Chapter Eighteen: Early Morning Sailing Bond:

I laid down on the deck and looked at the dim morning sky.

�Well that was a waste of time,� I said to no one in particular. �Least we got good food out of it.�

�Mmmh,� Sappoto-san mumbled. I rolled over to face her.

�Come on,� I said. �It wasn�t your fault.�

She curled herself into a tighter ball. �If I had just said something earlier��

I patted her on the shoulder. �It�s not your fault.�

�But I should have said something��

�It�s not your fault!�

�But��

I squeezed on her shoulder. �Sappoto-san, look at me.� She turned and glanced over at me.

�It isn�t your fault. You didn�t do anything to make him harass you like that. He was just a creep.�

�But��

�It will never be your fault in those situations. Got me?�

Sappoto-san lowered her eyes as she tried to look away from me. I just her a sympathetic smile.

�Aw, come here,� I whispered. I held her tight to my own body. I could hear her breathing hard from the sudden shock. Sappoto-san tried to turn her head and look over at me.

�W-W-What are you doing?� she yelped at me. I rested my chin on the top of her head and lightly shushed her.

�I�m not doing anything perverted,� I whispered.

�But� what are you doing?�

�Shhh, helping you relax.�

�How?�

�Shhh.�

�But��

�Shhh!�

After a couple more uneasy exchanges, Sappoto-san finally went quiet and laid still in my arms. I loosened my grip on her a bit.

�Shhh,� I whispered again. �Very good. Just lie there for a while.� Sappoto-san relaxed and fell asleep in my arms. I just rested there with her.

Right�, I thought. Why exactly am I doing this? It doesn�t make sense to me at least. The smart thing to do is to hand her over to her boss. They must be wondering where she is by now. How long has it been? How many days? I wonder if Andi-chan�s called by now. What about Noiz? How has she been? Has anyone asked about me yet?

I shut my eyes. I hate when I am alone like this. I start to think too much. But then I realized, I�m not truly alone. Sappoto-san is in my arms right now, sound asleep. Like a little baby. I shook my head. I don�t know about her. She acts hopeless at times. No people skills. Thinks like a child. Needy. Whiny. Can�t defend herself. Face it, I�m just baby-sitting on my escape. Not what I wanted to do.

But yet, I couldn�t really do this trip alone. I would end up bored or go crazy without anyone to talk to. Sappoto-san does provide some sort of entertainment for me underneath her trivial stupidity. Underneath everything else, she really is a nice person. If things were different like we were single and she was a lesbian too�

I shook my head.

No. I can�t think of her like that! She�s too innocent for that level of perversion. Okay, so she�s married and has three children. But still, that�s just wrong. So wrong!

I came back from my thoughts when I felt her brush up against me. I looked down to see Sappoto-san still sound asleep in my arms. I couldn�t help but to smile as I leaned down to her ear.

�You are just about useless, you know that,� I whispered to her. �But, you�re alright, I guess. That�s why I�m going to keep you around longer, okay?� I hugged her like she was my little sister in bed. Once I calmed down, I looked up at the early morning sky. I am doing the right thing, aren�t I?