2025-11-16: For Whom The Wedding Bells Ought Have Tolled
- Cutscene: For Whom The Wedding Bells Ought Have Tolled
- Cast: Yua Ooshiro and her fiance Kimitake Ijuuin
- Where: A Car Ride in Sumaru
- OOC Date: 2025-11-16
- IC Date: Sat, Aug 11 2012
- Summary: Yua and Kimitake drive home after announcing their wedding plans on television, and Yua asks why Kimitake was so secretive up until now... which turns out to be a sad story, and one which doesn't leave her feeling nearly as rushed as she was before she heard it.
- Content warning: Seeds of emotional abuse; discussion of stalking and partner murder
"Kimi-san," Yua says, in the car. She's in her lovely blue sundress, he's in his fine suit -- perfectly dressed for television, as they drive back after attending Hamana's show. "Can we talk...?"
"If you prefer that to driving in silence," Kimitake chuckles, "then certainly." Neither of them is driving, of course. The Ijuuins have people for that.
"This just, um..." Yua fiddles with the seatbelt strapping her to one side of the car, in an effort to soothe her nerves. "It seems like... we're moving very fast? My head's spinning, a little..."
"Being on television can do that to you," Kimitake assures Yua, gently, from the other side of the car.
"But... I just found out a few days ago, and... now everyone knows?" Yua asks, looking down. "I didn't even have time to tell all my friends, yet..."
"Ah," Kimitake breathes out, as if realising something. "... forgive me. In a position like mine, when you get an opportunity, it can be difficult not to act fast. Wasn't that how it was with you, with the fertility clinic...?"
"I-I did move very quickly there," Yua admits. "I was scared... Father would change his mind, or... or something would get in the way." Realisation dawns over her face, as she looks to him -- "... oh! Kimi-san, you're the same way about this...?"
"It's not that I doubt my Uncle's conviction," Kimitake shakes his head, speaking with audible, deliberate caution. "But as a man of my... proclivities... I'm used to the things I thought I could rely on disappearing from my grasp. So... you could say I am eager to establish you in my life... with a similar kind of anxiety, yes." Kimitake could say a great many things, but what he says to Yua visibly relaxes her.
"Oh, that's a relief! I'd just felt a little nervous, stepping into that studio, even though we practiced all those answers together... I guess I was just a little scared." She looks down, for a moment, before her eye finds him again. "But that makes sense, you know...?"
"We do need to move a little quickly," Kimitake says, apologetically. "Since all our arrangements are for next month. But I will do all I can to let you move at a more comfortable pace, all right...? There are plenty of arrangements you needn't be involved in at all."
"Okay," Yua nods, as she looks down at her hands. There's something she's been wondering, ever since Hamana mentioned his previous secrecy. "Mm... your late fiancee... why was she different?"
"Well --" Pain enters Kimitake's voice, subtly. "Wamu-san wasn't... arranged for me. We were friends... so I knew about her painful history. She'd sworn off men entirely -- and for excellent reasons -- but since I had no interest in her as a woman, we were able to become close friends. She never wanted to enter into another relationship... but her parents were pressuring her to marry, since she was past twenty-five, and all. So, we came up with this arrangement... but she was afraid of her ex-boyfriend hearing about it before everything was finalised, since he'd threatened some awful things. That's why I'd conducted most of my preparations in secret until now... but... despite doing all she could to hide from him, somehow, he found her," Kimitake scowls, deeply. "He... killed himself as well, but... they weren't able to save her." His hands tighten to fists, in his lap. "I wasn't able to save her."
"That's... horrible," Yua murmurs, reaching across the empty middle seat to place a hand at his arm. "You think... he'd have left her alone if she was an Ijuuin?"
"I'm sure of it," Kimitake insists, and his eyes are dry, but his voice labours for it. "Once we were wed, and she began appearing as my wife, we could set a trap for him -- finally put him into custody. But since his threats were all about how he didn't want her dating... she was afraid, you understand. Even with my Uncle's power -- even with mine..." He takes a stern, inward breath, and lifts his hand to gently clasp over Yua's, against his arm. "... thank you," he says, a hair quieter. "You are... very kind, Yua-san."
"I didn't know," Yua says, softly, and her eyes at least are damp. "Something that awful happened, and right afterwards, I entered your life... you said it was an accident, so I never thought..."
"When I heard you needed help," Kimitake says, gently, "I thought Wamu-san would be happy if I saved someone else. I... felt you'd feel even more afraid, that night, if I told you why... I didn't want to frighten you." He frowns, concerned. "Perhaps I made an error..."
"No," Yua insists, shaking her head. "You really did think it was for the best, right? And you were just thinking of me... and I'm sure you had your own difficult feelings, too. Especially with using the same wedding plans..."
"I'd tell everyone I didn't have the time to cancel them all," Kimitake confides, "but that's only half the story. If I'd been disciplined as I ought have been, I could have. But... just for a little while, I didn't have the heart... it was a disappointing lapse on my part, but now it means I can secure your future right away, so perhaps it's for the best." His voice remains controlled -- but Yua, sensitive to Miho's subtleties, can still tell there's emotion under there.
"It's okay," Yua assures him, smiling supportively. "I won't tell anyone... I mean, except for Mimi? I tell her everything... and she'd be relieved to hear something like this, too."
"You should be able to tell your wife anything in confidence," Kimitake affirms, with language Yua feels affirmed by. "But... let me tell her this first, all right...? I won't put it off. I simply feel like... it's something she ought to hear from me."
Yua pauses, a moment, before she nods. She can still tell Miho everything; she's just letting him tell his painful story first. "That's reasonable," she decides, out loud. "Okay. You go first, Kimi-san. And... don't worry, okay? I appreciate how you can switch between the different things two different women need. Since I need more legitimacy, of course it would all be more public... it's like that, right?"
"It's like that," Kimitake says, easily. "Though it's beneficial for me, too... now both parties to this marriage are in it for the same reasons, I hope we'll find many situations like that. But certainly, I don't mean to deceive you... my life will be much easier when I next go into work, and my marriage feels real to my coworkers." He squeezes her hand again, briefly, before he folds his hand at his leg again. "I'm grateful to you for that."
"I'm glad I can help," Yua smiles, straightening up and folding her own hands over her stomach. "Kimi-san... you're really a kind man, aren't you?"
"I always strive to uphold my honour by honouring those in my care as they ought be honoured," Kimitake says, with the kind of modesty afforded a man who fills the room without effort.
"Hehe... most people would just say they try!" Yua giggles, behind a hand, her fingers splayed across her painted lips modestly. "But your way is nice, too..."
"I'm glad you think so," Kimitake smiles.
... by the time Yua gets out of the car, she feels so much better than when she was ushered in.