Kekkon

Every night, Shinya bolted awake from this daily haunt, soaked head to toe. He initially thought he awoke in a cold sweat each night, but with enough time, he could tell the difference between sticky perspiration and ocean water. He needed to leave, as soon as possible. He began saving every candy blue coin he could get his hand on, hoping it would have at least a decent conversion to yen. He began pitching a life after 48 to his friends: he told his then girlfriend Miho they would have a beautiful wedding back in Japan, he’d pull out all the stops and make it a dream ceremony. She’d tilt her head of now black hair and smile confusedly. “But we’re in Japan?”

He begged Yoshi to live with him and Miho at the end of the 5 years. Shinya made himself out as some sentimental fool; he hated embarrassing himself like that, but he couldn’t abandon him in this place. He promised he didn’t have to pay rent, or even work if he needed some time; he just wanted his friend with him when he reintegrated to the mainland. Yoshi shrugged, simply saying he liked it here and his job paid well. He simply went back to his games and work, and talked about whatever came to mind. Shinya’s desperation didn’t seem to get through to him.

Miho lost her patience, and asked Shinya to marry her. He couldn’t lose her, so he agreed, but he demanded a traditional wedding. This confused Miho and even Shinya really: neither had ever been religious or conservative in any sense of the word, so this was out of left field for him. He had no good explanation for Miho, simply that they “had to”. The spear cast a shadow over his mind even then, and as futile as it was, if he had to marry her here, he wanted some protection. Shinya became the unlikely activist for creating facilities and funding for this service, as many new couples wanted to begin their new lives on this virgin land with pomp and circumstance. The government was eager to help facilitate new families, so hired a Shintō priest to officiate new marriages, including Shinya. Neither he nor Miho looked very comfortable in their formal attire, and their only guest was (surprisingly) Yoshi, who left his cave to witness the ceremony. Shinya hung desperately to the hope that, if the profane exists in this world, then something holy can protect them. After the ceremony, Shinya watched the priest quickly make his way to the boat, making wards against evil with his hands as he boarded.