Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Love Hina.
Pre-Read by: Zenapax
I Fell For You In San Francisco: Chinatown
Shinobu, eager to leave, quickly gets dressed in the bedroom. She put on a long-sleeve shirt that she just happened to pack for no reason and a knee-high skirt. Grabbing her purse, she steps foot into the living room, where she sees Keitaro on the couch, looking at the bus map while the TV is on.
"What are you doing Sempai?" He turns his head a little towards her.
"I'm just checking how to get to Chinatown with all these buses. I'm also trying to listen to the weather report on the TV so I know how cold it is and it's not working very well. I just end up watching more and checking the map less"
"Oh. You think I can watch the TV while you check the map?"
"That would be great." Shinobu takes her sit next to Keitaro. Within a few minutes, she gets the weather report but is kind of confuse while he almost figures out how to get there. "Sempai? How cold is 64 degrees Fahrenheit? I don't remember how to do the conversion." Keitaro puts down the map and thinks for a few seconds.
"The convention for Fahrenheit to Celsius is the Fahrenheit unit minus 32, then divided by 1.8. So it's 17.8 degrees right now."
"That's seems manageable. Got how to get there?"
"Yeah. It was easier than I thought. We just need to take the 2, 3 or 4 bus on the corner of Post Street and Laguna Street, get off at Grant Street and walk two blocks up Grant Street."
"That's all?"
"Yep."
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Shinobu grabs his wrist and pulls him off the couch, but tries to stand his ground.
"Wait!" Keitaro stands up with Shinobu still clinging onto his wrist. "Do you have your key to the hotel room and fast pass? I want to make sure that you have them both before leaving." She let's go of his wrist and opens her purse, pulling out both items.
"See? I'm prepared! How about you." She puts them back in her purse.
"I have them right..." Keitaro searches his fannypack and starts to sweat. "Uhhh. Where is it?" He ransacks the living room for it, but turns up empty. A bit tired, he hears Shinobu laughing. "What's so funny?"
"I'm sorry Sempai, but I took them last night while you were sleeping." She opens her purse and shows him two fast passes and two hotel keys, putting one of each back into her bag. "I want to play a joke on you and..." She stops talking as Keitaro looks enrages at her. Noticing she's about to cry, he stops making his angry face and grabs the items.
"Please don't do it again. I just want to have enough time for the both of us to have fun." Feeling better about the prank, they both head out the door.
They leave through the hotel's front door and start walking to the bus stop. It only takes a minute since the bus stop is half a block away. They wait a few minutes before the number two bus arrives. The whole ride takes about ten minutes before they get off on Grant Street and start waking. Once they reach the corner of Grant and Bush, they're taken back at the sight and beauty of the Dragon Gate. Before going through the gate, they take pictures of it. First by itself, then with one of them next to it.
During the walk, they are surprised by all the shops on the street. Mostly home furnishings and restaurants. The first place they go into is Fashion Bag and Gifts, a block and a half from the Dragon Gate. Inside, they see a lot of souvenirs of San Francisco like shirts, magnets, picture frames and snow globes. Other items they didn't except to see like ties, dishes, vases, luggage and cups. They were wondering why there were Chinese shoes until they went farther back to see a lot Chinese clothing. Mostly kung-fu suits and dresses. Keitaro tried one of the kung-fu suits out. It felt nice on his skin, since it was silk. Shinobu thought he looked cute when he stepped out, but also thought it was a pair of pajamas. After he finishes changing back into his clothes, she tried on one of the dresses. When she stepped out, Keitaro thought she was stunning in the dress, but didn't realize how short it was, going mid-thigh. Together, they purchase a few picture frames, magnets, a snow globe and a black kung-fu suit. He was about to purchase the dress Shinobu tried on, but says that she may not have enough space in her bag for the things she's planning to buy. After paying for the items, the clerk gives them a map a Chinatown.
They walk one block before entering Canton Bazaar. The first thing they notice when they go inside are two sets of stairs, one going up and one going down. They decide to go upstairs. When they reach the top, they hear a whistle going off. Looking around, they see a stuffed monkey on the top of the step. Keitaro waves his hand around the monkey's mouth, where it whistles again.
"That's cute," Shinobu says.
"But a little annoying if you have to pass it every time," Keitaro says.
Once they stop playing with the monkey, they looking around to see more dresses, purses, scarves, sarongs, kimonos and stuffed elephants. Shinobu grabs a green sarong before they proceed going down.
Taking a look around the floor level, they find more dishes, silver boxes, semi precious gemstone globes, a mist maker, Chinese bobble head dolls, tea pots, incense, incense holders, element candles, Mahjong sets, cedar hope chests, gongs, a few antique wooden panel and statues of either Buddha, elephants or warriors. Keitaro takes a Mahjong set and a bobble head doll while Shinobu grabs a mini statue of Buddha before going down the other set of stairs.
There, they see more of home furnishing items like chairs, tables, cabinets, lamps and shrine. They also have a lot of swords that they know Motoko would probably like, but doubt that they can bring it home. Looking around a bit more, they find what they thought was another shrine. But taking a closer look, they see pillows inside. "What is that?" Shinobu ask as he walks towards it.
"It says it's a Chinese Marriage Bed." He starts to blush with the idea of bring it back to the Hinata Sou and having the two of them sleeping in it. Luckily, his back is facing her.
"They have a bed just for that?" She thinks the same thing, but doesn't blush.
When they get back to the floor level, Shinobu notices a stuffed panda with a kung-fu shirt and grabs it, making it part of her purchase.
When they reach the corner of Grant and Sacramento, there is some construction going on, so they cross the street and enter into Chinatown Kites. They don't buy anything in there, but Shinobu is amazed with tall the different shapes and designs of the kites like helicopters, butterflies, fish, sharks, bees, dolphins and dragons. While taking a look in the back, Keitaro stays near the front. There is not much to look at, but does see something other then kites. He goes to the small yellow box that read 'emergency survival kit'. It in are small glass tubes. He picked one up and almost drops it when he sees a condom inside of it. Before he can daydream any perverted thoughts, he puts it back and hides behind the box before Shinobu comes back.
"Let's go?" she asks. He nods and makes sure that she is ahead of him, so she doesn't notice the so-called survival box. One block after that store, they enter Peking Bazaar. It's pretty much like the Canton Bazaar, with the exception of no top level and a bigger selection of jewelry.
When they reach Washington, they are handed a brochure of the Chinatown Restaurant. Keitaro checks his watch, which reads 1:30. Knowing that they haven't eaten in a while, they go down half a block into the restaurant. When they sit down, the waiter hands them a cup of water and a menu. It doesn't takes long before they're ready to order. When they waiter comes back, Shinobu gets the lemon-grass chili chicken and green tea while Keitaro gets the smoking tea duck and plain tea. Both also share an order of mu shu pork and potstickers. When waiting for their food, Keitaro notices the Shinobu is a little disturb with something. "Are you OK?"
"Not really," she says. "I'm debating something."
"Oh. Is it anything I should know?"
"Maybe." She takes a sip of her tea before speaking again. "I was wondering if we should have English names?"
"English names? What do you mean?"
"Well, Sachiko told me that when her older sister went to the University of Kansas, no one could pronounce her name. She decided to get an English name after being sick and tired of everyone calling her 'Hey you!'." Keitaro starts thinking about the idea, but the food arrives. When they're finished, Keitaro is handed the bill and two fortune cookies. He puts the money on the plate and hands Shinobu a fortune cookie. She breaks it in half and reads it out loud. "'You will have a fun and exciting journey ahead of you.' WOW! It must be talking about the trip. What does you say Sempai?" Keitaro also break the cookie in half. He hesitates before reading it.
"You believe in the goodness of mankind." He puts the fortune in his pocket and both leave the restaurant. "You know, the idea about having English names seems like fun. I doubt this city would even have our names on any of their products."
"You really think so?"
"Yeah. I think I should have one too."
"That's great! What's going to be your English name?" Keitaro thinks about it for a while as they enter back into Grant.
"I don't know? You just gave me the idea. How about you?"
"I haven't really thought of it long enough. Maybe if we go into one of the stores. I keep seeing names on like mini-license plates."
"That sounds good. At least when we find a name, we already have an item for it. Lets just go n there." He points to Treasure Island Gifts. They don't have name plates or anything else to look for an English name, but they do buy Chinese coins. When they leave, they feel cold winds. Not used to the sudden change in weather, they go into the first store they reach. Once they feel heated, they see what each of them have been looking for. Keitaro goes towards the coats while Shinobu checks out the name plates. He grabs a coat and walks towards Shinobu. "So, you found one yet?" She continue to scan before she take a name plate off.
"Yes! I like this name! Rebecca!" She shows him with a smile. "Hey. Where did you get that?" Pointing to the coat.
"I got it over there." Pointing to the sacks of coats on the other side of the room. Shinobu goes over and grabs a coat. When she walks back, she see Keitaro near the key chains. "What's you looking for?"
"I'm looking for my English name. Ha! There it is." He grabs the chain and puts it with the name plate. Shinobu looks for hers, but he told her that he already has it, showing her. He hands it to her and is overjoyed. "Thanks Sempai. By the way, what's your English name?"
"It's Billy." After their purchase, they put on their coats and walk a block and a half into Asia Star. Inside, their are a lot of CDs and VCDs of Chinese stars. Farther back, they see car and cell phone accessories. While looking around, Keitaro notices stairs. He motions to Shinobu, who is playing with a Spider-Man doll, to follow him down the stairs. Once they reach the bottom step, they looks around and see photo albums, stationery, board games and stamps. They don't purchase anything and feeling tired, start head back.
Once inside their hotel room, Keitaro puts his souvenirs into his bag while Shinobu goes in the bedroom to take a nap. When he finishes packing, he takes the fortune out of his pocket.
'Man! I wish I didn't lie to her about my fortune, but I have such strong feelings for, I might have scared her if I did read it.' He looks through the partly open door, seeing Shinobu lying on the bed while reading his fortune over and over again to himself. 'The love of your life is in front of your eyes.'
Note: Anyone get the joke of their English names?
Warning: Please don't use this story as a guide to San Francisco. I don't want to be responsible for you getting lost!
GOOD OR BAD, PLEASE REVIEW =)
