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“I appreciate everyone for coming to this meeting. I’ve been informed that due to the changing laws in Shinkoumi, the mainland government wants employment forms to prove that you work here legally as well as proof of your existence. I understand that it’s a pain, but we have to do what we have to do in order to stay in business. If all of you could get a copy of some kind of ID as well as sign this employment form within the next two weeks, it would be greatly appreciated.”
The Roost manager had called all of his employees to a meeting—which was rare—to discuss the changing laws of Shinkoumi. Ever since the fall of the Takasato-gumi, the mainland government has been working hard to try and establish order in Shinkoumi. One big problem they faced was that many citizens weren’t registered in the family registry, and thus legally didn’t exist. In order to properly document citizens, the government now requires citizens to have an ID and to enter themselves in the family registry in order for them to do many things, such as traveling abroad and signing any kind of legal document like a will. In addition to this, the government has asked all businesses to submit a form signed by each employee, so that they can document workers as well as verify that the business is legal.
Towa was already very familiar with these changes. Not long ago, Fujieda had brought this up himself. He had asked Towa to take his family name. By family name, he of course didn’t mean Yuzuki, which was his birth name. Fujieda had already legally changed his name a long time ago. Towa was initially shocked at the proposition, but was secretly very happy. Even though Fujieda was not asking Towa for his hand in marriage, it still felt like a proposal nonetheless. Towa told Fujieda that he would think about it, but in reality, he already knew that he would agree to it. It wasn’t long after that his name legally became Fujieda Towa.
Thus, when it came time for Towa to submit this employment form, he naturally signed it as Fujieda Towa. When he gave it to the manager, he quirked his eyebrow at the name but didn’t ask for any further information. Towa could tell from his expression that he had already come to some sort of conclusion. After that, he didn’t think that his name change would ever come up again, but boy was he wrong.
Honami was in the staff room packing up for the night when they saw a form on the table. The manager, noticing Honami’s line of sight, answered their wordless question.
“That’s Towa’s employment form.”
“Ohhhh. I see.”
Honami didn’t think anything more of it and continued packing up. As they were about to leave the staff room, they unconsciously took another glance at the form, where something on it had caught their eye.
“Fujieda? Wait a minute, you said that was Towa’s form.”
“It is.”
“Fujieda… Oh my god. DID THEY GET MARRIED!?”
“Who knows?” the manager responded cryptically. Though from his tone, Honami could tell that he had come to the same conclusion.
“Holy shit, there’s no way. Did he already leave?”
“He did.”
“Fuck, I can’t ask him about it. Is he working tomorrow?”
“I believe he is.”
“Okay, I can ask him tomorrow. Holy shit.”
The manager chuckled and went back to the bar counter. Honami saw Arata peeking into the doorway of the staff room looking visibly confused. They ran over to Arata to catch them up on their latest revelation.
“What are you yelling about someone getting married?”
“Arata, you won’t believe this. Towa took Fujieda-san’s name. They got MARRIED.”
“Wait, seriously? You’re sure?”
“Well, I’m gonna ask Towa tomorrow, but I mean, c’mon. Why else would you take someone else’s name?”
“I guess you’re right. If they really did, then I’m happy for them.”
“Right? They make a good pair.”
As the pair left Roost and said their farewells to the manager, he could hear Honami gossiping about Towa’s love life—which gradually faded into the distance—until they got too far away for him to hear their chatter.
“Towa, I have something very important to ask you,” Honami said to Towa the moment they saw him the next night.
“What?”
“Did you and Fujieda-san get married?”
“Well…”
Towa assumed that if Honami was asking that, then they must have seen his signature on the employment form with his new legal name. He debated whether to get technical with the truth or to just tell them they got married. He ultimately decided to play along with Honami’s assumption. After all, they live together and Towa took his family name. They may as well be married.
“We did.”
“OH MY GOD!”
The entire bar fell silent and turned to stare in Honami’s direction. Realizing that they had gotten very loud, they sheepishly laughed it off. After a few seconds, the patrons stopped caring and returned to their previous conversations.
“There’s no need to be that loud. My ears hurt,” Towa rebuked, rubbing his ears exaggeratingly.
“Sorry. But this is a big deal.”
“It is?”
“Of course it is! Considering your previous lifestyle, it’s a miracle. Congratulations! Tell Fujieda-san to stop by soon so I can tell him congratulations too.”
“Okay.”
“Ahhhh~ I still can’t believe it. Oh my god, we have to throw you a celebration party.”
“That’s really not necessary.”
“Oh but it is. You go swing the idea by Fujieda-san and the manager can figure something out.”
“Okay.”
“Wait a minute. I’m surprised I didn’t hear anything about it from Rei. Surely, you would have invited him?”
“We did it for legal reasons. There was no traditional ceremony.”
“Ohhhh, I get it. You wanted it to be more private. That makes sense for the two of you. But we still have to throw some kind of celebration. You only get married once.”
“Not really. Divorce exists.”
“Well… Okay, true. But Fujieda-san is such a loyal and upright guy, he’d never divorce you. So YOU in particular will only get married once. That’s something to celebrate.”
“Okay.”
“Sigh. Even with something as big as this, you’re still so nonchalant. It’s kinda impressive how calm you can be. If I was the one getting married, you wouldn’t hear me shut up about it. I would be showing off my ring all the time and-”
“Is there anything else you need to ask?” Towa huffed with a slight eye twitch.
Honami could tell that Towa was growing annoyed, and knew it was time for them to shut up. So they smacked him on the back and let him be. Before getting back to work, Honami sent a quick text to Arata, saying that their suspicions about Towa were correct. Now in a good mood at Towa’s good news, Honami began to clean the table of a customer who had just left.
It had been a few days since Arata got the text from Honami that Towa was officially married. Arata gave Towa their congratulations, but otherwise left Towa alone. They understood that some people liked their privacy and didn’t want to badger him. While taking someone’s order, Arata noticed a very familiar figure enter the bar. It was Fujieda. Fujieda would occasionally visit Roost and get a non-alcoholic drink when Towa wasn’t working late into the night. He would stay until Towa’s shift ended and take him home. As Arata gave the tab order to the manager, they saw Towa go over to Fujieda with some kind of drink. Arata hadn’t seen Fujieda since Towa broke the news, so they wanted to give their congratulations.
“Fujieda-san,” Arata called out courteously.
“Ah, Arata-san. I hope you’re doing well,” Fujieda responded just as courteously.
“Thank you, I am. I’m sure you’ve been doing extra well recently.”
“...I suppose you could say that, though I’m not quite sure what you mean.”
“I mean that you must be extra happy because of your recent marriage. Congratulations.”
At the word ‘marriage,’ Fujieda almost spat out his drink and started coughing violently. Arata’s hands hovered over Fujieda waiting to see if he needed help. Meanwhile, Towa stood there with an amused expression. While Arata waited for Fujieda to compose himself, they heard a yell from across the bar.
“HUHHHHH!!!???”
The source of the shriek, who was now dashing over to them, was Rei.
“MARRIAGE!? What are you talking about!?”
“Didn’t Honami tell you? Fujieda-san and Towa got married.”
“WHAT!? Towa, you got married and didn’t tell me? You didn’t invite me? What the fuck!?”
“Rei, don’t get angry. Honami said it was for legal reasons so it was nothing big.”
“If it makes you feel better, no one was invited,” Towa added.
“......Well, fine, I guess. But you should have told me. I would have gotten a gift or something…”
“What’s this about Towa and Fujieda-san getting married!?”
Yet another shriek rang out in the bar, which this time belonged to Junko.
“APPARENTLY, Towa got married and decided to not tell anyone,” Rei pouted.
“HUH? When did this happen!?”
“I don’t know. I just found out. Towa, you’re so cruel! How could you not tell us!?”
“Guys, you’re making a commotion…” Arata attempted to placate.
“So they eloped then… Oh my god, that’s crazy. Well, congratulations!” Junko earnestly said.
“Hey, wait a minute. Towa, you don’t have a ring on or anything…” Rei observed.
“Maybe it was Towa who proposed?” Junko suggested.
“Towa? Proposing? No way~ Even if he were to, he’d do it in the least romantic way possible. It’d probably be something like: ‘Will you share this glass of booze with me forever?’”
“I don’t sound like that. And I wouldn’t say that.”
“You’re right. You’ve moved past your days of eating booze for breakfast. This just feels so sudden though. Could this have been a shotgun wedding?”
“I feel like shotgun weddings only happen when something unexpected comes along. Like a baby or something,” Junko chimed in.
“That’s true. There’s definitely no baby involved with these two.”
Fujieda gave a helpless look to Towa, his eyes pleading for him to do something. Towa just smirked at him. Fujieda then realized that Towa wasn’t going to do a damn thing to clear up this misunderstanding.
“Damn, now I really want wedding cake. Towa! You better throw a wedding after party and invite me.”
“Have you ever even been to a wedding?” Junko asked.
“Well, no. So this can be my first. Fujieda-san is rich—I’m sure he could afford some high quality cake. What would be the best flavour though?”
“Personally, I think red velvet is absolutely delish.”
“Oh my god, you’re so right. Ahhhh, that would be so good~”
Having enough of this, Fujieda stood up and cut off their conversation. His ears were flushed, which made Towa smirk even more.
“Stop. Stop! Enough. We’re not married.”
“......Huh?” Rei, Junko, and Arata all looked at Fujieda confusedly.
“I don’t know what Towa told you exactly, but we’re not married.”
“But Honami said Towa took your family name…” Arata said.
“Wait, seriously!? Fujieda Towa, huh…” Rei said, feeling how Towa’s new name sounded on his tongue.
“It’s true that Towa took my family name, but it was purely for legal reasons. He did it so he could enter the family registry. He didn’t register as…my spouse,” Fujieda said, with the last part making his face flush an even deeper shade of red. “All that happened is he took my name. We’re not married.”
“I see,” Arata calmly said.
“Awwwww, what a bummer~” Junko said disappointedly.
“Towa, you liar! You scared me~ I really thought you got married without bothering to tell me. I almost had a heart attack~ When you get married for real, you better tell me beforehand and invite me.”
“I will.”
“Damn right you will.”
Rei pouted and gave Towa a glare before walking away to the other side of the bar with a ‘hmmph.’ He went into a corner, took out his phone, and started furiously texting someone—probably Honami or Taku. Junko gave a slightly awkward wave before going back to work.
Arata turned towards Fujieda and Towa and gave them an awkward, apologetic smile, “I didn’t realize that I had misunderstood. Sorry for causing all of that.” Arata bowed and then left to deliver a drink.
Fujieda let out a sigh and gave Towa an exasperated look.
“......Really?”
“......Need some booze?”
“I’m driving. I can’t drink.”
“Ah.”
“But you’re pouring me a glass of wine once we get home.”
“Alright.”
After Towa clocked out for the night, he and Fujieda walked out of Roost and into Fujieda’s car. The engine roared to life and they left to go to their condo. Towa tapped his finger on his knee as he watched the lights of the buildings flash by. When they stopped at a red light, Towa looked over to Fujieda. From the way his brows were furrowed, Towa could tell there was something on his mind.
“If there’s something you wanna say, just say it.”
Fujieda’s lips pursed in response. Towa could tell he was debating whether to respond or not. After a few seconds of silent deliberation, Fujieda spoke up.
“......Why did you tell them we were married?”
“Because it was funny to see the looks on their faces.”
“Marriage is something which should be taken seriously. You shouldn’t joke about it.”
“It’s not that serious.”
“It is for a lot of people.”
“What would marriage even change between us? It’s just a piece of paper.”
“It’s more than that for a lot of people.”
“Then what about you? Is it important to you?”
“Well…”
Fujieda trailed off into silence. Towa noticed his hands grip the steering wheel tighter. After a few seconds of Towa waiting for Fujieda to continue, he did just that.
“...I don’t know what a happy marriage is supposed to look like.”
“Me neither. But that doesn’t answer my question.”
Fujieda didn’t respond right away. Towa could tell that he was trying to gather his thoughts and voice them properly, so Towa didn’t rush him to answer.
“...I think marriage is important, or at least it should be. Even if it wouldn’t change much between us, I still want it to mean something. I……”
“But you have reservations,” Towa finished.
“I suppose you could say that.”
“When you asked me to take your name, you were pretty adamant about not getting married. Scared you’ll have second thoughts about being with me?”
“Don’t talk like that. That’s not how I meant it. I just don’t want to rush anything. The only example I have to go off of is my parents, and they’re the last people I want to end up like. I want to take things slow. I don’t want to mess anything up between us. …I want to treasure what I already have.”
“...Oh.”
“But it’s something I want, eventually. That’s something I can be certain about. …Is it something you want?”
“I wouldn’t say I want it, but I wouldn’t mind it either.”
“I see.”
“I’ve never really thought about it before. I never thought there would be anyone out there who I would actually want to marry. And I never thought there would be anyone out there who loved me, never mind want to marry me. It really never crossed my mind that it was something that could happen to me.”
“What do you think now? Could it happen to you?”
Fujieda quickly glanced at Towa, who gave a genuine smile and responded, “Maybe.” Seeing his smile, Fujieda couldn’t help but smile too.
“You better not propose to me in this car,” Towa remarked.
“I wouldn’t do that. I have more tact than that.”
“Heh. Well, I wouldn’t mind even if you did.” Towa heard Fujieda let out a faint gasp. “Or maybe, I could even be the one to propose to you.”
His hand moved to Fujieda’s thigh and it playfully trailed down it.
“Towa, not here.”
“How would you want to be proposed to? A public spectacle? Something more private? Or maybe…in bed?” Towa said, the last part coming out as a whisper.
His fingers traced Fujieda’s knee before crawling back up his thigh, inching closer and closer to his groin. Without looking away from the road, Fujieda swatted Towa’s hand away from his legs.
“Behave.”
“But what if I can’t wait?”
“You can wait the five minutes it takes to get home.”
“But I need to be taken to bed so I can propose to you,” Towa said with the fakest pout that Fujieda had ever heard.
“Bed is not in this car. And I never said I wanted that! If you propose to me in bed, I’ll say no.”
“Would you really?”
“...Yes.”
“You hesitated to say that.”
“I did no such thing.”
“You definitely would say yes.”
“Towa.”
“Hmm?”
“Shut up. We’ll pick up this conversation again when you’re less…riled up.”
Towa chuckled and said nothing more. After a few more minutes of driving, they pulled into the parking garage. Fujieda unbuckled his seat belt and started opening his car door when he noticed that Towa wasn’t moving.
“Towa?”
Towa turned to look at Fujieda with a serious but loving look.
“Just so you know, you wouldn’t mess anything up. Even if you were to royally fuck up, you’d never be like them. If you want to ruin me, you need to put in a lot more effort,” Towa finished with a teasing smirk.
Fujieda stood there astonished. Even if Towa’s words seemed more playful than serious, Fujieda felt extremely reassured.
He smiled right back at Towa and said, “I see. I’ll continue to put in little effort in that regard.”
Towa’s smirk widened at Fujieda going along with his remark, and the two of them got out of the car.
“Now, being the dutiful person that you are, I think you could help me with my…urges.”
“I believe you owe me a glass of wine first.”
“All I promised is that I’d pour you one when we get home. You never said anything about what time.”
“...Cheeky, aren’t you?”
“That’s me. Now how about you help out a poor man in need, partner.”
Fujieda wordlessly shook his head and chuckled. He grabbed Towa by the hand and led him out of the garage and into the door of their condo. Before meeting each other, the two had never thought there would be a day where marriage would be a possibility in their futures. But now that they had each other, the possibilities for where their lives could take them was endless. No matter which direction they decided to take, a world of light awaited them. They no longer had to live in the darkness, because they no longer had to face the world alone. They could face whatever each new day brought them hand-in-hand. They bore the scars of the past, but they also held the love they felt for each other deep in their hearts. No matter which label they decided to use to define their relationship in the future, that love would always hold steady. Because there was no one in the world who understood them better than each other.