Chapter 5

Abducted

The sleeping Fujin groaned weakly as she felt the sun's hot ray on her pale face. Flinching as she opened her eyes, she stretched form her bed and looked around. Realizing that she was alone, she got up from her bed and took a shower. Damn that Almasy. Where the hell did he go off to now? she thought in frustration as she ran a comb through her hair.

At that moment, Seifer arrived, closing the door behind him. "Oh, so you're finally awake," he said as he glanced at Fujin.

"LATE?" Fujin asked in her usual monotone voice.

Seifer shook his head. "I'm taking the day off today," he answered, slumping on the couch. "I've got more important things to worry about."

Fujin just gaped at him, clenching her fists tightly. Bastard. Cid didn't put you as my partner so you could date some air headed bimbo while on the job! "RAGE!" she growled, walking out of the room and slamming the door behind her.

Remembering that she lost her eye patch, she covered half of her face with her silver hair before walking out of the building. Fine, I'll just have to do everything myself. Not like he would give a damn, she thought, strapping her Shuriken behind her.

It was a fine, sunny morning, as Fujin walked down the streets. She guessed that this would not be the best day looking for any suspects, since there would be crowds blocking her view. Fine morning I picked to investigate, she thought grumpily as people began to push her aside. Dammit, this is going to take me awhile.

*

Meanwhile, Seifer went off in a different direction in Deiling, and headed for a few shops. "Great, now where the hell am I going to get an eye patch?" he grumbled to himself as he browsed through the stores.

"There you are," Rinoa said from behind Seifer. "I was wondering if you like to hang around with me for awhile."

Seifer turned to face Rinoa and shook his head. As much as he would have loved to say yes, he had to get Fujin a new eye patch, knowing how much it meant to her. "I'm a little busy right now. I'll see you tonight," he replied, before walking away.

Rinoa's cheerful face changed into a look of disappointment. "Oh, see you tonight then," she mumbled, leaving the store.

*

Hours later, the young albino finally looked up at the sky and realized that it was already getting dark. Damn, just my luck. It's already dark and not one single clue, she thought as more crowds began to form. With a soft sigh, she headed towards the hotel.

As she took a deserted route back to the hotel, she stopped abruptly as the direction of the wind suddenly changed. At this Fujin suddenly smirked. It's been a long time since I got the taste for carnage, she thought as she threw her Shuriken at a tree behind her.

There was a loud yelp, as dark clothed figure jumped away from the tree.

Narrowing her eye, Fujin knew she was being followed. Without even asking for the figure's purpose, she ran to retrieve her weapon and threw it at the figure with inhuman speed.

"Damn, you're pretty good, bitch. But not good enough!" the figure shouted as he jumped into the air, dodging the flying weapon. He then placed his two fingers on his lips and whistled loudly.

It was at this moment that Fujin realized that she was surrounded. Showing no signs of emotion but her smirk, she thought, Hmm…this should be fun. Catching her Shuriken in mid-air, she summoned Pandemonium on the figures.

As the last gangster fell to the ground unconscious, Fujin put her Shuriken away. Pathetic. I didn't even break a sweat, she thought kicking the bodies in front of her aside and walking towards the hotel.

*

Seifer glanced at himself in the mirror one last time, before walking out the door. He then waited in the lobby until Rinoa arrived, dressed in a shimmering, white dress that went above her knees. "Right on time," Seifer commented as Rinoa grinned.

As Seifer and his date headed downstairs towards the restaurant, Rinoa chuckled softly. "Funny, I just remembered that this was the same place where my mother first met Squall's father. It must have been really romantic. I heard that they were once lovers for a short while," she said, as she took her seat.

"So this place must have so many memories for your mother," Seifer guessed as he stared into Rinoa's face.

Rinoa nodded. "That's right. Come to think of it, mother once told me that she composed a song dedicated to her very love, which I think was Squall's father. But when she thought he passed away, my father came along and comforted her on the very night she was to sing her first song. That's when they both fell in love," she explained.

"Sounds like they lived happily ever after," Seifer answered, taking a sip from his wine glass.

Rinoa laughed as she shook her head. "For the moment it seemed too good to be true. But then my mother had me, and then problems started happening. You see, General Caraway always wanted a son. But when my mother had me, he was disappointed, and never wanted anything to do with me. Then when I was a few years older, my mother suddenly died. I don't think General Caraway's ever recovered from it," she responded with no remorse.

Seifer studied her painless expression as she spoke. "Sounds like it didn't matter to you."

At this Rinoa's face turned grim. "I try not to think about it…that's why I try to be cheerful when I talk about sad things like that. It's not that I don't care or anything, I just don't want to think about stuff like that," she whispered softly.

*

Taking her time as she headed towards the hotel, Fujin noticed that the hallways seemed so quiet. After looking around suspiciously, Fujin finally unlocked the door to the room that she and Seifer shared. Realizing that the room was pitch black, she reached for the light switch next to the door.

Dammit! The lights are busted, Fujin thought as she flipped the switch on and off. With a sigh, she tossed her Shuriken onto the couch and began to remove her boots.

Suddenly, there was a small sound that came from the darkness.

Fujin rapidly looked up and squinted into the darkness. "WHO THERE?" she demanded in her monotone voice.

Hearing no reply, Fujin carefully felt her way towards her drawer. As she touched it, she felt something leathery on the drawer. Realizing what it was, Fujin held it close to her and smiled. "Seif–mmmph!!!!!!" she cried out as a hand clasped tightly over her mouth. Another hand was wrapped tightly around both her hands, preventing her from punching her attacker.

In reflex, Fujin tried to kick her way out of her attacker's grip, but to no avail, as she felt the hands squeeze tighter.

It was at that moment that the lights flickered on.

Fujin's eye widened in shock as she saw that the same black figured people surrounded her. "Mmmphmmm!!" she cried out as she continued to struggle. Remembering that the door was still open, she bit down on the hand over her mouth and hollered, "SEIFER!!!!!"

"Shut up!" one of the figures growled, slapping her across the face.

Ignoring the stinging pain on her cheek, Fujin continued to struggle, trying her best to break free. "SEIF–mmphmm!"

"Shut her up!"

It was at that moment that Fujin felt a painful blow on her skull, causing her to drop the new eye patch on the floor as she fell. Feeling blood ooze from her forehead, she uselessly reached for the door as the room became blurry. "…S…Sei…fer…" she whispered, before loosing consciousness.

*

Rinoa laughed as she and Seifer finished dancing. With a sigh she said, "Thanks for tonight. I really had a great time."

"No problem," Seifer answered casually.

"SEIFER!!!"

Seifer's gaze suddenly broke away from Rinoa and turned towards an echoing sound coming from upstairs. His ears were very sensitive, and could hear things clearly even from far away. "What the–"

It was at that moment that Rinoa's heel broke, causing her to trip. "Oh!" she yelped as Seifer caught her before she fell.

"You okay?" Seifer asked, forgetting about the echoing sound.

Rinoa nodded and smiled gratefully at him. "I'm alright, thanks to you," she replied, looking deeply into his eyes.

It was then that their faces inched closer together until Rinoa finally kissed Seifer's soft lips. Seifer stared in amazement at Rinoa's sudden move, but responded to her kiss. As Rinoa began to kiss her date deeper, Seifer could hear a loud crashing.

Instantly breaking away from the kiss, Seifer said a hasty goodbye to Rinoa and ran upstairs towards the room where Fujin was. Realizing that the door was left ajar, Seifer ran inside and discovered that the windows were open, causing a strong breeze to enter the room.

The blonde inspected the windows carefully, before turning around and noticing the eye patch he had bought for Fujin was on the floor, next to the mysterious red marks and shards of glass from a broken lamp. Seifer crouched near the red marks and studied them carefully.

"Blood…" he whispered quietly. "Shit! Something's happened to her."