Fushigi Yuugi Fan Fiction ❯ Legend ~ Book Two: Misadventure, Mayhem & Really Hot Guys ❯ Two: "You Have Some 'Splainin' to do!" ( Chapter 2 )

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

   KC woke up to the smell of breakfast cooking. She frowned, snuffling at the air. That didn't smell like fish and rice, her usual morning fare. It smelled a lot more like French toast. And scrambled eggs with cheese. And was that maple sausage? Her eyes popped open as memory flooded back. And she was met with the welcome sight of her very own bedroom. It hadn't been a dream. She was back! Well, at least for a little while. Even better, it was Christmas Eve day, and she was home to celebrate it!

   And since she'd been sleeping, somebody had to be cooking, which meant her mom must be home. She scrambled out of bed and stuffed herself into the first outfit she found on the floor of her closet, pounded down the stairs with all the grace of a stampeding moose. She missed a step, landed on her rump with a yelp and bounced the last two or three steps to the floor. "Ow," she muttered as she climbed to her feet, wincing when her bruised tailbone protested. That didn't stop her from racing full-tilt to the kitchen, though.

   "Merry Chris—!" she began, only to come to a screeching halt at the sight of the tall man who stood in front of the stove, wearing her mom's frilly apron as he expertly flipped thick slices of battered bread over the griddle. "D-dad?" she stuttered, hardly able to believe what her eyes were seeing.

   He looked up and grinned. "Hey, Kit Kat! How've you been? Well, look at you, I think you must've grown a bit since I last saw you!"

   KC snorted a laugh. "Don't get your hopes up." Her gaze drifted to the dining room table, where her mother calmly sipped a cup of coffee. "Mom!" She bounced over and threw her arms around her mother, nearly making her spill coffee on herself. "I missed you! What an awesome surprise! You didn't tell me Dad was coming!"

   "I would have if I'd known," her mother replied, tone dry. "It was just as much of a surprise for me when the doorbell rang this morning." She shot her daughter an odd look. "What do you mean, missed me? You act like you haven't seen me in weeks."

   "Oh, uh, well, you've been working so much lately I just kinda haven't seen you around, that's all," KC evaded.

   "Still a workaholic, Annie? You should spend more time with KC."

   Annie snorted and set her mug down with a thump. "That's good advice, Chris. Coming from a man who hasn't deigned to call or write his daughter for almost a full year, now."

   "Now, you know I have reasons why—"

   "Stop it!" KC shifted when they looked at her, surprised. "Don't argue. It's Christmas Eve," she said softly.

   "You're right, Kit Kat. No arguing today, promise." Chris made a zipping motion across his lips and held up one hand.

   "That's great, Dad, but shouldn't you watch the food?"

   He yelped as the toast he'd been neglecting began to smolder on the griddle, spewing smoke, while KC laughed at his attempts to fix the mess.

   He managed to make a presentable breakfast and KC helped him carry everything over to the table. Even though the toast was slightly burnt, she wolfed it down. She'd missed home-cooked, American food! Not that she didn't appreciate what she'd been given in … that other place, but really, a girl could only handle so much Chinese cuisine before she began to feel like she would sprout gills or start sneezing rice noodles out her nose.

   They made small-talk while they ate. Well, she and her dad did, anyway. Her mom just sat there and sipped her coffee, occasionally took a bite of scrambled egg (she refused to touch the toast). Chris asked KC about school and how her friends were doing and whether she'd gotten a boyfriend yet. KC was hard-pressed to keep the blushes down at that last question. After all, Hotohori didn't really count as a boyfriend.

   "So, Dad, you'll be staying over for Christmas, right?" she asked, to distract him from any more nosy questions. Apparently, she wasn't keeping the blushes down as well as she'd hoped; he was definitely suspicious.

   A moment of awkward silence as Chris took a long swallow of orange juice. "Well, actually, I only stopped by on my way back to San Francisco," he admitted. "I was in the area on business. But I have a flight back this afternoon. Your mom told you about my gallery display in New York, right?"

   KC shoved down her disappointment. The news didn't really come as a surprise. "Yeah, I saved some news clippings about it. I wish I could go to New York to see it myself."

   "No need, there's another gallery display opening here in Boston next month. Much closer to home, right?"

   Her father was an up-and-coming artist who excelled in painting and dabbled in photography. He'd been chasing his dreams of fame and fortune for years, since way before KC had been born. And now it looked like it was finally going to happen with his first showing being featured in one of Manhattan's biggest galleries. "Did you sell a lot of work?" KC asked. "How much did it go for?"

   Chris smiled proudly, ran a hand through his hair. "A few pieces so far, for a pretty good sum, actually. But even more importantly, the exposure has done wonders for my career." He cleared his throat. "Actually, there's some pretty good news I wanted to tell you. And I have a present for you, too." He reached under the table and withdrew a brightly-wrapped package in a silver gift bag. KC eagerly grabbed it and made short work of the green-and-gold foil paper. Her jaw dropped. "You got me a phone?" she squealed.

   Her dad laughed. "Not just any phone. Top-of-the-line model! Has all the latest features."

   "I know. Brady has this same model. It's like a pocket computer!"

   "I believe they're called smartphones these days," he teased.

   "Chris, plans for those phones are expensive," Annie piped up with a frown. "KC doesn't have a job and I can't afford an extra hundred a month to pay for it! We barely make ends meet as it is."

   "Not a problem. Phone is set up and ready for use. I put her on my plan, so it's covered."

   "From all the way in Italy?" Annie asked with an arched brow.

   KC froze, her excitement over the phone vanishing. "I-Italy?" She glanced between her parents. "What're you talking about?"

   "Ah…" Chris shot his ex-wife a brief glare. "Th-that's part of the news I have to tell you," he admitted. "Due to the success of my art in Manhattan, I've been invited to display over in Rome and Paris, as well. But I need to create more pieces."

   "And you have to move to Italy to do that?"

   "It's the perfect environment for me to paint. The great artists lived there! It's rich in history and I know I'll be inspired to create even more beautiful pieces."

   KC sank down in her chair, the food she'd just consumed sitting like a lead lump in the pit of her stomach. She suddenly regretted eating so much. "So … when will you be coming back?"

   "Well, you see, I was thinking I'd make Rome my permanent residence. There's, uh, something else I need to tell you, too."

   "There's more?"

   Her mother abruptly stood, kissed KC atop her head and grabbed her briefcase. "I'm afraid I have to head to work now. I'm going to be late," she said. "I'll leave you two to talk."

   "Chicken," Chris muttered.

   "You're working today?" KC protested.

   "Only for a few hours. I promise I'll be home in time for dinner, and we'll go to a nice restaurant tonight, okay?"

   "But—"

   "No arguments, KC. You know how it has to be."

   "Yes, ma'am." KC slumped further in her chair and glared at the phone box in front of her. When her mom was gone she switched her glare to her father. "So, what's the rest of the good news?"

   He cleared his throat, reached into his coat pocket and withdrew a square of paper, slid it across the table to KC. It was a photograph, probably taken by her dad's own hand. It portrayed a woman and two teenaged girls who both looked to be around KC's age. All three of them were gorgeous, tall and dark-haired, slender as models and dressed in what was probably several thousand dollars worth of designer clothes. They looked like they belonged on the pages of Vogue. KC swallowed and the lump sat heavier in her stomach. "Wh-who are they?"

   "This is René Pinasco, and her daughters Emilia and Bethany. She's my agent, and she's the one responsible for setting up the showings in Manhattan and Boston. She's done a remarkable job of getting the word out about my art. She has contacts all over the world. She thinks I can go far, that I've got something special to say with my work, and she's making sure the world will hear it."

   "Th-that's great, Dad," KC mumbled. "And?" Because she knew there was an "and" coming.

   He took a deep breath. "Last month, I asked her to marry me. And she accepted. The wedding will be held in six months, after which we'll be moving permanently to Rome. The girls will be attending college there, you see. They're eighteen. Twins, you know."

   "Right. Twins. Of course," she mumbled. "So, you'll move away and I'll never see you again, is that it?"

   "Of course not!" He actually had the gall to look hurt. "I'm not going to just drop off the face of the planet! Look, the phone I got you is international, so you can call anytime you like, and you can also come out to visit. Italy is beautiful, you'd love it there!"

   "Dad, I haven't seen or talked to you in a year, and you only live on the other side of the country. Do you really expect me to believe you'll actually remember my existence while living with a brand new family on the other side of the world?" KC asked, her voice tight with growing anger.

   "Kit Kat, don't be like that," he sighed. "You know when I'm working I lose all track of time. I didn't mean to forget your birthday, but I was working on a special commission that had to be completed and… I'm lousy at remembering dates and stuff. Always have been. You know that."

   "That why Mom finally kicked you out? Missed one too many anniversaries?"

   Chris's expression grew stern. "KC, I'm sorry I've been a disappointment to you. But I'm still your father. I'd like you to treat me with some respect."

   "Then why don't you go hang out with your new daughters!" she snapped, jumping to her feet. "They look like they'll be a lot less of a disappointment than I obviously am! Have a nice flight back to California." She stormed out of the kitchen without another word, ignoring her father's demands for her to sit down and talk to him.

~*~*~*~*~

   Kimiko could hardly hear the doorbell over the Christmas music that blasted from the radio in her kitchen, where she and Brady were in the midst of baking cookies for the family get-together the next day. "Could you get that?" she called, holding up her doughy hands.

   "Rockin' arooouuund the Christmas treeee! Have a haaappy ho-li-daaay!" Brady sang as she danced to the door and pulled it open. Her voice faltered when she saw KC standing there, took one good look at her face before she grabbed her by the arm and yanked her into the warm house. "Kimi! Cookies and cocoa, STAT!" she hollered, and a moment later the music shut off as Kimiko hurried into the living room.

   "Where the hell's your coat?" she gasped as Brady herded KC to the couch. "Good grief, did you walk here like that?"

   "I've w-walked t-to your ho-house plenty of t-times," KC protested around her chattering teeth.

   "Not in thirty-degree weather and no coat you haven't!"

   "Never mind that," Brady cut in. "What's wrong? Something happened, didn't it? Come on, tell Auntie Brady all about it."

   KC opened her mouth to spill the story, and promptly burst into tears.

   It took some effort to talk around her sobs, but she finally managed to relate the whole disastrous visit, from beginning to end. Her best friends cooed and tutted with sympathy, alternately handing out tissues and rubbing her cold shoulders. "And that's when I just took off and left him in the kitchen," she finished as she blew her nose into a well-used Kleenex.

   "Serves him right," Kimiko groused. "Springing news like that on his only daughter. On Christmas, no less!"

   "What a jackass," Brady agreed.

   "That's my d-dad you're talking about," KC sniffled.

   "Sorry. But what a jackass!"

   KC released a watery giggle, despite her sour mood. "Well, least now I know why he dropped off the planet. Too busy getting to know his pretty new daughters to remember he even has an old one."

   "I bet they're not so hot. I bet that picture was totally 'shopped," Brady said.

   "You haven't even seen it. Besides, it's one of my dad's and he doesn't 'shop his photos."

   "Well, they're both probably dumb as a brick. The step-mom, too. The IQ between 'em probably won't reach double-digits," Kimiko offered.

   "They're smart enough to get into some college in Rome. That's why he's moving them all down there. I'll be lucky to pass high school."

   "Okay, I give up." Kimiko waved a dismissive hand. "They're all gorgeous and perfect and you'll never hold a candle to any of them and your dad loves them more. There. Is that what you wanna hear?"

   KC threw a couch pillow at her. "Bitch."

   "Thank you. I try."

   "But seriously, Kit Kat, don't fuss it. Think of this as an opportunity," Brady cut in. "I mean, after that epic display of storming out, can you imagine the guilt trip he must be on? He'll probably buy you expensive presents for the rest of your life. If he bought you a seven-hundred-dollar phone just to break the news, I bet your next birthday you get a shiny new Beamer in the driveway or something!"

   KC cracked up as her dark mood began to lift. No matter how rotten she felt, she could always count on her friends to cheer her up. "I missed you guys so much," she cried as she dragged them both into a bear hug, ignoring their yelps of protest. "The last month has been practically unbearable without you!"

   "Uh…" The two girls exchanged confused glances and KC belatedly realized her mistake.

   "I-I mean since yesterday. The last twelve hours have been unbearable," she stuttered.

   "Riiiiight," Brady drawled. "That's what you meant." She arched an eyebrow and drew circles around her ear with a manicured nail before KC punched her in the arm.

   "Shut up!"

~*~*~*~*~

   She found herself being dragged into the kitchen to help finish the cookies, after being bribed with all the raw dough she could stomach. Glad to think about anything else but her impending step-family (whom she didn't expect to ever actually meet, anyway), she threw herself into rolling out dough and cutting shapes with gusto.

   After a few minutes, she felt someone's eyes on her and glanced up to find both of her friends looking at her strangely. She blinked. "What? Do I have flour in my hair or something?"

   "Noooo," Kimiko began, thoughtfully. "Well, yeah, actually. But it's not that."

   "When did you lose weight?" Brady asked.

   "Huh?" KC glanced down at herself, astonished. Lose weight? Her?

   Come to think of it, the ratty jeans and old Labyrinth T-shirt she wore did seem a little bigger on her. But she'd been so excited about being home that she'd hardly given it any thought when she pulled them on. Now, she found herself hitching up the pants a bit; they hung a little lower on her hips than usual. She'd never bothered with a belt before, but it looked like she might have to invest in one, or risk an accidental wardrobe malfunction. The realization that she did seem to be thinner cheered her immensely. It looked like all that running around in Konan—coupled with being sick and not eating much while there—had done what no amount of half-assed dieting had ever accomplished before. "Huh. How about that," she muttered and held up her arm to poke at the underside of her bicep. Yep, there was definitely less flab than usual. Awesome!

   "Okay, what gives?" Kimiko demanded. "You really did lose weight. I mean, even since yesterday! Like, what? Five or six pounds? And … you have a tan! In the middle of winter! You didn't have that yesterday, either!"

   KC gulped, suddenly not so cheerful. "Uhhh…" How was she supposed to explain? Running around for a month in Konan's summer weather had definitely darkened her skin, but again she hadn't noticed until it was pointed out to her. Well, that she could probably excuse away with a salon tanning bed, but no way would she convince her friends that she'd managed to drop so much weight in less than twenty-four hours. She tried anyway. "I was … uh … sick. You know. The cold and all." She coughed, lamely. "Guess it affected my appetite."

   "Nice try," Kimiko snorted.

   "What about your hair?" Brady's stare was more than a little suspicious.

   "What about my hair?" KC grabbed locks of it with both hands, examined it carefully for any oddity. It looked perfectly normal to her. Except … when was the last time she'd cut it? She thought for a second. Mei Lin had trimmed an inch or two off the ends with a razor, right before she had left for the mountain. She didn't think it was much longer than it had been before her impromptu vacation.

   "Your highlights," Brady pointed out. "The ones you just got last weekend. You've got like a month's worth of growth in them already! How'd that happen?"

   "Aw, shit. Forgot about that." She banged her fist against her forehead.

   "Okay, this is all too weird for words. What's going on with you?" Kimiko demanded. "You're not trying some freaky new diet that's whacking out your body, are you?"

   "Of course not! You know I hate dieting," she joked weakly.

   "Then what?"

   KC groaned. "You'll never believe me. Not in a hundred, million years. You'll think I'm insane!"

   The two girls glanced at each other, then back at their squirming friend. "Try us."

   She sighed. "Okay. Just remember, you asked for it." Glancing at Brady, "So, remember our phone conversation last night? About the man-eating book and the flaming peacock and all…?"