Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Vacation Time ❯ Chapter Sixteen ( Chapter 16 )

Chapter Sixteen: Kayaking

 

Cassie's POV

 

I stood on the wooden dock, looking out over the water, dressed in my swimsuit with a t-shirt and jean shorts thrown over it. The fresh, morning breeze blew my hair around and threw it into my face. I brushed the hair out of my eyes and re-focused my attention on the handsome young man who was explaining how to kayak.

 

"Now, you need ta pair up and get inta the kayaks," the Hawaiian man said, gesturing towards the kayaks in the water. There were six doubles and one single for the man who was going to act as a guide.

 

Kaline grabbed my arm and towed me towards a blue kayak, smiling brightly. "This otta be fun," she commented happily. "I've been canoeing, but never kayaking. I know that you haven't done this either." She got into the kayak with no problems, gesturing for me to get in as well once she was comfortably situated.

 

"I don't know why you didn't chose to do this with Kurama," I said to her as I slowly lowered myself into the craft. "I would have thought that you two would have enjoyed doing this together." After seeing how much those two loved each other, I was surprised that they didn't spend every waking moment together.

 

"I'm not going to spend all my time with him. You're my best friend, so I want to do stuff with you as well," she responded, looking over to see how the others had paired up. "Besides, I didn't want you to get stuck with Hiei. If I had paired up with Kurama, all the boys -with the exception of Jin and Touya- would have picked their girl." She chuckled. "This way, they have to mix it up just a little."

 

Wondering who had paired up with Hiei, I turned my head. My eyes went wide when I saw Jin and Hiei sharing a kayak, neither of them looking very happy. Kurama was in the same craft as Touya, talking softly to the blue- haired boy.

 

"Kaline?" I pointed at the boys. "Why aren't Kurama and Hiei sharing a kayak? I thought that they were best friends."

 

She laughed for a moment. "Kurama talked to Hiei recently, and the little fire demon got angry, so Kurama's been avoiding him," she explained, shrugging to show it was no big deal. "I'm sure that Hiei will calm down soon. It's not like he can stay angry forever."

 

I nodded my head in understanding, giving Hiei one last look before the guide instructed everyone to push away from the dock. Kaline and I used our paddles to shove away from the structure, our movements perfectly timed.

 

Botan and Koenma did just as well as Kaline and myself, but Yusuke and Keiko almost tipped over. Jin and Hiei hadn't even pushed away yet because they were quietly arguing, looks of fury on their faces. Kuwabara and Yukina were just fine, as were Kurama and Touya. It was only Jin and Hiei who had yet to even try, and they didn't even seem to be paying enough attention to notice that everyone else had separated from the dock.

 

I was just about to tell the two boys to stop arguing, but Touya beat me to it. Somehow, he got both Jin and Hiei to stop fighting just long enough to push away from the dock.

 

With everyone ready to go, the guide began leading the way. His gentle strokes with his paddle were much more effective than anyone else's, and he easily kept in front of the group.

 

As we traveled along the shore, the guide pointed out different objects and places on the shoreline. "That's one of our active volcanoes," he pointed out, gesturing towards a distant peak.

 

"Have you ever visited it?" I asked the guide, smiling at him. He was handsome, so I saw nothing wrong with talking or flirting with him for a little bit.

 

"Yes, I have," he replied. "It has been a few years though."

 

"Has it erupted lately?" I wondered as Kaline and I paddled our kayak until it was next to his.

 

He nodded his head, smiling at me. "It did last year. Many people came and watched it erupt from a safe distance."

 

"That must have been some fireworks display," I commented, something else catching my eyes as I spoke.

 

"The large building up there is a day spa," the guide said, noticing what I was looking at. "It's been around for twenty years or so."

 

I smiled. "A day spa, huh? I just might have to visit that while I'm here." I gave the guide a flirtatious look. "Maybe I should invite you to come along. You have a physically stressful job, so a day to relax would probably be good for you."

 

The guide chuckled. "Surely your boyfriend wouldn't like that," he responded, shaking his head comically.

 

"I'm single," I informed him simply, telling him the truth. "Been that way for a month." Of course, I wasn't about to go out with him. I didn't know what I was going to do since I was out of high school, but staying in another dimension to date some guy wasn't it. I was thinking more along the lines of a job and college.

 

"I'm half tempted ta take you up on that offer," he said lightly, obviously joking around. He probably understood that since I was a tourist, it wasn't a good idea to date me.

 

"I'm half tempted to make you accept my offer," I joked back, my eyes twinkling. I always enjoyed flirting, especially with a guy who flirted back.

 

Kaline laughed. "Cassie, it looks like you've met someone who's as big of a flirt as you are."

 

The guide winked at me, then went back to pointing different things out. I asked him questions about each place, naturally very curious.

 

As he was talking about a large cave that we were passing near, Jin and Hiei brought their kayak up between my kayak and the guide's kayak. With perfect precision, the two boys stuck out their oars, ramming the guide's kayak and tipping it. The guide fell into the water, quickly coming back up sputtering.

 

"Jin! Hiei!" Kaline exclaimed, astonishment in her voice. "I can't believe that you two just did that. What has gotten into you two? First you argue, then you attack our guide!"

 

The two boys smiled smugly and refused to answer my friend. Jin did shrug after a moment, glancing at me briefly as he did so. Hiei just stared at Kaline, a strange look entering his eyes when his gaze drifted to me.

 

"Maybe they were just trying to have a little bit of fun?" I suggested helpfully as the guide expertly got back into his kayak.

 

The guide took a deep breath. "Well, we might as well head back ta the docks now. There's nothing worth seeing for the next few miles of shoreline," he said, turning his kayak around and leading the way once more.

 

Everyone followed him, talking and joking. Yusuke and Kuwabara got into an argument, but Keiko ended it by smacking Yusuke with her oar. All who witnessed the incident laughed at Yusuke's misfortune. Even the guide, who heard the crashing noise, chuckled.

 

When we got back to the docks, Yusuke and Kuwabara started a water fight by splashing each other with the oars. Botan joined in next, and then Kurama and Jin did. After that, everyone except for the guide was laughing as splashing each other from their spots in their kayaks. The guide just put up his kayak and left, obviously unwilling to stick around for very long.

 

While Kurama and Touya splashed Jin, Kaline and I snuck up behind Hiei and the wind demon. Being as quiet as possible into the last possible second, we pushed their kayak with our oars, flipping the craft over and sending the boys into the water.

 

Kaline and I laughed until we noticed that Jin and Hiei hadn't come out for air. Getting worried expressions on our faces, we looked over the sides of our kayak for them. As we were both leaning over the right side, I felt the kayak pitch. With a cry of surprise, I found myself heading straight into the water.

 

Right after I went underwater, I went back up to find Jin and Hiei laughing at me. Both looked quite happy, and Hiei's gravity-defying hair was laying down... somewhat.

 

'He's laughing... Hiei's actually laughing,' I thought wondrously. 'I can barely believe it. He didn't strike me as the laughing type, but look at him. I like the sound of his laughter. It's kind of nice. He should laugh more often.'

 

Coming out of my thoughts, I looked around to find that Kaline hadn't come up yet, but I wasn't worried. She was an excellent swimmer, and she could hold her breath for a very long time.

 

When the two boys went back underwater, I knew where Kaline was. She had snuck up to the boys and pulled them down, probably by their feet.

 

Kaline surfaced, a large smile on her face, and headed towards the dock. Before the two boys resurfaced, she was sitting on the dock, well out of their reach. I was started to swim for the dock, seeing the wisdom in Kaline's actions. There was a good chance that either Jin or Hiei would seek revenge, and since Kaline wasn't available and I was...

 

I somehow made it to the docks without getting dunked or anything. In fact, all the others were pulling their kayaks up to the dock and getting out. Even Hiei and Jin were doing that. Kurama and Touya had grabbed Kaline's and my kayak for us, taking it to the dock for us like true gentlemen.

 

"Now that our little kayak trip is over, Kaline, how about we race back to the house?" I asked, hoping that she would accept my challenge.

 

"Sure," she replied, coming up and standing beside me.

 

"Ready. Set. Go!" I shouted, taking off as fast as I could. When I didn't hear anyone behind me, I turned around.

 

Kaline still stood on the dock. She gave a small wave, a large smile on her face, and then she just disappeared.

 

"Kaline, you cheater!" I yelled, frowning slightly. "You aren't supposed to teleport!" Pretending to fume, I began to walk towards the house. I really wasn't angry. It took much more than that to make me lose my temper. Besides, I knew that Kaline was just toying around with me. Our races didn't mean anything, and the fact that I had cheated the last time hadn't helped. The previous time when I had declared a race, I had used my bike while she had gone on foot. In fact, our races were almost never fair. One of us nearly always found a way to get the best of the other.

 

"Would you like to get there by flying, lass?" Jin asked, coming up to walk beside me.

 

I looked at him for a moment, trying to see if he wasn't joking. Since he didn't seem to be pulling my leg, I nodded my head slightly. "Flying sounds like fun."

 

"Alright then, lass. Hold on," the demon said brightly, sweeping me up in his arms and taking off into the air.