𝐖𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐓𝐇 || ᵇ.ᵏᵃᵗˢᵘᵏⁱ

XLIX

🗡️🗡️🗡️

It was finally time. Time for the event she'd been waiting for since she was four years old. Her Moon ceremony. She'd watched a couple before when she was allowed to travel to come. She was 7 when Jinyoung had his, and then 10 when Hyoseop had his.

But hers would be different. She was the current holder of the family's ancient power and she'd be head of the Moon family one day, once her great-grandmother, Moon Jeongja, passed—if she ever did that is, she was practically immortal—that woman had outlived her daughter and her granddaughter, making Aeri the heir.

Ever the early riser, Jinyoung had ushered her out of bed at 6 AM that morning, pausing to shout about how she and Bakugou were sleeping in the same bed despite them being on opposite sides with a pillow in between them—a strategic plan since they knew one of the brothers would burst in to get her out of bed, though they'd slept in each other's arms the night before.

He calmed down when Aizawa stormed across the hall, still half asleep and told him that they didn't have any spare beds so they had to share, as did Jungwon and Kirishima, and they weren't heartless enough to make him sleep on the couch alone downstairs.

From there, she had breakfast shoved down her throat before she was carted away by the female family members. The preparation process was a ritual in itself, with the women stripping her naked, washing her down, and massaging jasmine oil into her skin before they finally let her put some underwear on as they painted the illustrated version of Dalnim's story on her body in white paint, from her feet up to her jaw.

standing waiting for the paint to dry in her underwear was the single most tedious and embarrassing thing she'd ever had to do. Though she didn't see the point since her entire body would be covered with the Hanbok she had to wear, tradition was tradition.

Thankfully, her cousins had seemed to get over their hatred for her in adulthood and bustled around excitedly to help her get ready, Yuna even told Aeri all about her Moon ceremony last year.

The Hanbok they dressed her in was utterly gorgeous. It was white to symbolise a pure spirit, gold, the same colour as her eyes, and her hair was pulled back by her great-grandmother into a low bun, so tight that her eyes watered.

Aeri was allowed to do her makeup, thank god, she didn't trust her grandmother's shaky hands. She brushed her lids with a shimmering gold eyeshadow, making sure not to go overboard, and drew around her eyes with traditional red liner, finishing off with a touch of mascara, blush and reddish-pink lip tint.

The women fawned over her when she was done, showering her with compliments and taking plenty of pictures to show the other family members later on.

It was 4 PM by the time she was finally left alone and she slumped into a seat in her grandmother's house, carefully to not wrinkle her hanbok. She was exhausted already, and hungry but she'd been told she wasn't allowed to eat anything other than plain, dry foods until after the ceremony so she wouldn't ruin her dress or be so full that she couldn't spar with her grandmother.

Despite her grandmother's age, she was still spritely and physically fit so Aeri wouldn't have to worry about hurting her—though the idea still made her anxious, no normal person would even dream of getting into a physical fight with their elders, especially where daggers were involved...but her other family members had all done it, so she would too.

She snacked on almonds and crackers, scrolling through her phone until finally, the sun began to set at 6 PM and Aeri was walked to the town square of the estate by her great grandmother, female cousins and all her aunties, surrounding her in their own Hanbok, though theirs was a deep navy blue like the night sky with golden trim, all of them matching. All the men would be dressed similarly, in black or navy blue traditional wear.