From Sailor Moon Flash!
| Featuring: | Arumi, Kenrou, Rin, Chikara |
| IC Date: | September 2002 |
| Status: | Complete |
| Summary: | A drabble for Meej: Kenrou finds himself going too far into aquatic circumstances. |
As the cold shock of seawater enveloped Kenrou, he noted with some dismay that the brine and whatever impurities were wrought upon the seas by modern man were surely not good for his clothing, which now billowed around him like a pale purple ghost.
A few bubbles escaped now, as well, and though Amakusa Kenrou had never been bothered with something as... esoteric as swimming lessons, he felt he could certainly manage to improvise something so utterly simple that frogs in the garden could manage it. But there was the matter of the ringing in his ears, and the invisible hand that seemed to push him ever further beneath the glimmer of the surface.
This, of course, was not met with panic but merely the annoyance of nature blatantly and rudely disregarding his whims. He continued to attempt forcing himself upwards, toned muscles working to their fullest but hardly doing more than keeping him stationary, in his current state.
Just as Kenrou had been contemplating some solution involving his Kunzite alter-ego, and the properties of ice, the world grew increasingly dark and dim -- however he detected the distinct rustle of something striking the surface far above him, even then. A tiny sliver of pale light cut to and fro in front of his hazy vision, approaching fast.
With her hair curling around her in defiance of gravity, long braids undone and waving like a marine creature's tendrils would, Utakou Arumi certainly fit the image of some fantastic sea-princess, now staring into his half-lidded eyes worriedly, slender arms latching onto one of his. Kenrou was perfectly aware of her senshi name, and even recalled his beloved Ishino Chikara mentioning to him once that the nature of Utakou's starseed had given her some animalistic traits as it did the others; they just hadn't been privy to it right away. Still, it was a bit jarring to be pulled swiftly towards the surface by a girl with a long fish-tail, gracefully cutting through the current as one would disregard a slight breeze while out for a stroll.
Only once they reached the blessed air again did Kenrou realize how badly his lungs had ached, and he struggled to regain his breath in a way that was both unbecoming and utterly inappropriate, perhaps a worse trial to endure than nearly drowning. Arumi had already begun assailing him rapidly with words, even before she broke the surface of the waves.
"--thought you were gonna DIE Amakusa-sama oh my GOD are you all right? Do you need CPR? If someone has to revive you with mouth-to-mouth I think it has to be hime-sama so please live until we get to the boat," she stammered, guiding him towards the vessel some yards away.
"I am quite alright, Arumi-chan," he insisted, forcing his protesting vocal chords into prompt action. "I believe... 'CPR' is specfically for use on the severely incapactiated, whereas I am merely waterlogged."
Arumi made a nonverbal sound of relief and delight, going so far as to hug him fiercely until she remembered that firstly, she was the one keeping them both afloat, and two, his lungs had already had quite enough squeezing for one day. She squeaked out an apology as she hurriedly got him up to the edge of the boat, where she then hoisted herself rather unceremoniously up onto the deck, the whirlwind force of Ishino Chikara and Kansou Rin swooped in to assist them both.
Chikara, of course, greeted him with a mixture of utter relief and a sort of fierce, unfocused anger as she embraced him with one arm, the other curled fist striking the deck with alarming force. "We will not be doing that again," she said firmly but coolly, but Kenrou knew when she said 'we', she rather meant herself, angry that she had not been able to put all the powers of mother nature on hold for his safety. His cosmos-defying beloved. He smiled, warmly.
"He's okay, his hakama's all wet though. Might need it to be dry-cleaned," Arumi chipped in brightly, sitting on one hip with her tail curled in front of her, sparkling in the afternoon sun. Between her gentle reassurance and Kenrou's asbolute refusal to betray even a shred of anything worrisome to his dear beloved, Chikara seemed to untense, if only the tiniest bit.
"Arumi!" Rin hissed suddenly, cutting through any lingering tension. "Have you forgotten already that most of the people in Osaka aren't expecting to see a mermaid on their day at the beach? Change back already!"
Utakou Arumi looked suddenly flustered, and through murmured apologies her form sank into a pale greenish light, the telltale look of a soldier's transformation power -- only to stop, the magical aura suddenly broken as she yelped an indignant, "I can't!"
Even Chikara turned her head around slowly, still firmly supporting Kenrou with one arm. "Arumi...?" she began, one red-gold eyebrow quirked up towards her hairline.
"Um." Arumi's face turned scarlet. "I think I lost my swimsuit bottom in the bay when I transformed."
Rin slapped her forehead with the heel of her hand, and marched off to the cabin to find a towel. Chikara stared after her a moment, then tossed her head back and laughed, clear and loud, for a good ten seconds.
When she once more regained her composure, Kenrou issued his official proclamation. "The August Kenrou will be informing Tsurian-kun that we will no longer be partaking of yacht outings offered as gifts by our kind business associates, as they are entirely too disruptive to both relaxation and a lady's honor."
Nobody onboard, even the mermaid, could find argument with that.
