It took a few days for the ship to return to a status quo. Repairs were still being made and managed to ensure that they were durable and most of the crew was still on edge, glancing over the side of the boat every so often for signs of the merfolk making a return.
"Perhaps the crew could use a bit of a break." Hatori suggested to Kisa. "We can dock, really be thorough in our assessment of the ship's condition, and our men can recover from the encounter."
Kisa knew that it made sense to find a seaside town to stop in, for the sake of the Emerald and the men aboard it, but he didn't know if Masamune had managed to successfully make Ritsu feel like they could coexist on the ship yet. Kisa wasn't ready to let Ritsu go, Ritsu still had so much potential and Kisa would be lying if he said he didn't care for him. Once Ritsu stepped off this ship for good it was likely the two of them would never see each other again. The sea pulled you to a lot of places and Kisa was more likely to meet a tragic end than to have a heartwarming reunion with Ritsu in the future.
"I'll make a few rounds, talk to some men, get a sense of how everyone is holding up and then we can start discussing changing course toward the nearest town we can dock in, one that won't sick their local militia on us immediately." Kisa said.
Hatori nodded once. "Yes, Captain." He said. "And how are you holding up?"
Kisa just smiled. "You don't have to worry about me. As long as the ship's standing then so am I." He said with a clap to Hatori's shoulder.
Hatori nodded once more. "If you say so, Captain."
Kisa gave a half sincere, half sarcastic salute before he went to speak with a few of his men, trying to gauge the general morale and energy. Pirates were tough by nature, they had to be to survive, but they were still human and had limits.
As Hatori suspected, the men were exhausted. Although the most recent danger had passed, there was still the general daily upkeep to deal with, so there hadn't been much downtime for anyone to recover from the merfolk attack.
Kisa saved his two favorite lovebirds for last. Masamune was of course hovering around Ritsu (though not literally, his feet currently planted on the deck of the ship) as Ritsu seemed to be attempting to quiz Masamune on different kinds of knots and what they were most useful for.
It did not appear to be going well.
"I memorized all of these in probably three days at the most." Ritsu said. "Can you even tie one knot?"
"Sorry, we sort of got interrupted the first time you tried to teach me this." Masamune reminded him. "And we almost all died. So, I might remember that incident a little bit more than a devil's knot or whatever the hell you call this." He said, holding up the jumble of rope in his hands.
"That is called a mess." Ritsu snipped, snatching the rope from him to try to untangle it. "And there are no excuses on a pirate ship. Either take what I teach you or figure it out on your own."
"Hellooooo~" Kisa decided to interrupt before Masamune could reply with something sarcastic and irritate Ritsu more. "I'm just checking up on people. It's been an exciting couple of days, after all. How are you two doing?" He asked.
"I'm just fine, Captain." Ritsu replied immediately, making Kisa click his tongue in disapproval.
"Be honest with me, Richan." Kisa said, reaching out to grip his chin and turn his head from side to side, scrutinizing his appearance. "Your dark circles are worse than usual." And that was saying something since Ritsu rarely allowed himself a moment of relaxation.
Ritsu pulled back, refraining from rolling his eyes. "I'm a little tired, yes, but that's to be expected after an attack. Nothing I can't handle, Captain."
Kisa knew that Ritsu could not be trusted to accurately report on how he was feeling. Ritsu always pushed himself too hard, but even the admission that he was 'a little tired' was enough for Kisa to decide that docking soon was a good idea.
"What about you, Takano?" Kisa asked.
"I'm doing alright." Masamune said. "Still a little paranoid if anything."
Kisa nodded. "Understandable." He said. "We are probably going to dock soon, give the men a chance to breathe. What would you do in that case, Takano? Would you stay here on the ship below deck?" Kisa asked. "Or do you have a way to hide those things?" He gestured toward his wings.
Masamune not-so-subtly glanced toward Ritsu. "I don't know, I'd probably stay on the ship. I could probably cause some illusion or convince the people around me that my wings aren't actually there, but I don't know if it's worth the effort. How long will it take for us to get there?" He asked.
"Depends on where we decide to go. We have to take into account how welcoming a town would be to…our kind." Kisa said. "A few days at the least."
Masamune nodded, his face stoic, but on the inside he wanted to throttle Kisa. A few days?! It would take him more than a few days to get totally on Ritsu's good side and make him reconsider leaving the Emerald permanently.
Kisa just gave a subtle nod in Masamune's direction, trying to communicate that he understood the concern, but that he had the situation under control. "In the meantime, feel free to continue with your little lessons." Kisa said, gesturing toward the rope that was still in Ritsu's grip. "Have you considered taking up any swordplay, Takano?"
Masamune let his claws grow. "No."
"Those things are useful, but it forces you to get in real close range with your enemy. I think you could benefit from learning the basics and I can't imagine a better person to teach you than Richan. Except for me maybe." He said with a cheeky grin.
"Thank you, Captain." Ritsu said with a humble bow of his head.
"Don't work yourselves too hard, alright?" Kisa said. "We'll let you know if and when our course changes." He added. "And, Takano, I need to speak with you in private later, whenever the two of you are done. No rush." He then left the two of them.
"Someone's in trouble." Ritsu said and Masamune couldn't tell whether or not he was joking, but Ritsu certainly didn't sound playful. "Would you actually be interested in learning how to use a sword?" He asked, the rope in his hands temporarily forgotten.
"It'd be more interesting than knots." Masamune admitted, regretfully reminding Ritsu of the rope.
Ritsu frowned at that. "Interesting or not, the little details are important to know. You wouldn't be trading out lessons, it would be another thing to learn on top of this." He said. "So, do you want to?"
Masamune tilted his head slightly, looking down at the sword on Ritsu's hip as he considered what it might be like to wield one. "It couldn't hurt to try."
"Alright, but we'll have to start once more with the basics. And basics are always boring." Ritsu warned. "And I'm not going to let you waste my time and back out."
"I understand." Masamune said. "I'm sure I'll be able to beat you in no time."
Ritsu scoffed at the arrogance. "I'll get you a sword to start practicing with right away so I can prove you wrong."
Masamune just smiled.
Kisa poured over a map alongside Hatori.
"Here, it has to be here. We can't dock anywhere else." Kisa pointed to a spot on the map.
Hatori hesitated. "Are you sure, Captain? That kingdom is further off than other ports." He said. "We won't arrive for ten, maybe twelve days? And…your favorite prodigy might find this plan...disagreeable."
"I'm positive." Kisa said. "It'll be fine. It's a stretch, travel wise, but with the promise of rest I think the men will be able to put up with the travel."
Hatori wasn't sure what was going on behind his Captain's eyes, but he could see no reason to argue against this decision. "Alright. I will set us on course then."
"I'll let the men know later tonight." Kisa said. "But for now, I have to prepare to have an unhappy siren on my hands." He added. "You know, when we decided to try to get a siren to join our crew, I never expected him to be so…dramatic."
Hatori almost cracked a smile. "A bit hypocritical of you to say, Captain."
Kisa hmphed. "If I were crueler I'd make you walk the plank for that, but luckily for you I am kind and merciful.
"Oh, yes. I am eternally grateful." Hatori said, not attempting to be subtle in his sarcasm.
"As you should be." Kisa said, turning his nose up just a little bit in a show of status, though it was all in jest. "You're dismissed. Get us on course."
"Yes, Captain."
Kisa knew it wouldn't take too long until Masamune came to talk. Although Masamune preferred to spend all of his time at Ritsu's side, having that time threatened by docking and potentially losing Ritsu was something that needed to be addressed as soon as possible.
Two solid knocks came from the door to Kisa's quarters and Kisa happily answered.
"Takano, you're here sooner than expected. Richan let you go early?" Kisa smiled pleasantly. "I really can't imagine him doing that. I thought he'd be a merciless teacher." With anyone else Ritsu might be kind and patient as a teacher, but he did not seem to usually extend that grace to Masamune.
"He figured that whatever you wanted was more important." Masamune said. "And I have something to discuss with you as well."
"I have a feeling we might want to talk about the same thing. Please, come in." Kisa said, not losing his smile as he made room for Masamune to step into his office. Kisa shut the door once the siren was inside.
"What the hell?" Masamune cursed, his anger and frustration beginning to bubble forward now that they had some privacy. "Why are you planning on docking the ship so soon? There's no way Ritsu's changed his mind yet." He said. "I thought you wanted him to stay?"
"I do." Kisa said. "We'll be arriving in a little over a week. Trust me when I say that Ritsu will not be wanting to step a foot off of this ship."
Masamune crossed his arms, looking at Kisa with a healthy amount of skepticism. "Yeah? What makes you so sure?" He asked.
Kisa smiled. "Let me show you on my map where it is. I think you might be familiar with the region."
Knowing that Masamune and Kisa were talking in private stressed Ritsu out just a little bit. It was difficult to focus on his usual tasks, his curiosity and anxiety nagging at him nonstop. What could the two of them possibly be talking about? Why did it have to be kept a secret? Did it have something to do with Ritsu? Other than their dramatics, Ritsu was the one thing that Kisa and Masamune probably had in common.
God, I'm getting a headache, Ritsu took a deep breath and tried to force himself to stop worrying. Though, the task proved to be quite difficult. Once it got closer to evening, dinner was a welcomed distraction as it was often lively, filled with fun conversations and a few drinks. He took a seat, glad for some company that wasn't the damn siren, but it seemed his peace was short-lived as Kisa joined them with Masamune in tow.
The crew greeted their Captain with excitement and regarded Masamune with a little less enthusiasm, mostly just because the men on the boat still weren't entirely sure how the siren wanted to be treated. That was Masamune's own fault, though, as he basically refused to branch out socially and stuck to Ritsu's side. Both seats on either side of Ritsu were currently occupied though and Ritsu tried to make himself look a little smaller so that maybe, just maybe Masamune wouldn't see him.
It seemed Masamune wouldn't even get the chance to search as Kisa quickly gathered the attention of the room and told everyone to quiet down 'or else'. The threat was empty, but one had to keep up appearances as a pirate captain.
"Men, I've heard most, if not all of you out and realized it could do us all some good to get off the sea for a little bit. We still have quite a bit of travel before we'll be able to dock, ten days at least, and I expect you all to still keep this ship in shape and keep your eyes peeled for…ample opportunities." He said with a smirk that held promises of money and gems. "But we managed to survive a merfolk attack with no deaths and that alone deserves to be celebrated. So, start looking forward to some relaxation." He said.
Ritsu perked up a tiny bit at that. They'd be docking soon…that meant he'd be able to leave the ship and leave Masamune behind once and for all. That's what he wanted, right? This is what he's been waiting for, right? He could put up with this for ten more days. Ten days was nothing! He'd keep Masamune occupied with their lessons so that maybe he wouldn't have any time to flirt and once they docked he'd slip away silently. He wouldn't make a scene with any big goodbyes. Kisa knew he intended to leave and that's all that mattered. I don't know what I'll do next, but surely someone will need my skills and be willing to pay-
"And just in case any of you are curious, we will be returning to an old favorite haunt of ours. It's been quite a few years since we've been back, but I thought somewhere familiar might be nice." Kisa continued, his eyes slowly scanning over his crew until they landed on Ritsu. He stopped and maintained his gaze. "I'm sure you all remember the Kohinata Kingdom."
Onodera Ritsu was dead.
Well, that was what Youko and Tatsuo Onodera had announced so many years ago after Ritsu's disappearance.
They had searched for the Prince and held out hope for his return home for a year before they made the official announcement to their people and held a week of mourning for him. Though, for Youko that week never really ended.
However, An didn't buy it. Even with the announcement of Ritsu's passing, there was no conclusive evidence that he was actually dead: no body, no witnesses to Ritsu's death, nothing! Until there was something to prove that Ritsu was gone, she would not believe it. Even in her multiple attempts to extract details from the Onodera family, they had never given a cause of death. Eventually, her parents ordered her to stop pestering the poor family with such painful questions. It was rude and unbecoming of a proper princess to involve herself in their grieving process.
But that hardly seemed fair. Wasn't she grieving too? She had lost someone special to her as well.
She visited that small, private beach before and after the announcement of Ritsu's passing, holding out hope that Saga would return and inform her of just what in the world was going on.
He never did.
So, she started to hope instead that maybe Ritsu would visit the beach on his own. Perhaps he'd get homesick or nostalgic and decide to visit one day and fate would be kind enough to allow them to cross paths!
That never happened either.
Her visits were very frequent at first: she went to the beach several times a week if she could find the time to sneak away. That was eventually reduced to once a week. Then once every couple of weeks. Then once a month. Then she started to go whenever her heart was particularly heavy and her tears were particularly steady.
Sometimes An liked to imagine what things would have been like had she not encouraged Ritsu to pursue his friendship-or whatever he had-with Saga. Would Ritsu have stayed? Would Ritsu have grown to become a wonderful King? And Would An have someday become his wife and queen? What would their family have been like? An had always wanted to have three kids: Two sons and one daughter. Would they have had Ritsu's eyes? Would Ritsu have been happy?
Was Ritsu happy now?
It was silly to think about, painful to think about, seeing that this imaginary future could never, did never, and will never happen. Still, she couldn't help the melancholy smile that came to her face whenever she thought of herself in her mother's wedding robes.
With Ritsu 'dead' and gone, however, there was no wedding. Rather, there was an intense scramble from her parents to try and find another suitable match for their daughter. She was still so young, but the plans for her to marry Ritsu had been so set in stone that the Prince's disappearance left them desperate and unsure for their daughter's future.
Her parents discussed many eligible Princes, but An only ever met a few of them. They all seemed nice enough and she couldn't really care less who her parents ended up choosing for her.
She wouldn't be marrying any of them anyway, not if she could do something about it.
Maybe I'll take a page out of your book, Richan.
"Are you insane?!" Ritsu whisper-yelled at his Captain after dinner, having pulled him aside to speak with him. "The Kohinata Kingdom?! What is wrong with you?!"
"My men need time to recover from the attack. They'll just get more and more useless otherwise, they'll start making stupid mistakes, they'll start resenting me, they'll start losing me time and money. And I'm not ready for you to leave yet. So…we're going to the Kohinata Kingdom because you're too smart to risk being recognized to try to make a living there. Or in the neighboring kingdom. What was that kingdom called again, Onodera? It's just on the tip of my tongue."
Ritsu clenched his jaw. "There's more than just those two kingdoms. There's farmland, there's small villages-"
"And you would risk remaining so close to the kingdoms of your childhood for a farm life?" Kisa asked.
"What's wrong with a farm life? It's honest work."
"You're not suited for honest work, Richan." Kisa said. "Doing honest work would mean lying about everything else. Your name, your family, your entire history. Onodera Ritsu and honest work can't coexist anymore without running the risk of being brought back to the royal life you ran away from. You're not a good enough liar for honest work."
Ritsu gritted his teeth. "You knew I didn't want to be here anymore. You did this deliberately so that I couldn't leave."
"I did. Because you'll be making a mistake if you leave, Richan." Kisa said.
"You don't get to make that decision for me." Ritsu had been hurt before when Kisa had chosen Masamune over him as a crewmate, but now he was angry in a sharp, stinging, overwhelming way that made him clench and unclench his fists.
"I'm still your Captain while you're on this ship, which means I do make decisions for you and everyone else. I decide where we go and when. You can decide to take the risk in the Kohinata Kingdom. I won't stop you." Kisa said. "But you'd be a fool to do that and you know it."
Ritsu shook his head. "A Captain is supposed to lead. Not manipulate and jerk their crew around for fun."
"I don't think this is fun, Ritsu. I hate that you're upset with me. But, I think if you give Takano a chance-"
Ritsu scoffed. "A chance to do what? Not be a total pain in my ass? Unlikely."
"Just a chance to exist in the same space as you." Kisa said desperately. "You don't have to like him, you don't have to be his friend, if you really don't want to you don't even have to be his teacher, just be on the boat with him."
Ritsu crossed his arms. "You're unbelievable. How could you purposefully put me at risk like this?"
"You won't be at any risk if you stay on the boat." Kisa said.
"Do the right thing. Change the course." Ritsu said. "If you don't then you're just putting off the inevitable. If Takano stays then I will eventually leave, one way or another. I left my home to be free, not to be stuck again." Ritsu left the Captain behind to weigh his words, though he did not find a peaceful moment of solitude as he was soon intercepted by the person he wanted to see the least.
"Hey-" Masamune started hesitantly, seeing that Ritsu was quite tense, but he was barely able to get out the greeting alone.
"Did you convince the Captain to set course for the Kohinata Kingdom? Is that what you two were talking about earlier?" Ritsu asked, putting his hands on his hips.
"It is what we were talking about earlier, but no, I did not give him the idea. Honestly, I didn't even know what the place was called until he brought it up and mentioned that it's where you originally boarded the ship. He seemed to have already made up his mind about it when I went to talk to him." Masamune said.
"And you didn't think to mention that it might be a terrible idea to go back to the place I ran away from?" Ritsu asked. "He told you that I want to leave, didn't he?"
"He didn't need to. You make it pretty obvious." Masamune said, just a hint of bitterness leaking into his voice. "But yeah. He did. And it doesn't exactly take a genius to figure out that it's because of me."
"Then why are you still here?" Ritsu snapped. If it was so obvious that Ritsu didn't want to be here and that he didn't want to be here because of Masamune then why was the siren even bothering-?
"Because I love you."
Ritsu frowned and crossed his arms instead of giving that answer the privilege of a verbal response.
"I don't know why you would ask when you know you won't like the answer." Masamune said with a sigh. "But it's true. I'm not here because I want to be a pirate, I'm here because you're here." He continued. "I know I can be…intense." Ritsu scoffed at the understatement, but Masamune kept going anyway. "But I'm really trying to meet you where you are. I don't want to drive you away again. I don't care about knots or swords or treasure or the difference between port side and starboard, but you do and it's what you know and what you're comfortable talking about, so I'm trying to learn. If it means that you're by my side then I'll learn all the insides and outs of being a pirate. Just don't run away again. Please." It took all of Masamune's self control to keep himself from kissing Ritsu, desperate to express his affections in the main way he knew how, but things were simply too delicate and Masamune was too much of a whirlwind.
Ritsu was taken aback, as he usually was whenever Masamune expressed himself sincerely, but the sincerity only served for Ritsu to attempt to reinforce his walls.
"Well, now I can't even leave if I wanted to since the Captain seems dead set on going to the Kohinata Kingdom." He scowled. "So you don't have to worry about me running away." At least for now, Ritsu's mind added.
I don't want you to hate me, Masamune thought, maybe if I was less selfish I would try to convince Kisa to dock somewhere else or I would leave the ship, but I just can't let you go yet and I'm sorry for that.
"You're not interested in visiting even a little bit?" Masamune asked.
"Someone might recognize me. It's been years, but you recognized me, so it's not impossible." Ritsu said.
"But if you knew with complete certainty that no one would recognize you, would you want to go back?"
"...Yes. I think it would be nice to see the Kohinata Kingdom again." Ritsu admitted. He had spent a lot of his childhood there after all and would always have a certain fondness for it and the royal family.
"There are places where people won't find us." Masamune said. "We don't have to stay on the ship the whole time."
Ritsu frowned and raised an eyebrow, understandably skeptical about this claim. "And-assuming I want to go anywhere with you-where would we go?"
"Well, it's no fun if I tell you." Masamune said. "You'll just have to trust me or be stuck on the ship by yourself because I'm not going to stay here and babysit you."
"Wha-how-if anyone is babysitting anyone around here, I'm definitely babysitting you." Ritsu argued.
"Then that makes me your responsibility and you can't possibly let me go somewhere on my own." Masamune said.
Ritsu rolled his eyes. "That's not going to work." Ritsu might fall for a lot of things, especially when it came to Masamune trying to bait him, but that was not going to be one of them.
"Just think about it." Masamune said. "Not like you have to decide tomorrow. We've got some time before we arrive."
Ritsu sighed. "Fine." He said, though only to get Masamune off his back about it. "If you still want to continue with our lessons in the meantime then I expect you to be a star student." He said, too irritated by the recent news to deal with anything less.
"Yes, sir." Masamune replied.
Ritsu frowned. "Not to that extent. Titles just sound sarcastic coming from you."
"Most things do."
And it's infuriating, Ritsu thought, but sarcastic was more comfortable than sincere, so he would take it.
"We can start your sword lessons tomorrow morning. I expect you to get up bright and early." Ritsu said. Maybe he could take out some of his frustration by criticizing Masamune's form and disarming him over and over again, though he sincerely doubted they would be able to get into sparring right away. "For now, I just want to be alone."
As much as Masamune wanted to insert himself in that alone time, as much as he wanted to take Ritsu's hands in his, or just take Ritsu in his arms and assure him that everything would be fine, he knew that the sentiment would not be welcomed, not with the fire that currently carried each movement of Ritsu's body as he walked away. Getting too close would mean getting burned.
With each step Ritsu took, Masamune wondered if this was the right thing to do. Kisa's advice didn't seem to be getting him anywhere and he felt like he was constantly getting rebuffed. It was discouraging to say the least and he tried desperately not to compare Ritsu to how he used to be during their youth, but what Masamune wouldn't give for soft kisses and passionate love confessions that he had barely gotten to enjoy before they had been ripped away! He sure as hell couldn't give up, but damn it was he feeling impatient after spending so many years apart. He'd only gotten to hear a proper love confession from Ritsu once and he hadn't even been granted the chance to properly respond! No, no way would Masamune just leave it at that.
I'll make him say he loves me again, Masamune tried to be firm in this conviction because if he wasn't sure of it then he'd fall apart.
"Did he chew your head off too?" Kisa asked as he tentatively approached. He had seen the two together, but had opted not to eavesdrop as he didn't need Ritsu even angrier with him.
"Just a little bit." Masamune said. "You're sure this is the right decision? Going to the Kohinata Kingdom, I mean."
"Everyone gets what they want this way." Kisa said.
"Everyone but Ritsu." Masamune pointed out.
Kisa shrugged. "He'll forgive me."
"Will he?"
"He has to. Or be mad for the rest of his life." Kisa said. "And the latter is too exhausting. And too cruel to do to someone he cares about. He'll come around eventually."
"I hope for both our sakes you're right." Masamune said.
Kisa just smiled, trying to appear confident and self-assured, as a Captain should be, but never had he been so unsure of himself.