Chapter 2: S.S. Bonkura

"Ah, the sweet smell of the harbor!" Tomo said, gleefully sticking her nose in the air.

"Ya mean the smell of fish and sailors?" Osaka asked with a smile.

"No!" Tomo retorted, quickly turning to Osaka, "I mean the smell of adventure! This is where it all begins., our journey into the unknown!" Tomo let out a squeal of joy and ran towards one of the boats.

Kagura sighed, "Don't get your hopes up... Whenever we start these kinds of adventures, you usually get bored halfway through and go back home."

Tomo's mood changed in a way that would make a schizophrenic proud. Her head seemed to rotate 180 degrees, and she shot a look of pure contempt and hatred. "Kagura! My hopes and dreams! MY HOPES AND DREAMS!"

Kagura soon stood down. "Alright, sorry. Jeez." Despite the fear, she gave a small smile, "I guess this will be a fun time."

Tomo, polarizing herself once again, grinned, "That's the spirit! Now, which vessel shall we make into our own?" The three girls surveyed all the ships. Most of them were beat up fishing boats that looked close to falling apart.

Osaka pointed at a particularly wretched boat, "How 'bout that one?" Tomo and Kagura recoiled in disgust upon laying eyes on it. "Osaka, I think we future immortals deserve something more stylish. Why'd you pick that one?" Tomo asked.

Osaka approached it and observed the side of the boat. After a moment, it appeared that a lightbulb went on in her head, and she peeled something off the side of the boat. She walked back to her comrades and held her hand out, "Sea slug!"

Kagura turned green and put a hand over her mouth, while Tomo just shook her head, "No, no, we need something more like... That!"

Tomo pointed toward a large, luxurious yacht. Kagura opened her mouth to object, but was snatched up by Tomo, as was Osaka. The wildcat pulled her friends towards the yacht and looked up to it with anticipation. "Our vessel!" She noticed the boat's name on the side of it, "'Jenny?' That's a dumb name!"

Tomo, always prepared for this occasion, pulled a permanent marker from her pocket. She crossed the name out and wrote "Tomo" on the boat. "Perfect!" It was then a voice cried out to them. The three girls jerked their heads around to see an American man getting off the boat. "You ruined my new boat!"

Naturally, the girls ran away.

Once they felt they were safe, they sat down to rest. "Tomo, you really need to get it together..." Osaka said.

They decided to go back to the original plan of stowing away quietly on a ship.

The three attempted to stow away on a small fishing boat, in the storage compartment. However, the ship crashed about 20 feet off the shore and they had to rethink their plan.

"We could swim." Kagura suggested. Osaka and Tomo responded in unison with a blunt "No." Osaka suggested walking along the sea bottom, but she was met with a similar response. Tomo stood up and looked to the sky.

"Since this is my journey, I guess I've got to make it work."

"Destiny is calling you, Tomo!" Osaka proclaimed.

"So what do you plan to do?" Kagura asked.

Before Tomo could give a vocal response, Kagura's question was answered. The hyperactive girl was gathering thick sticks that were scattered throughout the area surrounding the harbor. She quickly returned to the group with a large gathering of sticks and wood.

"Someone get me some string and a piece of paper!" Tomo said, dropping the supplies.

Once her demands were met, Tomo tightly tied the lumber together into a surprisingly well made makeshift raft. Following this, she pulled her marker out once again and wrote on the paper. She tied it to an extra stick and attached it to the raft.

The paper had "S.S. Bonkura" written across it, as well as chibi drawings of the three girls.

"Girls, we set sail at this moment!" With that, Tomo pushed the raft into the water and hopped on. It floated, much to her pleasure. The other two cautiously boarded and distributed weight accordingly.

"Wait, Tomo, what are we going to do for food? A bathroom? Water? Basic hygiene?" Kagura worried. Tomo laughed, "Matey, we will live off the ocean! We shall eat the fish! The world is our bathroom! We're surrounded by water! And hygiene is for the weak! Haven't you ever watched a pirate movie?"

Kagura was suddenly horrified, but she had no idea what would be in store for them.

A/N: Shorter chapter this time. These first few are just to get the basic story worked out, so it will get better/lengthier later on. Drop me a review!