The Shogun

Chapter 20 : A New Abode

Now

Location: Around fifteen nautical miles offshore the Island of Nabu

On the calm waters of the sea, breaking through the gentle rises of the waves in the hours of pre-dawn, was 'Umineko' , a modern marvel of a catamaran. Named after the black-tailed gulls due to its colors, this catamaran swam like a dream. When it reaches optimal speeds, the boat would raise itself from the surface to reduce the air drag, reducing the time to reach Nabu by nearly six hours. The deck was spacious for a catamaran and inside it were bunk beds for the patrons who rode this marvel.

Shido was deep in his sleep, the bobbing of the boat acting as a gentle cradling of a mother nursing a child. It was one of the few times he would actually entertain sleep. The mattress of the bunk was soft, giving the feeling as if he was sleeping on clouds, but he would have preferred a different color blanket. The white coloured one the crew had provided reminded him was nice, but when you wake up in the middle of the night and see your fellow passenger covered entirely in white, it reminded him of a morgue and that nearly caused him to soil his pants.

Right now, he was at ease. His luggage under his bunk, Kurumi sleeping on the bunk next to him, his holo-phone connected to the charging socket he always carried. The moment of serenity was what he was leading towards in life and in that state of sleep, he was doing his best to savor every single moment of it, because once he woke up, it would get very hectic.

But he couldn't do that because suddenly he felt someone shaking him. Being a light sleeper, his eyes instantly open to see Kurumi, bed-head and all looking down at him and say, "Wake up, sleepy head, we will be nearing the island in two hours".

The finance manager slowly straightens his body up, as he looks at the fellow traveler and to say that he was a bit flabbergasted would be an understatement, but he kept it to himself. It was the first time he saw Kurumi in such a state. The prim and proper, energetic reporter sporting a terrible morning bed-head was definitely something he didn't fathom, but it also had quite a charm.

"I didn't take you for an early riser", Shido says with yawn as he slowly gets up from his bunk, making sure that the boat didn't disorient him.

"I'm a reporter, Shido. Being the first person on the scene pays for the studio, and in turn pays me well. So I made it a habit to get up early, even if I don't like it", Kurumi replies as she tries to remove her bag, but the finance manager beats her to it.

"Well you can take it easy now. Consider it a vacation you really needed", Shido says as he places her bag on her bunk.

"I'm used to not taking a vacation, Shido", she replies as she starts to unzip her bag. Kurumi had a record of zero leaves in the studio. She was known to work even on the off days. While the finance manager was prone to taking leaves because of stress, Kurumi just pushed on and their work was drastically different as well. If Shido wants, he could do his work from the comfort of his apartment, her job had her on the move everytime and since she was the best reporter of the channel, her pages on the passport were completely filled with stamps from her visits.

Now it made sense on why his boss wanted him to take her on this trip. It was to cool her down. It was Akira-san's way of showing gratitude for Kurumi's endless service to the channel. And that kind of worried him. He was just a finance manager and she was a famous reporter. She was completely out of his league.

"Well there is a first time for everything", Shido says as he proceeds to take out his own bag.

"You are forgetting that we are on a job", she retorts.

"To which sir said that we can take our own time", he retorted back. The reporter wanted to say something in retaliation, but she simply sighs and walks out with her spare clothes and toiletries.