AN: ^_^ Look-y! chapter Two! It's actually here! I told you (bio page) that I was working on these! Ha ha! Now all I have to do is update e the other two or three fics I have. sigh Until then, could you all be so kind as to read what I already have? I don't wasn't to sound desperate, but I really do like to know that people are reading my fics. I like it if they like them too, but if you don't, could you still review and tell me what I can change to make you like them?

Until then, enjoy this one. Try. If you've come this far, there must be something you like. ^_^

I didn't change anything on this from when I first posted it (and no one reviewed sniffle). Just fixed a few spelling and grammar mistakes, is all. But, hey, maybe this time someone will review? Please?

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Mr. Hawkins gazed at the little boat pushing off to approach the apparently abandoned ship. He couldn't help thinking the captain had made a mistake agreeing already to take her remaining inhabitants aboard. It was no secret that the crew was on short rations, and there was little chance of them restocking any time soon. Besides that, there was no room for another dozen people. And ladies would be in need of a separate sleeping quarter altogether.

"Where will we be putting them, sir?"

"With the rest of you, below," the captain replied, his pale eyes pointed at the sky.

Mr. Hawkins nodded. "And the women?"

"They will sleep in my quarters," the younger man answered instantly, a planned response. "I'll stay below as well. But we will not be needing to worry about that for some time yet. There's a storm coming--I can see the clouds even now--and we will all be busy trying to keep this ship afloat." He smiled thinly and turned to his first mate. His vice dropped to something close to a whisper. "You think I am wrong for taking them, James?"

Looking into the man's eyes, Mr. Hawkins knew better than to answer the question truthfully, if he dared to answer at all. He had only served under Mr. Ichijouji for about a half dozen years, yet he knew him almost as well as he knew himself. And yet he could not read the expression on the man's face. Stress was a likely guess, but he had seen the captain frazzled before, and his face had been different. More possible that he was already regretting, perhaps hanging his decision on what the first mate replied.

Mr. Hawkins did not want the responsibility of playing God. He did not want the burden of condemning the people on the other ship to death. So he did not say anything.

Mr. Ichijouji accepted the silence without comment. Dropping his gaze back to the small boat, he noted briefly that it had almost reached its destination. Soon, his ship would be overloaded with people. He sighed. He had never liked being crowded by people. When he had first put a crew together, just after he bought his first ship, he had struggled to keep his crew as small as possible. His own stubbornness had settled the matter in the end, by some of the doubtful ones leaving without ever setting foot on the ship, leaving behind only those willing to chance the lack. They were some of the best crewmen he had ever seen, triumphing over obstacles he had seen larger crews fail at.

He had been lucky. It was quite possible they could have failed. He had gambled with their lives and his own, and had won; but it may not have turned out so well. And he had not given any second thoughts to it. He had been determined not to fill his ship, his pride and glory, so full with men that they could not stand each other. He refused to crowd himself in a place he had earned with his own sweat and blood so he could be free. He had been that resolute.

And yet, here he was, accepting who knew how many people onto a smaller ship that was already cramped. And all for the simple fact that there were women involved. His cousin would be furious, he knew, and he was grateful she preferred not to travel with him. Otherwise she would be swooping down on him that very moment like God's fury and chiding him for thinking of women as 'lesser beings.'

He chuckled and moved away form the bowsprit, towards his quarters. He would have to clear some things out before turning it over to a flock of females to be theirs until they docked.

"Mr. Hawkins, if I could employ your aid?" he called over his shoulder, and the other man hurried to catch up to him.

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"Lady, are you sure this is wise?" The young woman glanced hesitantly at the men helping lift their belongings onto the deck, near where they had roped their boat. They had scaled the side of the shop, since there had been no sort of ladder in sight and the men had insisted on moving quickly, and since had been in and out of the crew's quarters, heaving out boxes with no great ceremony.

Mimi Tachikawa cringed as a box she knew for a fact contained some of her best china was tossed out of the hole in the deck and crashed against the boards. She suppressed the desire to scold whoever it was that had so carelessly thrown the fragile box, afraid that she would end up face to face with the crew of their rescuing ship. The men were strangely rough looking to her eyes, and she had no desire to speak to any of them, much less make one mad.

The lady only smiled at her companion's concern. "If we do not go with them, we will never survive," she reasoned. "We'll simply sit on this Godforsaken boat until we all starve to death or worse."

One of the men, a smallish redhead, interrupted the conversation before Mimi could ask what could possibly be worse than starving.

"Ma'am," he called, approaching the two women slowly. "I'm sorry, Miss, but our ship will not hold all of this. I'm afraid some of it will have to be left here." He stared at his hands, wringing them together nervously. He certainly would not have liked to have been told that some of his belongings would have to be abandoned, and he despised being the one to inform them, but that was the reason he was sent along. He had his share of strengths, and lifting things was not one of them. However, he was wonderful at anything mathematics related; and determining how much extra weight their ship could carry was certainly as necessary estimation.

He glanced up at the two women, meeting the expected horror stricken face form one of them. The other, a shorter brunette in a dress that he assumed was slightly more fine, only looked a bit torn. She bit her lip and glanced at the boxes crowding the deck.

"I'm sorry," she murmured. 'I should have known that. Oh, this may take some time, I'm afraid." She looked back at him with a more hesitant gaze than his had been. "Would it be alright if we search through them briefly? I assure you, it will not take overly long."

"Of course." Turning on his heel, Koushiro Izumi hurried back to his fellow crewmates, calling them away from the boxes. The group moved to the stern to wait for the women and their escorts--as their male companions were assumed to be. As they settled onto the deck, Koushiro's eyes swept over his companions. He had expected them to start a conversation the moment they sat down, if not earlier, but they were sitting quietly, their eyes focused on the seven people that would be returning to their floating home with them. Their eyes held mixed emotions that he could not fully process.

One man, a huge fellow with curly black hair matted to his head under his bandana, spoke up. His voice was a low, harsh whisper as he stated his concerns. "What do you suppose happened to her crew?" There was a short silence before the rest of the men began voicing their thoughts.

"Perhaps they couldn't stand the idea of spending one more day with these pansies, and they drowned themselves."

"I could understand that."

"It's likely they just died. Caught ship's fever or some other sort of plague and died. These girlies here probably hid in their own private quarters and didn't get the disease. Spared them. Even now, the bodies of the crew are rotting somewhere on this here ship."

"Here's to a good tale!"

"It is possible."

"Aye. But more possible is the thought that they simply ran out of food, and starved to death."

"And the pansies?"

"Not so loud, man! What if they should hear you?"

"May I be struck down before I have to hear a single woman's complaint! …What do you think, man?"

A small young man, the youngest of the group and of the entire crew, sat crouched down a bit behind the men. His knees were pulled up to his chest, and his thin arms wrapped around them to keep them there. He seemed uncomfortable to around such a group, though he lived with them in the crew's quarters, the same as anyone else. Koushiro wondered why exactly the captain had sent him along.

In any case, the little man looked up as he realized he was the one being addressed. He looked at each of the faces pointed at him and stated simply, "It's bad luck to have a woman on board."

There was another bout of silence as the men processed his words, fear flashing across several faces. Finally, one man raised his hand as though holding a glass to make a toast and declared quietly, somberly, "Here's to that."

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Disclaimer: I own everything! All of it. I even own you as you sit there reading this line. I have total control. Watch: you obeyed. Move your eyes from left to right. HA! See that? You are obeying my every command! Now review. … … … … Um… Okay, so I don't have total control. Darn.