Chapter 1: Going on Board..
Nowaki boarded the large cruise boat along with Hiroki. They had planned a vacation together on the water, and Nowaki was excited as can be, considering this was his first time doing something like this. He took his bags with him onto the boat, already feeling the floor shift underneath him. He looked back to his lover,
"Hiro-san, over here!"
The cruise was cheap because the boat was not in best shape, so there was little people present with them.
Hiroki carried his bags onto the ship as he stared at the outside of the ship in disdain. He hoped the interior of the ship wasn't as awful as the outside or he would be having a horrible vacation. Stopping right next to Nowaki, he placed his possessions onto the floor as he located a few people walking on the deck of the ship but they didn't even notice that they were present yet.
He could already feel the excitement coming out of Nowaki in waves. He didn't even have to look at him to know that Nowaki was beyond ecstatic on pulling him on this cruise. At first, he wanted to reject Nowaki's offer but the manipulative giant begged and even pouted which made him crack in the end.
Turning to Nowaki, Hiroki blocked the sun from his eyes when he asked. "You do know which room we have right?"
"Yup. Number 58." Nowaki said as he twirled the room key on his index finger.
"Aren't you excited?" Nowaki was practically bouncing as they made their way to their room. Sure the place was a bit old and rusted, but they had many activities and features, from what Nowaki had read on their pamphlet.
Hiroki gave him a skeptical expression when he told him. "I don't know...are you sure they will have all the junk in the pamphlet you were given by that old woman?" He looked around the ship as he scratched the back of his head. "To be honest, it looks like a dump Nowaki."\
"Don't be like that, Hiro-San." Nowaki hauled his bags higher up his shoulders before going to rub Hiroki's,
"I'm sure we'll find something on this cruise to enjoy."
They stopped once they got to the appropriate room number, and Nowaki used the key to open the door.
"Tah Da-" Nowaki started, but stopped abruptly at the scene of the room. The place was dusty and looked as if it was molding. There was hardly any furniture. Plus, the walls were even starting to peel.
Hiroki looked at the room for a few seconds as he turned to Nowaki. "You were saying?" He walked inside of the room as he placed his bags on the only bed inside of the room.
Nowaki was silent for a moment before he piped with determination,
"We can make this work!"
He went over to help Hiroki unpack. Nowaki was determined not to let anything ruin their vacation. So what if the place wasn't up to par? They could adjust.
Hiroki sighed as he walked into the bathroom to wash his face. "I'll give it a day before you change your mind on that Nowaki." He groaned when he saw the state of the bathroom. "You have got to be kidding me! We seriously need to talk to the staff over their rooms, this is unacceptable!"
"Calm down Hiro-san." Nowaki said as he heard the other ranting off in the bathroom. He looked around the room and saw the single bed lying there. Well, at least they could sleep together. Of course, Nowaki was going to crawl into the other's bed even if there was two.
Hiroki looked over his shoulder when he said. "Those activities better be worth the trip Nowaki! And there better be some good alcohol when we go out for dinner!"
He turned on the faucet so he could wash his face properly and was surprised when no water came out. He rubbed his temples and tried not to yell, all they had to do was find someone who could fix their plumbing or switch them to another room. A much better room with where the bathroom was working properly.
Hiroki didn't even bother turned on the shower. He was sure that one was busted as well and since this room was far away from the ship, no one had taken notice.
Hiroki walked back inside of the room as he stated. "Nowaki, the faucet is busted."
Nowaki couldn't help but chuckle at the other's sharp attitude from inside the bathroom, but his smile dropped when Hiroki told him the news.
"Eh?" He went over to try the faucet and sure enough, it really was busted.
"Maybe we can talk to the manager about this." Nowaki suggested.
Hiroki nodded his head. "You'll have to do it Nowaki, you might even convince the manager to switch our room to something else." He explored the bathroom again when he commented. "It just looks like it's been abandoned."
The way the other put it sent subtle shivers throughout Nowaki's body,
"Don't be like that. I'm sure the last person who roomed here must have just been really messy." Although he couldn't completely convince himself of that fact. The place did look run down and abandoned. Hopefully it was just a coincidence.
"Oh c'mon Nowaki, there is no way the people who run this ship would miss one of their rooms like this." Hiroki went to his bag and took out his water bottle. "Unless the cleaning staff haven't gotten to it yet." He stared at the peeling paint. "Or they are being insanely cheap."
Nowaki smiled while going over and wrapping his arms around Hiroki's waist,
"Wanna go and check the place out?"
Hiroki unscrewed his water bottle as he took a sip and then handed it to Nowaki. "Sure, there has to be something we can do before it sets sail."
Nowaki took the bottle and drank some of it before closing the cap and putting it into one of their luggage bags. He took Hiroki's hand and led them outside. From the distance it didn't seem like any more people were boarding.
"I heard they have a pool here." Nowaki said, and went around the corner and down a flight of stairs.
Hiroki held Nowaki's hand tighter when he said. "You packed some swimming trunks didn't you? You better have because you know mine will not fit you properly."
"Of course I did, don't worry about it." Nowaki smiled back at Hiroki as they made the outdoor pool. He stopped in front of it, and there his smile dropped. The pool was large, but empty. In fact, it looked as if it hadn't been used in years.
Hiroki saw the emptiness of the pool as he let out a sigh. Sure enough another thing went wrong on their trip and they haven't even set sail yet. He kept his comment to himself when he saw the dejected expression on Nowaki's face when he saw the pool as well.
He heard someone giggling near them as he turned to his right and saw nothing. His eyes narrowed as he kept a firm grip on Nowaki's hand as he tried locating the source of the giggle. It sounded like a child but he didn't see any children when he was boarding with Nowaki. In the pamphlet, it held no activities to entertain children. There was no reason for any child to be on board.
Nowaki was too much in the zone of disappointment to notice the strange sounds that were going on around them.
"Maybe we can find something else on this ship." He suggested, though he voice was with less assurance than the first time.
Hiroki didn't hear the noise anymore as he caressed Nowaki's hand. "Don't be down..I'm sure there will be someone to tell us what's going on."
"Yeah." Nowaki looked down at Hiroki, "let's go find the manager or a staff."
They began walking elsewhere on the ship, and Nowaki noticed that the wooden floor kept squeaking beneath his feet. Hopefully the worse case scenario never happens...
Hiroki followed Nowaki as he noticed that some parts of the ship were actually decent looking, maybe they got the bad luck of the draw and got an awful room. By the time they set sail, the captain will explain why a good portion of their ship was in disarray. Or maybe his assumption of their ship being cheap would prove true.
Hiroki sighed as he kept holding Nowaki's hand. "At least it doesn't look like total crap..."
"They have to keep SOME things authentic." Nowaki said with a chuckle. After some walking around, Nowaki decided to ask someone on the ship.
"Excuse me." Nowaki stopped a man with a bushy beard and dirtied overalls, "I was wondering if you knew where the manager of this boat was?"
The man stared at him, before letting out a belching laugh. Nowaki had to step back slightly because the man's breath reeked of fish and sour cream.
"Why, you're looking at him!" The man said while jabbing a stubby finger at himself
Hiroki had an unconvinced look on his face due to the attire of the man in front of him. For a little bit, he had to hold his breath because of the stench and to be somewhat polite in not bringing it up. He breathed in Nowaki's cologne and that canceled out the stench of this so called 'captain'.
"You're the captain of this ship?" Hiroki inquired as he tried hiding the suspicion in his voice.
"Aye," the man mused with a toothy grin. One of his teeth was missing. The man looked and acted like a pirate; all he was missing was a peg leg and an eye patch.
"Uhm, well..." Nowaki said as he decided to go along with it, "we just wanted to talk about our room? It's a bit run down..."
"Which room ya got?" The man asked.
Hiroki answered. "Number 58." He scoffed when he said. "Are all of the rooms on this ship abandoned looking or is it just that one?"
He noticed another couple passing by with their luggage in their arms. Hiroki felt a sense of relief that he saw actual people walking about, he thought they were the only ones on board. There was also a group of teenagers voicing their complaints of a lack of a pool and their voices only grew louder.
The man's smile dropped and his face paled as Hiroki uttered the number.
"That's-...Unfortunate."
For some reason, the way the man was saying it made Nowaki squirm.
"Is there another room that we can use instead?" He asked. The man pressed his finger to his lips, and shook his head sadly.
"I could offer you two the storage room though."
Nowaki cringed at the thought of sleeping in a cramped room. His limbs wouldn't be able to take it.
Hiroki frowned as he pointed to Nowaki. "I don't think so, he is way too big to fit in a measly storage room. Especially if I am going to be sharing with him, we will be cramped up in that small room the whole time we are here!"
"Ah, well..." The man rubbed the back of his head, "Your loss then. We really don't have any other rooms available though."
Nowaki sighed while gazing down at Hiroki. He wasn't quite sure what they could do now.
Hiroki tried hard not to get annoyed when he said. "Also, our faucet is busted and we need someone to fix it."
The man rubbed his beard for a while in thought, "We could get a crew to provide a water basin, and refill it every morning. Providing for a plumber would be too costly."
Nowaki stared at the man in a bit of disbelief. They couldn't even find a guy who can work a screw?
Hiroki held Nowaki's hand in a death grip in order to control his anger. "You mean to tell me, I have to call your staff every single day just to take a bath or wash my own face? Hell just give me the tools, I'l fix it myself."
Nowaki ran his thumb over Hiroki's knuckles in order to calm him down. Meanwhile, the captain seemed to hardly notice their distress. He picked at his ears while saying,
"Fine, fine...they're in the storage room, come with me."
They followed the captain to the destination, and Nowaki whispered little reassurances on the way. The captain glanced back at them before clearing his throat, "So uh...Are you two friends or?"
"Boyfriends." Nowaki corrected with a meek smile on his face. Meanwhile, the captain's seemed to darken.
"That's a shame..." He mumbled under his breath.
Hiroki arched a brow when he heard him quite clearly. "We're not here to listen to your close minded shit." He let go of Nowaki's hand as picked up the tool box. "And by the way, I don't get crap from my family because they absolutely love the hell out of this guy." He gripped the handle of the tool box as he stormed off.
"Ah, Hiro-San wait!" Nowaki ran to catch up to the other while glancing back at the captain, who were an awestruck look on his face.
"I think we should have been a bit nicer to the captain. He did try to help us afterall." Nowaki said as he grasped Hiroki's free hand. Though he had to admit, the way Hiroki defended their relationship sent warm flutters to his heart.
Hiroki scoffed. "If I don't take shit from my old man, I'm not taking shit from anyone." He looked at another direction when he said. "Besides, father always said to protect who you care about and he did the same for mother." He rolled his eyes. "That so called captain didn't help at all, I'm the one fixing our damn faucet."
"Hiro-San is amazing!" Nowaki gushed, and pressed close in order to nuzzle his cheek against the side of Hiroki's head.
"I'll try and help." Though fixing the faucet wasn't what Nowaki thought he would be doing to start off their vacation.
They made it back to their room when Hiroki sighed. "I didn't think fixing our own plumbing would be the start if our vacation." He rubbed his temples. "You do know you might end up being bored if you are helping me Nowaki."
He opened the door to their room as he went straight to the bathroom and placed the tool box next to the sink. "It might just be a blockage in the piping if we are lucky or the water down below was turned off by accident."
"Don't worry. The work will get done faster with two people." Nowaki wasn't as skilled as Hiroki in handling technical issues. The most he could do is pass Hiroki the materials while the other worked.
I guess so." Hiroki sighed. "I'm sure we're not the first people to complain since I saw a group getting pissed off over the pool."
Hiroki crouched down and started working on the piping as he looked over his shoulder. "Pass me that wrench please."
Nowaki gave Hiroki the appropriate tool and crouched down alongside the other. He rested his cheek on his palm,
"The boat should be leaving soon. At least we still have the view to look at." He said, still being as optimistic as ever. Or trying to.
Hiroki nodded his head as he pushed his bangs out of his face. "It's even better in the nighttime with all the stars in the sky.." He turned on the faucet again to check if the water would run again, when it didn't, he shut it off.
He stood up as he placed the wrench in the sink. "I'm going to have to go down below to shut off the water before I can do anything. It might just be a simple blockage from what I can tell, you'll be okay by yourself right?"
"Ah, yeah." Nowaki smiled, and watched Hiroki leave the room.
Suddenly, the atmosphere felt a whole lot darker. Nowaki looked around at the stained walls and tried to reassure himself that the place was just old. The creaking of the floors, howling of the wind, and strange static noises was all because of age. But he was still trembling.
Right away, Hiroki found a young woman and asked her to take him to where the water pipes were. She gave him an unsure expression as she took him to a door marked 'employees only' which she described went directly where the water supply was. Opening the door, she took a few steps inside as she flipped a switch, Hiroki thanked her when he walked down the stairs.
He thought he caught a glimpse of the young woman smirking as she closed the door but Hiroki thought it was a trick of the light.
Hiroki quickly made it down the stairs as the temperature went down rapidly. He shivered slightly as he rubbed his arms while looking for the main water pipes which connected to the different rooms on the ship. When he made it to the bottom, he saw countless pipes going to different directions, it would make things so much easier if he found the shutoff valve immediately.
He rubbed his arms as a chill went up his spine when he felt someone watching him. His eyes narrowed as he kept walking on forward and he thought he heard a child whispering to him. He looked from the corner of his eyes and saw a flash of white running to a different direction. Hiroki kept on moving forward and felt the back of his shirt being pulled back.
Hiroki immediately turned to chastise whoever was bothering him only to see the same flash of white and now it was in a form of a child. He heard the same giggling from before as the child ran into the hall. Following the child, Hiroki was going to give her the lecture of a lifetime for being so reckless and then lecture the parents for letting their child roam around a ship by herself.
He made it around the corner and lost sight of the kid immediately as he swore under his breath. "Shit...where did the brat go?"
Hiroki heard the giggling as he snapped his head to the right and saw the girl running on forward. "Wait! You are not supposed to be running down here kid! Where are your parents?!"
It was as if the child didn't hear his questions as she giggled yet again and kept on running.
Hiroki groaned as he ran after her. "I am not supposed to be rounding up wayward kids."
She suddenly stopped as she pointed to the large water tank with a smile on her face.
Hiroki stopped a few feet away from her as he got a good look at this child. He noticed that her bangs were too long and covered her eyes, he wondered how she was able to evade him so easily without hesitating on where to run. Though, he wasn't about to question this when he had work to do and he was too tired to lecture the kid anyway.
He walked to the water tank and found the shutoff valve and noticed that it was actually turned off. Hiroki sighed as he rubbed his temples before he turned it on. He didn't know how the staff could miss something like turning on the water for the whole ship but it was none of his business. At least tonight he would be able to take a shower and wash his face.
Hiroki turned to the kid when he told her in a stern voice, "Go back to your parents, kid, you can't be down here."
She nodded her head with a giggle as she ran to the direction they just ran from and Hiroki sighed. It was a good thing he had practice dealing with his cousins kids or he would have a shorter temper with younger children. At least he knew it was this girl giggling earlier that day and it wasn't a figment of his imagination.
Hiroki walked back in the direction he came from and found it easy since he remembered where he came from. He made it to the hall he was walking through before and walked toward the stairs. Hiroki walked through the door and closed the door properly as he made his way down the hall.
He was about to enter his room when he saw the girl from earlier, he asked her. "Excuse me, did a girl walk down this hall before I came from downstairs?"
Hiroki noticed that the young woman's face paled and her eyes widened. "A-A girl? Sir, we don't have children on this vessel and none of the passengers so far have brought any children on board. You must be mistaken."
He frowned and he caught a flash of white from the corner of his eyes. "There is no mistaking the fact that I saw that girl running around where I was without supervision. Keep a better watch on kids running down the pipes, she could have gotten hurt and your crew would be held accountable."
Hiroki walked back inside of his room as the young girl mumbled when she walked away. "But...there are no children on this ship though...I know there isn't...the captain made sure of it."
Nowaki tried to distract himself the best he could during the time Hiroki was gone. He tried the faucet again but it didn't seem to work yet. He looked around the room and rubbed his arms as he felt the goosebumps rising from his skin. Shit, he needed to stay calm.
"It's just your imagination, Nowaki." The tall man whispered to himself while hugging himself tightly. Still, he kept trembling. Nowaki chewed on his lower lip before deciding to leave the room for a bit. He went out of the room, and was shocked to see that the boat had already left the harbor. He hadn't even heard a horn or a signal of their departure yet. Nowaki gazed down the long walkway of the boat for signs of Hiroki,
"Hiro-san?" He called in a shaky voice. Christ, he knew he should have just went with Hiroki to begin with.
Hiroki went directly into the bathroom as he turned on the faucet and was relived to see water coming out. "At least this is ONE problem solved, I can tolerate the shitty room if the water works." He shut off the faucet when he realized that he didn't hear Nowaki calling out for him.
He walked out of the bathroom when he saw that the room was void of Nowaki's presence. Their bags were still on their bed and nothing seemed to be out of place. It looked like Nowaki definitely got bored and left to walk around the ship on his own, not that he blamed him. He knew he took too long down below and he would have taken longer if it wasn't for that child showing him the way.
Which reminded him, he was going to keep an eye for the kid when he was in the main dining room with Nowaki for dinner. At least he would know she made it back to her parents safely.
Like an idiot, Nowaki decided to walk deeper down the walkway. He continued to call for Hiroki while pulling his jacket tighter around his body. Where was everybody? Nowaki was sure he had seen people walking by when they were testing out the faucet earlier. But now the place was completely void of people. Nowaki breathed out shakily and took out his cellphone and dialed Hiroki's number. He stopped by the railing of the boat while holding the phone to his ear.
Please answer...
Hiroki jumped when he heard his phone ring from his pocket as he dug it out of his pocket. He thought for a second that it could be Akihiko calling just to annoy him on his vacation but he checked the caller I.D. Hiroki rolled his eyes as he smiled lightly when he saw Nowaki's picture appear on the screen.
He answered it after a few seconds. "Nowaki? Where are you? I came back and I didn't find you inside of our room, did you get bored like I predicted?"
Nowaki opened his mouth, but only air came out, so he shut it and tried again,
"Hi..Hiro-san...I'm scared." He whispered while gazing back. The path he had come from was suddenly covered with fog. It wasn't there before. Nowaki also hadn't seen Hiroki around before he left, so how did he get there so fast?
Hiroki had to strain his ears but he heard it very clearly, he asked him again. "Nowaki, where are you?"
"I-I," Nowaki glanced around him, "I don't know...It's too foggy to tell. I didn't go very far though, I don't think." From the distance, he could hear a ringing, and the faint sound of giggles. It made his hands shake, and Nowaki had to use all his strength to not drop the phone.
Hiroki went to the door and opened it as he kept the phone to his ear. "Where were you before you entered the hall Nowaki, I can meet you there before you walk any further." He kept a calm voice because he could tell Nowaki was getting scared out of his wits.
"I was just in our room before coming to the hall...?" Nowaki's brain wasn't working too well, as it was occupied with other thoughts. "I think I had turned a left somewhere. I'm near the railing, if-if that helps." Nowaki heard the giggling sounds coming closer, and he shut his eyes in order to try and keep his focus. The last thing he wanted to do was get into another panic attack.
Hiroki closed the door to their room as he walked down the hall when he said. "Alright, I am walking down the hall. Keep talking to me Nowaki."
"Do you think we'll be able to get off the ship? Being here is just making me really uncomfortable." Nowaki said as he peeked to look for Hiroki.
Hiroki said as he walked even further down the hall. "Nowaki, you were the one most excited to come on this ship and you convinced me of all people to come along with you. Besides, once they set sail they don't go back to shore unless it's a real emergency.
"I know but-" Nowaki let out a squeak when he heard a thump from nearby. Hiroki was right though, it WAS his idea to go on this whole trip, so he was going to have to suck in up in order for both of them to have a good time. "W-Where are you now? I don't see you." Though it was hard to see anything in this thick fog.
Hiroki made a left when he heard Nowaki's voice as he exclaimed. "Nowaki! I'm right in front of you! Keep on walking!"
Nowaki did, and he closed his phone when he saw a presence a few feet in front of him. The fog cleared as he got closer, and Nowaki was able to see his lover clearly.
"Hiro-san!" Nowaki cried and threw himself onto the other, holding him tight. Ah, he was so relieved.
Hiroki ended the call and put the phone in his pocket as wrapped his arms around him. "What exactly made you scared, Nowaki? It's just a boat." He asked him as he watched the fog dissipate in front of him.
"I kept hearing weird noises and seeing things." Nowaki said as he didn't let go. Whenever he was around Hiroki, he felt safe.
"Plus, that captain was strange. He had a almost pained look on his face as we were leaving." Nowaki remembered how he had glanced back as they were walking away.
Hiroki scoffed. "That captain is no help and you know it, it's a good thing we don't have to deal with him for most of our trip." He sighed as he rubbed Nowaki's back to make him feel more comfortable. "I had a weird experience too..you see down in the pipes, I saw this little girl running around and all she did was giggle at me. She led me to the water tank but she just giggled the whole time...weird kid I guess. Her parents should keep a better eye on their kid."
Nowaki remembered the giggling he had hear earlier, and shuddered.
"I-it didn't say children were allowed on this ship, o-on the pamphlet." Nowaki stated. That was one of the reasons why Nowaki had chosen this cruise; because of the lack of children.
Hiroki shrugged his shoulders. "Apparently this girl is here on the ship and I told her was to go back to her parents which I guess she did because I haven't seen her."
"Neh Hiro-San..." Nowaki whispered while leaning close to the other's ear, "don't you think this place is kind of...Weird?"
"..I guess so.." He looked around the area. "Though it doesn't seem too bad to me."
Nowaki's face suddenly paled as a possibility occurred to him,
"What if... What if this place is haunted?"
"There's no way its haunted, why would they sail in the first place?" Hiroki asked.
"That is true." Nowaki said, though he was still a bit concerned. "Anyways, let's go back in...I think the fog is coming back." He glanced around and saw the white mist closing in on them again.
Hiroki nodded his head as he looked on ahead. "Do you want to shower first Nowaki? I managed to get the water running in the sink so I think the shower works now."
"Alright." Nowaki smiled and followed Hiroki back into their room. He got out his clean clothes, a towel, and some shampoo. Nowaki took them into the showers and began to undress. Hopefully he'll be able to forget about all of this by tonight.
TBC