A/N: The replies to the reviews are at the bottom. Some of you are asking how Sano and Megumi sold the house and I'll try to explain it while replying.
Standard Disclaimer Applies Here
Chapter Two: The Vacation from Hell
Misao unbuckled her seatbelt and took one last look at the window and shut it. She smiled brightly. She couldn't believe it. She was in Singapore!
She moved out of her seat and stood on the aisle. Aoshi had already left as soon as he could to her relief. She didn't think she could stand seating beside him again. She tiptoed to reach her black hand carry bag from the baggage vault above. She grabbed it and hauled it to the ground and noticed a very wet white polo with a green stain left on an empty passenger seat.
She grabbed it and ran out of the plane as fast as she could, bumping some people along the way.
"Shinomori-san!"
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"Excuse me, Mr. Shinomori?"
Aoshi nodded to the Singaporean male wearing dark sunglasses and a black suit.
"Yes?"
"Your bags have been taken and shall be waiting for you in your hotel room. A car is waiting for you outside. I'll be escorting you there and to your interview."
He nodded and followed the man as he led him into a private passageway leading to another exit of Changi Airport. This would help him avoid groups of screaming female and gay men fans.
"Shinomori-san!"
Or maybe not.
He turned around and saw the irritating and noisy girl he sat beside with on the plane, waving and running frantically at him. He sighed. She probably remembered that she forgot to ask for his autograph or for a photo. He had no time for this. He was running late for an interview and wasn't going to pose for a girl who sneezed and stained his polo. It was a good thing that he had a spare one or he would have been only wearing his undershirt in public.
"Shinomori-san!" she yelled, still running after him. "Wait!" She ran towards the passageway and was blocked by two security guards.
Aoshi gave a sigh of relief and continued walking. That would take care of her. Hopefully, he would never have to see her again.
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Misao made a face as she held the dirty polo in front of her as she sat inside thebus the airline provided for her trip from the airport. She took out a plastic bag from her pocket and dropped it inside.
"It looks like I have to return this to him another day." She said and wiped her hands on her handkerchief and grumbled. "I'll have to have it washed and ironed too. Well it is my fault that his polo got stained."
She took out her camera and gazed outside the window and observed Singapore.
"Wow, it's so clean here!" she took out her camera and snapped a picture of the clean roads outside and the violet bougainvillea that decorated the streets. "It's so pretty too!"
She pressed her face to the window and watched the sights outside. The bus passed through Chinatown where she snapped pictures of the wet market and a Hokkien temple from the bus. She also snapped a picture of an Indian temple decorated with sculptures and statues of their gods. According to her guidebook, it was the Sri Mariamman Temple, the oldest Indian temple in Singapore.
"Ooh!" she exclaimed as she looked at it. "It's so pretty. Perhaps I could use Singapore as a setting for one of my stories." She flipped her guidebook and continued to read more about Chinatown.
A few minutes later, the bus stopped in front of a white tall column-shaped building.
"Swissotel the Stamford." The bus driver announced.
"Yatta! I'm here already!" she jumped from her seat and grabbed her hand carry bag and her other bag, a black one on wheels. She climbed out of the orange flowered bus and walked energetically towards the automatic glass doors of the hotel. She looked around the hotel and admired the shiny wooden walls. In front of her was a large glass case that encased a gray large clock with four faces. It showed the time of Singapore, New York and two other cities in the world.
"Sugoi!" she exclaimed and snapped a picture of it. She turned her head to the right and saw a long line to the check-in counter and lined up. She took out her guidebook and flipped through it and tried to decide which place to visit next.
"Hmm…where should I go first? Megumi said that the tour guide would be only available tomorrow so I should I think I should go visit some malls today." She scratched her chin as she looked at the list of malls. "I could go to Suntec through the City Linkor Orchard Road. Orchard Road has more malls but I really want to see the Fountain of Wealth at Suntec," Misao wrinkled her forehead as she tried to decide. "Where should I go?"
"I suggest you visit the Suntec first through the City Link Mall. I'm sure your tour guide will be able to bring you too Orchard Road tomorrow." A Japanese voice spoke from behind her.
Misao turned around to see who had spoken to her. She saw a short redhead man with violet eyes and an X-shaped scar on his left cheek smiling at her. "Suntec is a nice place, that it is." He said.
Misao blinked at the redhead. "Okay, I guess I'll go there then." She murmured and walked to the counter and inquired about her reservation.
"One moment please." The woman said and typed in her name on the computer.
Misao tapped her fingers impatiently as she waited for her room. She turned her head to the right and saw the redhead man was looking at her. She raised her eyebrows.
"Why are you still looking at me?" she grinned and winked. "You find me pretty, don't you?"
The man blinked. "Oro?"
Misao shook her head. "I was just joking. Are you from Europe? You speak Japanese really well."
The man shook his head. "No, I'm Japanese." Misao was about to reply to what he said when she was interrupted by the woman behind the counter.
"Excuse me, Miss Makimachi; I'm afraid we have no room reserved under your name."
Misao blinked. "But I have a reservation. I'm sure that I have a reservation. Can you check it again?" she asked, feeling confused. Megumi and Sanosuke told her that she had a reservation here, if she didn't have one, where would she stay and how would she pay for the hotel? But that couldn't happen, right? They told her that they were sure about the reservation in the hotel.
"I'm sorry Miss Makimachi, we have no reservations under your name." the woman told her.
"What? But I have a reservation! They told me I have a reservation!" she almost yelled, causing the woman in front of her to back away a little. Misao clenched her fists and the redhead man leaned over her to the counter.
"Um, excuse me Miss, are they any vacant rooms?" he had asked.
"Till when are you staying?"
The redhead man leaned over Misao's ear and whispered. "Till when are you staying?"
"Umm…until Tuesday."
"One moment please." The woman said and typed on her keyboard. After a minute, she looked up and smiled at them. "We have one room available in the tenth floor. Here is your card key Miss Makimachi, enjoy your stay."
Misao took the card key and bit her lip. How was she going to pay for the hotel now? The money Megumi gave her wasn't enough. She looked at the redhead man who helped her and smiled.
"Thank you for helping me, I really appreciate it." She told him gratefully. He's way better than my two so-called friends back in Japan. I'm going to kill them!
He nodded. "It was nothing Miss. I'm glad to be help to a fellow Japanese in a foreign country." He waved her goodbye.
Misao grumbled as she headed to the elevator. He's also way better than the other Japanese I met while staying here.
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Loud screams from Aoshi's female and female at heart fans were heard through the glass window of the television station set that he was staying. He waved to them from the leather couch he was sitting on, which made them scream even more.
A pretty Singaporean talk show host entered the room. He stood and shook her hand and they both sat down for the interview.
"Welcome to Singapore Mr. Shinomori." She greeted him with a smile. "Just how do you find are country?"
He gave a small slight smile. "I like it very much. It is a very clean and enjoyable place."
"According to our sources, you are here in Singapore to film a movie. What kind of movie is it and what is about?" the woman questioned.
"It is about a man who falls in a love with a fellow traveler in Singapore and he follows her back to her Japan where he pursues her." He answered.
The woman smiled slyly at him before she started her next question. "There are rumors that are going around that you're having a relationship with your co-star in this movie, Tomoe Yukishiro. Would you confirm it for us?"
He shook his head calmly even though he was feeling a little exasperated with that rumor. "No, I am not having a relationship with Tomoe Yukishiro. We are just acquaintances, nothing more."
His interviewer giggled. "Well I can tell you that a lot of women will be jumping for joy after they hear that. Well are you interested in seeing anyone right now?"
He gave her a forced small smile.
"I'm sorry. I prefer not to answer any questions about my private life."
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Misao plopped on her bed and spread her arms and legs on it. She just arrived from a long thirty-minute walk and a one-hour shopping trip. She wasn't able to buy anything because most of the things she wanted to buy were out of her reach. But she did enjoy visiting Suntec and even made a wish at the Fountain of Wealth, which she did by holding onto its railing and circling it for three times, thinking of her wish the whole time. She hoped that it would come true once she reached Japan. Japan.
She sat up suddenly and grabbed the telephone beside her and dialed the area code for Japan and the Sagaras' landline number.
Ten rings, later, no one still answered the phone. Misao glowered.
"Answer the phone dammit!" she screamed at the phone and almost threw it on the wall. She looked at the time. It was nine PM and since Japan was practically almost in the same time zone as Singapore, she knew that one of them was already home around this time. After another ring, she heard Sano's voice but not the one that she wanted to hear.
"If you're hearing this right now, well sorry but Megumi and I ain't home, so just leave a message and we'll return it as soon as possible after the click."
Misao screamed at the phone as soon as she heard the click. "Rooster head, Fox, why aren't you answering the damned phone? The hotel didn't have a reservation for me unlike you said! When I get my hands…Argh!" Misao slammed the receiver down after exceeding the time limit.
"Those two are going to be so dead when I'm back."
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"You mean that I don't have a tour guide? What the hell am I supposed do then?" Misao shouted at he hotel receptionist, attracting nervous looks from her fellow tourists.
The receptionist smiled at her uncomfortably. "You used Singapore Airlines to come here right? I suggest you try the SIA Hop-On bus to get around the city. All you have to do is to pay four dollars and show your ticket every time you ride. Here's the schedule for the bus ride."
Misao grumbled and forked over four dollars to the woman, her mood turning fouler every few seconds. She had suspected it since yesterday but now it was confirmed. The contest was a sham.
She grabbed the schedule and stuffed it into her bag and headed toward the hotel passageway that connected it to the Raffles City Mall where the bus stop was located nearby. She stopped and checked her wallet to see how much money she had left. Megumi had given her fifty dollars and she only had forty dollars left. She felt incredibly lucky that the hotel provided free breakfast for its customers and that she brought a few instant noodles with her.
She glowered and kicked the column beside her, which turned out to be the wrong thing to do.
"Ouch!" she yelped and bent down to rub her foot. "I definitely shouldn't have done that."
"Are you alright Miss?" a familiar Japanese voice said behind her.
She looked up and saw the redhead who helped her out yesterday and smiled slightly. "It's nothing mister…"
"Himura Kenshin, that my name is." He supplied for her and held out his hand.
She got up her feet and shook his hand. "Nice to meet you Himura-san. I'm Makimachi Misao. How long are you going to stay here in Singapore?"
Kenshin held out his suitcase. "Actually I'm returning to Japan soon, I just came from visiting my friend here, he's the Japanese actor Aoshi Shinomori, have you heard of him?"
"Yes, I actually sat by him on the plane." Unfortunately.
Kenshin nodded and smiled. "Well, it was nice meeting you Misao-dono." He gave her a wave and walked towards the mall's exit.
"Wait, Himura-san!" Misao called out and ran after him. "Can you answer my question before you leave?"
"What is it Misao-dono?"
Misao twiddled her thumbs uncomfortably. "Umm, do you know how much Swissotel charges? I'm staying here for three nights."
"Hmm." Kenshin calculated it in his mind for a moment. "I think you will be paying four hundred dollars."
Misao almost dropped her bag when she heard the amount and blinked. She cleared her throat. "I'm sorry, I think I heard you wrong, did you just tell me that three nights in that hotel will cost me four hundred dollars?" she asked as calmly as she could to keep herself from screaming murder in the middle of the mall. I'm in so deep shit.
Kenshin nodded. "Four hundred dollars that it is. I spent the same amount money in my three night stay here too."
Misao gave Kenshin a forced smile. "Well, thank you for telling me. Bye!" Kenshin waved at her one last time and left.
Misao slumped against the column and glared at the floor. What am I going to do? I can't pay for this hotel? Argh, I'll be frying a rooster and a fox once I arrive home, if I ever arrive home without the hotel managers running after me because I couldn't pay.
She looked up and grabbed her handbag with a determined look on her face. Well she's going to find a way to pay for it somehow and she won't let this problem ruin her rare trip to Singapore. She opened her handbag to get the bus schedule and saw a white polo shirt inside it. She wrinkled her nose as she held it up.
"I still have to clean and return this to Shinomori-san." She placed it back in her bag. "If I ever find out what room he's staying in."
She dropped her bag suddenly when a thought appeared in her mind. A solution to her problem! She took out her Singaporean index and scanned it for the nearest laundry place.
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Aoshi lay on his bed, exhausted from the day's shooting. The shooting started and ended late mainly because Tomoe overslept and they had a hard time keeping the fans out of the shooting location and from him. One of them in fact socked his bodyguard and tried to steal his spare shirt. It took thirty minutes to chase and catch the screaming hysterical fan, who happened to be gay.
He reached for the remote control on his side table and scanned the television for a show to watch. After scanning the whole channel lineup, he turned it off. Hotel cable television always sucked. Maybe he should just call home and check what's happening with Kaoru.
He missed her incredibly. Kaoru Kamiya. She was his close childhood friend who was now his fashion designer. They were both each other's confidants. Aoshi would confide to her about his acting and how all the intrigues that spread about him annoyed him and Kaoru would tell him how much she adored Kenshin, their other childhood friend who Kaoru happened to be in love with. They just started dating recently and he felt very happy for them.
Wasn't he?
He sat up and dialed Kaoru's office number on the phone. Kaoru answered after it rang thrice.
"Moshi, moshi. Kamiya Designs, Kamiya Kaoru speaking."
Aoshi opened his mouth to say something but couldn't.
"Hello? Who's this? Hello?" He slammed the phone down. Idiot. She's your friend! You're supposed to know what to say to her. He placed his forehead in his hand as he mentally kicked himself. Maybe it's because you…
He glanced up and headed towards the door after hearing two knocks. Who could it be this time?
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Misao knocked on the door again. What's taking him so long? Finally, the door opened and received a confused and questioning look from the handsome actor in front of her.
"Shinomori-san, good afternoon. I don't know if you still remember me but I am Makimachi Misao, we met yesterday on the plane."
He gave her a blank look. "I'm sorry I don't recall." Misao sighed and made sneezing noises and pointed to the white polo in front of her and handed it to him.
"Ah, I remember you now, thank you for bringing my shirt back." He said and grabbed the shirt from her and closed the door on her face.
Misao frowned. "How rude." She grumbled and knocked on the door louder. After a few persistent knocks, Aoshi opened it with the same emotionless look on his face and a glint of irritation in his eyes.
"There is a doorbell so you don't have to knock so loud." He sighed. "What do you want?"
Misao shrugged. "Well, you see, we're both Japanese people in a foreign country right? And I believe that fellow countrymen should help each other during each other's time of need. It is only right after all since…"
"That is very nice, I admire your philosophy." Aoshi mumbled and shut the door again.
Misao made a face. "He may be a good actor but that asshole has no manners at all!" she complained and looked at her hands. Her knuckles were already red from knocking so she started to press the doorbell button repeatedly. Several rings later, the door still remained shut so she started kicking it.
The door finally opened and Aoshi stood there, looking very irritated. "What do you want? An autograph or maybe a photo? I'll give you any of them as long as you would leave me alone!" he told her sharply.
"Actually, no I was asking if you could lend me some money." She looked at him pleadingly. "Please lend me some money; I'm in a difficult situation right now. I need to pay the hotel so I can return to Japan in peace. I promise I'll pay you. Trust me! I'll give you my address, my landline nu…"
Aoshi didn't listen to the rest of her rant and slammed the door to her face again. Misao clenched her fists and gave the door one loud kick and pressed the doorbell button repeatedly. She got her desired effect when Aoshi opened the door again.
"I'm not going to lend you any money." He said tersely.
Misao scoffed and flipped her braid. "Fine, I'm not going to force you then, but you could at least give me Kenshin's number so I can borrow from him instead."
"You know Kenshin?"
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Aoshi scratched his chin as he watched the distressed young woman, who had burst into tears after telling him her story. It turned out that the woman used to date Kenshin and was tricked by her friends and was now stuck in Singapore.
"To add to all of the horrible things that happened to me this trip, I just had to run into Kenshin and dig up all my past hurts!" she sniffled and grabbed the tissue paper Aoshi had offered to her.
Aoshi nodded. "So you're telling me that you to have a relationship with Kenshin? How long did you date?" he asked, finding the topic very interesting.
Misao wiped her tears. "We dated for two months, but we broke up because he was always busy with his work. I…guess…we just… weren't meant to be!" she buried her eyes in the tissue paper. "I tried so hard to get over him but I just can't. I've tried dating other men but they've always reminded me of Kenshin and it always hurt!" she blew her nose and started crying even harder.
Aoshi sighed and took out his wallet.
"All right, how much do you need?"
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Misao laughed as she held the large amount of money in her hands. She was disappointed to find out that Kenshin had already left Singapore but a good lie and great acting skills got her the money she needed to pay the hotel bill.
Misao giggled at what happened earlier. Aoshi wouldn't give her any money so she made up a story about being his close friend's ex-girlfriend to get him to lend her some money. She couldn't believe that Aoshi Shinomori fell for her act easily! Well it didn't matter, it wasn't like she was stealing from him or anything, and she was going to pay him back anyway.
"For a famous actor, he's pretty gullible." She thought aloud and turned and laid on her right side and faced the hotel phone. Anger flashed inside her and she grabbed the receiver and dialed the Sagara's landline number.
"Answer the phone Rooster, Fox!" she grumbled after the seventh ring. To her discontent, she heard the answering machine.
"If you're hearing this right now, well sorry but Megumi and I ain't home, so just leave a message and we'll return it as soon as possible after the click."
Misao almost screamed in frustration. "You assholes! My so-called friends! I'm coming back to Japan the day after tomorrow so watch out! I'm going to make you pay!"
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Misao took out her key and unlocked the front door of her house. Finally, she was home after her nightmare vacation in Singapore.
She felt exhausted. She couldn't wait to soak into a warm bath and sink onto her bed and sleep for ten straight hours. After her sleep, she planned to continue her story and hunt Megumi and Sanosuke down.
She switched on her light and looked at her living room. Her mouth dropped open and anger filled her eyes as she looked around her house. She dropped her bags and ran to check the kitchen and the dining room. She ran up the stairs, two steps at a time to check the bedrooms and the bathrooms. Everything she owned was gone! Her whole house was empty!
She noticed a note sticking on the front door of her room and took it down and read it.
Dear Misao,
We're really sorry that we had to do this. It was the only way we had to get the money we needed to pay our debts and prepare for the baby's arrival. We're really sorry and we hope that you would forgive us one day. We really hope to meet you as friends again by the time our little baby is born.
Love,
Megumi and Sanosuke
Misao crumpled the letter in her fists and punched the wall as hard as she could; making her knuckles bleed.
"ROOSTER, FOX, I'M GOING TO KILL YOU BOTH!"
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A/N: Hey guys! Thanks for the reviews. I didn't expect to get that many for the first chapter. Below are my replies to the reviews:
rkfan: I'm glad you find it funny! Well here's quite a fast update!
bloodystrawberries: Thanks for reading and reviewing! I'm glad you like it.
legolasEstelstar: Thanks for liking it. Yeah, Sano and Megumi aren't great friends but their selling the house is needed in the story!
riotocurls: Thanks for liking the start. I'm glad that you found the characters funny.
unqu-petite: You love Full House too? That's great! I'm sorry that you found it sad that Sano and Megumi the couple but I didn't really think that part would suit Kenshin and Kaoru.
purpleskye00013: Actually I'm going to try to explain the welfare idea later in the story when Misao meets Sano and Megumi again. Actually Sano and Meg sold the house on their own and they didn't have too much problems because they planned it well and they had connections in the bank. I know they aren't good friends but what they did is essential to the story and also happened to the series that I based this on, which I mentioned in the last chapter.
indigochipmunk: Thanks for liking the beginning and the title too! I really appreciate it.
chibiBrEn: Yeah, it's not their house but it's the only plan they thought of to get some money. So they invented and elaborate plan and sold her house.
crossfire: No, it's not a Kenshin/Tomoe fic. Tomoe was just Kenshin's ex-girlfriend but they didn't last long and besides, I like K/K better. Glad you liked the story, though.
luvHaru7: I'm glad you like the current title. Yeah, Misao seems quite irritating but that's what she's really supposed to act like in the story; judgemental and a little overfriendly.
Anyway I don't know if any of you might be interested on the Korean tv series I based the main plot on but if you do, you can visit a review of it here: http/www.spcnet.tv/reviews/review.php?rID770