All of Dead or Alive© characters and story rights are reserved to Team Ninja.
Chapter 2: Encounters
"C'mon Kasumi! We can't stop!" Ryu called through the howling wind.
About a week ago, the boat that Kasumi and Ryu had snuck on had been caught in a nasty storm and shipwrecked them on the edge of North Korea very near the Manchurian Region border. It was simple enough for them to sneak away into China before any Koreans realized that they were there. Unfortunately, as they were crossing over the northern Chinese mountains, a blizzard hit with Ryu and Kasumi dead center of it.
"How much farther to the nearest town!?" Kasumi called back.
"I see lights up ahead not 5 miles from here! If we keep moving we'll be out of this storm in no time!"
Right. Kasumi nodded. She and Ryu kept trudging through the snow as she started catching glimpse of the lights there as well.
"Wow!" Hitomi cried in amazement, "You're dad owns this whole hot spring?!"
The two girls stood in the lobby of a fancy spa. The room was brightly lit with several chandeliers and servers bustled to and fro. Just by standing there one could feel the high class and imposing attitude the place held.
"Mmhmm. Ah! Uncle Wufong!" she waved at a gentlemanly middle aged man that was approaching them.
"Miss Leifang! How good it is to see our favorite customer once again. Ah and here's your pretty friend that you said you would be bringing, I'm happy to make you acquaintance, please call me Uncle Wufong…"
Leifang? It's couldn't be…
A tall built man with darkly tanned skin in one of the waiter uniforms cautiously turned his head at the mention of the name. His dark hair was spiked up and his eyes gazed intensely.
Damn! It is! He quickly turned back around, hoping to remain unnoticed. And Hitomi is with her. Maybe I can avoid them…
"Wait a second…" Leifang interrupted. She had caught a glimpse of a pair of eyes that she could never forget. That hairstyle…it's definite! "Is that you, Jann Lee?"
Damn! Jann Lee reluctantly spun around at the sound of his name facing a haughty looking Leifang, a confused Wufong, and a surprised Hitomi. He slightly bowed before them.
"Jann Lee! You work here?" Hitomi asked, clearly interested.
Unfortunately… He slightly nodded towards her.
"You three know each other?" asked Wufong.
Again, unfortunately…
"Oh we know each other alright…" Leifang grinned mischievously, "Uncle Wufong, I have a request to make…"
"Yes Miss Leifang. Anything for you."
"I want this server to be my specific and personal attendant for the whole course of our trip."
What?!
"As you wish ma'am," he replied nervously.
"But sir…" Jann Lee began.
Wufong quickly pulled him aside before he could say anymore and whispered harshly, "Listen! That is the daughter of the owner of this whole establishment and our MOST important customer. Whatever she says goes! You just happen to be the fortunate one that gets to wait on her every need this time. Don't screw this up or it's your job! Understand?"
Grudgingly, Jann Lee nodded affirmation as Wufong let go of him and immediately put on his mask of politeness.
"If you need anything else, please don't hesitate to ask," he said sweetly before heading off.
Jann Lee stood awkwardly, not sure of what to do next. Leifang just stood there amused, hands on her hips, waiting.
Great…now I hafta wait on little miss princess here.
"Ahem…what is you first order?" he asked uneasily as he bowed again.
"Well, you can start by carrying our bags to our room," she said.
"Very well…" he said as he picked up Leifang's bags.
"Ah ah aah, you forgot Hitomi's," she added.
Jann Lee looked at the pile of bags that laid next to him. His hands were already full and the bags he carried were pretty heavy.
"Leifang, shouldn't he just make two rounds, or at least get some help?" Hitomi asked sympathetically.
"Nah, it's a waste of time. Besides, we both know Jann Lee is strong enough to carry it by himself. Come on, I want to get to springs at least once before we go to bed."
What did I do to deserve this?...
Jann Lee grunted as he slung a couple of bags on his back and followed the girls to their room, which happened to be the last one down the hall. He dropped the bags on the floor of their room with a thud as he popped the kinks out of his shoulders.
"Hey! Careful with those bags!" chided Leifang.
"Anything else?" he asked, ignoring her protest.
"Yes, get us some towels and then escort us to the nearest private bath."
He bowed once more before leaving the room. Once Jann Lee left, Leifang started giggling over her success.
"Really Leifang," Hitomi said, "Why are you being so hard on him?"
"O come on Hitomi. It's just a bit of fun," she said taking off her clothes and concealing her self with a bathrobe.
"You're going to annoy him if you keep this up."
"So let him be annoyed. I could fire him any second if I wanted to."
"Now that's not nice."
"I don't care. He ruined my vacation to relax, so I'm going to make sure that he'll have an unpleasant time as well," she scoffed.
Although, as messed up as her reasoning sounded, Hitomi understood what Leifang was talking about. The reason why she had planned this vacation was to take a break from her training. Jann Lee being here would certainly put pressure on Leifang all over again.
"Just…don't go overboard alright?" she said, changing as well.
"Who? Me?" Leifang winked.
Jann Lee entered the room with towels in hand.
"What do you think your doing?!" Leifang shrieked.
He extended out his hand and simply said, "Towels…"
"Well I can see that! Haven't you heard of knocking? Sheesh, what would've happened if you had come in while we were still changing huh? You're lucky that Hitomi was able to put her bathrobe on in the nick of time."
"Sorry…," he bowed.
"Hmph, it better not happen again…"
"If you would follow me," he bowed, directing them out of the room. The two girls exited as he lead them across the lobby to the hot springs. Before they reached the door, Wufong came out.
"Jann, the hot springs have been sealed off," he said, "I'm terribly sorry ladies but on account that the snow storm outside is just getting worse and worse, we had to close the hot springs for tonight."
"Oh poo…" Liefang complained, "I was really looking forward to relaxing in them too…"
"If it would please you ma'am, I could set up a movie and a nice hot dinner for you two ladies instead," he offered.
"Very well. Jann, can you also prepare us some ho-"
Leifang was interrupted by the sudden opening of the lobby door. Wind howled and snow piled in as two half frozen figures trudged in. One was a girl with long red hair tied into a high ponytail. She was being supported by a large built man with auburn hair, also tied in a ponytail. Both were covered in black clothing but the material seemed too thin for a storm.
"Kasumi?!" Leifang cried in shock.
"Ryu!" Jann Lee realized.
The two looked up to see their old tournament competitors racing towards them.
"Leifang…Hitomi…I certainly wasn't expecting to see you guys here," she said weakly before passing out in Ryu's arms.
"Quickly," Ryu said to Jann Lee, "We've got to get her warm…"
A couple hours later, Kasumi awoke in a comfortable feeling. She was surrounded by something warm and soft. Slowly opening her eyes, she found herself in a bed, something she hasn't experienced in a long time.
"She's awake!" a familiar voice cried. It was female…
Hitomi! she realized when she remembered where she was. She slowly got up to see Leifang rushing to her along with Jann Lee and Ryu.
Oh my…what is this? Some sort of reunion?
"Are you ok Kasumi?" Leifang asked, concern was apparent on in her eyes.
"Mmm," she nodded, "Feeling much better."
She sighed a sigh of relief as Hitomi flashed a grateful smile. Ryu seemed to relax and Jann Lee loosened up.
"You gave us some fright back there," Hitomi said, "What were you guys thinking? Traveling in a snow storm."
"We were just passing over the mountain when the storm hit," Ryu replied. "We are trying to reach the capitol."
"You're going to stay here till the storm clears up that's what you're going to do," Leifang said defiantly, "You guys can stay here as my guests and once the storm lets up I'll get you guys the next tickets to Beijing."
"No," Kasumi said, "It's too expensive. I won't let you pay for me."
"But there's no way you guys can afford to stay here or get to Beijing by yourselves," Hitomi said.
"Then we won't stay, and we've been traveling by ourselves fine enough."
"Don't be foolish Kasumi," Ryu said, "You nearly died in the storm. You're in no position to go back out."
"See Kasumi? Listen to Ryu!" Leifang said.
"But I do agree with her, we won't put you in any position to pay for our actions."
"But it you start traveling by yourselves again on foot, you'll just run into more snowstorms," Hitomi protested, "there are many more mountains to cross and it's just the middle of winter season."
"Ahem…" Jann Lee interrupted the arguments. "May I suggest working?" Everyone stared confused as Jann continued, "Take up a job as servants here. You won't get pampered but at least you'll have a place to stay and food to eat. And once you have earned enough money, you can pay Leifang back for purchasing your plane tickets."
Ryu thought over it.
It sounds reasonable. It would satisfy both of these stubborn girls' wants.
"Jann! That's brilliant!" cried Hitomi as she clapped her hands together.
"It sounds good to me," Kasumi said as Ryu nodded in agreement. Everyone one turned to Leifang as she considered the option.
"Fine…but I now announce that both Ryu and Kasumi become our personal servers as well!"
"Leifang…" Jann said, "Even Wufong will have to put his foot down on that. Only 1 server per guest. This place is short handed as is."
"Fine then!" she said annoyed, "but Kasumi will at least be Hitomi's attendant then."
You could tell from her voice that she was at least determined to have that issue followed her way. Jann Lee nodded, not wanting to get involved into another argument.
"Follow me you two," he said to Ryu and Kasumi, "I'll get you your uniforms and on the payroll."
"Absolutely not!" shouted Wufong in irritation. "We can't hire some random person that just blows our way. This is a prestigious place of relaxation! We hafta interview our servers, we hafta…"
"Did I mention this was under Miss Leifang's orders?" Jann Lee said calmly.
Wufong froze in his words as he stared intensely at Jann Lee. Jann responded with no faltering in his resolve or confidence.
"Very well, get them signed up. But if I hear any complaints about them then they're outa here!" he said before storming off.
Kasumi smiled at Ryu in relief as Jann Lee nodded affirmation to them. "C'mon" he said. As the three walked into a room marked "Employees Only."
That was a close one… Hayate sighed in relief once he saw his sister conscious and walking. He lifted the newspaper up to cover up his face once Ryu turned around to look around the lobby before disappearing through a door. Heh…I swear Ryu, if you had let her die like that then I would've never forgiven you. Very smart though, to conceal yourselves as employees. Kasumi…I promise to make your death painless…it's the least I can do…
"Sorry to hafta make you wait sir," Wufong said politely, approaching Hayate with a warm smile, "Can I help you?"
"Why yes," he replied, "I was wondering if you can set me with a room."
well chapter 2 is up :D R&R
