[Log] The Crash! Group 4 [Kirihara, Niou, Yagyuu, Tooyama]

[laser_megane]

Group 4

Who: Yagyuu Hiroshi, Kirihara Akaya, Niou Masaharu and Tooyama Kintarou.
Where: On the ship, the night of the Crash!
Warnings: Ghosts playing tricks
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Well...the boat crashed. :-)

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For once during the cruise, Akaya had not been sleeping soundly at night. He had felt a deep foreboding for most of the day, and the little sleep he had gotten had been plagued with nightmares. When he first felt the ship grind against something hard, he hobbled to the bathroom as fast as he could. Pulling the shower curtains down forcefully, he tossed his borrowed laptop, his pills, and as many clothes as he could onto the plastic before tying it up in a bundle. Pulling the flat sheet off of his bed, he tied that around the shower curtains to make it easier to grip. As water started seeping into his cabin, Akaya tried to heft the bundle over his shoulder. Unfortunately, his right foot hit some of the water on his floor, causing him to slip. As he fell, his head struck the corner of the coffee table, leaving him unconscious in the rising water.

Kintarou had jolted out of bed once he felt the ship had hit something. Shaken, he panicked around his room. ‘I’m just hallucinating!’ he thought to himself the whole time. Alas, his thoughts came crashing back to reality once he noticed the water level rising in his room. “The ship did crash!!!!” He grab his bag and quickly stuffed some clothes, and somehow squished his laptop, in it before making a mad dash out of the room. If he remembered correctly, Niou had stayed in his room during the April Fool’s Day prank, and would probably would do the same for this one. He didn’t even bother knocking on the door as he broke it down. “NIOU-HAN!!!! THE SHIP IS SINKING!!!” He bent down and toss the water already in the room onto Niou.

Even though Niou had felt something, he didn’t think much of it even with the blaring alarms with what had been happening the last couple of days. However, once Kintarou had entered the room and started splashing water over him, he knew that this was not just a prank. He grabbed his glasses and felt the color left his face as he saw the water entering his room. “Akaya. Hiroshi.” he muttered as he quickly jumped out of bed and ran to the other room, pulling Kintarou along. He spotted Akaya unconscious on the ground and went over to him, shaking up violently. “You brat! Wake up!” he yelled, but he knew that wasn’t going to help anyone at the moment. He turned to Kintarou and said, “You carry Akaya; I’m going to go check on Hiroshi.”

Kintarou nodded as Niou trusted him with Akaya and watched him leave to go find Yagyuu. He picked the unconscious male up and tossed one of his arms around his shoulder, and picked up the bag Akaya had packed and his cane as well. He made his way towards Niou’s room. Seeing that he had rushed out before grabbing anything, Kintarou had spotted a backpack on his table. He also picked it up, thinking Niou would need it. He then made his way to Yagyuu’s room.

Yagyuu woke when the alarms went off. At first he thought it might be another false alarm, but the movement of the ship, subtle though it may usually be, was different. He grabbed his glasses and went over to the balcony doors to look outside. What he saw made him swear, rather loudly. Instead of the sea, he saw rock. A lot of it. Apparently they had somehow come to run aground. He quickly dressed and packed his laptop bag, grabbing a few things from the fridge and cupboard, before picking up the bag and first aid kit by the door. Opening it then, he came face to face with Niou. Who was wearing glasses. Yagyuu blinked.

With a groan, Akaya managed to open his eyes. He could tell that he was being carried along basically, but he wasn’t sure who was doing it or where they were going. Trying to fight the darkness creeping back into his vision, he managed to mumble two words. “Niou. Yagyuu.”

Kintarou blinked at the male on his shoulder. He knew he had muttered something but couldn’t make out exactly what he had said. “Kirihara-kun?” Kintarou shook him. “Are you awake??” He looked up and spotted Niou standing in front of Yagyuu. “Niou-han! Can you carry some stuff for me while I carry Kirihara-kun??”

Niou had felt some relief when Yagyuu had opened his door. He reached out and grabbed his wrist. “We have to go.” he said in all urgency. He turned as he heard his name called and saw Kintarou coming over. Niou nodded in response to the younger male’s request and took most of the bags he was carrying so that he could focus only on carrying Akaya. “What is the best way out?”

“As we cannot take the elevators, it is fortunate that Atobe’s interesting sense of style had so many staircases put in,” Yagyuu said, shifting his own bags to see if he could assist Niou in carrying some of the others, once his partner had let go of his wrist. “I can help with those, these aren’t that heavy. Hello, Tooyama-kun.” Seeing that Akaya was at least somewhat conscious, although not really awake, felt a deep sense of relief. “Once we get to the Entertainment Decks we can easily get to the lifeboats. We have come aground somehow.” He oriented himself and pointed. “That way.”

Lifting his head slowly, Akaya groaned and blinked slowly. “Gotta get out. I think we crashed...the water...”

Niou nodded. “We know; just stay still so Kintarou can carry you.” He took a deep breath as he shifted some of the things in his arms. “Hiroshi, you lead the way; you probably know the layout to this place more than any of us.”

“All right.” Yagyuu led the way to the stairs between the floors. “Hold up, let me check that they are not flooded.” He carefully opened the door, and looked inside. The landing was clear. He stepped inside and looked down...water. Not close yet, but there was water inside the ship. He held the door open to let the others inside. “Let us climb to the Entertainment Decks. We don’t seem to be taking on water too rapidly, but I think getting to the lifeboats is probably our best choice. Once ashore and everyone is accounted for, perhaps we can send parties back for food and supplies.” If Akaya hadn’t been injured he would have recommended they loot for food on their way up, but he was concerned about that head wound. It was a very lucky thing they had Tooyama-kun with them.

Akaya felt woozy as he nodded in agreement. Doing his best to walk alongside Tooyama, he couldn’t seem to keep his footing on the tilted stairs. Everything in his vision seemed to be swirling more than what the angle of the boat could account for, and it was taking a great deal of concentration to not be sick. “Up...’s good...safe...”

Kintarou slowly proceeded up the stairs at a pace suitable for Akaya. As he neared the end of the stairs, Kintarou stopped and stared at the object lying in front of them. “Is that a.... freezer???” Kintarou paused for a moment before turning to Niou with sparkly eyes. “Do you think there’s ice cream in there???”

Niou scowled at the question. “There’s no time for ice cream, Kintarou.” He turned to the freezer. It was a bit too large for them to just crawl over it, but he didn’t know the state of the cabin deck at the moment to even suggest going back down and trying another staircase. The more he thought about it, an idea came to him. “Kintarou, you can lift that, can’t you? You are strong.”

“I am?” Kintarou blinked a couple of times before the thought hit him. “I am!” he repeated. “Can you hold Kirihara-kun for me?”

Niou nodded as he placed the bags he was holding down. “Yagyuu, take these bags will you?” he asked as he crouched down in front of them. “Get on my back; it’ll be easier and faster that way.”

Yagyuu had to smile at Tooyama-kun’s enthusiasm. He’d heard a rumor that the other had lifted a scooter over his head when he was twelve, no doubt he could manage a freezer, even full of ice cream, now. “Of course, Masaharu,” he said, picking up the bags and draped those that had long enough straps around his neck and shoulders, oblivious to his slip of the tongue. He picked up the rest of the bags and prepared to move quickly when Tooyama-kun lifted. Strong or not, he didn’t want the Osakan to strain something because Yagyuu was dawdling.

Akaya did his best to stand on his own as Niou and Yagyuu traded burdens. Wrapping his arms around the trickster’s neck, he groaned softly as Niou lifted him up. The back of his head was throbbing, and part of him wondered if he was feeling blood or sweat creeping down the back of his head.

Kintarou stood in front of the freezer and bent down. He knew that it was going to be heavy and who knows what is inside it adding to the weight. He took a deep breath before lifting it up. But something didn’t feel right. He shook it back and forth in the air, confirming his suspicion. “Hey, this is as light as a cardboard box!!” he exclaimed. “Do you want to try holding it?” he faced Yagyuu.

“...” Niou had no words to say about the red-head’s claim, though he was a bit mystified as to why such a thing would be as light as Kintarou had said it was. “We should just go.” Niou said as he ducked under the freezer, careful to go low enough so that Akaya didn’t hit his head on the thing.

“I...will take your word for it, Tooyama-kun,” Yagyuu said politely. “My hands are full just now.” He followed Niou, keeping an eye on Akaya. Spotting a dark patch on the other’s collar, he said, “When we get to someplace relatively stable, I’d like to stop and have us check Akaya, I think he’s still bleeding from hitting his head earlier.”

Akaya whimpered slightly as Niou ducked under the freezer. The part of his brain that was still struggling to think clearly figured that he was getting into the early stages of shock. Either that or the freezer had been the thing to make the stairway so cold. He was starting to shiver a bit even with Niou’s body heat soaking in through his chest and stomach, and the panic of not being able to get out was growing.

“Roger that.” Niou nodded, agreeing that they should check on Akaya. When he felt the younger male shiver, he turned his head to look at him. Niou gave him a slight smile. “Don’t worry.” he whispered. “We’ll get out of this. Together.” He paused on a step, waiting for Kintarou to put down the freezer so they could venture on as a group.

Kintarou dropped the freezer once everyone had passed it and it made a soft ‘plop’ once it hit the ground. “But what if others need to pass this way? How would they pick it up???”

“There are other ways off that deck, Tooyama-kun. This was just the exit closest to us,” Yagyuu said. He wished he could adjust his glasses, they were starting to slide down his nose. “Or, if you are worried, you could shift it so people can slide past it,” he suggested.

Prying his eyes open as they reached the next deck, Akaya bit back a scream and started to struggle in Niou’s grasp. All around them were spiders. On almost every surface he could see. Akaya thought that he would see them start falling from above if he turned to look at the ceiling. “Sp...spiders!! E-everywhere!”

“E-eh!?!?!?!?!” Kintarou screeched as he saw the spiders crawling everywhere. Before anyone could bat an eye, Kintarou latched himself onto the nearest person’s waist, which happens to be Niou’s. He was careful not to hurt Akaya even more, however. “Save me!!!!”

Niou grunted, feeling the tight grip around his waist. It was already bad enough having Akaya scared and now Kintarou is to; he’s hoping that Yagyuu doesn’t do anything too, though he already knew that the other wouldn’t. “We’re going to have to run.” he said with a little trouble as Kintarou’s grip just tightened. Niou quickly looked over to Yagyuu before staring at the spiders in front of them. “Akaya, just close your eyes and hang on tight. Kintarou... don’t kill me.”

The spiders were rather unnerving. One moment he did not notice anything, the next, they were everywhere! Yagyuu took a deep breath. Then he blinked. Were those spiders...square dancing? He closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them back up. All the spiders, and there were many, were moving in a rhythmic, almost hypnotic fashion. He decided not to mention it as Akaya and Tooyama-kun were already freaked out enough. He spoke calmly, projecting authority into his voice, “Okay. Tooyama-kun, Masaharu is going to need to move fast and that will be hard with you attached like that. How about you come stand in front of me? If you walk right in front of me, behind Masaharu, step where he steps, I believe we all can get through here without an issue.” If he was right, it was another illusion. If he was wrong...well, hopefully he just said that well enough that the younger male would believe him. “Go Masaharu, I’ll be right behind you.”

Glancing over at the wall, Akaya whimpered as he saw the spiders moving in a manner that allowed them to spell ‘Get Out’ on the slightly angled surface. Turning away to look in the other direction, he swore he saw one in a styrofoam cup using a wooden skewer as a paddle. Akaya tightened his grip on Niou and murmured pathetically against the other man’s neck. “Hurry. P-please?”

Kintarou let a small whine escape his throat as he finally released Niou from his death grip. “Fine...” he mumbled and step behind Niou. He stared out into the spiders again, trying not to freak out too much. He squinted his eyes as he tried to make out something. Were two spiders.... having a tennis match? Kintarou rubbed his eyes and look again. “Did that spider just did.... the Super Ultra Great Delicious Daisharin Yama Arashi???”

Niou was actually highly amused with the spiders. Had it been under different circumstances, he would have actually enjoyed this, but this wasn’t the time. Getting into position, he looked over his shoulder once before dashing through the hall of spiders as fast as he could.

“I believe it did, Tooyama-kun,” Yagyuu said. The illusion was almost...charming. Although he doubted Akaya would ever agree. He waited for Tooyama-kun to take off after Niou, watching the tiny tennis matches until it was his turn to run. Was that one wearing glasses? Seeing some of the moves they used to do, being done by spiders...did not make them look more physically possible, he had to admit.

Akaya tightened his grip around Niou’s shoulders as much as he could as he clamped his eyes shut. Whimpering as he felt Niou running underneath him, he did his best to ignore the comments from Tooyama and Yagyuu.

Kintarou finally turned away from the little tennis match and followed Niou. He followed the path Niou had took, but he kept looking back at the tennis match, wanting to know who would win. Shaking his head, he focus on the objective of getting away from the spiders when he felt something crawl on his back. He screamed loudly, shaking the whole hallway as he flailed around, still running, trying to get the spider off his back while. His eyes were closed, and he unknowingly passed Niou and Akaya and broke down the door at the end of the hallway.

Niou jumped a little when he heard Kintarou scream, but it did help to clear away some of the spiders. He quickly through the door and quickly scanned the area to make sure there were no more spiders. “There’s no more spiders.” he said to calm down both Akaya and Kintarou.

Following quickly behind the others, Yagyuu set the bags in his hands down to make sure there were no hangers-on that might pop up again later. Picking them up again, he looked around. They were on the lowermost of the Entertainment Decks. “We’re clear,” he said, picking the bags up again.

Niou’s words fell on deaf ears in regard to Akaya. During the dash through the hallway, he had slipped into unconsciousness again and was hanging limply against Niou’s back.

Kintarou took in a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself down. He look down at his feet and notice that he is standing on top of the door. “Oops~” he bent down and pick it up. Since everyone had already entered the room, he immediately place it upright again, not wanting to look at the spiders.

Niou sighed as he shifted Akaya a little, but then frowned seeing that he had went unconscious again. “Oi, Akaya.” he called as fear was starting to grow inside him; if the younger male did have a concussion, then this is not a good thing. Niou looked over to Yagyuu, seeing if he had any plans.

Yagyuu saw the look Niou gave him. He glanced around. There were restaurants, but everything was rather jumbled. “I know, we need to get a look at him. The staircase to the upper levels is over there,” and lavishly done in gold with elaborate banisters, “why don’t we get up to the third deck as fast as possible and use one of the couches? With the water levels possibly rising, I’d personally prefer not to stop here,” he said.

Akaya was oblivious to the concern of his former teammates as he remained unconscious on Niou’s back. The only change displayed was that his grip was beginning to slip.

Niou nodded as they went up the stairs and onto the next deck after making sure that Akaya won’t slip off him. However, once Niou stepped foot in the hallway of the second entertainment deck, he stopped. Was the hallway really spinning? He closed his eyes for a second before opening them again. It really was and it was making him a bit dizzy. “Yagyuu....”

Kintarou had skipped into the next hallway, happy to get out of the spiders when the spinning hall made it into his view. He tried not to focus on it, but it was too much for him to handle. Which way is up? Which way is down? By this time, his eyes were spinning in sync with the hall. “You guys should go on without me; I’ll get out... eventually.”

The spinning was also making Yagyuu rather queasy and he ducked his head...only to find it wasn’t so bad if he was looking over the rims of his glasses. Interesting. “I think we can get through this together. Each of you grab one of the straps on my back and close your eyes. I’ll walk us out.” Okay, he was still likely to be violently ill, but not immediately. “I may need help with the bags when we get to the other side,” he said. He didn’t think anyone wanted him throwing up on theirs.

Kintarou used one hand to covered his eyes and the other one was blindly hitting the air in front of him, trying to find a bag attached to Yagyuu. Kintarou had ended up missing though, and had hit Yagyuu on the shoulder.

A slight frown appeared on Niou’s face. “I can’t really hold on to you.” he commented since he needed both his arms to support Akaya on his back. He looked down at the ground then realizes that they can probably just get through this by just focusing on the floor. “Just focus on the ground; maybe that will help.”

Yagyuu started to nod, then stopped, quickly. Not a good idea. “That works too.” Tooyama-kun hit hard, he noted. But they couldn’t stop now. He’d just have to wait and be sore later. Determinedly he started forward, looking down to the in focus floor which wasn’t moving as much, and occasionally up to the blurry, moving room ahead to make sure he wasn’t about to run into something. He swallowed heavily, hoping they would get to the stairs soon.

It seemed like the hallway continued on forever, but eventually they got through it in one piece. Niou sighed in relief when he saw the stairs and sent Yagyuu a slight smile. “Let’s go.”

Once they were at the end of the hallway, Kintarou had uncovered his eyes and let out a cheer. “We’re out of the hallway!” he then realized that he was still gripping onto Yagyuu’s shirt, and finally released it. “Gomen ne~” he smiled sheepishly.

“It’s alright, Tooyama-kun,” Yagyuu said after swallowing several times. He had a splitting headache now and was trying rather desperately not to vomit. “Up...the stairs...now?” he managed before dropping the bags in his hands and stepping away to throw up. The poor potted plant might never be the same, he thought as he stood, hands against the wall over it. Thankfully that cured one problem. The headache he’d just have to live with. With an apologetic look to the other two, well, three, he quickly pulled a bottle of water out of his bag and rinsed his mouth. “Sorry about that.”

Niou frowned when Yagyuu had went somewhere to throw up. As much as he had wanted to go over and stroke his back to help him feel better, he couldn’t. “You could have told me you were feeling sick.” Niou scowled. “I have some pills in my backpack if you need them.”

Kintarou nodded and went to Niou’s bag and took out a pill bottle. “Um... is this the right one??” He can never tell the difference between medicine; they all look the same to him. Except the liquids one, but they all taste different and bad.

“Maybe just some aspirin for the headache, thank you,” Yagyuu said. “It was the vertigo. Plus with my hands full I couldn’t push my glasses up. I’ll be fine now,” he added with a smile at his best friend. He took the bottle from Tooyama-kun, looked at it, put it away and took out another. “This one.” He shook out a couple of pills and swallowed them down with some more water. “Lets get up the stairs, then we can rest for a few minutes and take a look at Akaya. Tooyama-kun, could you carry a couple of the bags for me?” His hands were cramping after only a short while of carrying them. That did not bode well. Obviously he was not staying in as good of shape as he thought he’d been.

Kintarou gave a sheepish smile before picking up all the bags. “Let me handle them all, Yagyuu-han! You’ve been carrying them long enough, and I’m empty handed anyway. Besides, you’re in no condition to be carrying a lot of stuff.”

Niou nodded in agreement. “Kintarou’s right; just take it easy for now.” he said as he turned his attention to the stairs. “You can rest once we get to the next deck to feel better.” He began ascending the stairs, while looking over his shoulder once in awhile at both Akaya and Yagyuu.

Yagyuu gratefully handed over the bags to Tooyama-kun. “Thank you, I appreciate your help,” he told the younger man. He followed closely behind Niou, though not so close he was crowding him, keeping an eye on Tooyama-kun. He had no doubts that the other was strong, but this whole situation was just unnerving and he didn’t want to lose sight of anyone at this point. He’d be a bit happier when they got to the next deck and they could check on Akaya.

When they finally got to the third entertainment deck, Niou looked around for a place to put Akaya and saw a couch nearby. He walked over and gently placed the injured man down. “Yagyuu.” Niou called out as he gently turned Akaya’s head to see the wound.

Kintarou peek over to watch what they were doing. But once he spotted a patch of blood, he immediately said, “I’m going to be over there if you need me~” and walked over to a random bookshelf. He skimmed through the books, not really that interested and constantly peering over at the three males before spotting something. “Pocket Dictionary...” he muttered to himself before opening it and looking through the contents. What was that word he needed to look up again? Bi...?

Yagyuu grabbed his first aid kit and stepped over to the couch. He knelt down next to it. “Bled a lot, but it doesn’t look deep. Let me clean it up so we can get a better look.” He pulled his water bottle out of his jacket pocket and wet a clean cloth, then he gently patted the area clean. From his calculations Akaya would not need stitches, but he was going to have to be bandaged and hopefully keep his head dry as they got off the boat. He pulled gauze and wrap out and looked at Niou to see if he agreed. “What do you think?”

Akaya slowly came back to something near consciousness as he felt something wet touch the back of his head. Whatever the wet thing was, it stung a bit, but trying to move away from it made him whimper in agony as his eyes began to water. Opting to stay still instead, he whimpered softly and hoped that the pain would go away.

Niou nodded. “It’s not as bad as I thought it would be.” he commented as he reached out and gently moved away Akaya’s hair to see the wound. “No, not as bad at all.” When he heard the younger male whimper, Niou took that as a good sign then moved a bit. “I’ll hold his head up while you wrap it, Yagyuu.” he said as he gently lifted Akaya’s head up enough for Yagyuu.

Having also heard the whimper, Yagyuu, as gently as he was able, placed a clean gauze pad against the wound, then wound a wrap around Akaya’s head to hold it in place. He tucked the end in neatly, thankful now for all those boring hours of practice. “How’s that?” He dug into the kit again to find the pain medication. He was sure that Akaya had packed his, but going through his things right now was probably not the wisest move. “Here,” he said, pouring two tablets into his hand. “Akaya, can you swallow right now?” he asked softly.

Akaya groaned softly. He could feel hands on his head, as well as something soft pressing against the back of his head. Distantly, he thought he heard voices, but he couldn’t understand what was being said.

“That should be perfect.” Niou commented as he gently placed Akaya’s head down. Sighing, he moved again to behind Yagyuu and rested his chin on his shoulder. “I don’t think he can yet.” he sighed again. “Should I feed him them myself?” Niou asked then frowned. “Never mind, that wouldn’t be a good idea either.”

“Well, at least if he’s unconscious he’s not feeling the pain. That is...good. I’ll keep them on hand, though, in case he wakes up at any time.” Yagyuu leaned back slightly and tipped his head to touch Niou’s. The familiar pose was very comforting to him. “We should get going again,” he said, rather unconvincingly to his own ears.

Akaya whimpered softly, still hovering on the edge of consciousness. Distantly, he could still hear garbled voices, and thought he felt something wet on his face.

“You sound like you don’t want to go.” Niou remarked. “But what choice do we have?” A slight frown appeared on his face when he noticed the tears running down the side of Akaya’s face. Pressing himself against Yagyuu’s back, Niou reached out and gently wiped them away.

“I’m just tired. We should go.” Watching Niou wipe away Akaya’s tears made something inside of Yagyuu ache strangely. He wasn’t sure what it was. He couldn’t even be sure if it hurt or felt good. It was one of those...amorphous feelings. He bit his lip and bent a little closer to the couch. “Akaya? Akaya, can you hear me? If you open your eyes, I will give you something for the pain,” Yagyuu said. The feel of Niou against his back kept this whole thing from feeling more surreal than it already did.

The voices near him were getting clearer, so Akaya fought to focus on them. Barely catching the promise of something to help the extreme pain in his head, he tried to pry his eyes open. What light there was hurt when it hit his corneas, and Akaya sobbed as he clenched his eyes shut again. “H-hurts...”

Getting off of Yagyuu, Niou slowly and gently sat Akaya up to ensure he wasn’t causing any addition pain to him and cupped the younger man's face. “Akaya, slowly open your eyes.” he softly said as Niou ran his thumbs under his eyes. “Slowly....”

Akaya sobbed softly as Niou sat him up, the motion making his head throb. Licking painfully dry lips, he slowly pried his eyes open, only to hiss in discomfort as the light stung them again. “Ow. ‘s bright.”

Yagyuu moved so he was standing over Akaya and Niou, shading the younger man from most of the light. “Sensitive to light. Hm.” He held two pain tabs to Akaya’s mouth. “Here. If you can swallow these, they’ll help you feel better in a bit. I have water too.” It was in his other hand, waiting, in fact. He gave Niou a meaningful glance.

Akaya opened his mouth to take the pills while holding a shaking hand out in a silent request for the water, which Yagyuu handed him immediately.

Niou caught the glance Yagyuu gave him and slightly nodded, feeling that he knew what the other was thinking. He waited until Akaya had taken the pills and water before asking him questions to ensure them there wasn’t any damage to his brain. “Akaya, do you remember your whole name? Your birthday? Where your home is?”

Akaya swallowed the pills and sipped the water slowly as he processed Niou's questions. "My name is Kirihara Akaya, I live in Kanagawa with my parents since I don't own my own place, and my birthday is September 25th."

Yagyuu breathed a sigh of relief. That was all good, long term memory was okay. Hopefully the next questions, regarding his short term memory would be as clear. But he kept his mouth shut; too many people asking questions could confuse a patient. He smiled a little at Niou, encouraging him to continue. Really, his former partner had a talent for this. He was quite impressed.

“Mmhmm.” Niou hummed. At least that’s one less thing to worry about. “Akaya, what is the last thing that you remember?”

"Um, being carried, I think. I remember the sirens, and the boat stopped moving. I tried to grab stuff, but I think I slipped. Back of my head hurts. Maybe spiders? I dunno if those were real." Akaya felt very tired, but he knew he needed to focus. He had had concussions before, not that he dared tell anyone about them. It was a hazard of playing as hard as he did.

This time Yagyuu’s sigh of relief was audible. “They were not. However we all saw them.” He smiled down at the younger man. “You missed...actually, you probably didn’t miss, the spinning hallway. It was rather disturbing as well.” He started to repack his first aid kit. It didn’t look like they’d be needing it for anything else right now. The question was, however, could Akaya walk or not.

Kintarou took a glanced at the three males. While waiting for the three to finish what they were doing, he had already gone through the dictionary 3 times, search up words he didn’t understand (he finally knows what ecstasy means), and learned that Egypt is in Africa (he thought it was near Russia). “Um.... you guys do remember that the ship is sinking right?” he finally spoke up.

Niou sighed as he turned to look at Kintarou. “Yeah, we remember; it’s not that hard to forget.” he commented as he turned around, his back facing Akaya. “Get on again; it’ll be faster to just carry you.”

Akaya nodded carefully before wincing. ‘Note to self: that hurts like a bitch.’ Wrapping his arms around Niou’s shoulders, he held on as tightly as he dared. Burying his face in the back of the trickster’s neck for a moment, Akaya mumbled his thanks before turning to look at Yagyuu. “Kind of glad I missed that. I’m pretty sure Niou wouldn’t handle me getting sick on him very well.”

“No,” Yagyuu agreed, “He likely wouldn’t.” He picked up the first aid kit and slung some of the bags over his shoulders again. “Thank you for the reminder, Tooyama-kun. If you don’t mind carrying some of the bags, please?” He looked at Niou. “One more level to go. If you get tired, please say something before falling over, all right?”

“I would have dropped you if you got sick on me.” Niou joked as he stood up carefully and pushed Akaya up a little so he couldn’t fall as they went. He then looked over to Yagyuu. “I’m fine. I’d been through worse, so this is nothing. Don’t worry about me; if I was tired, then you would have known, Yagyuu.”

Kintarou proceeded to pick up the bags, but stopped when he looked at the book in his hand. He stood there for a moment, contemplating whether or not he should bring it along or not. Shrugging his shoulders, he kept it in his hand as he picked up all the bags.

Akaya smiled a bit at Niou’s joke. “Now I’m really glad I passed out in the hall of spiders. I don’t even know where my cane is if I had to walk on my own.”

Staring after Tooyama-kun, who really was remarkably strong, Yagyuu made a half-wave at one of the bags the younger man was carrying. “I think I saw it in your bag. Tooyama-kun has it.” Shaking himself a little, he indicated for Niou and Akaya go first. He wanted to be able to keep an eye on them both, just in case. “I’ll keep that in mind, Masaharu,” he said, replying to his partner’s earlier comment.

Niou nodded to Yagyuu before proceeding first. He was glad that they only had one more flight of stairs and they would be on the top deck. Now, he only hoped that they had nothing else in store for them until they get there since he had enough of all the tricks the ship had been playing on them. Though, he couldn't help but feel like he was forgetting something as they made it to the top deck.

Kintarou let out a silent cheer when they finally made it to the top deck. Instead of seeing both of the sides filled with the ocean and beyond, he was greeted by the sight of the island that had cause the boat to crash. Out in the water was lifeboats already, filled with people he could recognize if it wasn't that dark outside.

Akaya sighed in relief and slumped against Niou's back as the cool air hit his face. Finally, they were almost off the boat. Trying to force himself awake a little more, Akaya wondered if he would be able to hobble his way to a life boat so that Niou would be able to relax and rest his likely tired back.

Yagyuu scanned the sides of the boat closest to them. The lifeboats there were gone. The ones on the other side were up against the...jetty, he supposed that was. “We’re going to have to go down a bit to find a lifeboat,” he said, pointing down past the golf course. “That way.” They were almost to safety, but he could not relax until they were at least in the boat and on their way to the island. Maybe to the island. And he knew everyone was off safely.

"Ahh." Niou nodded and headed towards the direction that Yagyuu pointed to until he stopped, eyes slightly wide as he finally realized that what he was forgetting. He turned around and looked back at where they just came from. "I have to go back." Niou whispered as he turned to Yagyuu. "I need to go back."

"Eh?!" Kintarou cried out. "B-but...why? You can't go back! What if something happens? Like, debris starts to fall and crush you! Or... the spiders can eat you alive! Or... the spinning room of doom might somehow swallow you whole! You can't die...." he muttered the last part softly, though it was still loud enough for the others could hear.

Akaya felt his stomach drop when Niou insisted that he needed to go back. "It better be something really important that you're going back for. And you better get to the island ok. I'll never forgive you if you aren't ok on the island soon." He knew better than to try and discourage Niou.

“Is it something important, Masaharu?” Yagyuu asked back, ignoring the other two. He figured it had to be, or Niou wouldn’t risk his life for it. However, now that they were on the top deck he could see that the ship was wedged pretty tight and not likely to sink in the next few hours, although the slowly rising water was a concern. “If you don’t show up on the island by dawn, I will come back for you, you realize,” he said.

Niou chuckled as he gave them a grin. “Don’t worry about me; I’ll be right behind you before you know it.” He knelt down so that Akaya could get off his back easier then turned his head to Kintarou. “And if I do die, I did promise you that I would come back to life like that character you mentioned before.”

“Like Itachi?” Kintarou sniffled. “You promise that you will be safe? If not, I will drag you off this boat dead or alive! Hopefully alive, but if the worst happens, I will be waiting to see you awake!” He wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his shirt. Ever since Kintarou had gotten on the ship, since there were no one else from Shitenhouji members that had accepted the cruise, Niou had became a close friend to him and he didn’t want to lose that.

Akaya carefully climbed off of Niou's back before taking a moment to steady himself. Standing with his weight on his good leg kept his ankle from hurting, but it did nothing for the wave of nausea that was sweeping over him repeatedly. Swallowing down the urge to be ill, he gave Niou a serious look. "We'll be waiting on the island for you. Be quick, ok?"

Rebalancing the bags he was still carrying, Yagyuu moved over next to Akaya. “If I support you, will you be able to walk? Or should I ask Tooyama-kun to carry either you or the rest of the bags?” He gave Niou one last look. “Please, don’t take too long.” He held out his arm for Niou to clasp as a farewell. He refused to say goodbye.

Akaya leaned against Yagyuu and took a few deep breaths. “I think I can walk, we just have to go slow. Will that work?”

Instead of reaching out for Yagyuu's arm, Niou gave him a quick one-armed hug to the best he could with Akaya leaning against the Gentleman and the bags he held. "Take care of both of them and yourself too... Hiroshi." Niou whispered as he let the other go. He looked over all three of them before giving them a small reassuring smile as a promise that he would be back then ran off back to the direction they had came from.

Kintarou let out a small sigh. He knew there was nothing he could do to prevent him. Even if he could do something, he would've choose not to do it. he turn towards Yagyuu and stretch his arms out. "Would you like me to hold your bags?" he asked.

Yagyuu watched Niou disappear from sight, then turned his attention back to the two still with him. Straightening up, both physically and mentally, he nodded. “Yes, please, Tooyama-kun. That would be very helpful. I would be able to give Akaya more support that way.” He carefully removed the bags that had been hanging across his shoulders and backs, trying not to jostle Akaya too much in the process. “There. Now, Akaya, climb up on my back.” He knelt in front of the other man to make it easier for him.

Akaya gently wrapped his arms around Yagyuu’s shoulders, his grip tightening as the other man stood and lifted him from the ground. Pressing his face into Yagyuu’s back, Akaya couldn’t bring himself to try and look behind them. “He’ll be ok, right?”

“Of course he’ll be okay.” Kintarou reassured. “He promised, and he can’t back away from it.” He grabbed the bags Yagyuu had handed him and swung some over his shoulders. “Onward march! The faster we get onto the island, the faster Niou-han will be there!” he cheered positively.

Nodding firmly, Yagyuu lifted Akaya and followed Tooyama-kun. “As he says. Niou will be fine. He promised.” And if he went back on that promise...Yagyuu would hunt him down. They were partners, after all. “Across the golf course, if you will, Tooyama-kun. Watch out for the water hazards and sand traps.” Who but Atobe would put a water hazard on a boat, anyway? Yagyuu shook his head. The golf course had been fun, however, and he was glad he knew his way around it, thanks to playing over it. “It’s still dark, so be careful. But if you see a flag that has a three on it, we’re getting close.”

Akaya nodded a bit hesitantly as he tried to relax against Yagyuu’s back. His head was throbbing again, and in combination with the constant dull ache from his ankle, he just wanted to curl in a ball and sleep. Or cry. Squeezing his eyes shut, Akaya took slow and deliberate breaths to calm his stomach that was beginning to feel queasy.

Kintarou started to marched across the golf course. He wanted to get off the boat as soon as possible, after all, it was slowly sinking. It was dark and he wasn't paying attention to where he was going as well. He didn't notice a little hole in the ground, and his foot step right into it. He tripped and landed face down on the ground. "Ow..." he muttered.

The bright light that was Tooyama-kun suddenly disappeared from in front of Yagyuu, coupled with a soft groan. Yagyuu immediately froze and tried hard not to panic. “Tooyama-kun? What happened? Tooyama-kun? Akaya, in my jacket pocket, there should be a flashlight. I should have had him holding it,” he muttered to himself. “See if you can spot where Tooyama-kun went.”

Akaya fumbled for Yagyuu’s pocket and pulled the flashlight out with clumsy fingers. It took him a moment to get the thing turned around to the right direction and switched on. Sweeping the light over the area around him, Akaya saw Kintarou sprawled on the ground next to one of the holes on the golf course. Using the light to scan the area, he saw a displaced flag laying a few feet off to the side of their path with a number on it. “Looks like we’re still on the back nine.”

Kintarou sat up and shook his head, eyes adjusting to the bright light coming from the flashlight. "I'm alright!" he grinned and bounced up. He noticed that all the bags in his hands were sprawled out across the ground, and bent down, picking it up. "So.... how much further do we have to travel?"

“Not far, actually. The back nine is interwoven with the rest. It is a very large boat, but it is still only a boat and doesn’t have the space to sprawl out as other golf courses do. So the holes crisscross each other. The flags are color coded, though, so you know which one you are aiming for.” He peered into the darkness as Tooyama picked up the bags. “So, if this is hole 15, then...we go left first to get around the sand trap, then we can go forward until we reach the pond, then go right and we should be at hole 7 which starts near the railing where I recall seeing a boat. Akaya, keep the light trained on the ground in front of us, please. We’ll do best if we can see where to put our feet. The ground can be a bit tricky as we get into the roughs.” He waited for Tooyama to be ready before walking again.

“Ok, I can do that. You must have spent a lot of time up here to know the layout so well.” Akaya almost smiled as he did his best to keep the flashlight focused on the ground in front of Yagyuu. He felt so tired, but he knew that closing his eyes and trying to sleep would be a bad idea. No one else had a hand free to hold the light, and he would make Yagyuu worry about him if he did.

Kintarou made sure all the bags were secured around him so if something happens, again, it wouldn't fall. He stared out into the course, only to blink a couple of times. Everywhere looks exactly the same to him, he had never seen so much dark green in his life, even though he spent the night in the woods a few times with his father growing up. "Um… I think it's best if you two lead the way. I'll be right behind you!" he wouldn't dare to mention that this is his first time on a golf course.

Yagyuu nodded, made sure his grip on Akaya was secure, then started carefully walking forward. “I walked it once and played it twice. It really is quite ingenious. Most golf courses are laid out fairly straight, with some variations and slight twists. This one is much the same, except the fairways cross one another. Which, if you start down one and end up confused at the wrong green, can really cost you shots and ruin par.” He had no idea if either of them understood what he was talking about, but hoped that the sound of his voice would be somewhat soothing...and it was a subject near to hand. “Okay, the sand trap should be just to the right of us now. It’s more of a trap for the ball than for the player, so if you fall into it, don’t worry.” He kept a close eye on his own footing so he didn’t end up there himself.

“I really have no idea what you’re talking about, but once we get off this boat and get back home, you can teach me golf and maybe it’ll make more sense.” Akaya tried to make himself smile, but it was hard to do when thinking about their situation. Forcing himself to focus on keeping the light trained on the ground for Yagyuu, he didn’t realize that he thought out loud for a moment. “I’m tired.”

The new information had just confused Kintarou even more. Shots...? Par...? He told himself that he will just stick with tennis. Learning how to play a new sport is going to be too difficult for someone like him to do. "Um... what's a par?" he asked hesitantly. He didn't want to seem stupid for not knowing these terms.

Yagyuu smiled into the dark. “Akaya, stay awake, please. We need to make sure you are not concussed. Tooyama-kun...golf is a game where you try to get this little white ball into one of the holes you tripped on, using as few swings of your golf club as possible. Par is how many swings the professionals think it will take an average person. In golf circles if you can’t do it in that many or fewer, all your golf buddies laugh at you. It’s very sad. Must be why I have so few golf buddies. I don’t like to laugh at other people.” He kept moving, relying on the light and a bit on foot sense.

Akaya blinked hard and bit down on the inside of his cheek. The fresh jolt of pain woke him up a bit and helped him steady the flashlight’s beam. “Hai. I’m trying. I know I’m not supposed to sleep for a while. Maybe once we’re off the boat?”

"Oh… I think I know this sport now!" Kintarou recalled the moment of that day. "When I got off the train stop on my way to Tokyo, I met a guy who was traveling all over Japan by bicycle. When we were walking together, a mean guy drove by us and scratch the bicycle all up, so I went to him for the fees for the bike at this golf club place. But they weren't doing much though; all they were doing was hitting lots of small white ball across the field. They wouldn't going far though! I hit it further than them! I had even bent that golf club I used!" he grumbled something incoherent under his breath. "What was that guy name again…? Um, Kuki Kiiichi? No, um…. Cuckoo bird? No, it's something, Rei, that's all I know…"

“Once we’re off the boat,” Yagyuu agreed. “Until then, hold on, okay?” He smiled over his shoulder at the other boy. “I’m sure they were quite impressed with your ability, Tooyama-kun. You are quite admirably strong.” There, that was the far edge of the sand trap. Now to face the side of the boat and walk forward until just before they reached the pond. A water trap. Really.

Akaya smothered a yawn against Yagyuu’s shoulder and nodded gently. “I’m trying. Hopefully I can wait that long. We’re getting close, right?”

Kintarou continued to walked forward, behind the 'leaders'. Two minutes later, he asked "Are we there yet?" After another two minutes, "Hey Kirihara-kun, you're alright?" and after another two minutes, he asked, "Are we getting anywhere?" Even with the flashlight, everything around him still looks the same.

“Yes, Tooyama-kun,” Yagyuu answered patiently. “We’re almost there.” His foot told him there was deeper grass ahead, so he stopped. “Akaya. Akaya. Move the light back to the front? I think we’ve reached the water trap.”

Akaya blinked hard and adjusted the light where Yagyuu asked. Yawning again, He mumbled a bit. “Yeah, sorry. I’m trying to to stay awake, I promise. I’m just...so tired.”

“That’s okay. Just stay with us,” Yagyuu said. Yes, it was the water hazard. He turned to the side and patted Tooyama on the shoulder briefly. “We’re almost there. Around this and then a bit farther and we’ll be at the side of the ship. Then we get into a lifeboat and row to shore,” he added with a smile. Not that the other could likely see it, although the sky was starting to lighten, he thought.

"Thank the gods. I want off this hunk of junk." Akaya murmured as he held Yagyuu a little tighter. He hated feeling helpless, hated needing to be carried, but there really wasn't any other option. 'Now if only my head would stop throbbing with every step.'

"So we're almost off?" Kintarou grinned. "Finally! But, there's one thing that has been bugging me… why is there a lake on the ship? Is monkey king trying to kill us by drowning us?" Really, why add a lake in the middle of a ship in the ocean? That's two ways of drowning.

“It is called a water hazard and it is a common feature on most golf courses. The trick is not to hit your ball into it when trying to get it into the little cup with the flag. As to why it is here,” Yagyuu said, “I have no idea. I am fortunately not privy to the inner workings of Atobe’s mind. I’m certain that someone thought themselves very clever by including it. I personally think that someone is a complete idiot, mind you,” he added. “On the other hand, they also put swimming pools on a ship in the middle of the ocean, so I don’t know what to tell you, Tooyama-kun. Perhaps they used that as an excuse.” He really hoped that they would reach the lifeboats soon. He didn’t mind carrying Akaya, but he was getting a little tired after all the running around they had done.

“I think it’s pretty common to have pools on cruise ships for if people want to swim. At least, the cruise commercials I saw in the US always showed pools on the boats.” Akaya would have shrugged his shoulders if he had been walking, but that wasn’t an option for him. Instead, he settled for wishing they were on the lifeboats so that Yagyuu would get a break.

"But the pools are fun though!" Kintarou commented. "They put the 'water hazards' just to ruin the fun of people playing on here though, so it's not fun and kinda stupid, no offense." Really, if they are going to put in a lake to swallow up golf balls, then might as well create a black hole to swallow it up as well.

“It’s a challenge,” Yagyuu said. “A test of skill to see if you can get the ball to the hole without falling into a trap.” That sounded rather familiar...he laughed, suddenly. “Think of it as what people did before video games were invented,” he suggested.

Kintarou pondered for a moment before speaking. "So back then... all people did was shoot balls into holes in the ground and into lakes? Wait.... such a time where video games weren't invented had existed??? Yagyuu-han, you're that old???"

Akaya had to bury his face in Yagyuu’s shoulder to keep from laughing. The redhead had such a vivid imagination coupled with a child-like personality in way that was both amusing and refreshing.

Yagyuu stopped in his tracks, turned and gave Tooyama-kun a Look. “I am two years older than you are, Tooyama-kun! I...I’m merely well-read,” he said, continuing on a bit calmer. “Now, let’s get to that lifeboat, shall we?” Great, he was the oldest of the three of them. Now he felt ancient.

"Oops~! I forgot… you're the same age as Niou-han aren't you?" Kintarou laughed nervously. He had forgotten the fact that Yagyuu had played in the Nationals during the his first middle school years. No one can be that old during that time, unless they are a time traveler or a vampire. 'Wait… Yagyuu-han couldn't be a vampire. I'd seen him out in the sunlight before. Darn' "Let's get on the lifeboat!" he cheered.

Moving forward again and picking up the pace, Yagyuu led the way off the golf course. “Finally,” he muttered out loud. He’d never been so happy to be off a golf course in his life. Well, except when Niou had recruited him to the tennis team. Anyway, “Look around? See if you can spot one of the lifeboats? It’s starting to get lighter and there should be at least one close by,” Yagyuu told his companions.

Akaya was having more and more difficulty staying awake. Biting the inside of his cheek in an effort to remain alert, he scanned the area with the flashlight. "I think I see one. Over to the left."

Kintarou couldn't help but to bounced up and down. "Are we finally getting off of this ship??" He never thought he would be happy to get off. After all, this was his first time on a cruise. "Hey, when we get onto the lifeboat, can I try rowing? I had never rowed in my life before!" And soon, they would know why.

“Yes,” Yagyuu said with determination. “We are finally getting off this ship.” He thought about the other question as they made their way toward the lifeboat Akaya had spotted. With Tooyama-kun’s strength, they could be on shore very quickly...as long as he went the right direction and didn’t capsize them. “We’ll see,” Yagyuu finally compromised. “If you can follow my directions, then you would be welcome to try. Otherwise, I fear disaster and we did promise Niou that we would make it to shore unharmed,” he reminded the younger man.

Akaya felt himself slipping into sleep, despite how much he tried to fight it. Doing his best to lock his arms tightly around Yagyuu’s shoulders, it was all he could do to keep his eyes open until they could at least reach the lifeboat. “Hu..rry...so tired...”

Kintarou pouted slightly. Guess he have to try rowing a boat some other day."Alright. I'll just push the boat to shore then! I can swim, it wouldn't be much of a problem for me."

Yagyuu thought about that a moment. He helped Akaya into the lifeboat, then looked down at the water he could barely see below. It was calm, with only a little chop because of the surf. If it were anyone else, he would say no...but Tooyama-kun was an amazing young man. “Get in the boat, we’ll lower it down, then you can get out and push, all right?”

Akaya tried to move himself as much as he could. He knew being dead weight would make it harder for Yagyuu, but keeping his eyes open and staying awake was becoming a losing battle. Once he was on the boat and relatively secure, he gave up fighting and slipped into unconsciousness.

Kintarou sat unusually patient in the lifeboat until it reached safely in the water below. When he heard the soft splash of the boat coming into contact with the water, he jumped out. All he wanted to do was swim around and have fun, but he knew that the safety of the other two comes first. Using his amazing strength, he push the boat to the shore of the mysterious island.