The only warning Tohru had of the wedding was Shigure’s face when he handed over the gilt-edged letter. “Akito-san wanted me to give this to you personally,” he said, serious as he only ever was when the Sohma’s head got involved in his life. “Tohru, I—” he bit his lip and turned away as Tohru took the letter, wide-eyed and worried.
“It’s okay,” Tohru said, admiring the fine calligraphy. Did Akito write this himself? she wondered as she opened it. “I just hope that he wasn’t awful to you.”
Shigure laughed. “Akito is always kind to us.”
Tohru kept her mouth shut. She had her doubts about that, but it had been proven time and time again that the Zodiac members couldn’t hear it when she worried about how Akito treated them. Instead, she unfolded the letter inside—written on fancy paper with elegant red floral edging—and found herself frozen, transfixed by the words:
Honda Tohru,
Sohma Akito extends the offer of marriage to you, an honor rarely given to those not of our blood. You are expected to arrive at the estate at precise 10am tomorrow, to be prepared for the ceremony.
Do not be late. The consequences for refusal will not be visited upon you.
The calligraphy changed, from perfect print to scathing scribbles.
We both just want to keep them safe.
—Sohma Akito
The world went pale, then dark, and Tohru blinked her way back to color to see not just Shigure but also Kyo and Yuki bent over her. The former held the letter, expressionless, as Yuki and Kyo shouted at each other about who should’ve been close enough to catch her when she fainted.
“I’m okay!” Tohru protested, holding her hands up between them. “Really! My head doesn’t hurt or anything!”
“I caught her when she swooned,” Shigure said smugly, face flipping quickly and easily back into his normal devil-may-care posturing. “But then you two ran me off! I wasn’t going to do anything but make sure that her precious head was sitting on something soft.”
“Your lap does not count,” Kyo growled, bristling.
Yuki took advantage of Kyo’s distraction to lean closer, placing one cool hand on her forehead. “Are you sure you’re alright?”
“I’m fine,” she assured him, smiling. “I was just overcome with surprise, that’s all.”
“Oh, yes.” Yuki turned towards Shigure, steel in his voice. “What exactly is this letter? I saw Akito’s handwriting.”
“Ah, well—” Shigure hesitated, then met Tohru’s eyes. “It’s not for me to say.”
Tohru shook her head mutely, tears filling her eyes. “I—” She tried to finish the sentence but found only tears spilling over onto her face. As Kyo and Yuki leaned back around her, concerned, she managed to say, “You can— Please read it!”
Shigure read it aloud in a very neutral tone of voice. Each word settled into Tohru’s heart like a stone; she’d barely comprehended the letter's meaning when she’d read it herself. Shigure’s recitation was like an invocation, making everything more real. She was going to marry Sohma Akito, because if she didn’t he would bind Kyo and Yuki even more tightly than he already did, and she couldn’t— Tohru swallowed around a fresh round of tears as Kyo shouted and Yuki shuttered himself in an all-too-familiar way.
She couldn’t bring more pain to this family that had taken her in and cared for her.
“I’ll do it,” she whispered. Yuki looked at her, mouth open and eyes wide, but Kyo and Shigure didn’t notice; Kyo was too busy yelling at Shigure, who was raising his hands in smiling protest that none of this was his fault. Tohru pushed herself up, Yuki supporting her with alacrity as she staggered to her feet, still a little woozy. Even though her head hurt, Tohru managed to say, “I’ll marry Akito-san,” loud enough that Kyo and Shigure both froze.
“It’s okay,” she said, smiling because there wasn’t anything else to do. “I’ll marry Akito-san, and then you won’t need to worry anymore! I can still see you and help you.”
Yuki’s face twisted up, and Kyo’s hair seemed to be standing on end, but Shigure spoke first. “Are you sure?” he asked, very quietly. “Once you marry Akito-san, you’ll be bound for life.”
“You already are,” she said, voice as shaky as her muscles. But she kept her head high and met his eyes, because she didn’t want to let them down now. “I don’t want you—or anyone else!—to get hurt because of me.”
Kyo kicked the table over and stormed out. Yuki’s grip on her arm tightened, but he just said, “You don’t need to.”
“I do,” Tohru said, tears trailing down her face again. “You’ve done so much for me—I can do this much for you.”
“Your future—”
“I’m about to graduate high school.” Tohru smiled brightly at Yuki. “As long as I keep my promise to Mom, it’ll be okay.”
“If you’re sure,” Yuki said, and he didn’t ask anything more even though Tohru could see the worry on his face.
“Come rest,” Shigure said, breaking the tableau. “Tomorrow is going to be a very busy day for everyone.”
Tohru let him guide her back up to her room, but the full import of what he’d said didn’t hit her until the next day.
The Sohma estate awed her. Tohru didn’t think she’d ever get over how vast it was, how much space it took up and how many people lived within it. Even though she knew neither Kyo nor Yuki liked it, Tohru couldn’t help but find it amazing. She’d spent too long living with just her mother to not find it fantastical to see such a large extended family living more-or-less happily in one area.
Shigure led the way as they entered, Kyo and Yuki flanking her. They were all wearing formal clothing, and Tohru—even borrowing clothes that Shigure had acquired sometime overnight, as best she could tell—felt very underdressed. When they entered the inner estates, a swarm of elegantly-dressed women descended on Tohru and swept her away. She turned back to look at her friends, and saw Kyo’s masked fury and Yuki’s stony frustration, and teared up again.
Her friends loved her so much. Tohru raised her chin and set her shoulders. She’d need to live up to what they thought of her, no matter how terrified she was feeling now. She couldn’t let them down and let Akito get to them even more.
The next four hours were a swirl of beautiful clothing and make-up and accessories that left Tohru even more over-awed and afraid to move for fear of breaking something. The aunties kept up a constant stream of chatter about how exciting it was that the family head had chosen a partner, how interesting it was that Tohru was a commoner, and how unfortunate it was that she was so plain. Tohru kept her mouth shut through all of it, in part out of confusion and in part out of fear that they’d find something else to criticise if she didn’t.
She was allowed a brief break to eat—fine rolls of sushi, perfectly wrapped and filled with fresh fish and vegetables—and then her make-up was touched-up again and she was strictly informed to sit still and not disturb anything before the servants fluttered away just as quickly as they’d initially descended.
Tohru, left alone with her thoughts, finally realized: Akito-san didn’t invite me here to discuss marriage. He invited me here to perform the marriage!
She couldn’t cry and mess up all the fine work the aunties had done for her, so instead Tohru bit her lip and tried to calm herself. It didn’t work very well when her heart was racing and she was wrapped in fine red marriage robes above a cloud-white kimono. This was happening, and she was—
Tohru sniffed. She wasn’t sad about it, exactly, but when she’d imagined her wedding in the past she’d thought of something else. Of Uo-chan and Hana-chan being at her side as she prepared, and someone she’d met and picked and loved waiting for her. Grandfather walking beside her, hopefully. Having more friends, maybe even family, in the audience.
Nothing like this quiet affair where her choices had simply been to agree or not. Tohru pressed her thumbs to her eyes, determined to quell the tears. She didn’t regret saying yes. She didn’t regret coming here. She would make the best of it, just as she always did.
So when Shigure walked into the room, hair done neatly and wearing a formal kimono properly for once, Tohru smiled at him and took his offered arm. “It’ll be okay,” he murmured to her as they walked through the halls. “Akito is— Well, Akito knows that if you come to harm, he’ll lose anything he gained through this.”
Tohru squeezed his arm. “I’m so lucky to have friends like you and Kyo and Yuki and Momiji and the rest,” she said, and she didn’t even need to fake her happiness. “Thank you.”
Shigure sighed, gave Tohru a lopsided and strained smile, and didn't say anything else."
They exited the building into a quiet stretch of land that Tohru would never have guessed was in the middle of a city. It looked like a little piece of forest, and there was a beautiful shrine in the midst of cherry trees. The rest of the Zodiac members stood arrayed before the shrine, and Tohru could see the discomfort in most of their postures. But they were still here, and she smiled through the tears threatening to overwhelm her once more, because she was so happy to have friends here.
Then she saw Akito, dressed to match her in red and white, and that wisp of happiness vanished into a storm of confusion.
Akito was dressed as a woman.
Akito was beautiful like this, of course, and Tohru didn’t see why marrying a woman would be any different from marrying a man, but— She looked, wide-eyed, at Shigure, who grimaced and said, “Akito doesn’t allow anyone to be told.”
“She’s gorgeous,” Tohru breathed.
Shigure smiled a little. “Go on,” he said, lifting her hand from his arm. “She’ll bite my head off if you stay with me an instant longer than you must. You belong to her now, after all.”
Tohru nodded firmly and turned to Akito. The large dark eyes that had hypnotized her since their first meeting were now set off with kohl and matched to vivid red lips. Fine features were just as stunning on a woman’s face as a man’s, and Tohru’s heart raced as Akito extended one red-nailed hand with a slight smirk. “Come,” Akito said, and Tohru did.
She wrapped her hand around Akito’s arm, just as she had Shigure’s, and they walked to the shrine together. Tohru felt dizzy with emotions: Fear, wonder, and joy all mingled together into a melange that left her uncertain of anything that was happening except the reality of Akito next to her and the shrine ahead.
The actual ceremony was simple enough. She knew the words, had heard them said enough times in shows and sometimes even in-person, and she knew what her lines were. Tohru said them without thinking, caught up in the ritual, not even realising when it was done until Akito turned to her and smiled widely. “I’m going to kiss you now,” Akito informed her casually.
Tohru barely had time to process that statement before Akito did so.
Her mouth was sweet. Tohru felt like she should’ve expected that, from the taste of her own lipstick; oranges flooded her mouth as Akito’s tongue pressed firmly against her lips, Akito’s hands holding her head fast. Tohru let her lead, intoxicated; she’d never been kissed like this, not by someone who obviously knew what they wanted and was willing to take it, and it was better than she ever would’ve guessed being kissed by Akito would be.
Akito nipped at her lips, not hard enough to draw blood but strongly enough to break Tohru out of her pleasure-daze. Then Akito drew back, lipstick smudged and a pleased expression on her face. “Maybe we’ll have some fun together after all,” Akito remarked, the faintest fondness towards Tohru in her voice for the first time Tohru could remember. “My wife.”
“My wife,” Tohru agreed, in part echoing and in part wondering at how she could call Akito such a thing. She reached up and touched Akito’s cheek lightly. “You’re beautiful. I’m so lucky.” Tears welled up in her eyes, and she smiled through them. “I’m so glad to be part of this family.”
The rest of the Zodiac members began to approach as Akito looked at Tohru with something that, later, Tohru would realise was both fear and respect. Tohru didn’t notice, too busy turning to hug all her friends as they said their congratulations—some full-hearted and some snarled, but all obviously full of their love.