Author's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Vongrak.
"Marriage!?" Taylor squealed incredulously, Nezu smiled broadly as he nodded.
"Yes, that would give us a great advantage! Under normal circumstances, for an adult exchange student, you would be responsible for any general legal matters involving you; the PRT and the US have no legal jurisdiction here in Japan."
"But your situation is... not unique, but extraordinary, Miss Hebert. The USA, the PRT, and the Federal Bureau of Hunters care about you enough to grasp at any excuse to bring you back, even though it's not really possible."
"The way they'll most likely try? It would be to remove you from the exchange program, cancel your UA enrollment. The law is clear: while you attend UA, you are considered a temporary Japanese citizen; without UA, you have no citizenship."
"That would mean your visa would expire and you'd be in Japan illegally," Nezu said with a hum.
"Wait, they'd deport me?!" Taylor asked, pale. "Wouldn't that be fixed if Japan gave me citizenship?!" she asked quickly. Nezu chuckled softly.
"It could, yes, that would solve it, and under normal circumstances, Japan would keep you here, with or without citizenship, but now I have no idea if they will!!" Nezu said cheerfully. "Just as much as the U.S. wants you, Japan wants you too! But right now, Japanese politics is somewhat... sensitive. With All Might's retirement still too recent, Japan is on high alert. Our two National Rankers have retired, while the U.S. still has all of its National Rankers."
"Either Japan will want to rebuild and increase its ranks of S-Rank hunters, or they won't want to enter into a conflict against the US that they know we'll lose. And that's without even starting to talk about the more... sensitive situations."
"Tell me, what do you know about Goto Ryuko?" Nezu asked with a dangerous smile, my eyes narrowed.
"Um... not much?" Taylor said, confused by the question.
"Leader of the Draw Sword Guild, S-Rank hunter, the strongest S-Rank in Japan 'officially', seeks to become a National Rank." I said immediately. Nezu nodded happily.
"Exactly! Goto is aiming for a National Rank, and there are a lot of people who will want to support her without hesitation. For them, it's vitally important that we regain a National Rank. And as you well know, Goto hates you." Nezu said with a smile, and Taylor shuddered slightly.
"For Shusui?" Taylor said with a grimace. Nezu nodded.
"Shusui is more than a katana, it's a symbol. Ryuma was and still is very beloved in Japan. Shusui would give Goto more legitimacy, something he's almost desperately seeking, to the point that if you ever needed citizenship, Goto would appear just to offer it to you in exchange for Shusui. If you refuse, she's very likely to be one of those who agree to your deportation in the event of a loss of citizenship." Nezu snorted. Taylor gritted his teeth.
"Is there... is there any way to avoid that? Is there a way to get citizenship? " Taylor asked slowly.
"That's what marriage is for! That would automatically give you permanent citizenship! You're lucky! Before the era of quirks, hunters, and Gates, obtaining citizenship, even through marriage, was really difficult! It required one year of continuous residency and three years of marriage, or even more. But when countries started 'stealing' promising people, all countries changed their laws and lessened the requirement for residency and the like; citizenship by marriage was one of them.
"Marrying a man from this country gives you immediate and permanent Japanese citizenship. Japan could keep you here without any problems. No one could deport you and prevent you from staying in Japan, not even the Japanese government!" Nezu said happily.
"Couldn't the Japanese government exile me anyway or annul the marriage?" Taylor asked, surprised.
"Of course not, not without a truly credible excuse, and an annulment is impossible as long as the marriage is completely valid, that is, that there are no mitigating circumstances such as coersion or that one of them is a minor, and since that didn't happen, it's impossible to annul it."
"What they could do is declare it illegal if they got creative, but that would only happen if they were able to find the documentation quickly enough to make it completely legal," Nezu said with a hum.
"So... how would we get married now? This week? " Taylor asked, confused.
"Get married?" Nezu asked, a smile spreading across his face. "What are you talking about? You two are ALREADY married," Nezu said, his grin wide. Taylor blinked.
"We're not—what? " Taylor asked, completely confused. Nezu chuckled slightly.
"What do you mean, 'no'? It was a beautiful wedding that took place a year ago." Nezu chuckled softly as he opened one of his drawers.
"Wedding?! What wedding?!" Taylor asked, increasingly confused.
"A wedding, Miss Hebert, my apologies, I mean, Mrs. Miyamura, here are the papers in case you've forgotten." Nezu chuckled as he placed the papers on his desk. Taylor immediately grabbed them and began reading, her eyes widening.
"Did you just... Did you just falsify public records? " Taylor asked, almost horrified.
"It... I'm extremely offended that you're accusing me of a crime, Mrs. Miyamura. They're completely legal, I had nothing to do with them." Nezu said, sounding completely disappointed with a touch of indignation.
"There was no wedding!" Taylor said almost desperately.
"Mrs. Miyamura, if you're suffering from memory loss, perhaps you should get a checkup with Recovery Girl. What a tragedy, forgetting your own wedding," Nezu said worriedly.
"B-but-" Taylor stammered before turning to face me. "Izumi!" Taylor squealed almost desperately. I suppressed the huge, deranged grin that wanted to erupt on my face and looked at Taylor sadly.
"Honey, are you saying you don't remember our wedding? The party? Our wedding night? Our honeymoon? How could you forget it? It was so special! " I exclaimed sadly. Taylor stared at me incredulously, opening and closing her mouth, not understanding what on earth I was thinking.
"That- no-" Taylor tried to stammer as she looked between Nezu and me. I put my left hand in my pocket and from my shadow pulled out a small ring and discreetly placed it on my finger.
"Taylor... where's your wedding ring?" I asked tensely as I pulled my hand out of my pocket and visibly fiddled with a ring on my ring finger. It wasn't a wedding band, definitely not, but I had a couple of rings tucked away in my pocket. I pulled out the closest match and discreetly covered it with my fingers to pass it off as a wedding band.
Taylor's eyes opened wide as she paled, her hand going to her left ring finger as if something was about to appear immediately.
"There was no wedding!" Taylor cried desperately.
"Mrs. Miyamura, that... is worrying. I think I have something that might jog your memory," Nezu said, concerned, as he pulled more things from his desk drawer—this time, photographs. He placed them on the desk, and not even my Disinterested State could prevent the deranged grin from spreading across my face.
I loved him, I loved that damn rat, Nezu was a damn genius. The photographs were pictures of a wedding between Taylor and me, obviously completely fake, but they looked so realistic that it was impossible to tell them apart from a fake.
The best part is that Nezu was the damn wedding officiant in the photograph.
"This never happened!" Taylor squealed, blushing, as she clutched the photographs shakily, like she was completely out of her mind. I bit my lip hard to keep from bursting out laughing.
"Principal, Miyamura, that's enough," Aizawa finally said with a long sigh. We stopped and clicked our tongues at the same time.
"Boring, Sensei." "Boring, Shota." We said at the same time. Aizawa's eye began to twitch slightly.
"Oh thank goddess, it was all fake." Taylor sighed, completely relieved. I smiled broadly, then Taylor glared at me, her hand immediately going to my hip and pinching me with all the force she could muster. "You damn idiot!"
"Ow, ow, ow, it hurts!" I yelped in pain, but even then my smile didn't fade. "Why aren't you attacking the principal? He started it! "
"I can't pinch him! So I'll pinch you twice as much! " Taylor growled, completely furious. Nezu started laughing hysterically, and I glared at him while wincing in pain. Even so, I didn't defend myself or stop her from pinching me. After a few minutes, Taylor finally got her revenge, huffed, and crossed her arms.
"Shall we continue?" Nezu asked cheerfully. Taylor sighed wearily and nodded.
"Wait, can I keep the picture?" I asked, pointing at the fake photograph. Nezu smiled broadly and simply slid it in my direction.
"If you liked that photo, I have several more," Nezu said cheerfully. He took out more photos and placed them on the desk. They were all different "versions" of our "wedding"; a completely traditional Japanese wedding, with the suits and everything; another was a beach wedding; another, but with more modern attire, a suit and dress for formal weddings; another in a huge church and more—there were a dozen different variations in the images.
"Seriously?! Where did these photos come from?! " Taylor squealed, embarrassed.
"I made them!" Nezu said proudly.
"They're truly amazing, you really have talent." I told Nezu happily, and Nezu nodded in appreciation.
"Thank you! I even have more for when it's needed!" A cautious rat is worth two!" Nezu said cheerfully as he took more photographs. This time, it wasn't Taylor as my wife, but various girls from UA, from Ruby and Azula to most of Class 1B. My eyes lit up, and I started looking at them while I began putting my favorites in my pocket. Nezu really had a talent for faking pictures.
"Is forging images and documents a hobby?" Taylor asked dryly. Nezu laughed cheerfully.
"As I said, Miss Hebert, that would be truly illegal; it's not something I do." Nezu laughed cheerfully. "But if you're wondering, I have many... contingencies prepared. I'm ready for any situation," Nezu said proudly.
"Can I know some of them?" I asked, extremely curious.
"Do you know what plausible deniability is?" Nezu asked with a wide grin. I nodded, and then Nezu grinned even wider. "It's good we don't need it, after all, it's impossible for such documents to exist!" Nezu said cheerfully. I snorted in amusement.
"Obviously," I said playfully. "Then, let's go back. Marriage, how would it work? " I asked once more. Nezu nodded.
"Everything is dated for an earlier date, more than a year ago. The witnesses are Iori Miyamura and Ryuma Shimotsuki. Both signatures are completely legal since they both signed the document and agreed to it. I am acting as the officiant of the document."
"If they try to annul, invalidate, or even call the document false, it will be Ryuma's and my word against everyone else's, and we will win. The document is completely legal and binding; all records will be altered to show that they have been legally married for over a year."
"Miss Hebert's citizenship will be, or rather, was issued at the same time. Everything is completely airtight and there's no possibility of it being annulled. The only way for them to cease being married is if they decide to divorce," Nezu explained easily.
"That's... incredible, and I don't think something you can do alone, even as the director of UA, should have limits, how did you manage it?" I asked curiously, Nezu just laughed.
"Of course I am, I'm just a simple director! But I also have my contacts, my influence. I may have the HPSC, the Hunter Association, and even the people the Zenin Clan has bribed against me, but I'm more than capable of pulling off something like this without any problem! "
"I haven't had this much fun in a long time!" Nezu said with a deranged grin.
"I'm glad you're having fun," I said with a smile.
"Thank you!" Nezu said simply.
"So... we just accept and that's it?" Taylor asked cautiously. Nezu nodded.
"Yes, as simple as that, they just need to add some signatures, but it'll be completely done," Nezu said easily.
"But... but people... everyone knows that I'm only engaged to Izumi, besides... that means we were married longer than we were dating, isn't that weird?" Taylor said, frowning.
"That's the easiest part to figure out. First of all, it's not actually uncommon for a man to get married quickly, especially after the age of 18. We have a quota to meet within a really short timeframe, and men typically need the security of marriage, so many of them even get married after only a few weeks of dating.
"We've been engaged for over a year and a half, and actually, that's much rarer." I snorted playfully.
"Seriously?!" Taylor squealed in surprise, I shrugged.
"Completely, you see, normal men NEED marriage, they need it to feel secure, to keep women from leaving them, to secure their financial situation, or whatever. Me? I couldn't care less about those things."
"I'm dating you because I love being with you. Whether we're boyfriend and girlfriend, engaged, or even married, nothing will change. You're still mine, and I'm yours, no matter what," I said with a smile to Taylor. Taylor's eyes widened before a deep blush erupted across her face.
"You—don't say things like that out of nowhere!" Taylor squealed, embarrassed. I chuckled.
"Adorable," I said playfully. Taylor grunted as she looked away. "And getting back to the point, we can blame Grandpa entirely for the secrecy. There wasn't any celebration or anything public because Grandpa, Ryuma Shimotsuki, wanted to be present at his only grandson's wedding, but he didn't want to draw attention to himself to protect us."
"So we did something discreet, just us. And we didn't make it public for the same reason: the PRT would start investigating and realize that the witness's signature was Ryuma's. Ryuma contacted Nezu to be our officiant because he knew he would be discreet."
"The only ones who would know besides us would be Ruby, Azula, and Darkness, who are dating me." I said easily, and Nezu nodded happily.
"I'm glad we're on the same page, but yes, that would be the basic outline, a few changes here and there, but it's the gist of it," Nezu said, nodding. "So? What do you think? " Nezu asked, leaning in. "Although I must say there's still the option of Malicious Compliance, which, in fact, is one of my favorites," Nezu added with a broad smile. Taylor squirmed slightly.
"You... you don't mind not having a wedding?" Taylor asked cautiously in my direction. "I thought all guys wanted... you know, a fancy party and all that," Taylor said, blushing slightly. I snorted.
"Taylor, honey, we've been dating for over a year and a half. If you think I'm like a normal guy, then you don't know me well enough yet," I said playfully. Taylor blushed.
"I know you well! It's just that... we never talked about this!" You may be the embodiment of chaos, your attitudes may be more feminine, and the only masculine thing about you may be your body and your ability to cook, but I don't want to assume anything! " Taylor said, embarrassed. I snorted.
"Wow, first of all, you only want me for my body? I should have known. And second, that was really misandrist of you to say that cooking is inherently masculine. I'll remind you that my mother is a pastry chef." I snorted dryly, and Taylor blushed even more.
"That's not what I meant! You understood me!" Just answer the question! " Taylor grumbled, embarrassed. I snorted playfully.
"Okay, do I want a huge party full of people I don't know? Of course not, that sounds awful. Now, did I want to formally marry you at some point? Of course I did, and I still do."
"But getting married now doesn't mean we can't do it later. Once we graduate from UA, or before, or whenever we decide, we can have a ceremony, a party with all our friends. Since ours was so private, we can use that as an excuse to have another ceremony."
"It would be a 'Vow Renewal' for everyone else, and our wedding for us. I would marry you as many times as necessary, as many fake vows as real ones," I told Taylor honestly. She blushed slightly, shyly reached out, and took my hand.
"I... I would like that. The idea of us getting married simply out of necessity leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. I... I love you, and I want to make that clear... in our wedding vows." Taylor said, embarrassed, but without looking away. I smiled broadly.
"I love you too," I told Taylor with a bright smile. "Then it's decided! We'll do it!" I told Nezu happily.
"Perfect! Let's finish the finer details !" Nezu said cheerfully.