They raided on a weekly basis. Taking food, water, and valuables. Raiding people's houses and even killing and taking prisoners. One of my closest friends was a victim to those raids. He was robbed of all his belongings and taken from his family. That's one of the main reasons why I started this shop. I sold the general things that people needed. Food, water, clothes, etcetera. I also sold some other things like jewelry, homemade blankets, things like that. I made this shop in hopes that the Pirates would start taking my stuff instead of everybody else's. That was why my shop was bigger than everyone else's. Although the raids still came and went, people were stolen and so were goods, my idea seemed to be working, and I even got to know some of the Samezuka crew. There was Momotarou Mikashiba, who was stubborn to all but his companions and hyper as could be, Aiichiro Nitori, who was really a sweet boy who wanted to make his captain proud, Souske Yamazaki, who was a huge jerk (he enjoyed trashing my shop and ruthlessly stealing my things just so he could show off his dominance), and their captain, Rin Matsuoka, who I swore was the hottest man on the face of the planet. The rest of the Samezuka Crew mainly worked on keeping the ship nice and battle-ready, or raiding the townspeople. I often got accused of working for the Pirates, but I simply explained that my shop was always open for those who needed supplies, and this included pirates.
Today was Tuesday. Raiding day. And what do you know, the Samezuka pirates were at it again. They stopped taking people a while ago, but they still took their belongings. And since my shop was always open, they only took the things they could sell, which I didn't exactly approve of. Aiichiro was the one that came up to my shop this week. "Aye, Aiichiro! What can I get you this week?" I asked as the sliver haired boy looks around. "Cap'n says he needs rum." He said simply, yet shyly. "Sorry, Ai, I don't carry rum. All I have is wine." I frowned. Aiichiro sighed, "I was afraid you'd say that. Cap'n Rin's gonna be mighty upset...thanks anyways." He started to walk away. "Hey, Ai!" The small boy turned around. "Aye?" I tossed him a bracelet. "So you won't come back empty handed. We both know how much he hates that." I gave him a wink. "Thank ye very much miss (Name)!" Aiichiro cried as he ran off, his bandana flapping around as he went.
Each crew member wanted something different when he showed up. Aiichiro came for the things his captain needed, so was kind of hard to tell what he would want (This was the reason why I always worried I wouldn't have what they needed that week), Souske stole my cloth-related items (he was the reason why I had to make so many blankets in the winter), Momotarou wanted food, food, and more food (I had to do a LOT of baking and cooking), and whenever Captain Rin showed up, he asked if I had anything valuable on me. I always made sure to pick something up on the beach or something specifically for him. This time I had found a bunch of pearls in a little hole near the water, so I made them into a necklace. It was all I had, so I hoped it was enough.
~~~~3 Weeks Later~~~~
"Aye, Miss (Name)." The familiar voice rang behind you and you turned around. "Aye, Captain Rin!" The redhead gazed at you, grinning almost devilishly. As much wrong as his crew did, you couldn't find it in your heart to get angry at Rin for some reason. "So," he said, "still no rum, Eh?" The captain frowned. "Yeah," you muttered in response. "You know alcohol is rare in these parts, I'm lucky I have the wine here." You sighed, catching the annoyed twitch in Rin's eyebrows. "I've been trying to get my hands on some for ya, but nobody's willing to give any to me." You kept your gaze away from Rin, knowing how hot tempered he was. "I don't understand. Who wouldn't be generous enough to give anything in the world to such a beautiful girl?" You felt him draw closer, but his tone had darkened a bit. He was obviously annoyed. Then, with one sudden movement, he harshly grabbed your chin and lifted it to face him. "It's been three weeks, (Name). If you don't have any by the time I show up again, I'll just have to take you instead and have your drunk lips satisfy me." He growled. Then he walked away without another word.
A high pitched voice rang out through the village. "Aaaye! Captaaaain! Captain Riiiin!" I recognized that voice as Momo's. He ran up to my shop and asked where his leader was. "Oh, he just left. You better hurry if you're going back with them." I murmured, looking at the ground. "Oh crap!" Momo turned to run back, but I stopped him. "Hey, Momo," I grabbed his shoulder. "Yeah?" He looked at me anxiously. "You can have this," I put the pearl necklace around his neck. "And take this to your captain. "I handed him two barrels of fresh water, which he stared at in disbelief. "Is this water?! Can we really have it?!" He gawked. If there was one thing Momo missed about living on land, it was access to drinking water. "Of course. Take it. You can live off of beer and alcohol." Momo laughed at this. "The captain thinks we can!" We both shared a laugh and he threw the barrels over his shoulders. "Thank you SO much Miss (Name)!" He smiled, and ran off towards his ship screaming, "Cap'n Rin! Ai! Souske! Look what Miss (Name) gave me!"
~~~Samezuka Pirate Ship~~~
"Aye, Momotarou, what do you have there?" Souske gestured to the barrels over Momotarou's shoulders. "Souske! You're never gonna believe this! Miss (Name) gave me fresh water to share with you three!" Souske laughed, Momo looked like the happiest man on earth. The look on his face said how much he wanted to drink it. "You might want to wait until mealtime. Besides, what if the rest of the crew finds out you have that?" Souske nodded towards the barrels on Momotarou's shoulders. Momo sighed, "I guess I'll show this to the captain." He muttered, trudging his way to Rin's little chamber.
The door slid open with a bang, making Rin jump. He looked harshly at his intruder with a glare. "What the hell, Momotarou!" Rin then caught sight of the barrels on his crewman's shoulders. "Hey, what do you have there, more ale?" He frowned. "No, actually, it's water. Drinking water." Something about the mention of fresh drinking water made Rin's throat dry. "How and where did you get it?!" He stood up. And approached Momo, taking one barrel out of his hands to free the load a bit, "Miss (Name) gave it to me!" Momo smiled. Rin internally scowled at himself at the mention of the name. He had treated her badly, and now he feared she wouldn't welcome him back, and he'd be forced to raid her. "Did you thank her?" He asked simply. "Oh yeah! Lots of times! Listen, Cap'n," Momo lowered his voice, "can I trust you to keep these away from the rest of the crew? It's only meant for the four of us." Rin stared at his loyal shipmate, then nodded. "Of course, here, they'll be back here..." Momo followed Rin to a dark corner of the room and they set the barrels down. "We're out at sea now...so it's too late for me to thank her myself..." Rin sighed, "Dont worry cap'n!" Momo grinned widely. "You can thank her next time!" He stared up at his captain, determination gleaming in his eyes. Rin frowned, "Yeah, sur-" he was cut off by a girlish scream. The two of them walked out onto the deck, "Oi, what's going on out here?!" Rin shouted. "Aye captain!" Cried Aiichiro, "Souske saw a crab and flipped out, and now it's gotten itself stuck on his toe!" Rin raised an eyebrow at Souske, who was now speaking incoherently, and started laughing. "Get the damned crab off his foot, Ai. And Souske, work on your screaming." He chuckled, then walked away. This was going to be a long week.
