[Day 5, Early Afternoon] - It's not at sea, but still...

[Kaiu Seiko]

Seiko paused. Then something in her snapped, a touch of resistance.

Why not?

After all, maybe now it was his turn to lead what they would do.

With that, she easily tied off the rope, then jumped in.

Laughing, she leaped from the deck into the water, diving in just fine and swimming in the stormy waters without problem.

[Kakita Sugita]

"The clouds came in. Dark and foreboding as the worst of nightmares! Lightning lit the sky in red wrath, cutting through all that stood in it's way. Thunder roared it's victory. Nothing could stop the fury of the storm! And it's servants danced and played in it's embrace, content to revel in it's superiority." Gotta let a Kakita wax poetic now and then.

[Kaiu Seiko]

Seiko was staring again, her eyes round.

She blinked.

"I... am... impressed, Kakita-kun!" She laughed again, tossing her head back once more. "And... I am blessed!"

Still trending water, she closed her eyes, letting the rain fall on her face. Water upon water, it felt sweet.

Kami... why do I feel the urge to swim around the Crane in a circle?

[Kakita Sugita]

The Crane treads gracefully on the water, like animal his Clan is named after. "Thanks!" Humility is for other people. "I can do poems as well as I can sing!" In other words. Terribly.

[Kaiu Seiko]

Truthfully, quality on art did not impress Seiko so much as enthusiasm. Quality was for things that mattered, like building a ship or being dutiful to your lord.

"Can you sing like thunder, Kakita-kun?" she called back to him.

She was getting a little tired of having to yell, even when she was so close.

"Because that's the only way I'm going to be able to hear you!"

She grinned as she said this, hoping he would start to sing.

[Kakita Sugita]

"No mortal can match Osano-wo's voice!" Doesn't stop him from trying. He got the hint.

"Row me bully boys
Steady and surely boys
Don’t ye dare stop or slow
Till at long last we’re home
On our way we will go
So row me bully boys row
Row me bully boys row"

For reference purposes.

[Kaiu Seiko]

Seiko laughed. She didn't care that Sugita sang more like a Hida berserker than a Doji performer. In fact, she actually preferred it. He sang... and he didn't care if he sounded bad.

"That's better than I could do! I don't know any songs at all!"

Not strictly true, of course, but Seiko didn't feel like explaining how she could sing along with someone, or that there were plenty of songs that the sailors aboard the Thunder of Osano-Wo sang that she could probably remember if she tried.

Lazily, she floated a few inches closer to hear him better.

"With a voice like that, all the Crane maidens come running when you're in port, don't they?" she teased, smiling good-naturedly.

[Kakita Sugita]

"You're half right! They do run!" Like a Doji maiden does that is. Away.

"Didn't I also tell you I'd teach a song or two?!"

[Kaiu Seiko]

"Well?" she asked, expectantly. "Teach away!"

After the sailor's jollies aboard a Crab's turtleboat, Seiko had no fear that Sugita would say anything that would shock her.

[Kakita Sugita]

There is already a song in the air. He continues it, expecting Seiko to join in whenever she's able. Problem being, it is very strenuous trying to sing while swimming in a storm. Even if the water is relatively calm in the bay.

[Kaiu Seiko]

To make things easier, Seiko swam a little closer to Sugita so that she could both hear him a little better and he could hear her likewise. She then gave it a shot.

The thing was... her voice was just as bad as his.

[Kakita Sugita]

And no &@$%s were given that day. The song is belted out until Sugita loses the rhythm and chokes on seawater. "Usually -cough- you sing on deck!"

[Kaiu Seiko]

That just made Seiko laugh.

She swam a little closer so that she could talk to Sugita without having to yell quite so much.

"But if we were on ship, how could we properly serenade both Osano-Wo-kami and Suitengu-kami?"

In truth, Seiko's own voice was feeling a bit battered with trying to compete with the roars of the mighty Fortunes. Maybe there was something to be said for climbing back on-board and behaving like civilized people for a while. After all, civilized people get warm baths.

Which means going on gaijin land, of course.

[Kakita Sugita]

So close now that it is hard not to touch while treading water. "I'm sure they'll hear us anyway! Don't want to tempt them with our lives!" Sugitas says into Seiko's ear. No need to scream that way.

[Kaiu Seiko]

"Are you saying you want to be back onboard, Kakita-kun?" Seiko asked, giving him a look (though not an unfriendly one). "With weather this warm, it is very easy to appreciate both of the gifts of the Fortunes, after all."

She didn't disagree about the tempting though. Some things were worth tempting, others weren't.

[Kakita Sugita]

"Singing and swimming. Not so easy." He replies with some difficulty as he tries to tread water so close. Truthfully he's getting tired out. Can't say that. "You want to try first or should I?"

[Kaiu Seiko]

"Try first to go aboard? Why not you, Kakita-kun?" Seiko replied. "I want to enjoy the waters a little more."

That, and she might need his help getting up again. But she didn't want to say that.

[Kakita Sugita]

"OK!" He does just that. Rope. Hands. Up and up. Until he struggles up over the side to plop on the deck with an audible smack. "Hup!" He exclaims as he pulls himself back up. "It's still wet up here!" Rain does that.

[Kaiu Seiko]

But the water down here is more fun.

Nothing for it. She grasped the rope.

"Go ahead, Kakita-kun!" she yelled, once more feeling the excitement of the storm.

[Kakita Sugita]

"You can always dive back in again! I might once I catch my breath!" He yells down as he's pulling the Kaiu out of the water.