Disclaimer: I own neither Pride and Prejudice or Skip Beat! Also the names Teru and Anise are borrowed from Dengeki Daisy and Barajou No Kiss respectively.
Chapter Four: Nice to Meet You?
Although the action was considered quite obtuse in polite society, Kyoko found herself staring at the man who had just delivered her from the pouring rain that now beat noisily beat upon the carriage's exterior.
Hearing no reply of any sort after his own introduction, Yukihito kindly prompted the girls to reveal their identity and place of dwelling. Realizing her rudeness, Kyoko collected herself and extended a hand toward the man, seeing as she was presently packed like a sardine (and sitting inside a carriage in the first place) it would be impossible for her to curtsy.
"Sir, forgive me," she began, "I am Kyoko Bennet and these are my younger sisters, Teru, Anise, and Momose," nodding in the direction to where her sisters were sitting.
"I know this situation is very untoward, but it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance," said Yukihito graciously.
All this while, the younger sisters had been rendered thoroughly silent, and at the man's compliment could only nod in agreement to indicate their mutual feelings on this point—except for Anise who was the boldest and also gave a smile.
"I feel I cannot thank you enough for your kindness to myself and my sisters; I am very sorry to have inconvenienced you," apologized Kyoko humbly, having become the spokeswoman of her sisters.
"Madam, I pulled over for you; you did not solicit me in any form or fashion. If there was any inconvenience—and there is none—I would have only myself to blame."
Feeling that no more apologetic speeches ought to be made on the subject, although she felt absolutely wretched about the predicament she was in, Kyoko realized that she must tell Mr. Bingley where she lived in order to get to that place.
"We live at Longbourn, perhaps you've heard of it?" she asked.
Yukihito smiled at her and answered, "Indeed, not only have I heard, I know exactly where it is! I passed it only three days ago while surveying the surrounding area of my property. We are rather close neighbors after all," he said heartily. "Now, half a minute, I must direct the driver on the way to your home." He knocked on the coach's ceiling signaling the driver to halt.
Kyoko looked out of the window she sat beside and noticed the rain was falling at a gentler speed than it had done previously. She considered trying to decline the rest of Mr. Bingley's kind attentions but felt that it would do more harm than it would help. She could imagine him being offended by her actions and instinctively knew that her sisters would not appreciate her notion of having them walk a muddy path home. Kyoko put the thought of any such attempts out of her head.
The driver opened the door to the coach; He looked as frumpled as the four girls inside, having had to drive the party through the peak of the inclement weather. Yukihito gave his instructions to the driver; the door was shut, and shortly thereafter the ride resumed.
"How have you liked living in Meryton so far?" asked Kyoko, feeling the necessity of making polite conversation.
"Indeed, I-, I…like it well so far." Although Yukihito was normally very fluent in his native tongue of English, there happened to be a phenomenon occurring at that very moment and it was quite distracting to him. Actually, it was not anything particularly unusual that had happened, only that the sky had lightened enough at the time so that the color of Kyoko's eyes could actually be clearly seen. And though her eyes were lovely (how could such a pair of rare golden eyes not be striking?) Yukihito was unsettled because they were alarmingly familiar.
Being the observant people they were, both Kyoko and Teru noticed the change in Mr. Bingley's behavior and were somewhat troubled by it. Momose and Anise did not detect any difference and so were wholly unaffected by it. Momose was busy playing at the clasp of the small purse that she held in her lap, fancying herself in love with Mr. Bingley—though she couldn't bring herself to look him full in the face—and Anise was working up the courage to ask the following question:
"Will you be attending the upcoming assembly ball?" she asked, red-faced.
Good Lord, thought Kyoko irritably, when will this ride be over? What a nuisance—if not for this rain we could've been home by now.
Yukihito glanced at Kyoko, feeling a very negative aura radiating from her side of the coach. "Yes. My sisters Mrs. Hurst and Miss Bingley as well as my friend Mr. Darcy will also be attending," he answered concisely.
Anise, always the flirt, smiled a smile that was at once coy and suggestive, "It will be nice to see all of you there," she said sweetly.
Yukihito nodded in response and looked over at Kyoko again.
Why does he keep staring at me? Kyoko thought. Then she realized it must be her eyes; people often had a hard time getting over them when they first met her. Coming to this conclusion, she was a little less unsettled about Mr. Bingley's frequent peeks at her.
This cannot be the same child, that child died a long time ago! thought Yukihito in disbelief. Although it had been many years, Yukihito remembered meeting an infant with a pair of eyes very similar to the young lady's he now sat across from. She had been eight months old at the time and was the second cousin of his good friend Mr. Darcy. He remembered this distinctly because the young girl had been blatantly displayed and paraded about because of her eye color. Shortly thereafter he had heard his mother gossiping amongst some of her friends saying that the young family of Mogami had suffered a tragic loss; that the father and the pretty golden-eyed baby had both died from illness. He remembered his mother being rather affected by the ordeal, saying that it was a scandal for all that money to be left to the mother who had, after all, married into the family.
Kyoko waved a hand in Mr. Bingley's face. "Is he in a trance?" she asked her sisters, for Mr. Bingley had been lost in thought for about a minute and a half now and couldn't seem to take his eyes off of Kyoko.
"Mr. Bingley?" asked Kyoko, looking very concerned.
No response.
"Sir?"
Nada.
"Sir?" still nothing. Remembering what her mother did when her father got "stuck" in his musings, Kyoko handed the items she held in her lap to Teru who sat next to her, took off her shawl, undid the buttons to her dress sleeves, and rolled her sleeves up. Just when she had reeled her fist back, clearly aiming to punch Mr. Bingley in the gut, he came to himself.
"Good God! What were you going to do me ma'am!" he exclaimed, noting the angle of Kyoko's fist in proximity to his stomach.
Kyoko turned an unbecoming shade of red, completely embarrassed at herself. Suddenly, the coach gave a huge lurch that uncannily threw Momose diagonally across the width of the vehicle so that she landed in Yukihito's lap. Yukihito looked down at her and was horrified to find the young girl staring up at him with stars in her eyes. He quickly shifted to the other end of the seat and pushed her off of his lap onto the remainder of the seat—at this time the Kyoko, Anise, and Teru were on the floor of the coach.
Once again, the coach's door flew open to reveal the driver of the carriage who looked worse than ever. His wig was wet and had somehow gotten muddy and was now hanging halfway off his head. His breeches were clean, but his stocking were no longer stuck neatly inside them; they were now flopping freely at his ankles and were thickly covered with mud. He looked absolutely miserable.
"Sir, I apologize for the abrupt stop," he said sorrowfully.
"It's fine, Mr. Sawara. How far are we from Longbourn?" answered Yukihito somewhat peeved.
"We are nearly there!" said Anise waving her free arm from under the legs of her sisters.
Mr. Sawara looked at the mess inside the carriage and immediately felt himself at ease. What a story he would have to tell his wife when he next visited! He looked at the floor of the coach and saw three girls strewn about. One had her foot stuck in the other's armpit, another had her leg unceremoniously draped across the other's back and still another was buried under the first two girls. But before he could laugh freely, there was still a problem that had to be addressed.
"Sir," began Sawara hesitantly.
"Yes, Mr. Sawara?" prompted Yukihito.
"The coach seems to be stuck in a large pot-hole."
Yukihito sighed heavily. By this time, the girls had gotten themselves into respectable sitting positions and Kyoko, seeing the chance of redeeming the situation at least in some small amount had an idea.
"Since we are not far from my home, we can walk the rest of the way and bring help for you," offered Kyoko.
Not giving Yukihito a chance to reply, she hopped out of the carriage and hinted that her sisters do the same.
"It seems that we have no other choice," said Yukihito on seeing all four girls standing ankle-deep in mud.
"It's getting late, we had better be off," said Kyoko cheerily, happy to be on the road to happier (and less embarrassing) circumstances. Once she got home, she could wash up and change her dress and ride back on horseback to see to it that Mr. Bingley and his driver were taken care of.
"We'll be back soon, do not worry!" called Anise as she sprinted off in front of her sisters, clearly wanting to show her athleticism to distinguish herself from the rest.
"We'll be back within half an hour," said Kyoko, trying to alleviate some of the stress that was showing on Mr. Bingley's face.
"Thank you, Miss Bennet," he said wearily.
Kyoko, Teru and Momose set off at a quick pace in order to catch up to Anise. Once they caught up to her and had gotten far enough down the path so that Mr. Bingley couldn't see them commit yet another embarrassing act, Kyoko suggested that they cut through a field so that they could get back home faster. This idea all agreed upon, the girls ran into the heather-filled field and got home quickly, arriving at the garden on the back-end of the house where Kanae was sitting on a rock, reading a book.
Kanae looked up from the book she was reading to see four girls—each clad in heavily soiled dresses, wet bonnets, and ripped stockings.
"Mo! What happened to you?" she exclaimed, torn between laughing at the absurd appearance of her sisters, and concern for what had made them look that way.
"Long story," answered Momose in a foul mood. She had been that way ever since Yukihito had unlovingly pushed her off his lap.
"Mr. Bingley is stuck on the road," said Teru, anxious to get the man aid after the service he had done them, "we said we would send someone to help."
"Fisher is out and so is Jenkins, we have no other male servants," replied Kanae.
"We'll have to ask father," said Kyoko, catching her breath.
"Ask father what?" boomed Lory from a third story window.
Each of the girls cringed at their father's unlooked-for intrusion in their conversation.
"How does he do that?" whispered Anise somewhat awe-struck.
Kanae frowned and looked up at her father, who was flamboyantly hanging out of the window that belonged to one of the unused rooms inside the house. "Father, would you be willing to perform a good deed today?" she asked.
"No, my dear, I should say not. All my deeds I commit here. Go and rescue Mr. Bingley yourself—you shall be the princess in shining armor; it will be romance of the modern type."
With that he bestowed a wink at his girls, laughed, ducked inside and shut the window.
"Well, I don't care what you do, I'M GOING INSIDE!" yelled Momose, nearly beside herself with frustration, stalking inside the house.
Anxious to get out of their wet things, Teru and Anise followed their sister inside.
Kyoko turned to Kanae, rubbed her forehead and sighed.
Kanae silently stood up and walked over to a pile of wood in the corner of the garden and picked out two sturdy wood planks. She walked back over where Kyoko stood and handed her one of them.
"Shall we armored princesses sally forth?" she asked, smiling at Kyoko.
"Thank you," answered Kyoko, beaming at her sister; she had not expected Kanae to be so willing to help, "We will have to hurry, I wanted to return within half an hour. We only have ten minutes to spare!"
Kyoko ran off through the field with wild abandon, she had nothing to lose as she was already rather filthy and her dress frayed at the hemline.
Kanae ran through the field as well, but somehow had developed the skill of doing it so gracefully that she would neither injure herself or her clothing. So when she arrived on the muddy country road, she was wholly untouched by the brambles and bushes and looking quite elegant.
Kyoko and Kanae walked back down the road to where Yukihito and his driver were waiting. The sun was setting, and had sunk rather low opposite the two girls, illuminating their faces in a molten, blazing gold. When Yukihito first saw the two girls approaching, he was surprised; he had not foreseen those of the fairer and more delicate sex coming to his aid. Once he had seen Kanae, he was turned into a complete mute—she was absolutely stunning with her ebony hair and dark brown eyes. The light pink dress she had on seemed an ill-fitting match for the fiery girl who wore it, but she looked breathtaking nonetheless. Yukihito could not take his eyes off of her—this made the entirety of this bizarre day fully worth his trouble.
Kyoko introduced Mr. Bingley to Kanae and Kanae to Mr. Bingley. Not much was said on either side; Kanae was naturally taciturn and Yukihito was still in awe over the beautiful Miss Bennet.
Kanae set to work immediately; they were losing daylight quickly and she wanted to set the rich young gentlemen on his way quickly. Yukihito would have offered to pry his own coach out of the hole, but again, he was still shell-shocked over the bomb-shell, so he was rather useless.
Sawara noticed the impropriety of his master's conduct and told Kanae that it was his responsibility to take care of his master and his troubles. Kanae handed him the plank and he set it under the wheel and attempted to use leverage to pull the coach out, but it didn't move. He gave several attempts, but still the coach stayed stuck in the hole.
"Sir, let me try," said Kanae, who was somewhat put out. She was a very healthy girl and was sure she would have no trouble getting these gentlemen out of this fix—after all, she could plow a field with two oxen on a harness, cut and lift beef, and birth a calf (there were very few women in her class who could say they were that accomplished) all on her own.
By this point, Yukihito had finally come to his senses.
"Madam," said he gallantly, "that is entirely unnecessary. I can take care of this," he gestured, pointing to the carriage.
Kanae sighed and watched Mr. Bingley assume the same position Sawara had formerly been in.
For ten minutes Yukihito tried to get the carriage to budge, and a few tries proved him to be moving in the right direction, but in the end, the coach stayed snug inside the crater.
Kyoko noticed that her sister was running out of patience and tried to save the two men the trouble of experiencing her wrath. "Sir," she said to Yukihito who was now foolishly pushing up against the side of the carriage, "I think you might let my sister try to assist you."
Yukihito sighed, how was he supposed to prove his manhood if he had to have a young lady come and rescue him—especially one he found entirely captivating—pull his coach out of the mud? However, the hour was growing later and darker, and refusing might only waste the last few minutes of valuable daylight they had left. He moved out of the way and let Kanae crouch down where he had been.
Kanae looked both Yukihito and Sawara in the eye shamelessly. In one effortless, smooth shove, she heaved the coach onto firmer ground. She pulled the plank up from under the wheel and smiled smugly at the two men who were now gaping at her.
Kyoko felt that now would be an opportune time to be heading home. She knew exactly how much Kanae loathed men who were useless.
"Mr. Bingley, I really can neither thank you enough for rescuing me and my sisters or apologize enough for the predicament your rescuing us has put you in," she said warmly.
"It is no trouble at all. I feel thanks should be returned for you and your sister rescuing us," Yukihito said glancing at Kanae who was looking at him with disdain. "Thank you," he finished, turning back to Kyoko.
"Will you still attend the ball?" asked Kyoko.
"I see no reason why not, unless the rain has made me sick, but I think not!" he said mirthfully as he climbed into the coach. No, nothing short of death would stop him from attending a dance.
Kyoko and Kanae both curtseyed as they watched Mr. Bingley climb inside the coach and the driver mount his station and turn the carriage around.
And so, each party went their respective way, with their respective thoughts.
Kyoko and Kanae walked back through the bracken slowly since it was rather dark and late in the evening.
"Well?" began Kyoko.
"Well, what?" answered Kanae.
"You know what"
"You sound like our mother!" laughed Kanae.
Kyoko did not find that particularly complimentary and punched her sister in the arm to let her know.
"Stop trying to delay my question, dear. What did you think of Mr. Bingley…other than that he is incapable of rescuing himself from a ditch," said Kyoko playfully.
"Well, he is handsome. Don't tell the girls I said that. I would never hear the end of it," answered Kanae fiercely.
"Fine," laughed Kyoko freely, just happy to be with her favorite sister, "your secret will be kept by me until the end of my days."
"I may look forward to this ball after all," said Kanae thoughtfully, so low that Kyoko thought she might have just been hearing her own thoughts. She looked at her sister thoughtfully.
"What?" asked Kanae.
Kyoko decided not to press her luck, "Nothing at all. I'll race you back as soon as we get through the field."
They came to the edge of the field and broke out in a full run. Mr. Sawara could have sworn he heard whoops of laughter and raucous screaming on his way to Netherfield.
thanks for all the reviews! i hope you like this chapter. for those of you looking forward to Ren Darcy meeting Kyoko Bennet, that will be in the next chapter. since i have Christmas Eve off, i may deliver that little package as a gift to y'all! let me know what you think-good, bad, or ugly!
enjoy the upcoming holiday,
Amtheoneuwant
p.s. it's been suggested that i could use a beta reader, so if you are willing, or if you know someone who could do the job reasonably well, please let me know (:
