I
Even as the plane finally touched down jarring her from her jet lag induced sleep, Hitomi debated if she had made the right decision. After all, most people given the chance to study abroad tended to tour popular places like Europe or South America, or even return to where their family originated from. As it was so many of her friends had decided to pick Japan she wondered if she should as well in order to have familiar faces around her. All except Yukari's, she mentally amended, smiling softly as she remembered her friend's announcement to travel to England, something that came as a shock to no one.
So why was Hitomi passing up these obvious choices and picking a country the rest of the world had hardly ever heard of?
Even before she asked the question she knew the answer; she reached up to her chest to grasp the pendant that hung around her neck, a motion she often did when lost in thought. She had made a promise, both to herself and to her grandmother, even if the older woman wasn't physically around anymore to see it fulfilled.
As the rest of the passengers stared to gather their luggage and file off the plane, Hitomi took a deep breath, once again telling herself that she did indeed make the right decision, whether she found out the truth or not.
Ring ring ring.
Honestly, that was the tenth time the damned cell phone had rang in the past fifteen minutes, once again making Van regret ever being talked into getting one in the first place. He personally found them annoying and over-extravagant; they were relied on too much in his opinion, seemingly permanently glued to the heads of their owners. And something bothered him about wanting to be on the phone with someone else instead of enjoying the company and scenery around you.
But besides the fact he would be labeled as 'behind-the-times' by his critics (he saw nothing wrong with being old-fashioned but hated it being used against him), the council said it would promise him more freedom. He snorted derisively at the mere notion; 'freedom' they called it, when before he would only have someone chewing his ear off about trivial matters during the day and when he was at home. But now he seemed to have them calling everywhere he went all of twenty-four hours.
Still he supposed he had the option of ignoring the calls, which he had been trying to do all this time. But he had to give in to their persistence. With a loud sigh he finally answered the blasted thing, pinching the bridge of his nose as he did so. "What is it now?"
"You know, if you actually answered the phone most of the time, they wouldn't call you as frantically all the time," a deep familiar voice chuckled into his ear. Van's eyes widened a little in surprise that it was his own brother calling him, but he quickly recovered with a smug smirk forming on his face. "I really doubt that Folken. I'm also tempted to turn this damn thing off; why the hell do they keep bothering me instead of pestering you?"
Folken laughed heartily again, making Van wonder how he could stay so calm when dealing with such annoyances. Or maybe he just liked seeing his younger brother suffer. "What makes you think they're not buzzing around me as well?" As to prove his point (a little too conveniently), Folken's voice was muffled as he presumably moved his mouth away from the phone to answer a nearby aide. "No, I don't believe so. Yes. Well…let me finish this phone call and I promise you my full attention…Van, are you still there? Anyways, as I was saying, as much as you hate it, keep your phone on. You know it's important for someone to always have contact with you, not to mention a safety reason."
"Safety reason?" Van scoffed, rolling his eyes in disbelief. "From what? Balgus is with me all the damn time." He glanced back at his bodyguard, who was supposed to be blending in with the crowd, but looked as inconspicuous as a bull in a china shop. "I don't know why I need all this."
"Listen Van," Folken replied, his voice taking a serious edge to it, "like it or not, your position means you just have to deal with a few…inconveniences. And fighting against them is just going to make it harder on you. Please try to remember that…I need to deal with this latest issue, but do try to remember to answer your phone more often!"
Van heard Folken start to discuss something with the seemingly impatient adviser next to him before there was the audible click of the phone being placed in the cradle. There was no need for him to get sentimental from the lack of goodbye. Instead, Van frowned at the fact that his brother was getting bothered by the council members as well, probably even more so. It shed some light on how lucky he was that it had been Folken who was the first born son.
Ugh, Hitomi really didn't remember packing this much; she had tried to pack as light as she possibly could, but she was supposed to be staying there for three months after all. She had thought it would be the perfect idea to pack all her checked luggage into one large suitcase instead of multiple smaller ones, but as she lugged it off the conveyor belt she cursed her poor planning. At least she had the foresight to get one with wheels, but even rolling it behind her was a chore.
Even though the place still had the feel and functionality of an airport, she couldn't help but stare with mouth agape as she walked along. The building itself was relatively new, but the architecture style had to be hundreds of years old, incorporating the region's Mediterranean ambiance with a modern twist.
If it wasn't for the fear of not wanting to stand out like a tourist more than she already was (and the fact that her camera was buried in the recesses of her carry-on bag), Hitomi would be taking pictures of the breathtaking surroundings. She was amazed on how the other passengers could rush by so nonchalantly and ignore such beauty, guessing they must be used to it by now. Or completely exhausted from their flights.
Speaking of which, she needed to hurry and find where the rental car pickup was located at, still having a good drive ahead of her before she reached where she needed to be. Filing behind the crowd of others already on the escalator, she sighed in relief for having a break from pulling her suitcase for a few minutes, her arm already growing sore.
As she headed down, she took the time to look around some more, so eager to soak in more of this culture that was relatively unknown to her. There were so many types of people here, many in ethnic dress characteristic for the area. She almost felt dowdy in her well worn but comfortable tracksuit she had changed into before her flight.
Glancing down into the gathering of people below her, one person stood out for some reason; a man around her age, pacing the floor and looking exasperated as he talked on his cell phone. He was dressed in a way that suggested he had just walked off the cover of a fashion magazine; a cream business suit and striking red tie that went well with his dark complexion. She was idly curious if he was a local celebrity or wealthy business owner. Judging by his looks, she couldn't help but laugh to herself; in her mind, it just went to show that money and fame couldn't always buy you happiness all the time.
Suddenly, she got one of those unusual feelings her friends and family joked she was known for, one that caused all the hair on the back of her neck to stand up on edge. Her gaze shifted upwards to the walkway above the food and shopping court; despite it being a busy time of day, the overhang was empty-wait... no. It was minimal, but Hitomi spotted some rustling among the potted trees that lined the edge, and the outline of a person whose features were blocked out by the foliage. She frowned in confusion, wondering why just the lone figure was up there and what they could possibly be doing.
That's when she saw it. While her only knowledge had been gathered from movies, she could definitely tell that was the barrel of a rifle now poking out of the foliage.
And it was aimed directly at the man below.
Of course that was one problem with not taking the 'star' treatment while traveling; Van's plane had landed nearly an hour ago, and he still had yet to receive his luggage. When discussing the matter with an apologetic clerk, it seemed like a mix-up had happened where his things had been placed on the departing flight after his. Even if he tried to use his position (which he would never dream of doing), there was no way to get the plane to arrive faster.
And so he had been waiting, or more of pacing, constantly checking his watch for the time. Normally he would just have his bags couriered to him later, but he had made the mistake of packing important information in his suitcase that he needed to review sooner than later. Even if it meant he had to stay in the airport longer than he intended.
After he had gotten off the phone with Folken, it struck him on how monotonous the situation was becoming, so much so he debated calling his brother back to stave off the boredom. He even started to turn towards Balgus in hopes of stirring up some form of conversation with the usually quiet older man.
"Hey, look out!"
Well, that certainly got his attention; he turned sharply towards the source of the shouting to see a young woman (he was guessing, but it was hard to tell with that short haircut) dash down the escalator like a bat out of hell. Her massive suitcase tumbled after her, nearly knocking others down, and at first her thought it had just become unruly and she had lost control of it.
But just as he began to find some morbid amusement at this, he realized the woman didn't seem to care about it at all. In fact, after jumping the last few steps she kept running, and it dawned on him a little too late that it was in his direction. "…What the hell are y-"
THUD! Her body hit him with such force that it knocked him completely over, his whole self hitting the hard ground painfully. Not even a second later a gunshot rang out, and the glass of the window behind him shattered into tiny fragments all over him.
Immediately there was yelling and commotion, but it all seemed far away and slowed down, his only focus on the woman now lying on tip of him. Her hot heavy breathing rushed against his ear, and her heart was beating so fast he could feel it hitting against his own ribcage. And when she slowly began to move to get up, her softness was pressed against him in such a way he couldn't help but groan.
"Ah, are you all right? Are you hurt?"
Her questioning snapped him crashing back into reality; he sat up rather quickly, which caused her to jump back in alarm. "What just happened? Balgus?"
"It appears to be a sniper, sir," the other man gruffly reported as he stood in front of the two to shield from any other possible attacks. "Security personnel are already tracking down the culprit, but in the mean time, I believe it's best to get you out of here."
"…I agree," Van replied, nodding before turning back to the woman who looked completely bewildered by the whole thing. "Just who are you?"
"…Oh!" It was almost like he could see the gears turning in the woman's head as she stammered, "O…Meu…meu…how does it go again…O meu nome é…"
"I asked you in English, so why do you think I want to hear your butchered version of my native tongue?" Really, he knew he had an accent, but he didn't think it was that thick. An embarrassed blush spread over her cheeks as she frowned, immediately growing defensive. "Fine, my name is Hitomi, and considering what just happened, you could be a lot nicer."
He blinked rapidly at her retort; no one had dared talk to him in such a manner, not since his parents passed away when he was younger. It was unusually refreshing, and while he sat on the floor of an airport that contained someone who wanted him dead, covered in shards of glass, he couldn't help but let out a laugh. "Well then, Hitomi, tell me how does it feel to save the life of a prince?"
A/N: Just a quick note, while this story is based on modern day Earth, for all intents and purposes, the Gaian countries (such as Fanelia, Asturia, etc) are countries on Earth as well (albeit small), in the Mediterranean Sea area. The reason is for this is I was going to assign Van and others to different actual countries, but didn't want to offend people with my lack of knowledge of said countries. As it is, I made Van's native language Portuguese (due to the fact that the anime director originally mixed Portuguese words for Gaian language), hence Hitomi trying to speak elementary Portuguese when introducing herself.