~Four~
Left My Body Lying Somewhere in the Sands of Time
Aiumi cheered up significantly at seeing Tasuki's familiar, if smug, face.
"How'd it go?"
"Okay. I didn't screw up too badly."
"Hey, ya tried. I'm gonna go into town, get a drink."
"I'll come with you."
"Ya might not want to do that…Kounan's not all like this place. Ya don't want ta stand out too much."
"I'll be fine. Trust me."
"Okay, fine. Don't say I didn't warn ya."
Maybe this wasn't such a good idea… Aiumi glanced warily around her, wondering what was so intimidating about this place. It was just like any party or bar she'd ever been to with her friends; noisy, crowded, boisterous.
Tasuki had been right. Everyone did look kind of the same.
She shook off her nervousness, laughing and talking with Tasuki over nothing in particular.
Snippets of conversation reached her ears in the crowded atmosphere. Everyone around her seemed to be talking about some girl that was, as far as she could tell, somewhere in the immediate vicinity. She glanced around, wondering who it was they were talking about.
She gasped slightly as she realized that there were virtually no other people of the female sex anywhere to be seen. Were they talking about her?
"Something wrong?" Tasuki grinned, his clear amber eyes full of friendly laughter. She had to smile at how feral he looked, his orange-red hair falling across his forehead.
"No, nothing." She drained her bottle of sake, again reassured and nonchalant.
Suddenly, and unseen hand grabbed her by the hair, yanking her out of her seat roughly. She yelped in horror and pain as her arm was twisted behind her back.
Tasuki heard her scream, his hand instantly snatching the tessen from his bandolier, eyes burning with pure rage. His coat flapping around him ominously, he whirled around.
Aiumi whimpered, trembling in the unrelenting grip of her attacker. A hand roughly forced her chin up, to stare into the face of a decidedly evil-looking man. An angry scar ran down the side of his round face, and his small dark eyes glittered under bushy brows.
"Let go of me!" Her fear turned to rage and hatred, and she struggled against the other man who was holding her, twisting her face away from the man in front of her.
He snickered. "She's a feisty one. I like 'em that way… Don't worry, if you're a good girl we won't hurt you."
His companion added, "Look at her clothes. She'll bring a good price."
"Leave her the hell alone!" Tasuki stood, helpless, raging, afraid to use the tessen for fear of burning Aiumi too.
"Watch it, boy, one wrong move and she's gone." He pressed a long, curved knife to her throat menacingly.
Aiumi took a shaky breath, knowing she'd have to save herself if she wanted to get out of this one. C'mon, you can do this…
She shoved her free elbow into the guy's gut, simultaneously shoving him backwards, away from the knife at her throat. She dropped to one knee, flipping the guy over her head and into the one with the knife. They skidded across the floor, flying though a wall with a sickening thud.
"LEKKA…SHINEN!" The thugs screamed and ran into the night.
The bar fell silent. All eyes seemed to be on Aiumi and Tasuki. Someone yelled, and an angry mob, most of it very drunk, rushed angrily at them. "Uh-oh…"
They dropped to their hands and knees, crawling out of the now very confused crowd and slipping untrobusively out the door.
"You alright?"
"Yeah, just a little…shaken up…"
Her voice trailed away, realizing how close he was to her…
He had seen her eyes in different moods, green-grey in fear, grey-blue in sadness, nearly purple in rage, but this clear ice-blue, so innocent, so trusting, was new to him.
"Tasuki…" She collapsed into his arms, huddling like a scared child against his chest.
He held her close against him. I will never, ever, EVER understand women… He glanced down at her face and smiled slightly…but maybe that's okay…
"There they are! Get 'em!" Someone inside the bar had spotted them, and the mob poured angrily out the doors.
"Run!!!" Aiumi yelled, sprinting off into the distance.
Tasuki sweatdropped. "Why the hell did ya have to do that?? Why??" He screamed at the sky.
Because I feel like it.
"Eh? Who was that?" Now the bandit was thoroughly confused.
"Come on!" Aiumi yanked him away from the drunken mob.
They tore through the ridiculously dark and narrow streets, the horde of people close behind. Turning corners, jumping over walls, nothing seemed to help them gain any ground.
Droplets of water began to bounce off the ground around them. "Shit! It's raining!"
"Do you always have to state the obvious? Maybe this'll help us lose them!"
It did. The throng was out of sight in minutes. Panting, Aiumi managed to gasp out, "I think we lost them…"
"No!! Don't say that!!" Tasuki went nuts, knowing exactly what was going to happen next.
The mob suddenly appeared on either side end of the street, boxing the two in. Tasuki face-faulted into a puddle.
Aiumi grabbed the spluttering Tasuki by the collar. "Move it, fang boy!"
They skidded down an alleyway and toward the river, which was swollen with all the dramatic-effect rain. Their footsteps thudded hollowly across the long wooden bridge.
Tasuki's foot suddenly slid out from under him on a small pebble. Before he could stop himself, he had slid under the handrail on the bridge and fallen out into space, just managing to grab the edge with one hand. His feet dangled helplessly twenty feet above the rushing river. About then, his fingers started to slip.
"Tasuki!" Aiumi dove towards him just as he lost his grip. She just managed to catch his wrist before he plunged into the swirling water below.
Memories…flooding back into his mind…
How old had he been? Six? Eight? Six…
He had gotten in everybody's way that day, until Aidou had finally kicked him, literally, out of the house. He had pouted for awhile and headed out, with Aidou's final shout of "Mother says don't go near the river!" following him. So, of course, that's exactly where he went.
The river was peaceful near the house, but the ground slowly sloped upward until the banks were veritable cliffs. The river was rougher here, too, sliding tempestuously around submerged rocks. A dusty path ran along the side, dangerously close to the edge.
Tasuki trudged along slowly, kicking at pebbles in his path, hands jammed in pockets.
A scrubby bush suddenly rustled, and he gasped, his eyes widening in fear. "Miow?" a tiny gray cat, too old to be a kitten, poked its head out querulously.
He smiled in relief, and knelt down by the kitten, scratching playfully under its chin. It purred happily.
"Will you be my friend?" The kitten mewed, as if in answer to the small boy.
"Hey! Where are you going?" The kitten suddenly jumped up, and walked down the path, its tail stuck straight up in the air. It turned and looked at him, mewing happily. "Oh! Do you want me to follow you? Ok!"
He ran after the cat, not noticing the gradual increase in the steepness of the path.
Suddenly, the cat disappeared. "Huh? Where'd you go?" He looked around, but there was nothing to be found.
He took a step backwards, still searching the scrubby plants for the cat.
The ground began to crumble beneath his small feet. The dry dirt suddenly collapsed, sending him tumbling backwards toward the rushing river…
Her feet scrabbled on the slippery wood, trying to brace herself against the bridge railing so that she'd have a chance at pulling him up.
He stared numbly at the water below, realizing that he hadn't a chance of rescue if he fell now.
The splintery wood cut into her free hand, drawing blood and also tears. Her grip on his wrist faltered ever so slightly, but she quickly regained her composure.
He fell, screaming, down the cliff, the river rushing up to meet him. At the last second, his hand caught at a plant growing out of the cliffside. Unable to bear his weight for long, it began to break.
"Aidou? Li'an? Mai? Somebody help me!!" He called frantically, hoping someone would hear.
"Ototou? Where are you? What's wrong?" Li'an called back to him, figuring he was just being annoying. She walked toward his voice, toward…the river! No, it couldn't be! Afraid for a million reasons, she began to run.
Tasuki grimaced. An angry tear rolled down his cheek, falling harmlessly into space.
A movement in the shadows down the street caught his eye. Someone was coming. "Shit. We've got company."
"Maybe they'll help…" She looked up.
"Aiumi, watch out!"
An unseen hand grabbed her by the collar, jerking her backward.
"NOO!" Both screamed simultaneously as she was forced to let go.
She was slammed onto her back, staring into the faces of three more OEM(overly ecchi men). "That's right, nice and quiet, we'll just have a little fun…"
"Bastards! Get the fuck off of me!" She struggled against the one pinning her to the ground. She slammed her wrists to her sides, throwing him off balance, and flipped him into the other two.
She jumped to her feet, frantically jumping over the bridge railing and diving into the river.
The current instantly took her, but she was a good swimmer and ducked under, searching for Tasuki.
Even in the murky water, she spotted his fiery hair and swam toward him. Grabbing him by the collar, she pushed up toward the surface.
Li'an slid to a halt on the path above, glimpsing her little brother's fiery red hair. "Shun-chan! Hang on!"
"Li'an?"
She desperately reached a hand down to him, eyes widening with panic, knowing he couldn't swim.
As he reached toward her, the plant finally gave up and snapped.
Everything was fuzzy from there. He dimly remembered being swept by the relentless river, finally being washed onto the banks. Aidou holding him, his sister's worried faces and voices. Mai, always so innocent, asking their mother if he'd be all right.
"So that's why…"
"Yeah."
They sat next to each other on the bank, dripping wet for the second time that day. Both stared at the river rushing past, fully aware of its power…
End of Chapter Four