Chapter Three: The Price of Fame
Shuyin could not explain the feeling overcoming him the very moment he woke up the next day. At first he thought he was just hungry, or perhaps he needed to use the bathroom, but after trying to eat the only food he had in his dingy little apartment, and after trying to sit down on the toilet to do his business, he knew he had something else in mind. He just couldn't put his finger into it.
Coming out of the bathroom, he dropped down on his bed and stared at the ceiling. This was his extra curricular activity, besides Blitzball and probably moping around. Staring at the ceiling filled up a lot of his stagnant time.
After a moment's thought, he got up, got dressed and left his apartment. When he was walking down the now crowded streets of the city, it was only then did he realize his mistake; he forgot his hood. Now, in broad daylight, his blond hair and blue eyes and his oh so famous face as the great star player of the Zanarkand Abes was there for the whole female population to see.
It took only one girl to arouse the crowd. She took one look at him, did a double-take, then squealed like crazy. "SHUYIN!"
Shuyin looked around in worry, seeing every single girl within a hundred meters turn to him and scream his name. It all happened in slow motion. First, they were standing there, ogling him, the next they were running to him, ready to pounce.
It took him only a moment to get his reflexes working, hightailing so fast and barely missing a girl who tried to grab his shoulder. The reaction didn't seem to have dampened their vigor. Instead, they ran after him like a wild pack of chocobos.
In all honesty, he was scared silly. Now he knew why he never left in the day. It was just too dangerous. He continued to run, dodging objects and people alike who seemed to be just as frightened as he was to see a mob of adrenaline-shot women. He ran for a full ten minutes, until finally it was the end of the road for him. He found himself in a narrow alley between two buildings with a fence of wielded wire separating him from his only means of escape.
He turned to face the mob, slowly backing away to the fence, until he presses against it.
The girls were delighted to see he had nowhere else to go. They laughed in a way that sounded really menacing to Shuyin.
"Oh, don't go, Shuyin," said a blond girl in a tight miniskirt and what looked like six inch heels. Momentarily distracted, he wondered how in Spira she managed to run that fast that far and was able to be the first in line to get a piece of him. "Uh, I – uh – didn't go to the celebration."
His last words were drowned by more screaming. "Waaaaaah! He talked! He never talks and now he did!!!"
It was then did he realize that these girls were whacked. He tried to grab on to the fence, maybe climb over it. There was no way they could follow him over it with those high shoes. But the moment they saw him trying to escape, they let out their battle cry and charged.
Shuyin felt a girl grab his shirt and he ended up falling on his behind. They went in for the kill. Two girls threw themselves on his lap, completely disabling his legs. Another one attached herself to his neck, arms like crowbars. The others, who apparently were not happy for not getting the first dibs, settled with piling on top of him. What was worse was that all of them were screaming shrilly.
He had never been so overpowered in his life. He had experienced being tackled by five Blitzball players once. This was nothing like it at all. This is worse. The girl hugging hi neck, who he soon discovered as the same girl in the miniskirt and heels, turned his face towards hers. Yevon, she was ugly. "Gimme a kiss, Shuyin!" she yelled and bent down without waiting for a reply.
Shuyin tried to back away, but the pile of girls were impossible to shake off. He watched in horror as those lips hovered oh so close to his, puckering, then suddenly, the girl yawned.
Huh?
He felt the girl fall limply to his side. Alarmed, he looked around and saw all the girls one by one drop to the ground, obviously sound asleep.
The sudden silence was deafening, filled up by soft snoring of more that three dozen girls.
And only one girl was left standing. On the other side of the fence stood a girl with her long dark hair. She appeared to be doing a little jig. Shuyin stared in disbelief. Swallowing hard and panting, he called to her. "Lenne."
Lenne did a little twirl to end her dance and laughed her laugh Shuyin could remember from the last night's encounter. "Hi."
Shuyin gingerly pushed bodies from on top of him, not caring if they fell flat on their faces. He stood up and brushed hi bottom. When he looked up, Lenne was holding on to the fence with both hands, a small smile playing on her lips.
"What did you do?" Shuyin asked her, slowly making his way to her.
Lenne snickered. "A performer never tells her secrets. Are you okay?"
Shuyin rubbed his neck. He felt its muscles strain from trying to avoid the kiss. "I'm all right. Thank you." He stared down at her. She was about two hands shorter than he was, and now with the light, he discovered she has beautiful. A pale face with pink cheeks, grey eyes so deep one can drown in them, and hair so flowing it could easily be mistaken for silk.
"You're welcome. You're pretty popular, aren't you?"
Shuyin was embarrassed. "Not really."
At that, one girl groaned and murmured, "Shuyin, marry me please?"
Lenne burst out laughing. He must be wearing an annoyed expression because she was looking at hi with delight. "Oh, my. They really want you that badly."
"I wish you had gotten here earlier. They were a pain."
Lenne nodded soberly. "We should get out of here before they wake up." Then, with a flip of her wrist, she pushed open the door of the fence.
Shuyin's jaw dropped. "How did you...?"
Lenne's eyebrows climbed up her forehead. "What? Oh, you mean you didn't know? The fence was open all along."
"I didn't even know it had a door," Shuyin grumbled.
Lenne brushed it aside. "Oh, details. It doesn't matter." She held out her hand. "Let's go."
Shuyin blinked. "Huh?"
One of the girls groaned and shifted on the ground. Worry entered Lenne's voice. "They're not gonna sleep forever, Shuyin. Now let's go."
Shuyin looked from the sleeping girls Lenne. "But - "
Before he could continue his protest, a sea of men erupted from the alley behind Lenne, equally as noisy and probably just as eager as his pursuers.
Lenne gasped as she saw the mob of men in all shapes and sizes thundering towards them. "Oh, no..." she whispered hoarsely.
Shuyin could not believe that this was happening. He had a feeling this was going to be a long, long day. "Look out!" Instinctively, he grabbed Lenne by the waist and sprang into action, carrying her over his shoulder in a firemen's hold.
This angered the mob. They were obviously after Lenne.
"Shuyin! Faster!" Lenne shouted over to him, giggling.
She's actually enjoying this!
As he burst from behind the alley, he made a sharp left, causing Lenne's long hair whip him on the face. At that moment, his senses were filled by her presence. Her flat stomach was resting on his shoulder, his arm wrapped around her bare legs, and her arms around his neck. She smelled vaguely of wildflowers. He had never been this close to a girl before.
He felt Lenne pat him on the back. "You can do it, Shuyin. Just keep running. We're losing them."
"Easy for you to say!" he yelled over to her.
"Just keep running. I know a way to lose them."
Shuyin frowned. "Why are they chasing you anyway? Did you steal something?"
Lenne laughed. "No!"
"Then why?"
Lenne pulled at his hair. "You really don't know me?"
"What?"
She laughed more. "Well, I'm not the only one who isn't telling everything. You were being pursued yourself. Just keep moving. We're almost there."
Shuyin sighed but ran faster anyway.