It wasn't as terribly long train ride thanks to the flight that they took to Thailand from their originating destinations. The two schools flew in from differing locations before meeting in Thailand. Nagamatsu had finished up a bit of work before meeting his classmates at the station after their plane ride. Of course, his manager had followed his taxi all the way to the station so that he could try and stop the boy from going. Though thanks to Saffron he didn't succeed in forcing the boy to leave the station and his classmates.
Their ride took them through the countryside during most of their ride to their destination, Hanoi. They passed by a few smaller towns on the way that looked quaint from what they could see out the window. Her playlist on her device had quite the mixed bag as some of it fit the scenery with calm melodies, while others were fast and loud, full of lyrics that left the poor Nagamatsu blushing. It was the kind of things his parents would never let him listen to because they considered that kind of music vulgar and uncultured.
It would break up the atmosphere of the ride whenever such a song would come on. He couldn't even manage to steal a glance at her during those times because of his shy embarrassment. What would he even say to her about it? He'd never listened to such music or bands before so, how could he banter about them with her? He was left shifting uncomfortably in his seat while they played in his ear.
She noticed the awkwardness he felt through the window with a smirk. Saffron really didn't want to have to deal with making small talk with him during the train ride. So, whenever such a song came on, she would let it play instead of skipping it like she did other songs she just wasn't in the mood for. A smile spread across her lips noticing how he was blushing so brightly from just a song. Not to mention the way it made him squirm in his seat was amusing to her.
Though he on the other hand craved the moments when the slow songs would play. He would be able to steal glances at her face through the window as she watched the towns and trees go by. Sometimes he would even catch her mouthing the words as she lip-synced along with them. To him it was a rather adorable thing she did, especially because of how relaxed her face was while she did it. She appeared to be so at peace and his hand itched with the need to hold hers during those moments.
Then the song would change, and the moment would disappear. If he didn't think her knew any better, he would have thought she was doing it on purpose. However, he didn't typically think so poorly of peoples intentions. This was how the rest of the ride went for the pair while everyone else around them talked energetically about the trip. Some of the guys were picking out the girls they wanted to try and sneak away with for a moment of privacy. Others slept on the train ride to help pass it faster while also making sure they were well rested to explore.
The train arrived at the station where they were meant to get off in Vietnam. The brakes engaged long before they reached the platform so that the stop would be smooth. When they made it, a voice came over the intercom system announcing their arrival at the Hanoi customs platform of the station. Energy buzzed through the cars as the students stood to stretch and grab their belongings. Once everyone had all their stuff they were herded of the plane by the teachers and chaperones that were with them.
While their luggage was unloaded from the train by some of the teachers students waited to grab their suitcases. Many of them had full luggage sets loaded for the trip because of how long it would be. Some had even more than that, pushing the limit of how many bags they were allowed to bring. Nagamatsu waited for his dark blue with black strips leading to his families logo on the front decorated luggage to appear. They had designer luggage made for the whole family every few years because of how much they all travel.
He spotted it being unloaded next to black cases that bore a large purple S on the front in cursive. With a bit of hope he wondered if it could be Saffron's luggage. He kept his eyes peeled as he walked forward to claim the set that was his. Thankfully on his way he saw her make her way over as well. His smile was evident on his face as he felt it was fate that his and her luggage were unloaded at the same time. Heh his and her luggage, he thought to himself with a spark of glee in his eyes. Until he remembered that he was already engaged to be betrothed to another.
His heart sank a little bit, but he shook it off quickly. No need to ruin a perfectly good trip with a wonderfully interesting person. They made it to their luggage and while they started to gather it together in stacks, she noticed his smile. She gave him an annoyed look, "What?" "Nothing, just excited for that we've made it is all," he said covering his joy.
They rolled their stack over to the other two chaperones that had the students lining up to go through customs. They were getting out their passports and temporary visas to prove that they had the proper documentation for their stay. It needed to be stamped and scanned by the government employees working there. Then their bags would have to be checked. It was a long process and it was expected to take an hour to get all the students and adults through.
One by one they went through the line ever inching forward at a slow pace. Saffron was worried that the transfer wouldn't go smoothly so she was slightly on edge. Her luggage was moving down the line to be inspected by one of the employees. They recognized her as the boss's daughter and discreetly slipped her weapon into the case. Once it was closed again, they stamped it with approval and sent her on her way after passing her a note.
No one noticed the transaction other than Sage who gave her sister a nod. Rosemary on the other hand had been distracting the other worker with her flirting. They were being a little too nosy for their own good but thankfully they were a pervert that liked to look at a nice body. This distracted them nicely while the exchange went on. After she noticed that Saffron had went through the line, she started to ignore him instantly. He so wasn't her type at all.
Nagamatsu had been in line behind her so he missed what had happened ahead of him. He met her on the other side of the gateway and waited with the rest of his class. Some students went to the restroom while the group watched their stuff. After a decent wait time the last person finally made it through the line. Other than a minor hiccup where one student had misplaced their visa for a moment it went ok.
Everyone gathered their things and loaded onto a bus that was available to shuttle people to the nearby hotels. When everyone was onboard, the head teacher in charge told the driver where they needed to go. It was a quick trip of maybe ten minutes to reach their hotel through traffic. The driver was fast and slightly scary from the way he weaved in and out of traffic in a hurry.
When they made our way off the bus several students were queasy, and some had to flat-out run for the nearest trash can. Nagamatsu's legs were slightly unsteady from his nerves after such a reckless ride. If his manager were here, he would have screamed at them. Saffron herself didn't mind the ride, in fact she found it to be fun, though for the sake of the other people on the trip she put on her act.
"I understand that you have a job to do and it requires speed, but you really should think of the wellbeing of your customers as well. You made some of my classmates sick and others uncomfortable. You are one of the first impressions some people get of your capitol and sometimes your country as a whole. You should do a better job of representing it," she scolded him. Although most of the students and some of the chaperones couldn't understand her because she said it in flawless Vietnamese.
Rosemary and Sage of course knew what she had said and were surprised with her ability to refrain from cussing him out. Though they knew she was smart enough to be weary of anyone else who spoke the language being on the trip. They all had been trained in foreign languages since they were children. It was some thing particularly useful in their family dealings. Though, out of all of them Sage knew the most languages and Rosemary knew the least.
Months leading up to the trip they were drilled on refreshing their knowledge of the language by their families hired tutors. Then while they were after school meetings about the trip important words were worked on to help the students who didn't know much. This knowledge was to be part of the basis for their pairing system when they got to the hotel. The students who had a stronger grasp of the language were to be paired with those who didn't.
Though first they needed to check into the hotel and get their room keys. They were paired into rooms by gender. Girls with girls and boys would room with girls. There would be teachers around each room so they could hear for anything inappropriate. Once Saffron found out what room she was in she grabbed one of the keys and headed off. She didn't care about what group she was stuck in and was more interested in unpacking her belongings.
She was upstairs emptying her suitcases into the dresser near the bed she had chosen. They had small tatami style beds that were on the ground, but they also had drawers built into them as well. She placed the weapon in one of the drawers under the bed, so it was within easy access. That was when the door to her room suddenly opened with the sounds of voices.
She would have panicked mildly if it weren't for the fact that she instantly recognized the sounds. It was her two sisters walking into the room to unpack. They were discussing the pairings that they were placed in. They had been broken into a total of thirteen groups. Although Saffron had missed that part of the conversation as well as who her roommates would be.
"There she is! I told you she ran away the first chance she got to get away from everyone," Rosemary told Sage. "I didn't doubt that to be the case. It seems they paired us to be in a room together," Sage responded while seeing that they were roomed together. "By the way Saffron, you are in a group with that cutie who likes you!" Rosemary said in a singsong tone. "Perhaps there will be love in the air on this trip for you after all sweetie," she cooed at her sister.
Her sister's annoying obsession with her nonexistent and unwanted love life was grating on her nerves. It earned the peppier girl a glare following a launched pillow smacking into her face. Sage just rolled her eyes before going over to her own chosen bed and unpacking her cases. "Hey! You smeared my make-up and messed up my hair!" Rosemary whined at Saffron. "Serves you right for sticking your nose where it doesn't belong," the purple-haired girl fired back.
"Ssssaaaagggggeeee!" the girlier one whined at her more level-headed sister. "I'm not getting into the middle of another one of your disputes. Just unpack your bags Rose," she told them firmly while using her sister's nickname. Rosemary huffed in displeasure before walking over to the only bed left. She began trying to unpack but one of the drawers was stuck. It took her a while of fighting with it to get it to open. When she finally did it landed right on her foot with a loud thud.
"OUCH!" she cried as she hopped around the room comically on one foot. Saffron laughed at her misfortune, "Serves you right, meddler." "You did this," Rosemary hissed while pointing at her. Sage simply sighed at them in exasperation, "How could she have known which one would have been yours?" This realization stopped Rosemary in her tracks as she thought about that. "Fine! This time you may be innocent but I'm watching you," she warned.
Saffron didn't respond as she stood up after finishing putting away her luggage. It was either stay here and deal with her aggravating sister or go for a walk. She decided she would search the hotel and see what admontites they had for the guests. When she left the room, she bumped into someone who was right outside of her door. They had been preparing to knock to get the attention of the inhabitants when she exited.
Their chest was firm and flat, so it was either a very flat chested girl or a boy. It's most likely a boy though since they had on a uniform from the other school. "Oh! Sorry Saffron. Though I'm glad that you're were headed out anyway. We have a mostly free day today to stretch our legs and explore the city. We were paired together, and I wanted to ask if you wanted to go shopping or something with me," Nagamatsu said.
She looked up and met his eyes. Of course, it was him. Who else could it have been that would be looking for her? What was this guy's deal with her? He had been following her around ever since the incident on the train. "Well… I guess. I don't have anything else to do tonight," she responded. A smile spread across his lips at her agreeing to go. She already had her wallet on her anyway so it might be fun.
If nothing else she could see what this guys deal was. Maybe she could learn some of his hidden dark secrets to use later on. If nothing else she could take him out if he gets in the way of her mission. While they were out, she was going to see about getting some intel on her target as well. It was better for her to go in with as many cards as she could for optimal success.
They told the teacher where they were going, and it seemed that two of them were going out as well. They decided to all head to the shopping district together and they would share a cab back to the hotel as well. If anything happened, they could call them to get some help from the teachers. They hailed a cab that was waiting outside and rode to the area with the best shopping in town.
When they made it there were shops lining the street with stands and even a strip mall a little further down. There were so many options that people should be able to find whatever they were looking for. They got out and split the fare before going their separate ways to shop. The teachers decided to look at a purse store in the strip mall while the teens chose to go to a clothing store.
Inside it was cooler than the outside was with the large fans that were attached to the ceiling on. They whirled above them blowing the air around so that their hair moved a little bit from it. There were rows of clothes in varying different sizes all separated into men's and women's. She made her way over to a rack of shirts that was on sale and began to look through them.
She thought she had enough clothes for the trip but if she found something else that she liked it couldn't hurt. As she flipped through the hangers looking at the shirts in the process Nagamatsu stood nearby. "Aren't you going to go look?" she asked him without looking at him. Her tone was bored and lacking enthusiasm. "Nah, I mainly just wanted to come out with you. So, the girls you got roomed with are your sisters?" he asked her to try and make small talk.
She nodded her head, "Yup." She stopped scrolling when she came across a band shirt that she recognized. It was the same one that were being sold at a concert she went to. After waiting hours in line to get a shirt they were sold out and she missed her chance. Or so she had thought until now because of her finding one in the store. Luckily, it was even in her size as she snatched it off the rack.
He noticed her enthusiasm as she took it before looking for other things to purchase. "So, what kind of school do you go to? I've never heard of it before," she said passively. She figured she would ease her way into smuggling information out of him. "It's an academy that was made for harnessing talents in the preforming arts. There are two main sections of the school, those who act and those that work as stage production," he told her.
"Cool. Which are you? Actually, never mind. Since you have a manager then your probably in the acting department," she said after remembering the train incident. "Correct. My parents are both famous actors and models, so they really wanted me to attend the school since I was little. It has a proud history of one hundred years in the states," he told her.
"What about your school?" he asked. She moved to another rack after finding nothing she liked on it. She had skipped the one with dresses on it since they weren't her type of thing. "I go to the Bethel Worth Prep Boarding School for girls. They focus on instilling us with things we need as ladies in high society. Tea ceremony, flower arrangement, and calligraphy for example are some of their more famous classes. They have an emphasis on Japanese culture but do offer other interests as well," she explained.
"Other interests. Like what?" he asked wanting to hear her voice more while he noticed a dress on the rack. "Oh, you know newspaper club, debate teams, scouting, drama, and of course my favorite. Martial arts club," she answered. "That's nice, we have a drama club outside of classes as well. In fact, I'm the president of the club," he told her. He took the dress off the rack to inspect it better before making a decision.
They kept looking around the shop as they continued to talk to one another. "Would you like me to carry those for you?" he offered her. She was taken aback for a moment, but it wasn't all that strange of a request. He was probably just trying to be nice. After a moment she finally responded, "Sure. So, you must have a lot of friends at your school then?"
"Yeah, they like to ask me to do stuff for them all the time. Especially when it comes to the kinds of connections my parents have," he told her with a hint of sorrow in his voice while taking her things to carry. He didn't like always being taken advantage of by everyone, his fiancé, parents, friends, and even his manager. They all claimed to be there for him but really, they only wanted what they wanted. Saffron was the only one so far that wasn't like that. It was a large part of the reason he was drawn to her.
"What about you? Do you have many friends at your school?" he asked her. She moved one to look at the jeans after handing him a few more things that she liked, including a purple leather jacket. It seemed edgy and if she was going to go on more missions for her dad, she needed to look tough. Also, the thick material would work better at stopping a knife than a fancy blouse.
"I have a few but I mainly have two best friends that I really hang out with the most. Though one is a total whore who is trying to have twenty boyfriends at once. Which is totally a bitchy skank move by the way. The other is better even though she is hot headed and can explode easily with her short fuse. There are plenty of people who like me, but I don't really hang out with them outside of school. Same with the club members," she said.
She grabbed a few pairs of jeans before continuing, "We wanted to start our own club at one point, but my friends are crazy when it comes to their goals. So, I'd rather just stick with the martial arts club for now to keep things simpler." She decided to keep the information about the people in his life making him sad to herself for now. Though from what she could tell they were all total users and nothing more.
"Most of the students at my school, work really hard though we do have some that could use improvement," he told her trying to change the subject. It seemed friends weren't something she was really interested in and he didn't want to hear her reject him so soon. He at least wanted a chance to show her his value as a potential friend. She nodded her head as she listened to him talk about them.
"Sounds like they are really just talentless people who will never make it anywhere. They only keep going to the school because their families are either rich or have friends in high places. If they don't deserve to be on stage, then they should be stuck behind the scenes and be glad their at least still doing something involved with the production. They shouldn't piss and moan while dragging everyone else down with them," she stated without remorse.
He didn't have the nerve to say such things about them, "They just need to work harder and then they will be as good as me. If not even better. Though I tell them that they still aren't kind to me." His voice trailed off at the end though she still heard it. "Look. Your natural talent is none of their fucking business. If they don't like it then piss on them. The next time they are rude to you then stand up to them. Tell them the honest truth that they need to hear. No matter how god damn brutal it is. They will never make it and being nasty bastards to those that will isn't going to help their cause," she told him bluntly.
He was astounded by her blunt vulgarness despite the fact that she goes to a school for high society. This girl really was something he wasn't. She was able to be herself with ease and when she needed to seem proper, she was. Hell, she might have even been a better actress than he was with all her innate talent. "That's not the only reason guys hate me at my school. Because of my fame, and the movies I've been in, girls always seem to fall for me. They tend to swarm around me when I'm recognized and there ends up being a fight that breaks out," he tells her.
"That isn't your fault either. That's their fault for getting their panties in a twist over a random actor. Maybe if they spent more time on important things than trying to get you in their cunts, they would be successful themselves. Instead their too busy being horny toads over a guy that probably isn't even interested. At least that's how it sounds from the way you talk about it," she said.
"I mean they are fans but nothing more. I'm not in love with any of them because I don't even know them. When it comes to that I don't like to abuse my position instead I'd rather get to know someone who doesn't even know I'm famous. Someone who understands me without all of the glamour and likes the real me. Not some guy I play in a movie or what I look like," he told her with a hint of wistfulness in his voice.
They had been shopping for a while and she was nearly finished in that store. She was looking at one more rack while his words sank in. Someone who likes him without all of that. For that to happen they would have to get to know him like… she was… The realization had her face turning bright crimson inside of the increasingly popular store. He of course noticed the state of her face after looking at something he had found pleasing on the rack.
He added it to the large stack now in his arms before he commented on his observation. "Are you okay? Your face is all red," he said. She tried to fan her face like she was hot to cover it, "Yeah it's just getting a bit warm in here now. Maybe we should finish up and head outside," she suggested. Her cover must have worked because he nodded his head before guiding her toward the check out through the crowd.
His slightly taller frame severed well for parting the people so they could get through. She stayed right behind him so she could make it through before the hole closed again in the growing crowd. They made it to the registrar and waited for the one person ahead of them to finish their purchases. It took a few moments as things grew even more awkward for Saffron.
She tried to take her stuff back for him so he could wait by the door for her. However, he refused and told her it was fine. He could handle it fine, no worries. Little did she know that when they reached the actual check out desk, he sat down all the items and had the lady ring them up. He managed to speak enough Vietnamese to handle the check out process himself. Instead of letting her pay for her things he paid for all of it himself. The cashier commented that they were such a cute couple and he was so sweet for treating the girl to a day of shopping.
Saffron practically cussed him out on their way out of the store without yelling at him. "What the fuck was that for!? I have money. You aren't the only kid who goes to some fancy ass rich kid store. I could have paid for my own damn stuff without you doing that. The absolute fuck are you trying to do dude?" she growled at him. He didn't answer at first as he walked over to a vending machine and purchased a cold water from its wares. After it dispensed, he reached down and grabbed it before unscrewing the top to loosen it before handing it to her.
"You were getting over heated inside the store so here drink this to help cool you down," he told her. She wanted to smack the bottle right out of his hand, but she was also too thirsty to do so. In the end she ended up taking it and drinking about half of it before wiping the wetness from her lips with the back of her free hand. The she closed it before handing it back to the only hand he had available because his right was laden with the two large bags from the store.
"That is beside the point now fess up! Why in the hell did you buy my items for me instead of letting me pay?" she demanded with a stomp of her foot. She was in a fit of awkward embarrassment from his actions. First, he carried her stuff, then bought all of it without even saying a word, and then the water. What game was this guy playing at!? Especially after all that shit he had said about his idea of a girlfriend.
Her face flushed once more as the last word of her thought resounded in her mind over and over. Girlfriend. Girlfriend. Girlfriend, it echoed mercilessly as it bounced around in her brain. AGH! She screamed in her mind in frustration. She was supposed to be getting intel on her mission and dirt on him not playing around with some boy. At this rate he was getting more information on her despite her withholding the good stuff. Why was it so damn easy for her to open her big fucking mouth around this guy?
"I had put some items in the mix as well and I didn't feel right having you pay for them. So instead of ruining the surprise by separating them I just bought you the whole set. You can look at them back at the hotel where its cooler and you can relax better than out here. I found some things that matched the sizes you were buying and seemed like they would complement your eyes and hair really well. If they aren't your type of thing when you look at them, I understand but I figured it would be a nice thought either way," he said with a smile.
He… he did it because he had found clothes that he thought would complement my features. In the sizes similar to what I was buying. How could he even know if they would actually fit based on that? She was so frazzled she didn't know what to think or say at this point. Hell, she was just thankful that around that time their teachers were finished as well. "I hope you both enjoyed your time shopping!" one said in an excited tone for the things she had found.
"We should get heading back so we can be ready for supper time at the hotel with the rest of our group," the more mature teacher had said. Quickly they hailed another cab to transport them all back to the hotel. The ride was mainly silent other than the chattering of the two teachers and occasionally Nagamatsu chiming in. Saffron couldn't even focus on what they were saying as she sat in a daze. Her brain had practically fried itself thinking about him buying her stuff mixed with the fact of him talking about girls.
Her brain hadn't rebooted itself until they had made it back to the hotel. Then once it had loaded back up to functioning capacity the only thing, she could think was how this was all Rosemary's fault. All that damn talk about love being in the air and shit had gotten her all messed up. She was so going to get her back for this later when the perfect moment presented itself to her.
He handed her the bags when they made it upstairs before returning to their own rooms. His was about four doors down from hers and across the hall. There were several boys waiting on him to arrive saying stuff about playing games after dinner. She opened the door to find her sisters both were gone. They left a note saying they went with their groups to check out the pool before supper.
She was glad to have a moment alone after everything that had just happened in the shopping district. After sitting at the desk in the room she noticed eyed the two bags suspiciously. When they were shopping, she had mildly noticed that the pile seemed larger than it should, but she hadn't paid that much mind to it. Now she was wishing that she had. Dare she open it and see what nonsense was inside or just save it till a lot later when she needed some clean clothes?
With a sigh she decided it was better to open it now rather than later. She got the two bags and started pulling out the contents to sort them. Three pairs of jeans and the band shirt were in one of the bags. Inside of the other was the blouses she had found that were nice and matched some of her pants that were without tops to make outfits. Then there were three things she didn't recognize. They must be the additions that Nagamatsu had made to the pile while they were shopping.
One was a mid-calf length dress that had a bit of a slit up to the knee on each side. It was maroon with lilacs over it and the shoulders were covered by thick straps of material. It was actually fairly pretty though the sleeves seemed odd. Upon further inspection she realized that the sleeves were two parts. The straps for the shoulders and then parts that rested around her arms at the armpits like disconnected sleeves. It showed hits of skin but nothing scandalous or even inappropriate for the trip.
It made her hair look more vibrant when placed over the material. She actually found herself not minding the aesthetic at all despite the fact that she normally would have chose it herself. They other two were similar style blouses that looked airy and had lightweight movement without being see-through. One was white and the other was more of a baby blue with more waves in the material than the first one. The white was short sleeves while the blue one had long flowing sleeves that delicately wrapped around her arms.
All three items worked well with her features and made her look breathtaking. She wouldn't have picked any of them out for herself because she would have thought they wouldn't look good on her. Though he did say his parents were models too so maybe they taught him to have an eye for fashion along the way. Either that or if he had stylists, they did it. Or maybe it was a part of one of his acting classes? Maybe that taught the importance of costuming choices?
She wasn't really sure, and it was hard for her to think as she felt her face turning red again from how thoughtful he had been. He didn't even need to do it and yet he had. Just for her. Unprompted. He had to have thought about her body in detail to figure out what would fit so nicely while looking good on her material wise. Not to mention would feel nice on the skin without being heavy or scratchy. They even allowed for a surprising amount of movement.
Did even take into consideration the fact of her martial arts background and incase she needed to defend herself or someone else from and attacker trying to kidnap them for ransom or trafficking purposes. From the amount of movement, they allowed in them it certainly seemed that way. Why? How? This… this is too much! Why would he do this for me? Is it because of what happened on the train? Does he like me? Is it trying to trick me by being so nice to me?
All her thoughts swirled inside of her head as she tried to make sense of this kindness. There had to be an ulterior motive. No one was that nice to just be nice, right? Her mind just couldn't fathom the reasons and her face ended up in the pillow as she screamed. "AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!" came the muffled sound as her sister's opened the door.