Author's Note: My deepest apologies to all the readers for the LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG wait. I've been so busy and it's such a hassle trying to finish all your fanfics at the same time while trying to please the demand for the readers. Again, here are my deepest apologies, and I hope this chapter makes up for some of the wait. ^-^
Chapter 8
Aggressive
Fujin leaned against the elevator wall with her arms folded over her chest, thinking quietly to herself. Impatiently, she drummed her fingers against her arm, ignoring the fact that she was still stuck with Seifer Almasy.
Seifer stole a glance at Fujin. "I thought you've gotten used to me by now," he said, breaking the silence. "After all, I did go through all that trouble in finding you."
Fujin didn't reply. As the elevator door opened, she immediately walked out, heading towards her dorm room. Unlocking the door to her room, she quickly slammed it shut, and leaned against it.
Damn that Almasy!
Quickly, Fujin retrieved her bottle of pills from her pocket. With trembling fingers, she opened the bottle and placed two large, white pills into her palm. Pausing to get a glass of water, Fujin sighed, clearing her thoughts. Then after a moment or so, she placed the pills in her mouth and washed it down with the glass of water.
Instantly, the pills kicked in, and Fujin staggered to her bed before she collapsed.
*
There was a soft tapping on the door to Fujin's room. "Fu? You awake yet? You're supposed to be going with Seifer to Balamb, ya know."
Raijin continued to knock on the door. After a few moments of knocking, he pressed his ear against the door. "Fu," he said, knocking louder on the door. "Fu, open the door, you're gonna be late, ya know!" Raijin continued to pound on the door.
Yet despite his attempts of waking the sleeping Fujin, there was no sign of her stirring. With a sigh, Raijin moved away from the door and raised his fists. "Sorry about this, ya know," he said, breaking down the door. As the door crashed onto the floor, he caught sight of a petite figure curled up into a ball on the bed.
Raijin carefully stepped over the door and walked over to where Fujin was lying. As he glanced at her, he noticed that she was still wearing her SeeD uniform. Gently, he shook the sleeping Fujin. "Fu, you're gonna be late, ya know."
The young SeeD stirred slightly and opened her eyes. She noticed Raijin staring down at her and scowled. "WHY HERE?" she growled sleepily.
"Seifer sent me over here to wake you up, ya know. You were supposed to meet him outside the Garden fifteen minutes ago, ya know," Raijin said, shrugging.
Thinking for a moment of what Raijin had told her, Fujin's mind suddenly clicked. Cursing under her breath, she jumped out of her bed and scrambled all over the room, hastily packing some of her belongings, while brushing her teeth.
As Raijin was about to leave, he noticed an opened bottle of pills sprawled across the floor. Quickly, he picked up one of the white pills and stuffed it in his pocket while Fujin was not looking. "I'll tell Seifer that you'll be right down, ya know. Oh, and sorry 'bout the door, ya know," he said, leaving.
Fujin was too busy to pay any attention to what Raijin was saying and just nodded, running into the bathroom and quickly changing in her regular clothes.
*
Seifer was leaning against the wall near the elevator. He glanced at his watch for the fifth time and sighed. Looking around the room, he noticed Raijin running up to him. "Where is she?"
Raijin stopped to catch a breath. "I had to break down her door to wake her up, ya know. She didn't look too good, ya know," he replied. "Here, I managed to swap one of these from the floor, ya know." Raijin held up the white pill he had picked up from the floor.
"What is that?" Seifer asked, examining the pill.
"Found it in Fu's room, ya know. She had a bottle lyin' around the floor, ya know," Raijin answered.
Seifer looked at the pill closely. "What the hell is she doing with these?" he grumbled in concern.
Before Raijin could say anything, Fujin came running out of the elevator with her small luggage. "OVERSLEPT," she said hurriedly to Seifer.
Seifer exchanged looks with Raijin before walking away, saying nothing to his partner.
Fujin didn't seem to care whether or not Seifer spoke to her. She was still upset about what had happened the previous day.
*
It didn't take long before Fujin and her partner arrived at the town of Balamb. Casually, both SeeDs walked into the hotel and booked two separate rooms, since Fujin insisted it in her monotone voice.
"Guess we'll check things out tomorrow," Seifer said, walking into his room.
Fujin just nodded and unlocked the door to her room. With a hurried "see you," she slammed the door in her partner's face, locking it quickly. Closing her eyes, she leaned against the door, her breathing becoming ragged. The 30-minute walk to Balamb had exhausted her greatly, although she did not show her exhaustion until now.
After a few minutes of difficult breathing, Fujin's face twisted in pain as she clutched her chest. Beads of sweat began to pour down on her face as her heart began to pound loudly. She began to feel lightheaded as she sank onto the floor, her heart hurting in excruciating pain. The roaring in her ears was unbearable at the moment.
Groaning silently in pain, Fujin grabbed her bottle of pills and placed several in her mouth, swallowing straight away, even without water. Immediately after the pills had been swallowed, Fujin's heart stopped aching, and she fell instantly to sleep.
*
From a distance, watching the sun set silently, Seifer sighed. He wore a small puzzled look on his face as he continued to ponder the strange pill Raijin had found in Fujin's room. Obviously, the pill was in the room for a reason, and Seifer wanted to know why.
"There you are."
Losing his train of thought, Seifer quickly whirled around to find Rinoa standing behind him, a smile on her face.
"I've been looking all over for you. Where have you been all day?" Rinoa asked, approaching Seifer slowly.
For a moment Seifer remained silent, slightly irked that he had been interrupted from his thinking. With a shrug he replied, "Somewhere."
As if sensing hostility in Seifer's tone, Rinoa took a step back. "What's with the cold shoulder all of a sudden? Am I bothering you with anything?"
Seifer was tempted to growl and say "yes." But he didn't want to give Rinoa the impression that he had grown bored with her. In truth, he had grown bored of her. Ever since the night Fujin had been kidnapped Seifer had lost interest in Rinoa. "…No…." he said quietly. "You're not."
At this, Rinoa gave what sounded like a relieved sigh. "I'm glad." She gave Seifer another smile, which would have made Fujin's stomach heave if she were there to see it. "Say, now that I've found you, why don't we go out somewhere?"
Sighing softly, Seifer stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Whatever you want…"
*
"Hey…Hey…"
Fujin felt a force shake her gently from her slumber. With a small groan, she opened her crimson eye and was greeted by a handsome face. For a moment, she remained where she was, staring up at the face dreamily. But then, she quickly snapped out of her reverie as she realized that she had been staring at Seifer like some love stricken girl.
Crap! Crap!
With a jolt, Fujin forced herself to sit up on the bed, ignoring her screaming muscles. Trying her best not to look pained or tired, Fujin shot a glare at Seifer. "WHAT?"
"It's twelve o'clock in the afternoon. I just thought it would be time for you to wake up," Seifer replied with a shrug.
Damn, you Almasy! How the hell did you get in here?!?! she thought in her head quietly. She was about to snap scornfully at the handsome blonde before she gritted her teeth shut, forcing herself not to speak.
Seifer studied Fujin carefully. He noticed that there were dark circles under her eyes, and her face was growing paler than before. Yet, not wanting to upset his partner, Seifer kept the observation to himself. "Let me know when you're ready to start investigating. I'll be at the lobby," he finally said, before walking out of the room and closing the door behind him.
With a sigh of relief, Fujin sank back into bed, her crimson eyes staring up at the milky white ceiling. She wished she was able to go back to sleep again, but she knew she couldn't. Seifer would be wondering where she went, and then he would start interrogating her and asking questions. She didn't want such a thing to happen. Especially if he discovered what had happened nine years ago…
Fujin's eye slowly began to droop heavily, beckoning her for rest. Her muscles groaned for comfort as well.
"NO!" Fujin growled to herself, jerking upwards from her bed. Angrily, she rolled off her bed unceremoniously and hastily dressed in her usual attires. Headache or no headache, Fujin was not about to act weak, even to herself.
*
"WHY HERE?" Fujin asked Seifer as she found herself strolling the alleyway of Balamb.
"I'd like to avoid the crowd as much as possible. Besides, it's better if we investigate here first. Alleyways are always places for trouble," Seifer replied, keeping a sharp eye out for anything suspicious.
Fujin nodded quietly, scanning the area with her one crimson eye. The task was harder said than done, for her silver bangs were in her way. Fujin had made sure that her bangs had covered almost half her face, for she never found an eye patch to cover her blind eye.
As Fujin continued to follow Seifer as he pressed on deeper into the alleyway, she began to feel a pang of pain in her head. It had not been the first time she had experienced such ache, but often when she had been hurting, it had been when she was alone in her room. Never had she had to undergo such pain out in the open.
~God damn it! I should've asked Kadowaki for another bottle of pain killers,~ she thought quietly to herself, fighting to urge not to collapse onto the ground. No way was she about to act as some weakling, especially in front of Seifer.
Seifer glanced back a Fujin, noticing that her pace had slowed down slightly. Studying her carefully, he noticed that she had grown paler and her hands were clenched tightly into balls of fist. "You alright there?" he asked, watching the fists tremble slightly.
Immediately at the sound of Seifer's voice, Fujin looked up and nodded. Quickly, she hid her balled fists behind her back and quickened her pace, despite her groaning muscles. It was hard trying to convince Seifer that she was perfectly fine, but Fujin persisted ahead, not bothering to look back at her partner. Yet, despite her efforts not to suspect him of knowing her little secret, Fujin felt Seifer's gaze burning from behind her. It made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on edge.
Not wanting to trouble the pale Fujin, Seifer remained silent, although his eyes stared intently at his partner. He knew Fujin was hiding something, but he refused to ask her, in fear of angering her.
For a long moment there was silence. The two partners remained deathly silent as they both scanned the alleyways, searching for any signs, clues, or nearby gang mischief.
Finally, at the corner of Fujin's eye, a swift movement rushed by from the tops of the roof. "THERE!" she said, pointing towards the roof.
Seifer followed the area where Fujin had been pointing to and swore. Quickly, he took off; trying to find an area he would be able to climb on. Spotting a large crate, Seifer leaped on top of it and jumped on top of the roof. Forgetting about Fujin for the moment, Seifer pursued a cloaked figure running off towards another roof.
Fujin watched for a moment and shook her head. She was in no condition to leap from roof to roof. Instead, she made her way through the maze-like alleyways, guessing where the cloaked figure might end up. Hastily, despite her screaming joints, Fujin ran as fast as the wind, listening carefully for the sounds of running on the roof. Hopefully, she would be capable of beating the figure to his or her destination.
With inhuman speed, Fujin found herself facing a dead-end. ~What the?!~ she thought in her head, recalling that she had heard the footsteps lead towards the dead-end. Gasping for breath, she quickly realized that she had outrun the figure, for the cloaked stranger soon emerged from the roof and landed gracefully on the ground.
"TRAPPED!" Fujin said in her monotone voice.
The figure swirled around and found Fujin blocking the only way out of the alley. "Get out of my way, little girl!"
Fujin narrowed her eye dangerously. With one hand behind her back, she retrieved a small shuriken hidden in her sleeve. ~Make one move, and you're dead.~
The figure made a step forward, pulling out a gun. "Get out of my way, bitch!" the figure snarled angrily, pointing the gun at Fujin's temple.
The crimson-eyed SeeD remained where she was, retrieving another small shuriken from her sleeve. Although she had not brought her giant shuriken with her, Fujin had managed to bring her smaller ones, just in case something happened.
Without warning, the figure pulled on the trigger, sending a bullet zooming through the air.
In a split second, Fujin threw three small shurikens from her hand. Surprisingly, one shuriken sliced through the bullet, stopping it before it hit Fujin. Another ended up pinning the figure's hand holding the gun against the concrete wall. The last shuriken, which Fujin was careful not to aim at the neck, struck the figure's shoulder, digging deeply into the figure's flesh and pinning itself against the wall.
Crying in severe pain, the figure struggled uselessly from the sharp shurikens that dug deeply into his or her flesh. "You bitch! You'll pay for this!"
In spite of herself, Fujin grinned coldly, the corner of her lip curving into a cruel smile. "FAREWELL," she said in her monotone voice, lifting another sharp shuriken in her hand.
"Wait!"
Fujin looked up at the roof and spotted Seifer leaping towards her. As he landed, she noticed one hand clutching a wound on his shoulder.
Seifer held Hyperion out at the pinned figure, his breathing coming in large, slow gasps. "Stay where you are. Don't even think of moving," he snarled mercilessly.
~About time,~ Fujin thought, withdrawing her miniature shuriken. She backed away silently, allowing Seifer more room to move.
"Move it!" Seifer ordered, grabbing the criminal roughly. He ignored the loud cry the criminal made when his flesh was torn from Fujin's shuriken. "Oh shut up," Seifer growled mercilessly, kicking the man forward as he pointed Hyperion behind the man's back.
Fujin followed quietly, her arm itching to toss her shuriken into the man's chest. She had no problem killing, as long as the killing was worth her time. After all, she had been one of the youngest mercenaries before she was brought to Balamb Garden. Of course, she was not about to let Seifer know about that.
*
Fujin entered her room, worn from the day's work and aching all over. Weakly, she staggered over to her bed and stumbled tiresomely under her blanket. Her heart was pounding so hard and her head felt as if it were about to explode, that she forgot to lock the door to her room.
Giving sharp intakes of air, Fujin tried not to groan from the pain. Her lungs were beginning to fail her once again, and the roar of her pounding chest deafened her so. The world around her was spinning quickly, and she clutched tightly onto her bed sheets, worried of falling into the madness.
With great difficulty, Fujin shut her eye and groped blindly in her drawer for the bottle of pills she had stashed inside. For a long moment her hand reached out blindly, almost frantic, as she soon discovered that the bottle was no longer in its original place.
"What the hell do you need these for?"
Fujin's hand dropped limply to the edge of the bed and she struggled to sit up, panting for breath. She stared out at the open doorway, clutching her chest tightly as it grew more difficult for her to breathe. "You…have…no right…"