Chapter Text
Very far from our heroes, somewhere in Egypt, stood a dark mansion. One in which resides one of the most evil people to have ever been born. A man that many decades ago threw away his own humanity for power. He committed acts so vile that his soul was condemned to go to hell if he were to die. Not that he bothered to think about it.
He was more than a hundred years old and yet the blonde man looked like he could be in his twenties. It was one of the many advantages of being a vampire.
He stood shirtless in front of a mirror in a dark room only illuminated by some candles, looking down at the body that now belonged to him. The one that linked him to the descendents of his old nemesis.
“Enyaba, there’s something I’d like to ask you.” He spoke with the old woman that was in the dark room with him. “What does it mean to live?”
“To obtain what one desires.” His assistant was quick to answer while she scratched her wrinkled arm. “To put it simply, that is all it means to live. People want money, they want fame, they want food, they want love, they want a lover…” She ended with a chuckle.
“But when they attempt to obtain what they desire, there is always a battle, is there not, Enyaba?” He continued, thinking of the many battles he fought in order to get what he wanted. Both the ones he won, and the one he lost. He walked away from the mirror, passing by the old woman as he went.
“Indeed.” The old woman, Enyaba, agreed.
“If they lose the battle and fail to obtain what they desire, they feel frustration and a sense of failure. They are hurt… and they feel fear when faced with the next battle.” His hand moved to right below the scar on his neck, touching the star birthmark that every member of the Joestar family had. The birthmark his adoptive brother had. “I believe that conquering fear is what it means to live.” He said while standing in front of a staircase, hands on his hips. “The one who will stand at the top of the world is the one who feels no fear whatsoever. Do you understand, Enyaba?”
”I was the one who told you about the existence of your Stand and how to use it.” Enyaba reminded, making him look back at her. “And you have an immortal body. Is there anything that you fear?”
“Perhaps.”
“What concerns you?”
“The Joestar bloodline.” DIO revealed, his hate for the family evident in his voice.
“Hmm? Joestar? Those two?” Enyaba scoffed, baffled. She did not see how her powerful master could feel concerned over the threat of one teenanger and his aging grandfather. “They are mere trash. They are no match for your Stand!”
“Yes… But when the lives of those trash are so deeply entangled with my own, I cannot help but believe it is destiny.” DIO explained, looking at the elderly woman with his red eyes. “To be more specific… it is not the Joestars that I fear. It is the fact that I cannot underestimate the Joestar bloodline.” He had, once upon a time, underestimated a Joestar and he did not plan on making the same mistake again. He did not see that teen, Jotaro, as an equal to his ancestor, the deceased Jonathan Joestar, but he would make sure to eliminate him regardless of that. “I feel that I must rid the Joestars from my wheel of fortune.”
“You thought to eliminate them yourself simply because you feel that they cannot be underestimated?” Enyaba inquired.
“Yes.”
“Foolishness! You should never engage in such foolishness!” The woman shouted, unsatisfied with his explanation. “We already have seven Stand users -- The Empress, The Hanged Man, Strength, The Wheel of Fortune, Temperance, The Emperor, and the Devil -- on the move.” The old woman listed the cards, counting each lackey they had sent after the Joestars and their group. “You need not worry about taking action yourself, Lord DIO.”
DIO did not respond, letting the woman continue with her mad laughter, his eyes then went to the source of light in that room. In the specific table that stood the chandelier, there was a pot next to it which contained a single blue flower. A very special flower he did not know existed until a year ago.
He had learned a lot of interesting information around that time. And he fully intended to use them to his advantage.
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If something seems too good to be true it's because it probably is.
So when a huge ship materialized from the mist as the rescue they had all been waiting for, the skeptical part of Taeko was immediately suspicious.
Would there be friends or enemies aboard that vessel?
“A-A freighter!” One of the sailors that was with them exclaimed in surprise.
“I didn’t see it coming at all!” Another sailor spoke.
“Jotaro, what are you concerned about?” Joseph asked, noticing his grandson’s look intently at the boat. It made Taeko suspect that she wasn’t the only one feeling uneasy. “Do you think there might be another Stand user on this freighter, too?”
“No, I was just wondering why no one’s shown themselves, even though the ramp is down.” Jotaro answered with a shake of his head, then pointing to the boat's ramp.
Looking over at the boat Taeko saw that he was right, there was no one on the ramp to greet or check up on them. A chill ran down Taeko’s spine as a recent memory came to her mind.
“Those who swore loyalty to Lord DIO will pursue you every hour of every day.”
She still remembered Tower of Gray’s final words very well. While the man was obviously insane, Taeko saw it as unwise to ignore his prediction.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if there was another stand user there…” She admitted, earning her a raised eyebrow from Joseph. She proceeded to give him and the others an explanation to her comment. “Just think about it. If the captain knew where to find us, why wouldn’t our next enemy also know where we were going?”
“We spent enough time in the emergency boat for another enemy to be sent after us.” Pointed out Kakyoin, nodding in agreement to her words.
Being the reckless guy the group already learned he was, Polnareff dismissed their concerns and jumped from the boat to the ramp as soon as it was close enough.
“All of you shouldn’t be so paranoid!” He said, looking over his shoulder at them. “They came this far to rescue us! There has to be someone abroad! Even if they’re all Stand users, I’m getting on this boat.”
The rest of the group shared a look, all of them thinking the same. Even if they were to ignore the ship and leave in the emergency boats, the few supplies they had stored on them wouldn’t last long. So they ended up choosing to board the ramp after Polnareff.
One by one the men exited the boat and climbed into the ramp. As they did so, Taeko put on her backpack and took the opportunity to check up on the child standing next to her. Anne was looking at the boat with a frown, noticeably hesitant about boarding the mysterious freighter.
“I’m sorry for getting you involved in all of this. But I promise that I will protect you.” Taeko gently told her, offering the girl a reassuring smile. “And my friends will find a way to get us to Singapore, so don’t worry.”
The girl’s expression softened and her lips lifted upwards into a small smile. She looked up at the ramp to see both Jotaro and Joseph still standing there, with the rest of the guys having already walked up the ramp. Noticing that Anne would come next, the delinquent teen held out his hand to the girl thinking she could use the help.
“Grab on. I’ll help you up.” He said.
Anne stared at his hand for a moment, considering her next move. She was still resentful at him for the “chest feeling incident” so she didn’t want his help. The child instead chose to make a jump from the boat into Joseph’s arms. The old man, fortunately, had quick reflexes to catch her in time. Anne then stuck her tongue out at Jotaro.
“Good grief.” Jotaro muttered.
“She is really a headstrong child, isn’t she?” Taeko said, forcing a small smile as she watched Joseph carefully lower the child back to the floor.
When Taeko looked back at Jotaro, she realized he was already moving up the ramp without giving her any type of acknowledgement. She shrugged this as his usual behavior and jumped from the boat to the ramp by herself then followed him up.
Neither noticed the frown Joseph had on his face at what he just witnessed.
The four of them had joined the rest on the deck, with Taeko sticking close to Anne just in case there was danger around. If the little girl noticed, she chose not to complain. She was probably unsettled by the creepy atmosphere at the ship’s deck, as Taeko herself was.
Even as both the gang and the sailors searched around, they couldn’t find anyone. In fact, they couldn’t find any sign of life in that part of the ship.
“Hey! Is anyone around?!” The shout Joseph let out was loud enough to be heard by anyone in that area of the ship. Unfortunately, the only ones subjected to hearing his unexpected shout were his companions.
“Please, warn us before you yell like that.” Kakyoin politely requested, yet his eye twitched in irritation. Joseph didn’t even acknowledge his complaint.
“Weird. There should have been at least someone on the deck.” Joseph said, stroking his beard as he thought on where to look next.
The group ended up deciding to split up, with Avdol staying to search the deck with the sailors and the others going inside the boat in hopes of finding someone there.
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“What’s with this boat?!” Joseph shouted in frustration as he entered the pilothouse only to find it also empty. “There’s no captain in the pilothouse!” He said as the others followed him into the room. “There’s no operator in the radio room. There’s no one anywhere!” He then approached some of the machinery in the room to check up on it. “And yet, look! All the meters and machines are working properly.”
“Maybe they’re all in the bathroom with a bad case of diarrhea.” Polnareff put out his theory but no one took it seriously.
“Maybe this is a ghost ship…” Taeko suggested, instantly making Polnareff pale next to her.
“Ghost ship?! This place is haunted??” He exclaimed, wildly looking around like a ghost would all of a sudden appear next to him. The others weren’t amused by his reaction.
“No.” Kakyoin firmly denied. “A ghost ship is by definition a ship that is found without a crew or passengers. It’s not hunted. There is a logical explanation on why it was abandoned.” He spoke matter of fact, crossing his arms in contemplation of the possibility. “Maybe the crew left this ship because they thought it would sink during a storm or it somehow freed itself from where it was stored.”
His dismissing demeanor got under Polnareff’s skin. Who in an attempt to defend his theory spoke without thinking on what he was about to refer to.
“Well, maybe a ghost spooked the crew away!” He said. “Ghosts can exist, considering…”
He interrupted himself by clamping his mouth shut, finally realizing he was saying something he shouldn't. Simultaneously, his and Taeko’s eyes widened, both knowing exactly what he was going to say next.
“…considering demons do.”
Teako threw him a pleading look, quietly begging him not to finish that sentence. They were in uncharted territory, this was not the time to reveal this information to their friends.
“Considering…” Kakyoin raised an eyebrow at him, urging the French to continue.
“Nothing.” Polnareff said instead, avoiding the teen’s gaze.
There was a moment of awkward silence after that. It was painfully obvious to everybody that he was hiding something. Especially Jotaro, who having seen the two having a private conversation back at the other ship, narrowed his eyes at them. But to Polnareff and Taeko’s relief, neither he or the rest chose not to press on it. At least not at that moment.
“Just track them.” Jotaro said instead. Taeko glanced up at him and realized he was talking to her.
“What?” Taeko asked with a slight tilt of her head, confused.
“Good grief.” He said with a huff, annoyed she didn’t immediately catch what he meant. “You have the nose of a sniffer dog, don’t you? See if you can find someone.”
“Jotaro, don’t compare the girl to a dog.” Joseph tried to correct his grandson but as always it fell on deaf ears.
“That’s a great idea!” Taeko said with a beam, not feeling insulted in the slightest. She was proud of her weird talent. Not only is it very useful in situations like these, it was also something she got from her grandfather.
Taeko took a deep breath, taking in all the scents around her. By closing her eyes, the girl tried to organize the scents by categorizing them by color. She could mentally visualize a rainbow of colors entering the room and getting to the exact place each one of the crusaders and Anne stood. The rest of the room however, was colorless, devoid of any traces of scents that could come from other people.
…Wait!
Concentrating a bit more she was able to detect one more scent. And she was sure it wasn’t one of theirs as the trail didn’t follow the same path from the entrance to the room. The scent was also weaker, slowly dispersing with time, indicating that the person who it originated from passed through this room earlier than them.
There was also something distinct about this scent but Taeko couldn't exactly identify what.
The others watched as her eyes snapped open and she pointed to the open door to a room they had not yet investigated.
“There! There is someone in that room!” She declared, sounding confident in her findings. Following her indication, the group went to look inside. Only instead of finding another person there, they found a cage with an animal locked inside.
“A monkey!” Anne said from where she stood next to the other girl. “There’s a monkey inside that cage!”
“An orangutan.” Kakyoin corrected.
The large monkey, or orangutan, sat crisscross inside the cage, creepy staring at the group that just entered the room.
“I wonder what it is doing here…” Taeko mumbled, looking at the animal as if he was a puzzle to be solved.
“Who the hell cares about a monkey?!” Joseph complained, frustrated that their search wild nothing. “Let’s find whoever’s been feeding it.” He said, quickly dismissing the animal’s importance and leaving the room. Polnareff left after him, with Kakyoin and Jotaro close behind.
Taeko and Anne remained in the room for longer, with the older one trying to figure out what was the deal with the caged orangutan.
She could catch a scent emanating from the animal but Taeko was having trouble identifying it. It was because of the ‘something distinct about this scent’ she was thinking about before. The natural odor of an animal was different from a human’s, making it harder for Taeko(someone obviously accustomed to using her ability to read humans’ feelings) to identify what animals are feeling.
Weirdly, something in Taeko, maybe coming from the inherited instincts of her demon slayer ancestry, warned her that the animal was a threat. Not that it didn’t make sense, orangutans are very strong so they could harm humans easily, but there wasn’t just it…there was something off with this animal.
While the two girls looked at it, the orangutan looked back at them. It’s eyes scanning both their frames but he mainly stared at Taeko, like she was the most interesting of the two. His eyes were so intensely glued at them that Taeko began to feel too uncomfortable to continue with her train of thought.
For a brief moment, she thought she had identified the current emotion of the animal, but immediately brushed it off as there was no way he was feeling that while looking at human girls.
Still, she decided it was time for them to leave.
“Anne.” Taeko gently called for the girl that had also been looking at the ape. She smiled warmly at the younger girl, making an effort to not let her nervousness show. “Let’s go back with the others. Maybe Avdol and the sailors found something useful on the deck.”
Taeko gave the orangutan one last glance and guided Anne out of the room to reunite with the others.
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While the second group was venturing inside, Avdol and the sailors had continued to investigate around the deck. They again weren't able to find anyone, eventually deciding to check one of the rusted red cranes.
“How is it?” Asked Avdol, watching as one of the sailors examined the crane’s machinery.
“It doesn’t appear to be broken, but…” The man began to explain as he looked over the mechanism in front of him.
Returning from the pilothouse with the others, Joseph spotted their group gathered around the crane. He was about to ask them if they found anything when he noticed movement above them. It was the hook of the crane, it had begun moving strangely then swinging wildly. The moment he saw it coming down, Joseph let out a loud shout in warning.
“Avdol! That sailor is in danger!”
The warning came too late for the sailor to be saved. The hook went down, impaling the unlucky sailor through the back of the head, killing him instantly. Then the deceased’s body was lifted up as the hook retracted to his original place all on its own.
Taeko, with eyes wide in fright, rushed to cover Anne’s eyes so the girl wouldn’t have to look at the corpse dangling in front of them. Unfortunately for Taeko, even if she were to close her own eyes the stench of fresh blood would still be detectable. It was one of the downs of having her sharp nose.
She is always aware when there is blood close by.
The sailors watched the corpse of their crewmate bleeding enough to have already formed a puddle of blood below it. It had all happened so fast. And they weren’t even sure what just happened.
“B-But no one was touching it…” One of the sailors sputtered out in fear.
“I saw that crane move, even though there was no one operating it!”
“Th-That crane impaled him on its own!”
The sailors weren’t the only ones horrified by what they just witnessed, even some of the stand user’s present there felt similar.
“I-I told you guys! This place is haunted!!” Polnareff exclaimed, a nervous sweat dripping down his forehead.
“There’s someone else here.” Joseph firmly stated, fast to take charge of the situation. To make sure this wouldn’t happen to anyone else, he shot orders to the sailors. “Don’t touch any of the machinery. If it moves or runs on electricity, don’t lay a finger on it! If you want to live, follow my orders. Don’t leave the cabin down below until we say it’s okay!”
The sailors did what they were told, probably more than glad to flee the bloody scene on the deck. Anne was hesitant to follow them in, still not trusting the group of bulky men. The girl felt the need to stay close to the one person there she knew for sure would watch her back. So, instead, she decided to stay by the door, watching the crusaders as they arranged in a circle to talk among themselves.
“That could only have been the job of another stand user. Did anyone see even a glimpse of a Stand just now?” Joseph questioned.
“No…” Polnareff confessed from next to Taeko, unnerved by the situation.
“My apologies… I was the closest to the crane, yet I saw nothing.” Avdol apologized.
“There were also no other scents close by. None that I was able to catch, at least.” Taeko explained, a tad disappointed in herself. While she didn’t have the best of impressions on the sailors, since one of them mistreated Anne, it brought her no joy to see a life being taken so brutally.
“Ghosts don't have smell.” Polnareff quietly pointed out with only Taeko being close enough to hear.
“There has to be someone else on this ship.“ Joseph concluded.
“I will have my Hierophant Green look around.” Kakyoin decided, his stand then appearing from behind him.
The emerald stand threw himself into one of the cracks on the floor, his body disappearing into the insides of the boat until there was only his tail left.
While they watched their friend’s stand work, Polnareff sneaked a bit closer to Taeko to talk to her without the others listening.
“Hey, Kamado. I just wanted to make sure…” He began, a bit hesitant to ask his next question. “…your grandfather never mentioned anything about ghosts, did he?”
Having found out both vampires and demons existed, the French had begun to wonder what other paranormal beings could exist in the world. And now he couldn't take his suspicion of the presence of ghosts there off his mind. He opted to reassure himself that ghosts did in fact not exist by asking someone with knowledge on the paranormal. Unfortunately for him, being one to obsess over her grandfather’s stories, Taeko immediately remembered one tale that did contain ghosts. The story of the two ghosts that helped her grandfather train for the final selection. Although they weren’t evil ghosts, Taeko wasn’t sure mentioning them now was a good idea.
Lucky for her, they were interrupted before she had time to respond.
“Kamado!” Taeko heard Joseph call to her. She looked in his direction to see the older man crouched down in front of Anne. He gestured with a hand for her to come to them so she did, walking to their side. “Do you mind going with Anne and the sailors?”
Taeko looked at the little girl, who was staring at her expectantly.
“As long as she doesn’t mind my company.” Taeko had joked, making the little girl smile in relief before walking into the cabin fully expecting Taeko to follow.
“I think she feels safer with you around.” Joseph commented with a smirk, as he got to his feet. Though it quickly vanished from his face as he gave Taeko a serious warning. “Be watchful. We don’t know what this stand is capable of.”
“Alright.” Taeko agreed, the strong scent of fresh blood in the air was an effective reminder of the danger they were in. “You guys too. Be careful up here.”
Joseph nodded in response and then watched as Taeko left, when she was out of view he took the opportunity to approach Jotaro. He wanted to question his grandson about something that had been bothering him for a while.
“Why are you always so rude to Kamado?” He asked, with the instances of what happened at the emergency boat and at the pilothouse fresh on his mind.
“Are you beginning to forget stuff, old man?” Jotaro countered with a grunt, looking at him from the corner of his eye. “Don’t you remember that she is hiding something from us?”
“Maybe if you were a bit nicer, she would feel more comfortable opening up.” Joseph suggested. While he doubted the teen would ever accept any of his guidance, he would keep offering it. Jotaro may be a resourceful young man but he is still his grandson after all.
He also wouldn’t mind Jotaro becoming friends with Taeko. That kind girl would surely be a good influence on him.
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In the communication room, Anne and Taeko stood aside as the rest of the sailors tried to get the machines to work and send out a message requesting rescue to any nearby boats.
Since Mr. Joestar had specifically warned them not to touch any of the machinery, Taeko had tried to stop them. But they had been insistent in trying to send out a request for rescue and nothing the teen said convinced them otherwise. So all she could do was watch over them as they worked and hope they were going to be successful.
Taeko found it oddly convenient how the machines at the pilothouse were working properly yet the machines at the communications room, the ones they needed to call for help, weren’t. It may be just paranoia on her part but it felt like someone intentionally attracted them to the ship and was planning on keeping them there.
She could feel the kid standing at her side staring at her, she had been doing that since they got there. The kid was growing suspicious of their group and wasn’t even trying to hide it.
“I have no idea what’s going on, but dangerous things keep happening when you guys are around.” Anne questioned, narrowing her eyes at Taeko.
“Our group is going through some bad luck recently.” The red eyed girl kept a hopefully calming smile on her face as she answered with honesty. What she said technically was the truth as their last few days had been a mess.
“So you guys are jinxes?” Anne accused, pressing on with her ‘interrogation’. “I’ve heard about people who cause disasters that endanger everyone, and that I should avoid them. Is that what you all are?”
“No!” Taeko firmly denied, making Anne flinch at her sudden rise in tone. The red eyed girl hadn’t meant to react like that but the idea that she and the others could be endangering innocent people got her agitated. She didn’t want to consider the possibility of a repeat of the massacre at the airplane. “I told you that me and my friends are going to take you to Singapore safely. And I intend to keep that promise, you can trust me on that.” Taeko continued, ashamed for momentarily losing her composure.
Anne stared intensely at her eyes as if looking for any sign of deceit. The kid then finally averted her gaze from her, deep in thought. Taeko suspected she needed a moment to herself after what she witnessed at the deck. That sight was enough to scar someone mentally, especially one as young as Anne. Taeko could only hope the girl didn’t see too much before she covered her eyes.
There were a few minutes of silence between the two of them with Taeko watching the sailors as they worked. From what bit she could gather of their conversation, they weren't having much success in sending a message out. Taeko was also able to feel the scents they were emanating quickly intensifying.
Fear. Worry. Grief.
She could tell that they were very shaken by what they witnessed by the deck. These sailors had probably worked together for years, they more than likely knew the man that died very well. To see someone you know die violently like that would mess with anyone.
Taeko briefly considered going there and offering her condolences but they were trying to concentrate on their task so it would probably be unwise to do it now. They did not need another reminder of the danger they were in.
Maybe Anne does have a point. Maybe me and the guys really are jinxes.
Taeko shook her head, trying to erase the negative thought from her mind. There was no use being pessimistic. The best she could do was being watchful of the group, like Mr. Joestar said.
“This is boring.” Anne said with a pout, breaking the silence between the girls. She perked up as an idea hit her. “Let’s go take a look around!”
“Sorry, Anne.” Taeko answered with a shake of her head. “But we have to stay with the sailors.”
“Com’on, Taeko! It’s not like they will miss us! We have been waiting here for ages!” The kid begged, trying to convince the red eyed girl. Her gaze then shifted to the sailors for a brief moment before returning to Taeko as she added a last part.“…I could use some time away from these guys…”
Taeko wasn’t sure she was supposed to hear that due to how silently and shyly the girl said it. But it would make sense that Anne doesn’t feel comfortable with the sailors around. It would probably be due to one of two, maybe she was still frightened due to her encounter with the sailor that restrained her back at the other boat or maybe looking at these sailors was just a grim reminder of the one sailor she watched die.
Taeko would have preferred not leaving this room, but as Anne said the two of them were just standing there without being of any help. There were no signs of enemy stands close by and nothing had happened to the men all the time they were gathered around the machinery. So they would probably be safe here.
Besides, maybe by inspecting the rooms a second time the girls could find a clue to what was really going on in there. And in case an enemy attacked them, she had Queen Titania to defend them. Just in case, Taeko would guarantee they didn’t go too far and that they would return quickly.
“Alright. We can take a quick look around.” Taeko conceded, hoping not to regret her decision. “But you have to stay close to me and never leave my line of sight.”
Instead of giving her a verbal answer, Anne grinned triumphantly and grabbed Taeko’s hand to eagerly drag her out of the room.
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Their little stroll wasn't as exciting as Anne made it seem, yet the girl didn't complain as they strolled through the rooms closest to the communication room. While Taeko wasn’t sure what exactly would usually be expected to be found aboard a freighter, she couldn’t spot anything that seemed out of place. And, of course, they didn’t find anyone around or any sign that anyone had been around.
“I was really hoping we would find something this time…” Taeko thought out loud as the duo was checking the pilothouse again only to find nothing new. Just as she had feared, the regret for leaving the other room began to sink in. “We should go back. We were gone for a while so the sailors may come looking for us soon.”
Anne took too long to respond, making Taeko look over and see her gazing at the still open door to the room with the orangutan with a contemplating look on her face.
“Anne.” She called again, making the younger jump in surprise and break from her trance when she finally noticed Taeko calling for her. “Are you okay?” The red eyed girl asked gently.
“I'm fine, just curious.” The eleven year old answered, clearly referring to the orangutan.
“It is weird that that orangutan is all alone in here.” Taeko conceded, again thoughtful on the subject. “For it to survive in that cage someone had to have given it food yet we found nobody.”
“Maybe we missed something. We should check out again.” Anne suggested, not really giving Taeko time to answer before quickly walking to the room.
Anne strolled into the room to find the animal still sitting inside the cage. Anne instantly felt it looking at her, almost like it had been waiting for their return.
“Anne, I told you to stay close to me!” The Kamado exclaimed as she entered the room right after her, making the younger girl mutter an apology in response.
It was at that moment that the monkey began rattling the bars of his cage, getting him the girls’ attention. Taeko frowned as she watched it pointing with one of its big fingers up at the lock of the cage.
“You want us to open the cage?” Anne asked. In reaction, Taeko looked at her with what can only be described as a ‘Don't even think about it’ expression, to which Anne responded with one of ‘Do you think i am dumb?’. “We couldn't even if we wanted, we have no idea where the key is.” She added with a shrug.
The orangutan didn’t seem bothered by the answer, as it instead extended its arm towards them to reveal a half an apple. That caught both girls by surprise for more than one reason.
“I-it’s offering us an apple?” Anne stammered in bewilderment.
“It's offering us a recently cut apple!” Taeko analyzed, noticing that the fruit has not begun to turn brown yet.
“That means that there really is someone somewhere in this boat with us!” Anne exclaimed, pleased that they finally found a clue.
But Taeko didn't share her enthusiasm anymore. She felt her insides freeze at that moment.
She couldn't catch any scents in this room other than her’s, Anne’s and the orangutan’s. She knew that if someone did recently give the animal that fruit she would be able to catch his scent in the room as well. But there were none others.
So how did the orangutan get the apple without leaving the cage?
And more importantly with what did it cut it? Did it have a weapon in the cage with him?
Unaware of her companion’s rushing thoughts, Anne tried to get some answers from the animal.
“Do you know where the person who feeds you is?” She asked.
The animal brought both a match and cigarette from out of nowhere and proceeded to light a smoke right in front of them. With that, Taeko felt even more uneasy.
When the female stand user saw the ape move its arms to get something else, Taeko grabbed Anne and pulled her behind her. Taeko had blocked the kid’s view just in time as the animal did something that repulsed the demon slayer descendent.
It pulled an adult magazine and began to read it.
And then it clicked.
Taeko really had been able to identify its emotions before, but she had convinced herself she was reading the scent wrong.
Because of how sickening the mere idea of it feeling lust while looking at them was.
Yet, now, watching it reading that type of magazine and then looking at her, it confirmed her first suspicion.
It really had been feeling lust when it looked at them, both of them.
It wasn't the fact that it was lusting over her that made Taeko furious, it was the fact that it was lusting after a eleven year old girl that made any nervousness the Kamado had burn into fury.
The animal would probably have been disturbed if it had seen the girl’s expression shift into a cold glare of disgust but it probably didn't. Taeko had wasted not even a second before removing Anne from the room, all the while making sure to keep blocking the girl’s view of the animal and shutting the door after them with so much force the sound echoed through the halls.
“Wha–? What happened in there?” Anne asked, confused. To her it had all happened so quickly she felt a bit stunned. The last thing she saw was the ape move to grab something but thanks to Taeko she didn't see what it was.
And that fact made Taeko smile in relief as this little girl hadn't had to see something that would have more than likely messed with her head.
“Nothing that you will want to know, trust me.” She said with a shrug, making it seem not too important but at the same time not lying as she was terrible at it.
“Here you two are!” Came an unfamiliar voice came as two of the sailors walked up to them. As Taeko had predicted, they had come looking for them when they failed to return. They quickly deduced the girls had just come out of the orangutan’s room, as they had heard the door slamming. “Were you checking on the orangutan?”
“You should be careful with that thing.” The other added. “They say an orangutan has five times the strength of a human, so it could easily rip you off your arms.”
“We will keep that in mind, thank you.” Taeko gave a polite answer although thinking the sailors shouldn’t describe something so gruesome to a young child. “Did you guys have any luck with the communications?”
Even without giving a verbal response, the expressions of defeat and frustration on their faces made it clear that they didn't.
“I see…” Taeko said with a sigh. If communicating with the outside wasn’t an option, their best hope was that the guys had figured something out. But that was unlikely as ever since she, the sailors and Anne left the deck, there wasn't any news from them. The only reason she wasn't more concerned over their safety there was because she trusted them and knew how strong they were.
Taeko was intending on going with the two sailors back to the communication room, but didn’t as she felt Anne lightly tapping her in the arm to get her attention. The kid looked a bit uncomfortable and gestured for Taeko to get closer so she could speak to her. She crouched down a bit and Anne was able to whisper directly to her ear.
“Taeko, I need to pee.” Anne said, with slight embarrassment at having to say that in front of the sailors.
“Oh.” Taeko dumbly said, caught off guard by the request. Still, she didn’t dismiss it and turned to the sailors for information. “Do you guys know where the bathroom is?”
“We saw one down the hall while we were looking for you.” One simply answered, pointing in the direction.
Luckily, the sailors didn’t suggest going with them, instead requesting them to return to the other room when they were done.
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After taking Anne to the bathroom and letting her do what she needed, as they were returning, the girls stumbled into a new room. It was the shower room. As if the sight reminded her of her hygiene, Anne took a sniff of her clothes only to be repulsed by the strong smell.
“Ew! I’m all sticky from the salt water!” The kid scrunched her nose in disgust. “We should take the chance to take a bath.”
Cue to Taeko looking at the girl as if she just grew a second head.
“What?” Taeko slowly asked, thinking she must have heard it wrong.
“I said I wanted to take a shower.” Anne repeated, not seeing how out of line her request was.
“You want to take one now? Here??” Taeko asked, flabbergasted that she would ask that after everything that had happened aboard the freighter.
“I am all sticky from salt water! We both are!” Anne repeated.
Taeko already knew they smelled bad due to her sharp nose yet didn't think it was something important to think about in the situation they were in. She couldn’t believe Anne thought this was the right moment to take a bath as they were somewhere clearly unsafe. That not even mentioning that there was a perverted orangutan in the ship with them, but she knew that Anne remained unsuspecting to that part.
“We can take a shower when we make it to Singapore.” Taeko offered, hoping to change the girl’s mind.
“Why wait until then when we can just take a bath here??” Anne persisted, gesturing with both hands to the room conveniently right in front of them.
“No.”
“Please?”
“No.”
“…Pretty please?”
“No.”
Anne took a deep breath and then…
“Please! Please! Please! Please! Please! Please! Please!” She kept repeating it again and again.
To her dismay, Taeko didn’t seem fazed by her persistence. Instead the older girl chose to wait until Anne tired herself from speaking the same word over and over again.
The repeating came to an abrupt stop as Anne watched Taeko's eyes widen as she suddenly snapped her head to the side( the direction the communication room was), taking a sniff of the air. The color drained from the red eyed girl’s face.
“Blood…” The Kamado whispered, knowing full well what catching the wave of scent coming from that room meant. Even while pale and visibly shaken, Taeko was quick to take action. “Get into the room.”
The command confused Anne, but before she could question it, Taeko pushed her into the shower room and closed the door behind them. The kid felt her fear grow as Taeko guided her to one of the showers, using the curtain to hide their figures from outside view.
“What are you—?” Anne in a panicked state. Taeko motioned with a hand for her to keep quiet and didn’t move her eyes off of the door, waiting to see who would enter the room.
They stood so silently behind the shower curtain they could hear their own shaky breaths and speeding heartbeats, that was, until there was the sound of the door slowly cracking open and then footsteps. While the curtain made it difficult to see the intruder in detail, the huge silhouette of the orangutan was easily recognizable.
Anne opened her mouth to let out a scream of terror. Taeko placed a hand over her mouth before she let it out, as it would have revealed their hiding location.
“Hold on. Don’t scream.” Taeko quietly requested, her eyes trailing the animal’s movements as it looked around the room for them. There were more than one shower in the room and all of them had curtains so it gave them some time before it found out in which one they were hiding. Forming a plan, Taeko picked up some soap that was laying on the ground. “Listen, Anne. I’m going to distract the monkey and I need you to run when I tell you to. You have to look for the others, you will be safe with them. And don’t go to the communication room, go directly to the deck.”
“B-but—!” Anne tried to protest in a whimper as soon as Taeko removed her hand from her mouth.
“Keep calm. It will be fine. I promise that I will return to you.” Taeko softly told her, giving her a reassuring smile. “I still have to bring you to Singapore, remember?”
Anne was hesitant but ended up responding with a nod. While she didn’t want to leave her friend behind with that creepy monkey, she knew there was little she could do to help here. The best she could do is to find and inform the guys that Taeko was in danger.
The footsteps creeped closer as the monkey looked for them in each of the showers, soon the shadow of the monkey was right in front of them. Taeko saw its hand move to pull the curtains and held the soap in her fist tightly.
The animal barely caught a glimpse of the girls when something was thrown directly into its left eye, making it cry out in pain.
“Run Anne!!” Taeko exclaimed as the monkey stumbled a few steps back, bringing its hands up to its injured eye. The kid remained frozen like a statue, looking at the huge animal that she knew had tried to sneak up on them. “Go, now!!” She screamed at Anne, who only then sprinted out of there.
The kid intentionally did not look back, knowing she wouldn’t be able to leave Taeko behind if she did so.
Taeko was very content that she was able to get Anne out of there before she could have been harmed but she quickly became fearful when the monkey lifted its head to glare at her, his rage fueled by the pain he still felt in his left eye. Without having Anne to worry about, Taeko was able to register the danger she was in.
It was her first time fighting a real enemy all alone.
She felt her knees begin to tremble as the monkey stood tall and her smaller form was swallowed by his large shadow. A cold fell down her forehead as she felt like a prey looking up at its predator.
But then, there was a nudge in the back of her head. Another inherited memory flashed in her mind, she could see her grandfather in a similar situation. He stood in front of two young kids, protecting them from a demon with drums prodding from his body. She could also feel what he felt, he had been scared too. But he had a duty and he found the strength to do it.
And so would she.
Clenching her fists, willing her knees to stop shaking, she felt Titania appear behind her. The stand extended her wings to look bigger. Taeko noticed that the orangutan could see the stand by the way its eyes shifted to look at the blue skinned figure.
“So you are the one behind all of this…” She said out loud, now knowing the orangutan was a stand user too.
The animal moved to attack, rushing in her direction while raising both of its large arms to hit her. Taeko was able to dodge by throwing her body to the side before it’s hands smashed into and cracked the floor she had been standing in before.
“Water breathing, eighth form: Waterfall Basin!” Taeko commanded. Titania raised her sword above her head, preparing to bring it down as some drops of water began to form from the blade.
Taeko expected to see her stand crush the monkey into the ground with a waterfall but instead she heard the sound of metal bending and then the shower rail extended from the walls and snaked around Titania’s wrists, preventing her from finishing the movement. It was like what had happened with that crane before, the shower rail had moved on its own. Taeko was sure she hadn’t seen anything that could be the monkey’s stand close to it.
Her stand was pulled against the wall as the rail of the shower retracted, then it snaked up to around the blue stand’s hand and forearms, effectively immobilizing her.
“Titania!” Taeko gasped, eyes wide in surprise. She urged Titania to pull against the shower rail harder to break free. To her dismay, the blue lady’s lacked the physical strength to do so.
Taeko did not have time to try anything else, as next, pieces of the bathroom wall tile shot in her direction. She was able to dodge the projectiles due to her quick reflexes from her years of training, though some pieces did almost graze her.
She took some steps to the side and back while dodging until her back collided with the cold wall with force, her shoulder throbbing with pain. She didn’t realize she had been backed into a corner.
Again, she heard the metal bending and pipe that was resting in the wall began to twist and bend around her. Taeko pushed herself from the wall to get away, only for the pipe to expand after her, wrapping itself around her chest and arms and then retracting, making the girl collide against the wall a second time.
Taeko, by instinct, tried to break free even though she knew it would be impossible for her to break through the metal wrapped around her.
Seeing both the user and her stand had been successfully rendered defenseless by its stand, the orangutan made a noise that to Taeko sounded like mockery laughter.
Panicking would only make figuring out a way to escape harder, but as she felt the orangutan’s eyes roaming over her body up and down it was very hard for her to keep the fear from engulfing her whole. It became impossible to stay calm when the orangutan began approaching her, hands twitching as if it couldn't control the urge to touch her.
“Stay away from me!” She yelled at the top of her lungs, heart palpitating wildly against her ribcage as she watched the animal getting closer and closer.
“Hey!” Taeko thought she was hearing things when the familiar voice came from the doorway.
She saw the monkey stop on its tracks and turn to look at who spoke, only to have the lock from its cage be slammed against its head with enough force for blood to come spurting from the wound. The animal dropped to the ground, screaming in pain.
Holding the lock now covered in the ape’s blood was none other than Jotaro.
“Jojo!” Taeko exclaimed in both relief and surprise, she had been so focused on the enemy that she didn’t even notice when he got there.
He looked at her with an unreadable expression, and for a brief moment his blue eyes locked in her red ones. A form blocked her view of him, briefly fearing it was the ape, Taeko was eased to see that it was instead Star Platinum.
“Ora!” Star Platinum cried out as he grabbed the pipe trapping her, ripping it apart to get her free. Taeko was happy to see Titania was able to untangle herself from her restraints as they had loosened up now that the enemy stand user was impaired.
Jotaro glared down at the monkey, who was cowardly crawling away from the delinquent.
“Don’t forget your lock!” Jotaro growled, throwing the lock into the monkey’s skull with force. If she hadn’t felt such disdain for the animal, Taeko would feel bad for the agony it was being subjected to.
The animal stumbled backwards but it didn't fall, it regained balance by grabbing Jotaro’s jacket in a tight grip.
“This ape… is no ordinary ape.” Jotaro frowned at the strange behavior of the animal, a suspicion came into his mind. “Could it be that he is…”
“Jotaro! The monkey is the stand user!” Taeko’s warning confirmed what he had already been suspecting. Next, the monkey attempted to land a kick on him but, with quick reflexes, Star Platinum was able to block the attack with his forearm.
As they fought, Taeko kept a watchful eye on their surroundings, trying to figure out what exactly the monkey’s stand was. While she couldn’t see anything that looked like a stand, she was fast to react when a fan broke loose from the ceiling and flew in Jotaro’s direction.
“Titania!” She exclaimed, trusting her stand to know what to do. The blue lady jumped in front of the delinquent, cutting the object into pieces before it could hurt him. Quickly, Taeko called for the eight form once again. “Water breathing, eighth form: Waterfall Basin!”
This time Titania was successful in launching the attack, aiming at the space in between the two teens and the enemy. The ape was forced to jump back to avoid the explosion of water. It was ready to launch another object into the delinquent but when the curtain of water dissipated, the duo was nowhere to be seen.
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As soon as Taeko had realized what the monkey’s stand actually was, she knew they had to flee. The sound of their footsteps echoed across the hall as they ran, with Taeko holding Jotaro’s hand as she guided him away from that room. Taeko was very aware that Jotaro was allowing her to lead him away, she wouldn’t be able to move someone as huge as him otherwise. When he stopped moving, she had no other option but to stop too. He raised an eyebrow at her, as if to ask why she decided to flee the bathroom.
“We need to get to the deck.” Taeko said, dread written all over her face yet eyes blazing with determination. “I know what the stand is!”
“Did you see it?” He asked, weirdly not complaining that she had grabbed his hand. “That steel propeller bent on its own yet I couldn’t see anything.”
“It’s because it’s everywhere!” Taeko exclaimed, spreading her arms to gesture to the walls around them, with that It finally clicked.
“It’s the ship.” He stated, eyes widening in realization. “The Stand is the freighter!”
“Yes, from what I have seen the orangutan can control anything in here.” She confirmed with a nod. “But it also means its stand is more effective in the closed spaces of the ship. If we get to the deck there will be less things for it to manipulate!” Taeko explained her strategy.
Seeing movement from the corner of his eye, Jotaro huffed at her idea.
“That ape isn’t going to let us get there.”
The next second, Taeko felt herself being shoved into the ground away from him. Jotaro had moved her just in time before the pipes shooting from the wall wrapped all around his body and slammed him against it, trapping him there. He could feel that Star was also stuck in the same position.
“Crap!” He cursed.
“Jojo!” Taeko exclaimed in worry, jumping to his aid. “Don’t move! I am going to cut the pipes!”
Queen Titania appeared, sword raised to slash the metal but she was forced to change target when more pipes shot out from the walls after Taeko. Titania destroyed the pipes before they caught her user.
What sounded like laughter could be heard, and from another wall, quite literally, emerged the user of the enormous stand. The ape was now dressed in a captain uniform, including a smoking pipe. It held up a dictionary and pointed to the word “Strength”.
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It means force, energy, power, or aid.
And… It is the eighth card of the Tarot!
It suggests challenge, powerful will, and hidden instinct!
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Queen Titania floated very close to Taeko as she and Jotaro shot glares at the enemy. The ape tossed the book aside and casually smoked the pipe while it began playing with a Rubik’s cube. Its smug behavior got into Jotaro’s nerves and he commanded Star Platinum to rip one of the pipes off him. Two more pipes immediately replaced the one he ripped.
“This ape thinks it’s already won…” Both teens thought at the same time as the monkey laughed at them.
The orangutan kept laughing at them while it solved the Rubik’s cube. It wasn’t able to speak but they had a good idea what it would be saying if it could.
“This ship, the entire thing, is my Stand! You’ve completely lost! You can’t do anything!”
The ape crushed the cube when it was done solving it, turning to look at the still unbounded Taeko. The way it admired her female body while licking its lips, disgusted not only Taeko but Jotaro too. The delinquent attempted to free himself again, but more pipes replaced the ones he ripped.
When more pipes appeared to trap Taeko, she was quick to react.
“Flower breathing, Second Form: Honorable Shadow Plum!”
Titania released several rotating sword slashes at each pipe that appeared around her user. The pipes came from both sides and Jotaro observed from the sides that the pieces of the pipes destroyed were absorbed into the floor, probably to form more pipes to attack.
To the enemy’s aggravation, Taeko and her stand kept successfully destroying all the pipes that came their way. But Jotaro knew it was only a matter of time until Taeko missed one and got trapped too. He gritted his teeth and used two of his fingers to snap a button off his coat, sending it flying into the monkey’s neck. The action made the enemy shift his attention from the girl to the delinquent.
“That button’s not part of your Stand.” He intentionally taunted as he watched the ape pick the button up from the ground. The animal trembled with anger, something Jotaro took a bit of enjoyment from. “You mad? I guess it wounded your pride, since you thought you’d already won.” He kept the monkey’s attention on him, noticing that the pipes stopped attacking Taeko while the enemy's focus was on him. “No, it’s not hurt… because apes don’t have any pride!”
The animal screeched in rage, jumping in the air to attack him. In another life, Jotaro would have used the chance to ricochet the button to its face with a star finger but in this one Taeko was there.
“That’s exactly what makes you an ape.” He calmly said, his next words making the ape freeze on its tracks. “Dumb enough to turn your back to the adversary.”
“Flower breathing, Sixth Form: Whirling Peach!”
The monkey only realized its mistake a second before it saw Titania spun around with her body weight to deliver a large slash to its chest, making the enemy screech in pain. It fell to the ground with force, blood gushing from the wound.
With the enemy defeated, Jotaro was finally able to break free from his restraints.
“Good grief.” He sighed, watching as the monkey stood up and backed into a corner away, trembling with fear of the two of them. It opened the front of his already slashed shirt to show its bleeding stomach.
“I heard that, when frightened, animals show their stomachs to signal that they’re giving up.” Jotaro observed, pulling down the brim of his hat as he did so. “So you’re asking us to forgive you?”
The monkey nodded in affirmation and threw them a pleading look while raising its arms up to show it was giving up.
“You killed the other sailors, didn’t you?” Taeko grimly questioned, her question surprised the ape as it knew she did not see the bodies in the communication room. She also felt Jotaro’s eyes on her, a trace of intrigue on his scent. “I’m always aware when there is blood close by.”
The monkey was shaking like a leaf at this point, a clear sign of guilt. Jotaro tsk’d at the new information.
“You’ve already crossed a line no animal should.” He hissed, more than eager to beat the shit of the animal. “So I don’t think you deserve forgiveness.”
“ORA ORA ORA ORA!!” Star Platinum released a flurry of punches at the animal, without showing any mercy, all the while screaming his battle cry. The final punch sent the monkey flying backwards through a nearby door. “ORAA!”
The animal fell to the ground, gravely wounded. Taeko was not sure if it was even alive anymore with all its still bleeding injuries. While she would never feel joy or satisfaction at a life being taken, in this instance she wouldn’t feel bad if the orangutan did die. Not after all its sins.
This orangutan may not be a demon but it is as evil as one.
The look that Jotaro shot her made Taeko realize she had murmured that last thought. Again, she could smell his intrigue.
Before either of them could speak, the entire ship shook violently. The unexpected tremor almost made Taeko fall to the ground.
“This stand…” Taeko realized something as she watched the ship begin to contort and twist on itself. “It’s not going to hold up without the user!”
“This ship is about to sink, let’s get out of here.” Jotaro said.
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For the second time in less than three days, the crusaders were forced to abandon the ship they were in. Back in their emergency boat, they watched the stand twist as it shrunk. Its features of a huge freighter were slowly being replaced by its original appearance of a small row boat.
“Unbelievable… So that monkey used its own Stand to get this far into the ocean.” Avdol said, still shaken by the experience of almost being crushed by this huge stand. “What terrifying power. That was the first time I’ve encountered such energy.”
“We were completely overwhelmed. If you two hadn't figured it out, we would have been done for.” Joseph confessed with a sigh, looking at both Jotaro and Taeko.
“I didn’t actually suspect the monkey was the stand user. That was only Jojo.” Teako admitted, shaking her head. “I had no idea animals could have a stand.”
“They can.” Avdol confirmed, him and Joseph exchanging a look as both were reminded of a certain street dog. “This was not the first animal stand user we met.”
“That would have been a valuable information to know before.” Kakyoin pointed out, yet he did not sound annoyed at them for forgetting to mention it.
Taeko listened to their conversation but her attention was mainly on the girl that was sitting next to her, Anne had been very silent after they escaped the freighter. She hadn’t said a word to Taeko after they reunited at the deck, not even while the oldest expressed how relieved she was that Anne was alright.
The red eyed teen was struggling to think if something she did could have offended the kid in some way, when she finally said something.
“I'm sorry.” She shyly apologized. Taeko didn't understand what she was talking about until she continued. “I'm sorry I left you alone with that weird monkey.”
“Dear, no…” Taeko whispered, hands instinctively reaching out to gently pet her hair. “I told you to go, you didn't leave me because you wanted.” Taeko winced as the image of the sailors working flashed on her head. Unlike Anne, she had chosen to leave them alone in that room and now they were gone because she hadn't been there to protect them. But now was the time to make Anne feel better, not to think about her own guilt. ”Besides, you were the one that told Jojo that I needed help, weren’t you? He wouldn’t have known I needed help if you hadn’t. I'm safe now thanks to you.”
Her comforting words did seem to make the kid feel better, judging by the way her body relaxed under her touch.
“I wonder… are we going to encounter even more Stands with unknown powers from now on?” Joseph thoughtfully reflected at the same time that Jotaro was trying to light up a cigarette.
“Want some gum?” Polnareff offered some to the grandfather, probably to calm his nerves.
“And now we’re going to be drifting again.” Joseph groaned in dismay.
“Good grief. My cigarettes are soaked.” Jotaro complained, unable to light up the cigarette in his mouth.
“Maybe that’s a good thing. Smoking is terrible for your lungs.” Taeko softly pointed out as she held Anne close to her while still caressing her locks. The kid was exhausted and, with her gentle touch, had quickly fallen asleep in her arms.
“Mind your own business, Kamado.” Jotaro shot back.
“We’ll just have to pray that we get rescued and reach Singapore safely.” Joseph said, shaking his head at his grandson’s rude behavior. Was it so hard for him to say something nice to the girl?
“It’s been four days since we left Japan…” Kakyoin murmured.
While he was probably referring to their time limit of fifty days, Taeko couldn’t help but wonder how things were back home. She hoped her mother was alright. Yushiro and Chachamaru too.
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Yushiro was not alright.
Not even a bit.
In his more than a hundred years of age, he had never left Japan. So his travel to Hong Kong by plane was more troublesome than he would like to admit.
You may be wondering why he is in Hong Kong instead of going to Egypt as Taeko noted in the letter. The truth is that he was actually planning to book a ticket to Cairo until he heard of a plane crash on the coast of Hong Kong, and he instinctively knew Taeko had to have been on that flight.
Because of course Taeko would have been on the one flight from Japan that would crash!
When he finally got to Hong Kong he had to ask around if someone had seen Taeko. Lucky for him, Taeko had a striking appearance with her red hair and eyes so after shoving her picture in a bunch of people's faces he was able to follow her footsteps in Hong Kong.
And those were very concerning footsteps. After the plane crash, Taeko was present with a bizarre group of men as a restaurant was destroyed, they were also seen at Tiger Balm Garden the same day that place was hit by a strange flood. There was no doubt in his mind that the flood was caused by Titania. The last place the group were spotted was by the docks, that’s how Yushiro ended there late in the night.
A huge disadvantage of being a demon was that he can only be out at night and, unlike in the city, the docks were almost empty at that time. It took him a while to find someone that could tell him if Taeko got on a boat.
When he finally found someone, his patience was already very thin.
And as if the situation wasn’t bad enough, they were apparently too late as Taeko had left in a boat the day before.
“Curse that girl!” Yushiro exclaimed in frustration. “We missed her!”
A meow came from his right. Yushiro wasn’t able to understand what Chachamaru was meowing but after years together he got very good at interpreting it.
“I was about to ask him that.” Yushiro grumbled to the cat as he looked at the dock worker he was talking to. “Where was the boat going?”
“I think I heard them mention Singapore.” The man answered with a shrug.
“They must be planning on using another route to get to Egypt.” Yushiro was quick to rationalize. “Do you know when the next boat there leaves?”
“That one leaves tomorrow morning.” The man said, pointing to one of the boats.
Yushiro’s left eye twitched in irritation at the inconvenience. He can’t be out in the morning! He is a demon that would perish in the sun!
He lets out a sigh, turning his back to the dockworker dismissively. Chachamaru followed him as he walked away.
They had to reach Singapore as quickly as possible.
And, unfortunately, there was only one option that would guarantee they would be at that ship next morning without getting exposed to the sun.
Some hours later, both found themselves below the deck of the boat. They had snuck in the first hours of the morning and in order not to be found by either the sun or the sailors there, they had had to squeeze into the small free space between the cargo. As they felt the boat finally begin to move, Yushiro could only curse Taeko and whoever was with her at that moment for getting him in that uncomfortable situation.