WARNING! No, not lemon, you perverts. Sorry.
This chapter has NOT been beta'd, and while I'm confident in my writing skills and grammar knowledge, I'll inevitably have missed something. Direct your throwing objects(rotten fruit, shoes, cement blocks, baby elephants, etc.) towards the one who beta'd the first two chapters, Oka-san.
The Journal of Sakurazaki Setsuna
Day 8, late afternoon (cotd.)
The morning of the fifth day started as the rest had, with Kono-chan awakening early, though this morning I woke up as well, or rather, hadn't been sleeping deeply enough to sleep through her morning routine. I can function on very little sleep, but if that had kept up, it might have started testing my limits. She seemed a bit surprised when I rolled out of my hammock with drowsy eyes, but quickly smiled and added another can… yech… to breakfast, greeting me cheerily. I almost felt a bit of resentment towards her for getting a good night's sleep, as one is prone to do out of a simple jealousy, but then I caught sight of her smile again and it evaporated like it was never there, and even seemed to energize me, forcing away the results of a sleepless night.
What is it about her smile that affects me so strongly? As I write that question, I feel my mind answering immediately with a thousand things: her beauty, her kindness, her show of happiness, which I desire more than anything else in this mortal world…That's right, isn't it? Even with the plague of temptation I've been facing, it all seems worth it to see her smile. If it made her happy, I would… come up with a good example. But she won't read this, so I won't strain my mind. May not ever have the chance…
No, mustn't think like that, she will live, we will be together again, and I will protect her from this home of horrors unseen alive by mortal man. No, that's not quite right. There were people here once, long ago, from outside, though nothing marks their passage but a fort long decayed.
Back on the timeline, then. We ate breakfast peaceably, and fortunately clothed. Kono-chan, for reasons I still don't quite understand, seemed a bit more withdrawn than usual, as though she were thinking deeply on something. She didn't take my clothes again, and kept hers on, which both relieved and worried me, since she seemed so happy with it before. In truth, after two days of nudity, being clothed felt a little strange and restrictive, though I wouldn't admit under torture that I enjoyed being a temporary nudist.
The day went quietly, and I barely spoke to Kono-chan for most of it. She continually circled the ship, checking the same things over and over again, taking readings with the sextant, though I could tell she wasn't really seeing any of the numbers, which may be part of why we are in the current predicament. As the sky began to darken, I finally steeled my nerve and asked Kono-chan what the problem was; she first attempted to pass it off as nothing with a concealing smile, but I held fast, replying with only a look that plainly stated 'not buying it, spill'. She tried a few more times, and even tried to walk away, but I only touched her shoulder and she finally relented with a sigh. The words she spoke next shattered my world in that very moment.
"Secchan, how do you feel about me?" That question… she could have asked any other question and I could have answered it, but that question… I couldn't lie to her straight faced, she always knew I was lying! And I certainly couldn't tell her the truth. Those thoughts flashed through my head for an instant, my subconscious mind quickly resolving the battle between them as my fears rose to the fore and I quickly stuttered out something about her being the greatest friend I could ever want and that I would protect her forever, the usual response that completely avoided the question.
"Oh…" was her monotone response, and she held her eyes steady as she turned away. But she let them go a moment too soon, and I saw… something… in her eyes. I am still unsure as to what it was, but without thinking about it, I reached out and grabbed her shoulder, quickly but gently spinning her around so I could grasp both of her shoulders, holding her there as that which I had seen in her eyes caused me to act irrationally. As she looked at me then, I faltered, quite forgetting what I had planned to say, as the hope in her eyes now startled me. After a moment of silence, I saw it begin to fade, and my mouth began acting on its own, speaking without the consent of my conscious mind.
"Kono-chan…" I started, my teeth nearly chattering with my conflicting emotions, "The truth is…" I kept on, not realizing until much later that I had been drawing her closer with each passing second, slowly, and that our faces were only a bare two or three inches apart when I started the final part of my statement, "I…" I know what I would have said now, reflecting back upon it, and that I would have undoubtedly tried to kiss her afterwards. I'm sure she would have been too shocked to react at first, and then, once recovered, would lay into me with a vengeance I have only witnessed in my sensei of the Shinmei, when I had done something beyond horrible. I do not know whether to thank or curse the Dragon Queen for what happened next. That's right, curse, it was the beginning of what put us where we are now, though I'm still not quite sure how it happened.
As I was about to speak, a loud clap of thunder sounded, close, barely a half-mile away, startling the both of us apart from each other. For a moment, we were simply shocked, but then turned to see what it was. Somehow, in the few seconds of the exchange, the horizon had filled with pitch black clouds, clouds that were moving towards us at a visible rate. It was one of the fears I had upon hearing of this trip coming to life: a freak storm, so fast and deadly and unpredictable that ships could only batten down the hatches and hope.
I almost went into a state of scared shock, but Kono-chan was up in an instant, shouting orders to untie this and grab that, which I did without question. I don't claim to know what all we did, but many things were done. The one thing I remember doing, at the last, as we could see the choppy waves of the storm's first winds moving closer, was taking down the sails and stowing them in the cabin before throwing ourselves in around them and shutting the door tightly. I have never seen Kono-chan quite so strong as then, knowing exactly what to do and showing none of the fear I had at this force of nature with which I could not contend. Then that strength was broken as everything that could be done had been done, and she crawled into my arms and began crying lightly. I soothed her as best I could, rubbing her beautiful hair as I felt the first waves rock the ship, and whispering that everything would be all right.
It's strange, but the moment she grasped me tight and I returned the gesture, time itself seemed to stop, no howling winds outside, the ship more still than it had ever been, as if the world itself were holding its breath as we shared a beautiful embrace. I felt our auras bond at that moment in some fundamental way, though I know now it was simply my fancy, I wondered at that time if she really did feel about me as I did about her. Impossible, of course.
Then the silence ended, and all hell broke loose.
I do not remember all of what happened, it was too hectic, too violent, but I remember clutching Kono-chan tightly and holding onto a sturdy handle for dear life. I thought we would both die in that storm, as I felt the ship turn completely on its head a time or two before settling back with gravity, water sloshing about the cabin by now. But it was not to be. The turbulence took a pattern after a bit, and I was having a much easier time of hanging on until something completely unexpected happened. Do you know that sudden lifting sensation that happens when you hit a powerful thermal after dead air? Oh, of course you don't, what am I… or maybe you do, didn't occur to me that… oh never mind.
I felt a strong lifting sensation; we were moving up rapidly, crazily fast… I heard a loud snapping, what I suppose now was the mainmast breaking in two, and then it got even crazier as a second force hit us from the side, sending us spinning and spinning through the air in what I would guess was a tornado, or a waterspout. My grip on Kono-chan loosened with the wild tossing, and the now drenched cabin didn't help any: on a strong twist, we were flung apart, to opposite sides of the cabin. My head struck something hard and metal as it happened, but my consciousness seemed to fade slowly, as I witnessed the ship split into two distinct halves as a large shark… yes, a shark… struck the bottom of the boat and went right through the split it had made. My consciousness faded out as it was almost out of sight, and I swear on everything holy that the damnable creature was grinning.
Thinking about it now, I'm sure it was only the bump on my head getting to me, but still…
I woke up, probably only minutes later, lying bruised and battered in a large clump of… bushes. It took a moment for my sore head to calculate that according to Kono-chan's map, we hadn't been within fifty miles of any land at all, more than a day's trip, she had said. I got up painfully, looking, at first instinct, for Kono-chan. I saw the wrecked half of the boat and went towards it, still groggy, thinking she must be near it, since I didn't see any other sliding paths like the one I had obviously taken. My bruises ached, but I knew that just the sight of her, safe if not uninjured, would revitalize me totally.
Then I reached the half of the boat which had been carried with me into this monstrous place, and without knowing how I knew immediately, knew she was not there. I did not believe my knowledge, and searched… and searched, and searched. But I did not find her. She was gone. I remember screaming then, and as the last rays of the sun dropped below the high horizon, I heard an answering cacophony of howls, screeches, and roars as the nightlife of Caspak heard my call… and answered.
Author's Notes: Short chapter, I know, and after so long, I know. The reason for the short chapter was because of the long silence between the two covering most of the day, and for entries covering multiple days, I'll probably relegate it to one active day per chapter. The other reason is that I gave it to Oka-san to beta, he did, and then he lost it and has yet to find it or offer to re-do it. I got tired of waiting, so I'm posting this now.
And SO... I need a new beta. Most of the other KonoSetsu freaks I know aren't quite as freaky as I am, and the lemony freshness doesn't appeal to them like it does myself and apparently the rest of you. So, anyone who's interested, you ought to be able to find my e-mail: send me an e-mail, give me at least four or five sentences of whatever you want to say, describe yourself, talk about something you love to do, whatever, but use your grammar skills to the fullest, so I know I'm getting someone with at least my level of skill. I'll give it about a week, and then if I get anything at all, I'll pick one or two to look over the chapters before I post them, just so I have someone to catch things I missed.
I'm LOVING all these reviews, seriously, I've NEVER gotten this kind of response. It's given me the guts to write, yes, ANOTHER lemony fresh KonoSetsu, with a bit more immediate action, but once again, a long buildup to full-on lemon. The first chapter is written, but I'm going to wait and see if I get a beta before I post it; if not, I'll toss it up within the week. I will post exactly five chapters of it here, and then I'll throw it all up on MediaMiner with chapters six and seven, for reasons I'm sure you can guess. Oh, and the title, which will give you a large hint of its basis, is "Third Quarter Waxing".
Speaking of titles... anybody got a suggestion for a new one on this fic? "Trip on the Water" is extremely dorky-sounding, but I can't come up with anything good. Never have been good with titles... well, if you want to know more about any of this, just e-mail me, and I'll reply promptly. Thank you for reading all this rambling, if you indeed have, and good night.
P.S. Yes, inukingsapprentice, I know what 'solo' is. I'm freakier than you could probably imagine, and could probably teach YOU a few things.