Kaori and Ma?l stood in silence at the helm as the sun rose slightly above the ocean. The main sail was opened wide on the right-hand side—“broad reach, port tack,” Kaori had said with much authority. The tack was the direction the wind was coming from, and at present, they were quite lucky as the wind was blowing from the east and down along the coast of Japan, pushing them forward at a decent pace. In fact, they should soon have the wind right behind them and be in a configuration called “on the run” in nautical terms, which matched rather well their actual situation.

  Ma?l stood, admiring the profile of his companion and suddenly realized he had yet to see her face. He caught glimpses of her in the car, her figure delineated rather than lit by the neon light and the reflections from the car’s console, but he had been driving for most of the night, and when he wasn’t, his gaze had been drawn… elsewhere.

  The soft light of the rising sun shone upon her black hair, highlighting the glow of her bare neck. He stood behind her, since she was at the helm. This was about all he could see of her. That, and a leaf still stuck in her hair. He chuckled and reached for it.

  “Don’t move” he said, placing his hand on the back of her head. He grabbed the leaf delicately and pulled it free. She winced as a few of her hairs still clung to it.

  “Ouch! What are you doing?” Kaori said.

  Ma?l moved around to face her, presenting the leaf. He had meant to say something witty, but froze as he stood in front of the most ravishing woman he had ever seen. She was a captivating vision of grace and elegance, her light golden skin radiating softly in the glow of the morning sun. Her almond-shaped eyes glanced at the leaf, then at his face.

  His mouth was still open, and the effect was rather comical. She laughed, releasing the tension.

  “Thanks. I’m sorry, I must look like a complete mess.” Kaori said.

  That was of course a blatant lie for there could be no mistaking the effect she had wrought on the hapless victim of her charms, but he had tried to tease her: he could squirm a little as she gave him a look over. She couldn’t see him all that well, with the sun at his back, and she came to the same realization he had: she had yet to have a good look at her guardian angel.

  She grabbed his wrist and placed his large hand on the helm’s wheel, spinning him around. “Here, hold the wheel for a bit and keep this heading;” she said, pointing to the compass on the dashboard. “I’ll go get a shower down below, it looks like I have bushes growing out of my head.”

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  “Aye aye, Skipper! Wouldn’t want you to turn into a tree.” Ma?l retorted. He could use a shower himself, but that would wait.

  Kaori climbed down the stairs to the main deck and headed for the master bedroom. The room could have passed for a hotel room. It was tastefully decorated and had its own shower and bathroom, as well as Aiko’s wardrobe. There wouldn’t be anything of Ma?l’s size on the ship, but she had a similar figure to her friend’s and now had enough clothes to last for months.

  After a nice hot shower, she picked herself a sailing outfit: loose, navy cropped pants ending below her knees and a white linen shirt she tied around her belly.

  She hadn’t found much in the way of makeup, just the basics, but it was still far better than the dirt and foliage combo she had been wearing most of the night. It would have to do. She gave a whirl in front of the mirror, grinning. That man had been impressed by her appearance at her worst, but that was no reason to grow complacent. She donned a pair of light deck shoes and made her way back to the flybridge. She moved without a sound and stopped as soon as her eyes cleared the top of the stairs, crouched like a lioness stalking prey. Unseen, Kaori finally had a decent opportunity to inspect her savior and newly hired underling.

  Ma?l stood at the helm, his massive legs firmly planted on the deck. The wheel seemed almost delicate in his hands. He looked to the horizon, fully absorbed with his task. Guiding a sailing ship of the size of the Asahi gave one a heady feeling of power: the main mast reached 35 yards up in the air, holding 2,575 sq. ft of sail, and displacing 32 tons of water, and it was all controlled by slight movements of his wrist.

  His rumpled blue shirt barely covered a large chest, wide, powerful shoulders, and his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, showing thick forearms. A muscular neck supported a broad, friendly face with a fair complexion. His face was framed by golden brown hair and he had a stubble, although this was likely due to a few days of not shaving rather than a deliberate fashion choice. His was not the polished physique of a model or an actor, it had nothing of the extreme muscle definition of the bodybuilder, or the slim-yet-athletic build of a gymnast, but he had clearly spent a good chunk of his life training, and with a bit of fashion sense, he would have looked quite good indeed. Unfortunately, his fashion sense appeared to be limited to brown cargo pants and some shirt he probably found in a discount store.

  Kaori’s thoughts were interrupted abruptly by the realization that he was now looking directly at her with a wry smile. She had a small guilty jolt, she was caught! He gave her a surprisingly Japanese bow… Oh right, Judo, she thought.

  “Is there an autopilot on this thing? I think we should introduce ourselves properly,” Ma?l said.

  At least, the man had the sense not to tease her.