Robin and Marion

They were practically married to begin with. The woman known as Aka Ondo, or Red had been living with Fumihiko Matsumaru for almost a year. In that time, they dated and got to know each other more. A co-worker of Fumihiko's suggested that he marry Aka.

"You two have been together for more than a year now. I think it's time you really show her that she's the one you want to spend the rest of your life with." He said.

"You're right. I should marry her." Fumihiko said. After his job ended, instead of going to his favorite bookstore, he went to a jewelry store. He found a nice gold engagement ring and bought it. It was very expensive, but Fumihiko felt she was worth it. He bought it and then went home. When he came home, however, he found Aka asleep.

She's probably had a rough day, Fumihiko thought. He decided to propose later. He got in his own night clothing and went to sleep.


The next morning, Fumihiko woke to find Aka sleeping next to him still. She seemed to be smiling contentedly as she slept. He saw that it was only about a minute before the alarm clock would ring. He then stared at her sleeping.

Look at her; she's like an angel lying next to me, Fumihiko thought. He couldn't help but think about the upcoming wedding ceremony. He wanted to make everything special for her. He visualized her in a white dress walking down the aisle to meet him at the altar. He dreamed of her taking his hand and vowing to be his forever. He couldn't help but smile as he daydreamed of marrying this hot redhead.

BBBZZZZZZZTTTTTT!!!!!

In his excitement, he forgot he didn't turn the alarm clock off. Fumihiko then shut it off and Aka woke up. She sat up, stretched and yawned.

"Ah... Good morning, Fumihiko-kun." She said as she woke up.

"Good morning, Aka-chan." Fumihiko replied. They then gave each other a quick kiss.

"We'd better get ready for the day. I have a feeling something important will happen." Aka said.

"I do too." Fumihiko replied. They both stood up and did their morning routines separately. When they had finished, they sat down to breakfast.

"So... What do you have planned this evening?" Fumihiko asked.

"Nothing really. Today's should be a routine day in the studio." Aka replied.

"Well, meet me in front of Tsujihito's restaurant after work, will you?" Fumihiko asked.

"Okay." Aka replied. She hoped it was something romantic. They had their breakfast and then parted for the morning.

At work, Fumihiko was given a tough assignment: Ha was expanding their horizons and they were looking for a way to sell Ha to Americans. Fumihiko had to come up with a character that Americans would like.

"We plan to test market it at an anime convention in Dallas in June. They say there will be a lot of Japanese animation fans there. We need something that will make them want to get it!" The client said. This being late March, That didn't leave Fumihiko much time.

Across town, Aka was having a problem of her own. The part she was playing required her to speak English, which she wasn't that great at doing. (However, her rivals for the job were even worse at it.) Well, it was time to record a scene in English. Aka was a bit nervous for this. She had never performed English before. She saw Yoshioka before it began and asked for some tips.

"Just handle it like any other performance." Yoshioka said. Aka wasn't reassured by this.


Back across town, Fumihiko had to think of something. It was to sell to American Otaku. So what do they like? He went online to research this. He visited some American-run anime websites. He found a few that were bilingual.

Man, their Japanese sucks! Fumihiko thought as he visited one of them. He then checked out another site that had speakers that were fluent in English and Japanese. He noticed that they seemed to like hot babes and total studs. One page had a vote for the hottest stud and another had one for hottest babe. He took the results of these polls and saw the images of the faces of these characters. So he decided upon a pair of people, one man and one woman. They would be wearing space-type outfits and sporting lasers. Now, what should they look like...?

Across town, Aka was recording for the anime she was working on. It was a happy, romantic affair where two people overcome various obstacles and end up marrying. Aka couldn't help but notice how some of the things paralleled her life; in the anime, the heroine also had her home catch on fire. Unlike Aka, this heroine was trapped inside and had the hero rescue her. She wondered if she should get married to Fumihiko too. Aka had her mind wander when the director interrupted her.

"Aka-chan, we're ready for your line now." The director said.

"Oh - Sorry." Aka said. "The wind will whisper the sound of victory." She said in English. It was passable, but there was a snag: the creator was there, and wasn't too happy with how Aka sounded.

"No, no, no! This is an American you're playing! The English sounds all wrong!" He said. He had spent a few years in America, and was much more familiar with English than Aka was.

"I - I'm sorry!" Aka stammered as she blushed.

"It should sound like this: The wind will whisper the sound of victory. Try it again." The creator said. Aka swallowed and prepared herself.

"The wind will whisper the sound of victory." Aka said in English. The creator grimaced and shook his head.

"Well, I guess this will have to do for now." He said. "You should work on eliminating your accent more."

"I'll try, sir." Aka said. The rest of the session was similar in nature; Aka was made very uncomfortable by the creator, and she flubbed lines quite a bit.

Across town, Fumihiko was busy drawing the concept for Ha American. When he finished the sketch for the woman, he pulled back and looked at it. Tanaka was there and saw him pull back.

"There! Done! I think I have another winner." Fumihiko said. Tanaka came over and looked at the drawing.

"She looks a lot like that actress that played Cat Tree. What was her name?" Tanaka said. Fumihiko looked at it and realized he had drawn Aka in a space outfit. He sweatdropped.

"Well, erm... It's just coincidence." Fumihiko said.

"So what does the guy look like?" Tanaka asked.

"I haven't drawn him yet." Fumihiko replied. "But he will be different."

It was a long day for both of them. Fumihiko called Aka up and let her know he would be late. She said that was fine, as she would be late too. It seems that the creator was a bit more exacting than the regular directors. When they finally got to the corner, Aka and Fumihiko were pretty worn out.

"Whew! This day has been so rough. I'm ready to hit the sack now." Aka said.

"Aka-chan, is this corner special to you?" Fumihiko asked.

"It's where we first met." Aka said.

"It's where I ask to take our relationship to the next level." Fumihiko said. He then pulled the ring from his pocket. "Aka-chan, will you marry me?"


Aka was quite stunned about this. She was struck dumb with emotion at first. She put a hand over her mouth and blushed. When she recovered enough, she gave Fumihiko her hand.

": I love you. More than all you know. I love you more than children. More than fields I've planted with my hands. I love you more than morning prayers or peace or food to eat. I love you more than sunlight, more than flesh or joy, or one more day." Aka said. "Of course I'll marry you."

"That was from 'Robin and Marion,' wasn't it?" Fumihiko asked as he slipped the ring on her finger.

"Yes it was... But now we've got a lot of planning to do." Aka said. "I don't know if we can afford it all."

"Whatever happens, we'll find a way, Aka-chan." Fumihiko said.


The next day, Aka met up with Yoshioka. Aka was quite excited.

"Yoshioka-san... I'm getting married!" Aka announced in her excitement. Yorihiko smiled at this.

"So who's the lucky guy?" Yoshioka asked.

"Fumihiko-kun. We're hoping for a May wedding." Aka said. "I really need some help on this, though."

"Well, I'll be happy to help out as much as I can." Yoshioka said.


Well, planning was made simpler when they opted for a simple ceremony and reception. During that time, Fumihiko introduced the Space Duo (as they became known) and the execs liked the idea. They were named Ai and Hibeki. Aka tried out for the part of Ai and got it. Now she had to record a commercial for an online ad for Ha. She and the voice actor that was selected recorded the ad in English. In the studio, they had an American otaku there they hired as a consultant. He was useless as all he did was stare at Aka's tits most of the time. Aka, needless to say, was very uncomfortable about this. She asked if the otaku could not stare at her. However, she got through it eventually.


Well, the day was set in late May and Aka and Fumihiko went to the shrine separately. Aka looked pretty as a picture as she walked down the aisle in her wedding kimono. Her kimono was white and it flattered her perfectly. They did the ceremony with no problems and asked for the blessings of their ancestors on this union. The vows were exchanged and they wed. At the end, they kissed very passionately. Then it was off to the reception.

(Research this more!! Shinto wedding!)

At the reception, they had a simple affair with the cake and a simple meal for all involved. Everything was going fine and they had the traditional dance and everything. However, before the bouquet toss, Aka's cell phone rang. She had left it in the care of Yoshioka, who handed it to Aka.

"Who could be calling me now?" Aka asked. "Hello, this is Ondo..." There was a pause for a moment.

"I see... Well, I'm a bit busy right now, could you call back later?" Aka said. She then hung up her phone.

"It was nothing important. Let's line up for the bouquet toss!" Aka said. They did so and she threw the bouquet. Yoshioka ended up catching it.

"Hmm... Interesting." Yoshioka said.

"Aw, I wanted to catch it." Tanaka said.


As they drove away, Aka and Fumihiko waved goodbye. Aka then turned to Fumihiko and got a worried expression on her face.

"Fumihiko-kun, I have some bad news... That call earlier; that was the agency. They want me to travel to Dallas to give out free samples of Ha in June..."

-To Be Continued-