They were sitting in a car driving towards a tea house. Of course being a 1946 car it jerked and bumped along the road making Sam's glasses bounce on his face and his stomach turn. Still he had to admit that it was really interesting to be riding in a car this old instead of just looking at one in a museum. There were also a few other reasons why his stomach was turning.
"What am I supposed to do again?" Sam asked nervously.
"Make small talk and don't blow my cover." San-Li said shortly.
"San-Li, come on," Sam sighed with a mixture of irritation and exasperation. "I'm doing you a favor remember?"
"Favor?" San-Li scoffed and looked at him. "You don't have a choice remember?"
Sam opened his mouth to say something but then happened to look down and saw that her fist was clenched and shaking. He hesitated a moment before laying his hand on top of hers and giving it a gentle squeeze. San-Li looked surprised but managed a small smile.
"This is a just a small vacation with beautiful women for these business men" She said slightly less irritable. " World War II has just ended so they want to make a good impression on the Americans so they'll speak enough English for you to make conversation. There will also be only two other Americans there; a general and his lieutenant. Just be your usual smart self and you'll be fine. Just don't talk about anything historical after 1945."
"Got it." Sam nodded feeling a little better. "And what will you do?''
"Same as I usually do. Make small talk. Flirt." San-Li flashed him a seductive smirk. "Act like I'm totally into you."
Sam blushed and looked away. His fingers laced through hers and he smiled softly.
"You sorta do that already." He said with a small nervous chuckle.
San-Li laughed and brushed her lips against his ear. "I'm not acting about that, Sammy."
Sam had to actively suppress the shiver that ran down his spine. Her laugh could be incredibly sexy sometimes when she wanted it to be. Sam blinked in surprise at the fact that that thought even entered his mind. Stupid hormones.
They arrived at their destination, a tea house called the Ichiriki Chaya with a plain dark wooden entrance. The driver stopped, pulled over to the curb and opened the door for them. They got out but left their bags inside, the driver was supposed to take their luggage to a private plane for later. They went inside the tea house, greeted the mistress, and were shown by a maid to a room where a party was being held.
"This place is incredible," Sam whispered in awe as they walked down the hall. "This is where the story of the forty-seven ronin was supposed to take place. I'm not sure how true it is, but Japanese scholars consider it a national historical legend."
San-Li smiled up at him and chuckled. "I love the fact that you love history so much."
They came to a stop in front of a paper sliding door and she took a minute to straighten his jacket and tie.
"One more thing I forgot to mention," San-Li added. "Unlike The Book my watch doesn't come with an auto translator. Most of the men will speak English for your sake, but other than that I'll have to translate for you."
Sam swallowed nervously and knelt down next to San-Li as she rolled open the door. They went inside, rolled the door closed behind them, and bowed again.
"Kon'nichiwa Kōrin, Komaki, misuki," She said bowing to the three other geisha in the room. "To harō Bandō, Fukuhara, general Thompson, and lieutenant Jeffrey." She then bowed to the men in the room.
San-Li then gestured for Sam to follow her to two spaces at the low table.
"Koreha Kikin, Samuel, Watashi no danna." She said gesturing towards Sam.
"Haikei Kikin-san." One of the Japanese men lifted his cup and smiled at him. The other one half lifted his cup, but his smile was more like a sneer.
"Kikin, huh?" A large burly man looked him over with a large grin on his face. "Good to see another American here son. Tell me, did your daddy buy you that pretty Japanese doll next to you?"
Before Sam could stutter a reply San-Li giggled and touched his hand.
"Samuel-san took over his father's business a few months ago and is now vice president." She said. "He became my danna last month."
One of the other geisha, Korin, began telling a story about a friend of hers and her danna. Sam vaguely wondered what the term danna meant while San-Li poured him tea. He guessed that it had something to do with San-Li being his mistress. Or rather, he remembered a with a small blush, pretending to be his mistress. Korin must have finished her story because every began laughing. Sam realized belatedly that he hadn't been listening. He laughed with the rest of them and hoped that he didn't sound too awkward. San-Li flashed him a weird look so he was pretty sure that he failed in that department.
"So Bando," The burly man, Sam assumed was the general by his uniform, turned to one of the Japanese men."Now that all of the guests are here let's say we get this little island trip started shall we?"
"Yes," Bando nodded. "Allow me to call me driver and we shall head to the plane."
He gestured for one of the geisha to call for a maid and when she left the room San-Li turned to Bando with a smile.
"By the way Bando," San-Li smirked and hit him playfully on the arm. "You kept forgetting to tell me where we're going."
"Oh, Setsuko," Bando laughed patting her hand. "Perhaps if you didn't always leave the party so early, you would have been there when discussed our plans in detail."
"But Bando-san," San-Li pouted, "This is my first island trip and I'm just so excited."
Sam had to keep himself from laughing. She was very close to that cute tone she used when she wanted something out of him.
Bando chuckled. "Very well. In honor of General Thompson and Lieutenant Jeffery and our countries' new found friendship we are going to Hakken Island."
"Hakken Isand?" San-Li gasped. "Isn't that where stories say the Akiraka Ni Suru Fan is said to be?"
Bando laughed and was about to answer her when the maid returned and told them that the car was waiting for them. Everyone stood up excitedly to leave and Sam saw a brief look of irritation cross San-Li's eyes. He reached over to touch her hand and she relaxed a little.
Bando's driver took them to a private plane and Sam swallowed nervously. He had trouble keeping his lunch during a short drive in a 1946 car, he didn't want to imagine what a ride in a 1946 air plane would be like. This time it was San-Li who calmed him down.
"Let's sit in the back," She said as they boarded. "That way we'll be close to the toilet if you need to hurl. And I'll take the window seat if you don't want to see out."
"Thanks." Sam smiled gratefully.
They took their seats and the sure enough as the plane's engines began to run the whole aircraft vibrated and one of the geisha let out a small shriek of terror. Once the plane took off though everything became still and they glided smoothly through the air. It was nowhere near as bad as Sam thought it would be. He jumped a little in surprise when he felt San-Li thread her arm though his and leaned against him. He glanced down at her and she smiled softly back at him with a touch of sleepiness in her eyes. Sam felt something jump in his chest at her smile that he couldn't fully contribute to hormones this time.
"I know this is supposed to be a job for you," Sam said quietly. "But maybe this could also sorta be a romantic vacation for us? To make up for me not being a very great boyfriend to you in the past year?"
San-Li tensed a little and something flashed in her eyes that he couldn't quite read. She relaxed again though and closed her eyes.
"This isn't just an ordinary job, Sam. I'm looking for something very important." She said quietly.
"Oh." Sam said trying not to feel too disappointed. "Well, what is it that you're looking for? Maybe I can he-."
San-Li interrupted him by gently placing a finger on his lips. Sam had to actively restrain himself from kissing her finger tip because he was pretty sure that the gesture wasn't meant to be romantic. Sure enough this time when San-Li spoke her voice was hard and on the verge of angry.
"Please Sam," San-Li said tightly. "I'm going to need you to do exactly as I ask. Precisely. Which means playing the part of my danna and not blowing my cover."
Sam nodded mutely and San-Li relaxed and begun to caress his cheek and jaw lovingly.
"Thank you." She whispered.
There was so much more Sam wanted to ask her but he decided it was probably best to let her sleep for now. Sam let loose a yawn and realized that he was pretty tired as well. There would be plenty of time for questions later, but for right now a quick nap seemed great.
A/N- Sorry this was taking so long to update but I've been having a bit of writer's block in terms of how to get through certain plot points.
