A/N: Since I'm still watching Titanic, I decided I'd upload a tad more, cause you guys have been so patient.
Disclaimer: Alas! I am but a poor college student. I own nothing, Titanic and Pokemon respectively all belong to their respective owners *tear*
Chapter Four
::Satoshi POV::
The sea breeze whipped against Satoshi's face as he stared out over the vast cerulean ocean his unkempt jet black locks blew haphazardly in the free air on the 3rd class decks. Pikachu perched happily on his shoulder. His russet brown eyes surveyed the deep sea almost preferring it to the snobs on this liner. Deep in thought about what the horizon would bring him and the training he would need to prepare his Pokèmon for he vaguely heard Takashi speaking in the background to another man.
"This ship's pretty nice huh?"
"Yeah, it was built in Johto."
"Oh really? I had heard it was built in Hoenn."
"No no, 25,000 people built this ship with their Pokémon. Its solid as a rock especially when the Pokémon league's Pokémon had put on the base welding."
Satoshi turned as he saw some Ninetails and Eevee on leads being lead down the steps to their deck.
The man scoffed in disgust. "Now that's typical. 1st class Pokémon come down here for the bathroom."
"Ahh, it lets us know where we rank in the scheme of things." Satoshi said with an air of sarcasm.
"Like we could forget?" The man said with a grin "I'm Tai Sakimoto." He said offering a friendly hand to shake
"Satoshi Kashino" he replied taking it
"Takeshi" He said shaking Tai's hand as well.
"Pikachu!" Pikachu piped in from Satoshi's shoulder with a small wave.
Tai smiled "So, I've heard from Takeshi here, that you're a Pokémon Trainer. You any good?"
Satoshi looked up and started to reply until he saw her. Her copper locks caught the sun's rays from the upper deck as she smoothly moved to the end. Her green and lace dress blew elegantly in the breeze a red tie tied tightly around her slim figure hugged her curves. Her perfect gate almost dictated her rank as at last she came to the end of the deck she curled her slim hands over the railing, a far away look on her porcelain features. Captivating Satoshi in every sense of the word.
"Satoshi? Satoshi?!"
Pikachu waved its paw in front of its trainer's face trying to establish contact.
Takeshi and Tai snickered at his smitten state
"Forget it man, you'd as much have an Articuno itself jump into your Pokéball; then get next to someone like her."
Satoshi only stared on fascinated by this other world beauty that was outlined in the golden glow of society. For a fleeting moment the two established eye contact it was almost as if he could sense something about her, she must have felt something because as soon as she had turned away she turned back, this captivating gaze could have lasted forever if not a man in a expensive suit had walked over and whispered something in her ear. She glared at him and marched back inside the ship. He followed her, clearly exasperated at the whole situation.
~*Kasumi POV*~
Kasumi sat in the first class dining room again, an orchestra playing background music to the repetitive chatter. Her mother Ritsuka sat next to her talking quietly with another woman, obviously someone of importance if she'd bother to speak with them. Kasumi fingered her scarlet and black beaded dress, her hair pulled up as usual with beaded earrings and burgundy heels. She sighed. Day in and day out it was always the same. Like a badly broken record, the same narrow people and mindless chatter no matter where she went, it seemed to always be the same. Kasumi felt as though she was on the edge of an abyss. With no one to save her, no one who noticed and no one who actually cared. Kasumi stood up and walked gracefully out of the room, ready to shatter the cracked record that was once her life. She stepped outside into the brisk night air all her emotions and thoughts of her future on a breaking point.
She ran down the ship, her high heels clicking madly as she ran nearly taking out a quietly strolling couple on her way as she ran her curly auburn hair falling out of its neat up do she ran trying to escape her fate until she could run no more.
Kasumi hit the bow of the massive ocean liner, the cold metal railing pushing into her relentless body with her racking sobs. The frigid night air making her short breaths visible, her cerulean blue eyes gazed into the depths of her imminent solitude. One jump and she could escape it all. One jump and freedom was hers. One jump and she would never have to go to another stupid party again. Kasumi took a deep breath. Her choice was obvious.
Her small hands grasped the cold metal as she took her first step up onto the railing. The beads on the hem of her dress chiming against it, to Kasumi it sounded like a chorus of angels welcoming her home. Trying to keep her balance in her high-heels she held onto a larger pole with a light on top as she took her last step and climbed over the side, moving her dress so that she could climb further down. Her heart pounded against her ribcage. She was completely over the railing now as she lowered herself fuller and leaned forward. Adrenaline pulsing through her body her ragged breathing got louder. She leaned further now able to taste the saltwater on her lips. All she had to do was let go.
"Don't do it." Said a strong voice from behind her.
Kasumi whirled around to see a man with tousled jet black hair and a nervous expression.
"Stay back." She panted "Don't come any closer." The cold water giving her a almost azure glow to her pale skin
The man's expression frowned worriedly "Come on; just give me your hand, I'll pull you back over." He said offering her a hand as her slowly made his way closer to her.
"No! Stay where you are. I meant it. I'll let go." Kasumi threatened turning back to the cold ocean in front of her, leaning slightly more outward toward.
"No you won't." The man said calmly from behind her.
"What do you mean 'no you won't'? Don't presume to tell me what I will and will not do. You don't know me." Kasumi snapped her temper reaching its peak. Due to a random guy telling her what she was going to do. She already had her mother and fiancé tell her what was going to be done. Having someone else take that liberty as well drove her to the brink.
"Well you would've done it already." The man said simply.
"You're distracting me. Now go away." Kasumi ordered leaning back over the sea.
"I can't. I'm involved now. If you jump I'm going to have to go in after you." The man stated firmly removing his heavy outer black jacket.
"You're crazy, you'll be killed." She said pointedly staring at this madman behind her
"I'm a good swimmer." He stated unlacing one of his hiking boots.
"The fall alone would kill you." She stated more to herself then to him thinking it over in her head, now that she was here she really hadn't planned out how she was going to die. All she knew was that it would all be over.
"It'll hurt; I'm not saying it won't. But to tell you the truth, I'm a lot more concerned with that water being so cold." He said removing the boot now and letting it fall to the deck
"Cold? How cold?" Kasumi asked involuntarily shivering at the thought of the water
"Freezing, maybe a few degrees over" The man shrugged pulling off the other boot "Have you ever been to Kanto?" He asked curiously
"What?" Kasumi did a double take at the random pointlessness at the turn their conversation was making, as if they were merely running into each other and chit-chatting, not her preparing to die.
"Well, they have some of the coldest winters around. I grew up there in Pallet. One time when I was tobogganing in the mountains. Tobogganing is where—"
"I KNOW WHAT TOBAGGANING IS." She snapped at the man now totally irritated by his antics, first he had stopped her, then he tried to command her, now he figured she was like...one of "them" draped in fancy garments with an attitude to match, one of the beings trapped the monotonous life that she longed to be free from.
"Sorry you just didn't seem like much of a nature girl to me. So, anyway I fell off on a slope and slid down onto a frozen lake falling into some thin ice." He said involuntarily shuddering a little. "Let me tell you, water THAT cold, like right down there, it hits you like a thousand knives stabbing you all over your body. You can't breathe, you can't think, at least not about anything but the pain. Trust me, that IS enough to kill you." He finished seriously.
"Which is why I'm not looking forward to jumping in there after you. But like I said I don't have a choice. That's why I'm hoping you'll come back over the rail and get me off the hook here." He said
"You're completely insane." Kasumi snapped at the man who had just proclaimed he would die with her for no reason at all.
"Heh, that's what everyone says. But with all do respect, I'm the one that's still on board the ship. " He said quietly as he leaned closer to her. "Come on, you don't want to do this." The man said offering her his hand from behind her.
Kasumi looked at the water and at his hand. The water was freezing, if she jumped now there was no guarantee she'd die only from the fall, it would be a slow, painful and icy death. Ideally she wanted something as painless as possible. There was no need to prolong her agony. If she let go now the man would be able to tell people what happened, she wanted to vanish completely, not be labeled a suicide victim.
She made up her mind and took his large hand as he held her securely while she turned around looking directly into his russet brown eyes. She took a shuddering breath. Then he spoke:
"Phew. I'm Satoshi Kashino."
"Kasumi Yawa Hiwatari" She said softly trying not to make the situation worse then it already was.
Satoshi looked at her confusedly "I'm gonna have to ask you to write that one down."
Kasumi laughed out of pure stress relief and awkwardness.
"Come on, let's get you back." He said trying to help her up onto the next rail.
As her shoe hit the rail it slipped on the beaded hem of her long crimson dress, she fell off the railing, almost falling into the abyss. She let out a painic stricken scream and Satoshi grunted from being the only thing that stood between her life and death.
"HELP ME! PLEASE HELP ME!!" Kasumi shrieked at him, he held her tightly.
"LISTEN, LISTEN!" Satoshi yelled back "I've got you, and i'm not going to let go. You've gotta pull yourself up. Come on." He said as she watched him, her cerulean eyes mirrored fear and panic as she obeyed struggling to pull herself back onto the ship. Kasumi's cold, clammy hands grabbed onto the bars of the rail as Satoshi struggled to pull her back up. Finally she was able to wrap her arms around his neck as he grabbed her around the waist; he pulled back as they both tumbled to the deck of the ship. Kasumi's arms around his neck and Satoshi with his arms on either side of her almost laying on top of her.
Kasumi panting hard trying to catch her breath, however that would have to wait as two stewards came running towards them.
"What's going on here?" One of the men asked them looking back and forth between Satoshi and Kasumi of course, it being human nature he assumed the worse.
"Stand back!! don't move an inch!!" he yelled at Satoshi, he got up from Kasumi's side and moved back against the railing. The steward looked back at his companion
"Go fetch the master at arms."
::Satoshi POV ::
Soon after a lot of questioning a stout man with grave expression and a pair of handcuffs strode up to Satoshi. A man with slightly greasy chocolate brown hair close behind carrying a brandy in his left hand. A man followed them with gray hair tinged with white carrying a plaid blanket. Behind them came a pack of men all decked out in suits to see what all the commotion was about.
The man with the handcuffs whom Satoshi deduced to be the Master at arms came up behind him and began handcuffing him. The brown haired man heard what had happened from the two stewards and now had downed all of his remaining brandy and had begun ranting and raving over the situation.
"This is completely unacceptable!! What made you think you could put your hands on my fiancé?!?!" He questioned him; his enraged silver eyes searched Satoshi disgustedly. Satoshi's eyes fell on Kasumi who was being wrapped in the plaid blanket by the older man, he figured him to be this man's servant.
"LOOK AT ME YOU FILTH!!!" The man snapped at Satoshi
Kasumi looked at the man wearily. "Shigeru--"
The man continued to yell at Satoshi, finally shaking him by his vest.
"Shigeru, stop." Kasumi said a bit louder walking over to his side. "It was an accident."
Shigeru seemed taken aback. "An accident?"
Kasumi tried to smile abit here, however Satoshi could tell plain as day it was fake to spare them. "It was. Stupid really." She said as an after thought, then clarified herself
"I was leaning over and I slipped." Kasumi shot Satoshi a pleading glance in the blink of an eye, only he seemed to understand. Was this what a girl like her was trying to get away from? He wondered to himself.
Kasumi continued "I was leaning far over to see the uh..ah...amm.." She thought to herself while sending Satoshi frightened looks, she turned back to Shigeru and closed her eyes deep in concentration trying to keep track of her lie as she started turning her hand around trying to think of the word for it..
"Propellers?" Shigeru finished for her rolling his eyes at her annoyedly.
"Propellers, and I would've gone over board but Mr. Kashino here saved me and almost went over himself." Kasumi told him.
"You wanted to see the...She wanted to see the propellers." Shigeru told the men behind him lightly as they burst into laughter as if on cue.
"Like I always say," One of the men told the others, "women and machinery Do Not mix." The other men nodded laughing
The master at arms spun Satoshi around and looked intently into his eyes. "Was that the way of it?"
Satoshi turned his gaze on Kasumi who was now silently begging him to agree with her fabrication.
Satoshi nodded "Yeah, yeah. That was pretty much it." He said as he shot Kasumi a silent smile.
"Well, the boy's a hero then. Well done son. So it's all's well and back to our brandy eh?" One of the men asked Shigeru and the others as the master at arms then unhand cuffed the innocent Satoshi. Satoshi shrugged at the master of arms and he clapped him on the shoulder and walked off.
"Look at you, you must be freezing, let's get you inside." Shigeru said to Kasumi, wrapping his arms around her and rubbing her shoulders trying to generate warmth.
One of the men following Shigeru and Kasumi piped up "Perhaps a little something for the boy?" Shigeru stopped and looked at his freezing fiancee.
"Of course." He turned to the man closest behind him with the whitening hair
"Gendou, I think a twenty should be fine."
Kasumi scoffed "Is that the going rate for saving the woman you love?"
Shigeru turned back and pouted sadly at her. "Kasumi's displeased. What to do?"
He then snapped his fingers as a conclusion popped into his head. "I know."
Shigeru strode over to Satoshi who was putting all his outer clothing back on
"Perhaps you could join us for dinner tomorrow evening to regale our group with your heroic tale."
Satoshi gave him a hardened stare, he hated people like this. However he would face them all if it meant seeing Kasumi again. "Sure. Count me in."
~*~*~
Well, that was a long update if I do say so myself. ^_^
Want to see more sooner? Send reviews and faves! You guys are the reason I write. If it weren't for you, I'd still only be telling these to my little sister. :-P
Otherwise, I'm going to be focusing on my novel!
AAML is love and love is forever.
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