Volume 20 - Grand Finale, Chapter 152 - Bombshell

Haru had just told Agent Will, in very clear terms, that she and Yuisu were going to get married whether the law recognized it or not. Agent Will had started to reply but he'd been interrupted by an approaching conversation.

"Hey Tsuen," came Mara's youthful voice echoing down the hallway. "Do you have a membership to a VIP airport lounge?" Then before Tsuen could possibly answer the unusual question, Mara said, "Because I'm open for you twenty-four seven."

The bad pickup line earned a groan from its target and a giggle from Rem, who was riding on Tsuen's rump. Mara immediately followed it with another, "Are you a library book? Because I'd like to check you out."

With a scoff, Tsuen shook her head and said, "Mara, why are you like this?" Though she was acting annoyed, she was quite used to Mara being Mara, and she did enjoy the attention.

In a serious tone of voice, Rem said, "Hey, Tsuen? Can I see the bottom of your hoof?"

Tsuen stopped in the hallway, just outside the kitchen. She glanced back at Rem and asked, "Uh, why?"

Rem grinned and finished, "I'm looking for a serial number, because you must have been made for me."

"Agh! Not you, too!" Tsuen groaned, but she was drowned out by Mara and Rem's laughter.

While Mara was saying, "Nice one, Rem!" and getting snack from the fridge, Agent Will leaned forward and told Haru, "Let's relocate to somewhere more private for the rest of our meeting."

"Good idea. We can use my room," Haru said. She stood from her seat at the table and waved a wing at the trio that had just arrived. "The kitchen's all yours, girls."

"Oh, sorry for the interruption," Rem said. "I didn't realize you were still doing meetings, Agent Will."

Agent Will smiled. "Don't worry about it. This is my last one for the day." He stood, started toward Haru's room, and added, "Seeya, ladies."

Haru caught up to him when he stopped by the front desk area. She came to a stop as well and tilted her head questioningly.

He answered her unspoken question with, "Actually, let's get Yuisu in on this too."

Haru nodded, then skipped up to the front desk and said, "Hey babe, got a moment? Agent Will wants to talk to both of us in private. And I already told him about our engagement."

Yuisu looked up from her laptop. She'd been gathering financial records so she could file the previous year's taxes. They weren't due until March 15th, so the task wasn't urgent in the least. "Oh, sure," she said.

She rose from her chair and followed as Haru led Agent Will to their bedroom. Yuisu was pretty sure her lewd manga were all put away, as were her and Haru's 'intimate accessories', but she was still a little nervous to have her Exchange Program Coordinator in her bedroom.

When they were all inside, it was Agent Will who double-checked that the door was closed behind them. Then he said, "You should sit down for this." Once Haru and Yuisu were seated side by side on the bed, he said, "What I'm about to tell you is confidential, a literal government secret. It is not to leave this room."

They nodded solemnly, dreading whatever it was he planned to say.

He clasped his hands behind his back and said, "In the Japanese constitution, it says, 'Marriage shall be based only on the mutual consent of both sexes and it shall be maintained through mutual cooperation with the equal rights of husband and wife as a basis.'"

Haru and Yuisu already knew those words, the ones keeping them from being married. Because of that line in the constitution, the Japanese Civil Code had limited marriage to between a man and woman. The two women remained silent as Agent Will continued.

"In less than two weeks, that line is changing to use 'participants' and 'both partners' instead of 'sexes' and 'husband and wife'." As they were getting their heads around that, he said, "And that's not all. To celebrate the occasion, the Exchange Program has been directed to participate in a special event."

Yuisu and Haru just nodded. It seemed like Japan was about to legalize gay marriage, which was obviously great news, but they had no idea where Agent Will was going with the rest of it.

Agent Will said, "The Exchange Program wants your date to be the same day as the celebration."

Haru tilted her head nearly 90 degrees. "Our date? What do you mean?"

"Your wedding date, of course. The Program wants a liminal-human couple to get married on the same day that gay marriage becomes legal in Japan. It's a political stunt, to show that the Interspecies Exchange Program is st—"

"Wait a minute," Yuisu interrupted. "You want us to get married…"

Haru finished the thought, "…in less than two weeks?!"

"In twelve days, specifically. On the 14th," Agent Will added, far too nonchalant. "I do realize that's very short notice, but on the plus side, the Exchange Program will pay for the whole thing. And not just a reimbursement that takes a month or more to process; We've got permission to charge any wedding-related expenses straight to my business card." He cleared his throat and added, "Within reason. No Kobe beef or fatty tuna on the menu, please."

Haru's stomach rumbled at the mention of such quality meat. Judging by her facial expression, she was quite disappointed to hear the menu limitations.

"Twelve days," Yuisu repeated in disbelief. The wonderful news of being able to marry the love of her life had been quickly overshadowed by the frankly insane timeline they were being asked to follow.

Agent Will nodded. "Yep. I'll help out as much as I can. I'll be in town through the wedding date, and I'm sure the other girls will help too."

Haru narrowed her eyes at him. "How are they supposed to help if we can't tell them about the change to the laws?"

Yuisu glared as well, and Agent Will felt himself liquifying under the pressure. "Um, well, they will be able to help soon. News of the change will go public in two days, but I wanted to give you the extra time." He frowned. "I guess it wasn't all that useful after all."

Yuisu shook her head and quickly said, "No, it's super useful. We can use that time to prepare a list of people to invite, and write our vows, and a whole bunch of other things." The exciting news had finally fully sunk in and Yuisu felt energized by it.

Haru nodded vigorously, sending strands of white hair flying. "Yes, we'll absolutely make use of the extra time. Thank you."

Then Yuisu raised a finger and asked, "But what if we don't get everything ready in time? It's not like getting married on that day is mandatory. Is it?"

He shook his head. "Not mandatory, but strongly encouraged. If you miss that day, you'll just have to pay for everything yourselves, and I might not be available to officiate. Um, if you want me to, that is."

Since she had just been working on the Mountain Lily Inn's taxes, Yuisu's thoughts went straight to money. Weddings were far from cheap, and any money they had to spend on the ceremony wouldn't be available to pay down loans and secure their financial future.

Haru had focused on a different part of Agent Will's statement. She said, "We'd be honored to have you officiate. You are the biggest reason we're together, and you did a wonderful job at Iormu and Quess's wedding."

Agent Will turned and looked out the window to hide his blushing cheeks and said, "Oh, um, thank you very much. I'm happy to hear that."

Then he cleared his throat and said, "As I said, I'll be in town through the 14th, so please call me with any questions. And don't tell anyone about the law changing until you see it on the news."

For two days straight, Haru and Yuisu worked on anything they could do on their own without revealing the wedding plans. Haru called out of work at the butcher's and Yuisu entrusted as much of the Inn's responsibilities as possible to Rem and Sya, then they holed up in their bedroom to work.

Yuisu was sprawled on her stomach on the bed with her laptop in front of her while Haru leaned against the bed and used her tablet. They were both comfy in their pajamas but they had to stay focused on the large amount of work to be done.

"First choice for the wedding cake?" Haru asked. On such short notice, there was no way they'd get all their first choices, so they made sure to pick backup options too.

Yuisu answered, "The Muse's Grace, for sure. May does amazing work, and I'm pretty sure they have dairy-free options. Is your mom lactose intolerant too?"

"Hmm, I don't know since it never came up. Probably?" Haru said. She wrote that down in her document, added the name of another local shop she often flew over as a backup, then she moved to the next item on her list. "Flowers from Quess's Pheromagic Flowers, of course. What about catering?"

"Meat from Sam's Butcher Shop is a given. He'll probably try to give it to us for free, since he likes you so much." Yuisu smiled mischievously and added, "But we should let the Program pay for it. As for the rest of the food, I'll just pick a local caterer. Other than the carnivores and their meat, no one we know is very picky."

They continued like that for all the services the wedding might need, then moved to the guest list. They wanted to extend invitations to all their friends and family, but given the timeline, it was safe to assume that many of the guests wouldn't be able to make it. The list included some of the liminals who had visited the inn and made an impression on its residents, but they were the least likely to be able to come, since many lived out of the country.

"Oh crap, what about wedding dresses?!" Yuisu blurted suddenly. "We don't have time for custom orders beyond a basic fitting. And we have your wings to worry about…"

Haru climbed on the bed and laid across Yuisu's back, giving it a warm hug. "Don't fret that. I'll just find a sleeveless dress made for humans. Maybe short at the front so I don't accidentally shred it with my talons." She kissed Yuisu's ear, then said, "We can go dress shopping first thing the day of the announcement, before the rush of other lesbian couples."

"Ah, good points. Um, can you stop it with the ear though? I want to get more work done before we get distracted for the night."

Haru chuckled and said, "Fine, I'll save it for tonight." It turned out that the joy and excitement of getting married had put Haru in a very randy mood, its intensity comparable to Yuri-su. Yuisu enjoyed it tremendously, though she was a little worried about being sore and physically exhausted at the wedding.

Mara's sleep schedule was inconsistent to say the least, often gaming until the wee hours of the night. Being a gamer also meant that she was the most internet-connected member of the household, so she sometimes got news before the other girls.

That was how Mara came to be sprinting through the house before 5am, yelling at the top of her lungs, "It's legal! Gay marriage is legal!" She hammered on everyone's bedroom door to make sure they heard, then turned on the living room TV and switched to the news.

It was still too early for news broadcasters, but a scrolling banner across the bottom of the screen did indeed say, "According to reports from inside the government, gay marriage will soon be legalized in Japan. Updates and official confirmation expected soon."

"Wow," Tsuen said as she sat down next to the couch where Mara was standing on the cushions and vibrating with excitement. She blinked and stared at the TV. "I almost can't believe it." She knew how much this news mattered to Haru and Yuisu, and even to already married couples like Iormu and Quess. Their marriage could finally be fully recognized by the country they called home.

Chione sat on the other end of the couch and pulled her legs to her chest. She was happy to have all the other girls awake with her so early in the morning, but she didn't have much to say about the news. She'd been dating her girlfriend Actia for a while, but she didn't feel ready to even think about marriage yet.

Hakuto and Aluru shuffled into the room as well to join in the exciting news, but legal gay marriage didn't directly impact either of them. Hakuto was asexual and possibly aromantic, and Aluru liked meeting new women far too much to consider settling down with just one.

"I hope it's real," Rem said as she hopped up on the armrest between Mara and Tsuen. "It would be awful if it ended up being a false rumor after getting everyone's hopes up."

"Oh it's real," Yuisu said through a yawn as she walked into the room. "Agent Will told me and Haru." Haru followed a few feet behind, brushing the tangles from her long white hair and smiling broadly.

Mara spun around. "What? Just now?"

Yuisu shrugged and said, "I can't say. But I do have another announcement for you all."

Haru grabbed Yuisu's hand and smiled proudly as Yuisu said, "Haru and I are getting married on the 14th. You're all invited, of course, but we'd also appreciate any help you can give in organizing the wedding. There's a lot to plan and not much time to do it."

Mara grinned from ear to ear and proclaimed, "I'll plan the bachelorette party!"

Tsuen winced at the loud noise and patted Mara on the head. "Yes, yes, no one's trying to take that responsibility from you. No need to shout."

Hakuto glanced from the Yuisu to the TV and back, then said, "So why the 14th of January? Is there something special about that date?"

Haru nodded in appreciation of Hakuto's keen insight. "There is indeed. That's the day the revised laws will go into effect. But you didn't hear that from us. It's not official until the big announcement sometime today."

Rem rubbed her chin and said, "Ooh, gunning to be the first lesbian-liminal marriage in Japan?"

Yuisu shrugged again. "You could say that. The main reason is that the Exchange Program will help with the expenses if we get married that day, as part of some coordinated celebration thing." Then she turned and started toward the kitchen, saying, "Since we're up, I guess I'll make some tea and breakfast. Anyone want to help?"

Chione hopped up from the couch and said, "I'll help." She hoped that keeping busy would get her mind off of the marriage topic.