Out in the far western side of Tokyo, all the way amongst the peaks and trees that covered Okutama Mountain, there was a mansion spanning three stories high, tall enough for someone to see the tops of the trees from the top floor, and big enough to house the entire population of Okutama. 

However, only six people lived there, with a staff by the hundreds living either at their own homes or at a separate building near the mansion, so that they would be able to provide their services in the middle of the night should it be required.

Its habitants were the Yoshikawa, descendants from the long gone Taira clan, one of the big four clans during the Heian Period, alongside the Fujiwara, the Tachibana, and the other most known clan, the Minamoto.

Four of the habitants were the eldest sons of the current head of the family, Shigemori and Munemori, a politician and company owner respectively, and their respective wives. Neither of the couples had children of their own, despite being well into their thirties, with the eldest Shigemori one year away from fourty.

One of the other habitants was the current head of the family, Yoshikawa Gakuganji, who took the mantle after his father, whom he shares name with due to now gone tradition of the family heads naming their eldest son Gakuganji, after he passed away the year before. Despite being widowed to his second wife right after his youngest son's birth, he raised his sons to be people of power, and handle the bettering of the Yoshikawa name with his own hands. Currently, he was the headmaster of a school in Shinjuku.

And finally, there was Gakuganji's youngest son, Kagekiyo, named after one of the samurai to fight for the Taira clan. An almost ironic name, considering that Taira no Kagekiyo was originally part of the Fujiwara clan and later adopted into the Taira, the same way this Kagekiyo was born with a different mother than his brothers, but still brought into the main branch of the family. Though he always scored great marks and became a greater fighter, even reaching the status of King, there was one thing he was fated to do.

And today, he would accomplish one of his father's greatest works: to end the Heian conflict after centuries, by uniting the descendants of the Taira and Minamoto clans through marriage. And of course, the media ate that like starved dogs.

With one hour to go until the moment Gakuganji spent decades preparing, he visited his son's room as he finished putting on his suit.

"Yo. I hope you didn't get cold feet at the last second. You have a beautiful bride waiting for you." Gakuganji chuckled, stepping into the room.

"Of course not, father..." Kagekiyo sweatdropped, looking at his father through the mirror in front of him. He was adjusting his collar. "After today, the family will grow more. It's what you've always desired. But still... This could have been something for Shige or Mune to do."

"I don't believe Okutama's age of consent agrees with that." The older man laughed, approaching his son. "The suit your grandfather picked for you is truly wonderful. The old coot had taste, that I can say for sure."

"Don't go calling that to grandfather..." Kagekiyo deadpanned, looking at himself in the mirror again. His suit was a nice white suit, with a dark blue tie, and thin dark blue line going down the lapel.

"You know I'm just messing around. Of course I miss him too. And I'll always be grateful to him for raising you when I was too busy with other things. He was dy- More excited for this day than anyone else. Since Shigemori and Munenori were born while he was still working on his oem businesses, he never really had time to be his grandsons. And then one day, me and your mother were blessed with you, may she rest in peace." Gakuganji said, looking at the mirror aswell. "But even your grandfather knew his health was like a candle in strong winds. That's why he left this for you, his closest relative."

Gakuganji lifted his son's hand and placed a white wooden box on top of it.

"Is this... Grandfather's deck?" Kagekiyo asked, opening the box.

"You bet it is. Busy or not, he sure liked to play. And he played those yucky Star-Vaders things to boot. Still, I never ended up beating him. Can you believe that? My deck's just statiscally better." Gakuganji laughed. "Guess I'll just have to wait to join him in hell."

"Father!"

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding, relax." He laughed, rubbing his son's shoulders with a smile. "Keep that on you when the big moment of the day arrives. It'll give you your grandfather's strength. And hopefully, the strength to not want to end yourself because of how annoying your wife ends up being." He joked.

"I'd appreciate if you didn't talk about Kasumi-san like that..." Kagekiyo sweatdropped, putting his grandfather's deck in a pocket of his blazer. "Father... Do you really believe me being the one to unite the clans was the best idea?" He asked, looking back at Gakuganji.

"What? Of course I do. Look." Gakuganji pointed at the Kagekiyo in the mirror. "You know who that is? That's Yoshikawa Kagekiyo, someone born with glorious purpose. And don't let the people who lack power make you feel otherwise. Now come on, finish up what you have to. It's bad luck to get there after the bride." He smiled, slapping Kagekiyo on the back.

"Y-yes, I will..."

After Gakuganji exited the room to go receive the guests he had invited to the wedding, Kagekiyo looked at himself in the mirror one last time.

'My name is Yoshikawa Kagekiyo, and I was born with glorious purpose... And no desire of doing this. But my older brothers have made the family proud, and so has my father, and my grandfather, and the ones to come before him... I will not be the weak link of he Yoshikawa...!' Kagekiyo thought, clenching his right fist to steel his resolve.

He exited his room to go join his father at receiving the guests, but as he walked up to the floor's stairway, he walked past a room with an open door, where the bride, already in her wedding dress, stared at herself in the mirror.

"Kasumi-san..." Kagekiyo muttered.

Kasumi's wedding dress was split into two parts. The first was a pure white dress that covered her from her chest down. The second was a blue lace piece that covered her arms and collarbone. Together, the dress and lace created a perfect window for a certain nice place. Oh yeah, and a veil, it isn't a wedding without that.

Truly, prime harem winner material.

"M-may I... May I come in, Kasumi-san?" The groom asked, softly knocking on the open door.

"H-hai, Kaki-kun..." Kasumi muttered, nodding.

"Y-you don't have to call me that, we aren't kids anymore..." Kagekiyo sweatdropped. "I just wanted to say that... Afterall all of this is over... Please go back to your old life! This wedding is a joke, we don't need to be together after it! After it's done, we don't need to-!"

"It's fine..." Kasumi said, walking up to her future husband and grabbing his hands. "This is our fate... Why should we feel bad about it?" She asked, looking up at Kagekiyo.

"Kasumi-san..." Kagekiyo muttered, letting go of Kasumi's hand and placing one on the left side of her face, softly caressing it. "We've been in this ride for much time and I still don't get how you can stay positive through it all... You're truly much stronger than me."

Kagekiyo showed her a small smile and moved his hand away from her, but suddenly, it started to slowly tremble. His breathing slowed down and his eyes moved down. Out of nowhere, he suddenly grabbed Kausmi's left breast and slid his index and middle finger into the dress, but a small whimper made him stop from pulling it all down in one go.

"W-wait..." Kasumi whimpered, looking down. "L-let's wait until after the wedding is finished..."

"I-i'm sorry, Kasumi-san!" Kagekiyo exclaimed, stepping away from her. "I don't... This... I-it'll never happen a-again!"

Kagekiyo grabbed his trembling hand and ran out of the room, leaving Kasumi alone.

Kasumi raised her head and rapidly closed the door. She walked up to a window in the room and looked out at the forest surrounding the mansion. Next to the window was a table, where she kept a purse with her phone, which she took out. Opening her gallery, she looked at the pictures taken during summer break, from the many photos Yukiko had taken of the two, to photos of the entire group, and even photos of Izuru passed out on the ground after Yukiko did her thing.

And then, she received a text from him.

"You guys got four extra seats?"