Chapter three: A plan
"Time's up, I want an answer," Usui said
"W-what?"
"Are you going to join our group or not?"
Immediately, a river of thoughts flooded Misaki's mind.
Should we? Should we not? What's best for the group? Being here on this boat, I feel like we're betraying our families. Having the luxury of shelter and food, when they barely have one fricking dollar. Combined. That's right, we're traitors. Like my dad, who took all of our money and ran away with it, leaving us with a humongous debt. One of the reasons why I hate being indebted to someone. We could always steal the emergency boat and paddle away. Ha, like that's ever going to happen. We don't even know where we are. Oh, that's right, we're stuck on this stinking ship. So we only have two choices, become a pirate, or be a maid. We could have the time of our lives, without our families, and join their group. Or we could break apart what we call our pride into the tiniest pieces possible, stick to our values, and become maids. You know what? We're better than that. I should have said it from the beginning.
"So...are you? Are you not?"
"What are you talking about? Haven't we made it clear enough that we're going to join you guys?" Misaki said loudly
"S-so, you're going to..." Kuuga started
"REALLY MISAKI!? REALLY REALLY!? ARE YOU SERIOUS!?" Sakura squealed, and ran around the room screaming
"R-right right, I know," Misaki said, as she tried to calm Sakura down
"I don't understand, Hanazono-san, why do you like it so much?" Hinata asked. Misaki wiped the sweat off her forehead as Sakura started to quiet down.
"Well, these past ten years, we haven't done anything except steal and care for our families. We've spent these years, missing birthday parties, not being able to go to school and meet new people, we didn't even get to have a boyfriend! We've never really done anything that exciting," Sakura took a second to reminisce the past, "Now we don't have to do work, and just have fun with you guys," Sakura beamed. Misaki felt a smile form as she watched Sakura. For the first time in ten years, she was really, truly, happy.
Usui chuckled, "Then lets get you guys settled in."
"Wow! Can we really stay here?" Sakura twirled around in the room that was going to be theirs for the whole trip. It was dull, and barely finished. The wall paper peeled, to reveal the wooden structure of the room. It contained one small bed, and one big one. At the corner of the room was a large armoire that housed a family of spiders.
"It's not that much, but it's the only spare room we have," Usui said, scratching the back of his neck.
"It's a lot better than the run down house that our three families live in together," Sakura noted. Shizuko ran her hands along the walls, then the beds. Usui couldn't tell, but Sakura and Misaki both knew that she was smiling.
"Thank you so much, Usui-san," Misaki said, shyly
"Anything," Usui said, "No need to be so formal. Call me Takumi, everyone does," he added
"Why should I call you that!? I'll just call you...Usui," Misaki said, opening the doors to the closet, but immediately closed them.
Usui chuckled, "Have you thoroughly explored the room? You guys still have to adjust your uniforms,"
"Oh yeah, we've been wearing these clothes for three days already," Misaki said, smelling the sleeve of her shirt, disgusted by the results
"Then follow me, you guys know how to sew?" Usui asked, leading them out of the room
"Yes!" Sakura squealed, already thinking of how she should redesign the clothes
"Speak for yourself..." Misaki mumbled
"Oh, you can't do it?" Usui challenged, "That's not very feminine..."
"OF COURSE I CAN DO IT!"
"Then show me your clothes when you're done. Needles and thread are over here, scissors of there, extra fabric over in that shelf, and here are your uniforms. Happy sewing!" Usui said, as he waved his hand at them, while heading out the door. At the sound of the door slamming shut, Misaki collapsed onto one of the stools at the table.
"I'm screwed," Misaki whined
"Don't worry Misaki! We'll teach you everything we know!" Sakura said, taking a shirt and laying it down in front of Misaki, "Let's do this!"
Sakura and Shizuko had already finished their outfits. Sakura went to help Kuuga with dinner, and Shizuko went with Kanou, Hinata, and Yukimura to count the inventory. Misaki sat in front of the table, carefully finishing her clothes, stabbing her fingers with the needle every few minutes.
"Ouch! Ow!" Misaki screamed, and stomped her foot, the only part of her body that hasn't been injured. Excluding the top of her head. She jumped at the sound of the door creaking. This time stabbing her left palm.
"Yo, Misa-chan," Usui sauntered into the storage room, holding a roll of bandages, "Your friends told me you were having trouble with finishing you clothes,"
"I'M NOT HAVING TROUBLE!"
"Then why is your hand bleeding?" Usui walked over to her, getting a bandage ready
"It's not bleeding that much..." Misaki mumbled
"Give me your hand,"
"Why should I!"
"It'll stop the bleeding, and the needle won't get to your hand anymore,"
"When did I say that I got hurt from the needle! I-I fell! That's right I fell. I tripped over the...um..." Usui took Misaki's hand, and started to wrap it tightly with the cloth.
"W-wha..."
"I wouldn't want our precious Misa-chan getting hurt again,"
"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" Misaki face went red
"But I want to!" Usui whined, and leaned in closer towards Misaki
"Don't get so close!" Misaki went farther and farther away as Usui leaned in closer and closer
"But you like it," Usui teased
"No I don-!" Misaki screamed, listening to the sound of the stool colliding with the floor, and waited for the excruciating pain that she was about to feel. But it never came. Instead, a hand held her wrist, bringing her forward instead of backwards.
"You're a lot bolder than I thought, Ayuzawa," Usui said. Misaki's face went red. Usui was on the floor on his back, while Misaki was on top, her head on Usui's chest. Scratch that. Her whole body was on Usui's. Usui kept her close with his arm around her.
"Y-you, let go," Misaki stuttered, her face obviously burning like a raging fire. They both looked at the door, when they heard the sound of it creaking.
"S-sakura," Misaki stuttered
"Misaki! You're so young and you're already doing these kinds of things..." Sakura wiped a tear, "You're growing up..."
Kuuga, who was standing next to her, held his forehead with his hand, trying to hide his embarrassment. Although, his embarrassment couldn't even compare to Misaki's.
"I-it's not what it looks like! I-I was careless and fell on top on Usui, t-that's all," Misaki explained, as she struggled to get out of Usui's hold
"Is that why Takumi's hugging you..." Kuuga pointed out
"U-um... Look! I finished my outfit!" Misaki said, pointing to the table, trying to change the topic. Thankfully, Sakura ran squealing over to the table, picking up Misaki's finished product
"Wow, even if she don't have experience, Misaki can do anything," Sakura said. Misaki, who finally convinced Usui to let her go, stood up, next to Sakura.
"Yeah, it took me a bit of blood and sweat," Literally "but I finally finished it,"
"It's so cute! Try it on now!" Sakura shoved it into Misaki's hands
"Yeah, I'll turn around," Kuuga said, as he went out of the room
"B-but, Usui's still here..." Misaki said, hesitating
"Didn't you already do it?" Sakura said, confused
"NO WE DIDN'T!"
"Oh, then...Usui-san could you please get out of the room," Sakura said
"Yeah..." Usui said
"WHY DO YOU SOUND SO DISAPPOINTED, YOU PERVERT! GET OUT!"
When Misaki finished putting it on, Kuuga and Usui stepped back into the room.
"Don't you think Misaki looks pretty, Usui-san?" Sakura beamed
"That demon will never look good," Kuuga mumbled, and received a slap upside the head from Sakura
"I didn't know you guys were that close," Misaki murmured. Sakura glared at Misaki.
"S-so, what do you think, Usui-san?" Sakura quickly changed the topic
"Very pretty," Usui flashed a smile at Misaki, but she automatically ignored him.
She wore a long blue jacket, lined in white, over a sleeveless leather corset and white shorts. She also wore brown boots and thin black leggings.
"How the hell did you turn those raggedy uniforms into that..." Kuuga murmured.
The guy's outfits usually consisted of some kind of leather jacket and vest, paired with skinny or baggy pants.
"Well it was of course the master of fashion designing, Hanazono Sakura. I designed all of our clothes," Sakura twirled around, showing off her outfit.
She wore a cropped blazer-like brown leather jacket, a knee length white dress, lined with blue, and short leather boots.
"Right, right," Kuuga said waving his hand up and down
"Yeah," Misaki said. An awkward silence.
"S-so, why did you guys come here again?" Misaki said, trying to build a conversation
Kuuga clapped his hands in realization, "That's right, dinner is ready."
"Let's start with our first meeting. We'll explain the plan for the newcomers," Usui started, and rolled out a map of what seemed like the boundary of the Seika and Miyabigaoka seas.
"We first started at Maelivrin, in the Seikan territory. Along this border, there is a tiny island called Foka. An island so small and mysterious, that it won't be seen on a map, and is unknown to any human being, except for the ones who have figured out the secret of this very map," Usui started, but was interrupted by Kuuga's side comment,
"How we got it is another story," Usui glared at him, waiting for him to finish, then cleared his throat,
"and the native people of the island. There, we will scour out the island for this landmark," he points to an exceptionally tree whose roots are exposed, forming a long pathway between the roots, that are in the formation of an arch, in the corner of the huge map, "Somewhere in this pathway, underground, there is a secret cave, that leads to a city of treasures," Usui said, Sakura beaming
"It sounds so fun!" Sakura squealed, the room went silent
"It might sound like fun and games, but it's actually very dangerous. There could be bandits, other pirates, maybe some angry native Fokans," Kuuga explained
"You guys would have to go through endless nights of training, before we arrive, to guarantee your safety," Kanou added. Sakura sighed in despair
"That sounds like a lot of work," Sakura whined, and received a slap on the arm from Shizuko
"Do you want to be safe of not!?" Shizuko scolded, "Some things come with difficulty! Your whole life isn't going to be low-key and easy!" Sakura pouted
"That's fine, I'm willing to better my abilities," Misaki said, determined
"Better?" Hinata said, confused
"Problem?"
"A-ah...no," Kuuga snickered
"Anyways," Usui said, "Meeting adjourned. Sleep well, tomorrow is going to be a big day,"
End of the third chapter! Sigh, I really need to work on my writing skills.
Hope you liked this chapter!
And if you were wondering, I received my rightful grade on my test. There was nothing to it, I brought it up, and he looked it over, and changed it. Thank you all for your concern!
Thank you for your encouraging reviews, and thank you for reading! Love you all :D
Until next time!