Forced Wedding

The wedding

She didn't recognize herself, she was a complete stranger. She had brought this situation on herself, and yet she couldn't help but feel weird.

She tried to sketch a smile and the stranger in the mirror gave her back a crooked grimace, well, that wasn't a smile. She had to smile and look happy no matter what, after all, the bride had to be cheerful on her wedding day.

She took a last look at the person in the mirror, her makeup was heavy and changed her features a little, her hair was tied up in a bun too elaborate to have been done a by herself, and she was dressed in an elegant white kimono with embroidery of the same color that were just to give it relief and show how fine the outfit was. The obi was white too, giving her outfit the look it should, that of being a pure woman or better said, that of a woman who hadn't been touched. Nothing could be further from the truth.

There was a knock at the door, and she knew it was time for the show to begin, maybe she might not manage to pretend to be a happy bride, but at least she would make sure no one noticed how bad that was feeling, the weight that was increasing minute by minute. She calmly advanced to the door and opened it, giving a slight wave to the girl who accompanied her, and starting to walk down the aisle with her head held high, as if she really belonged there.

The large double doors opened, revealing a gigantic hall with too many people gathered, although that was to be expected, it wasn't every day that the son of the great feudal lord got married. She watched attentively all the faces she could as she began to move towards the front, finally she found what she was looking for, a pair of white eyes fixed on her every move.

That gaze told her to stop, turn around and run back home, but she wasn't going to quit, she was a kunoichi in every sense of the word, and she wasn't going to abandon her final mission. The intensity of his gaze increased, and that made her break eye contact, remembering that he had treated her as if she was worthless, she began to walk a little faster towards the altar. The walk was short, and she was finally in front of the person she would marry.

For the first time since she arrived at that place she really analyzed the appearance of her future husband, he was tall, not very well-built but not exactly skinny, with blond hair and honey colored eyes, he was definitely not ugly... appearance, she had never taken it into account, but she should be thankful that he was what many would define as attractive.

A few words recited from memory by the judge present, a ring placed on her hand and it was time to sign the sheet in front of her. Now it was official, she was married to Yoshida Toshio the son of the great feudal, and her mission had just been accomplished, she had just said goodbye forever to the ninja world. The mask she forced herself to pretend cracked for a moment, while her husband lightly brushed her lips in a short kiss that ended the ceremony.

How many people were in that place? As they walked towards the hall where the dinner was to be held, everyone congratulated them and hugged her, wishing them the best of luck, and one or another commented that they hoped to hear news about children soon. Her mask was intact, just like the one Hyūga always wore, it didn't show any emotion in the midst of the events.

They entered a huge hall and took their place at a table in front of all the attendees, a light dinner and a few words from her father-in-law indicated that it was time for the newlyweds to dance for the first time. If she thought that everyone hugging her and congratulating her on the wedding had been unpleasant, it was because she didn't foresee that after dancing the first melody with her husband everyone would start dancing with her, although it wasn't difficult to keep up, since all the songs were slow, it was a little tedious to pretend to be interested in what he was telling her who was dancing with her.

The night was progressing and she was exhausted, but that didn't stop a slight gleam from escaping her eyes as she saw Neji finally ask for a turn to dance with her. Her tiredness vanished and as she twirled in his arms, she felt like she was floating, her imagination flying... dreaming that the celebration was because she had become Mrs. Hyūga as she always wished.

"You should smile or at least try to look happy," he spoke, and like a bucket of cold water the charm was broken.

"I don't see the reason to do it," she answered him lowering her gaze, she felt unable to face Neji without bursting into tears.

"It's your duty, you should at least fulfill correctly your mission," her feet stopped momentarily while a feeling of hatred ran through her from top to bottom, and the feeling of wanting to cry increased, he always looked down on her, "don't you dare cry!" he whispered to her in a cutting manner as he began to whirl again to the music. "It's not appropriate."

"Come, it's time to leave," said a voice behind her back as a hand rested on her shoulder making her stop dancing, she felt her blood run cold. Neji's hand squeezed her waist tighter.

"Su-Sure, let's go," she spoke as soon as she managed to find her voice again, she tried to pull away from Neji, but the hand on her waist prevented her from doing so.

"Thank you very much for coming, but me and my wife are tired, and we wish we could be in private."

"Of course," Neji said in a murmur, "I wish you much success together," and after saying that he disappeared.

Toshio started walking towards the exit of the room while she walked submissively behind him, following him through the endless corridors of the mansion, they passed in front of countless doors, finally stopping in front of some that were bigger and more elaborate than the others.

The room was gigantic and was divided in two, she could almost assure that her old house would fit in there, and there would even be plenty of room. At the entrance there was a room with three pieces of furniture surrounding a tea table, and in front of the table there was a beautiful fireplace. To one side there were other doors behind which was a beautiful dressing table all in matching red wine tones.

Slowly she began to undo her hair, which had been extremely uncomfortable and it was time to get rid of it. She walked to the dressing table, and placed on it all the buckles she was removing. Perhaps it was because the blood was circulating in her head again or simply because the reflection of the mirror showed exactly what she had pretended to ignore, behind her was a gigantic bed that occupied a good part of the room.