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Oh, holy shit that’s a big boat, the dark-haired woman thought wile staring ahead.
The Seireitei was the 150-foot charter yacht Kurosaki Karin would be living on for the next two and a half months. The boat itself was hulking yet streamlined in design, it complimented the lush French costal line well too. Which was surprising seeing as the buildings on the main-land were small, quaint buildings that dripped in that small European village look which was oh-so common. Maybe it was because for as adorable as everything looked, it was still expensive as shit pretty much anywhere you went.
Wheeling her fairly light luggage towards the slip, if that’s even what it was called for this size vessel, where The Seireitei sat. She hoped the interior was just as beautiful.
“Hello! May I ask your name?” A man in dark wash jeans and navy shirt asked her. Several people in all black strewed about behind him, some with cameras, others with mics.
“Kurosaki Karin.”
“Ah! You’re going to be our 3rd stewardess! My name is Ginjo, I’m the producer for this season of Below Deck, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” The man practically grabbed her hand shaking it several times. It was clear he had done this before, meaning some of her co-workers had already arrived.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you too.” She really hoped she would be early, but early in the yachting world is just on time after all.
“Please out your luggage over there and talk to Jackie, she will get you all set up.” He pointed to a woman with impressive thigh high boots.
“Hi,” Jackie cut her off handing her a mic pack and explaining how to put it on and care for it. As she droned on her memorized spiel, it finally hit the 23-year old. She was going to be on TV and on a reality TV show no less! What the fuck am I getting myself into.
Below Deck was a reality TV show which followed the everyday life of yachties for a few weeks. Karin only started to watch the show after her sister forced her to apply, but it wasn’t like she could be too upset. The heighten stress of being on camera meant she would get payed more, so hopefully it would be worth it in the end… unless the crew was a fucking mess of course.
Jackie pretty curtly sent her on her way, leaving Karin to finally venture into what would be her new home.
“Hello! You must be my 3rd stew!” A bubbly voice called from a hallway. Karin turned around only to wham straight into an ample pair of breasts. The woman squeezed her in a crushing hug, “I’m Matsumoto Rangiku, your chief stew! It’s soooo nice to meet you!”
Gasping for breath, Karin choked out a, “nice to meet you too.” Matsumoto was a beautiful woman that any charter guest would love to be babied by. Her strawberry blonde hair cascaded down her shoulders, and her red uniform shirt barely kept her bosom in check. Karin hoped this woman, her boss - no less, would be just as friendly during the stress that was bound to come.
“Let me show you to your quarters,” she gave the green-yachtie a wink with her powder blue eyes, “once Yumichika gets here, I’ll give you both a tour.”
Her chief stew grabbed her arm and led her down a hall to a set of stairs, the glimpses of the boat she got were jaw dropping.
“Beautiful, isn’t she?” Apparently, she wasn’t doing a great job hiding her astonishment she noted as Matsumoto grinned, “I saw your CV, this is your first super yacht huh?” Her tone was testing, testing to see how much of a pain in the ass her newbie of a 3rd stew would be.
“Yes. I worked on 50-foot catamaran before this then before that, several fishing boats.” They entered a lower part of the boat and headed down another short hall.
“Have you ever been a 3rd stew before?” They approached an open area which was a complete disaster. Produce was strewn about and a man with a face tattoo grumbled to himself. “This is the galley, and this,” she gestured to the man who looked up already stressed.
“Hisagi Shuhei, the chef,” he gestured to the state of his surroundings, “as you can probably tell. Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you, I’m Kurosaki Karin, 3rd stew.” He flashed the two women a smile and once again busied himself with organizing the galley. Matsumoto pulled her again towards a very cramped area with several sets of doors.
“Here are the crew quarters, not exactly spacious, but you’ll be fine” The doors had labels on them: Hisagi & Hitsugaya, Komamura & Iba, Madarame & Ayasegawa, and Matsumoto & Kurosaki. “Now go get your things and meet me in the main salon once you’re done unpacking, roomie~” She flashed her another wink and left towards the crew mess yelling a hello to whoever Hitsugaya was.
The room was just big enough to house two people. The beds were bunk style with uniforms laid on top, and there was a thin door leading to a bathroom. Shit they weren’t kidding… these rooms are tiny! Matsumoto had already laid claim to the bottom bunk which was somehow already in disarray. Lord help me if she is messy…
Retracing her steps, Karin went to retrieve her luggage which had been moved to the bow of the boat. Luckily her little black bag was light and easy to carry down to her new room. She set it on the floor of her and Matsumoto’s room and began placing her underwear into one of the unclaimed drawers under the bed.
“I want top bunk.”
“But you got it last time.”
“I thought you didn’t care? We share a bed most of the time anyway.
Karin couldn’t help but stifle a giggle at the approaching voices. Charter hadn’t even begun, and scuffles were beginning.
“Oh! Hello, you must be our 3rd stew.” Karin looked up after putting the majority of her socks away. Guess I’ll be hearing that a lot huh. “I’m Ayasegawa Yumichika, your 2nd stew, and this is my boyfriend, Madarame Ikkaku. He’s a deckhand. It’s so nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you,” Madarame grunted. He had been carrying both their luggage and needed a break, so as he shuffled by, Karin called out, “Nice to meet both of you!”
“Rangiku said you’re pretty new to this, so if you have any questions feel free to ask.” Ayasegawa flashed her a smile and added, “This can get pretty tense during charter and filming, so just be confident and efficient. See you in the main salon~” He moved to his room and resumed his fight for top bunk.
“Thank you!” She called after the man a door down. She grinned to herself as she finished putting the remainder of her clothing in the drawers. Those two seem like fun. Stuffing luggage into its designated spot and changing into her new working uniform of a red polo shirt and black scort, she looked at herself one last time in the mirror. Ok. You got this.
The layout of the ship was starting to make sense in her brain as she made her way to the main salon. Sitting in two of the comfy chairs, Matsumoto and Ayasegawa chatted away about duties. Karin joined them sitting on the couch.
“Perfect! So, now that we are all here, lets go over general guidelines and such. We will all help each other out, but generally, I’ll be with the guests or doing provision ordering and what not, Yumichika will be on service, and Karin will be on cabins and laundry.” Matsumoto continued to explain in more depth how timing would typically work on this boat and expectations, but to Karin it seemed pretty clear, do your job efficiently and always have your radio. Maybe it seemed simple because 3rd stew was jokingly called the ‘bitch position’. She decided she wouldn’t let it get to her head. “Alright, now let me give you a tour.”
The Seiretei was truly a beautiful boat. The boat had three decks for guests; upper, main, and lower. The lower deck contained four bedrooms for guests with very plush looking beds and grand bathrooms. There was an exterior hallway which separated the galley, crew mess, and crew quarters which now seemed even more stiff after seeing the guest’s rooms. There was a small seating area on the guest side with a spiral staircase leading to the main deck. The bow housed a half covered half exposed outdoor seating area which led to an outdoor dining table. Matsumoto explained, “this is the dining table we will use unless the weather is bad, or guests request otherwise.” Karin completely understood why too, the table was tucked so that there were unobstructed views but kept guests sheltered from the sun above. There was an automatic glass door behind the table which lead into the main salon. There were ample seats, a mini bar, another dining table, and even a beautiful fake flower arrangement. Behind the main salon was the master bedroom which was a scaled-up version of the four bedrooms downstairs. The bathroom was simply glorious too. Jacuzzi, shower, tub, and walk in closet – to think her things were just shoved in a drawer downstairs! Karin shook her head while they moved to the stern, not like I’ll ever be able to afford this anyway ha!
The stern had a pool with hot tub and another outdoor seating area. “This is where the guests will probably spend most of their time, especially when the water toys are out. Over there,” she pointed to a staircase to the right of the pool, “leads down to the swim deck, you can also get there from downstairs. Deck crew is mainly in charge of it.”
With a wave of her hand, she led the two up to the top deck. There was yet another seating area for the guests which faced the stern. An external hall separated it from the Captain’s quarters, first mate and engineer’s quarters, and the bridge. The bridge was… impressive, to say the least. There whole front part curved elegantly along the horizon line. The captain’s chair was plush leather and was currently vacant. To the back right was a small office like area where a man in a pink Hawaiian shirt sat. Hearing their entrance, he swiveled around, “Oh hello! Welcome back Matsumoto, Ayasegawa, and you must be Kurosaki our new 3rd stew. I’m Captain Kyoraku, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” His smile was extremely warm, and he practically exuded a relaxed attitude. It was extremely comforting for the new 3rd stew although she reminded herself to not take advantage of his kindness – she would still have to maintain a superyacht standard if she wanted to keep her Captain happy.
“The pleasure is all mine. I look forward to working with you.” Karin bowed. She was never one to really care for hierarchies, but thanks to a former Captain of hers, she respected the power dynamic. Besides, it’s not like she was one to disregard a Captain. An unprofessional lead deckhand, however? Fair game. God I’m so happy to be off that boat.
After meeting Captain Kyoraku, the interior team went back into the main salon. “Provisions should be here any minute, so be ready to load them onboard. Until then, cabins,” she nodded at Karin, “and stock the bar,” she nodded to Ayasegawa.
So far so good, Karin sighed as she finished up the last guest room. She would have to do the bathrooms once laundry was done. Provisions had been loaded, and she had met two more deckhands, a stocky looking man named Iba and a wolf-man named Komamura. She had met half-dog and half-fish people before, they were surprisingly common on fishing boats, but never a wolf-man before. She definitely didn’t want to piss him off. Now the only person she was missing from deck team was the bosun. I hope he doesn’t have a stick up his ass like Christophe did, several screaming matches from her past irked up her skin.
“All crew, all crew, please meet me in the main salon for introductions.” Captain Kyoraku’s voice buzzed through the walkie talkie. Double checking the room one last time, Karin moved towards the stairs almost bumping into a camera man, “Oh, I’m so sorry!” “No, it was my fault!” They both said in unison.
“It happens more often than you think.” The camera man laughed. Had he been following her this whole time? Karin began walking towards the main salon surprised at how quickly she forgot her every move was being filmed for reality TV.
Captain Kyoraku sat in the armchair Matsumoto had occupied earlier. The 23-year old sat next in between her chief and 2nd stews. looking around the room, Karin only didn’t recognize three faces. Flanking the captain was a small stern woman with glasses. To her left was a man with what looked to be horns lounging on the dining table. Sat with the deck team and next to Hisagi, was a serious looking man with white hair. He must be the bosun. She was only to glance at each of the new faces before the Captain started talking.
The introduction was fairly standard, everyone went around and said their name and position. Karin learned the other woman was Ise Nanao, the first mate, and the man next to her, Akon, was the engineer. Karin smiled knowing they were probably the main reason the vessel ran smoothly. The rest of the team went through introductions, including herself. She secretly rejoiced at not stumbling over her own name and noted that the wolf-man was actually the lead deckhand. So, definitely don’t piss him off. As introductions went pretty quickly, soon it was the mystery man’s turn. Turns out, the man who looked to only be a year or two older than her was, in fact, the bosun, Hitsugaya Toshiro. The 3rd stew had to admit to herself, he was pretty attractive, but she had promised herself to not fall in love while on the boat. Good things never came from boatmances, as they were called.
Her eyes lingered on the bosun while Hisagi introduced himself. He was muscular without being a beefcake like Iba, and he looked to be fairly tall too. Maybe six foot or so… His shoulders were broad, and his arms… holy shit they were nice. Karin couldn’t help but imagine what he would look like securing ground lines or even taking off- Her mind went blank as his blue? Green? Blue-green? Eyes bore right into her grey ones. Did she miss something? No one else was looking at her…
A clap of Captain Kyoraku’s hands brought her back into the present. “Let’s have a great first charter everyone! Pick up is at 13:00 tomorrow.” Everyone else gave nods of agreement or voiced so and left to go do their duties.
“Matsumoto, cabins will be done after laundry, what can I help with in the meantime?” she turned her body away from the bosun who started moving with his team to clean outside.
“Please call me Rangiku! And why don’t you help Yumichika with cleaning the interior spaces.” She looked to said person who grinned and swung an arm around the green yachtie. Rangiku continued with a wink, “promise you’ll be able to talk to the bosun later.” Ayasegawa tightened his hug joining the chief stew in her teasing. They noticed?!? “Before we begin, call me Yumichika – I don’t plan on keeping Ayasegawa for long.” He laughed leading Karin to help wipe down the dining tables.
God, this is going to be a long two and a half months.
Karin’s feet ached as she plopped into the crew mess with Yumichika and Ikkaku. Almost all provisions had been stored and just one bathroom remained for Karin to stock with fresh towels.
Yumichika smiled at her, “How has your first day been, newbie?”
“Bitch work is no joke, man,” she groaned leaning onto the table while both men laughed. “Ikkaku, is this your first time on this vessel?” Karin had learned both Rangiku and Yumichika had worked on the Seireitei last season and were well versed in the Below Deck filming process, but as for the bald man across from her, she had no idea.
“No, this is my second time.” He looked deeply into his boyfriend’s eyes and continued, “Although, this one convinced me to be televised this time.” Yumichika looked away bashfully saying something about wanting to be as close to him as possible, and Karin grinned at the couple. She knew first-hand what dating a crew member was like and all the difficulties it came with. Although, she hoped Ikkaku and Yumichika wouldn’t have to go through the heartbreak she went through.
“So, what kind of boats you been on before?” Ikkaku lounged back against Yumichika bringing a sandwich to his mouth, any semblance of romantic moment gone.
“50-foot catamaran and several fishing boats, so nothing like this.” Karin gestured to the air and looked to the movement to her right.
“Fishing boats? Aren’t you the 3rd stew?” Iba joked sliding in next to her, Komamura in tow.
“Ya, what did you do?” Ikkaku perked up.
“I can’t imagine they would need a stewardess,” Komamura threw out while reaching for a sandwich on the platter in the middle of the table. Hisagi had promised ‘proper’ food once charter started, so this was their dinner. Not that anyone was complaining, food was food anyway. Plus, somehow even his sandwiches felt gourmet.
Another body entered the crew mess, but Karin payed no mind and nerves began to tickle her cheeks, “Uh, I was a deckhand.”
“What!” Iba and Ikkaku shouted.
“What do you mean what!?” Karin’s temper flared, not that she was actually angry, but what did they expect! What other job is there to do on a 50-foot catamaran AND on fishing boats?
Iba and Ikkaku jumped onto apologizing and back tracking while Yumichika glared at Ikkaku and Komamura shook his head. A soft laugh caught her attention, and once again, her eyes locked with cerulean.
“What?” Her sass was still apparent in her tone. He may be attractive, but that didn’t mean she would let him assume her strength! She was both a badass deckhand and a, soon-to-be, badass 3rd stew.
“Guess I know who to replace Madarame with when he’s sore.” Hitsugaya threw the couple a knowing look as Ikkaku’s jaw dropped, “Hitsugaya!” The bosun simply shrugged and after grabbing a sandwich, left. Karin tried to suppress the heat which rose to her face by drinking her water. Damn him! She couldn’t believe with just once glance and joking comment, he would be able to elicit such a response from her.
“I can’t believe him!” Ikkaku raised a fist causing Yumichika to place his hand over his partner’s, “He’s just joking Ikkaku. Plus, he has a point.” Iba and Karin both cackled at Yumichika’s suggestive look. Komamura’s ears twitched at the sound, but overall remained fairly silent.
Once the laughed began to die down, the wolf-man spoke up, “What brings you to yachting? Especially as a 3rd stew?”
All eyes turned to her, “Well, my sister kinda signed me up for this… She loves the show and figured applying would be worth a shot. When I worked on the catamaran, I did the work typical of a 3rd stew while also being a deckhand, so…” An awkward silence began, so Karin quickly added, “Plus, I needed the money,” with a laugh. The other members agreed that the slight bump in their wage was nice.
“What about you two? How did y’all end up here?” He pointed the uneaten corner of his sandwich to the brutish man and wolf. Karin exhaled, happy to be not the center of attention.
“I want to be a Captain one day, so I believed being here and on television would help get my name out there,” Komamura shrugged, “Nothing too special.”
“Unless the camera’s catch some drama~” Yumichika teased. They weren’t technically supposed to be talking about the show while being filmed, but that was once charter started. Besides, it wasn’t like much of that day or next morning would be aired.
“Let’s hope not,” Komamura stood up bidding everyone goodnight and left for his cabin.
“What about you?” Yumichika was now leaning on Ikkaku. Karin couldn’t help but be grateful this was as much PDA as the couple seemed routinely comfortable with sharing.
Iba chuckled, “Similar to him actually,” he jutted his head towards where the lead deckhand had just walked towards. “But, not gonna lie, I’d also like to meet someone while here. I was hoping for more ladies on board, but I’ll see what happens.” He shrugged and made eye contact with the only woman present.
“If not, I’m sure you can find someone on shore,” She smiled and patted the gangster looking man’s arm. Better to let him down easy and fast. Luckily, he took the hint and laughed gregariously, “That’s a good point!”
“Karin, Karin, Rangiku, will you meet me in laundry please?”
“Copy that.” Karin looked to Iba who shifted out of the booth to let her out. “Guess duty calls, see all of you tomorrow.” She waved to the three remaining crew members and walked over to see what Rangiku wanted. She walked past the galley and flashed Hisagi a smile, he returned the smile and continued putting pots and pans into their new homes.
Rounding the corner to the cramped laundry room, she greeted the beautiful woman, “what’s up?”
“Just wanted to go over how laundry should run, last season we had some problems, and I don’t want that happening again.” The busty blonde’s tone was the most serious Karin had ever heard it. Laundry must have been a shitshow then.
The young woman listened intently to the chief stews instructions and nodded along. It really didn’t seem too difficult if one stayed organized, but that didn’t keep her nerves from popping up. Rangiku placed a hand on her shoulder once she was done, “You got this!” and flashed her a thumbs up before leaving the room. Karin looked at the room she had already become acquainted with earlier that day, guess this is where I’ll be most of the time huh. The layout of the room was awkward, but a lightbulb went off in the woman’s mind. Rangiku had explained the horrors of laundry last charter, so what if she labeled the empty cubbies above the ironing board? There were enough for each room and a spare one for towels. Perfect! Spinning on her heel, she headed to the main salon where she had spotted some tape earlier. It took her some digging, but she eventually found the tape behind the bar along with a sharpie. Taking both items, she labeled each cubby for each room, similar to how crew cabins were. Smiling at her handy work, she returned the items and headed to the bow.
The stars were shining brightly overhead and beckoned the city girl to sit. There weren’t as many stars as when her and her family went camping every other summer, but it still beat Tokyo by a mile.
“Mind if I join?” She tried not to jump at the husky voice behind her, but alas, failed.
“Go ahead,” she scooted over for the bosun who sat down and turned his gaze upwards.
“Hopefully we get more stars out at sea.”
“Will we even really be able to see them, though?” He turned to look at the woman next to him with a puzzled gaze, so Karin clarified, “Because we’ll be working?”
“Ah, right,” he grumbled returning his gaze upward. Karin chuckled at his tone and followed his actions. “On my boat, we do stargazing nights, sail far out, turn off all the lights we can… It’s breathtaking.” His eyes appeared distant, looking at a memory she wished she could also see.
“Your boat?” She tried to keep her tone disinterested enough to hide the curiosity nagging her insides from showing itself.
“It’s technically not mine, but I’m the main captain.” His green eyes locked with hers once again stealing her breath away, “It’s a sailing yacht.”
Damn him being attractive AND cool! A sailing yacht?! That sounds so fucking cool god damnit, she rolled her eyes suppressing her thoughts, “Oh, should I call you Captain Hitsugaya then?”
The bosun’s previous melancholy look morphed into amusement at her teasing tone, “Maybe next charter season.” He matched his tone to hers narrowing his eyes. God, those eyes could make her do so many things…
“Sure, Toshiro,” she waved him off throwing a smirk his way. Not that she assumed she had any effect on him, but a girl could try! If he was just going to waltz on board as a secret captain - of a sailing yacht no less - give her looks, and participate in her banter, well then... two can play at that game.
Toshiro laughed genuinely, “Already on a first name basis now, huh?” Karin desperately tried to ignore the sensations his laugh had on her, but hot damn, his laugh was sexy. Hell, everything about this man was! Maybe I’m just horny. It’s been a while anyways… “You know I still out rank you, right? Just because the interior doesn’t use formalities, doesn’t mean you should address me so casually.” Now she was definitely turned on. Damn him! Toshiro had pressed his side up against hers and tilted his head down in order to quietly speak near her ear. When she didn’t answer, the white-haired man leaned so that he could see her face. His emerald green eyes had a glint in them. He was toying with her!
“Whatever,” she rolled her eyes only to send him a mischievous grin. He chuckled and rested next to her pointing out a few constellations he knew.
They both knew they had started a dangerous dance but continued without so much of a glance. It was thrilling and intoxicating, but they didn’t know why. For goodness sake, they barely even knew each other! But if the bosun asked the 3rd stew to have sex that night, they both deep down knew they wouldn’t even be able to make it to a cabin.
Neither said anything to each other for a minute and just enjoyed the quiet before the storm that would come tomorrow. The cool sea breeze tussled both of their hair; it was cool yet pleasant. The glowing lights from the port town bled into the night sky clouding many stars, and the moon was almost a sliver, a perfect crescent. Maybe, they would have better luck a few nights later during the full moon.
“Why did you decide to do this charter?” Karin voiced without particularly thinking.
“Hyorinmaru,” he tilted his head towards her and clarified, “the boat,” before returning to his original position, “uhh, needed some repairs after an… incident.” His voice was low and even while he talked and his adam’s apple bobbed when he hesitated. “The owner suggested I do this, so, here I am.”
The topic seemed sensitive, but if he was going to jokingly offer her a position, then she felt she had the right to ask, “Is it ok if I ask what happened?”
He bit his lip debating if confiding such personal information to basically a stranger was a safe choice, but when her eyes captured his, he knew she was more capable then she let on. The muscles in her face which were normally contorted into mischievous smiles or bored expressions during the day, were soft and trustworthy. He could get lost in her eyes if he wasn’t careful, for they reminded him of the sea at night – something he was already in love with.
“There was a pretty bad storm. My deck crew wasn’t able to get the sail put away fast enough which caused it to pop out of the tracks. Normally, that’s something easy to fix, but with the wind… it caused the sail to start to rip, again, something that’s pretty easy to fix, but in a storm that bad… there’s nothing you can do. Things only got worse when we tried to dock for the night… long story short, my first mate fucked up calling distances and some lines didn’t make it to the dock on the first try resulting in a bad scratch on the stern.”
“I’m so sorry,” she reached her hand out and rested it on the sailing captain’s shoulder. It reminded her of a fairly dicey docking she had while aboard the 50-foot catamaran. The water had been choppy, and the bosun didn’t call well resulting in a scratch. Luckily it hadn’t been too bad, but the chew out the captain gave the whole deck team, left her feeling otherwise.
“It’s ok.” Toshiro gingerly grabbed the hand on his shoulder and moved to trace incoherent shapes on the back of it, “I should have made the call sooner, but luckily no one got hurt, and no guests were on board.”
The contact felt nice and… natural? Was it weird to be this intimate with someone you never met before? Maybe? It’s not like they were making out. Although… Karin was sure she’d be more than ok with that…
They both remained looking at the feint stars above them. “What about you? Why move to interior?”
“Honestly? I don’t know.” She signed and dropped her head onto his strong shoulder, “My sister jokingly applied for me, but this is what I got. Not that I’m complaining – I don’t plan on really getting into this kind of stuff.”
“What do you mean?” He removed his hand from atop her’s and interjected, “I think that’s Jupiter, by the way.”
“Where?” She perked off his shoulder looking towards where his finger pointed.
“Right over there, it’s next to the other star – or maybe that’s Saturn?”
“Oh! I see it! Ah, that’s so cool.” In her excitement, she tangled her fingers with his in a half-assed hold, and before she could even worry about moving too fast, he tightened his grip on her. Now they were properly holding hands. She kept her gaze on the planet and possible second while reclining back to her previous position and tried to calm her heart as Toshiro rested his head atop hers. God, the producers are probably loving this, sarcasm dripped in her mind.
“Anyway,” Toshiro began hopeful to cue the woman to his left to continue talking.
“Anyway, what I meant is that, I don’t plan on being a yachtie. The plan is to save up and well as travel a bit before selling my soul to grad school.”
“Oh? What for?”
“Marine Ecology, hence, all my fishing boat experience. I’d work on them summers between college, then after graduation is when I worked on the catamaran. Figured this would be something fun to try.” He had returned to tracing on her hand much to her secret joy. She had no idea the bosun was rarely this touchy, but still reveled in the attention.
“Sounds like you’re in the right place, then,” Toshiro strained to stile a yawn, but failed.
Yawning in response, Karin added, “I hope so.”
Neither moved for a minute trying to keep the moment from being over, but with another, and this time lengthy, yawn from the 3rd stew, Toshiro began hoisting himself up, “We should probably sleep.”
“Together?! Damn, you move fast, Toshiro!” She rose and playfully slapped his bicep. The joke rolled off her tongue with ease. It was reassuring in a way, despite her unfortunately apparent attraction to her new shipmate, talking to him had been easy, and teasing him had been even easier!
“No! Not like that!! And it’s Hitsugaya to you.” The dusting of red across his cheeks was not lost on either one of them as the bosun followed behind her towards their cabins.
She laughed at the blushing bosun, happy she seemed to have some effect on him. “For now,” she winked at the bottom of the stairs eliciting an even darker hue on Toshiro’s face.
If there was any question if they were going to play this game, it was now obvious. They were, and both parties were definitely involved.
The next morning went fairly smoothly save for Hisagi almost slicing his hand open and Yumichika slipping in front of most of the deck team.
“Guests should be arriving soon, so I’d change into whites,” Rangiku told her while pouring flutes of champagne.
“All crew. All crew. Guests are arriving in 5.” The radio on both of their hips buzzed into their earpieces.
“Damn, I’m good,” Rangiku laughed. Glasses now full and warm towels ready for guests, the chief and 3rd stew scurried to their cabin. The uniform she was to greet the charter guests in were stiff. Said uniform consisted of a pressed white button down with epaulettes, a black pencil skirt, a black belt, and black loafers. Overall, pretty standard. Karin noted to not try and lift her arms too high or she might pop a button open.
The camera men swarmed around the dock where Karin and the crew were lined up. One was down always following the guests. If it wasn’t for their presence right now, Karin would have forgotten her every move was being recorded. Since her run in the other day, the camera crew’s presence had been virtually unnoticed. It was insane honestly. She had been so painfully aware of what she was getting into, but within only 48-ish hours, it was almost like she was working on a normal yacht. Emphasis on almost though. Rangiku had explained the only time she would really feel like she was being filmed was when the guests arrived and when the water toys went out. ‘The camera crew were ghosts; ghosts of the Seireitei’ as Yumichika had put it.
The guests approached, four men and one woman. Karin immediately straightened her posture while her captain welcomed them. She hoped deep down they wouldn’t be a nightmare, but after seeing her chief stew and the cook’s expression after the preference sheet meeting, the green 3rd stew had trouble keeping her hopes up.
The guests went down the line introducing themselves to each crew member and vice versa.
The first man, presumably the primary, approached her. He had brown hair with a single curly strand which refused to be slicked back. “Hello, my name is Aizen.”
“Karin, 3rd stew. It’s nice to meet you.”
“The pleasure is all mine,” his grip on her hand was surprisingly gentle, and it almost felt like he was seeing straight through her soul.
Their meeting was brief, but whoever this Aizen guy was, he definitely was able to make her skin crawl with ease.
The rest of the greeting went uneventfully. The next man was a darker skinned man with purple hair named Tosen. He was partially blind and fumbled to grab her hand. The third man had a Cheshire grin and blue grey hair, Gin. He seemed… alright? And the final two people were a couple, a bright-blue haired man and a green haired woman named Grimmjow and Nel. They were a very attractive couple and seemed pretty nice.
After introductions were complete, Karin and Yumichika offered the guests hot towels and champagne to which everyone partook in. Then Rangiku swept in to give them the tour of the boat.
“They seem like they are either going to be ok or a nightmare,” Yumichika whispered into her ear once the guests were out of sight. His tone was stern and without amusement. Their job had officially begun, and whether she like it or not, Karin was nervous.
She went to busy herself with laundry and general housekeeping things leaving her superiors to face the guests.
“All crew. All crew. Prepare to leave the dock.” The radio alerted her. Her mind briefly flipped to her previous jobs, hauling oversized ropes, estimating distances, working with gears and buttons. The physical strain of being a 3rd stew was completely different to being a deckhand, and is she was honest with herself, working interior seemed more difficult with the hospitality aspect of it.
Quite naturally, her mind drifted to the bosun and his halfhearted offer the previous night. Was he actually serious? She didn’t know much about the sailing part of sail boats, but she would be willing to learn! Would he teach her? Her cheeks betrayed her and warmed at the mere thought of working on the young captain’s boat, of being around him so much.
“Karin. Karin. Rangiku. Will you help Yumichika unpack the guests’ belongings?”
Any daydreams of the tanned bosun evaporated. Duty calls, “Copy.”
She found the purple eyed man in the main cabin hunched over two really large suitcases, “To be clear, this,” he pointed to the offending bags, “is not our job.”
He was obviously annoyed and rolled his eyes at her laugh, “Isn’t our job technically to cater to the guests’ every need though?”
“Yes, but we still rarely get asked to unpack their shit – I swear rich bachelors are the worst.” He grumbled as he began on the case in front of him. Karin agreed with the 2nd stew’s annoyance but knew she wasn’t seasoned enough to really complain, so she kept her mouth, for the most part, shut.
The duo worked through all the rooms, giving various clothing items temporary homes. With both of them working, it took little to now time at all, and fortunately for them, they were able to giggle and joke without the guests hearing.
“No way! You didn’t-”
“I absolutely did! It’s one thing to be weary but accepting of gays, but to be an outright homophobe – to your colleagues no less! – doesn’t fly with me. The chef had it coming.”
The young woman laughed, “Remind me to never piss you off!”
Her reaction to his anecdote from a few charters ago caused him to laugh alongside her while they moved in tandem to complete the final room. “Noted, what about you, by the way.”
“What do you mean?”
“Any crazy fights? Drunken nights?”
His inquiry was met with silence while the green 3rd stew thought. It wasn’t that Kurosaki Karin didn’t have any funny or crazy stories, it was that despite her carefree attitude, she was actually pretty reserved. So, she wasn’t exactly sure which story to tell.
Before she could pick, Yumichika added in a teasing tone, “Have you ever been with a woman?” He was obviously prying for information, but his demeanor and tone made Karin trust him.
Deciding this story was one worth sharing, she sighed, “uhhh, ya.” Yumichika’s jaw dropped signaling her to continue, a smirk drew across her lips, “We met in college. I had gone through a pretty nasty breakup with this guy – long story short – he cheated on me, so I went out with some friends. I met this beautiful redhead biophysics major, and the rest is history. We dated for two years and were really happy, but she was two years older and went to grad school in Chile, so we decided to break it off.” She shrugged at the end. It wasn’t some epic tale like she was sure her coworker wanted; it was just life.
He hummed and the two fell into a comfortable silence until the teasing man spoke up, “So, what about the bosun, huh?” For added effect, he wiggled his eyebrows.
“What do you mean?” Her defiant streak popped up at the other’s insinuation.
“Oh, come on~ I saw you two snuggled up the other night!”
“Ok! Listen, I don’t even know…” her voice trailed out. Busted. She was totally busted.
Hell, she didn’t even know what she didn’t know! Did she not know what they were? Or what had happened? Or even how far they would go? How on earth was she to express her confusion to Mr. happily-in-a-long-term-relationship?
Her struggling didn’t go unnoticed. The older man came up and rested a hand on her shoulder after zipping up the last piece of luggage, “Hey, it’s ok.” For a second, Karin really believed he was going to give her real advice until, “Rangiku and I are rooting for you!” popped out of his mouth with a wink. She rolled her eyes as the two parted ways, Karin to the galley, and Yumichika to pull for dinner. Oh boy… she thought as she washed dishes from lunch which had happened while they unpacked.
“I need these warmed up,” a slightly frazzled Rangiku barked to the chef.
“They just came out of the pan!” Hisagi was fuming, and Karin could completely see why. Dinner was currently a dumpster fire. The guests complained the portion sizes of the appetizers were too small, then complained their fillet mignons were cold. Karin had seen them transfer from pan to plate – there was no way in hell they were cold.
“I’m sure they did – just please,” Rangiku was starting to plead. Hisagi’s face was strained while he threw the perfectly cooked mean back into the pan to undoubtably overcook. Even though the laundry room had been burned into the back of her eyelids, Karin was grateful she wasn’t running plates. She turned her focus back to cleaning the appetizer dishware while Hisagi and Rangiku hurriedly talked about dessert.
“Run these with me.” Well, guess she thought too soon. The young woman grabbed two plates and followed her superior up the stairs to the outdoor table. Yumichika passed them on the way down with more dirty dishes in hand. Karin had to remind herself to compliment him later on the table setting. It was elegant and simplistic in design with obvious attention to detail. Everything was white or silver with pale pink flowers and flower petals meticulously placed about.
“Here you are,” the chief stew’s demeanor changed entirely as she presented the new plates to gin.
Karin wordlessly followed and placed a plate in front of Aizen and Tosen, “Enjoy.” Her smile was fake, but the guests obviously couldn’t tell.
“May I have more champagne?” Aizen’s eerie voice spoke up before she could retreat back to the suds and grime which waited for her.
“Of course,” she turned to retrieve the bottle, anxious to fill the flute and retreat.
“Thank you, sweetheart.” She stuffed any disgust which threatened to bubble up at the conventionally attractive man’s words. His eyes stay trained on her form, drinking her in, even as the 3rd stew headed back towards the stairs.
“Dude, fuck them!” She exclaimed after returning to the dishes. She wanted to scrub her body after being ogled by the primary.
“Tell me about it,” Hisagi chuckled to himself while preparing desert. Yumichika came down and handed more plates for Karin to tend to with a heavy sigh.
For once, Karin was not stuck in cabins, laundry, or the galley. Yumichika was taking cabins so that he didn’t have to be around the guests, so whether or not that was a win or a loss for her, was uncertain.
The guests had already eaten lunch and were now getting ready to play with all the water toys. There was a large slide off the starboard side of the boat, swim platforms at the stern with two jet skis, and there were a few floaties in the water too. The deckhands were overseeing everything of course. Ikkaku was at the slide, Iba and Toshiro were at the back, and Karin wasn’t quite sure where Komamura was – probably on break.
Luckily for her, Karin’s current job was to just stand there and tend to any needs they might have. It honestly wasn’t too bad so far. All she had been asked was to refill glasses and give towels. Simple enough.
“You should get in with us, sweetheart.” And there it was again – the slimy man himself. Last night, Rangiku and her had bitched about Aizen and both came to the conclusion that he was indeed a slimy man.
She tried to politely giggle, “That’s very kind, but I’m ok.” His audacity once again making her uncomfortable. With a glint in his eye, the primary shrugged and let Iba help him and Tosen onto the jet ski.
“I don’t like him,” the bosun had made his way towards her and spoke in a low voice.
“Me neither, but it’s not like he’s done anything other than creep me out.” She shrugged. It was true. if she were to succeed in this business, she would have to get used to sleezebags like Aizen.
“Still.” She could hear the frown on his face. They stood in silence for a moment until Aizen and Tosen went out of view, “What is this jackass doing?” he muttered. “Iba. Iba. Hitsugaya. I’m going to get eyes on them. If they go any further, go get them.” He moved to go do his job, but before he did, he locked eyes with the young woman next to him, “I know you probably can’t, but stay away from Aizen. I don’t trust him.” His gaze was sharp and no business, dare she think it was a tad possessive too.
“I’ll try,” she rolled her eyes. His feelings were validating. Yes, Aizen was unsettling, but she didn’t think she had anything to worry about. The primary was all bark and nor bite.
The tall man eventually left to get eyes on said guests, leaving her alone. Karin watched the couple prepare to depart on the second jet ski. The couple had honestly been the nicest guests out of the lot. They were always thankful and kind. Their only downside was they were late to every meal doing lord knows what. Karin moved upstairs to check on the final guest, Gin, but as soon as she saw her busty coworker with him, she turned around. Rangiku had been working on provisions since lunch ended, but now, she seemed done.
She returned down to the platform which connected to the swim platforms, and spotted the runaway jet skiers coming back into view. She held her breath seeing the primary and partially blind guest jump wake after wake. Aizen was being reckless. Her radio narrated all the drama unfold. Toshiro, although annoyed, calmly ordered Iba to get the guests to come back. Iba did as he was told, however, once Aizen understood he was being called back, took a pretty sharp turn sending him and his passenger off the jet ski and into the ocean.
“Shit! Get them now!” Toshiro barked to Iba who hesitated. Karin jumped into action stripping off her mic and radio. She flipped her shoes off and sprinted off the boat, the purple haired man’s safety her number one priority. Iba jumped in moments before her and luckily saw straight to Aizen. The jet ski capsized only a few meters from the boat, so the rescue swim wouldn’t be too terrible. Tosen was luckily fairly calm and floated waiting to be helped.
“Are you ok?” Karin swam up to the lean man.
“A little frazzled, but other than that, fine.” His voice was even and indifferent. Not at all what she was expecting.
“I’m going to help you get back to the boat ok?” She further instructed the man what to do as the help him get to safety. Tosen followed her every instruction, and once they had made it to the swimming platform, Toshiro was there to help them up.
“Are you ok?” He hauled the man out of the water. His strength impressive to the woman before him. Karin happily glanced at his muscles work to help the guest then turned to hop out of the water as well. Toshiro continued to talk to Tosen and also helped Aizen out of the water once he had swum up. Karin went to grab four towels for all of them, and began distributing them to the guests and then to Iba. She tried to actively ignore the brown-haired man who was blatantly sharing at her soaking wet form, but it was hard. Toshiro noticed the silent interaction happening and moved closer to the 3rd stew’s side all while instructing Iba and Ikkaku on how to retrieve the small water craft over radio. The other jet ski had returned to the swim platforms, so Iba was to help them off then take Ikkaku to get the other jet ski.
Even though Aizen kept undressing her with his eyes, and she had to keep every fiber of her body from punching the guy, Karin was grateful for the bosun’s presence.
Once all the guests were together, Karin grabbed her belonging and radioed Rangiku asking her to come down and get the guests. The chief stew happily obliged and led the guests towards the pool areas because even though they had played in the ocean for a little over two and a half hours, they weren’t ready to get out of the water yet. Karin began trying to dry herself off enough to enter the ship grateful to hand the guests over.
“What were you thinking?” The white-haired male approached while his deck team worked, frustration evident in his tone.
“What do you mean?” she questioned. Hadn’t she done her job? The guests’ safety was a number one priority. Was she not expected to jump in after them?
“You’re a stewardess. It’s not your job-”
“Excuse me?” Karin was beyond pissed. It wasn’t her job? A stewardess is there to care for the needs of the guests. Wouldn’t a need of theirs to be rescued, require her to jump in? Besides, it’s not like she wasn’t a deckhand previously or anything, right?
“Karin,”
“No, I’m going to go back to my stew duties.” She turned on her heel and up the stairs. How dare he? Since when did he get to boss her around and tell her what she could and couldn’t do?
Karin made her way back to her cabin passing the galley on the way. Hisagi and her made eye contact but no words were spoken. The chef simply raised his eye brow to the mop of a woman who just huffed and left. He would have to get the details from Rangiku later, he thought.
Karin stripped off her damp uniform and changed prematurely into her blacks. Dinner would be in two hours or so anyway. She shrugged on the form fitting uniform and radioed the other stews. Yumichika was finishing the last cabin, and Rangiku was more than fine with the guests, leaving the 3rd to her second home – the laundry room. Karin shook her head wishing she would have asked her sister, Yuzu, for more folding tips.
Laundry was well underway once it was time for dinner. That night would be Gin’s birthday, so Yumichika had asked Karin to help decorate.
“So, what happened?” The 2nd stew side eyed the woman next to him. He had heard from Hisagi about her soaked appearance and wanted to know more.
“Two of the guests fell off a jet ski, so I jumped in to help. Then, Toshiro got mad at me for some fucking reason – I was just doing my job, so I don’t know what his deal is.” She continued folding napkins for the lavish black and gold themed party.
“Maybe he was just worried for your safety.” Yumichika mused while perfecting the tablescape as much as he could.
“He did a pretty shitty job at showing it,” Karin mumbled.
“Who fell in anyway?” He continued to meticulously place gold glass pebbles around the table.
“Aizen and Tosen.”
“Ah, that’s why.”
Karin turned to look at the black-haired man like he had grown another head, “What do you mean?” The 2nd stew did not stop working, so Karin busied herself again.
“Assuming he is interested in you, then it would make sense he would want to protect you from predatory guests because let’s be real. Hitsugaya and everyone on this boat knows you come from a deck crew background, so it doesn’t make sense he would be worried about your safety there, but rather worried for your safety from reckless and distasteful men like Aizen.” He spoke so certainly it made Karin feel naïve. How had she not noticed that? Especially after he had warned her to stay away from the primary.
“You’re probably right,” she grumbled, “Still doesn’t mean he wasn’t an ass though.”
“Never said it did~”
She smiled at him grateful to be aboard a ship with little drama compared to the horror stories Yuzu told her about.
“More tequila please!”
Karin’s brow twitched. The couple whom she believed to be the best guests on board were currently plastered in the hot tub with Aizen and Tosen.
Gin’s birthday dinner had gone surprisingly smoothly, and the crew celebrated prematurely. The real nightmare began after dinner. The guests had wanted to drink the night away which was shitty news for Karin and Toshiro.
Yumichika had the early morning shift with Ikkaku, so they were asleep. Iba was helping Hisagi clean the last of the galley and also pop off to bed, and Komamura was on watch. The last time Karin saw Rangiku was with Gin after dinner, so she assumed the chief stew was asking him about breakfast the next morning then heading to bed. Although, something in the pit of her stomach told her otherwise. However, this lead to her and the bosun she had argued with earlier stuck boozing up the guests until they deemed it was bedtime.
“Thank you!!” At least the woman, Nel she believed, was still not an asshole when drunk, just loud and childish. She downed her shot quickly and bounced back into her boyfriend’s arms.
Toshiro and Karin remained behind the mini bar, just out of ear-shot of the guests. “Hey… about earlier,” Toshiro spoke, never taking his eyes off of the potential hazards before them, “I’m sorry. I was worried you could have gotten hurt, and that Aizen guy-”
“I know. I’m sorry too; I shouldn’t have assumed-”
“Ya, because I don’t think you’re not capable. It’s just-”
“The primary is unpredictable and clearly has no shame.” She cut him off yet again knowing what he was trying to say after her conversation with Yumichika. Based off all the off-handed comments, looks, and even touches Aizen had thrown her way, flipping the jet ski would absolutely be something he would do just for the opportunity to be ‘saved’ by her. He was really testing her patience. All Karin wanted to do was put his rich, entitled ass in place, but alas, that wouldn’t be professional.
Toshiro chuckled at her description of the wasted man downing drink after drink. “I couldn’t have said it better myself.”
They fell into a comfortable lull of just refilling drinks, providing snacks, and handing out towels when needed. The hours lugged on as the guests’ words slurred and movements became sloppy. Toshiro always attended to the guests with Karin, not keen on leaving her close to Aizen. The primary’s lingering touches and often requests of topping off his glass were not lost on him. He noted how well she handled herself though, always releasing herself from his grip with a smile or even telling the man off about his requests through perfectly crafted teases.
“This sucks ass,” Karin slumped next to the bosun who hummed in agreement. The clock now read a heavy 3:18 AM. She had to be awake in five hours, and with the way this was going, her sleep time would continue to dwindle. Toshiro wrapped his pinkie around hers out of any prying eyes’ view. The gesture was simple and innocent, and they both reveled in it. Who knew something so little could be so comforting?
They continued to stand like this until the couple who had been making out relentlessly slipped. They popped out of the water full of giggles, but Karin still went to check in on them. “Are you two alright?”
“Yup!” Nel hiccupped, her blush from her heavy buzz bright red.
“I think we are probably going to head out though,” Grimmjow said suggestively towards the woman in his arms.
Before they could devolve into yet another make-out session, Karin handed them two towels, “Here you two go.” The couple raised out of the water and began to wrap themselves up, “Sleep well,” Karin added with a wink. This caused the bright blue-haired man to howl with laughter as he led his girlfriend towards their cabins.
“I think I’ll head in as well.” Tosen grunted while hauling himself out of the water. He hadn’t drunk as much as his friends, but it was clear the man was still under the influence.
Karin handed the purple-haired man a towel, “Do you need help getting to your room?”
“That won’t be necessary, sweetheart. I’ll help him.” Aizen slipped next to her and snaked his arm around her waist, “Unless you want to come join me.” His voice was deep and dripped in drunken lust.
“I hope you two sleep well, see you in the morning.” Karin smiled sharply as she untangled herself from the primary. Toshiro glued himself to her side again glaring daggers as he handed the man a towel. Every fiber of his being told him to attack the man in front of him, but as he had to keep reminding himself of, that would be against policy.
Aizen and Tosen wobbled away chatting about who knows what. Toshiro sighed deeply, “I really hate that guy.”
“Me too,” Karin laughed beginning to clean up the area with Toshiro hot on her heels. He swabbed the deck while she took glasses down to be washed and stowed alcohol away. The banter didn’t flow between them as it had previously due to the fatigue which dragged at their limbs.
Karin started yet another load of laundry and moved to go clean the glasses. The warm sudsy water eased the tension which had crawled under her skin all night and now morning. God, I can’t wait to shower, she whined to herself.
The soft padding of footfalls rounded past the galley. Karin glanced up expecting to see an all too familiar mop of white but instead saw a ruffled Rangiku.
“Rangiku?” The clock was nearing 4:00 AM; the chief stew should have been long asleep in their cabin.
“Karin! What are you doing up?” Her hair was frazzled and her clothes were wrinkled.
“We should be asking you the same, Matsumoto.” The chief stew visibly flinched at the appearance of the lean man also deprived of sleep.
“I was just getting some fresh air. Restless sleep is a bitch after all~” Karin continued to wash and dry the glassware, eager as to what was going to happen next.
“Matsumoto.” His brows furrowed and he crossed his arms while leaning on the wall. Toshiro didn’t want to play any games. Karin looked between the two of them; she knew they had worked together previously, but had no idea as to what Rangiku could have been doing.
“It was his birthday, Hitsugaya. Besides we already knew each other, so-” Karin couldn’t help but let her eyebrow raise. She had no idea the two had known each other, let alone well enough to get fresh in one of the cabins.
“It doesn’t matter. You are on duty, Matsumoto.” Karin had wondered what the bosun would look like as a captain, but now she was seeing it first-hand. She had never seen the man in front of her command quite like this. It was almost as if he were made to lead.
Rangiku sensed this change too and sighed, “I’ll talk to Captain Kyoraku tomorrow, ok?”
“Ok. Goodnight.”
“Night.” Rangiku headed back towards the cabins.
Once she was fully gone, Toshiro deflated. His shoulders slumped and his head lulled to the side as if it were too heavy for his neck to hold, “Why is always one thing after another.” He pushed himself off the wall and began to help dry the dishes.
Karin gently shoved his arm with hers, “It’s almost like you signed up to be on a reality TV show.”
He groaned in response, “Right.”
With all the dishes put back in their places, the two slugged back towards their cabins. Before either of them opened the doors to their respective rooms, Toshiro spoke up in a soft whisper, “Karin,” she turned and locked eyes with him, “Good work today.” A small warm smile graced his features pulling her in.
“You too.”
Neither were quite sure who initiated the embrace but failed to care as endorphins massaged their souls. Toshiro’s hold was gentle yet strong around her shoulders, and his head was buried in the crook of her neck. As the hug stretched past friendly, she unwrapped her arms and moved her hands onto his back which was just as structured as she thought. They rocked slightly as if it were some sort of mechanical lullaby for what felt to be an eternity, completely lost in the other.
It was almost noon by the time breakfast had finished, and while she prepared coffee and kept her voice low, she secretly reveled in the hangovers. The guests had remained fairly quiet all morning and opted to lounge around until their painkillers had done their job. Gin had been the crew’s only saving grace by strongly urging the others to pack. They grumpily followed his suggestion all accept Aizen, of course.
“Sweetheart, could you pack my things for me?” Unfortunately for her, hungover Aizen was even creepier than normal Aizen.
Streams of curses flowed in her mind, “I-”
“I’m so sorry, normally she would be happy to, but we are docking in less than an hour, so I need her to help flip for the next guests. I would be happy to do so for you.” A much too chipper Rangiku came to her rescue. Karin would have to buy her a drink later for saving her ass.
“Fine,” Aizen turned back to watch the coast lull by.
“Why don’t I help you, he can be quite a mess.” Gin grinned towards the busty woman. Karin watched Rangiku laugh and politely deny while allowing the man to follow her. Maybe she wouldn’t buy her a thank you drink after all.
“All crew. All crew. Prepare to dock in 30.” Captain Kyoraku’s voice alerted her. It was time for heaps of laundry
The laundry room looked like a small bomb had gone off from her haphazard actions last night in attempt to sleep earlier. She rolled her shoulders ready to get knees deep in detergent and dryer sheets.
Before she knew it, her radio began to come to life with docking procedures. It was mainly Toshiro speaking in her ear.
“You are free to swing, Captain.” Karin folded what had to be her thousandth towel and continued to listen to the happenings outside. Her mind wandered to what docking a boat as big as the Seiretei would be like. How far would she have to swing her ground line to port? Were there more ropes compared to smaller boats, or were the ropes just bigger? She continued to muse all throughout the docking process. Maybe she would take Toshiro up on his offer to work on his boat. Before she could daydream much about that, Yumichika’s voice cut through the air, “One of the guests threw up on the upper aft deck.” She looked to the man in the laundry room and groaned. Looked like duty calls.
Why anyone would want to spend their night off not sleeping and doing nothing was beyond her.
“Oh!! Karin! That’s what you’ve been hiding this whole time?!” Rangiku swealed while swinging their cabin door open.
Anyone walking by could see her. “Rangiku! Door!” Karin exclaimed turning to cover her exposed upper half. She was currently getting ready for their night off the boat: dinner, drinks, bar hopping, the whole shebang. The busty blonde giggled and finally entered the room, closing the door behind her. She was dressed in a saturated pink bodycon dress with a worn jean jacket, and as simple as her outfit was, the chief stew was rocking it. Karin glanced down at her deep red pencil skirt and black crop top, Is this too dressy? Nah, I’m wearing Vans anyway.
“You should wear your hair like this more, Karin!” Her roommate began touching up her makeup. Karin had worn her hair in her signature ponytail during work hours but had styled it in loose curls for the night.
“Well, you can thank my sister and sister-in-law.” Karin began applying her mascara chuckling at her conversation with Yuzu and Rukia earlier that day. She had texted them after their tip meeting complaining about her first charter but happy to be walking away with almost $2,500 in tip.
The two finished up getting ready and met the rest of the crew on the dock to go to dinner. Karin was glad to see everyone else was in a range of clothes. Yumichika and Rangiku were the most dressed up, and Ikkaku was the least dressed up. How he wore a hoodie and his significant other wore a suit jacket, and still looked good together was honestly impressive. Her eyes drifted to the person she was secretly most excited to see. Toshiro wore dark wash jeans cuffed slightly showing off a pair of worn brown boots, a plain white t-shirt, and a black bomber jacket. Much like Rangiku, even though the outfit was simple, he looked good. While she drank in his appearance, green eyes regretfully caught her gaze. Karin ripped her eyes away from the attractive male and walked towards one of the vans. Toshiro had ended up next to her in the back, of course.
The producers had arranged for the crew to eat at a beautiful French restaurant then they would go bar hopping. Karin was still trying to wiggle a way out of it. She just wasn’t a bar person. Sure, if she were back home and with her friends, she would gladly go bar hopping. But what she wanted, needed, was to rest. Who knew yachting would wipe her out! She was never this drained on fishing boats!
The restaurant was stunning. It had a natural but modern look to it that was pretty typical for the area, but every time, it still impressed her. The table the waiter brought them too was in a quaint indoor-outdoor area, and camera men were already stationed in their ‘we are trying to be decreet’ locations.
The speed at which alcohol was ordered impressed her. Before she could even sit and open the drink menu, wine and beer seemed to flow through the table. A vodka cranberry she didn’t order appeared in front of her. Toshiro shrugged taking a drag at his golden ale, “Matsumoto.” Karin hummed as the short explanation and took a sip of the drink and began looking over the menu, thankful there were English translations. Her French was alright, but definitely not on par with the items on the menu.
“Let’s have a toast!” Yumichika, a wine glass in already, cheered after food had been ordered and brought out. “To a great charter season!” The crew grabbed their glasses and repeated her words full of smiles and a great time.
Toshiro and Karin clunk glasses exchanging quick glances, “When are you two going to fuck already?” Rangiku exclaimed eliciting similar remarks from the other crew members, save Komamura. At the sudden call out, Karin barely squawked out, “None of your business!” fully choosing to ignore the warmth between her legs. The mere thought of Toshiro shirtless, on top of her, in bed, was way too much.
“Not tonight,” Toshiro seemed unphased and returned to his meal. He appeared used to the chief stew’s teasing, but Karin was left with a face almost as dark as the bottle of merlot being passed around. “Besides, when are you and Hisagi going to bunk up? As his roommate, I’d appreciate a heads up.” The bosun shot back, shifting the hot seat.
“Oh, so you can bunk in my cabin?” Rangiku teased back despite her flush.
“That’d be preferable to being in the room.”
The table erupted in a cacophony of laughter from the crew and almost chocking from Karin. She cocked an eyebrow up at the chef, how did she not know about this?
Hisagi raised his hands in defense, “There may or may not have been a short cuddle session.”
Karin’s mouth dropped, “Wait so…” She looked to her roommate who had gotten busy on just the first charter. That is fucking impressive, damn.
“We can coordinate next time,” the chef chuckled, and to Karin’s complete shock, the white-haired man next to her hummed in agreement.
What am I getting myself into? She laughed to herself.
Conversation continued to flow between the crew members, and before she knew it, the camera crew was following them towards a bar. It was decision making time; to dip or not to dip, life’s greatest question.
A tipsy Iba flopped his arm across her shoulders, “You are my wing-woman! I’m going to find a beautiful French woman to dance with!” Karin cackled at the man’s declaration. Besides, one drink couldn’t hurt, right?
Well, evidently, it could. Iba had, in fact, found not one, not two, but three French women to dance with. His ability to do so, a surprise to the young woman. Komamura had disappeared into the crowd, Yumichika and Ikkaku teetered on drunk and plastered together, and Rangiku? She was gone. Karin cringed at the sight before her. Hisagi, just as wasted, was trying to hold a conversation with the beautiful blonde about her night with Gin. Apparently, he hadn’t known about it, so now they were trying to have a conversation – while extremely drunk – so really it was a weird argument peppered into a make-out session.
“That looks like a mess,” she finally looked away from the couple to what felt to be her new second shadow.
“It will be, but I’m sure they’ll figure it out,” Toshiro shrugged, uninterested in the action which previously held Karin’s attention. “Do you want to dance?”
His question surprised her, “I never pegged you as the club dancing type.” Her grin enough of an affirmative for the six-foot man to lead her into the crowd.
“I’m not.” His work-worn hands placed themselves gently on her waist. She followed and put her arms around his neck. Their movements were awkward. The club music pounded on, over stimulating their senses. The two fumbled in the other’s embrace attempting to find any semblance of rhythm and not shamelessly grind on the other. His hands eventually traveled down low on her hips, her hands in his hair, and any room for Jesus - gone. It was clumsy, sensual, and comfortable. It was completely them.
“Wanna get out of here?” Karin proposed, lips accidentally brushing against Toshiro’s pink tipped ears.
“T- to the boat?” The innuendo of her question suddenly became apparent.
“Ya, to actually relax before tomorrow. We can stargaze again?”
Toshiro’s smile accidentally sending a buzz straight to between her legs, “I’d really like that.”
He grabbed her hand and led her out of the establishment, a cameraman following them. Neither was really tipsy anymore, so the ten-minute walk to the boat wasn’t bad. The others would need a cab though.
“Here,” Toshiro shrugged the black bomber jacket off and placed it onto Karin’s shoulders.
“Are you sure you won’t get cold?” She snaked her limbs through the warm material, grateful for it.
“I don’t get cold very easy.” Once she was situated, he wrapped his arm securely around her.
Their walk was fairly quiet with the occasional comment of how beautiful their surrounds are. Every little alley had a story that it whispered to the hydrangea bushes, and each lantern beside the cobbled streets kept records of each shoe which had danced across the promenade. The south of France really was a magical space.
Once they reached the boat, Karin spoke, “Can we put on PJs?” There was a real possibility she would pass out under the stars, so might as well as be out of her shapely pencil skirt.
Toshiro chuckled, “Sure. Should we get blankets and pillows, too?”
“Fuck yes, we should! Hot chocolate?” Their pace had quickened once on board.
“I’ll do tea.”
Whether their efficiency was due to being aboard the vessel or their excitement was unclear, but after cozy PJs, makeshift bed, and hot beverages, the two nestled on the bow already familiar with the other’s touch.
It wasn’t even a particularly cold night, but the two held onto their drinks plastered against the other’s side. Their only separation came when Toshiro pointed out the dippers and north star.
“Is that the milky way?”
He stared up above for a while. “I believe so.” The moon wasn’t as bright as it had been, but it was still plenty to obscure part of the night sky beyond what the town did.
“Did you really mean it when you asked if I wanted to work on your boat next charter?” Karin finally spoke up after her hot chocolate had disappeared.
“I did.” Beneath the blankets, their hands intertwined, and for a minute, they reveled in the moment.
Who knew Kurosaki Karin, a woman of many words and figurative balls of steel, would be reduced to a nervous and eager mess just at the presence of this man in front of her? Frankly, it pissed her off, but her horniness and idea of having a real relationship, won her over. Karin had plenty of hookups and also enjoyed her time being single. However, there was something about the man next to her that made her felt safe and cared for. He treated her like an equal. Karin knew she wouldn’t allow herself to rush into anything, but she was excited to see where this was leading. Deep down, she hoped their journey together would never stop.
Until thoughts of the future, sprouted in the young woman’s mind. “Wouldn’t us doing this,” she gestured between them, “not be a good idea then?”
“We have a whole year ahead of us…” At her lack of response, he quickly continued, “But, we don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do!”
She shifted so that she was facing him, “No! I’m not saying that… I do, it’s just that will it be ok when I’m your bosun.”
He turned to match her position and looked her straight in her eyes, “I was thinking first mate but send me your CV.”
Karin’s face cracked into a huge grin, “Sure thing, Captain.”
“Please, I’m just your bosun.” He rolled his eyes fighting the grin forcing its way onto his face.
“For now.”
Toshiro’s cerulean eyes sparked at her suggestive tone which held so much promise and flicked between grey eyes and smirking lips. Instinct and want slowly dragged her body forward. Her neck craned, eyes closed with peace, and her stomach sparkled with fireworks as his lips pressed against hers. Toshiro’s body acting just a languidly and excitedly as her own. Their first kiss was much like their first meeting and first dance, a little uncoordinated, a little bold, and completely comfortable.
With the need for air, they broke apart filled with rosy smiles and shining eyes. This time, she initiated the kiss. It was hungrier than the last, more passionate. A delicate hand roughly tangled into his snowy white locks while the other gripped onto his bicep while calloused hands caressed her face and hip. The broke apart yet again just as elated as before with laughs sprinkled with little kisses.
The two continued to talk well into the night and eventually fell asleep in their pile of blankets and pillows, cold coffee cups forgotten to the side. They decided to take it slow because why rush once you’ve found home?
Hesesols Tue 01 Sep 2020 08:50PM UTC
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