Fushigi Yuugi Fan Fiction ❯ Legend ~ Book Two: Misadventure, Mayhem & Really Hot Guys ❯ Six: Phoenix on Your Shoulder ( Chapter 6 )

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

   Brady's house was pure chaos, just like she'd warned.

   KC and her mom stood on the doorstep for nearly two minutes, balancing plates of desserts in their arms. KC—juggling two plates of cookies and an apple pie—used her foot to kick the door, leaving muddy prints at its base. And when Annie slid her a scolding glance, she rolled her eyes and switched to using her chin to ring the doorbell.

   She rang at least twice more before the white oak door finally swung open. A little girl with a mass of coppery curls and big green eyes greeted them with a gap-toothed grin. She couldn't have been more than four; probably one of those cousins Brady had been grumbling about. Behind her, four more kids raced past, three boys and a girl. They each sported a mop of hair in varying shades of red. The boys were all armed with cans of silly string and the screeching girl had been liberally covered in their handiwork.

   "Wow. Must be the Weasley family reunion. American branch," KC quipped.

   "Har de har." Brady appeared like magic, a deadpan expression on her face. "Welcome to the funhouse. Come on in and take a load off. Try not to trip over any stray kids on the way."

   "You weren't kidding about everyone being here." KC stepped to the side when a woman whom she recognized as one of Brady's aunts hurried past, paint-covered toddler in tow. "Arts and crafts time?" she guessed with a grin.

   Brady rolled her eyes and grabbed another pie from atop Annie's pile before it could slide off. "Because setting a bunch of kids loose with bottles of glitter glue and finger paint is always a brilliant idea."

   KC laughed as they headed to the kitchen to unload their plates among the dozen other desserts already displayed on the long buffet counter. Bridget Summers was already there, engaged in a game of pinochle with several other guests. Two of the women were blonde and another dark brunette; related by marriage, KC guessed. "Hey, Annie Choinski! Come join us!" Bridget invited, pulling out a chair. "Help yourself to a drink. Hey, KC. Good to see you."

   KC barely had time to return the greeting before Brady grabbed her and was towing her through the house toward the bedroom. They passed the living room on the way, where she spotted four more kids gathered around the 70-inch television, watching a Spongebob Squarepants Christmas special. "How many cousins do you have?" she asked, amused.

   "Too many!" Brady lamented. "Mom comes from a long line of big families. She has like ten siblings, who are all continuing tradition. I guess I should be grateful she had me and Reagan and decided that was good enough. I could've ended up like cousin Laura, who's got three older sisters and two younger brothers."

   "Are they here?" KC remembered meeting Laura a few years back. She was the same age as Brady and one of the few blonde-haired members of the family.

   "Her oldest sister got married a few months back so the in-laws wanted to host Christmas. They're in the Alps. His family's loaded, I guess," Brady explained

   KC shot her a droll glance before a burst of male laughter drew her attention into the room they were passing. She supposed the best word to describe it was man-cave, even though no men actually lived in the house. It had everything a well-stocked man-cave required. A pool table and a television that was even bigger than the one in the living room. A dark leather sectional and several Lay-Z-Boy recliners surrounded the TV; occupied, of course. Many of the males currently inhabiting the room sported the traditional red hair, although she spotted a few more brunettes in the group.

   There was one man, however, who stood out among all the others that KC couldn't help but notice.

   He captured her attention and held it and she couldn't stop gaping, just a little. He was half-hidden behind the mini-bar, pouring a drink for one of the uncles, but even with the bar between them, KC could tell that he was very tall. He probably stood at least a head taller than everyone else in the room. Or maybe it was just his overwhelming look-at-me presence that made him seem so big.

   He was gorgeous.

   Not in the androgynous way that Hotohori and Nuriko were gorgeous; he was purely masculine. A dark green silk shirt clung to his well-defined chest and offset the beautiful glow of his lightly tanned skin. He had a face that Adonis could envy and when blue eyes suddenly met hers, they pierced straight into her with a brilliance that made her breath freeze in her chest. In a not-entirely-pleasant manner. He held her gaze for a long moment, sharp and assessing, before his attention shifted back to the man he was serving and she could suddenly breathe again.

   Flustered, KC turned away and nearly ran into Brady, who'd stopped right behind her. Brady was smirking as she tapped the corner of her own mouth. "You've got a little drool…"

   KC whapped her and turned red. "I do not! Who is he? One of your relatives?"

   "Nah." Brady wrinkled her nose. "That's my mom's latest boy toy. And I do mean boy. He's like only in his twenties or something! She invited him for Christmas to meet the family. Dunno why; she'll probably be done with him by New Years."

   "Is he a model or something?" KC risked another peek around the door.

   "He's actually a doctor. Some kind of a surgeon."

   "What, like for plastic surgery?"

   Brady shrugged. "I think he works on brains or hearts or something. Real smart guy. Kinda full of himself, too. That's why it won't last. Mom likes 'em dumb. Makes her feel smarter or something."

   "Isn't that your usual criteria for boyfriends?" KC delivered a teasing nudge.

   "Where do ya think I get it from?" Brady grabbed the strap of KC's overnight bag and used it to haul her toward the stairs. "He gives me the creeps, honestly," she confessed. "My sister the moron is totally infatuated with him and he doesn't do anything to discourage her. Mom thinks it's cute. But the guy is like a total pedo! He's always staring at us."

   They finally reached her room on the third floor and KC followed her inside with a frown. "I dunno, Brady. If he's that bad maybe you should call the police."

   "And tell them what? That he's ogling us to death? Last I checked, staring wasn't a crime. That's all he does, just watches us and smirks like he knows something we don't. I wanna plant my size-six right in that perfect mouth sometimes," Brady grumped.

   "I'm gonna tell Nicolai you said that!"

   Reagan stood in the open doorway with a small video camera held up and a wide smirk on her face. Brady hurled a pillow from the day lounge at her. "Get outta here, Spaz," she snapped. "Go play with the other kiddies."

   Reagan lowered the camera with a pout. "Why can't I hang out in here? I'm not hurting anything."

   KC did a double-take. "Are your eyes purple?"

   "Yup!" Reagan grinned, showing off a set of pearly whites that had recently come off of six years of braces. "Mom let me get colored contacts. Cool, huh?"

   "I didn't know you needed contacts."

   "She doesn't," Brady snorted. "It's just costume props. They make her look like an alien."

   "They do not!" Reagan pulled a face at her. "It's my new look! For my show!"

   "Show?" KC asked curiously.

   Brady snickered. "Reggie here thinks she's gonna be the next big YouTube star."

   "Shut up. And don't call me Reggie."

   Reagan flounced into the room, dark auburn curls bouncing, but when she would have thrown herself onto the bed, Brady instead snagged her by the back of her shirt. "And where do you think you're going? I don't recall telling you to come in," she drawled as she dragged her sister back to the door.

   "But—!" Reagan started to protest, only to be cut off when Brady swung the door shut in her face. "Jerk!" she yelled as her footsteps retreated down the hall.

   KC raised an eyebrow. "That seemed unnecessarily harsh."

   "She'll get over it." Brady flopped onto the day lounge with a careless shrug.

   "Why're you so mean to her? She really wasn't hurting anything."

   "She's a pest," she grumbled. "She's always gotta be in my space."

   KC curled up in the Lay-Z-Boy rocker beside the lounge. "She just wants to hang around her cool older sister. What's wrong with that?"

   Brady reached over to give her a rather condescending pat on the shoulder. "As an only child, I can forgive your poor, naive delusions," she cooed. KC smacked her across the back of the head and she laughed. "Seriously, though. She's into everything. Uses my expensive makeup, steals my clothes… Which is ridiculous considering she's still in a training bra…"

   KC snickered. "Stop exaggerating. You're jealous 'cause your boobs weren't nearly as big when you were fourteen," she teased.

   Brady pressed a hand to her heart, affected her most wounded expression. "Now that's just hitting below the belt! Flat-chest…" She coughed the last word into her hand and received another whap in retaliation.

~*~*~*~*~

   After getting set up in Brady's room for the sleepover, one of the aunts tracked the two girls down and dragged them both out to join the festivities. Everyone had converged upon the wall-length buffet in the Grand Dining Hall (and KC still rolled her eyes every time she heard that title; really, it wasn't that grand to deserve being called a hall). Extra tables had been set up for the cousins, although most of them had sprawled in front of the TV in the living room to watch Jim Carrey cavort around dressed up like a green Santa. The dining room was still plenty crowded with everyone left over, though.

   "Watch out for the mistletoe," Brady warned as KC passed under the sprig hanging from the huge double-door entrance, just a tad too late.

   "Gyack!" she sputtered as she was met with an immediate faceful of multi-colored silly string, courtesy of James and Jeremy, Brady's twin cousins. KC remembered meeting them before, too, and she'd wanted to smack them both just as badly!

   "Hey, hey!" Brady scolded. "What're the rules?"

   The boys looked at each other. "Not above the neckline," they intoned together. Right before aiming their cans directly into her face and spraying.

   "I know where you sleep!" Brady screeched after the giggling twins as they bolted. She grumbled under her breath and brushed green and yellow string out of her hair, then hip-checked KC who still snickered beside her. "Uncle Jack was kind enough to introduce his household tradition," she explained grumpily. "If you get caught under the mistletoe, you get hosed down with silly string instead of kissed." She nodded at the adults gathered around the buffet, each one sporting tendrils of colorful string. "Pretty sure they're plotting revenge as we speak. Jack provided all the ammunition, too."

   "Well, that explains a lot." KC laughed again and grabbed a plate from the end of the buffet line. "Look at it this way; at least he isn't raising a generation of future sex fiends," she added teasingly.

   Brady huffed. "They're only eleven. Give it time."

   The "traditional" Christmas lunch consisted of everything from whole roasted turkey with all the trimmings to sliced roast beef to sandwich fixings and potato chips. It was clearly a help-yourself kind of deal with shiny silver plastic-ware and red-and-green plastic plates. With this many people, KC couldn't blame Bridget for wanting to keep things simple; she wouldn't have been at all surprised if the entire meal had been catered.

   The girls loaded their plates and sat at one of the card tables set up in a corner. But KC hadn't even taken a bite when she felt eyes on her. She glanced up to find the golden Adonis watching her. A smirk touched his lips as he raised his wine glass in a toast and she quickly glanced away, face flaming.

   Brady noticed. "See what I mean about the staring?" she muttered. "It's creepy! I don't see him staring at anyone else like that, do you? I'm tellin' ya, total pedo."

   "Wanna go eat somewhere else?" KC asked.

   "We can hide out in the living room. If you don't mind sharing with the tiny tots."

   They gathered their plates and beat a hasty retreat, finding the majority of the cousins sprawled out across colorful sleeping bags on the floor with plates of food in front of them (half of which had already ended up on the carpet). KC glanced at Brady with a raised eyebrow. "Up for a game of Frogger? Lots of logs to hop on in here."

   "Nooooo!" came the immediate protests, followed by an exuberant, "I'm a crocodile!" To which, of course, the rest immediately followed that they were crocodiles, too.

   "Oh, well. Would have been fun anyway." Grinning, KC shrugged and picked her way through the herd to make herself comfortable on the abandoned couch. The little four-year-old who'd greeted her at the door immediately got up and toddled over to climb on the couch and plop down beside her. Two more shortly joined them. And then a forth.

   "Looks like you found your tribe," Brady teased.

   KC pulled a face. "So I've got a way with kids."

   "Yeah." Brady snickered. "They can always sense a kindred spirit."

   KC threw a potato chip at her.

   "I rest my case." Brady pointed at the group. "And don't you guys even think of throwing food around in here. Mom'll pitch a cow!"

   A chorus of giggles greeted her. "I think you meant 'fit'," KC snickered, to which Brady responded by tossing a balled-up napkin at her.

~*~*~*~*~

   After lunch, the adults herded all the kids around the huge Christmas tree for the traditional present-opening craze. KC was both impressed and intimidated by the waist-high pile of gifts pushed up against the wall behind the tree; she and Brady stood well away from the frenzy of tearing paper and excited squeals while Reagan danced around the group, filming everything.

   After a while, KC nudged Brady to get her attention. "I've got my large bag stashed in the car trunk," she muttered. "I gotta sneak it out to the clubhouse at some point before Mom leaves."

   "She might not be able to," Brady replied. "Did you look outside lately? It's snowing pretty heavily. She might have to stay over."

   KC groaned. "Well, that won't make things more complicated or anything," she grumbled.

   "Relax, will you? Nobody'll even know you're gone. And they're already working on the roads so they should be cleared out overnight. Besides, the whole Konan thing won't take that long, right? At least not on this end." Brady kicked aside a stray ball of wrapping paper. "Anyway, if you're gonna go stash your stuff, now's probably the best time to do it, while everyone's distracted with presents. There are games after this and we'll be expected to join." Her expression said exactly what she thought of that idea.

   KC snickered and ducked out of the room, ran up to the bedroom to grab her coat and gloves before heading to the front foyer. She found her mom's purse tucked into a corner of the coat closet and riffled for the keys before stepping outside into the frosty air, yelping at the icy blast of snow that immediately hit her face. She'd started to shiver by the time she got to the car and had tugged the overweight bag free from its hiding place, trudged back up the long drive and around the side of the house to the backyard.

   She staggered toward the Clubhouse with the duffel slung over her back. It wasn't long before she found herself kicking a path through the snow, which had steadily deepened until it nearly reached the top of her boots. She'd almost forgotten that the Clubhouse resided at the bottom of a gentle incline; the blanket of snow lay smooth and pristine across the wide lawn, deceptively flat. Maybe it hadn't been the smartest decision to lug the duffel out to the old building when it might have been easier just to sneak it up to the bedroom and hide it in the closet. Still, KC had already gone that far, she wasn't about to turn back now.

   Taking a fortifying breath, she hitched the bag and trudged on, eyes fixed firmly on the dark outline of the old carriage house as it slowly came into view through the falling snow. When she finally reached the porch she nearly let out a whoop of victory, stomped up the rickety steps and forced the old door open. It swung in on creaky hinges, hit the wall with a bang and sent a shower of dust raining down on her wet head. A startled mouse hastily skittered under the dilapidated couch. She wrinkled her nose. "Boy, the housekeeping sure went to hell in this place," she quipped, dropping the heavy bag on the wooden floor with a pfwoomph that raised another billow of dust.

   Mission accomplished, she brushed snow and dust off her head and turned to make the trek back to the house. Her fingers had gone almost numb, the thin gloves doing nothing to protect them from the cold. She hopped her way through the tracks she'd already made, trying to avoid getting any more snow down her boots, until she reached the back side of the wraparound porch, where she made a detour up the back steps to go inside through the mudroom. From there she could sneak up to the bedroom again and dry off a bit, hopefully avoid potential nosy questions about how she'd gotten so wet. She took off her coat long enough to shake off the excess snow, then sat on the porch swing to pull off one boot at a time and shake even more snow out of those.

   "Now, I wonder what was so interesting in the carriage house that you'd go through all that trouble to visit it," a deep voice mused from directly behind her. She shrieked in surprise and nearly fell off the swing as she twisted to get a look at who'd spoken.

   Nicolai leaned casually against the porch railing, lit cigarette trailing smoke as he slid her a sidelong glance. She hadn't even noticed him standing there, his pale gray trench coat blending easily with the falling snow and dingy, white-washed railings. How long had he been watching, she wondered uneasily. Her gaze flicked to the cigarette. "Bridget doesn't like smoking," she muttered before her brain-to-mouth filter could kick in.

   He huffed an amused sort of laugh, dropped the butt and ground it out with his boot. "Our secret," he replied, a finger pressed to his lips as he kicked the stub into the bushes.

   KC suppressed a shiver. She didn't understand why but something about this guy just gave her the willies. She turned around again, belatedly recalled that she still held her left boot and her toes were quickly turning to ice cubes. She clumsily pulled the boot on and zipped it up.

   "Katriana, right?"

   She started and glanced over her shoulder. "Huh?"

   "Your name is Katriana Choinsky?"

   She nodded, somewhat impressed; he'd actually pronounced it right.

   He walked around the swing to stand in front of her. "Nicolai Hart. I'm a … friend of Bridget Summers." He stuck out a hand.

   "Yeah, I know who you are." KC glanced at his hand, mouth tightening. She really didn't want to take it, but her mom would kick her ass if she found out she'd been rude to an adult, so she reluctantly accepted the handshake. His fingers closed around hers, strong and warm. He wasn't even wearing gloves. She felt a startling jolt rush through her and her frown deepened as she hastily extracted her hand. "Do I—Have we met before?" she blurted, suddenly feeling as if she ought to know this stranger.

   He tilted his head and a small, amused smirk crossed his perfect lips. "In another life, perhaps," he replied easily.

   Her eyes narrowed at the slightly mocking tone of his deep voice. She was really starting to see why Brady disliked this guy. "Right. Well, I'm freezing so I'm going inside." She turned to stomp into the house, but his parting words stopped her.

   "No matter what happens, stay on your chosen path."

   "What?" She turned around to gape at him, heart pounding. "What're you talking about?"

   He ignored her. "Never doubt yourself. Trust what your instincts tell you and everything will turn out fine."

   "Exactly what were you smoking just now?" she snapped.

   He merely chuckled and reached around her to open the door. "Ladies first," he offered with mocking gallantry. She huffed and pushed past him into the house, made a beeline for the living room and grabbed a startled Brady by the hand to drag her up to the bedroom.

   "What the hell's got your panties in a twist all the sudden?" Brady protested laughingly as she stumbled after her shorter friend.

   "Just had a run-in with Nicolai," KC muttered, instantly sobering the redhead.

   "What'd he do?" she growled. "If he laid a hand on you, I'll—!"

   "It was nothing like that!" KC yelped, redfaced. "He just … said some really weird things. And he saw me coming back from the Clubhouse. I think … he knows."

   "Knows what? You mean like about the plan?" Brady didn't try to hide her skepticism.

   "He was talking about following my instincts and staying on my chosen path like some sort of … of prophecy or something. And that's not all! My grandma started talking about some weird shit right before we left her, too. Told me to look out for the Blue Devil, and other residents kept talking about some kind of a golden bird on my shoulder."

   "Really." Brady slid her a dry look. "You visited the nuthouse and were surprised when the nuts started cracking?"

   "It's not a nuthouse," KC snapped. "It's a … a hospital. And, I mean, a golden bird? Suzaku's a golden bird. What if they were talking about him?"

   Brady laughed. "Right, you've got an invisible, mystical deity perched on your shoulder, watching your every move. Boy, Suzaku's a perv, watching you shower and everything."

   KC threw a pillow at her. "What if he is watching, to make sure I actually go back?"

   "Then you've got nothing to worry about 'cause you're fully planning to go back." Brady sat down on the lounge and crossed her legs, lips pursed. "Look, phoenixes are supposed to be these big-ass flaming birds the size of a horse or something, right? How would one even fit on your shoulder?"

   "Neither one of us has actually seen a living phoenix before. For all we know he could be the size of a frickin' canary," KC grumbled.

   Brady burst into more giggles. "Sure, 'cause nothing screams awe-inspiring deity more than Tweety Bird," she managed.

   "Oh, shut up." But KC couldn't quite mask her grin as Brady dragged her back down to the party, where they were immediately pulled into the games by insistent cousins.

~*~*~*~*~

   KC tried to concentrate on what she was doing, but as she competed against Brady and Reagan in a game of Twister, she found her attention continually drawn toward Nicolai. He had made himself comfortable in a corner of the room, seated in a love seat beside Bridget, who seemed more than a little sloshed. KC wrinkled her nose. She liked Bridget, but the woman had an obvious drinking problem. As did most of the siblings, by the looks of things. No wonder Annie had balked when KC had begged her to attend the Summers' party. She'd never been a heavy drinker and tended to avoid people who were.

   Judging by the glances both Brady and Reagan kept casting toward their mother, they'd noticed, too, but were doing their best to pretend they hadn't. Nicolai himself appeared oblivious to the woman clinging drunkenly to his leg and cooing ridiculous nothings to his knee. His attention was fixed firmly on the three girls on the mat, face expressionless. And because his steady gaze unnerved her to the point where her concentration was nonexistent, KC shortly found herself sprawled atop the pile of arms and legs belonging to her friends.

   "Oof! Get off, you horse," Brady gasped as she shoved KC to the side.

   "Says the elephant who's crushing my ribs," Reagan complained from beneath the pile. Brady smacked her across the head as she pulled herself free.

   "Our turn!" Bridget and two of her sisters immediately scrambled to take their place on the Twister mat, to the delight of the onlooking kids. Intoxicated aunties were entertainment at its finest. Reagan gleefully took her mother's spot beside Nicolai, camera already rolling as she snuggled against his side. After a somewhat amused glance, he went back to watching the adults' drunken antics.

   KC pursed her lips and leaned against the wall, her gaze shifting between the game and the man on the love seat until Brady gave her a sudden, hard poke in the side that made her jump and squeal in surprise. "Keep staring like that and your eyeballs are gonna drop outta your head," the redhead managed to scold around her giggles.

   KC poked her back. "I'm not staring," she denied, in spite of her red cheeks. "I'm just … keeping an eye on him. To make sure he doesn't try anything funny."

   Brady scoffed. "What's he gonna do? Grab her and jump out the window?"

   "I dunno. There's just something about that guy that makes my Spidey Senses tingle."

   "You sure that's the only thing tingling?" Brady comically waggled her eyebrows and laughed when KC smacked her. "I can't really blame you for staring, to be honest. Creeper or not, he is seriously gorgeous."

   KC couldn't argue with that.

   Brady slid her another glance and a sly grin. "Not as gorgeous as your Hotohottie though, huh?"

   KC scoffed. "Nobody's as gorgeous as my Hotohot—Damn it! Brady!" She snatched up an abandoned can of silly string and chased her hysterically-laughing friend out of the room with it.