Kei approached Nori once they had found open sea. "Captain," he said cautiously, "are you alright?"
"Yeah."
"Masa should probably look at your injuries. He's healing Reiko right now, but he can do you right afterwards."
"Mm."
He leaned over the rail with her. "Nori, listen. I didn't know Ryota that well. You probably had your reasons."
"I don't want to talk about it."
"You did really well fighting the Ivory Prince. I bet you didn't even need us to save you."
"Thanks."
There was a short silence. Kei suddenly hugged her very hard. "It's over," he whispered. And that was all she needed. She hugged him back, even tighter. And then she did something she thought would she would never do, she kissed him. This sensation was so new to Nori, her heart fluttered unnaturally. When she opened her eyes, she laughed at his expression.
"What? Too soon?"
"Perfect," he muttered. "Come here, kokoro." He pulled her close again, careful to avoid stabbing her with the hook, and kissed her back. A wolf whistle sounded and they both resurfaced.
"Hey, nice going!" Reiko laughed, giving them both the thumbs up. "Don't let me stop the fun!"
Michi, who was sharpening her arrows, giggled and gave a thumbs up, but Masa blushed in irritation. "A relationship between one of the crew and the captain might interfere-" Reiko clapped a hand over Masa's mouth jovially and dragged him back inside.
"Well, Kei? Where should we go next?"
"You're the captain, you should decide."
"Give yourself some credit! Come on, where do you want to go? Arpeggio? Feierlich? Oppure?"
"I've heard Oppure is nice this time of year. It's pretty exotic."
"Good, good! Masa! Set a course for Oppure!"
"I'm not your navigator! Ask Michi!"
"You're the smart person, Masa. Don't backtalk me."
"I can do it if Masa doesn't want to. I memorized tons of maps when I was little."
"Let Masa have his fun, Michi! He needs a little more work!"
"Reiko, when have you ever done anything?"
Kei and Nori laughed. Yes, everything was going to work out just fine. If Nori was sure of anything, she was sure of that. And who knew? Maybe there would be another adventure like this one out there. Well, there was only one way to find out.
*x's song: Weeds or Wildflowers by Parsonfield*
YOU ARE READING
Motley (#Wattys2016)
Adventure"You're a captain? Of what?" Nori glanced sideways at Michi. "It's a secret. You can't tell anyone." "Cross my heart and hope to die!" "Yeah... We're all pirates." Nori Akagi thought she had it made with the rest of the Marziale Motley pirate crew...
