Travel The Distance

Chapter 51

The week leading up to the wedding ceremony was a whirlwind of being poked with needles, tasting cake (apparently it was a sort of tradition, according to Shoto, and who was I to deny my partner, even if he did just want an excuse to eat cake), picking out flowers and having to listen to my friends jabber on about some shit that I didn't care about. To say that the week was stressful would be a lie, it wasn't stressful, but it was ever so slightly overwhelming. My only solace was being able to fall into bed with Shoto at my side. Simply having him by my side was antidote enough for the nerves for our looming ceremonies.

On the morning of the wedding ceremony, Shoto and I were kept separated by an excitable Mina, she prattled on about how it was traditional for the couple getting married not to see each other in the lead up to the ceremony, I expressed my opinion that I thought it was bullshit, but she wouldn't relent. In the end, both Shoto and I gave in to the demands and Shoto was carted away the night before the wedding, he spent the night in his old bedroom. When the morning dawned, breakfast was brought to my room since, apparently, I wasn't to be let out of the room. Again, I commented on how this was bullshit and I knew it wasn't a tradition, but Denki and Hanta wouldn't let me leave, so I gave in.

Nerves akin to those which I felt on the morning of my battle with Shigaraki's army boiled in my stomach and clouded my mind. I had never known that getting married to someone was so nerve-wracking and terrifying. I genuinely believed that I would have preferred fighting Toga ten times over than sitting in anticipation, waiting for mid-day to come and for me to stand at the altar.

As with every time I was stressed out and worried, I gorged myself on various meats, practically shoving poultry and red meats down my gullet in a valiant attempt to soothe my nerves. Eijiro seemed to understand me, at the very least, a fact that I was secretly extremely glad about.

"Don't sweat it, dude, I was super nervous before my bonding with Mina. I can't imagine how nervous you must be knowing that you'll be completing two ceremonies in one day." Eijiro chuckled.

He watched with amused eyes as I paced around my bedroom and ran my hands through my hair. I hadn't even attempted to style it, I was putting on traditional wedding attire for Shoto, I wouldn't be touching my hair. A travelling merchant had once accosted me when I was 16, he had flattened my hair until it was scarcely recognisable aside from its colour. My hair had stayed that way for three entire weeks, there was no way I was letting history repeat itself.

"Dude, how about you get dressed into your clothes, you heard what Shoto said about the clothes taking a while to put on if you're not experienced. There are layers and stuff, not like anything we've ever worn before." Eijiro suggested in a kind voice.

Ordinarily, I might have been inclined to snap at Eijiro for using such a sweet tone with me, but my nerves had gotten the better of me. I was only inclined to grunt slightly, whether in agreement with Eijiro or not, even I wasn't sure.

"Come on dude, stop pacing and get dressed. You've got an hour and a half until you need to leave the room and head towards the forest clearing where the wedding will take place. And you have two hours until the ceremony itself starts." Eijiro encouraged.

"Yeah. Yeah. I'll start getting ready." I grunted slightly, "Now get the fuck out, you loser. I'd rather you didn't see me get changed."

Eijiro laughed good-naturedly as he shook his head and walked from the room, bidding me farewell for the time being. With Eijiro out of the room, I was left alone to get dressed into the orange, crimson and black kimono. According to Shoto, the groom traditionally wore a black kimono with their family name embroidered in white, but since there were two grooms he saw no issue in us simply wearing coloured kimonos. He also mentioned that he had noticed that my people tended to wear a lot of colourful clothing, so he wanted to incorporate that into our wedding ceremony.