[Chapter 1]
Takahashi Minami sat inside of her captain’s quarter, organizing her desk. A couple of days had passed since that incident with the redcoats and surely repair was needed for the ship. Of course, she was drowned in a sea of sheer paperwork. Stress overtaking her mind, she groaned and slumped forward in her seat. ‘Too much work for such little damage! It’s only the railings on the right side of the ship for crying out loud!’ She paused for a moment to think deeper. ‘If the damage is worse than it is right now….’ Minami then shuddered at the mere thought of it. ‘Not only will our money supply run extremely low but also the amount of paperwork might as well kill me.’
She complained even more under her breath till she heard a knock on the quarter’s room. Quickly sitting up and straightening the white collar of her uniform, she responded, “Come in.” The door to her room opened and revealed none other than Maeda Atsuko. A loud sigh came out of Minami. “Oh, it’s just you Acchan.”
Atsuko silently giggled as she approached the captain whom slumped forward once again. “Are you ready to come out and eat? Most everyone had already finished.” Minami lifted her face up and raised her eyebrows. “Is it already that late in the evening?” The person in front of her nodded in response. A soft sigh escaped her lips, pinching the bridge of her nose. “And I’m guessing you still have yet had your supper?” Another nod.
She then got up from her seat, stretching her hands up into the air as far as it could extend before dropping it down to her side. The sound of her stomach growling could be heard loud and clear in the room, causing her to blush slightly. ‘Bad stomach! Don’t growl so loud!’ she mentally scolded. From the corner of her eyes, she could see Atsuko smirking. Minami then glared at Atsuko. “Don’t be laughing!”
She simply rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. “You must be hungry, so quit talking and let’s go! You aren’t the only person that’s hungry….”
“R-Right…” Minami knew better than to keep a hungry Atsuko waiting. She was surprised enough that she would wait for her during her usual office work. And she-no, everyone knew that if Atsuko is very hungry, then they might as well be facing a demon from hell.
They both exited out of the room with Minami holding the door for Atsuko. Once they took a step out of the captain’s quarter, the smell of cooked meat and vegetables wavered into the air. The growling in Minami’s stomach increased a notch, causing her to whistle in hopes of hiding such embarrassing act. Atsuko from behind immediately noticed, but tried to be polite and hold in her laughter with difficulty. The two figures moved forward and soon entered the kitchen to their right.
“Ah, you’re finally coming out of your hole to eat, hm?” the chef, Kasai Tomomi, teased as she was stirring the pot half-filled with soup. Her brown haired tied in a ponytail that rode down to her upper back, she wore a cute pink apron above her white buttoned shirt and skirt. Kasai was known to be a very well known chef back in her hometown and was known to cook delicious dishes that was healthy for a sailor. She reached over to the cabinet from above, grabbing two bowls and settling it down on a nearby empty table. She poured the soup that she was cooking into the two bowls. Then she placed the spoons into the bowl for convenience. “The drinks can be found outside as usual. If it’s empty, give me a call so I can refill it for you all.”
Minami and Atsuko gave their thanks to Kasai before taking their bowl of food. Grabbing the bowls, they exited out of the kitchen to be faced with the huge dining room. Many of the wooden tables were empty, but one remained occupied with a couple of members.
“Oi~ Looks like Bakamina came out of her hole, eh?” one of the many members, Oshima Yuko, mocked as they arrived at the table.
“Just shut up you squirrel,” Minami grumbled under her breath as she seated herself across Yuko, along with Atsuko right beside her.
“So how much is the repair going to be, Takamina?” the girl that seated to Yuko’s right, Kojima Haruna, asked. She was nibbling on her loaf of bread, tilting her head to the side in a cute fashion.
Minami shook her head. “A lot to my surprise. About 500 golds for just the small parts of the railings alone.” She scooped up a spoonful of soup that contained mushrooms, small chunks of cooked beef and lettuce and put it into her mouth. Haruna in front of her looked upward while she bit into her bread. “That isn’t a lot, is it?”
“Maybe not, but if we look at it in terms of how much damages has been done and what parts of the ship has been damaged, it seriously is too much.”
Haruna had an ‘oh’ face, trailing her eyes downward to the table. “That really is a lot… And since you and Yuko weren’t able to get the money from your account, what are we going to do now?”
Minami shrugged her shoulders. “Maybe the next port we arrive at we’ll try another attempt to retrieve some more money in hopes of recovering the lost 500 golds at least. Just so as long as the town doesn’t know who exactly I am and the redcoats aren’t guarding the area.”
“Pfft, like they won’t be,” Yuko rolled her eyes. She took a huge gulp from the metal mug containing freshly squeezed orange juice and slammed it down harshly on the surface of the table. “It would be nice if this entire mess could be cleared up…”
Silence then ensued between the four members.
Ever since a year ago, Takahashi Minami was considered Japan’s top commander-in-chief. She was known to command troops well and sailed the high seas with such precision that with every mission given out, very few loss were at hand. Minami was feared and to be respected. However, her title and status was soon wiped away when she herself went on the mission with a couple of her sailors to England in order to deliver a letter.
She didn’t know what the letter exactly contained since the emperor of Japan going by the name Aki-P commanded that it be sent with high urgency and care. So Minami didn’t bother checking what was in the letter and did as she was told. She arrived to one of the main ports in England. Leaving the other members behind on the ship, she made a decision to go alone and meet with the king that the letter was suppose to be delivered to.
Upon arrival, she was instead met with a dead king. King Leon the Fifth was his name and he was killed. She remembered exactly how dead he was when she first saw him. His body laid downward with his face turned to the side. Mouth was opened as though he was screaming out in fear or anger and eyes wide open with shock. Both of his hands were opened and shattered glasses were nearby one of his hands. Then there was the fresh pool of crimson red blood that formed under his body and soaked into the red carpet. To her unfortunate luck, Minami bear no witnesses other than herself when the knights and guards came into the room.
Leaving with no other available options, Minami quickly escaped from the castle and successfully returned to her ship in time to retreat. Ever since she left the area, she and her crew were marked as wanted around the world.
Minami never liked having anyone being blamed for the problem that she herself had gotten into alone. So she gave a choice to her crew to be dropped off in a nearby country and leave the ship as though they had nothing to do with her. Many agreed to it, but only five stayed with her. Those five members were Maeda Atsuko, Shinoda Mariko, Itano Tomomi, Kojima Haruna, and Minegishi Minami. No matter how many times she told them to leave her and even forcefully persuaded them, they wouldn’t leave their spot and remained loyal to their captain.
She finally agreed to them and they traveled around the world for survival and since they were considered wanted, they never stayed in one land for too long. With limited crew members, they tried their best to stay away from any naval battles and always escaped. Though with each stay in every country or place they came to, they were not cold when innocent citizens needed help. Every help that they had done, they earned themselves a member or two. Not because they wanted and were willing to hire new crew members but because these individuals chose to go with them. So they accepted and welcomed them to the group that now slowly grew into a fitting, loyal crew.
“Hey, Minami?” Atsuko’s voice snapped Minami back into reality. Shaking her head to clear any cloudy thoughts, she focused on Atsuko. “Don’t you think that you should let me come with you the next time we head toward the bank?”
She paused for a short moment before bobbing her head up and down. “That sounds fine by me-”
“Oi! So you’re replacing me, eh?” Yuko jokingly acted angry, frowning in an exaggerating way.
Minami smirked. “Oh no no, I’m not at all. It’s just because you’re a little TOO loud, little TOO reckless, and above all, a little TOO dramatic.”
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“Neh neh, Yukirin~ Look at my drawing of you!” the young girl, Watanabe Mayu, gleefully exclaimed to the older girl who laid on the bed, Kashiwagi Yuki. Yuki, who was reading a book on her back lifted her head slightly up. She laid her dark black eyes on Mayu’s drawing and chuckled. “You’re drawing is always great as usual. I look good as a cartoon character.”
Mayu grinned at the praise and turned back toward the desk. The sound of scribbles could be heard from within the pen and paper. “Thanks, Yukirin. It took me quite a while to make sure you don’t look like a blob like my other artworks.”
“Your artworks do not look like a blob Mayu.” Yuki sat up and placed her book aside. She watched the other girl concentrate on the art still, her ‘cyborg’ expression worth noting. “Anyway Mayu, don’t you think we should sleep now? It’s getting dark out.”
There was a slight hesitation from Mayu, but a soft sigh could be heard. “Alright, I’m coming over ‘mother.’” The inked feather she had at hand, she neatly placed it at a safe enough distance from her drawing on the desk. She leaned forward to the lamp and dimmed it down. With a yawn, she got up from her seat and pushed in her chair. Yuki immediately scooted over to her left as Mayu made her way over to her bed.
“You know,” Mayu began to speak once she sat on the edge of the bed. “It’s strange how we have two beds since this is a bunkbed yet we share one together down below here and use the other one as storage or something.”
A chuckle was heard from Yuki. “It’s only because I care for you silly and besides, when you first became a member, you look like a terrified little mouse.” Yuki shut her mouth for she knew she hit upon a sensitive topic when the other younger girl didn’t respond back to her. “I-I’m sorry Mayu, I didn’t mean to-”
“It’s alright,” Mayu quickly replied back, turning around so she could flash a smile. “The past is the past and I’m here right now with everyone safely, especially with you Yukirin.”
In order to cease the awkward atmosphere that soon was becoming evident between the two, Yuki urged Mayu to lay down next to her. Once she laid down and faced Yuki, she wrapped her arms around her waist. “Just know that I’m always here for you, okay?” she whispered into Mayu’s ear. She felt her head move up and down in a slow motion. Smiling, Yuki began humming a soft tune for Mayu. To her surprise, she felt ticklish in a matter of mere seconds and soon was laughing loudly.
“Gotcha!” Mayu giggled as she tickled the older girl. Yuki was taken unexpectedly at her sudden attitude change, but didn’t bother thinking twice about it.
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Kasai Tomomi was now finished with her cooking and decided to check up upon her all-time favorite member in the ship. After hanging the wet but clean pots and pans from above, she took off her apron and hanged it on a nearby hook. ‘Yosh. Now that I’m done, I should check on Tomochin~’ With that thought floating in her mind, she giggled like a little girl. She walked out of the kitchen and nearly skipped upward to the upper deck. The other four members that were still seated on the dining table couldn’t help but stare after her in confusion.
“Did something happen?” Minami asked as she continued eating.
“I dunno but it seems like she’s really excited to meet up with someone,” Yuko made an assumption, drinking more out of her mug.
Atsuko looked up for a second to think and smiled. “I think I know who she’s looking for.”
“Eh? Who is it, Acchan?” Haruna dumbly asked, which followed by the three members slapping their forehead. She pouted when their action made it seem as though she didn’t get the big picture, which she didn’t. “Mou, tell me you guys!”
Ignoring the people from behind, Kasai happily went up to the upper deck. There were a couple of members still remaining during this time of the day. The ship was in place in the still sea, not a single wind pushing against the ship for its sail was rolled up. The sky above was cloudless with the bright white moon shining from above. Looking to her left and right, she saw the person that she wanted to see. Sneakily, she carefully walked up behind Itano Tomomi and when the timing was right, she whispered into her ear, “Chiyuu~”
That caused her to almost get smacked in the face with a clipboard by Itano, who was startled to death. “T-Tomo~mi?! What are you doing here?” she tried to regain her calm composure, straightening her white collar. Dressed exactly like Kasai, she frowned at the other girl. Kasai merely responded with an apologetic smile. “Mou, I wanted to see my favorite person in the entire world~ And I really miss her so much~”
Kasai knew that Itano was the inspector and the supply manager, keeping track of the ship’s status. Though she always walked around with a clipboard and feather at hand for most of the day and did absolutely nothing during battles doesn’t mean her job isn’t as hard as it is. If she made one small mistake in her calculation, then she might as well be a danger to the ship and members.
Itano simply rolled her eyes. “Really? It’s not even 24 hours yet you missed me that much?” Kasai flashed her teeth and did another ‘chiyuu.’
“Shouldn’t you be sleeping by now? I’m still busy you know.”
“But I wanna stay here with you!”
“Tomo~mi, come on. I’m almost done with my work anyway-”
“Tomochin~ Pleaseeeeeee?”
Kasai puffed her cheeks and made a pouty face, which Itano could not bear to win against. Easily admitting defeat, she pretended to wave an imaginary white flag in the air. “Alright alright, but don’t bother me too much! I’m almost done writing down the list of supplies and additional repairs that we need.”
“Yaaaaaaaaay!” she squealed out loud and clinged herself onto Itano’s right arm. To her dismay, Kasai wouldn’t let go of her arm so she let her be.
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Right outside of the room that Mayu and Yuki resided in, Miyazawa Sae peeked through the cracks of the door. There she was all alone in the hallway, kneeling down on her knees. The Genking had always liked Yuki since she had laid her eyes on her but little did she know that Yuki had fallen for another person. The person that was going to ruin her plan to confess to Yuki.
‘Watanabe Mayu… I’ll be sure that I steal Yuki back from you!’ Sae frowned when she heard giggles coming from the room. Due to poorly peeking inside of the room at such a low level, she wasn’t able to see clearly. This made her feel frustrated.
‘Ever since you became a member here, all of the attention Yuki has given to me now transferred onto you.’ Jealousy was on Sae’s side, feeling somewhat neglected from the other girl. ‘I swear to god, I-’
“Sae? What are you doing here?” The familiar voice that boomed out of nowhere frightened Sae. Nearly screaming in pure terror, she twisted her body around rapidly and almost threw out a punch at the unknown figure. However, she halted when she knew who it was. “Oh, Sayaka… I should be asking you that instead.”
Akimoto Sayaka, a close friend of Sae, was standing in front of her with her arms crossed. “Said the person who looked clearly suspicious and is peeking inside of another members’ room.” Giving up quickly, Sae raised her two hands into the air as she stood up. “Alright, I surrender.”
Sayaka expression softened when she caught on the reason why Sae was peeking inside of that one specific room. “I see that you’re still attached to her….” She was met with silence. Not wanting to push the subject any further, she placed a hand on Sae’s shoulder and pat it. “You should come back to our room. I’m sure you’ll have a chance sooner or later of getting her back.” With that finally said, she walked toward the opposite direction and left her all alone in the hallway.
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“R-R-R-R-RENA~ DAISUKI~ DAISUKI~”
“Mou, Jurina-chan, stop it!”
Matsui Rena was blushing madly when she saw the younger girl that shared the same last name, Matsui Jurina, singing loudly about loving her. Sitting at the lower part of the bunkbed, she sighed loudly. Desperate for her to stop, she threw her white pillow at the other girl. Not to her surprise, Jurina caught the soft object.
“You can’t stop me, Rena-chan~” she stuck out her tongue. “Daisuki~ Daisuki~ Daisuki-!!!”
Jurina clamped her mouth shut when she heard Rena laugh. No, it wasn’t any normal life. It was more like a laugh from a maniac. “Hehe…. Hahahaha!” Rena paused for a moment to tilt her head slightly to the right at Jurina. Noticing how quiet the younger girl was, she grinned. “Ne… okotteru?”
She gulped in nervousness and waved her hands in the air frantically. “N-No I am NOT! I-I’ll stop singing right now, I swear!” Just as though her words were like magic, Rena instantly resume back to her normal, polite self. “I’m glad to hear that then, Jurina.”
Jurina could only stare in disbelief as Rena resumed back to reading her book as if nothing had happened. She then shuddered. ‘Thank god that Gekikara side of Rena didn’t come out… Who knows what might’ve happened if she let it out again…’
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After eating, Minami decided to take care of the paperwork tomorrow since it was already getting late. After all, she needed a little break. Yuko and Haruna retreated back into their dorm, Yuko saying that ‘I want some private time with Nyan Nyan!’
“Takamina, I see that you’re up here with us,” one of her many close friends, Shinoda Mariko, spoke once she saw the shorter girl ascend up to the upper deck. A little ‘hmph’ can be heard from Minami as she finally made her way up. Mariko, who was leaning against the railings that stayed intact with the boat, urged her to stand by her side.
“Finally you’ve come out of your hole!” Minegishi Minami smirked. She too stood by the other side of Mariko, leaning on top of the wooden railings. Minami rolled her eyes at the comment and joined them. “Everyone’s been saying that to me. I get it. I’ve stayed far too long today doing those annoying paperwork.”
“You do that EVERY SINGLE DAY when we’re not near any sort of land or in a battle against the redcoats.”
Minami blew harshly against her brown bangs as Minegishi continues to talk. “You know, you should seriously come out a bit more from that captain’s quarter of yours and enjoy these peaceful days! You never know when we’re going to get caught and put to trial.” She glared at the other Minami when she heard the last couple of words that exited out of her mouth. Minegishi took this as a sign that Minami is angry, quickly shutting up.
“We… are NOT going to get caught and we… are going to CLEAR our names before we die,” Minami growled under her breath. Known for her short-temper and emotional-driven decisions, she was never one that can talk so easily about such sensitive topic. Especially if it’s about their current cause of their status for being wanted. Mariko then poked Minegishi’s side, earning a yelp. “I’m sure we will, Takamina.”
No words were heard from the captain, making the two wonder if they had seriously pulled the wrong string from her. But she spoke again. “I… It’s all my fault. I really wish I would be more careful about my moves. Maybe I shouldn’t had done that retreat, which made me look guilty.” She leaned her chin on top of her crossed arms, looking out into the clear blue sea that reflected the white moon in the cloudless sky from above. “So I promised myself that I will fix this mess up, even if I have to do it alone.”
“Minami? What’s all this talk about ‘even if I have to do it alone’?”
Atsuko’s voice booming from behind caught Minami off guard, making her jump up a couple inches from the ground. Mariko and Minegishi nearby couldn’t help but giggle at the sight. “I-It’s nothing, Acchan!” Minami gulped. Minami knew that Atsuko would always see through her lies, no matter how well or how pathetic it’s hidden from her. She dully stared at the captain and partner of hers, tightening her fists that resided on both sides of her body. “Bakamina? I know you’re lying~” she bitterly smiled, sending chills down Minami’s spine. She knew that when Atsuko smiles sarcastically and/or speaks in a cold tone, she’s angry.
She looked to her right and at the two girls in hopes of keeping her nerves calm. But sadly, they had slipped away without her knowledge, leaving her all alone on the upper deck with an angry Atsuko. Minami, smart enough to know better than to go against her partner, exhaled loudly through her nose while shaking her head. “Atsuko, it’s just… I feel regretful of my actions a year ago.” Atsuko didn’t drop her frown that had formed on her face, so Minami continued to speak.
“I’m just saying that I want to fix all of these problems. I want my crew mates to all feel safe and not worry a single thing about the danger that might occur at any moment, 24/7.” She then made eye contact with Atsuko. “Even if I must go on this path alone without a single help, I will be sure to clear our names at the very least.”
“Bakamina,” Minami was met with a karate chop on the top of her head.
“I-Itai!” she winced, rubbing the top of her head with her hand. “What was that for, Acchan?”
“You know you’re never alone, stupid.” Atsuko expression softened. Her hand was then placed on top of MInami’s shoulder, patting it gently. “Even if you think you have no one, you at least have me, your partner Maeda Atsuko.”
A smile formed across Minami’s face unconsciously when she heard her words. She looked down, then looked back up at her. “Well, I must say that I am very lucky to have you by my side, Acchan.” Her hands then were behind her back, nodding in happiness. “I’m so very lucky to have such a loyal partner and close friend.”