Since my house was bigger and more grand, we decided it would be better to hold the ceremony there. The sakazuki, or "sake cups", refers to a very formal ceremonial process in which two or more individuals form a bond akin to that of family in an exchange of sake cups. Kyōdai Sakazuki, or "Brothers' Sake Cups" are performed between equals, signifying a relationship like that of brothers. After all individuals involved have sake poured in their respective cups, they make an oath or perform a toast before drinking from the cup. That signifies swearing ourselves to each other. Keisuke and I would get to keep our respective cups for life. When one party returns it, it signifies cutting ties with the other person. I probably would never do that. The sakazuki included an overseer, who acted as a master of ceremonies, a cupbearer, an observer and a witness. If it was going to be anyone, It had to be the trio that started it all for us here. Goro, Rokuro and Juro took those 3 positions respectively. The very next day, Goro, the eldest brother, took us around the village to sell a theme of brothers.
The full theme was "Brothers Part of the Same Clan". That was cute. The 5 of us spent the entire day together. Once dusk began to settle among the village, we went to my house. It was the first time any of them visited. They were amazed. I smiled with some pride. We needed another person to be the other witness. I picked Natsuji. He was not too busy and he wanted to see my new house. Akita also wanted to come along. He was a bit guarded with his intentions though. I said they could watch. The more the merrier. Now that we had everyone, Rokuro brought out the cups and the sake. Juro looked at us and said you may now pour the sake in the cups. Keisuke went first and filled his an appropriate amount. I tried to match him, but I got a bit more in mine. "You may drink your brother's cup." Goro instructed. It was time to seal the deal. We raised our cups in a toast and then wrapped our arms together. I had his cup in front of me and he had mine in front of him. We drank from the cups and set them down. We were now sworn brothers for life. It was in my menu as well. I kept my cup.
Our weddings were still 2 days away. Chihiro decided to challenge me once again. However, instead of a fight, he wanted to show he had more sexual prowess than me to the rest of the clan. As a chunin kunoichi, that was almost certainly the case and he knew that. I blew him off. Because I was getting ready for my wedding, that was seen as an acceptable reason. Chihiro was pissed, but there was nothing that he could do about it. I was quite literally untouchable at the moment. I had not been to see my fiancé Fuyumi because everyone knew it was bad luck to do that. I made sure that my kimono was fitting properly. It was. I was ready to go. I hoped that Keisuke was also preparing himself with the final run through. I did not want anything bad to happen to his special day. He was my brother now. I was getting nervous and had to put everything back. I left the house to take a walk to cool my head from all of the thoughts racing through it. I ran into Rin and Hibiki. They smiled at me. I had led them to becoming chunin, so they liked me quite a bit. I smiled back and asked to hand with them.
