Chapter 4: A different kind of romance...

Yoshimo and Kutsuu continued to stand akwardly, each one waiting for the boat in a dense silence when all of a sudden a massive explosion intterupted the small amount of built tension. Kutsuu lunged forward, and rolled behind a set wooden pillar. Yoshimo simply turned, and looked at the mansion that now had a gaping hole in the side of it's front section. He sighed, and rubbed the back of his neck.

He turned his head, and talked over his shoulder, "You can come out, it's just Aki, she's gonna..."

Mad'am Aki stepped through the hole, her hands clinched in fists, and her demenor much more aggressive, "SIR YOSHIMO! I challenge you to a...."

Before she even finished her statement a massive mound of earth formed in front of her, and flipped her onto her back. Yoshimo, now smiling behind the mound of earth, had his left arm raised with his hand relaxed downward. Aki was breathing extremely hard, so much so that Kutsuu could hear her from his fixed posistion at the dock. She flipped back up to her feet, and started to rush Yoshimo who remained clam, and steady in his movements. She ran over waves of earth, and continued to make her way closer and closer to Yoshimo. Her progress seemed prolonged by the move ground, what should have taken her seconds took her just over a minute. She finally reached Yoshimo's posistion, and with all her force she punched downward. She brought up a massive cloud of dirt, and grass that it took several moments for the area to clear.

Kutsuu poked his head out to see Aki standing over a crater that was atleast a full metter deep, and several meters wide. She turned just in time to see Yoshimo, with his hand still grasping the hilt of his weapon coming at her in mid-air. He landed his strike, kicking her square in the stomache. He lifted his other foot, and placed it on her shoulder, pushing her down to the ground. She landed, one hand clutching her stomache, the other trying to prevent her face from hitting the disturbed ground. She managed to not hit the ground wth her face, but the pain she was in was enough to keep her down.

Yoshimo sighed, and continued to walk in the same direction as he landed off Aki. He smirked, and started talking to Kutsuu in the same apathetic voice, "She always tried to challenge me for my posistion...If you can't tell she's an expert in hand to hand combat, but her power makes her think she has superior skills in whomever she fights....A very wrong assumption....", her turned his head now talking to Aki, "...isn't that right?"

She weakly answered from the ground, "Seems....to....be....", she coughed a bit, no doubt spitting up some blood, ".....yeah, it's that way...."

Yoshimo turned to face Kutsuu again, and sighed, "Don't worry, Kaji's coming on the ship we're getting on, he'll make sure she's ok."

Kutsuu replied, "Kaji....?"

Yoshimo nodded, "Kaji-Kanto, minor field operator for the Yuuga Order, second divsion, he works for me. He's Aki's soon to be."

Kutsuu smirked a bit, and asked, "So, he's not gonna wanna have a 'talk' with you?"

Yoshimo looked at Kutsuu with his eye brow up, question Kutsuu's logic before he replied with, "Hell no. And if he did, what would he do about it? She challenged me, she faced the challenge, lost, and she'll be fine, I'm sure."

Aki, now barely standing, "I am fine! I'll get you....you...."

She fell backwards on the ground, Yoshimo smirked a bit, as Kutsuu just accepted it, turning to face the open sea again.

The boat was now in sight, and Kutsuu made sure that Yoshimo knew. He yelled, "YOSHIMO-SAN! The BOAT...."

Yoshimo turned around, and snatched him by the throat, " I know......dammit, I know!"

He slowly let go, just as Kutsuu started to grab for freedom, and air. Kutsuu fell down to the wood, and rubbed his hand on his inner throat, coughing up a bit of mucus as he spoke, "Th....anks...."

Yoshimo tucked his hand in his sleeves, and sighed, "Shut up."

The boat was powered by a single sail, and seemed to be carrying about 7 people on it. Yoshimo started to explain what exactly the ship was, before Kutsuu even stood up, "It's a runner ship, the smallest of the whole fleet. From what I can....see....oh, damn....Damn, damn, damn...."

Kutsuu looked at him, still rubbing his neck, "What's wrong...?"

"Nasamea is piloting the ship....She's....obsessed with J....a friend of mine, you'll meet him soon enough."

"Obsessed?"

Yoshimo nodded, "Oh, you'll see."

The boat reached the dock, and everyone slowly made their way off, Kaji was last. Kaji was extremely lazy for a field agent, but he made up for it with a quick mind. He stepped off the ship, and glanced over Yoshimo's shoulder sighing, "She tried it again...."

Yoshimo nodded, and answered, "She did."

Kaji laughed a bit, "Well, I guess I'll patch her up, and see you back at the checkpoint."

Yoshimo nodded again, and stepped onto the ship, turning his back to the woman piloting the rutter. She stood at 5'10", and was wearing a Victorian looking outfit. Rather than having a sword like everyone else did she had a musket looking weapon attached to her hip. She had a single scar running over her eye that wasn't seen due an eyepatch, and her hands were also covered by sleek leather gloves. Kutsuu followed Yoshimo's lead, and sat down quitely.

Then suddently a massive wake glanced the side of the ship, rocking it, grabbing both Yoshimo's attention, as well as Kutsuu's. Nasamea turned from the edge, slapping her hands together, cleaning them. She sighed, and put her hands on her hips, "Well, boys, where to?"

Yoshimo looked down, and saw that they were anchored. He dragged his hand down his face and mumbled the biggest assortment of curse words that Kutsuu had ever heard.

"You damn well know Nasa'! Dammit, I'm not going to answer anymore questions..."

Nasamea run up to him, her hands now holding one another, "Pwease....?"

Her eyes watered up a bit, she pouted her lip out for an exaggerated puppy dog face. Yoshimo's eyebrow was now twitching, and even Kutsuu knew that something bad was about to happen.

Yoshimo sighed, and answered, "Ok, one."

She clapped furiously, "YAY! Ok, ok.....what color are his eyes?"

Kutsuu thought to himself, 'If you like someone, wouldn't you know what color their eyes were.....This lady seems strange....'

Yoshimo laughed a bit, and replied, "That all depends, sometimes they're red, sometimes gold, sometimes both, even at times they're grey."

She blushed, and continued clapping all the way backdown to the rutter of the ship. She yanked the chain once, and the ancor flew out of the water landing on the inner workings of the ship. She pulled three or four ropes towards her, and the ship was moving from the dock. Kutsuu leaned and joking whispered, "You were'nt kidding...."

Yoshimo looked down laughing, "You've got no idea..."