Disclaimer: I only own a piece of Dunkin Donut and I just ate it so I don't own anything as of the moment. I'll let you know if I buy another DD :p
Hello, this is the same c1 of SWMA posted in my main account. So if you're an old reader/follower then you've already read this. I know, I know it's been ages...that's why I'm so overjoyed when my friend wunderwolfer agreed to continue this story with me.
Anyway, old reader or not, please kindly support this fic. It would mean a dozen pieces of choco muffin to me if you R&R. (That's saying something 'cos I absolutely love choco muffins haha)
Enjoy!
So We Meet Again
This is a story when a woman meets a woman.
No, not the kind wherein they meet for the first time and they fell in love straight away.
Ugh.
No, not that cheesy.
It's something more realistic.
Something like this...
...
..
.
It was the 21st of January when Clark Cruise Enterprise headed its way towards the vast ocean. Its destination—Greece, the land of the gods people would say. It is the paradise and dream land for many, but for one Shizuru Fujino, it's the place where she'll meet her fiancé, Reito Kanzaki.
The Fujino and Kanzaki family are both filthy rich and influential in the trading industry. No one who makes a fortune out of the sea, air and/or land could have possibly miss the news that two lovely heirs of these great empires will wed in the city of the gods very soon.
Of course, more than a dozen blokes and lasses' hearts were broken because of this news for the couple are not only filthy rich and influential; they are also damn well charming and beautiful people. And who wouldn't weep when they found out that they couldn't possibly get a hand of those deep pockets or heavenly bodies, once the two tied the knot in March.
When the twenty-five-year-old heiress inquired her fiancé why do they have to go separate ways going to Greece when they could afford a private jet, his handsome soon-to-be other half earnestly replied, "Because my beautiful darling, I am off to Greece ahead of you to personally prepare some surprises for our wedding. You should enjoy this trip and before you know it, you'll be in my arms once again and we'll never be apart ever."
Reito knew how much Shizuru hates the word surprise or anything related to it, so in hushed tones he supplied, "I know how much you hate surprises, but I assure you...You will L-O-V-E this one."
With hesitation, Shizuru was forced to believe in her future husband and so with a dozen luggages under her name, she stepped on the most expensive cruise ship on Earth.
Not too far away from the glamorous entrance of the cruise, is a bee-line for workers and low-class passengers who can get in the cruise for more than half what the esteemed guests paid for. One of the applying workers is a tomboyish lass named Natsuki Kuga.
"So what can you do, champ?" A man fitted with a crappy vest asked a dark-haired woman suited in an equally crappy vest. She wanted to remove it but thought otherwise as it may send the wrong message to her possible employer.
"I can do all sorts, man. But mainly, I'm a mechanic." She said confidently. Natsuki was not lying for she was under tutelage of a crippled old man who used to be a great mechanic during World War II, or so the man said to Natsuki.
"Is that really?" A doubtful reply was said as the bulky man kept on chewing his cheap gum for roughly two hours.
"Yes, sir."
He eyed the woman one more time and saw muscles covered in those overalls and thought that maybe she was telling the truth. Then he decided that he could get laid if she cannot do what she preached so he said, "Alright then. Sign on this form and this one as well."
After several papers were properly done, he waved his hand and another man came through from the shadows. The recruiter whispered to the newly arrived man, and the latter ushered Natsuki away from the bee-line and onto a deserted hallway.
"Okay, get your bags and you're coming with me."
Natsuki followed him with heightened alert. Who knows where could he possibly be leading her into? But not a minute later, they've reached onto a wooden door which led to a somewhat sturdy looking ladder. Natsuki thought that maybe it will lead to the backdoor of the cruise or something. What she saw next was a warehouse filled with merchandises, barrels, boxes, and all sorts of items.
The man grunted without looking at her, "You can look but you cannot touch."
Of course, Natsuki thought of actually touching them at some point, but now that she was commanded not to...she wants to touch it even more.
'How stupid can they be? If a child was asked by his parents not to play with fire, what do you think he'd do? It's a no brainer. He'd definitely play with it the second he got the chance to. Bah! No brainer these fools are. 'Course I'm not that kind of juvenile to do more than just touching. I'm here to work, and not to get in jail.'
"Here you go." The man jerked his thumb towards a large cabin with several wooden double-deck beds. "This will be your room for a month or so with some recruits. You'll be informed of your work schedule once everything else is situated. Find yourself a bed, sleep early, and tomorrow be sure to get off your ass early morn'. Got it?"
A nod was Natsuki's only reply. Then she found the most secluded part of the cabin and dumped her body off to sleep.
"Madam, is everything to your liking?" A man too charming for a courier asked the heiress. Not that anyone could blame him. He's only doing what he was tasked to do—please Shizuru Fujino or else you'll find yourself afloat in the morning.
"Yes, it is. I will call upon you when I need something else." She said as she continues to survey the lavishly decorated room.
"Much obliged, Madam."
Shizuru let the man close the door, and she instinctively locked it before producing a much needed yawn. She was exhausted from all the fuss her parents, relatives, friends and even helpers have made when she was on her way to the port.
'They made it sound that I'm not going back for good. All those endless cries and goodbyes were draining! I don't need their good lucks and take cares as I know I'm going to be safe in this trip. What could possibly go wrong?'
The suite she's staying in has a master bedroom, a living room with a balcony, and a large bathroom with marble bath tub. It is the most sought after room in the cruise and the owner of the ship didn't hesitate to give it to Shizuru once he heard that she'll aboard his ship. He made sure that all are according to the heiress' liking.
"Yes, this is exactly what I need." Shizuru divested her expensive clothing and she stepped onto a ready-made tea bubble bath.
A little more than eight hours have passed since they've departed the port; the moon was already positioned high in the sky accompanied by several stars, when a startling cry from the watch tower was heard.
"Cap! I think we have a problem!" The sailor shrieked like a little girl, but nobody heard this except for the Captain of the cruise, because everyone was already asleep.
"What do you mean problem, Tom? It's past midnight and I have no time to hear one of your lame jokes." A grumpy reply by the five-star Captain.
Before he could explain, a blinker notifying an incoming radio transmission from below deck trespassed the room.
"Hold on," he sternly commanded his panicky staff before lifting the radio receiver. "What? Don't tell me you also have a disaster to report?" He snarled on the radio.
"Ah...Actually Captain, there's a tiny bit of a problem in here." Was the nervous reply.
By this time, the Captain already crushed his favorite cigar and demanded the two to explain the situation. After learning of the situation, he turned on the evacuation alarm switch.
Alarm began blaring around the cruise. Women, men, children were awaken by the siren. Everyone was roused from their sleep and asked to board the escape boats calmly.
"Where are you taking us?"
"What on Earth has happened?"
"Do you know who I am?"
Was the collective questions of the angry personalities coming from different prestigious families.
"Sir, we have come into knowledge that a storm is headed in our direction—"
"Then go to another direction!" A robust man in his robe exclaimed.
The steward tried to explain, "Sir, there's a difficulty in the cruise's engine and it seems we cannot evade the storm as of the moment."
There were a dozen of gasps and oh-no's in the background.
"As of the moment you say?" The same robust gent inquired with controlled anger. "Let me tell you, kid, that as of the moment you and your boss' ass are safe. After we land safely, which you should better hope we do, the next thing you'll worry about is not a storm but a god damn lawsuit! You hear me? You'll eat trash for the rest of your days!"
"Dad, calm down!"
"Sir—"
"Don't go near me!" The man said infuriatingly, then suddenly he clutched on his heart and fell on the ground, clearly in pain.
"Dad!"
"Sir!"
Then there's chaos.
"Everyone get up! Pack only your necessary belongings, nothing too big or too heavy and let's go. We're leaving the ship in five and don't ask any questions."
Natsuki was awaken by this sentence. By the time she was fully awake, more than half of cabins' occupants have already fled to the exits. Sensing the gravity of the situation, she quickly gathered her few important stuff—mostly her tools—and ran to the nearest exits. She was blocked by the bodies of other dozens passengers who wish to get out.
Panic is all over the cruise. And Natsuki, not knowing what exactly had happened felt fear more than panic, but she tried to dismiss it as she's determined in finding an exit. She went in another way and luckily she found an exit wherein she saw an escape boat, clearly ready for departure. She hopped onto the vessel then she released a sigh of relief. She turned around and saw that the passengers were looking at her like she's a disease.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
A man beside her coughed in an obvious manner and in whisper he explained, "Mam, this boat cannot handle one more passenger."
Dawning what the man and the rest of the passengers were asking of her, she exploded, "What the fuck! Are you all kidding me? Are you saying I should get off the boat?"
The silence answered Natsuki.
"Fucking wankers...life...and all of you!" She shouted with venom.
"Mom! She's cursing!" A scared little girl cried in her mother's bosom.
Natsuki felt guilty then she thought of her situation. She looked back at the cruise and saw that every escape boats were already packed with passengers and away from the exit she came from. Meaning, this boat which she is currently in, whose passengers are asking her to leave, is the only one left for her to escape with.
"Then at least tell me why we're evacuating the damn ship!" The girl cried further so she said, "I meant, THE SHIP!"
"Miss, there's a storm coming and the sailors said the ship cannot avoid it on time as something went wrong with the engine." A guilty man narrated in detail.
"Then why not fix it?" She tried again.
"Because—"
"Then why don't you fix it? You're a mechanic from the below deck, am I right?" A pompous middle-aged woman pointed at Natsuki's various tools, which are safely tucked in her belt.
The others chimed, "Yeah! Go on! Do your job! You didn't even pay for this cruise. Go!"
Knowing it's a lost cause, Natsuki didn't have a choice but to stepped off the boat and uttered the plain truth, "I cannot believe that there are people like you who'd ask a person to sacrifice themselves to save your fancy butts. Shameless pigs!"
"Madam!"
"Madam!"
The courier of Shizuru earlier knocked on her suite for about a minute and still he didn't receive nor hear any sort of reply. A superior of his came to his side and brutally smacked his head.
"What the hell are you waiting for? Use your damn keys!"
"But, sir! She's Shizuru Fujino, it's inappropriate to—"
He received another smack on his head, "What the hell are you blabbing about? We're in an emergency! We need to get her out of there, whether she's sleeping, undressed or what not!"
The courier's face changed its color into red when he heard the word 'undressed', his superior who does not fancy ladies since birth, gave him a glare. "Oi, do your job! Open the damn door and save the lady! Or have you forgotten what the boss told you to do?"
'Please Shizuru Fujino or else you'll find yourself afloat in the morning.'Is what he said, does it include keeping her safe?'
"Oi! Stop thinking and I said, do your job! We're leaving in two minutes and if you're not with the lady Fujino in the allotted time, then don't bother coming. Do yourself a favor and jump onto the ocean." His superior left before he could manage to make a protest.
With haste, he opened the door without knocking and quickly looked around the room. He noticed that the room in the bathroom is locked with orchestra music blaring in the background.
'Maybe that's why she didn't hear the ruckus outside.'
"Madam!" He yelled. "I'm coming in ten seconds, please cover yourself!" He wished she wouldn't, but either way he needs to get her out or he's dead.
After ten seconds elapsed, he took his bundle of keys and looked for the correct key that will open the bathroom. Unfortunately, he forgot that he lent his key to the woman who prepared the bubble bath for the lady.
"Shit!" He muttered under his breath. "Come on now! Madam! Please open the door. We need to evacuate the ship immediately!"
Then he heard an engine started in a distance, he ran to the balcony and saw that the last escape boat his superior mentioned is already preparing to leave.
"Shit! Shit! Shit!" He shouted as he jumped from the balcony and into the water—either in the hopes of catching up to the boat or doing what he was told to do if he cannot save the heiress.
As the poor courier flails his extremities in the water for survival, his charge, Shizuru Fujino, is still sound asleep in her favorite bubble bath.
Yes, correct.
The tea one.