An important note about the gender of epithets for Yoru: words that depend on sex, like son or brother-in-law, will remain masculine. I use traditionally feminine epithets for the child-bearer in an omegaverse couple, so wherever Yoru's role is distinct from Kei's, I will refer to him using 'feminine' words like wife or anesan or mother. It's helpful in resolving pronoun conflicts.

Tsunoda Yoru grinned from ear to ear, and it sent all coherent thoughts flying out of Kei's left ear.

Kei only stood there, gaping, until the assembled people began to chuckle behind their hands. Yoru allowed himself a small laugh too. Quickly, he stole a glance at Kei, a man he'd never even dreamed would be his, who had promised him a life he'd never had the courage to imagine.

Well - it was only fair to return the favor. "The bride has chosen to recite vows of his own," the priest announced, much to the surprise of the guests. Kei was the most surprised of all - given that he liked Yoru a lot more than Yoru liked him, he had reconciled himself with the possibility that Yoru wouldn't make any promises of his own.

But there were more surprises in store. Kei nearly fell backwards as, instead of facing the deity, Yoru turned to face him. "I swear to share every burden with you," he said, taking Kei's hands in his. "I promise to you unwavering faith, regardless of prejudiced tongues and biased eyes. And I promise to unite the different worlds we walk in and make a bigger, better one for us to live in - together, till death do us part."

Yoru had to nudge him gently to get him to snap out of it. "Focus on the offering," Yoru had whispered, thoroughly enjoying Kei's reactions. "Dear."

"I prefer 'darling.' "

"Keep zoning out and you'll get neither."

Kei dutifully gave his full attention to the remainder of the offering. Following that was the ring exchange, and Nakamura stood up on cue with a giant, teasing grin on his face. "You're a goner," he whispered to Kei, wrinkling his nose in disgust as he fished out the box containing the wedding bands from his suit pocket. "You look like a prepubescent kid who managed to get his first crush to go out with him."

"I'll get you later," Kei promised, satisfying himself with pinching the back of Nakamura's hand for the moment.

The priest gave word. Kei reverently took the hand Yoru held out and took his engagement ring off. A quick breath, a nervous bite of his lip and Kei slipped the wedding band onto Yoru's finger before replacing the engagement ring.

Yoru shivered lightly as the cold metal settled on his finger. He'd expected it to weigh a thousand tonnes, but the incredibly beautiful platinum band seemed to be woven from moonlight. Maybe the shit I went through all my life has amounted to this moment, he thought as he put Kei's ring on his finger. It's not ideal, but this man has done more for me than many men in relationships do.

As excited family members waited for their cue to drink for the family toast, Yoru noticed Kei looking at Miriko with disappointment in his eyes. "Kei?" Yoru asked, following his gaze. "What..."

Miriko's cup was empty, and she was staring at it with an impressive scowl on her face. Leave it to my parents to ruin every occasion, Yoru grumbled angrily before turning back to Kei and placing a comforting hand on his arm. "Don't mind her," he said.

"Did I do something wrong?" Kei asked Yoru, sounding confused and hurt. "I thought she liked me."

Liked you? She let Mori take the ring you gave me in the hopes that it would break our engagement! "It's misplaced anger," he lied. "I'm sorry about her. Here, let's drink."

Everyone sipped their sake. Yoru firmly turned his eyes away from his mother, trying not to think of the rejection her gesture signified. Unconsciously, he shifted a little closer to Kei, who welcomed the supportive proximity. Oblivious to the unease brewing in at the front of the shrine, the rest of the guests heartily congratulated the couple and executed one final bow before the deity.

And it was done - Kei and Yoru were officially married. "So," said Yoru, watching Kei hop off the podium. "Now that it's done, I call dibs on the - eeep!"

Without warning, Kei grabbed Yoru by the waist and lifted him clean off the podium, having noticed Yoru's agonized flinch when he'd stepped onto the podium earlier. "Softie," Yoru chuckled.

The newlyweds were swamped the moment they stepped out of the shrine. Nakamura was the first to ambush them, pulling both Kei and Yoru into a bear hug. "Haha, I'm glad, I'm glad!" he guffawed, thumping Kei's back hard enough to make his eyes water. "I thought you were going to die a lonely old man, but I was wrong!"

"I-will-kill-you," Kei promised.

"Alright, Azusa, it's my turn. Scram." Ayako shooed Nakamura away and zoomed past Kei's open arms to pull Yoru into a warm, motherly hug. "Welcome to the family, sweetheart," she said.

"Thank you, Mrs. Tsu-"

"Tut, tut. It's Mom now. And this -" Ayako reached behind her and roughly pulled out her husband, who had been hiding behind his larger brother - "is Dad." She elbowed Kaede savagely in his side. "Say something!"

"Argh! Um. Aheh. Congratulations," Kaede said gruffly.

"Oh, for heaven's sake!" Ayako rolled her eyes. "Don't misunderstand, Yoru dear. He's actually really delighted about you - he even practiced his congratulations in front of the mirror."

"Ayako!" Kaede whined, a faint blush creeping up his cheeks as everybody laughed. "Okay, okay, I'll say it! Stop nudging me!" Awkwardly at first, he placed one hand each on Yoru's and Kei's cheeks. A rare smile appeared on the old man's face as he lovingly patted his son's face. "I'm very happy for you two," he said. "May you always be happy. Yoru, son, you did well today. Congratulations."

"What about my congratulations?" Kei asked.

"We see you everyday, boy. But fine: congratulations on finding someone to tolerate your sissy ass for a lifetime."

"Daaad!"

"What? I'm right!" Kaede turned to Yoru. "We took him to the aquarium one time and the octopus in the petting zone grabbed his finger. He pooped his pants!"

"It was slimy!" Kei protested, as Nakamura and Akira doubled over with laughter in the background.

"ANESAN!" Kenichi came barreling towards Yoru, very excited, and narrowly missed knocking him over. "Careful," Kei reminded Kenichi, grabbing the teen by the back of his collar. "Anesan's injured."

"So I can't hug him?"

"Just don't squeeze me," Yoru said, unable to bear the disappointment in Kenichi's eyes. "Come."

Kenichi wrapped his arms around his new foster mother with unbelievable tenderness. "I'm so happy," he sighed, nuzzling his face in Yoru's shoulder.

"I'm happy too," Yoru responded, unfazed by Kenichi's familiarity. "I get to be anesan to a sweet young man like you."
*
Suda didn't want to admit it, but he felt terribly out of place.

He could feel the daggers being glared into his back. He'd brought it upon himself: he'd been bluffing hard when he asked to be invited to Kei's wedding, and the oversized Alpha had called his bluff. If it had been a traditional reception, at least he could have bailed after congratulating the couple. But it was a Western style reception, and he was stuck here for the next three hours as the burliest of the Tsunoda members glowered at him and his wakagashira from the surrounding tables.

The master of ceremony announced the arrival of the wedding party, shifting the attention off Suda. The claps and cheers grew louder with each member announced - first Kei's aunts and uncles, then his cousins, then Tsunoda-gumi's wakagashira, followed by the erstwhile oyabun and his wife. By then, the reception hall sounded like an award ceremony's red carpet event - until Tsunoda Kei guided his new wife down the aisle.

An awed hush fell upon the crowd. Everyone who had seen Kei before the wedding, Suda included, had thought he was acting rather smitten - and now they could see why. Tsunoda Yoru was a thing of unexpected beauty, and his presence filled the whole room. Then he drew nearer, and people gasped in shock: darkening the left side of his face were savage purple bruises, stretching from his hairline and traveling down his neck before disappearing into his kimono.

"Didn't take Tsunoda to be a beater," Suda remarked, shocked.

"He's a beater alright, but not to his wife," Umeyoshi, Suda's wakagashira, responded. "Look at them."

Indeed, Yoru seemed quite content to have Kei's arm around him as they greeted guests together. In fact, he actually shrank further into Kei if anyone got too close.

Any further conversation was precluded by thunderous applause preceding the first dance. As the song began to play, Kei drew Yoru close and placed the latter's left hand on his shoulder while taking the right in his own. He whispered something that made Yoru turn cherry red and then they began to dance, a slow, simple swaying from side to side. Their proximity was neither staged nor uncomfortable: here were two people who were genuinely happy to be sharing that moment together, and the world seemed to be shut out of the small square they danced in.

And even though makeup couldn't hide the bruises on Yoru's face, he looked so happy to be committing himself to the man holding him that he glowed, and it was one of the loveliest scenes Suda had ever seen.

"Wasn't this an arranged marriage?" Suda wondered, watching Yoru laugh at something Kei whispered in his ear.

"They hit it off, I guess," said Umeyoshi. "Good for them. Ito wanted to leave his wife and force this little guy into marrying him."

"That's a wedding I would not want to be in," Suda sincerely admitted. "I'm glad Tsunoda got to Yoru first. We might hate Haga and his minions, but Tsunoda's a decent fellow."

At the end of the first dance, people streamed onto the floor to join in. Nakamura stepped up to the couple and jokingly asked to dance not with Yoru, but with Kei. Spectators laughed as Yoru unexpectedly complied, stepping away to leave the two red-faced men to dance with each other. With a huge sigh of relief, Yoru sank into his chair to watch already half-drunk guests dance.

"Quite a nice spread you have here."

Yoru jumped a foot into the air. Before him stood two men: one a balding, middle-aged man with part of his right ear missing, the other a tallish, nondescript fellow with a guarded frown on his face. "I'm Suda," said the former, holding out his hand. "And this is my right hand man, Umeyoshi. Oh, don't stand up, son."

"Nice to meet you," Yoru said, uncertainly. "Please, enjoy your evening."

"I sure will," Suda promised, inviting himself to sit down next to Yoru. "I see the question in your eyes. I'm the head of the group your father borrowed money from."

Yoru nearly fell off his chair. He still hadn't recovered from the last time creditors paid him a visit, and here they were again. His hand shifted towards the ceremonial dagger concealed in the folds of his kimono. It wouldn't remain ceremonial if anyone dared to lay a hand on him today.

"Oh boy. I'm not here to hurt you," Suda laughed, noting Yoru's hostility. "Ito was my underling, and I understand he gave you a spot of trouble."

"That's quite an understatement," Yoru said harshly. "Why are you here?"

 "Just plain old curiosity, young man. Your groom has made quite a name for himself in the yakuza circles, you see. Ten years ago, nobody knew he existed. So it came as quite a shock when we heard he was marrying the man who'd publicly humiliated him. I had to see what it was about you that stopped him from killing you."

I'm the official breeding cow, but you don't need to know that, asshole. "And what do you think?" Yoru asked.

"What can I say? Killing such a beauty would break my heart too. Making him my personal bitch is the next best thing."

A hand descended on Yoru's shoulder right as he was about to shoot to his feet and kick Suda out. "I guess you really are here to pick a fight," came Akira's icy voice from behind him. "Any particular reason for your disrespect towards my brother-in-law?"

"Old habits are hard to break, I guess," Umeyoshi finally piped up, cutting off whatever inflammatory response his boss was about to say. "We're very sorry. And, uh, congratulations."

"Thank you. If you'll excuse us." With that, Kei helped Yoru up and away from the table, leaving two very uncomfortable guests behind.

"Why is everyone associated with Ito so good at humiliating me?" Yoru growled. "At my own wedding, too! I could've hit him!"

"I'm sorry about that. Things like this keep happening when you mix business with pleasure - it's one of the downsides of the yakuza way."

The upset look in Yoru's eyes didn't quite fade as they met with other guests. Kei, too, was left with a sour taste in his mouth, so he was quite relieved when the cake was brought out and the giant, six-tiered mound of sugar made Yoru's eyes gleam. "Um. Yoru?" Kei stepped away from his wife as the latter brandished the knife like a murder weapon. "The cake's for all of us. Just a reminder."

"Mmm," Yoru responded absently.

"Okay. I'm going to take hold of the knife now," Kei announced, cautiously shifting closer and placing his hand on the handle before leaning towards Nakamura. "Maybe we should request people not to use the flash on their cameras," he whispered. "In case it aggravates the animal." Kei pointed to Yoru, who was already drooling.

"You'll be the one getting sliced and served if he hears you," Nakamura responded. "Go on. He won't bite you. I think."

With a nervous laugh, Kei joined Yoru by the cake. It looked a little different from what they had ordered - oddly fresh, as if it had just been put together. Fortunately, Yoru behaved himself as they cut the cake together and fed each other, though he did almost bite Kei's fingers off. As Kei made to cut off a piece for Kenichi, however, Yoru stopped him. "Hold it," he said. "Not from there."

"Excuse me?" Kei asked, mystified, watching as Yoru cut a piece from the second tier and beckoned Kenichi to come closer.

"Here, open wide," Yoru said, holding up the cake. Kenichi was more than happy to comply, and his eyes went wide the moment he closed his mouth.

"Caramel!" he squealed, turning red with delight. "I love caramel! Thank you!"

"Wait, what?" Kei asked, thoroughly confused. "Caramel? Where? I tasted cranberry sauce."

"Kenichi wanted caramel," Yoru explained. "He was disappointed that there wasn't any, but there was a screw-up with the cake yesterday and they had to make a new one. They had leftover caramel sauce, so I asked them to make a modification." He reached out and ruffled Kenichi's hair as the boy danced up to him.

Kei struggled to find words. "It wasn't necessary," he ultimately said.

"I know. I'm just bribing my stepson to get him to like me."

"Oh, there's one thing you absolutely needn't do!" Kei cried, pulling Yoru into a tight hug. Their private moment shielded by their family surrounding them, Kei summoned the courage to press a soft kiss in Yoru's hair. "He already adores you," he told him. "We all do."