Fushigi Yuugi Fan Fiction ❯ Legend ~ Book One: Girl of Legend ❯ Eighteen: Roughing It (the Seishi Way) ( Chapter 18 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

   Two days had passed since KC and her Seishi began their cross-country trek to the mysterious Holy Mountain (whose true name seemed forever to elude KC's memory), and she could not remember ever feeling more miserable. She was not, she decided, the outdoorsy, Davy Crockett sort of person that would enjoy such a venture. Considering her last real camping trip had consisted of her grandparents' fifteen-foot luxury motor home that included a real bathroom, a working oven, and all the DVDs she could stomach, her current expedition felt more like military boot camp in comparison.

   They'd brought only the bare minimum of everything they'd need. Spare blankets, a few extra changes of clothes, and enough food and water to last for perhaps four days. There were no rainproof tents, no blow-up camping mattresses, no down-filled sleeping bags; just the lumpy ground and a blanket to sleep on, with the softer of her two packs shoved under her head for a pillow. When the water ran out, they refilled the bamboo carriers from streams, and when KC asked what they would eat if their food ran out, Nuriko just smiled evilly and asked if she'd ever skinned her own rabbit or boned a fish before. She hadn't broached the subject since.

   It didn't help that her fever couldn't seem to decide whether to come or go. At one point she'd feel perfectly fine, and half an hour later feel like she was about to fall over dead. She did her best to keep up and not complain, but Hotohori always seemed to know when she had reached her limit and called for frequent stops so she could rest. Needless to say, this made her feel more than a little useless, but nobody seemed to mind. In fact, between the four of them, KC was the one who protested the most.

   During their final stop of the second day, KC rested against the base of a tree and listened as Tamahome and Nuriko set up camp (which consisted of more arguing than the actual setting-up of anything). She wondered if she should get up and help them, but couldn't seem to will herself to move. Her arms and legs felt like lead blocks and her head ached again. This sucks, she griped to herself. I hardly ever get sick and now when I do, I don't even have any good medicine handy! A few extra-strength cold pills would knock this crap right out of me if I could just get home to get the bloody stuff!

   A quiet footstep alerted her to someone's approach, and she opened her eyes to find Hotohori beside her, a bowl of vegetables and rice in his hands. Surprised, she turned her head to see the camp up with a small fire burning in the temporary fire pit, as Tamahome tended their supper over it. She must've dozed off and hadn't even realized it. "Here." Hotohori offered the bowl. "Eat this to gain your strength, and be sure to drink plenty of water."

   "Thanks, but I'm not really hungry." She waved the bowl away. "I just want to rest here a little."

   "KC, you really should eat more," he coaxed. "You won't be able to get well if your body doesn't receive proper nourishment."

   "Later," she promised and closed her eyes again.

   "KC—"

   "I said I'll eat later, okay?" Unexpectedly vexed, she fixed him with a scowl. "You don't have to baby me every step of the way, you know! I'm not three years old! Just leave me alone for once, can't you?" As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she wanted to kick herself. But the damage was done; she could see the hurt in his eyes as he silently stood and made his way back to the campfire. "Stupid, stupid, stupid," she growled. She closed her eyes and bumped her already-aching head against the trunk a few times.

   A hard, sharp pain suddenly blossomed in her cheek, and she squealed loudly as her eyes snapped open in shock. She was met with an angry, red-violet glare only inches from her face. "Wha're you doin'?" she yelped around Nuriko's violent grip on her cheek.

   The irate Seishi shoved another bowl of vegetables and rice under her nose, his furious scowl deepening. "I'd give anything for His Majesty to pay me the kind of attention he gives to you, and you don't even appreciate it!" he hissed. "So you are going to sit there and you are going to let him feed you, water you, have his way with you if he so chooses, and you are darn well gonna enjoy it! Understand?"

   KC stared up at him through wide eyes. "Y-yessir!" she squeaked, meekly took the bowl from his fingers and shoved a few bites of rice into her mouth, made a great show of chewing and swallowing while Nuriko stood over her and glowered. When the bowl was empty, he plucked it from her hands and gave her a patronizing pat on the head. "Good girl," he chirped. "Now drink your water, apologize to His Majesty for acting like such a little ogre, and go to bed! We leave bright and early in the morning!" With a little titter, he scurried away, leaving KC to grumble under her breath as she struggled to her feet.

   "That pushy little—I just bet he was a dominatrix in another life," she muttered, plopped onto her designated blanket and pulled it over her head. She sighed heavily and closed her eyes. Her Seishi conversed amongst themselves, the low timbre of their voices a soothing murmur. As the sun lowered, the sound of bodies sliding beneath blankets replaced conversation. A few quiet goodnights were exchanged, and then all fell silent save for various woodland noises and the crackle of the low-burning fire.

   KC opened her eyes and sighed. She was still exhausted, but sleep continued to elude her. Probably because of all the guilt that was in the way, she thought dryly. In the dim firelight, she saw Hotohori sprawled only a few feet away. He laid on his back with one arm tucked under his head, the other at his side. A telltale glitter let her know he was still awake, eyes open and fixed on the overhanging branches that partially obscured the black sky.

   Hesitantly, she reached over and plucked at his sleeve to draw his attention. "I'm sorry for how I treated you earlier," she whispered when he turned to face her. "It was really disrespectful, and I didn't mean to be so nasty. Not feeling well isn't an excuse. I honestly appreciate what you're doing for me, and I know I'm probably a real pain to look after. I just feel stupid for holding everyone back since I'm the reason we're even on this trip."

   Hotohori's hand rose to cover hers in a soft caress, squeezed lightly as he threaded their fingers together and pressed a soft kiss to her palm. He didn't say a word, but that was okay. His gentle smile told her that she was very much forgiven, and when she finally drifted to sleep, her hand was still wrapped in his warm and soothing grasp.

~*~*~*~*~

   They were attacked at dawn.

   KC was startled awake by the sudden war cries of what seemed to be a very large band of raggedly-dressed men with dirty, leering faces and greasy hair. All of them brandished various weapons as they converged on the little party from the trees, whooping and hollering fit to wake a corpse.

   She heard the alarmed yells of her Seishi as they clambered into action, and then the ringing sound of clashing weapons, the thud and slap of fists meeting flesh, and booted feet trampling all around her. She sat up in a panic, her blurry eyes and fuzzy mind barely able to focus on the chaos of the smack-down, all-out brawl she'd somehow ended up in the direct middle of.

   "KC! Get the hell out of here! Hide!" She thought it was Nuriko who'd yelled, but was unable to tell for sure. Nevertheless, the words spurred her into action and she struggled to untangle herself from the blanket and scramble toward a relatively safe-looking copse a good distance away from the battle. She didn't get very far, however, before she was grabbed roughly from behind. She shrieked as the culprit shoved his greasy face into hers and gave her a wide, malicious leer that showed off his rotting stumps of teeth. His foul breath reeked of alcohol and old meat and made her gag. "Allo, Luv," he cackled. "Goin' somewhere, are ye? Why don't ye stay awhile an' keep me company, aye?"

   KC fought against the tight hold on her arms and tried hard to think of what to do. Screaming for help or kneeing him right between his grubby legs would have probably been wisest, but in her dazed state of reasoning, the only thing she could wonder was why in the world a Chinese bandit would speak with an English accent.

   "Alright, then! Ever'body drop yer weapons!" another man bellowed, which immediately brought the fighting to a stumbling halt. He grabbed KC from his crony and spun her around, an elbow locked around her neck and a rough grip in her hair. "If ye don't want the girl's throat slit, ye'll do what I say!"

   Tamahome yelled furiously when he saw KC in the bandit's grip, a blade pressed against her throat. When he started forward, Hotohori threw out his arm to stop him. "Don't," he hissed. "You'll only endanger her further."

   Cursing under his breath, Tamahome dropped the dagger he'd stolen off one of the thieves and punched his fist into his other palm angrily. "What're we supposed to do now?" he growled.

   "We have nothing of value," Hotohori addressed the thieves, voice calm. "Unless you wish to steal what few supplies we possess. Take what you wish. Only let the girl go."

   "Naw, I'm thinkin' mebbe I'd rather take th' girl." The leader smirked and nuzzled his nose into KC's hair while his followers chuckled and sneered. "Been a long time since I saw a perty little thing like her. Me'n my boys've been lonely, heh, fellas?"

   More nasty chuckles and a few obscene comments followed. KC wrinkled her nose at the sour odor of old sweat the man permeated and tried to squirm away, only to still when she felt the sharp edge of the blade press more tightly. Her eyes widened when she saw the helpless fury in the eyes of her Seishi, and it occurred to her rather belatedly that she ought to be more than a little scared. After all, here she was being held at knife-point by some smelly bandit, and her so-called "protectors" didn't seem to be doing much of anything about it. What had happened to all those "special abilities" they were supposed to have? Why were they just standing around like a bunch of petrified dummies? It didn't inspire much confidence in their abilities to keep her alive, to say the least.

   Hotohori visibly trembled as he plunged his sword into the ground, halfway to the hilt. He'd never looked so furious before. KC never knew he could even make such an expression, but his face promised grim retribution should he ever get a hand on her captors.

   Which didn't appear to be anytime soon, as the bandit who held her began to slowly back away, dragging her with him. She struggled weakly, dug in her heels and clawed at his arm, conscious always of the knife at her throat. They were going to take her. They were going to take her and do heaven-only-knew-what to her and then they'd probably kill her and she'd never see her mom or Brady or Kimiko ever again and they'd never even know what had happened to her and—

   "NO!"

   The yell came, surprisingly enough, from her own mouth. Yet even as the word ripped from her throat, a sudden wave of heat exploded past her body, sang along her back like the prickle of an electrical fence. She released another screech as the unexpected power hit her captor full-on from behind, and suddenly found herself free as the man hurtled into the air with a howl of pain and flew across the clearing to collide headfirst with a hapless tree. He collapsed in a crumpled heap at its base and didn't move.

   They all stood in stunned silence, wondering what had just happened. KC gaped in astonishment and patted her body all over. When she still couldn't figure out where that power burst had come from, she glanced around and discovered that all eyes had fixed unerringly right on her. The Seishi gaped in stunned wonder as the bandits leveled accusing glares that threatened to pierce her right through.

   Her hands snapped up in a "don't shoot" gesture. "Don't look at me!" she yelped. "I didn't do it!"

   "Well, it had to have come from somewhere," Nuriko pointed out.

   "I believe I can explain, no da." The unfamiliar, strangely high-pitched voice came from nowhere and the entire gaggle of bandits and Seishi alike jumped in surprise. Grips tightened on weapons as they glanced around in confusion, before a rather strange-looking person emerged from the shadows of the trees, as casually as any passerby out for a morning stroll. If one considered a battlefield a pleasant location to stroll through, anyway.

   He looked like one of those wandering monks KC had seen on the Japanese anime shows at Kimiko's house. Kimiko was, in fact, quite the closet anime geek. It must've been because all that studying had short-circuited something in her brain. At any rate, the stranger approached, complete with a patterned cape, beads, a woven straw hat slung about his neck, and the staff-thingy with the little jingly rings on top. Yep. A typical, old-time Japanese monk.

   But isn't this place supposed to be some whacked-out version of China? KC wondered in confusion.

   Completely ignoring the bandits, the monk paused before the Seishi and tilted his head respectfully. His gravity-defying bangs briefly hid his face, and now KC was faced with another weird hairstyle; pale blue and shaved all around except for the bangs and a long tail down the back. It was no less shocking than Nuriko's purple mane. He looked like an extremely happy monk, what with that stupid smile plastered all over his face. It didn't seem natural. "Um, and you are…?" she hedged.

   "You may call me Chichiri, no da," he replied courteously, still grinning that happy-go-lucky smile. KC was just starting to wonder if his face was permanently stuck like that when Hotohori's startled exclamation drew her attention.

   "Chichiri?" the emperor repeated, eyes widening. "You are another Seishi, then?"

   "He is?" KC gaped at the monk in disbelief.

   "I am." Chichiri nodded gravely.

   "Well … shoot," KC proclaimed, for lack of anything more astonished to say.

   "How did you know where to find us?" Nuriko's tone was all suspicion, of course.

   The fixed smile finally vanished in favor of a condescending frown. "The Seishi should be able to sense the Priestess of Suzaku, no matter where she is in the world, and follow the link to find her, no da," Chichiri scolded. "Likewise, the Seishi also should be able to sense each other, no da. The closer our proximity, the stronger the bond. Yet, for as long as I was in those trees, you never realized I was there. And not even twenty feet away, na no da." He shook his head as they squirmed uncomfortably. "You must all learn to better hone your senses, no da. The fact that these simple bandits were able to take you by surprise so easily does not speak well of your ability to protect the Priestess, na no da! What if they had been Kutou assassins, instead, who have the ability to disguise their chi from our senses?" He turned to face KC, who froze. "You need to hone your senses, as well, no da. You should be able to sense your Seishi through your bond, yet you also never realized I was there, na no da."

   The Seishi looked appropriately cowed. Even Hotohori squirmed guiltily beneath the weight of Chichiri's disapproval, and KC frowned, feeling rather protective of her friends, and defensive of herself. It's not like we've got experience in this sort of thing, she thought sulkily. He ought to ease up a little.

   It was then that the bandits apparently decided they were tired of being ignored. With low growls and curses, they raised their weapons and began to advance again, more than eager to resume the fight. But they'd forgotten three things. The first was that KC was now (relatively) free of danger. The second was that there was now another (rather powerful) ally on the victims' side. And the third … was simply that those selfsame victims were really, really pissed off.

   Needless to say, Hotohori, Tamahome, and Nuriko needed no incentive to launch themselves back into the fray (while KC quickly scrambled toward the nearest hiding place to keep herself out of it). They snatched up weapons and readied fists to deliver the good ass-whoopin' the thieves deserved for daring to lay one finger on their Priestess. Hotohori was especially enthusiastic as he ignored his sword altogether to land a face-cracking punch into the nose of the English-accented bandit. The crunch of shattering bone beneath his knuckles sounded immensely satisfying.

   "Good shot, Your Majesty!" Nuriko crowed as he proceeded to toss yet another body onto the pile he'd accumulated. "That's four for me!" he added as an aside to Tamahome, who was swiftly building his own pile. Tamahome muttered something uncomplimentary under his breath and proceeded to lay out another bandit, while Chichiri swiftly took care of three more with another blast of chi and a few knocks upside the head with his staff.

   KC overheard the exchange from her makeshift perch in the lower branches of a tree, rolled her eyes and shook her head in exasperation. Boys.

   It didn't take long for the bandits to figure out that they were well outmatched in hand-to-hand combat, no matter that there were eight times as many of them as the four Seishi. But they were somewhat of a cowardly lot, and their leader was still out cold and therefore in no position to goad them into continuing the fight. As one, they finally reached the conclusion that the travelers just weren't worth the effort of robbing, even with a real, live girl as the prize. That being decided, they turned tail to flee into the forest as fast as their grubby legs could take them, dragging as many of their unconscious comrades as they could manage as a few final chi-blasts kissed their heels on the way out.

   Once the last yowling thief had vanished, the Seishi sank to the ground in an exhausted heap and tried to catch their breath. KC dropped from her perch to join them as she enthusiastically clapped her hands. "That was the best fight I've seen since the International Mud-wrestling Smack-down on Pay Per View," she called cheerfully.

   There was a moment of confused silence. Then, "Do you know what she's talking about?" Tamahome asked Nuriko wearily.

   "Do I ever?" came the exasperated response.

   KC turned to Nuriko, ready with a catty retort, but she forgot to say anything as her jaw continued to hang open and her eyes widened in shock. Nuriko, expecting an insult and getting nothing, turned to regard her with a raised eyebrow as she continued to gawp like a suffocating fish. "What?" he demanded irritably.

   "N-Nuriko, your … um … your clothes…" KC gestured feebly at him and glanced nervously around. His frown deepened as he looked down at himself, and promptly released a horrified squeal as he grabbed the gaping ends of his torn robe in a useless attempt to cover his very exposed chest. His gaze darted frantically around to see if anyone—specifically Hotohori—had noticed this lapse in decorum. Only to find that the emperor had indeed taken notice of his distinct lack of breasts; his wide eyes and open mouth gave testament to his extreme astonishment over the discovery.

   KC and Tamahome exchanged uneasy glances. Uh-oh.

   "Nuriko—What are—You—" For once, the eloquent emperor appeared to lack sufficient words, his brow furrowed as he sought to comprehend what he was certain he'd seen.

   "You dork," KC sighed, and smacked Nuriko across the arm, which caused him to jump and lose his grip on the torn hem. It flapped to the side and bared his chest all over again. He frantically tried to recover himself, took one glance at Hotohori's bewildered expression, sighed heavily, and gave it up as a lost cause.

   KC almost felt sorry for the poor guy. "Didn't it ever occur to you to wrap your chest in case something like this happened?" she mumbled. "Then you could've at least stuffed the wrapping and faked having 'em."

   "I never needed a reason to until you showed up," he hissed back.

   She glared at him. "No way you're gonna pin this one on me." She poked him roughly in the chest. "This is your own stupid fault." Then, before he could argue further, she turned away and strode to Hotohori, who seemed to be recovering from his shock. At least enough to now look a bit put-out.

   Double uh-oh…

   "Hotohori? Please don't be mad at him, okay?" she asked timidly. "I'm sure he's got, um, a reasonable explanation for why he dresses this way. But there really isn't any harm in him doing so, is there? So can you just … accept the fact that he dresses like a girl and let it go?"

   Hotohori frowned at her. "KC, do you mean to say that you knew about this?" he demanded in his most serious Emperor Voice.

   Eep! Backtrack! Backtrack!

   "I—Well, that is—" She could feel herself sink deeper and deeper into the pit she'd just dug under her own feet, shot a desperate glance at Tamahome in a silent plea for help. He was too busy trying to look innocent to notice, of course. She scowled. My hero.

   It was, surprisingly, Nuriko who came to her rescue.

   "Please, Sire, don't be angry with her. I swore her to secrecy," the Seishi murmured as he lowered himself respectfully to one knee, a fist pressed to his chest in a show of fealty. "She only recently found out and I pleaded with her to keep her silence."

   Hotohori frowned. If anything, he only seemed angrier. "You deliberately disguised your true gender and infiltrated Our harem. For what purpose?" he questioned, voice dangerously soft. "That time … when KC told Us about … your supposed feelings…"

   "I…" Nuriko's entire face had turned red, a glitter of tears in his eyes. "That is, I—"

   "Were you hoping to be chosen as Our empress?" Hotohori finished, his own eyes glittering with suppressed anger.

   KC gulped. And now he was back to using the Imperial We. This was really not a good sign. "Hotohori." She tugged at his sleeve to get his attention, but he merely gripped her hand with his and removed it.

   "Please do not interrupt. This does not concern you. We are waiting for an answer, Nuriko."

   KC sucked in a breath, offended at being brushed aside so easily. "Like hell it doesn't," she snapped. He blinked down at her, startled. She drew herself up and deliberately ignored her better sense, which told her in no uncertain terms that it really would be better to obey Hotohori when he was in Emperor Mode. "Nuriko is my Seishi! And if he wasn't at the palace he wouldn't be here with us, would he? Isn't it a good thing he got into your harem? Didn't it make it that much easier to find him?"

   Still frowning, Hotohori turned his full attention to her. "That matter aside—" he began, but Tamahome chose to finally speak up.

   "With all due respect, You Majesty, isn't it traditional for the members of your court to go seeking these women who come into your harem? They don't usually come on their own. Only the best are considered, aren't they? So, wouldn't it be your advisors' faults for bringing Nuriko here and not thoroughly investigating him before doing so? It would hardly be fair to blame him for their carelessness."

   "That's right!" KC hurriedly jumped in. "Why punish Nuriko for something he's probably been doing for years before he came to the palace? It's not like he'd had a choice, is it? What would've happened if he'd refused? Wouldn't he have been dragged there anyway? If you have to punish someone (although you don't really have to, you know), then punish your guys! Or at least just make sure your girls are thoroughly checked out from now on."

   Hotohori sighed and rubbed his temple. His anger seemed to be fading, but now he looked drained. "I assure you, my advisors are hardly incompetent when it comes to investigating potentials for my future empress," he stated blandly. KC secretly rejoiced to hear him speaking normally again. "After all, it would not do for one of them to murder the emperor in his sleep because she is in actuality a hired assassin, would it?"

   "Yet for this one case, they somehow got incompetent," KC pointed out. "Can't you think of this as … divine intervention or something? Clearly, Suzaku wanted him in your palace so he'd be close when I finally arrived, and the best way to get him there was through your harem. Besides, he did save my life. Without him around, me and Tama both would be squashed flat right now!"

   "That's true," Tamahome agreed with a sage nod. "We're still alive thanks to him."

   "But why continue the charade?" Hotohori pressed, unconvinced. "When the truth of your identity came to be known, why continue to lie about your gender? Surely you should have known that your status as Seishi would protect you from punishment." He turned his accusing gaze to Nuriko, who still couldn't meet his eyes.

   "Oh, come on! What's the big deal?" KC cried. "So he prefers to dress as a woman. Who cares? And so he loves you, is it really that big of an insult? I mean, you know how irresistible you are, right?"

   Her appeal to his sense of vanity seemed to work. "Yes, I suppose it is as you say," he finally agreed, with a long-suffering sigh. "I cannot blame him for falling in love with me. He likely would not be the first man to do so." He preened a little, which was an astonishing feat given the amount of leaves and twigs tangled in his hair, his dirt-stained clothes, and the swollen, bleeding lip he'd received during the fight, courtesy of someone's fist.

   Sensing that imminent danger had passed, Nuriko rose slowly to his feet, still embarrassed, but mostly relieved to escape harsh punishment. He bowed again and retreated to their trampled sleeping area to gather what remained of their belongings. Tamahome and KC followed to help, while Hotohori remained behind to converse with Chichiri in hushed tones.

   As she shook out her blankets, KC happened to glance up and catch Nuriko's gaze. He watched her silently, as though he couldn't quite figure her out. She squirmed a bit under his intense scrutiny, aware of what he must be thinking. "Well, um, it's not like you'd be a lot of use if you were locked up in a dungeon, right?" she replied to his unspoken question. "I mean, I need all seven of you if I'm ever gonna get this whole thing over with. Besides, I gotta look out for my Seishi." When he didn't reply, she added hopefully, "And maybe now that you see I'm not such a horrible person, you'll be a little nicer to me, too. Since I stuck up for you and all. Right?"

   His lips twitched. "Don't hold your breath," he scoffed, but he was smiling as he said it.