"W-what did you just call me?" big brother asked frostily, his features a mask off arrogance."You"re an idiot!" I countered without giving it a thought. I was still shocked and my mouth just uttered what my brain fed it. "You"re an idiot for telling me to calm down because those bandits are now dead!"
"Are you one of them?" his eyes narrowed suspiciously. "You look somewhat familiar, I think I"ve seen you in one of the bounty boards in town!"
"Of course not! Do I look like a kidnapper!?" I felt extremely offended, I almost wanted to slap him. The only thing, no.. The only things, that were stopping me were his swords.
"Your clothes look," he gave my body a once over, "Unique." Coming from his mouth, the word was an insult. "Where are you from?"
First he accused me of being a criminal, now he"s mocking my fashion sense. I gnashed my teeth. "For your information, this is what"s in! I bought these clothes especially for this trip and they cost me a tiny fortune!"
"Pfft! You must be very poor to afford something so ugly. Women who show this much skin belong to a brothel! Do you not get enough customers? Tell me where your shop is located, I"ll tell my friends about it and refer you to them."
"Oh my G.o.d! You"re unbelievable!" I felt my face redden, I was beyond angry now. I grabbed my walking stick and smacked him in the head with it!
"Did you just hit me!?" from the look on his face, big brother intended to strangle me. Before he could do so, a small hand stopped him.
"Nii-chan, no! Don"t hurt big sister!"
"I"m not done with you yet, woman!" his voice was low but it carried venom. He let go of me to talk to his sister. "Yuki-chan, are you alright? Did those bad guys hurt you?" in contrast to how he just spoke to me, he was caring and gentle to the little girl.
"Mmm! Nee-chan helped Yuki-chan escape and even cleaned her up using those wet things!" Yuki pointed at the discarded wet tissues on the ground. "Nee-chan, where can Yuki-chan buy those? Yuki-chan loves them, they felt nice on Yuki-chan"s skin earlier!" the little girl tugged at my skirt.
Because I almost blew my top, I was trembling in anger. I shakily sat on the ground, took calming breaths, and patted my chest to calm my raging heart. Sensing that I wasn"t in the right condition to reply, Yuki turned her attention back to her brother. They continued to talk while I struggled to regain my composure.
"It"s getting late and Kaname-sama will be back soon. Yuki-chan, you must not tell him about what happened today.. Otherwise, your onii-chan will lose his head!" big brother sounded nervous as he uttered his last sentence.
"But nii-chan saved Yuki from the baddies!"
"I did, right?" the idiot sounded pleased with himself. "Was nii-chan awesome?"
"Very awesome!"
The guy sighed. "I wish I could tell everyone about today but we must keep this a secret. If everyone at home asks where we were, tell them we, uhh.. We went fishing! We went fishing, okay?"
"Fishing in the pine forest? That"s new," a man suddenly emerged from the bushes, making all three of us jump.
"K-kaname-sama[1]!" big brother immediately went to his knees and bowed down to the newcomer.
"Teaching your imouto[2] to lie just to avoid getting in trouble. Shouta, you"ve just made a new personal best."
My lips twitched as big brother, whose name was apparently Shouta, deepened his bow. "Serves you right for being so arrogant earlier!" I sneered inwardly.
"I.. I was just.."
"Save your explanation for later. It"s late, little Yuki is dressed so thinly. If we stay longer, she might catch a cold. Take those men"s horses and bring them with us. They are now our property," Kaname ordered.
"As you wish," Shouta stood and was about to go back to where the corpses and their mounts were when he remembered something. "Kaname-sama, what about this woman?" he pointed at me.
I gave Shouta an evil glare before looking at what I a.s.sumed was his revered master..
The man named Kaname was riding a black horse that exuded the same kingly aura as he did. He was wearing an eye patch which covered his left eye, the bridge of his nose down to his jaw was hidden by some sort of black cloth. Despite these, I could tell that he was torn between mirth and murder. He was not pleased with what happened earlier.
My eyes continued to drink in the beautiful pair before me. Kaname"s long, black hair looked silky smooth, similar to his stallion"s mane. His hands that were holding the equine"s reins were tanned and veiny, indicating that he was accustomed to hard work. The same could be said for the horse"s legs, they were strong and muscular. They both looked perfect, the rider and the mount. I wished I had my camera with me to snap a photo.
When I realized I was rudely staring at him and that he was returning my gaze with the same intensity, I flushed. Subconsciously, I tucked my hair behind my ear and smiled at him meekly. I even managed to give him a little wave with my fingers.
"We"re bringing her with us," came Kaname"s reply.
"What!? Kaname-sama, I beg you to reconsider! What is she"s one of them?" he motioned at the dead men.
"If she was, she wouldn"t have saved Yuki."
"But—"
"If she is, then it"s best we don"t leave her lest she informs others of what happened here. Besides, we can punish her if she proves to be their fourth member," Kaname said with finality.
I involuntarily shivered at the last sentence.
Seeing the sense in his master"s words, Shouta did as he was told. He then whistled and a fifth horse came galloping towards us.
"Daikiiiii[3]!" Yuki giggled as the chestnut colored horse nuzzled her hair with its nose.
Shouta expertly tied the bandits" horses" reins to a rope then tied the rope to his own horse"s saddle. He then lifted his little sister and sat her on the saddle before joining her. "You can ride either of the three horses," he told me stiffly.
I absentmindedly chewed on my lip. "But I haven"t ridden a horse yet," I looked down at my hands as I wrung them in embarra.s.sment. The one in my dream didn"t count although it felt so real. "So I don"t know how to get on one."
"You don"t know how to ride a horse?" Shouta started to laugh. "What are you, the crown prin—"
Before he could finish, Kaname got off his stallion, grabbed me by the waist, and lifted me to his horse. "Hold on to me, be careful not to fall."
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[1] Sama is a more respectful version for people of a higher rank than oneself … and sometimes toward people one greatly admires. (Source: Wikipedia)
[2] Younger sister
[3] From j.a.panese 大 (dai) "large, great" combined with 輝 (ki) "radiance", 樹 (ki) "tree" or 貴 (ki) "valuable, n.o.ble". (Source: whatisthemeaningofname.com)