At one in the morning, January first, in Tsurugaoka shrine, Aki and I exchanged sips of sake and listened to the priest chant in a Shinto ceremony to marry us. Only one hour after my twentieth birthday had come to a close. My adopted family waited on the stairs just outside, my parents on video call from overseas, in a city that I had wished most of my life to leave. Watching Aki participate in the heavily traditional gestures was magical. His hair had grown longer than he usually liked to keep it, his tattoos poked out here and there from his kimono, his nails were lacquered in black and his silver jewelry was heavy. Through all of it, as out of place as he looked, he so perfectly performed every aspect of the ceremony with utter contentment in his expression, in his energy. I could feel that the moment was the only thing he had ever wanted in his life.

As we joined the rest of Guardian, they clapped their hands together in congratulations for us, Kota shouted and drew far too much attention, and we were engulfed by them from all sides. As lively as the celebration was around me, my mind was quiet, and I laughed, and I couldn't stop my tears of absolute joy from escaping any longer. It all moved in slow motion until I was held by Aki only, and I watched his face as he laughed and kissed me, and he had tears in his eyes as well.

"Wait, guys!" Aki had called to them as they started down the steps to make their way out of the shrine. He was holding my hand, and produced a small wooden box from the sleeve pocket of his kimono. "Traditional ceremonies don't usually include rings, but I wanted us to have them." He opened the box to reveal two silver band rings, both plain but beautiful, one slightly thicker than the other. "If you want to."

"Aki thinks of everything." Fuji said.

I took the bigger ring from the box, holding out my hand so Aki would take it. He let me slide the ring onto his finger, and I bowed deeply to him as I held his hand in both of mine. I couldn't stop crying. His hands grabbed the backs of my arms, pulling me out of the bow and into his embrace, just like he did every time we sang together on stage. He was smiling all the while tears flowed from his eyes as well.

"You have to stop crying, or I won't be able to stop either." He laughed as he spoke, wiping his face with the back of his hand and taking the other ring from the box. He shook as he held my hand and took the ring off of my finger that he had placed there nearly a year before, slid the silver one on with mine stacked above it.

We returned the kimono, and returned to Aki's house by two in the morning, where we immediately worked together to make tea and cut the strawberry shortcake that was left from Christmas. The five of us collapsed in the living room, onto the couch, the floor, anywhere there was a surface to fall upon. Fuji had returned Aki's phone, and he instantly began looking through the photos Fuji had taken. We were quiet, tired, and enjoying the emotions, knowing we would be making the trip back to Tokyo later in the day.

I couldn't remember having fallen asleep, but I woke in Aki's bed beside him, to see him looking at his phone. He had his glasses on, which he rarely wore, and I knew he must have been exhausted. Without a word, he handed me his phone after he realized I had woken up, so show me a photo. It was after we had emerged from the shrine, on the stairs, and he was captured in the moment placing the rings on my finger. It had felt like a dream until he produced the photo as evidence. He was laughing in the photo, and his smile was so beautiful. I was looking at him as he held my hand, and my other hand was covering my mouth. The moment was etched into my memory as well, but seeing the photo was like watching it again from outside of myself.

"I thought I was dreaming." I said, taking the phone from him to get a better look. I realized he had posted the photo on his social media, and there was a caption under it that read, "Happy New Year! Natsu and I got married!" It was the simplest gesture to Guardian's fans, but it was a monumental announcement to have made.

"You might have been. You fell asleep on the couch out there." He held up his hand to admire the ring, the only piece of jewelry he had left on. "But this is real. I finished your piece of cake and carried you to bed."

"I'll have to call my parents tomorrow. They're going to want to talk about it. Thank you for calling them."

He nodded his acknowledgement. "Life is going to be different when we get back to Tokyo tomorrow."