Chapter 12: Deadly Water Game
Despite the rain, the rapids were a little rougher than expected. The first two were only 2.5, but we still took on a lot of water. Mint and Zakuro had gotten flipped from too much water intake. It may have been Mint's lack of tea causing her reaction time to take a hit. She seemed to be going through caffeine withdrawal. I was secretly getting a kick out of it. After that truth or dare episode the previous night she deserved it.
Last night… Perhaps I had been a little tough on Ryou. Perhaps I should have just backed off. I shouldn't have asked him in the first place honestly… All I knew was that summer was near an end. School would be starting soon. I was single. I didn't want to play these games any more. I sighed and dug my paddle into the rough waters. He hadn't said a word to me since we'd headed out. Just a quick glance… he was lying back, in his normal fashion, staring up into the sky. Always thinking…
"What do you want Strawberry?" He didn't look at me.
"A raise." He smirked a little at that.
"Seriously Ichigo…"
"Why are we playing this game?" Apparently I hadn't learned my lesson.
"Ichigo, I…" we were cut off as the side of the canoe brushed against a rock causing us to loose balance. Ami yelled over the rushing water, scolding me for not paying attention to the rocks. I pushed us off with the paddle and pulled back on track. This particular rapid looked kind of nasty. Time to focus.
A level 3.5. The waters came over the sides of the canoe, threatening to knock us over. I couldn't see the rocks directly in front of me. Panic set in. This wasn't like before. I was scared. I dug my paddle harder into the water but found only air. We landed with a thud. My heart was pounding as we tried to regain the canoe's balance. Was this thing ever going to end? It seemed at least three times as long as the previous one. One last crashing wave ricocheting off of a rock was all it took.
I could see the light at the top of the river as my life vest pushed me upwards. The waters tossed me around as though I were nothing. I grabbed at rocks trying to hold myself up. Ryou… I couldn't see him anywhere… I tried to float down on my back like Ami had instructed, but the crashing water everywhere around me was making at a difficult task. Just ahead my friends were calling to me and pointing at some thing on my left.
A hole. Approximately five feet deep… maybe more. I was swimming now, pulling myself as hard as I could. Ryou was far away. I could see him though. In the same situation as me. That was the last thing I saw before being pulled under. I tried to kick off of a rock. Mistake. Big mistake. My water shoe lodged itself in between the rocks. I was trapped. Waves were crashing down on my head making it more and more difficult to surface. By some miraculous twist of fate I pulled my foot from the shoe and floated up.
I grabbed onto one of the large rock structures and slowly pulled myself around to the shore line, shaken but alright. I glanced around nervously, but my fears were soon put to rest. Ryou was being helped to shore by the others and Akasaka-sama and Retasu were headed my way.
"Are you alright?" Ami rushed over as I limped over. I nodded. She looked at Ryou and then at me before announcing it was a good time to stop for lunch. We were left alone, most likely to have a moment to recompose ourselves.
"You okay Ryou." I sat beside him to high on adrenaline to really take in what had just happened. He just stared straight ahead and nodded.
"I'm sorry Ichigo… I should have done more to help you."
"What would you have done?" I leaned on his shoulder and closed my eyes. "The waters were rough out there."
"I want you to be safe. I was supposed to protect you. I failed." I brushed the wet hair from his face.
"I'm okay Ryou… you're okay. That's what's important." He wrapped his arm around me and pulled me close to him. I nestled into him, willing to stay in the moment forever.