The Boy by the Shore (Olikase Vocaloid AU)

Chapter 13: Sapphire

"Oliver."

"Hm?"

"O-li-ver."

"What is it?" I blinked my eyes open sleepily only to see Yohio hovering above me.

"Don't tell anyone else, but there's a malfunction on the ship."

I immediately sat up straight. Wait a minute... "Then why are you telling me? What do I do about it?"

"I thought you'd want to know these things!"

"Yohio, it's five in the morning. I'm going back to sleep." My brother sighed and left the room. Although I had pretended to be disinterested in his affairs, I couldn't help but wonder what he meant. A malfunction? There were a thousand different things that could mean. No doubt he was just trying to squeeze the curiosity out of me.

But if it was a serious malfunction, then...

"Yohio, wait for me!" I got ready within record time and joined him at the bridge. When I got there, Yohio was discussing something with who I assumed was the chief engineer. They chattered furiously between themselves, quickly spouting words I couldn't comprehend.

Maybe I should ask him later—

The door to the bridge opened, and Fukase peeked his head through. I quickly went over to him before my brother noticed.

"What's going on? What's the commotion about?" he whispered.

"Well..." What could I say? Yohio made it clear that no one else was supposed to know.

"Did something go wrong?" I blinked at him in surprise. "It wasn't hard to guess from that diagram over there." Fukase pointed to a sketched diagram the chief engineer was holding up and gesturing furiously at.

Finally, I sighed. "Yeah. It looks like the engine is malfunctioning." I silently closed the door behind me and then followed Fukase into the hallway.

"So then, what's going to happen to the rest of the cruise?"

"We'll probably find somewhere we can safely dock, and then we'll figure it out from there. Since the engine started giving us problems late last night, the ship was knocked off-course a bit. Our next stop won't be on the itinerary, unfortunately."

"That's fine. It'll be fun with you around." I couldn't help but feel a light blush warm my cheeks at his comment.

"Try not to mention the problem to the others, ok? Yohio will make an announcement once he reaches a decision."

"Yeah, of course." He rolled his eyes slightly. It was so easy to forget that he didn't speak in front of others since we were able to converse so naturally.

Before we knew it, we found ourselves at the dining hall. The weather seemed mockingly bright for a day when we had been delivered such dismal news. The sea reflected the sky with a deep sapphire that illuminated the room around us. There were no signs of birds, leading me to believe that we were a decent distance away from any piece of land.

The morning came and went with a flurry of my anxious thoughts until it was almost noon, and we met up with the rest of our group.

"I say we go to the pool today!" Flower declared almost immediately.

"I agree with that!" Miki piped up.

"Um, I really don't," Rana muttered.

"Aww, are you still upset about what happened last time? Don't worry, I'm sure Fukase here has forgiven everything. Isn't that right, 'Kase?" Flower paused, but Fukase was unresponsive. She looped a languid arm around his shoulder. "C'mon, let's go! Maybe you can swim this time too."