Author's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Vongrak.
"So... we're married." Taylor said, sounding much calmer than I expected, as we walked down the hallway, my arm around hers as Taylor led the way.
"We are," I said easily. "How are you feeling?" I asked gently. Taylor remained silent as we walked.
"Like a dream," Taylor said gently. "Like it wasn't real, it was... so anticlimactic I still can't believe it." Taylor added, and I nodded sympathetically.
"It was anticlimactic, I mean, you expect marrying someone to be a more... notable event than simply signing a few papers in the university director's office." I said with a small smile, Taylor nodded.
"I really... don't like that we had to get married out of necessity, but... I like thinking of you as my husband." Taylor said shyly, my eyes sparkled and I smiled at them, bumping my hip lightly with her.
"And I'm so excited that you're going to be my wife, and don't forget, we have to consummate our marriage, I really want to make love to my WIFE." I said huskily, and Taylor blushed slightly before coughing softly.
"And you ruined the moment again," Taylor said dryly, though I could see she was biting her lip for the same reason. I chuckled and didn't point it out.
"So... should I feel insulted that you chose the name Miyamura just because of my mother?" I asked playfully, and Taylor blushed even more.
"I didn't choose it just for that!" Taylor squealed, embarrassed. I burst out laughing.
Japanese law was clear: a married couple between two Japanese citizens must share a single surname. It did not allow combined surnames or for each person to continue using their maiden names.
Since Taylor was a foreigner, the Japanese government didn't actually have any power to change her surname in any way, except that upon marriage she was granted Japanese nationality instantly, and that meant the law came into effect for Taylor, even during our marriage.
This law only applied to the man's first wife. The foundational role of the first wife as the basis of the marriage needed to be ensured by sharing a surname, especially since this was how the family was formed. Subsequent wives could decide whether to keep their maiden name or adopt the family name.
So, she was my first wife, and we both had to decide what surname to share.
Nezu had several identical papers ready, each with a different name. That damn rat really had everything prepared. He had papers in case I took the name Taylor and became Hebert. He even had extra papers to change my last name, in case we decided to take Grandpa's name and call ourselves Shimotsuki, or even if we wanted to call ourselves Zenin, which almost made me want to throw up.
Izumi Zenin and Taylor Zenin filled me with visceral disgust, so much so that I tore up the paperwork for that option and fed the remains to Orochi. I had nothing against Shimotsuki, but I had never thought of myself as Shimotsuki. I loved my grandfather, but that was his name, not mine.
Besides, he never really cared about the continuation of his name; he never insisted that I call myself Shimotsuki and carry on his 'legacy,' so it didn't really matter. So there were only two options left, or rather, just one.
Taylor didn't want us to become Herberts; she really wanted to distance herself as much as possible from her biological family. And, in turn, the most important reason? She really wanted to have her mother's last name.
I couldn't blame her; I would never change my last name. Miyamura was the name Mom chose for herself when she left the Zenin clan; it's the name she gave me, and it's not something I would ever give up.
So we both agreed on what our last name would be.
Izumi and Taylor Miyamura.
It sounded really good if I had to say it.
"I guess you'll have to tell the PRT." I said playfully, and Taylor groaned deeply.
"Don't even mention it. I don't want to have that long talk. Nezu said I could just keep it hidden and only mention it if they do something during the internship, but I just want to... get it over with."
"I don't even want to give them the chance to try anything. I'm... so upset about the situation. I just want them to leave me alone. I've already made peace with leaving Brockton Bay for good, but they keep insisting." Taylor sighed sadly, and I hummed.
"The curse of the strong, I suppose, but I'll support you in whatever you want to do, you know that. I won't say it will be any different here in Japan; we have our own problems, as you well know." I said with a grimace.
"But you're here, and that's enough," Taylor said without a hint of doubt. I smiled broadly and squeezed his arm tightly.
"And I'm glad you're here," I replied. Taylor just smiled slightly. "We still have to tell the girls," I said playfully. Taylor snorted.
"Ruby will complain and demand the same treatment before happily congratulating us, Azula will be amused by Nezu's manipulation of the rules, and Darkness… I haven't the slightest idea what she'll want. It's just as possible she'll be thrilled to be the 'other' woman outside of marriage as a mistress, or she'll look for some legal way to become your pet or slave or something like that," Taylor said dryly. I burst out laughing.
"Yes, I can see it," I said playfully. Taylor smiled slightly.
"Won't the Zenins complain that you're married?" Taylor asked with a hum, my eyes twinkling slightly.
"I hope so," I said with a wide smile. "I'm sure they were hoping one of them would be my first wife so they could force me to change my last name to Zenin and control me or something, but they can all go to hell." I said dismissively. Taylor sighed wearily.
"Honestly, going from terrorist attacks to classes and then to political games is going to give me a headache," Taylor said ruefully. I looked at her slyly.
"Regretting marrying me and all the problems it brings?" I asked playfully, Taylor snorted.
"Never," Taylor said immediately. "I put up with you daily. I'm more than capable of enduring a little politicking from the PRT and the Japanese government." Taylor said, winking at me mockingly. I snorted, amused.
"How amusing," I said sarcastically with a smile. Taylor shrugged, smiling back. "Very well, my wife, let's return to the bedrooms. We have a marriage to consummate," I said, wiggling my eyebrows. Taylor snorted.
"Of course not, Aizawa kicked us out of class, Present Mic must still be in the classroom, we have to go back." Taylor said dryly, I looked at her incredulously.
"We just got married and you want to go back to school?" I asked incredulously. Taylor looked at me petulantly.
"What are you talking about? We've been married for over a year, today isn't that special." Taylor mocked, and I paused for a few seconds as my smile grew.
"Well played, Mrs. Miyamura, well played." I said playfully.
"I learned from the best, Mr. Miyamura," Taylor said mischievously. "From Principal Nezu," she added with a smile. We both looked at each other before laughing heartily.
"By the way, if we do a traditional Japanese ceremony, I don't plan on using a Shiromuku in the ceremony." I said firmly, and Taylor raised a curious eyebrow.
"That's... the bridal kimono, isn't it? " Taylor asked, repeating the word slowly. I nodded.
"The same, I don't plan on using anything white." I snorted dryly. Taylor smirked at me.
"Of course not, you don't have an inch of purity in your body." Taylor mocked, and I snorted.
"I'll let you know that you took away my purity, I'm completely devastated." I said in pain as I placed a hand on my heart, Taylor sneered.
"I'll remind you I took responsibility, I married you." She said playfully, and my smile grew.
"Touche, my wife, touche." I said playfully. Taylor smiled smugly. "Even so, I won't wear white. In fact, I much prefer a Montsuki or something completely black, even over any other formal wear." I said without hesitation. Taylor hummed.
"The... Monstuki is the most formal kimono for women, right? If I'm not mistaken, it would be very similar to your hero costume?" Taylor asked curiously, and I nodded.
"Likewise." I said simply, and Taylor nodded.
"I'm not really... that sure about traditional Japanese clothing. I heard the other girls in the class mention that your kimono was more feminine than masculine. I thought you chose it for its mobility," Taylor said matter-of-factly. I grimaced; she wasn't entirely wrong.
Men were supposed to wear tighter kimonos to accentuate their figures, with more decorations and colors, which, well, no, I wouldn't wear in a million years. I could adjust to many things in this new world, but clothing was a big no-no. I would continue to wear loose and comfortable clothes over anything this world thinks men should wear.
"Partly, but I just... don't like men's kimonos." I said with a grimace. Taylor just nodded and then shrugged.
"I have no problem with that, use whatever you think is most comfortable, I'll adapt to anything." Taylor said easily, I sighed.
"You'll say 'yes, darling' to all my demands about the wedding, won't you? " I asked mockingly. Taylor smiled at me petulantly.
"Yes, darling," she said playfully. I snorted and my eyes twinkled with amusement; challenge accepted.
"Our wedding cake will be entirely made of chocolate."
"Yes, darling, I'm sure Mom will take care of the cake."
"There will be a buffet, only with chocolate desserts, no, there will be two buffets, a normal one for everyone else and the chocolate one just for me."
"Yes, darling, all the chocolate you want."
"I want the cake to have seven tiers, but each tier should be a different type of chocolate."
"Yes, darling, although I'm really starting to worry that all the demands involve chocolate, I'd rather you didn't die of diabetes before our wedding night and honeymoon."
"Ah, then I'll forgo the lingerie made of chocolate or the requirement that all guests give chocolate bars to be allowed into the ceremony, but in return I want a full show with your insects, fireflies, butterflies, and all that."
"Yes, darling, I'll get thousands of fireflies, blue Morpho butterflies, silk moths, and any other insects you want. On a side note, I'm really worried about your chocolate addiction."
"Don't worry, chocolate is my eternal ally, no, my soulmate, it would never betray me and kill me by consuming too much. Anyway, I don't plan to use a bouquet and I'm definitely not going to throw it, but yes, to the wedding march, but the music will be replaced by mariachis, although nobody knows why, including us."
"Yes, darling, are you going to do an entrance dance? It'll be quite a show, another note, should I be jealous of the chocolate?"
"Dancing at the entrance? No, but I want our first dance to be a Haka. Yes, I want to force all the guests to perform a perfect Haka while we watch with absolute dignity. And by the way, why be jealous of chocolate when you can use it as lingerie and make me love you twice as much?"
"Pff, yes, darling, it will be difficult to get everyone to learn it, but I'm sure they will, and going back to the chocolate lingerie, I see you haven't given up."
"I'm just saying, whether you want to surprise me or not, that's up to you. I'm sure you'll choose the right option. Now, did I mention the location of our wedding?"
"Not yet, but I know it will be wonderful."
"Ah, then you'll love to know the following."
I started saying increasingly absurd things while Taylor stifled a laugh and kept saying 'yes, dear' while throwing out random comments. I smiled happily before looking at my left hand and pausing for a second.
"Have you run out of ideas?" Taylor asked playfully. I rolled my eyes.
"Of course not, I was thinking of leaving our wedding in a wedding car, but instead of a car, it'll be a pink elephant with a sign that says, 'Warning, do not look over the elephant. There may be sudden moans.'" I said immediately, Taylor stifled a laugh.
"Yes, darling, I suppose that'll be your summoning, Max Elephant, won't it?" Taylor asked playfully. I smiled broadly as Taylor shook her head. "Aside from how awkward it would be to have sex on top of an elephant, I'm sure we'd get arrested for public indecency, or at the very least for disturbing the peace by riding an elephant on the roads," Taylor said with amusement.
"Fugitives from the law as newlyweds? It only makes it better," I said mischievously. Taylor snorted amusedly. "Wedding aside—"
"So fast? There are still more things to do, I have all your demands written down." Taylor interrupted me with a huge mocking smile, and I rolled my eyes.
"As I was saying, putting that aside, do you want to use wedding rings at this time?" I asked as I raised my completely bare left hand forward, without any ring; the one I had used to make the joke was already back in my inventory once again.
Taylor paused silently for a few seconds before raising her own left hand and placing it on top of mine, both completely naked. She didn't close it between my fingers; she simply held her hand outstretched, on top of mine.
I was about to turn my hand around and grab it when several insects approached and dropped a few spiders onto our hands. I didn't even flinch at the insects crawling on my skin. I watched curiously as the spiders began to spin a silken ring around our ring fingers.
My smile grew as I let the spiders finish their work, and once they did, they began to join our rings together with a long line of silk.
"There it is, we have our rings and we're joined, completely married," Taylor said with a silly grin. My smile grew even wider, and I carefully turned my hand so as not to break the silk and wrapped my fingers around hers.
"It's perfect," I told Taylor as I used my free hand to pull her into a kiss. Taylor melted into my arms as we kissed deeply and intimately. I don't know how long it lasted, or how long we were kissing in the middle of one of the UA hallways, but I couldn't care less. I just kept kissing her while trying to press myself completely against her body.
Taylor didn't seem to want to let go either, her arm wrapped around my hair. We finally stopped kissing, but we didn't separate; we remained embraced as she rested her forehead against mine.
"I love you." Taylor sighed with her eyes closed, and I smiled slightly.
"I love you," I told Taylor with all the love I felt for her. I could feel Taylor smiling foolishly. We stood in silence in the middle of the hallway for several long minutes.
"We have to go back to class." Taylor sighed wearily, as she reluctantly pulled away.
"I hate that you're responsible." I huffed as I complained, but I also pulled away before looking at our left hands completely clasped together. "It'll be awkward walking with our left hands clasped together," I said playfully. Taylor looked down at our clasped hands as she tried to simulate the logistics of movement.
"Ah." Taylor said foolishly before pouting. I rolled my eyes as I smiled. I let the shadows envelop our hands before absorbing only the silk.
"I'll keep it as a precious memory," I said playfully. "But we'll have to secure some real alliances," I added simply. Taylor sighed.
"I'll look for nearby jewelry stores and ask Sensei for permission to go out one of these days, or I'll look online," Taylor finally said. I chuckled while shaking my head playfully.
"Let's get back to class before I decide it would be more fun to go to one of the empty classrooms," I said playfully. Taylor gently took my arm before we started walking again.
I really didn't expect to end up married today, but I wasn't upset in the slightest.
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