Page 84 of Pragma
“No, you pout like a small kid.” The words slip my lips.
“More a lame teenager,” thekumichointerjects, making me chuckle. Aki elbows me in the gut.
“So now, you’ll get married?—”
“Wooo, wooo! what?” Aki cuts her statement off.
“You still need to secure your position. There’s four other families who aren’t your biggest fans,” she reminds him. “Also, thanks to your fiancé,”is that me?“we cut a deal with the Leone family. Don Sebastiano is ruthless and cold-hearted, just my kind of guy. I already told him about your wedding, and he agreed to come. You and River will be the bridge between the organizations here in New York. While…”
She keeps talking, but my mind stops listening for a moment.
Marriage. With Aki. Me and him. Together. For everyone to know.
“Do it with me,” I blurt out, pulling on his hand.
“Ehm, I’m sure I’m interpreting your words the wrong way since my aunt, the crew, and a bunch of robots in black are here.” His brown, impish eyes find mine, and looking inside those shiny pools, I know more than ever that this is what I want.
“Do everything with me.”
“More than we already did? Oh, I’m so up for it.” He is still not getting it.
I grab his shoulder and squeeze. “Marriage, Aki. Let’s do it.”
“Bite the bullet and get married?” His eyes are darting between mine as he needs to make sure I’m serious.
“Just say yes!” thekumichoexclaims with irritation before I can reply. “I can see the hearts falling out of your eyes. It’s like a sticky, sugary waterfall.”
I don’t know who she is talking to, probably me.
“Fuck, and I thought I was the impulsive one.” Aki is grinning like a loon at me now. He jumps once again and wraps his limbs around me, making me stumble.
“Impulsive? I’ve fucking wanted you for years,” I grumble, but relief and joy I’ve never felt before invade my chest. He doesn’t kiss me, and I don’t mind—we both know that if we start, we won’t be able to stop. But he bites me hard on the jaw. His way of sealing the deal.
“Here.” A little box is tossed our way. Aki catches it, looking with curiosity at his aunt.
“A present for me?” He sounds excited.
“Not for you. Open it, or did you forget how to fucking do it?” She huffs.
It’s incredible how he controls himself around her but turns berserk with everybody else.
Inside the box, there’s a pinky ring with the emblem of the Hebikawa family. The same ring Aki and thekumichoalways wear.
“It was Akira’s grandfather’s,” she lets us know.
“Give me your hand.” I hear his order, and I follow it almost in a trance. I feel the cold metal enveloping my skin and sliding down, and then the heaviness resting on my finger. It fits perfectly.
“River Ichigo Hebikawa. Sounds good.” He smirks teasingly at me. But it actually does to me.
Aki lifts my hand and kisses the ring before thekumichostates, “Welcome to the family…River.”
It still feels weird when she calls me by my name. I have to force the tears back, it’s hard. So fucking hard, but I manage, tightening my arms around Aki a little too much. I’m becoming the man I was meant to be because of him.
“Now I’m going back to LA.” I hear her stand up, and before leaving she adds, “I’ll see you at the wedding, one month from today. Don’t be fucking late.Ijoya.”
As soon as she disappears, I hear the crew clapping hands, cheering, and voicing their congratulations. But I tune it all out.
My forehead falls on Aki’s, and I savor his scent, his warmth, his presence, before I tell him, “Umarekawattemo, omae o sugu sagashi dasu.”
