Everyone looked at the results. Almost all of them had expected this turnout, except for Hikari of course, who was too dense to.
"Well, looks like we're paired up, Ni-san." Kei smirked and walked over to Hikari.
"Don't call me Miss Rank Two!" She pointed at him as if she was challenging him already.
Akira glared at Kei, then at Tadashi, who cowered away.
The captain clapped loudly to get their attention. "Follow me, I'll take you to your rooms."
Everyone walked in a line behind him.
He led them down the stairs that went to the rooms. Each room had a number on it, just like the straws.
The captain left them to it, as he needed to monitor the ship. Kei started looking for the room with 1 on it. "It's there!" Hikari was pointing at the last room in the corridor.
Kei smiled. "We better get going then." He starting walking to their room. Hikari was a little farther behind.
Tadashi and Akira were the second ones to find their room. Next was Yahiro and Megumi, then Jun and Sakura.
Ryuu and Finn were last. The rooms were pretty fancy, but small. About half the size of a hotel room.
There was a queen size bed, with a spruce headboard in each room. Though not all the sheet patterns were the same.
There was also a small bedside table, with a lamp on it, and a bathroom, though it wasn't very big.
The rooms at the end and beginning of the corridor (5 & 1, since they were numbered backwards) had a window, which you could see under ocean from.
Hikari put down her bags and suitcases, and started to unpack. Kei did the same. "Takshima, after we're done unpacking, could we have challenge on deck?"
She asked him. Kei nodded. "Sure." When they finished, they went up the stairs.
It seemed like they were the last ones to go up. Akira was scolding Tadashi after he stuffed himself with the food on board.
"Hikari! What took you so long!?" Akira waved to her. Hikari ran over to Akira. "Sorry, I might've packed too much." Hikari replied.
Akira shook her head. "No problem, it happens to the best of us." She said comfortingly. Without them noticing, Kei walked up to them.
"Didn't you say you were going to challenge me?" Kei asked Hikari questioningly. She nodded. "I challenge you to a race, whoever can go through all the places on board and back wins!" Kei smirked. "Ready, set, Go!" Akira yelled.
~Skipping to after the challenge~
"Looks like I win again, Ni-san." Kei said triumphantly to the now tired Hikari. She frowned at his teasing. "I'll beat you next time for sure!" At this point, everyone was
staring at the ever-arguing rivals.
Hikari walked over to the edge of the deck. The salty yet cool sea breeze felt good on her face. "The view out here's amazing . ." She said to herself. Jun, along with Sakura was a couple feet away. Sakura held his hand, causing him to blush slightly.
"T-The view from up here is pretty, right Sakura?" Jun said, looking down a little. Sakura nodded happily.
Yahiro leaned against the bars of the deck. /Want to do something?/ Megumi wrote on her board.
"Like what?"
/Go to the Tennis court?/
"Sure, why not."
"Megumi and I are going to the tennis court, anyone want to come?" Yahiro announced.
"I'll go!" Hikari said. "In that case, I'll go too." Kei agreed. "Count me in!" Tadashi waved his hand.
"I'll be going too then." Akira glared at Kei, who smirked back. "Me and Jun will go as well." Ryuu said. Jun nodded.
"I'll go too!" Sakura and Finn smiled.
I wasn't expecting everyone to come along, but the more the merrier I guess Yahiro pondered to himself.
They set off to the other side of the ship, where the court was.
The court, like the other places, was relatively big. It had five nets, four set up in the corners and one in the middle.
Thankfully, there were tennis outfits and visors already there in boxes set up along the court.
Kei, Hikari, Yahiro, Megumi, Tadashi, and Ryuu were playing; while Jun, Sakura, Akira, and Finn chose to watch.
The players changed into their tennis outfits and visors. "Takshima! I challenge you to a tennis match, the winner gets to make the loser do whatever they want!"
Hikari said triumphantly.
Kei smirked, this would be interesting.
"Challenge accepted."
They each went to their respective courts. With Yahiro facing Megumi, and Tadashi playing against Ryuu, the matches began.
"You can beat him this time Hikari!" Akira was watching Hikari & Kei's match, cheering her on.
Hikari nodded determinedly.
Finn was cheering for Ryuu, who looked pretty confident since He was of course the son of a sports tycoon.
Jun and Sakura were cheering for Megumi.
Kei was the one doing first serve, and the ball soared across the air. Hikari hit it back with just as much force.
It went on like this for a while, until Hikari was starting to tire a little. Unsurprisingly enough, Kei didn't seem fazed at all, which only frustrated Hikari more.
"Tired already, Ni-san?" Kei asked smugly.
Hikari shook her head. "Not at all." This time, she scored. Kei's eyes narrowed. I can't let her keep this up . . . I guess I'll have to get serious then.
He thought to himself.
Kei put all the strength he could into this one swing, which was enough to send the ball flying.
Hikari flinched as the ball whizzed past her and into her net, barely grazing her cheek.
After two more hits, He had won.
"Well, time to give you my command." Kei moved closer to Hikari, causing Akira to glower down at him.
He whispered something into her ear, causing her eyes to widen, then she blushed.
Kei moved his head back, smirking.
Akira had her icy aura form around her. "KEI YOU BASTARD!" She ran over and to comfort her friend.
"I'm fine Akira, don't worry." Hikari reassured. "If you say so Hikari." Akira stopped hugging her.
Over at Tadashi and Ryuu's match, they were both tied. Well, that is until Tadashi hit the ball off the ship and into the ocean.
"Sorry Ryuu! I guess it's still a tie then?" Tadashi apologized.
Ryuu laughed a slightly. "It's okay, and yeah that means it's a tie."
Finn giggled a little. "It's like you Tadashi, to hit the ball out of the court."
Tadashi gave her a goofy smile.
Ryuu held onto Finn's hand lightly. "Let's check on the others, Tadashi, Finn." They walked over to the court where Megumi and Yahiro were playing, Akira, Kei, and Hikari were already there. It seemed that Megumi won. Which surprised them all.
/Yahiro wanted to forfeit, and said I won./ Megumi explained on her board. Yahiro looked up at the now darkening sky. "Shouldn't we be getting to our rooms now?"
An uneasy silence fell the group. Night meant sleep. And they'd have to sleep on the same bed of their loved one. Kei seemed to be the only one who
was looking forward to this. Hikari however was not. Neither was anyone else.
They all reluctantly walked down the stairs, and into the hull. Kei walked into his and Hikari's room. Before Hikari followed him in, he took out a picture of him and Hikari as children and placed on the bedside table. Smiling, he was reminded of the fond memory.
Hikari walked in. "What's that picture?" She asked. "Back when me and you were children." Kei replied simply. Hikari went into the bathroom to change, while Kei stayed a white t-shirt and jeans.
She came back out a few minutes later wearing a baby blue sweater and grey jeans. Kei was sitting on the left side of the bed, waiting.
Blushing slightly, Hikari sat down at little farther from him, not meeting his eyes.
"You remember what I said to you, right Hikari?" Kei asked.
"Y-Yeah." She stuttered.
"My command is that you have to face my direction the entire night." Kei said softly.
That was what he had told her.
And it made the thought of sleeping even worse.
Hikari lay down on her side of the bed. Her face was almost completely covered by the covers.
"Hikari, you don't have to do this command if it's too much." Kei told her, noticing her discomfort.
"No... I lost to you, so I have to face the consequence."
He then lay down too, closing his eyes.
Kei was woken up by the sound of thunder. But thankfully, it didn't seem that serious.
He saw Hikari shaking a little, but she didn't seem awake.
"Not so tough are you now, Ni-san." Kei smiled warmly at Hikari. He stroked her hair softly as a way of comforting her, and the shaking ceased.
Looking over at the clock, he saw it was around midnight. Guess I should go to sleep again. He thought to himself.
But it was harder going back to sleep because of the boat swaying and rocking slightly.
Nevertheless, he fell asleep once more.
I'm such a terrible author! I'm sorry I couldn't keep my promise to update often, I hope an extra chapter is enough to make up for it.
And to those of you who wanted a longer chapter, I hope this satisfies you.
Thank you to those who followed! It really means a lot to me!
-Okami ;3
