are nothing but instruments," she mused. "Whether we consent to be or not. But what is so horrifying about such a truth? I find it very calming, actually. I find it..." She closed her eyes, heavenly. "Liberating."

Nekohiko listened, unsure if he was spooked by the discussion or, oddly, inspired.

Whatever happened today, it was for his beloved Empire. His personal feelings -- his pain, his shame -- about it didn't matter. Nobody's did.

The benefit and glory of their Land and people stood above all.

When the carriage alighted in the front square before the Main Nara Shrine, Nekohiko had finally persuaded himself to not look so sour and crestfallen on his wedding day. The fact that he was so tired he had almost fallen asleep during the ride also helped.

Albeit now it made all the Hisome girls who ran to his carriage to fetch him up peer at him askance. They had all noted that their mistress was so bored with the festivities, she had dozed off on the most important day of her life, and this knowledge quickly spread through the Hisome girl rows. How, Nekohiko had no clue. Perhaps Hisome girls had their own news and gossip exchange system?

Regardless, his arrival to the Shrine he was to be wed in was met with an uproar. Both because of how --

"Gorgeous!"

"Splendid!"

"Godlike and ethereal, oh my!"

-- he was, and also because of his mess-up with the dozing off.

Because it only gave the majority of the nobles a good opportunity to sigh and gush at him in pity. He passed all these courtiers and foreign ambassadors and councilors as he and his entourage marched through the myriads of Spiritway gates that let to the inner courtyard, and almost after every step Nekohiko took, he heard people whisper at each other with great knowledge:

"She is so very nervous, poor girl! She had lost so much of herself for this day and can faint any moment now!"

"Poor thing. The marriage to His Supreme Divine Majesty is such a dramatic event. No wonder she looks so pale!"

"Mn-mn! I hope she doesn't swoon -- it would be so horrible to see her fall--"

"No, no, no! I hope she does swoon! Because just imagine, the Emperor would have to catch her and ahhhh! So romantic! We need to move a bit to the front to see it all!"

...

Nekohiko almost fainted just from hearing how much the nobility circles of his Empire obsessed about this wedding, for some reason. And how many dramatic developments they craved to see happening on it.

Whatever hadn't people imagined yet!

Like Sakami's made-up secret suitor coming to rescue her! A jealous Emperor's concubine thwarting the ceremony! The Spitiside rejecting the Bond between Abihiko and her -- what a vast shame and horror would that one be!

Too many gossips to bear. Nekohiko trembled with all his Sakami's heart and kept going strictly because his feet stubbornly marched on as all Hisome family members would do in the face of the public judgment. No Hisome would ever lose face in public.

Never!

Speaking of which...

"Sweet Cousin!" Morokata's honey-tinted voice called them from within the courtyard into which Nekohiko was slowly led by Iokirihime.

Nekohiko braced himself for the worst and put the best Sakami smile at his disposal.

The true and final test of his magic proficiency in the Utsuro Mirror Image spell.

"Dear Cousin," he crooned in response and hastened his footsteps toward the detestable Hisome King. "Please give me your blessings for today!"

 

 

---

***

 

Content Warning: mild urging someone to participate in rape.

(Basically, someone mentions it, but not in detail. Still eww...)

 

The sole reason he had chosen the Utsuro Splitting spells for this scheme instead of the Hisome glamors was that Morokata would note any and all glamor spells in his vicinity. Sakai, the Utsuro King would also instantly discern any Utsuro spells he would come face-to-face with. But the caveat was such that there was no way Morokata would miss his chance to come and hug Sakami before the ceremony -- while Sakai would never in his life want to participate in anything as social and conventional as that.

That said, Nekohiko was still prepared for something going horribly wrong in his plan. So he scanned the courtyard with his eyes before he reached Morokata. He located all the important people in a flash.

Okinaga in his vivid blacks and crimsons -- in the small pack of Hira councilors in the government. By the cleansing spring, washing his hands.

The Head Priest Suminoe -- further away beneath the heavy, thick enclosing rope that hung in between the arching columns of the Main Shrine building¹They are called Shimenawa ^^.. Festoons and chimes splashed in the breeze from that rope, filling the square with silvery ringing. Across the air, the Hisome flower petals snowed in a flurry of pink and blue fall, so beautiful, Nekohiko felt a flutter in his chest from the sight.

Yet amid all this merriment and beauty, the haggard figure of the Utsuro King could kill any mood by its mere sight. A few steps away from every other noble group, including the representatives of the Utsuro Kingdom, Sakai stood watching the Head Priest with a peculiar intensity, as though contemplating a marvel or a disaster unfolding before him.

Sakai neither cared about the wedding procession and Nekohiko's arrival, nor seemed at all touched by the conversations and blessings thrown all around him.

As usual, for him.

Morokata, on the opposite...

"You look..." Morokata began telling Nekohiko. He paused as though choosing the exact word, but instead only sighed, a subtle smile lighting up his eyes. "You look beautiful, Cousin."

Even though Nekohiko didn't want to, his face flushed with life and warmth in response. "Really?"

"Really." Morokata's hand caressed Nekohiko's cheek and came away brushing through the nearby strands of his hair. Morokata smiled wider, first at Nekohiko, then at Iokirihime, then at Kiyoko who had stepped closer to greet him. "We did it," he told them proudly, in the hushed, joyous voice. "We did everything right, didn't we?"

Iokirihime met his gaze in her usual, impenetrable manner, but Nekohiko saw how she lingered on him. How she thawed up next to him. "Mn."

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Kiyoko said in a slightly weepy voice. "The House Hisome and House Towa will rise over the Empire like the Blazing Sun. The new era will begin!"

If a moment ago, Nekohiko had almost felt heartwarmed in this small Hisome gathering because of how genuine they seemed around each other, then at the mention of the "new era of Hisome and Towa", all his sympathy for them evaporated.

A new era?

Was this what this wedding symbolized? The passing of power and the subjugation of Nekohiko's proud line?

Yeah, you wish, losers!

Morokata did not notice anything weird about Nekohiko's disguise, albeit he did ask about his dozing off in the carriage. He offered Nekohiko his elbow to walk him to the cleansing spring and patted Nekohiko's wrist fatherly as he helped him pour the purifying water for him.

"Are you sure you're all right?" Morokata said, sounding sincere in his concern. "Are you sure you don't want to see a healer before we start the ceremony?"

"Mn." Nekohiko went through all the ritual notions of cleansing. He was unsure if his gestures looked authentic enough, but Sakami's personality overruled most of his mistakes. How gracefully and lightly she moved!

How swan-like were all of Nekohiko's gestures!

"No need to worry about me, Dear Cousin," he chirped in her thin voice. "I feel wonderful."

"Well, please do. I worry about you, after all!" Morokata chuckled and hugged Nekohiko from the side as any good older brother would.

Only with all the sweetness and elegance of their manner, Nekohiko had almost forgotten how vicious Morokata could truly be.

Morokata's arm dug into Nekohiko's middle, his fingers curling in through all the layers -- and into Sakami's flesh on her stomach. Nekohiko felt his skin being twisted and wrung, bringing a pained gasp out of him.

"Please make sure you do not ruin the ceremony, will you, sweet Cousin?" Morokata said most worriedly. "We wouldn't want this day to bring our House any dishonor, would we?"

How nice he'd been mere seconds ago. How cruel now.

On Sakami's behalf, Nekohiko could only shiver and nod, stricken. Which, he felt, this body was too accustomed to doing in response to Morokata's sudden shifts of mood.

"Of course, Dear Cousin. You would never have to worry," he uttered.

But inside he could only squirm. He would have to make sure Morokata wouldn't actually punish the real Sakami for her defeat in the Spring Sunlight! The girl was innocent yet he was now unsure if Morokata would care about it that much...

"Good. Good girl. Let's go greet Uncle. He will marry you and Abihiko, after all. He will look after you during the ceremony, so you can rely on him fully."

But they didn't get to Suminoe before Okinaga got in their way. The Lord of the Mountains had a very grim mien on his face -- as though he was readying for a funeral instead of a wedding. He stopped Morokata in the middle of the square and gave his bows and congratulations to him and Nekohiko.

Nervous, Nekohiko glimpsed Aomi a little bit away, in Kasuga's circle of Nagare nobles. But unlike Kasuga who was centered on talking to her councilors and distant relatives, Aomi's gaze was drawn here. To Okinaga.

How odd, Nekohiko thought. He'd always noticed this back in Nagare as well in his brief moments he'd checked on Aomi during the Fuji region restoration mess. The girl had never interacted with Okinaga personally.

Only stared at him from afar -- with the most reluctant and suspicious expression ever.

What was this about?

"You will be taking care of my Ward Son," Okinaga was telling Nekohiko in a resigned, somber voice. He didn't look Nekohiko in the eye, instead preferring the ground under their feet. "Please be nice with Abihiko. Be patient. Be... kind. He is a complicated young man and he doesn't know what's good for him and what isn't."

...

"Of course Sakami will," Morokata assured him heartily. "A lot of aimless men only need a good wife in their lives to improve past their immaturities."

Nekohiko scowled deep inside. Was that really the wife's job? To improve bad people?

Then what was the husband's job? And what if the husband was already a good man?

Deep in thought, he didn't notice how Okinaga politely brushed Morokata aside. The man leaned forward, offering Nekohiko to follow him a bit to the side for a more intimate talk. Frankly, Nekohiko didn't want to. Talking to your future spouse's "parent" about the marriage was a scary thing, especially after one had witnessed this "parent" promising to hunt Nekohiko down and destroy him as soon as possible.

Please, Morokata, do not leave me! he screamed inwardly, holding with dear life to Morokata's sleeve.

Never in his life had he imagined preferring to be around this scum rather than go with Okinaga. But here they were...

Things change, apparently.

"Behave," Morokata told him and tapped his nose with his finger. He waved off to Suminoe and went to meet him, leaving Nekohiko at Okinaga's mercy.

"My Lady, I have a few things I want to share about my Ward Son and his well-being," Okinaga said.

Sakami's personality of course was all sweetness. "It will be my pleasure," Nekohiko chimed and let Okinaga take him aside for the most secretive conversation.

Honestly, he was intrigued despite himself.

"I do not believe it's news to anyone that Abihiko's preferences lean solely toward men," Okinaga began with a sigh. "And to a very specific type, too. Actually, just to one man. The memory and presence of him loom over Abihiko's life like some kind of a... curse."

"I understand," Nekohiko said.

"You will never be able to overshadow this man in Abihiko's eyes. Likely, nobody will. It's hard knowledge to accept when you are giving your entire life to him in a few minutes. Do not get discouraged. You will have help. From the Hira household, from the Towas, and the Hisomes, and the Utsuro. And because the Nagare Queen is also engaged to Abihiko, it's no doubt their House also is interested in snuffing even the last hints of that cursed man's presence in Abihiko's life. It's a fight we are all ready for," Okinaga promised darkly, "Abihiko is our Emperor. He needs our protection whatever the cost and whatever he might himself say or want."

Huuh?

Nekohiko wasn't following the train of Okinaga's thought.

"Abihiko would never suggest fulfilling any of the marital duties with you, hiding behind respect and politeness," Okinaga ground out through force. He closed his eyes as though despising himself for saying this but needing to say it nonetheless. "If you want to truly wed him, you would have to... push him. To force him, if necessary."

....errrrm.

How about no?

Nekohiko could hardly breathe in shock.

Okinaga was pale, his jaws set hard as he turned face-to-face to Nekohiko. "If he had an heir... a child of his own, it might distract him long enough to forget that other man. Lady Sakami, I am sorry I have told you such a terrible thing, but if you don't pursue Abihiko to reciprocate your feelings, he never will, on his own."

"Mmn, I u-understand." Nekohiko shuddered, bowing. "Thank you for your wisdom and... blessings."

"That man had destroyed him," Okinaga whispered under his nose. "You have to properly understand Abihiko's unhealthy obsession and dependency on him if you want to combat it. Their relationship was extremely cruel and corrosive on Abihiko. That man had become engaged to several women while never officially acknowledging Abihiko's claims for him."

Nekohiko gawked.

Excuse me?! Yes, but what did it have to do with anything...? And also -- "claims"? Was that how their relationship was called?

"He had humiliated him in public on several occasions. Had demanded Abihiko to abandon his claims to the Hira Lordship in favor of himself."

Abihiko had offered that voluntarily!

Nekohiko was in turmoil, listening to all these assumptions and lies.

"He cheated on him, above all," Okinaga ended, gaze set hard over the entrance to the Shrine in which Suminoe, Morokata, and reluctant Sakai stood, visibly frustrated with each other. Nekohiko blinked, unsure. Why was Okinaga looking at those three as though implying...

Implying...?

He couldn't tell which of the three men Okinaga's eyes were drawn to, but there was so much hurt and smoldering fury in his gaze that Nekohiko had no doubts he was talking about one of them.

...Nekohiko had never even looked at any of these three in a suggestive manner! And -- Nekohiko? Cheat? He wasn't even into romantic or sexual stuff, to begin with!

What was Okinaga talking about?

"He cheated on him and broke his heart. If Abihiko could tolerate that man's monstrous personality and wrongdoings before that, this one action had opened his eyes to the truth. But clearly, even such deep wounds can be forgotten with time. Lady Sakami, you are fighting something much more persistent and powerful than a Demonic Spirit. You will need all your strength, all your resilience."

Yeah, and all my tolerance for nonsense and lies, too! Nekohiko seethed.

"I give you my parental blessings for making my Ward Son... happy. He deserves it after the miseries he had endured," Okinaga told him, suddenly gentle. "Please try, even if it seems impossible at times."

"I will," Nekohiko replied kindly, then exchanged their ceremonious bows with Okinaga.

From the steps of the Shrine, Morokata waved at him. And overall, the merry gathering in the front square had gradually gone quiet and expectant.

This was it, Nekohiko knew.

The start of the ceremony.

...

"!" His heart thundered in his chest and his body had somehow grown sweaty and hot and uncomfortable and itchy --!

He was just so anxious, all at once.

"It's time." Morokata smiled at him and ushered Nekohiko into the shadowy confines of the Shrine.

Nekohiko threw last desperate glances at Kasuga, Aomi, Kotone, and disguised Mikawa in the many-faced crowd, struggling to discern them amidst all the animation and cheeriness. His feet tangled and wobbled on the high-platform sandals and his bridal veil was dimming his view into an utter blur.

When he reached Morokata who took him under the elbow to help him walk, Morokata slipped the top layer of Nekohiko's red robes off his shoulders.

Only the purity-white wedding gown remained. Only a few final steps toward the man at the altar...

The actual shrine hall was not big and held the reverent, simplistic furnishings and ornaments in. More of a holy, quiet place rather than the impressive and ostentatious one.

Sunrays pierced the hall, blending shadows with the twirling wooden dust in the air that sparked up in golden flecks at the straight hit of light. Incense smoke curled in blueish feathers in the air, and the scent of pine, sandalwood, and thyme wafted all through the gathering. 

Abihiko was turned away from the doors, seemingly not noticing that his bride was led toward him from the entrance. His emerald-green Imperial robes had no additional decorations on them, preferring simplicity for this sacred ritual. Nekohiko guessed, that had made Abihiko very sad because Abihiko enjoyed all the gaudy, vulgar things like trinkets so much.

But perhaps he was sad for other reasons, too.

Beside him, stood Kataji as the representative of Abihiko's closest blood family. The young man's face regarded Nekohiko neutrally, with not much interest. But at least he was aware of Nekohiko's presence and tapped Abihiko on the shoulder to make him turn as well.

At last, Abihiko did.

Just in time for Morokata to stop beside him and slowly press Nekohiko's shaking hand into Abihiko's steady one.

Nekohiko's fingers were clammy with chill; Abihiko's fingers almost seared him with how feverishly-hot they were. Morokata lingered his hand over theirs until he made sure they wouldn't just slip from each other's grip, and only then released them.

"Good luck." He smirked at Nekohiko's face and discreetly moved aside.

Thank you.

I will need it, Nekohiko replied in his mind, too afraid to even lift his eyes and look at Abihiko directly.

From both sides of the Spiritway altar, Suminoe and Haehime lifted their hands with the sacred evergreen tree branches in their fingers.

People in the back hushed down, and with them -- Nekohiko's breaths.

"The Spirits of the Land, come to witness the union of this man and this woman--" Suminoe began intoning majestically as he went down the dais toward the marrying couple.

"--of these two persons," Haehime echoed him far less majestically, descending the dais as well. "For the holy ceremony of the Sacred Bond between them."

Suminoe's free hand touched Haehime's and from their joined fingers, a pearly-white glow of a Spiritual spell emerged. A mist of an incandescent, shimmery object slowly drawing into solidity under everyone's awed gazes.

Nekohiko's grip on Abihiko's hand tightened involuntarily. In fear.

Yet Abihiko did not respond.

Nekohiko wondered if this was only because the sight of this spell gave Abihiko quite a specific memory. And one that no doubt Abihiko could not associate with Sakami, however much he tried.

Because the spell that Suminoe and Haehime were casting for the Spiritual marital Bond also looked eerily similar to a Fox Thread²In case you forgot -- the one Suminoe had put on Neko and Abihiko when they were kids fighting each other ^^ in the Chapter called "Bondage"..

It was a rope, a glowing silvery rope made of Spirits. It went on the married couple's wrists, Binding them together forever like their love and trust for each other did.

And boy, did it feel incredibly familiar to Nekohiko, too, when his right wrist and Abihiko's left one were tied together by Suminoe and Haehime both.

It almost felt like fate, didn't it?