𝕃𝕖𝕥'𝕤 𝕊𝕖𝕒 (FEM! Reader X Arataki Itto)

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ¹¹

It was all quiet. All that could be heard was the steady waves lapping against the boat, Ushi's somewhat loud snoring, and Half-Oni's obnoxious munching. I'm pretty sure he was doing it on purpose.

I was still rowing when a pain suddenly shot up my forearm. I inhaled sharply as I pulled the oars back onto the boat and examined my arm. "Give me that." He abruptly leaned forward and grabbed the oars. "I can still-" He silenced me by throwing the bag at my face and I caught it. Barely.

"Your weak arms were gonna fail ya if you kept going. It's best if you just let a real pro take care of it." He rowed and I fell silent, trying not to show my smile.
'Knew he wasn't going to stay quiet.'

Was it just me, or are we moving much faster now that he's the one rowing?

I shouldn't have looked up. I saw his taut arms flexing with every row. His skin looked sheen with a fine layer of sweat which only accentuated his defined muscles. I stared for a moment longer than I should've.

"Like what ya see~?" My eyes widened in horror, realising he caught me.
"Shut up! I wasn't looking!" I retorted, folding my arms in a defensive manner. "Riiight... I don't mind, though~" I could hear him smirking and that only made my blush deepen.

I sifted through the bag to distract myself with food instead of having to look at him, occasionally handing Ushi a piece. "How long until we get there?" I asked, trying to move on from that embarrassment as soon as possible.

"We're not too far, probably. Hold on. Look over there," He pointed behind me and I turned to see nothing while I bit into the melon. It wasn't half bad, actually.

"What? I don't see anything?" I turned around again, only to be met with ice cold water. "Hey-! What the hell?! My melon!" When the asshole splashed me, I accidentally tossed the melon into the ocean.

"Hahaha! Payback!" He struggled to speak as he wheezed and I glared daggers at him. "I'll shove that oar so far up your ass..." I warned lowly and Ushi cowered beneath my seat from my darkened aura.

"Oh-ho! I've never heard you swear like that before!" He smirked and I gripped onto my seat with white knuckles. "I am going to-" I stopped when I saw something move in the water behind him.

"What was that?" I asked, brows knitted in concern. "Nice try, I'm not falling for that." I spotted something that looked like a fin and stood up to get a better look. "I'm dead serious, I think there's something in the water." He rolled his eyes and just continued to row without a care. "You can't use my own trick against me, Shortie."

It disappeared and I frantically searched the waters around us, moving from one side to the other on the boat in my search for it.
"Give it up! I'm not biting!"
"Idiot, I'm not trying to get you to bite!"

Just then, we felt something bump the bottom of the boat. "Shit!" I quickly steadied myself and looked at Arataki with a I-told-you-so look, "See!?"
"It's probably just a sea turtle or something." He said, doubtful.

We felt another bump against the side of the boat but rougher this time round. "Moo?!" Ushi hid by Arataki's feet with his tail tucked between his legs. "A really big sea turtle?" Even Ushi was looking at him in annoyance.

We heard a low whistling sound, followed by strange moaning. It sounded like something was mimicking a whale's call.

"What the hell is that?!" Arataki stood up and looked around us, fear only now evident in his features. "No, row faster!" He dropped back down and I gripped tightly to the sides as he rowed faster.

"Moo!" Ushi walked over to me, off balance by the waves and the speed of Arataki's rowing. I grabbed him and tucked him tightly under my arm for safety.

I saw a disturbance in the water behind us and without warning, a huge sea creature leapt up from the water. It was longer more than larger, it's body shape looked like a serpent's and had a long tail. I saw its elongated jaws open as it let out another series of whistles and clicks, revealing large, serrated teeth. Spine-like fins ran down it's back from it's head to it's tail. It was pitch black in colour with bright blue accents along the fins, gills, and face.

"That's not a fucking whale! Row! ROW!" I yelled at Arataki to hurry. "I'M ROWING AS FAST AS I CAN!" It dove into the water again, causing a huge tide to push us forward with much force.

"Crap! Hold on!" I thought we were about to get thrown overboard but somehow stabilized ourselves. "Where's it now?!" Arataki asked as he rowed furiously. "Uh I-I don't know," I looked around but it was camouflaged in the dark waters. "I can't see it..." We remained silent, listening for it. Watching for any signs of it.

"There." I heard the low pitched whistling not far beneath us and looked at the part oni in a panic. "Haha! Look!" I turned around to what he was looking at and saw land in distance. "Yes! Almost there!" I laughed in disbelief.

It was cut short when I felt the boat lift from underneath. "Y/n!" He grabbed onto the boat and shared the same look of fear. I looked down and saw jaws on either side of the boat. "Oh f-"

Arataki snatched Ushi and leapt towards me, throwing himself against me and we all fell into the water below just as the monster clamped it's jaws over the boat, sending wood splinters everywhere. I heard water rush through my ears and couldn't see anything in the darkness.

'How do I keep finding myself in these situations?'

To be continued...

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