Setting Out

"Nani?" Asuna yelled, accompanied by Negi's usual 'Eeeeeh?' As Konoka explained her intentions for the Spring Break, "Are you crazy?" quickly followed the exclamation.

"No, I'm not crazy," Konoka began in her usual cheery tone, "I'm going out on a boating trip all alone."

"But what about storms and sharks and pirates and..." Asuna worried, as Konoka had expected.

"I know how to handle a boat; I have an uncle that's a fisherman, and he taught me everything he knows," She attempted to explain.

"But what if something goes wrong? The ocean is a dangerous place; you have no idea what could happen out there, and no one would know that you were in trouble, and..."

"Didn't you hear what I said? I said I'm going all alone," Konoka said, giving Asuna and a pondering Negi a wink. They didn't seem to get it, so she said again, "All alone."

"Ohhh..." Asuna said, "All alone." With a grin.

"But... what if something happens, like you said?" Negi asked. The two girls gave him a look for a moment before Asuna sighed.

"I'll explain it to you later, Negi-bouzu... or rather... are you planning on announcing this today, Konoka?"

"Yep, in class even, along with most everyone else, probably," she said with a smile.

"Okay then, Negi-bouzu, you'll understand later," Asuna said, standing and giving his confused self a yank up to his feet, "See you in class, papers still, today," she said, leaving a confused but partially satisfied Negi. Konoka just smiled.

"Me? I have a competition," Makie said after Negi asked everyone what their plans were for the break, Makie being the first.

"How about you, Konoka-san?" he asked, still oblivious to her reason, the curiosity having progressed throughout the day.

"I'm going out on the ocean for a boating trip alone. My uncle loaned me a little one-person skiff for the break so I can really get away from it all for a while," she said with a cheery, and somewhat tense note. Her plan was being put into action now, and she hoped she wasn't mistaken...

"WHAT?" Echoed the loudest shout in the room, amongst lesser 'What?'s and 'Oh wow's etc.

Score! Konoka thought, identifying the owner of the shout immediately. At the head of the class, Negi blinked, and then smiled, finally getting the reason, and Asuna snickered, her thoughts mirroring Konoka's.

"Are you crazy, Ojousama?" Setsuna yelled, coming up the rows to her seat, her steps heavier than usual.

"Funny, maybe I am, since so many people seem to be asking me that..." Konoka replied in a wondering tone.

"I don't mean... I mean... it's too dangerous to be out on the ocean alone!" Setsuna said, really sounding worried as Konoka stood up to face her.

"I know how to handle a boat, Secchan. What could go wrong, really?" she asked calmly, looking into her eyes, hoping she didn't notice the mischievous twinkle there.

"All kinds of things! A storm, sharks, demons in the water... There are things on the ocean that even... um... even scientists still don't know about!" Setsuna hastily caught herself, hoping that no one had noticed (or thought about, at least) the comment about demons.

"Well, what do you suggest then, Secchan?" she asked, the mischievous gleam in her eye turning predatory as the sword-wielding girl noticed the trap a little too late. After a quick burst of silent profanity, she spoke.

"I... I'll go with you... just to make sure nothing goes wrong..." Setsuna stumbled out.

"Well, I suppose you won't disturb the peace too much... sure, Secchan, you can join me on my vacation!" Konoka said with a smile, turning her trap so it seemed to be a charity. Setsuna could do nothing but smile back timidly, wondering what she had just gotten herself into.

Saturday had come, and school had gone: the mid-morning sun shone brilliantly over the harbor where Konoka and Setsuna were loading the last of their gear and assorted niceties onto the small boat, which, while only one person was needed to sail it, four could board it comfortably.

"Is that all of it, Kono-chan?" Setsuna asked, by now looking forward to going sailing for the first time in her life, not to mention the guilt-tinted glee at being completely and totally alone with her Kono-chan. Out on the ocean, where no one at all could interrupt... then suddenly she remembered that also meant no one could save her if the moment got too intense for her tender sensibilities.

"Yep, everything's checked twice and stowed... Though I think we'll be missing home cooking by the time the trip's over," Konoka replied, referring to the large amount of canned vegetables and liquid nutrition with a smile, which Setsuna followed with a goofy one of her own.

"If that's all then, Kono-chan, shall we be off?"

"Our departure and our way have been cleared, let's..." Konoka began, but was interrupted.

"Wait!" Came the shout from shoreward, and they both turned to see... Mana? Running toward them, hefting what seemed to be a heavy case, the Miko ran. They both watched curiously as she made her way through the small network of piers to their ship, breathing a bit more heavily than usual as she stopped in front of Konoka.

"Ano... what is it, Tatsumiya-san?" She asked, peering curiously at the case. Mana looked around quickly to make sure no one was watching, and then popped the latches and opened the case, revealing... a really big gun. With several extra clips. And a pair of grenades. Konoka and Setsuna just stared for a moment.

"What... would this be... for, exactly?" Setsuna asked incredulously.

"In case of emergency. The G36 should be enough to take down most medium-sized creatures with little difficulty, and anything bigger should be manageable with the grenades," Mana answered, matter-of-factly.

"Tatsumiya-san, you've been reading too many old English adventure novels again, haven't you?" Konoka said with a nervous laugh, "Besides, Secchan never goes anywhere without her sword, and I know very little could stand up to that."

"It's not for her, it's for you, in case you get separated."

"That isn't going to happen," Setsuna said in a dangerous tone.

"You never know what will happen on the great, wide ocean..." Mana replied, her voice wistful, though with her, it was hard to tell, "It is one of the few forces of nature that remains untamed by man. Underestimate it as an enemy, and you'll have quite a bit in common with the spirits that wander in the deep." For a moment, all three remained silent, then Mana spoke, "Take it, trust me, you may need it. Now, I have activities of my own to prepare for. Take care." Shoving the quickly re-latched case into Konoka's arms, she took off down the pier at high speed, startling salty old fishermen and dodging around the various crewmen working around their ships.

"I'll just stow this away somewhere, so we don't need to worry about anything going off..." Konoka said, toting the heavy case into the cabin. A few moments and a few muffled maiden-curses later, she emerged back onto the deck.

"What are you waiting for?" She asked the awkwardly standing swordswoman. Prompted, Setsuna stepped down into the ship, wobbling a bit now that she wasn't concentrating on carrying anything, "Go ahead and get comfortable; might be a bit of tricky sailing to get out of the harbor," Konoka said, scrambling back onto the pier to untie the lines. Setsuna decided to let her handle the ship alone, rather than offer her assistance... she had tried to figure out how it worked when they had been loading everything, but only managed to confuse herself... so she sat down on the little bench on deck and watched Konokawork her magic. The mainsail was raised, the rudder set, and all other manner of things Setsuna didn't pretend to know the purpose or name of; however, Konoka's butt looked fantastic whenever she leaned over or stretched too far for something in her baggy, rolled up pants. The swordswoman noticed Konoka's actions slow as she prepared to sail out of the harbor and shook the ecchi thoughts out of her head, mentally flogging herself for letting her control slip like that. She had the feeling it was going to be a long six days...

The Journal of Sakurazaki Setsuna

Day 3, midday

Dear Diary... no, that's not right... To Whom It May Concern... no, that's not right either... I'm never letting anyone else get their hands on this; I would die of embarrassment. Well, I suppose I should start off by stating my reasons for beginning this journal, so I can look back on it later and laugh... I hope. If I don't talk this out somewhere, I'm going to go insane! I've heard of cabin fever, and I think I've begun to come down with it. I'm usually very introspective, but it's getting slightly ridiculous, so I feel that it's better to let these thoughts fall onto paper than allow them to bounce around in my head.

It's been three days since we set out on this trip. I still don't know how I didn't see this trap for what it is... oh, who am I fooling, if she thought it out well enough, Kono-chan could get me to blindfold myself and hang from a tree so she could use me as a piñata. Not that she would... but then again... no! Bad thoughts!

Back on track... the first day went rather peacefully. Konoka showed me where everything was stowed, explained what we would have to do if a storm hit, gave a few pointers on how to manage certain tasks that aren't so easy when the ground moves beneath your feet. That day was very... happy, I guess I'd call it.

The second day... ugh... I woke up from my hammock seasick, nearly stepped on Kono-chan trying to get outside and just about didn't make it to the rail. I was miserable and only slightly conscious, but I remember Kono-chan coming up behind me and patting me on the back. I... didn't want her to see me like that, and tried to turn away, but then more came up. I was really hoping she hadn't noticed... but she did.

"It's nothing to be embarrassed about Secchan..." she said in her soft, caring voice; the voice that seems to melt my heart every time I hear it, "Everyone gets seasick once. There've been people who've been at sea for three or four years, who've never been seasick, even on their first day, that suddenly spend a few hours at the rails, like you're doing now. I've been through it too; just keep hanging here until you know it's all done." That's one of the things that makes me love her so much... her ability to just know what's wrong with someone and say exactly the right thing to make it all better... Gyah! I sound like a lovesick twit! Oh, right, disregard that. In any case, she stayed with me for most of the ordeal, only stepping off now and again to do this or that with the ship, though it was smooth sailing, so there wasn't much to do. Around noon, I started feeling better, and even got down some of the preprocessed vegetables. I don't think I'll ever eat canned food again, if I can help it. The rest of the day went fairly well, just the two of us relaxing on a pair of towels, like we were sunning ourselves on the beach... we talked, and laughed, and then just lay and watch the stars as night fell and the moon rose...

I... I know it's wrong to get my hopes up, that she simply doesn't understand yet... every time the moment is sweet, and things seem to be going well between us, a chorus of muttered 'filthy hanyou's and the images of a thousand contemptuous glares run through my mind, along with the face of her father, and I know it cannot last.

In any case, it's been today, the third day of our trip, that has taken the concerns of my mind, thrown them overboard, and replaced them with something that may or may not be worse, depending on how I look at it. I woke up late, after watching the stars for so long; Kono-chan had obviously been up for a while, and had left breakfast ready to be heated for me. I set the stove(gas, of course) to start warming it up, and stepped outside to let Kono-chan know that I was awake... and there she was, lying completely naked on a towel, eyes closed, like she had just decided to take a nap. I vaguely remember thinking something about gods and torture, but my brain was a bit short-circuited, quite understandably. It's not that I've never seen her naked before, but this was the first time that she hasn't been trapped, captured or otherwise in danger, where I could focus on that, the problem, and without that... Well, I must admit, at least to myself, that before my real reappearance into her life, I used to watch her in the public bath, but even then, she was never aware that I was there, and this...

I think I made a few choking, gurgling sounds, or something of the sort, my mind trying to speak without the cooperation of my throat, protests, apologies, something, but nothing understandable came out of my mouth right then. But the noises alerted her to my presence, and she sat up and looked at me... was that a trace of slyness in her usual somewhat-obliviously happy smile? No, not my... well, not mine, but... not Kono-chan, she wouldn't smile like that. My imagination must have been getting the best of me; maybe an after effect of the earlier seasickness... In any case, she sat up and bid me good morning. I think I managed to croak out a 'why?' then, because she explained that she had begun to develop tan-lines from so much sunning yesterday, and there was no place back at school to get rid of them safely, so she'd do it out here, where nobody she didn't mind seeing would see. I growl now at the thought of her attempting to sun back at school and some peeping tom spotting her and enjoying the view...

Darn flimsy pencils... After she explained and lay back down with an offer for me to join her, I stuttered something unintelligible, though I believe she caught something about the stove, and came back in here. I almost overheated the stove before finally slipping back into form and cooking my breakfast. While I ate, I've been writing this, trying to put my thoughts in order. I must admit, I'm tempted to take her up on the offer of nude sunbathing together, but I cannot give in to temptation! She is not mine, and can never be mine! This temptation would lead to another and that to even more until I took her innocence and tore it to shreds! That will not happen!

AN: Will Setsuna succumb to the temptation? And if so, how far? Will we have love on the High Seas? Or will Setsuna throw herself to the sharks in frustration of more than one sort? Find out, next time!

Credits: Oka-san pre-read and fixed more errors than I can believe existed. Credit to many many authors that wrote books about sea-voyages for my yet-sparse knowledge. And to Akamatsu-sama, of course, for creating such wonderful characters to play with!

Curious? Or do you know what's going to happen next? Trust me, you only think you do...