Part 17

Rukawa stood in front of his mirror with a passive face looking back at him as he took in his wedding attire. It was magnificent. He wore a plain, white shirt that had those frilly sleeves and buttons that met at the center, topped with a blue vest with gold and silver linings on the side and edges of each pocket, collar, and cuffs. He wore black slacks that clung to every curve and form of his long, legs, and at the end, the most expensive black boots in the world. Topping it all off, he had a robe on his shoulders, the inside a dark, velvet black, the outside a dark, velvet blue. He attached his sword around his hips and place it on his right side, looking like the perfect prince.

Rukawa sighed and turned away from the mirror and moved towards his chair, sitting down on it as he brought his hand up to his face, fingering his jaw as he tried to think. It wasn't happening, though. Nothing was entering his mind. All he could see was a face with a pair of brown eyes looking back at him, an arrogant mouth turned up in a grin, and wild, fiery hair moving with an unseen force. Rukawa shook his head as he leaned forward to try to touch his imagination. As expected, it disappeared like it always did.

He bent his head down as tears threatened to burst free. He shouldn't cry. Hanamichi had finally gotten his wish. He was happy, and that's all Rukawa wanted for him. But no matter how much he tried, he couldn't get that redhead out of his head. His laugh, his smile, his blushes, his touch...EVERYTHING! Rukawa swore that he was going to lose his mind if ever he saw one more image of Hanamichi in his mind. So far, he has counted 6.

Someone knocked hard on the door then, bringing Rukawa out of his stupor condition. He ran a finger along his cheek to see if any tears had leaked out involuntarily, and when he found none, he stood up from his chair and answered, "Come in."

The door opened quietly as Sylvester walked in, a scroll in his left hand, and a pen in the other. He bowed down respectfully to the young prince as he said, "Sir, everything is in order. They are all waiting for you."

Rukawa turned to look at himself in the mirror one more time, took a deep breath, and turned to face Sylvester, a deadly expression on his face. "Let us go."

"Yes, young master."

As Rukawa exited the room and followed his father's advisor down the corridor, he bit his lip when Hanamichi's face floated in front of his eyes again. He balled his hands into two tight fists as he went down the stairs and caught sight of the millions and millions of demons scattered around the entire area, waiting for him to arrive. He released the breath he had been holding in and looked up at the ceiling, a wistful look on his face.

Sayonara...Hana...

* * * * * *

Sendoh smiled as he led Death further and further into the store. Death blinked when he saw no one inside, then turned to face Sendoh. "It seems that my cousin has gone to the wedding ceremony too. I think that we should head back now?"

"But what about the materials we need for the wall?" Sendoh asked.

Death shook his head and passed the young man quickly. "They should have done something by now. Now, let's go back, or we'll be late."

"Actually, we're right on time."

"Huh?" Death turned towards the blue eyed boy at that statement, and raised his head a notch higher. "What do you mean-" Before he could finish his sentence, a box made out of a thin layer of air formed around him and trapped him inside. Death charged forward and pounded on the glass, screaming something at Sendoh, but Sendoh couldn't hear him.

Sendoh sighed and smiled at Death's actions. "Give it up, Death. I looked this spell up in your own book and you wrote there that it was impossible to break this unless a relative of yours comes. Well, you were right." Sendoh smirked happily at the enraged cloaked figure inside. "Your cousin is in Kaede's wedding ceremony, and the best part is, no one will be here to help you out."

Death pounded on the barrier one more time, then mouthed angrily, 'How?'

Sendoh backed up and explained. "When I lured you out of your room, my lover came and took your book. He read it as he ran here ahead of us and set this up for me." Sendoh looked to the side, and out of thin air, Koshino appeared, looking like an innocent child. "Pretty clever, huh?"

Death started raving and boxing the barrier at full strength then, shouting things at them, but they couldn't be heard.

Sendoh laughed and took Koshino in his arms. "Now, if you'll excuse us, we have a wedding to catch." With a smile, Sendoh snapped his fingers and disappeared together with Koshino, leaving an enraged Death all alone.

* * * * * *

Mitsui looked Hanamichi over and gave a low whistle. "Man, oh, man...I never thought I'd see the day you'd look like this..."

Hanamichi blushed at that and wrapped the black coat around him. "I look stupid."

"No you don't." Mitsui looked at the clock and nodded. "Right. It's 9:25. We're right on schedule." Then, he turned his back to Hanamichi as he conjured a portal in front of them both. When he was done, he grabbed Hanamichi's hand and pulled them both in. "Close your eyes."

Hanamichi did, and was glad for that advice. It felt like they were caught in a tornado of some sort. The wind was brushing against his body like silk, the movement was like riding a roller coaster, and the portal seemed to drop endlessly like a bottomless pit. Finally, when he felt that his ears weren't ringing anymore and he wasn't falling, he cautiously opened his eyes, and gasped at the sight in front of him. He had always thought of hell as a small cavern filled with fire and rocks with little devils jumping around singing some nasty song, but THIS wasn't anything like that.

It was...marvelous. Though the entire place looked dead because of the darkness and loss of greenery, it was still enchanting. The moon looked like it was a blue orb with silver lines etched on it. The sky was a mix of dark blue and indigo, giving the area a weird lighting, and finally, his eyes landed on the castle.

It was bigger than any other castle or area he has ever imagined. It looked like it took up 50 hectares of land, and it had a dark cloud surrounding the perimeter. There were 4 main towers that had the seal of what resembled a scythe and a sword crossed over wings. Hanamichi swallowed in both dismay and admiration. The image was quite imposing.

Mitsui laughed at Hanamichi's expression. "Shocked or stunned?"

Hanamichi shook his head as he tightened his hold on the coat around him. "Both."

Mitsui laughed again, then, whistled. Hanamichi looked at him, wondering why he did that, when his eyes caught sight of 2 horses coming towards them. Hanamichi's eyes widened. One of them was as normal as any other horse you would see. It had a brown coat and dark brown hair. Hanamichi guessed that would be his horse, but what made his eyes widen was the other horse, Mitsui's horse. It had a midnight black coat, had the same height as the other horse, but the hair was made out of blue fire. It was fascinating to watch as the horse finally stopped in front of them.

Mitsui went towards his horse and got on it. "Well, what are you waiting for? Let's go!"

Hanamichi snapped out of his staring game and looked at his horse. He sweat dropped. "Ah...Mitchy?"

"Hmmm?" Mitsui asked as he turned his horse to face the castle.

Hanamichi gave him a small smile. "Ano...how do I ride a horse?"

Mitsui almost fell to the ground at that question. He straightened himself and shook his head. "You are one weird kid." When Hanamichi heard what Mitsui called him and opened his mouth to retort, Mitsui interrupted him with a wave of his hand. "We don't have enough time, so listen up." Mitsui patiently instructed Hanamichi on how to get up, place his other foot on the other side, and finally, hold the horse steady. Hanamichi grumbled every now and then, wanting to get back at Mitsui for what he called him, but kept in inside a he tried his best to follow the older mans instructions. Finally, when he sat upright on the horse, Mitsui nodded. "Good. Now, let's go."

Hanamichi nodded back and dug the heels of his boots into the sides of the horse just as Mitsui taught him. They were both streaking down the road and towards the castle gates in a few seconds. Hanamichi looked up at the castle gates as Mitsui spoke to the main guard. He narrowed his eyes as he looked at the main tower.

Wait for me...Rukawa.

* * * * * *

Eri Fujisawa caught Rukawa's arm in a hug and planted a kiss on his cheek. "You look magnificent, Kaede. And so sexy too..."

Rukawa wanted kill her right then and there. Ever since he came down the stairs, she had glued herself to his arm, pressing her breasts against his side as she gave him sultry looks. He sighed. Nearly everyone in the room was already whispering that Eri was going to be his wife. Also, she had attracted nearly everyone in the castle to look at her. She was wearing a gown that resembled a gown only that the line was in front of her breast all the way to her ankles. The gown could have fallen off by then if ever the clasps came undone.

Rukawa sighed and looked at the clock. It was 10:00 pm... He extracted himself from Eri's hold and walked up the platform, drawing everyone's attention to him. He raised his hands to stop everyone's chattering and voiced out, "Welcome and thank you for coming to my marriage ceremony." He started, looking around the room as he did so. "As you all may have noticed, my father isn't here at the moment due to a meeting being held in Denver, however, as the old saying goes, 'the show must go on'." He paused for a while, then continued his speech, not noticing that the great doors were slowly parting. "As the centuries have passed, our powers have been multiplying and multiplying. With each heir comes an even greater power..."

People near the door started gasping softly as a figure weaved his way through the crowd.

Rukawa looked at Eri's shining face, then forced himself to continue. "I promise you all that I will rule the Underworld with all my strength and bring it to the top." He paused again and closed his eyes, not noticing the figure that has just entered closing in. He opened his eyes then and announced, "It is with great honor and pleasure that I present to you, my bride-" Rukawa suddenly stopped as a certain presence infiltrated his system. He gasped out loud when he recognized it, and looked up in disbelief at the figure who stepped up beside Eri. His eyes widened. Sou na...

The person was cloaked in an attire that looked somewhat like his, but different. The person had the same plain, white shirt, black slacks and boots, only instead of a blue vest, his was red. And instead of a dark blue cloak, he had a dark, velvet red one. His hair was slicked back in a stylish manner, and he too had a sword on his right.

Rukawa gulped down the lump that had suddenly appeared in his throat and stared at the beauty in front of him. He couldn't believe it. It had to be some kind of dream. But even as he said those things to himself, he couldn't help but gasp out the name.

"Hana..."

Hanamichi smiled up at him and tipped his head to one side. "Hey there, Kitsune."

Everyone around the room started bustling around and murmuring to each other, and that was the only time Rukawa remembered that he was suppose to announce his new bride.

Mitsui came towards Rukawa and latched his arm around Rukawa's shoulder as he shouted out, "Ladies and gentlemen, behold the choice of our young prince, Kaede Rukawa...Hanamichi Sakuragi!"

Rukawa swallowed again as Hanamichi stepped up to the platform for everyone to see. When Hanamichi was finally beside him, he leaned in close to Rukawa's ear and whispered, "You didn't make my wish come true."

Rukawa snapped out of his stunned state and stared at Hanamichi. "Wh-what are you-?"

"My wish was to be happy with the person I loved." Hanamichi interrupted. And right in front of all the demons around them, Hanamichi leaned in close to Rukawa. "How could I be happy if the one I love is going to get married to someone else?"

And before Rukawa could answer that question, Hanamichi kissed him squarely on the lips.

TBC