A Tiger and a Dragon

Chapter 2 A good deal

"Welcome to the Odachi Hotel Osaka, how may I help you today?" said the store clerk with a stay here. "Can you offer any discounts for longer bookings?"asked Ryuuki patiently. "One second let me get my manager," said the clerk before turning around and leaving. Taiga still stuck close to Ryuuji's side which looked slightly odd to bystanders because of the height difference. Still, Taiga had the face of an 18 year old which was enough to waive questioning. After what felt like an eternity the manager came out.The manager was very short, almost as short as Taiga with a plump body and a squashed looking face. "Hi there I heard that you were taking an extended stay at our hotel, could I ask how long?". Ryuuji, deep in thought for a moment thinking how to negotiate, had a stroke of genius. All he needed was for Taiga to go along with the plan despite her knowing nothing about this. Still he thought it was worth a try, "Taiga do you want to stay at this hotel for all 3 weeks or split it up between hotels." Ryuuji said this loud enough for the manager to hear without setting off any alarms. He tried subtly signaling to Taiga to choose the latter. Taiga, having no clue what Ryuuji was saying just stood there confused. After the longest 5 seconds of his life Taiga finally understood what Ryuuji was trying to say although she didn't know why. Not questioning him, she just went along and said ''2 different hotels I guess". With a sigh of relief Ryuuji turned back to the manager, "Could you do 50% off for 11 nights?" (Which is obviously a ridiculous price.) The hotel manager, almost laughing, asked the young man, "you must be joking right?" Ryuuji gave him a death stare, finally the scary eyes he received from his dad that he was tortured for in high school are coming in handy."How about this kid? 3 weeks, 40% off."Suggested the short plump manager in a high pitched voice. Taiga, not thinking for a moment, exclaimed, "Aren't we going to be out for at least 2 months?" Ryuuji, gasped lightly in shock with a look of fear in his eyes. The manager saw an opportunity and took it, " Better offer kids, 1 Month 50% off and 55% off if you want to add more days afterwards. said the manager, smirking knowing he had them. Ryuuji reluctantly agreed, he knew he wasn't getting a better offer than that. Taiga, realizing what she did, felt guilty and looked down. Little did any of them know the sheer genius of Ryuuji's plan. Ryuuji first offered a price that would be an obvious no for the manager to shoot back with his own price as most hotel managers already know this strategy. He coupled this with the fact the hotel owner now knew he wanted to stay 3 weeks but only asked for 1 week. So the hotel owner gave him a moderate deal. But what the best part of the plan was, that he counted on Taiga accidently informing the manager that they were out for 2 months. Now the Hotel manager knew how long their full stay was so gave a good deal for one month and tried pushing them to stay a bit extra knowing that they only wanted to stay 1 month but with a little convincing they might choose otherwise.It was Ryuuji's plan all along to stay here for the first month. "So, will you be booking a room with 1 or 2 beds?" asked the manager with a wink, raising his eyebrows and smirking. Ryuuji went on, turning red like a tomato, "well I suppose we'll take 1 be-" Taiga quickly interrupted and kicked the back of his knee causing Ryuuji to stumble forward and hit his face on the counter.. "He means 2 beds, " Taiga said with a forced smile. "Well if you say so" said the manager looking down at a monitor chuckling. "Hey Ryuuji, my feet hurt. I'm going to sit down for a bit," complained Taiga before walking away and taking a seat in the large lobby which was filled with couches and comfortable looking leather chairs on one side while the entrance to the restaurant was on the other . The manager spoke, " I'm so sorry but it seems we no longer have any rooms with two beds. Is a room with one bed ok? Asked the manager, grinning. ''Ryuuji, feeling embarrassed, said " It's ok, I'll find another hotel". "Wait, I'll give you a 55% discount if you stay" the manager interjected quickly. Ryuuji, unable to refuse such a deal, looked back to make sure Taiga wasn't listening and took the offer. "Your room number is 34 on the second floor, enjoy your stay at the Odachi hotel," said the manager with a smile. Ryuuji looked over at Taiga pondering what's going to happen when she sees the room as he walked with taiga to the elevator.