Pleased to Meet You... Again


The small woman tried to stifle her sobs, but her damn eyes had already betrayed her. Her husband shoved a Kleenex on her face and she received it so graciously, wiping the tears that had rolled down her flushed cheeks.

"I cannot marry you," the woman in shirt and jeans wept, as she broke away from the dashing leading man, "We belong in different worlds!"

"But I love you-" the man pleaded, his suit-and-tie immaculately unwrinkled.

"You're one of the richest, most eligible bachelors in the country…" she cried, "But me… I'm just… this plain, broke girl-"

"All the riches in the world are worth nothing, if I don't have you!" The man declared, imprisoning the woman in his arms.

"Just accept his proposal, dimwit!" Misao bawled, throwing her used Kleenex on the screen.

"I told you to stop watching that garbage." the love of her life cursed, snatching the remote from her hands, fumbling for the channel button.

"Hey don't!" Misao lunged at her husband, just in time for the screen to fade into black. It then held the ominous words:

.To be continued…

"Dammit Aoshi!" Misao flopped on the chair, "Now I have to wait until Monday! Ugh, it's gonna be a long weekend…"

Aoshi's brow shot up, "And how is that my fault?"

Soft giggling from the doorway interrupted the crossfire, the two turned to see the newcomer at the door.

"Kaoru!" Misao sprung from her seat and launched toward the laughing woman, welcoming her with a warm hug. "Did you see it?! Armando finally proposed to Daniela," she started fanning herself with her hand.

Kaoru huffed. "Misao, your husband may be right… maybe you don't need this added stress,"

"Thank you, Kaoru!" Aoshi yelled from the other end of the office, settling down on his chair to watch a re-run of a football game.

"Oh but this one is different!" Misao defended, "The storyline is so realistic –"

"What's so realistic about a billionaire bachelor accidentally running over, then falling in love, with the penniless protagonist?!" she almost rolled her eyes, "And it so happens that the girl is mary-sue perfect–"

"She's not perfect," Misao muttered sheepishly, "She has her tiny flaws… but that is what makes her so lovable,"

This time, Kaoru really rolled her eyes. "I hate to break it to you, Misao, but that bullcrap only happens in the movies."

"B-but—"

"No buts!" She stepped forward. But the moment she did, Misao gasped.

"Honey, what happened to you?!" Came the inevitable inquiry, assessing Kaoru's tattered jeans and bruised elbows.

"No biggie," Kaoru shrugged, "I was being stupid and fell off my bike. I'll be okay,"

"No! You look like you just got mugged in Portero Hill," An idea swept into her brilliant mind. "Oh! Wait just a second!" Her boss disappeared without any word, only to reappear with an item in her hands.

And upon seeing it, Kaoru groaned.

"Misao, it's so nice of you but I think my clothes are sufficient—"

"Shush!" Misao pressed a finger on her lips, effectively shutting out any room for argument. "Kaoru darling, you've been wearing those same pair of jeans to work for the past two years. Don't you think a change in wardrobe is due?"

"Well they're good jeans," Kaoru blushed, looking away.

Misao shook her head, "Didn't mean to shame you, sweetie. Here, just wear this, at least for tonight. Don't want you to show up before a customer and being mistaken as an intruder."

Kaoru sighed, dropping her blush and taking the brown monstrosity out of her boss's hands. "Fine." She said as she stepped into the powder room. "So where's my assignment tonight, captain?" she called out from behind the door.

"It's in a houseboat by Sausalito," Misao said.

"By my old house?" Kaoru emerged out of the bathroom. She was clad in ill-fitting brown overalls, in the front was an obnoxiously big logo screaming the words AOI-YA PLUMBING.

On the back was the image of a hachimaki-wearing panda waving the flag of Japan.

Kaoru almost curled up in embarrassment, seeing her reflection on the glass door.

"Well, I think I have to get going. I might have to borrow the company scooter," she sighed, taking the large toolbox out of Misao's hands that was waiting for her.

"Follow safety precautions, sweetie. There's broken glass involved." Misao reached for her pocket and handed her the scooter keys.

"By the way, your client's name is Yukishiro Enishi."

"Hah, what an ancient name!" Kaoru mocked. "Who names their kids straight out of the Meiji Era?!"

Misao gave the bright girl a quick peck on the cheeks, and she was off.


There was a certain heavy aura that hung in the air, perhaps it was the unmistakable smell of burning weed permeating from the cracks of the house door.

The overall-clad woman groaned in disbelief. The last thing she wanted was to get accidentally high. If she were to find out she had passed the Medical Board Exam tonight, it was straight to hospital job applications for her, and she would not risk having traces of Cannabinoids on her precious, golden pee.

Sighing she knelt on the wooden floor and searched her toolbox for her PD-100 Full-Face Respirator. She fit it snugly onto her face, before rising again, toolbox in hand. On the other arm she slung her drain snakes, and just as she was situating all her tools in place, the door opened.

She froze on her spot.

"I called for a plumber, not a wannabe Ghostbusters recruit." The tall man leaned in the doorway, folding his arms across his chest. "Hello?" He waved his hand in front of her face, a sarcastic, mocking expression sticking on his mug.

Kaoru could only gape:

It was the pervert from earlier!

"Oi," He started snapping his fingers before her eyes, "Weirdo!"

Still as rude as ever, Kaoru thought, what a waste of a perfectly beautiful face. And she was deathly sure that if he recognized her she would be kicked out of the house... But why the heck did he not recognize her? Then she realized… she still had her respirator on!

She fell back, thanking the high heavens for such perfect coincidence. They were paid by commission, and she really needed the extra money. At least she had the option of keeping her respirator on, do her job quickly, allowing minimal interruptions as possible. She estimated the work to be done in less than an hour, anyway.

"AOI-YA PLUMBING SERVICES! IS THIS THE RESIDENCE OF LORD ENISHI YUKISHIRO?!" She stood on attention all too ardently, the man wincing at her squawking tone.

His brows raised in confusion, missing the implied insult to his ancient name, "Yes, what's with the honorific—"

"SINCE YOU DO NOT PREFER THE FORMAL LORD, YOU WILL NOW BE REFERRED TO AS SIR!"

"Sir…?" He looked at her, utterly bewildered. He shrugged, "Whatever. Why are you dressed up like—"

"SIR, WE STRICTLY ADHERE TO OSHA GUIDELINES, SIR!" She blurted out, barreling past him, accidentally knocking him to the door.

She hid a satisfied smirk behind her respirator, seeing him plastered onto the wood, "FOR OUR SAFETY AND YOURS! WE VALUE OUR CUSTOMERS DEARLY, SIR!"

She made a salute, purposefully whipping the loose ends of her snake drain as she did so. It also whipped the bastard's jaw.

Kaoru almost imploded in internal laughter.

"SIR! ARE YOU—" she made another motion to move, and maybe to 'accidentally' hit him in the process, when the man seized her wrist, effectively stopping her from making any more advances.

"I'm fine, I'm fine! Just… go!" He braced his hands on her shoulders, steering her through the hallways.

"BUT SIR! We value our customers dear—"

"Just fix the damn pipe before you end up killing me!" the Yukishiro man barked, pointing to the kitchen sink.

"SIR, YES, SIR!" The woman screamed into his ear like a demented cadet. Seeing the Yukishiro guy curling up from shattered eardrums, she turned around and went through her tools.

"By the way," the Yukishiro guy leaned back, "You look kind of familia— GAH!"

The woman had spun around, spraying industrial-strength cleaner on his face.

"SIR! I would like to ask you to stand clear when I am doing my job! Plumbing is an essential task that requires the highest level of concentration—"

"Alright, alright!" he murmured, cursing on his way out. Kaoru spun around and heaved a sigh of relief.

"Shit," the girl whispered, "That was close."