A day has passed after the “Date” and It was finally time to go back to where it all started, “The Shipwreck” that has brought us to this different world.

 

     Hotaru and I got dressed up in our “Pirate outfits,” and headed towards the docks of the island to meet up with Lugh and Sora, however there was just 1 particular obstacle in the way of the meet up, and that obstacle was Caesar, who followed us to the docks even though we told him no several times.

 

“Lugh! Sora! We’re here!” I shouted while Hotaru and I waved while heading towards them

 

     The 2 waved back at us, they prepared 2 small dinghies for us to use on our expedition, the day was calm until.

 

“Oi! You 2 the men that these punks are hanging out with!?” Caesar suddenly yelled while triple power walking towards us.

 

“Ah geez… Itsuki I thought we lost him?” Hotaru whispered.

 

“I’m pretty sure he bribed Nagisa to let him out of the cage and followed us.” I whispered back

 

     So We brought Caesar reluctantly with us and surprisingly he got along well with both Lugh and Sora. 

 

“Sigh… Sora, Lugh Meet Caesar.” I annoyedly said while Caesar has started flexing his muscles on the 2.

 

“Greetings, I’m Lugh it’s a pleasure to meet you… Caesar was it?”

 

“You be’cha! Now! Which one of you 2 are strong!” Caesar proclaimed out loud!

 

“That would be his girlfriend.” Sora laughed and stepped to the side.

 

“Hotaru! Itsuki I miss you guys!” Kianna cheered while waving both her hands at us to which we smiled back.

 

     Funnily enough the 2 boys has also “reluctantly” brought Kianna along with them to the docks, because she said she doesn’t trust her “boyfriend” Lugh being near the “playboy” that was Sora, I don’t know where she got that but I’m guessing she sees him as a love rival.

 

     The initial introductions were “Absurd” to say the least, Caesar was very short in stature compared to Sora and Lugh, and he kept trying to flex his abs and biceps to Lugh and Sora whom humored him and played along by flexing their own muscles much to Kianna’s utter annoyance.

 

     15 minutes later we prepared to “Sail” to the old shipwreck using 2 “dingy” boats.

 

“Alright So lets split up in 2 groups since the boats can only handle 3 at a time” Lugh calmly spoke up while adjusting one of the sales.

 

“I’d say for group 1 we have Itsuki, You and I while Hotaru, Caesar and Kianna for group 2.” Sora responded while checking for “hazards on the “dingies.” 

 

“I’m fine with that!” Hotaru responded.

 

“Same!” I followed.

“Squaaaawwwkkk! Nugget Approves!” Nugget popped her head out of Hotaru’s bag then immediately went back inside.

 

     Caesar Shrugged and was willing to group up with anyone so he just got on one of the boats already. 

 

“Alright it seems everybody agreed, well then let’s g-” Lugh stopped speaking suddenly.

 

     Everyone seemed to agree except Kianna who’m was fuming with murder tendencies at Sora.

 

“. . . . . .” Kianna was just glaring at Sora to which he hid behind me.

 

     Sigh… We ended up changing rotations to Kianna, Sora and Me on 1 boat while  Lugh, Hotaru, Nugget and Caesar shared the other.

 

     I wanted my mommy…

 

“See ya at the wreckage!” Hotaru smacked my butt which made me jump.

 

     I gave her the “this isn’t funny glare” and she just winked. I sighed and We started rowing to the wreckage

 

      After arriving at the wreckage has brought the 2 of us to this ocean world, everything seemed to be fine so we Started checking for any damages.

 

“It seems like the shipwreck has really withstood the test of time.” Sora said while inspecting the woodwork.

 

“Indeed, Most ships tends to crash, sink and burn upon impacts or on collisions with icebergs, or even war with other ships however, this particular ship seems to be in top condition and has aged like fine wine.” Lugh explained while inspecting it.

 

     Why did that reminded me of internet fandoms ship discourse?

 

“If possible are we gonna have this be repaired?” Hotaru asked.

 

“It’s very possible to have it be repaired.” Sora responded.

 

“So what’s the cache?” I budged in.

 

“It’s gonna cost us a whole lot of “Zhong Hu” and that costs a fortune.”  Lugh face palmed before he started looking through one of the crates near the shipwreck.

 

“What’s a zhong hu?” I asked and raised my hand.

 

“A zhong hu is the type of currency on the nearby continent of the Shuanglong Dynasty” Kianna answered while trying to climb Lugh’s back.

 

“Hold on I thought the currency in our home was called “JeaLuc?” do they not equate to same amount?” Hotaru questioned.

 

“I’m afraid not, Zhong Hu is not only the Shuanglong Dynasty’s currency it’s also the universal currency between the continents.” Kianna explained while playing with Lugh’s hair.

 

“How are you so knowledgeable about this?” I asked.

 

“Well Lugh taught me the information when we first dated, since he was born in the Shuanglong dynasty but his family originated from the land of “Kiritsu!” And that's how I learned so much hehe!

 

“Yes that is correct Kianna.” Lugh was now carrying her in a piggyback.

 

“Those 2 really are in love with each other huh.” Hotaru whispered in my ear to which I nodded.

 

“So do you think we “Can” have the shipwreck repaired?” I asked Sora.

 

“Sigh… I most certainly can, it's just gonna take at least a week or 2 to do so, I may be wealthy but not that wealthy.” Sora chuckled.

 

“Kianna and I will also help with the repairs if that means anything.”

 

“Brother, We both know Kianna is richer than you.” Sora snarkily responded.

 

“That is correct again! You are very perceptive lately Sora.”

 

“OOO!! Dibs on naming it!” Caesar shouted pridefully as he started climbing the side of the haul.

 

“He seems to be having fun.” I muttered before trying to climb the side like he did, but to no avail I fell but Caesar grabbed my hand and pulled me up.

 

“Got’cha pal!”

 

“Thank you.”

 

“Don’t mention it!”

 

“You okay up there Itsuki?” Sora shouted from below.

 

“Yes I’m fine Sora! I’m just very ruffled from it haha~”

 

     Come to think of it, it has been more than a month since Hotaru and I got stranded here, I feel bittersweet around this ship but it’s oddly comforting to me.

 

“Hey Itsuki, is there any way to get in the ship?” Asked Lugh from below.

 

“I think there should be an opening somewhere donw there, maybe?”

 

“I see, oh there it is, alright meet me there.”

 

“Sure thing” I got up and went down to meet up with Lugh.

 

Hotaru’s pov.

 

“My my~ are you not threatened by him Kianna?” Sora joked.

 

“Nope! He already have Hotaru to marry hehe~!” Kianna joked back.

 

“Hey!! Me and Itsuki are just friends!”

 

“Right~ right~” Kianna nudged Hotaru’s sides.

 

“And here I though you 2 were already a couple.” Caesar shouted from above the ship.

 

“Eh-EEEHHH~!? Is this payback for assuming you were Lugh and Sora’s child!?” I covered my face in embarrassment.

 

“Maybe~” Both Sora and Kianna joked together.

 

Somewhere inside the shipwreck.

 

 “Hm…. it’s getting noisy outside” Lugh pointed out while rummaging the crates inside the wreckage.

 

“Pfft, tell me about it.”

 

What are they fighting about out there?” Lugh questioned.

 

“I genuinely have no clue.” Itsuki stretched his arms while putting on a bandana as a scarf.

 

“I see.”

 

“Lugh, how’d you and Kianna meet and started dating each other?”

 

“Why do you ask?”

 

“I’m just curious how you guys have such a mutually dynamic relationship together.”

 

“Well we met a while after she turned 18 a year ago, I was a customer at the bakery believe it or not, Kianna used to be very clumsy without her sister Kotoha.”

 

“She has a sister?”

“Indeed, Kianna and Kotoha used to work as a duo in the bakery so when she went missing for a while, Kianna had to take care of everything herself which led to her becoming sleep deprived… Before I met her, the only other person I knew was my father, and Sora whom I knew since I was a teen.”

 

“Uh-huh, was there anything that happened when you met?”

 

“Kianna was a daddy’s girl haha”

 

“Where’d that come from?”

 

“Let me explain, Kianna and her sister were very close to their grandparents whom raised them since they were little because their parents died due to a bad accident"

"Condolences..."

"Thank you and Don't mention it"

"So how did you 2 met?"

"About that, before Sora and I became regulars and I eventually started working there too, We only headed there to eat lunch, she handed our orders very cheerfully and respectfully, But I could tell she was overworked that day, while having our lunch She accidentally tripped while handing an order over to a particularly rude and hostile customer.”

 

“I think I know where this is going.”

 

“Correct, she was trying her best to calm down the angry customer despite being somewhat shaked and hurt from the fall, but to no avail he started threatening her. From my memory Kianna was so stressed that she passed out, I was “irked” by it, I stood up and demanded the bastard to leave her alone.

 

“And then what happened?”

 

Back then I didn’t bother in other people’s business but with her I just had the sense and feeling to protect the poor girl and keep her safe, I helped de-escalate the situation so when the customer left I carried her to the kitchen and laid her down on the table, Sora turned the open sign closed and He helped me nurse the girl back, A while later she woke up and thanked us for the help, we left a while after I was sure she was okay, I then regularly started visiting the bakery and became a regular customer, one day when I finished my lunch she asked me to stay a little longer.”

 

“And with that All is history right?”

 

“Hahaha! You could say that, well now that I told you my love story, How about you tell me your love story Itsuki? An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth as they say.”

 

“Eh? But Hotaru and I aren’t dating…. Yet…. at least…”

 

“Well then, I shall thank you for letting me witness it unfold.”

 

“How confident of you huh~”

 

“Well I will be cheering you on.”

 

“...... Thank you…”

 

     3 hours later, Lugh and I gave the shipwreck a through re-investigation and we managed to salvage several old clothes, a rusty hammer and a “Wind” Pearl emblem, it was just a gemstone embedded on an opal ring or something.

 

      Lugh told me to keep the emblem for safety reasons and I should keep it somewhere I can always access it, So I kept it on my belt. Things seemed to have been going really well, We finished searching through the wreckage so he went back out.

 

      Lugh and Sora prepared for the ship’s repairs, Caesar and I were relaxing on the main deck of the ship, while Kianna and Hotaru were having fun playing in the beach and enjoying the water.

 

     But why do I feel so uneasy about my surroundings… Is something nearby? I felt heavy and kept looking around and after getting my footing a cannon ball blasted near my head, struck the sail’s pole causing it to collapse to the side where the other 4 were. There was a pirate ship heading our way!

 

“All of you Get away!” I rushed to the other side of the ship, shouted at the group before getting pulled down by Caesar to avoid getting blasted by the flaming balls as the Pole collapse fully!

 

     I heard the pole crashed on the side of the ship, I didn’t know what happened but I quickly got up, looked down and saw Sora protecting Hotaru and Kianna holding on to Lugh.

 

“What the hell is going on up there!?” Shouted Sora.

 

“We’re getting attacked!” Caesar grabbed my arm as we dropped down near them.”

 

“So what now?” Hotaru asked with immense concern.

 

“All of you, Prepare to fight.” Sora said as his eyes glowed yellow and formed to Saber swords out of raw electricity.