***In which Cody exits stage left***

"… Ah, fuck," were the only words I could barely mumble under my breath as I heard sandals slapping the ground behind me. Please, please let it not be Mr. Scary Looking Guy.

Now that I thought about it, it didn't sound like him, and when I heard Sanosuke grumble, "It just had to be Gen-san…"

Gen-san? Who dat? That's when I turned to see Baldy heading towards us.

At first, I wanted to sigh in relief. Baldy was a nice enough of a guy (he was one of the few who actually voted for me to be spared in the beginning), so you could say I had a bit of a soft spot for him. Besides, he's practically armless, minus the swords he wore on his sides.

Come on! You have to believe me! He looks like one of those fun uncles you're really eager to see at your birthday party when you've twelve because you know he's gonna sneak you extra birthday cake and give you money AND a birthday gift.

So you could say I had no worries when seeing Baldy coming up to us. However, another look at the guys told me I probably should be worried.

Or maybe Baldy no likey strip clubs, hmm?

"Uhh, we—" Heisuke began, but his tongue seemed to have stopped operating mid-sentence. Pity began to swell in my chest at the defeated look on his face.

Honestly, who in their right minds could say no to that? He's practically begging for a knight in shining armor to come and save his ass.

Lucky for him, I got a straight A in Knight-in-Shining-Armor archetypes in high school.

"We were just talking, sir," I broke in cheerfully. My charm seemed to work on Spike, why not Baldy?

He glanced over in my direction, arching an eyebrow. "Really? What about?"

Oops. I forced my face to stay happy, despite inside I was panicking over thinking of a possible topic we could have engaged in that had nothing to do with strip clubs.

One word kept sticking in my head, as my eyes slowly wandered to Baldy's swords. "Swords?"

God! I sound so meek and unsure! He'll never believe me now!

"Yeah, swordplay!" Heisuke intervened suddenly. "We were explaining our training exercises to Cody here, you see?"

Heisuke, can I say that I hereby take back everything negative I have said or thought about you?

Shinpachi joined in, adding, "Yeah, 'cuz we were going to train, and Cody here wanted to know more about it. You know how she loves asking questions, right?"

Shinpachi, you are smarter than you look. You are not only Mr. Muscles but Mr. Quick, too. Baldy was even buying their bullshit, fast.

"Wonderful," he replied, smiling. "Well, if you have plans on training, do you mind if I join you?"

Oh dear God, guys, just say yes! You can go get lap dances later! Shinpachi and Heisuke looked alarmed by this statement. Even Sanosuke, who had yet to say anything to Baldy, looked like Baldy had just said something insane. Oh, how their plans had magnificently backfired on them.

I'll be honest. If I were truly a sadist and cared nothing for these guys, I would have thrown more fire wood into the fireplace. But, alas, I'm too nice of a person. Against my inner mischief, I said something that I hoped would get them out of this jam.

"Uh, before you go, can someone lead me back to my room? I got lost on the way from the bathroom."

Perfect. The guys' eyes widened in realization of what I just did. Come on, you idiots. Take the bait. I know not all three of you can take me back, but maybe you can come up with something on the fly…

"I'll take you back," Heisuke announced. "You guys can just train without me."

"Now hold on," Sanosuke interrupted, a look of mischief in his yellow eyes, "if this young lady is having problems just getting back and forth from the bathroom to her room, maybe showing her around the key places here would be beneficial?"

"Huh?" Of course, Heisuke was clueless as to the reason why Sanosuke offered such a thing. Although I was by no stretch of the imagination was complaining.

Sanosuke, you are the most beautiful and wonderful creature on the face of the earth. I love you more than you will ever know, so never change. But just don't let that get to your head, as I'm still mad you managed to outsmart me with my own logic, kay?

Shinpachi, however, was not having any of this. "What the hell, you guys?" he snapped as the two came over to me and took my hands. "I had expected Heisuke to pull something like this, but you, too, Sano?"

"Now, now," Baldy interjected. "Harada-kun has a good point. Toudou-kun, Harada-kun, take care of the young lady, will you?"

"Will do, Gen-san," Heisuke chirped as he and Sanosuke began dragging me away. Dipping his head low enough to reach my ear (as Sanosuke was really, really tall), Sanosuke whispered, "Time to go now!"

"Why?" I whispered back. Heisuke answered my question with his own hushed answer. "Shinpattsuan's got a bit of a temper…"

"Ah." I nodded. "Well, then, off to an adventure, eh?"

Yes, away from the loud, masculine voice of the Wicked Witch of the West, who, although wasn't threatening to off me and my precious dog, too, was having none of us getting to escape scott-free.

You know what? I'll say this once.

I'm starting to love this place.

Well, I hate to end on this note, I really do. But I have some bad news.

I'm ending this version of The Misadventures of a Foreigner. Yes, ending it. I'm actually not happy with something that is key in the plot, so I have to change up the entire thing.

However, the good news is I am revamping TMoaF, under the same title, with duel protagonists, Cody and Chizuru. Yes, so now we get the snarkiness of Cody, and the overall level-headed of Chizuru. They'll do well together, amirite?

I will explain further, once I post the first chapter of the new TMoaF, why I decided to do this. But don't worry, I'll keep this story up for your entertainment. I look forward to seeing you in the new version of TMoaF, which is posted now! Bye bye!