Disclaimer: Purely for fun..

The Extraordinary Joe

Chapter II

Meanwhile…

"So much for trying to break it gently to the guys… I just couldn't face them..", she sighed, her mind pre-occupied with what would happen to Kenshin and Yahiko when they found her note. 'Would they be panicking?'.

Another horrifying thought flitted across her mind.. 'I really hope they won't watch TV at all this month…'

"Miss Kamiya?" A feminine voice called up her name. Kaoru jerked up and forced a stiff smile on her face. "Hai..", she replied meekly.

"Please proceed through..", the lady gestured toward a closed door.

"Pleased to meet you, Kamiya-san… Congratulations on your first round acceptance. My name's Kamatari, your guide around this place. You're the last one to have arrived in this place", a slim lady around her late twenties came up to greet her.

' The last one to arrive in this place? I was lucky I could make it here tonight at all… after all Tokyo and Kyoto was a half day travel by train…'"

"Well, since you look tired, let me escort you to your bedchamber. You better rest early tonight, for we'll be very busy this week.. y'know", she winked playfully at Kaoru. "Oh, right now? but I haven't seen the others..", Kaoru replied hesitantly. Kamatari grinned, "Why.. you want to know your competitors already? You'll see them soon enough anyway.. in fact, you'll see them first thing tomorrow morning"

"Here we are…", Kamatari motioned toward her room. Kaoru swallowed nervously as her eyes roamed around the lavishly decorated room

This is… crazy! This room's bigger than her kitchen, dining and bedroom combined together!…

Putting down her small hand bag, she voiced out, " Er, Kamatari-san.. are you sure this is my room?"

Kamatari chuckled at seeing her apprehension. "Why.. of course this is your room. Make yourself feel at home. I'll wake you up at eight tomorrow for your first session", she voiced out.

"Oh… ah, alright then..", Kaoru sheepishly replied.

'This room should be enlisted as the eight wonders of the world', Kaoru thought, awed at seeing the first class, opulent surroundings. She peeked out of her bedroom window.. 'and with a view to die for, too!' The splendor of Kyoto's night scape captivated her immensely.

Soft silk quilt cover, plump pillows, plush carpeted bedroom, and a huge expensive-looking wardrobe, stood proudly at one corner of the spacious room. Complete with its very own Jacuzzi bathtub, merging traditional and modern style of décor altogether. An artfully arranged bouquet of jasmine and freesia was displayed atop a dark mahogany desk, giving off pleasant fragrance that wafted in the air, soothing her tiredness. Kaoru's eyes fleetingly swept the whole room in glee.

'This is magnificent! Morning can't come soon enough for me…'

Kamiya Residence

"What did you say, Kenshin! Kaoru went missing, well.. she did leave a note, but it sounded so unlike her, and now you say we shouldn't worry!", Yahiko exploded in rage. "Maa, maa… Yahiko.. she isn't a child anymore. If she said we shouldn't worry, of course it is what she wants, we should respect her decision. After all, she did mention in her note that she would come back in a few week's time, right?", Kenshin reasoned calmly .

"How could you be so calm? She is after all, a Tanuki!", Yahiko mumbled still, though he was losing his initial rage.

"I'm sure she would be okay, Yahiko. We'll wait..", Keshin replied

"By then it'll be too late…", Yahiko said crossly.

Kenshin sighed, shaking his head as a wry smile appeared on his lips. "Yahiko, do have faith in your own Sensei..", he simply said, turning back to finish doing the dishes.

Yahiko shook his head in hopelessness, rolling his eyes heavenward, he muttered, "All adults are weird…"

Knock..knock..

"Unggh….", she groaned sleepily

"Kamiya-san, rise and shine! We will be having our photo shoot in the next hour or so", Kamatari's cheerful voice filtered through, breaking Kaoru's dreamless sleep. "Huh, wha..! Oh…right", she mumbled, rubbing sleep off her eyes and dragged herself out of the plush bed to take a bath.

After brushing her long tresses hastily and donning a pale blue top with a pair of denim jeans, she rushed out, only to find Kamatari conversing with someone in the hallway. She stopped talking, observing Kaoru's appearance acutely.

"Ah, there you are, Kamiya-san.. here's your next door neighbor, Amakusa Sayo-san..", Kamatari briefly made an introduction.

"Ah, pleased to meet you, Sayo-san.. my name's Kaoru Kamiya, just call me Kaoru"

The brown-haired girl looked at her, a small smile was splayed across her pretty features. "Nice to meet you, Kaoru-san…"

"Let's get going.. the others are probably there by now", steering the two, Kamatari chirped in her ever-pleasant tone of voice.

They arrived in another grand room, a living room from the look of it, complete with chandelier and plush sofas. A number of girls were there, standing somewhat uncomfortably next to one another, giving one another challenging stare, as if to judge the other's worth. It was an unnerving experience for Kaoru, and she opted to sit down on one of the sofas with her hands on her lap, occasionally talking to Sayo-san in whispered voice for Kamatari has gone off elsewhere, leaving the two of them to mingle with the rest of the girls.

Suddenly the door was wide open and all eyes were on the intruder.

"Morning ladies! Welcome to the "Extraordinary Joe for Ordinary girl", a show that have swept off the nation, where only one lucky one amidst all of you gets to be charmed silly by our very own 'Extraordinary Joe'.. and of course, another lucky one among you would grab the second prize of half a million yen! ", an old man in formal traditional hakama said as he entered the room, looking positively jovial.

"That's the good bits! Now.. of course before that happens, we have to go through an elimination period.. but that's for later. Oops, I forgot to introduce myself..Kashiwazaki Nenji at your disposal! You can just call me Okina. My duty is to lead all of you ladies throughout your entire programme", he winked lecherously, earning loathing gazes from some of the girls and some giggles from the others.

"Well, to start off, this morning we'll be having your very first make up session before a photo shot with Seijuro-san, then we'll be interviewing each of you.. As you might be aware of, the first two weeks are the first elimination period in which four of you will be eliminated. Then, in the next week that follow, another three of you will be eliminated. This will leave us with three candidates who will compete for the victor's crown in the last week of the month", he took a deep breath dramatically, he halted, grinning from ear to ear. "Of course, we would keep the identity of the 'Extraordinary Joe' a secret until the final night", he added with a wink.

Soft whispers were suddenly heard at the background as the girls exchanged excited glances. 'The rumor about him says that his good look is hard to compare…' one girl voiced out. 'What would he look like?' another sighed dreamily. "They say this episode's gonna be different than the rest.." yet another was heard saying.

Kaoru silently scoffed. 'How pathetic… oh well, I'm here to get that half million yen...'

A/N: I love Kamatari, she always seems to play some supporting role in my story.. I think she fits in quite well as a bubbly, charming she-male. :) She's Yumi's rival after all.. hope you like this chapter (um, still rather unclear? wait for the next one! ) And one more thing, let's just say Tokyo-Kyoto takes half a day by train… Shinkansen wasn't there yet, though it's modern AU..hahahha… author gone nuts..