Gaius was sitting in seiza, his head bowed as an angry teenage Knight rapped his head continuously. It was a sitting posture that the elders of the Kusanagi family liked to use for both silent mediation and disciplining unruly youngsters — something that an embarrassed Isabelle had clearly picked up on.

In the past, he might have gotten away from punishment, by virtue of being an innocent child, but Isabelle was one of the few who knew that he was from Earth. And to top it off, his (generally) mature behaviour had made Isabelle treat him less and less like a child, and someone closer to an equal…which was why she had reacted with equal parts embarrassment and anger when Gaius walked into the bathroom, whose lock was broken.

Uncharacteristically, Nakama too was taking her side. Sure, reason and morality meant that any normal person would do the same, but the boy really wanted to say, “Et tu, Nakama?”

Of course, it was likely that only Isabelle would get that reference, as an ex-highborn of the Southern Continent, which had both French and Latin influences. This conclusion was derived one fine night on the ferry, when Gaius was thinking about Orb in general…but that was a story best told later.

“I humbly apologise for my transgressions,” Gaius repeated numbly.

Isabelle, who was holding her nose high up, cast an eye onto Gaius, a paper fan in her right hand. The boy hadn’t dared to even defend himself when she wailed on him with the paper implement, out of fear that his bodily strength would cause undue injuries to her. And to be honest, her repeated attacks were more like a solid massage than anything else…although Gaius wasn’t ever going to admit that.

“Next time, when you’re in front of a bathroom door, what should you do?” Isabelle asked.

“Knock first…” Gaius replied miserably.

“Humph.” Isabelle glanced at her side, where Nakama was staring back up at her with shiny eyes. “Will there be a next time?”

“No…” Gaius lowered his eyes again.

Isabelle made a few fuming sounds, and then carried Nakama out of the cabin into their own little room. Water was still dripping out of her hair as she left, leaving behind little damp spots on the floor, and as the door closed, Gaius rubbed his forehead.

Well, I at least did slam the door the moment I saw her inside, so I didn’t see anything! The boy patted his head, where over a hundred strikes had struck the same spot continuously, and mused over Isabelle’s accuracy. It would seem that she had been practicing her swordplay, for her to have gained quite the mastery over her fine muscle control.

Kenouji poked his head into the room at that moment. Gaius had spotted him getting way out of dodge earlier on, while Isabelle was smacking his scalp with that paper fan out of sheer embarrassment. In the midst of it all, the boy had suddenly understood what the teenager meant when he muttered that he’d forgotten something.

The young master of the Kusanagi family shivered when Gaius turned his eyes onto him, but before he could run, the boy had enveloped him inside a bubble of qi.

Isabelle had taken the fan away with her, but the boy found it a rather good implement of discipline. Without sparing a glance at Kenouji, who was now floating in mid-air, the boy looked around for more paper.

It didn't take long for him to be armed with a paper fan of his own, and once satisfied with its quality, Gaius walked over to the young man, weapon in hand.

“So,” said Gaius, “do you want to do it yourself, or should I do it for you?”

Kenouji gulped. “I’ll do it.”

With a simple effort, the qi holding down Kenouji’s right arm dispersed, setting it free. He placed the paper fan in his hand, a seemingly-joyous smile on Gaius’ face the whole time. “Now, do you know why I’m angry?”

“Y-yes.” Kenouji raised the paper fan and smacked it onto his own head a few times, desisting only when Gaius took it away from him.

“Elaborate,” said Gaius. The boy could feel a few presences peeping at the going-ons in his room, but most of them had turned away the moment he’d placed the paper fan in Kenouji’s hand. As expected, he was still an object of protection, and no matter how mad the boy was, Gaius still had to observe propriety.

“I-I didn’t mention that there was someone using the bathroom to you, despite knowing that the lock was broken,” said Kenouji. “You probably trusted me enough to assume that there was no one inside…”

“That was my fault, actually.” Gaius shook his head. “I should never have assumed anything.”

With a wave of his hand, he set the Kusanagi young master free, before flicking him on his forehead. “There better be non-preserved meat on the menu tomorrow, got it?”

“Actually,” said Kenouji, “there’s no need for that. We’re…going to make landfall in twelve hours.”

Gaius paused, and then went back to sitting down, before freezing up a moment later. “Landfall?”

He turned to Kenouji. “How’s that possible?! We’re still a few weeks away, no?”

“I’m not sure,” said the teenager, “but the North’s south-east coastline is already in sight. It’s like we were propelled forwards in time or in the sea somehow. I get the feeling the sea’s the issue here too.”

“Did the volume of water in Orb decrease with the Lifespring’s passing somehow?” Gaius shook his head. “But that’s good news, I guess. I’m sick of just sitting around here. Food from a port sounds nice too.”

He paused. “I suppose I should tell Isabelle and Nakama too…but they’re still angry at me.”

Right on clue, Nakama popped her head out, a small knife sitting on her shoulder. “Isabelle says she heard you!”

The door closed a moment later, and Gaius held his forehead, sighing. “She’s still mad. I mean, why shouldn’t she be?”

He turned to Kenouji. “You can go now. Don’t mind me. I’ll just…float around here and think about life. Maybe think of the port we’re going to disembark at.”

The teenager looked at Gaius, worry evident on his face, before leaving the room sheepishly. The boy looked at Isabelle and Nakama’s room, and then shook his head. Everything would probably return to normal tomorrow, but on a ship with nothing much to do, people usually dwelled on things far longer than usual.

Making a mental note to be more careful next time, Gaius adopted a lotus position and closed his eyes.