The alcohol in the drink seemed to be creeping into his system faster than he would preferred in this setting. But considering how long it was since he had last eaten something, it was no surprise. He hadn’t managed a single bite down this morning before the event and it was already nearing early evening. Thus, he opted to act like he was sipping his drink and only taking real sips every once in a while, so that the level of the liquid wouldn’t stay the same and give him away.
Mrs. Kyomoto had ushered Kochi to sit down on a plush little sofa and sat right next to him. There were another little sofa and an armchair in similar style arranged so that everyone could see each other while talking.
“It’s such beautiful home! Have you done all the interior decoration yourself? Such an exquisite taste!” Kochi was trying to take in every single detail, but wherever he turned his head to, there was more things to marvel at.
“Thank you dear” Mrs. Kyomoto chuckled, clearly pleased.
“But that is not what is important now! I just simply must get to know more about you. Oh, and the wedding! The wedding, darling! We must start planning it as soon as possible! We must not waste a second! You must be eagerly waiting for it yourself too!” Mrs. Kyomoto was grasping onto Kochi’s hands, her smile so wide and full of enthusiasm.
Kochi glanced at Taiga who had just seconds ago entered the room, few steps shy behind his father. Kochi wasn’t sure if he was eagerly waiting for it, hell he was not sure if was even looking forward to the wedding. But that was not something he could say aloud to his future mother-in-law. To buy himself a couple of seconds of more time to ransack his brain for ways to answer the lovely lady, he flashed a dashing smile at Taiga, turning right back towards Mrs. Kyomoto in order to continue their conversation. Had he kept his attention on Taiga thou, even if just a tad bit longer, he’d witnessed a full scale of emotions on the other’s face.
“But of course! We just simply must get to the planning without wasting a moment!”
“I was thinking, if you don’t mind of course, that the ceremony could be held here at our home.”
“Oh, but that is such a lovely idea! It would make it just so much more intimate and significant than an outside venue. I must say that you really have such wonderful ideas. I am certain that the planning will be smooth sailing with you guiding it.”
Mrs. Kyomoto radiated such warmness towards Kochi in that moment. She was clearly thrilled that the system had picked him as her son’s future partner. Even Mr. Kyomoto seemed to have a tiny, approving smile on his lips.
“If you two could manage to move your conversation to the dining room, then perhaps we could get something to eat whilst continuing on the topic” Mr.Kyomoto smiled teasingly at his wife.
“Darling, you’re always poking fun at my enthusiasm!” Mrs. Kyomoto held her hand out to lead Kochi to the possibly even grander room in where at the centre was a table which legs seemed to be surrendering under all the food that was neatly arranged on top of it. It was the largest display of food that Kochi had ever seen in his whole life. Everything looked absolutely mouthwatering. He was appointed a seat next to Mrs. Kyomoto, across from Taiga.
As they began to eat, the conversation naturally flowed between them. First about the wedding, then about Kochi’s youth which was naturally followed by talk about Taiga’s younger years. For majority of the conversation Taiga was just sitting there marveling at how naturally Kochi seemed to have slipped to be a part of their family, almost like he had always been there. Given the status of his family and the fact that Kochi was not of the same social circles, Taiga had wondered if his parents would perhaps not like the person he was bringing home. He had been sure that there would have been arguments flying in the air the second they arrived as his parents would have already had time to recover from the initial shock that his partner was male. For all his life he had thought that they expected him to be paired up with a lovely young lady of their rank or higher and that nothing else was acceptable as an heir was needed to continue the family name.
Little did he know that ever since his younger years his mother had started to pick up the sings that that just might not be the case. Mrs. Kyomoto had then one evening brought up the topic in conversation with his husband. They promised to not talk about the matter with their son, but instead allow him to come to them once he was ready. What they had not anticipated thought was that he would never feel ready.
At that precise moment Taiga could not have been happier about the out come of the ceremony. Even if it had been some time since he had last seen Kochi, but he knew that the other was a trustworthy and kind person and thus his future with him would most probably not be an awful one. Or so he hoped. To be truthful, they hadn’t been all too close in school and Kochi could have changed in the years after they had last seen each other. Taiga was aware that the circumstances Kochi lived in were not similar to his and not everything was sunshine and rainbows there. But at least now Taiga allowed to give himself a glimmer of hope that his life would not at the very least be lonesome ivory tower designed as his own personal prison. He really was glad that he had mustered up the courage to draw the x in that box, even of it had been arguably the hardest decision he had ever done in his life so far. It would seem that such decisions paid off.