Motorboating

The speeding boat splashed against the gentle waves of the open water. At the helm, Oto had put on a pair of clubmaster sunglasses that paired surprisingly well with his outfit. The salty spray of water splashed over the bow, misting his face and the whipping fabric of his clothing as a small smile curled along his lips.

Even though the paparazzi were once again chasing them with guns and Hayami had called him an idiot—which he was still not a fan of—Oto was enjoying having something he was good at in comparison to her. The way he had struck her first in their spar, then disarmed the paparazzi masquerading as a security guard, and finally gotten the boat to start on his first try had made him giddy with excitement. Then, the memories of the morning came back to him, and his heart began to race.

“Today is a good day,” Oto said softly to himself.

“What was that?” Hayami shouted as she stepped close to him, shielding her face from the sea spray.

“Oh, I—umm,” He panicked, not sure he wanted to explain the joy he experienced.

So Oto thought of something to change the subject, quickly deciding the best course of action would be to talk about the boat.

“I was just saying,” He shouted in reply. “I sure do love motorboating!”

Stabilizing herself against the seat beside him, Hayami eyed Oto with a dumbfounded expression. He watched from the corner of his eye as her jawline slowly presented itself as she clenched tightly. With her free hand, she rubbed at her face as she did when she was annoyed before her gaze finally locked with his.

“Don’t. Oto. Just don’t!”

“What? I do, though. I-I’m quite good at motorboating, wouldn’t you say? Hopefully, before the summer is over, Hayami, you’ll let me motorboat you around a few more times.”

“Stop saying motorboat!” She screamed at him. “Stop it! Just stop!”

“But—oh no!” Oto’s face became red as embarrassment took hold of him. “Hayami! Is that another one of those—”

“Yes, so stop!”

“How do you—Hayami, you know so many dirty things. Yet you call me a pervert.”

“Yeah, well, I wasn’t fondling you while you slept!”

“I told you! You were sleep-wrestling me!”

Coming up against a large swell, the boat took to the air for a moment. Hayami, still unsure about the open water, began to lose her footing and tumble backwards. But, with a quick swipe, Oto reached an arm out and caught her.

He pulled Hayami close to him, her hips resting against his side as he continued to steer the boat with one hand. With a concerned glance, he looked her over.

“You okay?”

“Y-Yeah.” She blushed, looking away from him with a begrudging smirk. “Careful where you steer this thing.”

As Hayami pushed herself away from Oto, she took a seat at the back of the boat and glanced behind. Luckily, they hadn’t been followed from the island, and since Giles had taken the other boat already, there was no way any of the people remaining at the beach house could pursue them. This had made for a smooth getaway, which Hayami was thankful for since a pistol wasn’t much of a distance weapon.

The remainder of the ride to where the yacht had been anchored during the storm was short. Only a few minutes passed as their boat rounded the edge of the island and found the cove where the yacht was supposed to be. Unfortunately, what they found was something else entirely.

A dozen smaller speedboats floated where Giles had said the yacht was to be anchored. Closer to the shore, a blue and white helicopter hovered near the edge of the water before veering its way towards the open ocean—Towards Oto and Hayami’s approaching boat. In an instant, the other vessels began to kick up water as they shifted in the same direction.

Hayami immediately stood from the aft of the boat and rushed to the bow. She focused on the approaching vessels, watching as bodies moved forward into a firing position. And, in an instant, a pit formed in her stomach.

“Oto, turn the boat around!”

The water before them began to erupt as bullets made contact, kicking up a faint spray at the maximum range of their firepower.

Oto, seeing the same thing his companion did, spun the wheel and the boat pulled starboard. He kept an eye on Hayami as she held firmly to the handrails, while fumbling the pistol from her sweats.

“Hayami!” Oto called out to her. “Are those the same paparazzi?”

“We’re on the open water.” She responded, passing by him to the back of the boat. “They’re pirates.”

“Pirate Paparazzi?!” He exclaimed, glancing behind him as he completed his turn and throttled up. “Like…Paparates or Piratazzi?”

“No!” Hayami shouted back at him while taking cover against the aft seats.

He watched as she analyzed their situation, her hands gripping the pistol tightly as the bullets continued to splash against the water they left in their wake. Oto could tell that Hayami was obviously calculating how she would save them. Meanwhile, he was still thinking about the cross between a pirate and a paparazzi.

“Papiratazzi? No, that just sounds like a delicious Mediterranean dish. Damn, now I’m craving Greek food. I must remind myself to ask Giles to make dolmades and souvlaki tonight.”

It suddenly dawned on Oto, “Wait! That’s it! Giles!”

Reaching for his side, Oto felt where pockets should have been before remembering he was still wearing his hakama. He quietly cursed the clothing for not having pockets and himself for not bringing either of his spare phones.

“Hayami, your phone!”

“What?” She looked to Oto, confusion plastering her face. “Why?”

“Giles is in your contacts, right?”

“Right! G-I Giles!”

Hayami began to fiddle with her sweats, quickly taking hold of her phone and clicking call on the contact listed as ‘Butler’. Holding the device to her ear, she watched the slowly gaining boats and the soon-to-be actively engaged helicopter.

After only two rings, the phone clicked over to the sound of rapid gunfire on the other end.

“Miss Hayami…” The Butler spoke coolly. 

“Butler…” She replied. “Everything okay over there?”

“Indeed,” Shots rang out, followed by muted screams of agony. “Just a lesson in manners. How may I help you? I assume the Young Master has misplaced his phone once again.”

Hayami didn’t say anything for a moment, only listening to the gunfire and screams.

This guy is definitely a soldier. She thought. Maybe even special forces.

“I—uh, yeah,” She finally responded. “We went to join you on the ship, but you were gone.”

“Terribly sorry about that. Minor setback to our departure time.”

“Yeah, I can hear that. Well, you see, we’ve got some guys trying to shoot us—and not photos. So, can we get a pickup near the beach house?”

“Mmm, I see. Unfortunately, I was tempted to take the boat for a bit of a pleasure cruise around the island while I waited. My sincerest apologies. Maybe we can meet in transit. I will send you the coordinates to relay to the Young Master.”

“O-Okay, but that doesn’t help with the whole being shot at thing.”

Hayami glanced overhead at the helicopter as it drew close enough to see the figure leaning out the side. Shifting her gaze, she looked back at the boats that would soon be in range of firing upon the vessel with their guns.

“Understood, please look in the storage beneath the aft seating. That’s the back of the boat, Miss Hayami.”

Shifting away from the seat, Hayami grabbed the cushion and lifted. Her eyes grew wide as she looked at the collection of weapons and ammunition that had been neatly tucked away.

“B-Butler?”

“I believe the Russian-Ninety-Eight is your preferred bolt-action, is it not?”

Hayami’s heart skipped a beat. She was indeed a fan of the sniper rifle provided by the butler, but that information should have been impossible for him to have known. The only people who knew what weapons she preferred for ranged hits were herself and the black-market dealer she bought her rifles from.

Unless…

“Miss Hayami…” The Butler strained her name, pulling her from her thoughts. “I have prepared a wonderful assortment of your preferred firearms and ample ammunition for just this occasion. So, everything should be to your liking.  You also have everything you need on the port side—that’s the left of the boat—for a rapid boarding of the yacht, should the situation demand it. Now, please, do me a favour and protect the Young Master until I am in sight. He can be quite helpless.”

Without another word, the call ended, and a set of coordinates appeared in a text. Hayami would have to defend Oto until they could reach Giles. But, as she looked down at the array of weapons the Butler had provided her, she had no doubt she could hold off a small army for longer.

I’m not letting this Hildebrand die. Not today…

Cocking the rifle, she trained it behind them and breathed.