My Happy Marriage – 06 – That’s Not Me Anymore

Miyo comes to in a stress position, hanging from a length of rope in a storeroom. When the door opens and pours the light of the setting sun onto her face, Kaya and her mother enter, replete with ill intent. They only have one simple demand: that Miyo reject her engagement to Kudou Kiyoka so Kaya can marry him instead.

If Miyo doesn’t comply, well…Kaya and her mom don’t beat around the bush. First Miyo slashes Miyo’s new kimono with scissors. Then she holds the scissors to Miyo’s throat. But crucially, Miyo doesn’t revert to her old submissive self, even in the face of pure evil.

Even when her stepmother smacks her in the face with a fan, Miyo looks back up at her with a defiant look she has never made. I’m reminded of Kei in Classroom of the Elite going through a similar crucible and coming out firm in her resolve not to break or give in no matter what.

This defiance and strength was always there within Miyo, but meeting someone as good and kind as Kiyoka unlocked that power in her, the power that allowed her to  value herself as he does, and to hope that he’ll come for her. And come he does: when the Saimori doors are shut, he blasts through with his lightning. When both Miyo’s father and an increasingly unhinged Minoru attack him, he blasts through them.

Even when a desperate Minoru creates a maelstrom of fire that begins to burn the Saimori house, Kudou Kiyoka, confirmed as the strongest gift-user of his time, takes off the kid gloves and knocks Minoru out with a giant bolt of lightning. As Kouji says, it’s like an adult fighting an angry kid. Minoru never had a chance, which begs the question: shouldn’t he have known that?

Kaya has resorted to trying to choke Miyo into agreeing to cancel her engagement to Kiyoka, but Miyo doesn’t waver, even for a second: she’ll be Kiyoka’s fiancée until she breathes her last. Thankfully, that’s not today, as Kiyoka arrives and catches Kaya and her mother in the act of brutally torturing Miyo. When she realizes he came for her after all, Miyo declares she’s glad she fought, before passing out.

After her mom looks outside to see their palatial home in flames (thanks entirely to Minoru), Kaya tries a feeble last-ditch attempt to convince Kiyoka that she is better suited to be his wife, saying Miyo isn’t even fit to be a proper servant. Kiyoka doesn’t lay a hand on her, but shuts her up with both his words and his icy gaze, assuring her he wouldn’t marry her even if the heavens commanded it.

While unconscious, Miyo meets her mother, who mentions a “power” she has within herself. Miyo isn’t sure what that is, but this confirms that she’s by no means ungifted. It’s just that her gift is either incredibly rare, or entirely unique.

We see a grizzled old man give a younger underling his approval to begin an “operation” to prevent the “accumulation of power”—i.e. a Kudou marrying an Usaba—so the threat to Miyo is far from over, but it’s over for now.

When she wakes up to find a relieved Kiyoka and Yurie by her side, Miyo is again glad she didn’t give up in the face of evil. The old her would have surrendered to the storm, but now she’s someone who can weather it, and come out the other end herself.

My Happy Marriage – 05 – Forced Exchange

It fills Miyo with joy to not only learn that a kimono much like her mother’s suits her just as well, but that Kiyoka picked it out for her. The two are getting on famously, which is a big problem for Minoru. He shows Kaya a photo of the happy couple, and when Kaya sees that the hottie who was at her house was Kiyoka, she’s ready to dump Kouji for him, and thinks she can convince her dear father to cancel the engagement.

Meanwhile, Miyo’s life might as well be paradise, as she throws a dinner party for Kiyoka and his aide Godou as thanks for reuniting her with Hana. Kiyoka isn’t ready for how beautiful Miyo looks when she greets them at the entrance, marking the first time I believe he’s outright blushed. But Kaya continues to stew, considering it absolutely unacceptable for Miyo to be happy, let alone happier than her. Karma’s a bitch, bitch!

Godou is a very lighthearted, forward guy, so after a delicious meal and sake, he takes Miyo’s hands in gratitude and jokingly asks her to marry him instead of Kiyoka. Naturally, Miyo takes him seriously and apologizes, for she wants to be with Kiyoka. Kaya fails to convince her father, who tells her to go practice homemaking, so she takes another tack and tries to convince Kouji to swap fiancées with Kiyoka.

Miyo has another dream, which has me starting to think she actually does have a gift related to dreams. In their most intimate scene to date, Kiyoka holds Miyo as she awakens from her troubling slumber, and promises her that no matter what she’s going through, she’s not alone. She’ll never be alone ever again.

Kouji pays a visit to his father, only to find Kaya is already there, and things are already in motion to swap her with Miyo. While Kaya’s father isn’t on board, Minoru and Kaya believe he will be if it’s Miyo’s idea to leave Kiyoka. Of course, Miyo would never, ever want to do that, but we’re dealing with people with supernatural powers, so they may be able to force her to do or say things she doesn’t want to.

Miyo slips up when she fails to put the amulet Kiyoka gave her into her new matching pouch. She and Yurie walk to his work so she can deliver him a homemade lunch, but on their way back she realizes she doesn’t have the amulet, and not five minutes later she’s being abducted by an invisible man in a car.

While Yurie rushes back to tell Kiyoka what’s happened, Kaya takes her leave, and Kouji gets violent with his father. Unfortunately, even though he’s stronger than Minoru expected, Kouji is no match for his dad, who plants him on the floor and has him tied up. Fortunately, Kouji’s big brother is on his side, and unties him and tells him to go do what he needs to do.

Kouji does that, but he knows he alone isn’t enough to stop his father. So he pays a visit to Kiyoka, and begs him for help saving Miyo. It goes without saying that Kiyoka is going to rescue Miyo, it’s just a matter of how quickly and how righteously he punishes those who harmed her. But I’ll still admit, even though I saw it coming a mile away, actually watching Miyo be kidnapped sent my heart plummeting into my stomach.

My Happy Marriage – 04 – Getting Better All the Time

Miyo has a dream about her mother pleading for her husband to love their daughter even though she isn’t gifted, to no avail. You really have to hand it to her father, he’s a real dyed-in-the-wool piece of shit. He “could have” presumably loved Miyo…if he wasn’t the head of a supernaturally-gifted family.

Miyo wakes up in her bed, unsettled, but also determined to repay Kiyoka’s kindness by giving him a gift in return for her comb. Yurie suggests she make something he will see or use everyday, and Miyo decides on a braided hair tie. Miyo asks to go into town with Yurie, but Kiyoka gives her an amulet and warns her not to wander off.

Honestly, the moment I knew Miyo would be going anywhere without Kiyoka escorting her, I was pretty worried, because Kouji’s dad Minoru is still out there, determined to secure possession of her at any cost. We meet Kouji’s gifted playboy older brother, who would make a far better match for Kaya. Both of these families are The Worst.

Miyo picks out some lovely regal colors for the braid, but her day, and indeed her psyche take a critical hit when she spots Kaya out in public with Kouji by her side. Kaya assumes that Miyo has been tossed out and is on her own, begging on the street. But she is somewhat happy Miyo isn’t dead, because it means she can pick on her more.

Kiyoka couldn’t join Miyo in town because he had another errand: visiting her father and stepmother to declare his intention to marry her. That said, he also voices his concerns and his fundamental contempt for these creatures for the way they treated Miyo. If he’s to furnish a dowry and and cultivate a relationship with the Saimoris, he’ll need both of them to apologize to Miyo, in person.

Meanwhile, Kaya has Miyo paralyzed with fear and knows it, and brushes off Kouji’s half-hearted attempts to stop her from digging her claws in deeper. Miyo is a complete wreck when Yurie arrives to rescue her. I’m glad the encounter ends with Kaya pissed that Miyo is due to marry Lord Kudou and become a lady.

I also like that Kaya catches a glimpse of Lord Kudou on his way out when she returns home (though whether she knows this beautiful man is Miyo’s fiance remains to be seen).

That said, the immediate gratification of Kaya’s day being ruined (may they all be ruined, forever) is undercut by Miyo’s traumatic experience, which sends her into a spiral of depression and self-hatred. Even when Kiyoka assures her through her door that things will get better and he’s always there to talk to her about her troubles, she won’t leave her room or eat.

She makes Lord Kudou the braid, but doesn’t believe she has any right to present it to him. That’s when Kiyoka expresses his love and support for her another way: by tracking down Hana, the servant who was fired for defending Miyo from her stepmother’s abuse. Seeing Hana is well, married, and with a baby on the way absolutely makes Miyo’s day.

The reunion also gives Miyo the courage to present Kiyoka with the braid she made, and tell him the truth about her straight-up: she has no supernatural gifts. Of course, that he wrote to Hana means he already knows her story and the abuse she endured. When she says she’ll die or leave or both if he tells her to, he has her raise her head, then draws her into a gentle embrace.

Kiyoka, as you’d expect, doesn’t want her to go anywhere. He intends for her to become his wife. She shouldn’t see her being in his home as a privilege; she’s there because he wants her there, and wants her to want to be there as well. She does, very much so, and the two take another big step closer as a couple, with Miyo tying his hair with her braid, as if to mark him as hers.

Yes, Tatsuishi Minoru is still out there, spying on the happy couple, fuming, and scheming some kind of plan to secure possession of Miyo. But while that’s concerning, I’m confident he’ll fail, hopefully miserably. Kiyoka is no fool, and he knows he’s not dealing with good or moral people, so he’ll be vigilant.