Chapter 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 2

STRUGGLING to breathe, Yuki opened her eyes to a blurry world.

I’m…alive? Yuki’s eyes burned, forcing an absent awareness she was underwater. The instant her brain registered she was underwater she struggled to breathe. She desperately tried to swim to the surface, but the movement forced all the air from her body. Panicking further as her mind grew hazy—she struggled with her last bit of energy to reach the water’s surface.

Just when she thought she could stick her face out of the water, her body slowly sank. She frantically kicked her legs and swung her arms, but the surface only drifted farther away. She racked her hazy mind for what was weighing her down, when she realized how heavy the backpack she had on was, and quickly pulled it off. She untangled the parachute and removed it too. She was at her limit. She wanted to breathe so badly, she couldn’t think about anything else.

Her body lightened the instant the backpack and parachute came off. She swam straight for the surface. Her body’s natural impulse to suck in air caused her lungs to expand, sucking in water and pushing out what little oxygen was left. Yuki lost consciousness as her right hand finally breached the surface.

***

SOMEONE is smacking my cheeks. Is it already morning? Yuki thought, shaking her head. Her mother, Nobuko, always fooled around when waking her up. Yuki was just as often irritable after her mother woke her in such an annoying manner. She rolled over to escape the annoying hand.

“Mnn…”

“Don’t sleep,” said a deep voice.

She found it odd an unfamiliar voice was trying to wake her up. The voice continued to speak, “I thought you lost consciousness. I guess the joke’s on me because you’re just sleeping,” the voice mocked. Yuki opened her eyes to see a soaked young man sitting beside her.

Yuki didn’t scream as she quickly sat up and backed away.

“You’re awake now?” the young man asked curtly. “Is this your stuff?”

He held up her archery set. Yuki nodded.

“Ooh…so you can use a bow?” he must have checked inside the case.

A handsome young man with blond hair, almond-shaped blue eyes, and an aquiline nose was sitting in front of her. Yuki was astonished by how incredibly handsome the young man was, even as he squinted against the dazzlingly bright sunlight.

He looked like he was in his early twenties. She was further surprised by the plate armor and helmet scattered around him. It looked like the armor shown in Hollywood movies. She stared flabbergasted at the handsome blond man from where she sat on the ground.

“So do you care to tell me why you were drowning in a place like this? This area is off-limits to ordinary people—” he said, suspicion clouding his visage.

Their eyes suddenly met. He stared at her with such intensity she thought his eyes would burn a hole right through her. Her mind spun to catch up to the situation.

Where am I? Why am I here in the first place? Wait, wasn’t I pushed off our condo’s balcony? Hold on, was I drowning? And then this person saved me? Weird, how did he save me then? CPR? This guy who looks like a Hollywood Star gave me CPR?

No way that’s possible. But wait, why am I even here? Don’t tell me Mama and Papa went through the effort of making their joke so real they laid out a cushion or trampoline to catch me when I fell? And then they carried me here to further their joke after I lost consciousness? Is that what happened?

Yuki forced herself to accept her stretch of a conclusion over what happened; at least for the moment to push her confusion back enough to talk to the handsome man gaping at her.

“U-Um, where am I? We’re still somewhere in Japan, right?”

“Japan?” the handsome man frowned.

Handsome guys are handsome no matter what they do, Yuki thought, impressed by how he could still be handsome after scrunching his face.

“I’ve never heard of a place by that name. I don’t believe there’s anywhere by that name near or within Rvydom or Maruk, either.”

“…Huh?”

Japan doesn’t exist? This isn’t a continuation of my parents’ bad joke, is it? Yuki’s head started to spin. She took in her surroundings. She couldn’t deny that the vast expanse of breathtaking scenery was too real and large for a private set. If she was still in Tokyo, there would be buildings in the distance at least.

The handsome man nimbly put his armor back on and gently covered the stunned Yuki with his cloak.

“Come now, young lady. You are inviting a cold by remaining in those soaked clothes. I will have a change of clothes prepared for you, so come with me.”

“Huh? O-Oh, okay. Thank you very…much.”

She took his outstretched hand and followed him at a hurried gait.

***

APPARENTLY Yuki fell into a spring near a castle. The castle looked like one found in Europe, and certainly not anywhere in Japan. The architecture itself was entirely different from Japanese architecture.

The handsome man entered the front gates without slowing. The armored guards didn’t stop him. Yuki’s face was hidden by under his cloak, so she couldn’t see too well. Several people asked him who she was, to which he merely answered, “A guest,” and continued walking without further questioning.

Is he actually someone of a high rank? Everyone who spoke to the handsome man acted deferential, showing a level of courtesy beyond even Japan’s formality standards.

What if he’s something like a prince? Now wouldn’t that feel like I just stepped into a novel? Yuki laughed quietly to herself.

***

HOW long had he been pulling her by the hand for? They had passed a multitude of servants in odd clothing, guards decked out in armor, and that was just the people. Paintings of battles and foreign scenery, banners with odd designs, and architecture she had only ever seen in western buildings all fought for her attention as she peeked out of her cloak at what they were walking by.

By the time she realized how far they had traveled down the winding corridors, Yuki was led into a spacious room surrounded by several servants who silently moved to strip her clothing. She was so startled by their actions—especially when they started dressing her in a light-blue frilly dress—that she was left in an unresisting daze.

“You look splendid in this dress,” one of the servants praised, the rest nodding in satisfaction.

Yuki didn’t have long to consider the whole being stripped and dressed by strangers incident before someone knocked on the door. She turned around to see the handsome young man from earlier standing in the doorway.

“My, Prince Luca. Look at this lovely young lady. Is she not the most adorable little girl you have ever seen?” asked the oldest servant.

Prince…Luca? So he really was a Prince and someone of rank. Yuki hesitantly peered up at him. She fidgeted, as he silently looked her over. The maids filed out of the room, the oldest whispering something in Luca’s ear before she left.

Luca nodded as if confirming something before turning to Yuki, “I’m sorry, but I had the clothes you were wearing disposed of. They were soaked and oddly conspicuous. In return, I will supply you with as much clothing as you like.”

“Huh? Th-Thanks.” Embarrassed, Yuki cast down her eyes. He gently lifted her chin. Due to their height difference, Luca bent down so his face was closer to hers.

H-He lifted my chin! The man the servants called a prince just did something very prince-like by Yuki’s standards, causing her to panic and avert her eyes.

“…You are…”

“Please excuse me!”

The door burst open. The hand propping Yuki’s chin up quickly pulled away with the sound of the door. Shocked, she glanced toward the door where a slender young man with indigo blue hair and black eyes stood. His face was stiff.

“Prince Orga has summoned you. What exactly did you do this time around?”

Luca sighed. “Brother has sharper ears than I thought.”

The other young man spotted Yuki and glared at her. “What is with this child? Since when did you pick up such a profligate hobby?”

“Just now. It appears Brother has taken an interest in her too,” Luca answered nonchalantly.

The young man with indigo hair sighed at Yuki who was flustered over not having a clue about what was going on.

“Right, I haven’t asked for your name yet,” Luca said to Yuki with the finest smile.

Wow. Yuki was perplexed by the stunning smile she never imagined he could make after how curt he was when they first met.

“My name is Luca. And you are?”

“Y-Yuki.”

“Yuki, eh? What a strange name. Where is your home?” Luca crouched until his eyes were level with hers.

He’s treating me like a child, Yuki thought, but she was relieved by how friendly he treated her because of it.

“I don’t know where my home is. Before I knew it, I was where you found me.”

Beautiful blue eyes the color of the shallow coral oceans off Hawaii’s coast were gazing at Yuki.

Ah, these are the eyes of someone trying to determine whether I’m lying or not. It’s unpleasant he’s looking at me this way, but I guess it’s inevitable for him not to trust someone saying something that sounds made up. Yuki sighed internally.

“Prince Luca,” the other young man cautioned.

“I’ll go now.” Luca stood and offered his hand to Yuki. “Now then, shall we go meet a scary man?”

Clueless about everything, Yuki nodded—contemplating whether she just encountered someone with a split personality.