-wedding ceremony-

The bamboo is turning to fresh green after the prolonged rainfall over the past few months. The dark, soaked green, almost brown, on the bamboo trunks, transforms to be lighter with a little drop of the water that has evaporated into the air because of the sunny, bright day. 

The traditional umbrellas in red and white color hanging upside down in the sky as a roof, the light peeking and slightly going through the thin layer of the fabric shining in shimmer in the middle of the big lawn yard.

The new flower bushes are arranged beautifully along the side of the lawn, and with the sakura trees, cherry blossoms that grow in the wrong season are here, together with the purple wisteria falling down gorgeously.

Ready and waiting for the bride, groom, and their guests to walk in and have the most magical and fun time together to celebrate after the ceremony outside the house at the shrine.

(shrine)

The one and only traditional red shrine is located in the Sovereign on the East side of the city. Only family, relatives, and special guests are invited to this ceremony. The long walking path leads to the shrine master, who stands beside the big table full of stuff related to the ritual. Behind the table are the traditional figures of the red shrine for witnessing this love ceremony from beyond the realm and for us humans and prayers.

Guests are waiting along the side of the walking path for the two main leads of this event. On the right side are the guests from the groom's side. There is Mr. Saya Takaki, the head of the Takakis and grandfather of the groom. Next to him is the old man who is noticeably bigger and taller than Mr. Saya. He has gray hair with a gray beard along his jawline and piercing eyes. Next is Kyo, Mr. Saya's personal bodyguard. Jay, the groom's personal bodyguard, is followed by all the Takaki men. And they wear all black.

To the left side is the Stygian family: Charon, the head of the family. Next to him is Veronica, the head lady or second wife. Then, Achlys, the first son and the next in line of the family. Next to him is the huge grown man. His hair is black and white, intermixing, and looks intimidating. Mr. Aka Yamazaki and his son, Jodai Yamazaki, are the bride's beloved personal bodyguards. And all the Yamazaki's men and Stygian's men are all behind them.

The ceremony begins with the performance of the ancient melody by the shrine priests and maidens, who play the instrumental lead of the parade through the entrance. The last priest holds the piece of the long wooden board around half a foot over his waist. After them, there are the groom and the bride, followed by a person holding a huge red umbrella. Over the groom and the bride's heads.

All the guests are amazed by the unusual and rare scene. The bride never knows about the traditional ceremony or has even been to the shrine before. She may feel divided from the crowd. But overall, her gestures, the composition of her walk, and her looks, along with her white dress, can tell that she is one of them, even more special.

Zephyra's wedding dress is totally different and feels different on her body in everybody's eyes. The long white kimono with a pattern of the red dragon that sewed in white thread. She wears a white dome headdress over her head, the equivalent of the bridal veil. But we still see a piece of her front hair that falls down to both sides of her cheeks; the bright silver hair almost blends in with her elegant dress. Thanks to the sunlight that shines on here from time to time, we can see the purple reflection on it.

The white of her contrasts with the black man's kimono of the groom with black trousers. He also wears a black overcoat with the same pattern as the red dragon, which is sewn in a red thread color to show the family's embroidered symbol.

Due to their contrast, the red in her eyes, the red eyeshadow on her eyelid, and the lip stains on her tiny full lips match her groom's overcoat and hair, which is cut short, and the bangs that cover his forehead. Neatly slides behind his ears and keeps the smooth, shiny, long hair at the back covering his neck, which altogether perfectly matches, as they are united.

Symbolizing the purity of the bride, ready to be colored and becoming the signature red of the Takakis. 

The white will be red, like a blood stain that has never been washed out. Soon enough, the white dragon on her kimono turns into Takaki's color, not just a dress but all over like blood that rains on the entire body. And Zephyra is willing to do so.

The groom and the bride are escorted to the pavilion by shrine priests and maidens. They make their way to the last priest to give the wooden board to the shrine master.

The groom and the bride bow to respect the place and the shrine master, then step inside toward the table and sit on their knees in front of it. The shrine master offers prayers to the red shrine's god. They share three nuptial cups of sake from the shrine. They take three sips of sake from the small, medium, and large cups, one by one. 

After that, they get up, and the groom looks at the bride and speaks his vow to her.

His eyes are a bit shivering. He is trying to calm himself by reading his written vows out loud while Zephyra's gaze is on him. She listens carefully in her calm way, but her eyes are more intimidating than the rest of the guests. She smiles at him genuinely after hearing some words from his mouth. She chuckles softly, seeing the calm, powerful man in front of her being a little shy. She steps closer to him and nods slightly to soothe him. He sees her beautiful face with a twinkling in her eyes, which makes him even more excited. 

Before the ceremony, Kaiza and Zephyra had to be separated for five days. He can't wait for the shrine master to allow him to kiss her. 

"And the ritual is done."

"!!!"

Suddenly, Kaiza uses his left hand to grab the back of her neck, his right hand to hold her face up to him, and puts his lips on hers. He kisses her deeply and energetically, but he gives a romantic and lusty feeling to her and also to the audience's eyes. 

He keeps putting his lips all over hers gently and softly.

"...enough...hem...enough."

Then, the shrine master calls the groom, who is madly in love with his bride, and Kaiza pulls the kiss away. He smooshes her red lips out accidentally, and the red is on his lips messily, both of them.

"..."

They admire each other without caring about their surroundings.

The guests are all surprised by the erotic scene, including the shrine master.

Finally, the groom and the bride leave the ritual and walk through the pass where all eyes are on them. Zephyra doesn't want to shift her eyes to her guests' side. But not Kaiza, who is walking tall with a head up high and glancing at her often. And shift to the eyes of her guests. The glare that he gives to them is sharper than the gun hits.

Zephyra sees the Takaki men smile and smirk a little like their masters. And she suddenly sees the man on the roof in the corner of her eye while she looks up. She hurriedly blinks her eyes to see again. And the man is gone. Then, she thinks it is because of the illusion of the sunlight.

(The Bamboo house)

The difficult part of the day is done. I couldn't even sleep last night. I had to wake up at 4 am to prepare myself for the ceremony. The maids, the makeup artist, and the dressmaker helped me get ready. It took me almost 4 hours to finish. Walking through that entrance made me so nervous because it was a big, respectful ceremony. If I tripped myself and fell, I would embarrass the Takaki family. Moreover, I walked with Kaiza, soon to be my husband. My legs were shaking, my hands were sweating, and I tried my best to walk in those high wooden shoes and drag the heavy, elegant dress to the inside of the shrine.

"Lady Zephya, I'll wipe the makeup off."

"Sure."

"..."

I look at myself in the mirror while my personal maid wipes the red of my face. Then my eyes shift to my lips. It's already messy before she even touches it. Suddenly, I smile out of the blue. And she looks at me with a curious face.

"Sorry, heh."

I tell her and chuckle lightly.

"You must be thrilled, Lady Zephyra."

She talks to me.

"..."

Part of me feels swirling about the agreement that will continue because of the marriage, but I am also happy and relieved that Kaiza is the one I'm married to. 

"Would you like to change the dress now?"

"Can I clean myself a bit?"

"Yes, while they are coming here, you can rest a little...in the bathtub."

She tells me to make the time useful. 

"Yes, Ma'am."

I tease her.

"Hahaha."

She laughs.

The huge glamorous lawn is already full of guests; the important guests are provided with a full-set wooden table, a table with shortened legs carved in Jasmine ornamental plants with leaves and flowers, and mat seats with half linen and half silk fabric for each set per family. 

The wisteria and cherry blossoms are over the lawn, and the umbrellas interject one another, making everything so captivating and magical. Transform the plain bamboo house into dreamy, fluttering feelings as the official new member of the Takaki family, turning the rusty bloody red into a pastel, colorful spring garden in their lives. 

I am heading to the preparation room in the Gather zone with a lighter dress than the first one. The fabric is from North Mountain; grandma secretly packed several of them in my suitcase. I saw them a week ago, and I gave them to the dressmaker since I really wanted to wear something that would refer to and remind me of my hometown and my mother.

The strapless light blue color around the upper body smoothly turns into purple at the bottom. At the waist, it is wrapped tightly with the white creamy cloth decorated with purple and blue flowers and little white dragons. My hair is pulled back and done with a medium bun at the back, and it is tied neatly with the long see-through coat of the same color as the dress, but there's white in it, covering the dress beautifully. And I lose the hair in front of my cheeks. And my personal maid puts several jasmine flowers over my bun. I ask her to do my makeup naturally since I really don't like something on my face too much. 

"Hi…"

Kaiza greets me while getting up on the floor.

"Hi…"

I greet him back then, and he's about to approach me. I come to him first.

"You…look astounding… I'm lost for words. I'm sorry."

"You keep saying sorry for me these days, Mr. Kaiza."

"..Why are you still calling me Mister…"

"...Kaiza."

"Yes?"

"Hehe."

"Are you ready?"

He asks.

"No…"

"I'm with you, so don't worry…"

He's talking to me, and then he pauses.

"...What is it?"

"They're going to see you…and they are going to come at you…"

"Who?'

I tilt my head.

"...All of them."

"Hmm?"

"Never mind, it's a special day and only one day… I'll let them put eyes on you…"

He's talking to himself.

"..."

Is he serious? 

"But after that… you are all mine…Zephyra." 

He puts his lips beside my ear and says to me.

"!!"

I can feel my cheek getting hotter.

He raises his arms for me to hold. I put my right arm around him, and he slowly puts his lip at my ear to touch and kiss.

"If you feel uncomfortable…"

"I'll tell you."

I finish his sentence.

He looks pleased.

"Woooooo!!!"

The crowd cheers for us after we step outside to the lawn. I see Jodai standing and waiting on the left side, and Jay is on the right side. I glance at him and smile at him. He says nothing, only his gaze. He and Jay wait for us to step ahead so they can go after our backs. The sound of the crowd changes into applause while we walk to our own table, which is at the head center of the location.

We sit together, and some musicians with traditional instruments start playing music in the background. It gives off an old classic vibe but softly enthuses the guests to have fun along with it.

Then, it's time for a speech from the head of the Takaki.

"Today is a very special day. We have a new member joining our family, officially. The first time I saw the young lady, I knew that she could be one of the Takakis. She has been living with us for quite some time. Even though I have known her for... not even a year, hehe, I have personally spent time with her and learned about her personality and her mind over time...She is the Takaki...I want to thank her, who came into our family and brought us a ray of joy into our red, old, rusty blood. Thank you for being my companion during my last period of life...and genuinely being my friend..."

"..."

"And not just for me but for my beloved and stubborn grandson. Zephyra...you don't just only give him joy and light; you also provide him purpose and enthusiasm to live his life in a meaningful way with your authentic, genuine love...which is hard to find. You guys saw him this morning. He couldn't even hold himself around her, hahahaha."

"Hehehe."

Some of the guests agreed, especially the Takaki men.

"You are like the sweet Jasmine and the witty of the Wisteria and blossoms like Sakura trees.. calm as the Bamboo...Like the Peach petal...I think this one describes you the most...fragile but tough....telling that you are constantly rising from...any problematic situation...I would like to take this chance to say to you all...that I will always be your pillar. You will have my support, my care, my love, and my respect, no matter what happens...and Takakis as well."

Mr. Saya gives a speech about Kaiza and me, especially me.

"..."

"Thank you, grandpa..."

I tell him with teary eyes. And Kaiza holding my hands so tight.

"Clap!!!"

And all of them clap for Mr. Saya's speech.

The last speech is for me and for the guests, the special guests who are from my side—the family who raised me with only the roof and torment of emotion—the ones sitting on the beautiful table. The black hair blended with the old white pieces of hair. The grown man, who is getting older and has silver eyes, looks right at Mr. Saya, Kaiza, and me. The woman with golden hair matches the fabulous yellow dress.

Next to the head of the family, the young version of him with black hair neatly done gives off the perfect handsome man for the ladies. Gazing at me with consciousness, worry, and longing.

The same reactions from the woman beside him wearing black and gold jewelry on her hair match her earrings. She's even more into the wedding than the rest of them. 

That is the highlight of our wedding, let them be the witness to the legal reality and ritually that the marriage is happening, the agreement is continuing, and let their business run wild. I'm the one who is going to stop them. Having the respectful old man of all territory on my back. My red king, ready to bite whenever I want to.