The Academy - Side B

One Week

Lila was starting to get slightly annoyed. She'd arrived at Aster villa three weeks before Eri's wedding, to help her and Kazu get things arranged in time. Two weeks had passed since then, and aside from the weekly visits that Kazu made from his temporary quarters in Monsoon Military Academy, Eri acted as though there was no wedding happening at all. On the contrary, she was more concerned about the tests and academic papers she'd just received from her students.

"For goodness sake, Eri, I'm not saying you should gush about your wedding plans, but at least act like you're actually having a wedding next week!"

"Hm? Did you say something Lila?" Eri looked up from the paper she was grading. "I'm really sorry, but I need to send these papers in tomorrow so that the students get their grades on time."

"Never mind." Tying her golden hair in a bun, she looked at the final guest list that Eri had written in her notebook. She and Kazu had tried to make it a small wedding with just family and friends. Eri's and Kazu's families were obviously there; Lila's and Marcus' families had been issued invitations as well, though Lila wasn't sure if anyone besides Luna could make it. Her grandmother was extremely old now, and Uncle Dys was currently managing the estate.

Guardian Sky had also been invited, along with some of Eri's and Kazu's colleagues from their institutions. Kazu had even allowed some of his students to attend the reception, if not the main ceremony, though Marcus had guessed instantly that they were there only for the food (he'd arrived back home two days ago). Eri had also made sure to invite her maternal grandparents and aunt. Though she had only met them a few years ago, they corresponded regularly, and she often visited them in the summer.

Valerian had said that he might make a surprise visit if he wasn't too busy with work. Over the years, he had grown quite fond of Eri, Marcus, and Kazu, and when Lila wrote letters or spoke to them over the communicator, he sent his regards.

*  *  *  *

The next day, Eri was finally free from her responsibilities as a professor (temporarily), which meant that Lila had to get her fitted for her wedding gown. Yes, Eri was getting married in six days with no plans for what she was going to wear.

That was the same day that her mother arrived at Root City, and when she heard about Eri's lack of planning for herself, all she could do was sigh.

Mother and foster daughter (Lila often joked that Eri was also her younger sister) dragged a very nervous Eri to the dressmaker's, and did not leave until sunset, by which time Eri was more than happy to accede to their demands if it meant she'd get to relax.

Luckily, she had the house to herself the next day, because Kazu was coming over for them to work on their vows. As in Lila's wedding, they too would write down a list of vows, which they would then seal in an envelope and hand it over to the official conducting the ceremony, who happened to be Eri's grandfather, in this case. 

Certain individuals were certified to conduct wedding ceremonies after passing a series of examinations given by the government of their country. Usually, these would be students of law; Lord Brickman had cleared the examinations twice. The second time was supposedly because he was bored, according to his wife and daughters.

"Right, let's do this." Kazu stared at the paper, as though he could magically create vows with his glare.

"That's not how to do it," Eri laughed. She gently removed the paper from his hands and wrote down the first vow with her ink pen.

I vow to always keep your spirits up and prevent you, to the best of my ability, from falling into a cycle of self-loathing.

"That was...direct," he mumbled, but Eri noticed how his eyes had lit up on reading it.

"Your turn," she said brightly.

I vow to support your dreams, and help you become the best version of yourself - the person you were destined to be.

On reading this, Eri's signature blush returned. She thought she'd be able to keep her calm around Kazu this time, but that was clearly not happening. "I wonder how many we should write down?" She mused, trying to distract herself from all the thoughts spinning around in her mind.

"I think we should write just a few. It'll be a short ceremony, but it will be meaningful." Kazu fidgeted with the piercing in his ear, something he always did when he was thinking about something. He'd done it for the first time a week after getting the piercing, before his ear had fully gotten used to it. Needless to say, it hadn't ended well.

*  *  *  *

As the days passed, all the guests were getting ready for the wedding. It would take place in a hall nearby, as the back lawn of Aster Villa would not be able to accommodate the students from the military academy when they barged in for the food.

The day before the wedding, Kazu had moved all his things into the villa, and was currently sharing a room with Marcus, who would be a Companion for the wedding, along with Lila.

Lila, for her part, had been trying to explain to Eri what would happen to her on her wedding night...something Tia Rosen had also tried to explain a few days back as well. Fortunately or unfortunately for the two, Eri had read multiple books on the human body over the years, the first one being when she'd sneaked into the village doctor's office as a child. In my defense, I'd finished reading all the books at home, she thought.

Of course, despite knowing the theory, she didn't quite get why it was such a big deal. "You'll understand eventually," Lila had said, patting her best friend's shoulder before going to sleep in the room they were sharing for the night.

No matter how hard she tried, Eri just couldn't sleep. She tossed and turned (Lila was a heavy sleeper; nothing could wake her up) for hours before giving up and leaving the room to find Kazu.