Fushigi Yuugi Fan Fiction ❯ Legend ~ Book Two: Misadventure, Mayhem & Really Hot Guys ❯ Eight: How to Kidnap a Priestess ( Chapter 8 )

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

   "What happened to dropping me off in my own room, huh?"

   KC stared around in dismay, taking in the all-too-familiar sight of one of Konan's many narrow side-streets. She didn't think it was the same one she'd landed in the first time around, but she couldn't really be sure. It looked pretty similar. She'd woken up near the entrance, sprawled out on the ground on top of her bags, with a painful crick in her neck. Talk about déjà vu. She sat up with a grimace and spared a dark glance to the sky. "This your idea of a joke, you damned peacock?" she growled. "You couldn't have dropped me in the middle of the palace? There'd better be a good reason for this!"

   Suzaku, of course, remained silent as ever, but a well-dressed man who happened to be passing by the alley overheard her rant and promptly picked up his pace, muttering about crazy street people.

   Blushing faintly, KC climbed to her feet and brushed off her still-damp clothes. At least she wasn't freezing anymore, but now she felt a little too warm. Konan's mild weather wasn't exactly suitable for winter coats, so she pulled off her gloves and stuffed them back into her pockets, relieved to find that her fingers looked much better.

   She dropped the overnight bag and began to pull off her coat, paused in horrified recollection that, yes, she was still in her red-and-green plaid flannel pajamas, without even a bra on or anything! She was pretty sure her loose hair was a tangled mess, as she hadn't bothered to brush it before leaving. And her trip through the vortex would've blown it all askew, anyway.

   Crazy person, indeed.

   Groaning, she shrugged the coat back on—a peacock-blue number that clashed horribly with her pants—picked up the bags, stepped out of the alley and looked around to get her bearings. She was still unfamiliar with the city and wished she'd talked Tamahome into showing her around at some point, but the palace was a majestic and welcome sight that loomed well above every other building. The main thoroughfare likely led straight to it, so if she just followed the road, she'd be there in no time.

   She hoped.

   Hitching the heavy bags, KC pointed herself in the direction of the palace and started off. She walked quickly, aware that her strange appearance was drawing attention. There seemed to be less people in the streets than usual, but the ones there had begun to stare and whisper amongst themselves and she wasn't sure she liked that, given what had happened after her first landing. The last thing she wanted was to be chased through the city by slave traders again. Or arrested and tossed into a dank dungeon cell like before.

   Maybe she ought to find a place to duck into and change her clothes, after all. A pair of jeans and a T-shirt would be a lot less conspicuous than her PJs. That would probably mean leaving the main road for the side-streets, an idea that didn't thrill her, but it wasn't like she could knock on someone's door and ask to borrow their bathroom.

   She had almost talked herself into turning down the next alley to hunt for an abandoned building or something when a sudden shout made her falter in her tracks.

   "You, there! You're her, aren't you?"

   She glanced behind her at the silk-draped merchant's stall she'd just passed. The owner leaned comically far out over the stand in order to get a better look at her, while the customer he'd been serving gawped openly. The length of expensive-looking fabric she'd been examining dangled, forgotten, from her hand.

   KC glanced around, uneasy. "Um … you mean me?"

   "Yes!" The merchant gestured for her to approach. "Aren't you the Suzaku Priestess?"

   "She is!" the woman answered, nodding emphatically. The fabric slipped fully from her grasp and she scrambled to catch it, shoved it at the merchants chest. "I saw her in the palace once! I'm certain it's her."

   "Bah! That was months ago." The merchant dismissed her claim with a wave. "You think every young woman passing through is the Priestess and you haven't been right once!"

   "Well, how would you describe that odd appearance? Her hair and those ugly clothes! She doesn't look like a local to me," the woman huffed, completely missing the insulted glare KC leveled at her. The merchant didn't and, with a smirk, began to berate the woman for her rudeness.

   They must be married or related or something, KC decided as she slowly edged away. No salesman in his right mind would speak to a customer that way. She'd never held a job but even she knew that much.

   She continued to inch away as the argument began to heat up. People were definitely taking notice now, wandering over to see what the fuss was about. Right. Time for a strategic retreat, before she inadvertently caused another riot or something. Hotohori might not be so forgiving a second time.

   There! She spotted an opening between the same rich-looking gentleman who'd passed her earlier and a woman laden down with baskets and what looked like laundry bags. KC used the opportunity and the confusion generated by the growing crowd to slip between the pair and make her escape.

   She almost did it, too, except a dark, hooded figure suddenly lunged at her from out of nowhere and slapped a hand over her mouth, effectively cutting off her squeal of shock.

   She immediately began to struggle, but the thin, hard arm that had snagged her around the waist felt like a steel band, pinning one arm against her side as her captor dragged her off the main road and between two buildings, out of view of the crowd.

   She began to panic. It was like the bandits all over again, only now there were no Seishi around to save her ass. It seemed like she was gonna have to save it, herself. Her other arm was still free and she used the sudden adrenaline rush to her advantage, swung up and back with all of her strength. She grunted with vicious satisfaction when her fist connected solidly with the man's head—hopefully she'd just given him one hell of a shiner—and was rewarded with a pained yelp as the arm around her waist instantly loosened.

   She took the opportunity and wrenched herself free, gripped her overnight bag with both hands and swung it at his head, nearly overbalancing herself in the process. Another high-pitched squeal and the man stumbled back and landed right on his ass, the hood falling away from his face.

   KC was already running before her brain abruptly caught up to her eyeballs and she skidded to a halt, turned back to gape at the familiar shock of bright purple hair and red-violet eyes that glared back at her. "N-Nuriko?" she sputtered.

   "That's a fine greeting for a friend," the Seishi spat. "I think you broke my nose!" He probed delicately around the abused cartilage. The beginning of a bruise had already started to darken the pale skin beneath his left eye.

   KC breathed deeply, trying to calm herself down now that the scare was over. "Stop exaggerating," she grumbled. "It's not even bleeding. And what the hell did you expect, jumping out of nowhere and dragging me into an alley like that? You scared the shit outta me!"

   "Things were getting a little out of control. I was trying to help," he sniffed.

   "By making me think I was being kidnapped? Again?"

   Nuiko blinked. "Oh. Never thought of that."

   KC threw her bag at him.

   He caught it with a laugh. "Look, I'm sorry, okay? I really wasn't thinking of anything but getting you out of here before too many people saw you. The rumors are already halfway across the city. Talk about terrible timing!"

   She huffed. "Geez, can't you people make up your minds? First, you insist I come back right away 'cause duty and saving the world and all that crap. Then, when I actually do, you act like it's some big inconvenience and why are you glaring at me like that?"

   Nuriko merely narrowed his eyes further. "Right away?" he parroted.

   "Uh, yeah. I think I did a pretty good job of getting back here in a reasonable amount of time," she replied, defensive.

   "You consider three months to be reasonable?"

   Now it was her turn to blink. "Three days," she corrected.

   He replied with a slow shake of his head. "Noooo, you've been gone nearly three months."

   KC gaped at him as the duffel slid from her limp shoulder. She followed it, dropped to her haunches and buried her fingers into her hair as a horrible, niggling suspicion crept over her.

   "Whoa! Are you okay?" Nuriko darted forward to steady her, expression concerned. "You gonna be sick or something?"

   She just might, the way she felt right then. "Something's seriously off here," she muttered, trying to wrap her brain around the anomaly. "I was here for a month, right?" At his nod, she continued, "But when I got home again only a few hours had passed in my world. I came back the same day I left. I never had to explain to anyone where I'd been because it was like I was never gone!"

   Nuriko's brow furrowed. "And that didn't make you a little suspicious?"

   She peeked up at him. "Well, I just thought maybe Taiitsukun had sent me back in time or something, to save me the trouble of coming up with a believable excuse."

   "Time-travel?" He looked skeptical. "That seems a little … far-fetched, don't you think?"

   "About as far-fetched as getting sucked through a magical portal and dumped in a completely different dimension." She leveled her best deadpan stare at him.

   "Ah." He blinked. "Well, when you put it like that…"

   "Doesn't matter. I was obviously wrong." She sighed heavily, shoulders slumped. "If it was time-travel, then why'd I get dropped off now? Why not three months ago?"

   "So, what other explanation is there?"

   She shrugged. "Beats me. Kimiko's the sci-fi geek. She'd probably say it has something to do with natural gapping in the space/time continuum, so like an entire month passes here for every one day at home. Or something. Wish I'd thought to ask her about it. I'm just glad I came back earlier than originally planned. Who knows how much more time would've passed if I'd waited!"

   Nuriko pursed his lips and regarded her with some amusement. "I only understood about half of what you just said, but don't worry about it, okay? It isn't as if you knew this would happen. The important thing is that you came back. You kept your promise, even if it was delayed a bit. I'm proud of you."

   KC eyeballed him, suspicious. "You're being surprisingly understanding about all this."

   "What?" He plastered on his best affronted expression. "I can be nice!" At her disbelieving glance, he added, with utmost innocence, "When I choose to…"

   She snorted, hopped to her feet and gathered her bags. When he gallantly took the largest one and slung it easily over his shoulder, she raised an eyebrow at him. "Okay, now you're just freaking me out. Did someone replace you with a Pod Person while I was gone?"

   "Shush," he sniffed, rolled his eyes and turned away to stalk down the alley. But not before she noted the faint blush staining his cheeks. "So did you get to see your family while you were at home?" he asked.

   "Yeah…" she replied slowly.

   "And?"

   "And I didn't tell my mom where I was going, if that's what you're asking." She pulled a face. "She'd totally flip out. Forbid me to go, yadda yadda…"

   "What about your father?"

   "My dad…" She frowned. "Is not really in the picture. Don't worry about him."

   Nuriko shot her a questioning glance but she averted her gaze. He sighed. "So in other words, you're in the same situation now as you were then. With nobody knowing where you are."

   "Not exactly. I did tell my best friends what had happened. Well, it was more like they noticed all these little changes and dragged the truth out of me. I had to convince them, of course, but I had enough proof. They're going to help cover for me so I can do what I have to and get home again."

   "What sort of changes?" Nuriko asked, curious. He eyed her. "You look the same to me."

   "Well, I guess my body's been keeping sync with this world while I'm here. It's the middle of winter in my world, but I came home with a tan I didn't have before. And my hair grew. And I lost weight from all that traveling we did and being sick. To them, all this happened overnight. They noticed."

   "Hmmm. But your own mother didn't?"

   She shrugged. "Well … maybe. But Mom works late hours, usually six days a week. She's really busy, so we don't see each other a lot. If she did notice, she probably thought it was something that happened progressively."

   "Why does she work so much?" Nuriko looked horrified at the idea. "Doesn't your father work or provide for you?"

   KC's jaw clenched. "Like I said, he's not in the picture. Change of subject, please."

   Nuriko looked her over. "All right. Speaking of being sick, did you see a physician when you were home? How's your illness?"

   "I didn't see a doctor but don't worry, I've got plenty of medicine with me. It's just a head cold and the pills I'm taking are way stronger than anything you have here. I'll be good as new in no time," she assured him.

   "Willow bark tea is a perfectly good remedy," Nuriko sniffed. "It's been used for centuries without complaint."

   "That's only because nobody invented ibuprofen yet," she replied with a smirk.

   He didn't deign to reply, merely continued walking, leading her along back alleys and actively avoiding the main roads as she obediently followed. After a few minutes, something began to feel … off about the direction they were traveling. KC slowed her steps as she attempted to get her bearings a bit. And then she realized the problem.

   "Hey!" she yelped, stopping dead in her tracks. "This isn't the way to the palace! It's the other direction!"

   Nuriko cast a droll glance over his shoulder. "Very observant of you. We're not going to the palace."

   "What? Why not?"

   "Because we are leaving the city."

   "What?" KC gaped stupidly at his back. "Why?"

   "Well, isn't it obvious, you silly mouse?" Nuriko turned to grace her with a saccharine smile that sent an involuntary shiver up her spine. "You're being kidnapped!"