4

(Written by smexysesshomaru)

"O~kay, where's my classroom?" Yui breathed, getting off the ground, stunned at her present location. Her face hurt from the impact of running into... something, but she ignored it. She looked around. This was not her school hallway. She was standing on a wide dirt path, which looked like the middle of a street. Hordes of people; old, young, even infants strapped to their parents backs; looked to be walking around wearing bland coloured yukatas, shopping. Men's heads were shaved bald with a tiny ponytail in the back, and women had their hair in ponytails and buns, just like the people did in old fashioned movies. The stalls they were visiting seemed almost vintage, everything looking centuries old, but almost as if they were just build yesterday. Flies circled the fresh fruit and meat, while the dirty hands of sales men called shoppers over to try some fried food.

Yui slapped herself softly on one cheek, and then as hard as she could on the other. Then she blinked. She was still here. She took a step backwards and jumped, thinking she would end up back at her school's entrance, but nothing happened. The people in the market still yammered on, talking loudly over one another. Some people had stopped and turned around to look at her. Probably surprised at her sudden appearance.

She stood, watching everybody for a moment. Then a wide grin split across her young looking face. Have I been... spirited away?

"Stop thief!"

She remained in her spot, watching people come and go, until someone from behind ran into her shoulder. She fell over, falling hard into the rough dirt path which was riddled in pebbles, and looked up, watching a child run at maximum speed away from her. He had an apple in his hand. A man, dressed in a grey yukata with thick white rags tied around his armpits, ran after him for a short distance. Then he turned back, walking towards his stall without even checking to see if she was okay.

Yui's grin burst into a full on smile as she got off the ground. She dusted herself off, pretending the fall did not hurt, and continued walking around. I knew this would happen some day! She thought. She gazed at the bland looking food in the stalls, ignoring the stares of the people looking down at her as she passed by. She was freaking out, yes. She had no idea where she was. But Yui was an otaku, with an a classic case of chuunibyou. That is, she believed she was special and had hidden magical powers like people in anime and manga. She mostly kept it to herself, after all, she had the embarrassing thought that she would one day become a magical girl, but right now she found herself glowing in the belief that she had just been spirited away.

Of course, that did not mean she was not freaking out: she had no idea what her mission was, or how she'd get back home. Plus, there was a little voice in her head telling her that maybe she was wrong, and that something else was going on, like she was in a coma or something, but she ignored that voice.

"Doesn't someone usually appear and tell me what I'm supposed to do here? Like a really hot guy or a cute little animal or something?" she mused out loud. She shrugged, silently hoping someone would appear and tell her what was going on. At least I don't have to write that test. This is an excellent excuse for not showing up! Not that anyone would believe me. See! I'm lucky, you stupid pendant.

She reached for her pocket to feel for the pendant, but her pocket was empty. Huh? She looked over to where she had initially gotten off the ground, but saw nothing. She frowned, trying to remember if she had dropped it anywhere else, maybe while she was running to school. Then she gasped. That thief! He might have taken it when he bumped into me!

She looked into the direction in which the thief had ran, and instantly realized she had no idea where he went. She did not even bother looking for him; she had no idea what he looked like.

Instead, she walked over to where that shop keeper he had stolen from was at. It had a short line of people and the food smelled delicious. She tried to read what the sign said, but it was in old fashioned Kanji and which she had no idea what it meant. Literature was not her strong point. She stood in line, behind a tall man who was rubbing the shoulders of the woman standing in front of him. He looked drunk, despite the fact that it was still morning. Loser, Yui thought. She wrinkled her nose, but remained in line. The drunk man caused no trouble, cheerfully talking to the storekeeper about his fishing business, and in no time she was right in front of the storekeeper who had been chasing the thief.

She glanced into the small wooden stall. All that was inside was the man, three pots of soup boiling under three low burning fires, and lots of fresh fruits in the back and on part of the counter.

"Would you like a big bowl of apple soup, or small?" The storekeeper asked. He barely even looked at her. She felt like she was in line for fast food based on the customer service.

"Mommy, look at her clothes!"

"Shhhh, don't look. You'll attract her attention."

Are they talking about me? Sure, people have been sneaking glances at me, but... they sound scared. They can't be talking about me, can they? She put on her best cute voice as she tried to look the shop keeper in the eye. He just kept looking down at his bowls of soup, seemingly avoiding looking at her. I'm not even half his height, he could totally look me in the eye if he just looked up a little more. How the hell did he even see that kid stealing?! Yui sighed inwardly, then asked, "Do you know who that kid you were chasing was? Or where he went?"

"Big soup, or small, little demon?"

Little demon?! Yui puffed up her cheeks, insulted. "Excuse me! I'm not a little demon, I'm a girl, and I'm asking you a-"

The storekeeper slammed his wooden ladle into the soup bowl and looked down at her, straight into her eyes. He was bald, but had a thick moustache over his upper lip. He glared at her, "Big soup? Or small soup? Hurry up."

Yui turned white in fear, and then quickly glanced around. Tons of eyes were on her. Angry. Her heart clenched as she gulped. Suddenly, her chuunibyou experience was nor as fun as she made it out to be, as she realized she was in a market full of strangers, not a friendly face to be seen anywhere. All of the sudden she desperately wanted to leave and take that test. She gulped.

"Small soup?" her voice came out small, squeaky.

He grabbed a small bowl and and quickly scooped out some of the soup with the wooden ladle he had thrown down moments before. As he forcefully past it to her, a bit of the soup sloshed out the side.

"That'll be three brass coins," he said, eye contact avoided once more as he placed the soup on the wooden counter.

Yui reached into her messenger bag, feeling around her still wet sweater for her wallet. Three brass coins? How much yen is that? She grabbed her wallet, reached in, and pulled out what she thought would be the correct amount. She dropped it in the mans hand.

He looked at it briefly, looked up at her, and then looked back down at the money, scowling murderously. "What is this?" He asked.

"1,000 yen in coins." Yui replied, nervously. Enough for restaurant quality soup. She tried batting her eyelashes again, in an attempt to look cute. She knew she was not getting the reaction she wanted.

Her heart missed a beat as Yui could almost see steam rising out of her ears in rage. His face was red. People were starting to crowd around them. Petrified, Yui did not understand what was going on, but continued to stare at the man, hoping he would let her leave without the soup. She could not even remember why she had approached him in the first place.

He glared down at her, face red, nostrils above moustache flaring, "This isn't money! You demons seem to think that just because Lord Ikeda wants us to interact with one another, you can do whatever you want!" He dropped the money Yui had given him onto the table spitefully, and then threw the soup onto the ground. He glared straight at her, right into her eyes. The force of his glare was over powering. Yui thought he was going to hit her.

Yui's eyes went wide, the blood completely drained from her face. She started rambling. "Okay, it's all good! Keep the money as a tip! I'm not even that hung-"

"You – you – you..." Yui stopped mid sentence as the man's face went pale, muttering incoherently. "Your eyes... they're purple... you... you're the one...!"

Huh!? No shit, they're purple contacts...

And then he screamed. "SHE HAS PURPLE EYES! SHE'S THE ONE! SHES THE KIDNAPPER!"

Yui's head snapped around. Everyone around her stopped. Everyone had their eyes on her. Everyone in the market. The old men eating dango, the young children holding their parents hands, the lovers standing arm in arm, the adults in their uncoloured yukatas. Everyone's head snapped towards her as if a loud explosion had taken place right in front of her face. Their faces held one of two expressions: fear or murderous anger.

Yui bolted before her brain could even begin to comprehend what was going on. She desperately cursed her luck as the people behind her began to yell:

"CAPTURE HER!"

"GIVE US BACK OUR DAUGHTERS!"

"KILL HER!"