She felt as if she had dreamt something.
It must have been a nightmare; otherwise, tears wouldn't be seeping from the corners of her eyes.
As Raiden Mei slowly regained consciousness, she instinctively tried to wipe her damp eyes with the back of her hand, only to find her hands and feet tightly bound.
Everything in her vision was also dim.
Not the dimness of a poorly lit environment after nightfall, but the kind of darkness caused by fabric covering her eyes, her vision completely obstructed.
Raiden Mei wanted to open her mouth to say something, but suddenly realized she couldn't; something like adhesive tape had sealed her lips.
Why was she tied up? Why were her eyes blindfolded? Why was her mouth taped shut?
This string of questions plunged Miss Mei, still not fully awake, into confusion.
Just as the bewildered Raiden Mei focused her attention, a dull ache throbbed in her neck.
Because the Far East prohibited the sale of alcohol to minors, Raiden Mei had no experience with hangovers.
But her current state couldn't help but remind her of others' descriptions of a hangover; her mind was shrouded in a thick fog, everything hazy and indistinct.
However, the fog was now slowly dissipating, and her memories sharpened with it.
After class, reading in the wisteria arbor in the school's back garden, then meeting Kiana and hearing news of the recent increase in Dead Ones. Afterwards, heading home alone, stopping by the roadside to buy some groceries.
Then, she encountered the young man who called himself Ashina Isshin.
That young man seemed to have come because of her father, trying to force her to go with him. She hadn't agreed, drawing her wooden sword to fight him...
And then, times changed.
Faced with the muzzle flash erupting from the dark, gaping barrel of a gun, the swordswoman's resistance was so feeble and powerless.
A scene from the movie The Last Samurai, starring Tom Cruise and Ken Watanabe, suddenly flashed through Raiden Mei's mind.
Saigo Takamori, a champion of the declining samurai class, led his mounted warriors in the Satsuma Rebellion, turning against the very government his former comrades had built.
The aged Saigo Takamori wore a solemn expression, and the samurai following him were all warriors of the first rank, fine young men.
They rode fine horses, wore ancestral armor, and wielded weapons polished to a chilling gleam that could unnerve the soul; each one of them seemed like a protagonist from an epic poem.
The samurai spirit they displayed in the film had deeply moved the still-young Mei.
At that time, Mei had always believed that these powerful samurai could create miracles.
And then... Saigo Takamori and his men were mowed down by machine guns.
The age of the samurai would ultimately scatter like cherry blossoms in the wind.
In the battle against the magus, Miss Mei had played the role of Saigo Takamori.
A samurai mercilessly crushed by the tides of changing times.
Having grown up and understood that samurai were no match for firearms, Miss Mei, finding that large, dark muzzle pressed against her face, had humiliatingly performed the classic French maneuver.
And then there was no "then." The next moment, she heard a thunderous roar inside her skull, her vision went black, and she knew nothing more.
Her memory ended there.
Thinking back now, she must have been knocked unconscious and then tied up.
Her vision dim, her hands and feet bound by ropes of unknown material but incredible toughness, the girl forced herself to calm down and analyze her current situation.
Occasionally, the sound of car horns reached her ears, and an uncomfortable jolting sensation came intermittently.
She felt she was in a moving car, curled up on the back seat, blindfolded with a black cloth, and her mouth taped shut.
Facing an unprecedented crisis, Miss Mei demonstrated extremely outstanding psychological fortitude, comprehensively analyzing her current predicament.
"Your girlfriend is a very cute girl."
Just as Miss Mei was pondering her situation, a voice that was clearly not young sounded from the driver's seat.
????
Miss Mei, feeling as if she had just heard some very gossipy news, found her train of thought abruptly derailed.
She occupied the entire back seat by herself. Could she be in a large vehicle?
Miss Raiden Mei's heart tightened. If it was a large vehicle, it meant there could be many enemies around her, drastically reducing her chances of finding an opportunity to escape.
"She certainly is a rather cute girl, isn't she."
A gentle and warm voice sounded from the front passenger seat. If one didn't consider what the speaker had done before, Mei would have thought the voice belonged to a good child.
"For love, having to leave the land where you grew up, eloping with your girlfriend to a strange place... it must be so hard for you, sir."
The driver, thus revealing himself to be a taxi driver, sighed with emotion.
"Her parents disapprove of your relationship, and to break you up, they're even trying to forcibly marry their daughter off to another woman."
"Honestly, I've been driving a taxi for so many years, and this is the first time I've heard of such outrageous parents."
????
What the hell is this? Elopement, forced marriage, leaving one's hometown, and even yuri... is this some kind of morning drama script mishmash?
Miss Mei, lying in the back seat, was thoroughly stunned by the story someone had casually fabricated.
But then again, if this was just a taxi, it should only have one row of back seats and one front passenger seat, right?
Raiden Mei, thoroughly stunned by the morning drama mishmash, thought to herself.
She was occupying the entire back seat. So, where was the female lead of this story?
Could she be sitting on the lap of that guy calling himself Ashina Isshin?
That can't be right. How could two adult-sized people squeeze into one seat?
If they sat like that, they'd definitely be stopped by traffic police on the roadside, right? The kidnapping would be exposed immediately, wouldn't it?
"I also thought about fleeing this city alone, then watching from a dark corner like a cockroach that can't bear the light of day as they walk down the aisle, wishing them happiness."
The voice of the young man calling himself Ashina Isshin carried a hint of bewilderment, as if he were genuinely facing pressure from her parents.
However, his tone quickly became resolute again.
"But, her belly's already big. I can't let my child call another woman 'Dad,' can I?"
"Th-then, that really is tough on you, sir."
Even the driver, who was under a magical suggestion and wouldn't doubt the magus's words, was considerably shaken by this statement.
"Not at all, it's all for my wife and child, after all."
The voice of the young man calling himself Ashina Isshin suddenly became much more cheerful.
However, that cheerful tone, rather than reflecting the warmth of protecting his family, sounded more like a twisted sense of humor being satisfied.
"Well then, sir, there's a motel up ahead. Would you and your wife like to get out, have something to eat, and rest a bit before continuing?"
"We've already left Nagazora City. I don't think Miss Mei's parents are likely to pursue us this far, right?"
"Mm, then let's rest for a bit."
Responding to the driver's suggestion, the young man stretched lazily and said.
"Let's hope Lord Ryoma will be merciful."
Miss Mei?! Lord Ryoma?!
Miss Mei, whose father's name was Raiden Ryoma, felt as if she had been struck by lightning.