Summary

Have you ever wondered how to fall in love with a pirate? no? well i'll show you how in this story containing Legal Drug, xxxHolic, and Tsubasa Chronicle. pairs: RikuoxKazahaya (RikHaya?), KuroFai, DouWata, SyaoSaku, implied pairs: MukofujiwaraxNayuki (MukoNay lol like Mokona xDD), KamuixFuuma (KaFu XDDD hahaha), SeishiroxSubaru (SeiSub xD i wasn't aware SubWay had such a thing xD)

how will our favorites characters cope with new things headed their way? Relationships will be tested, friendships will be made, and people will be saved. How long will it take for them to fall in love? There's 100 days and counting to tell this tale.

Ch 1

A/N: ~*~ means the next day or a change of scene. ~x*x*x*~ means end/start of chapter or a change in POV. Italicized is a memory/flashback or whispering/mouthing or emphasis xD

Summary kinda sucked, but oh well. enough rambling.

Enjoy! ^^

~x*x*x*~

Watanuki sat quietly at the bar. His dark sunglasses covered most of his face. He and Himawari had humorously called them his "blind-man glasses". The worn wood was smooth beneath his palms. He'd come here today hoping to get comfort from his dear friend Himawari. After what Yuuko had told him, he needed it. He sighed deeply, thinking back to it.

Watanuki opened the shop door and stepped inside. The glasses he wore were unnecessary in this place, and if he didn't need them he figured there was absolutely no point in wearing them, so he took them off.

"Watanuki, come here."

Naturally, Watanuki balked at this. It was rather unexpected.

"I'm going to read your palm," She supplied, noticing the expression on his face.

"For free?" He asked suspicious.

"Yes, now shut up before I DO charge you," she grinned maliciously.

Watanuki gulped and obeyed. After a while he asked, "What do you see?"

"Deep gold holds your soul."

A sweat drop rolled down his head. "H-huh?"

"Your string," she explained, "is connected to gold."

"My…string." He said dumbly.

"The red string of fate, dummy. What did you think I meant?"

Watanuki laughed nervously, "N-nothing, Yuuko-san…so, lemme get this straight: I'm gonna be rich?"

Yuuko laughed, "No, no, no. Your soul mate has gold eyes."

"I'm pretty sure that's impossible, but ok."

Yuuko threw her head back and laughed harder, as if knowing something Watanuki was completely unaware of.

"Oh. And Watanuki?"

"Yes?"

"Beware. For this love shall catch you unawares."

"I really hate it when you talk mysteriously like that, Yuuko-san."

She chuckled, but then became serious, "At the most unlikely moment you will meet this person, Watanuki, without even knowing it. When you do realize, I hope you will consider it precious and make the person know of your feelings. If you don't…they'll be taken away by another."

Watanuki sat solemnly, staring at her for what seemed like an endless amount of time. "And…if I do…will I leave this person behind?" He asked carefully.

Yuuko looked at him sadly, but then grinned widely, "If you want to know you'll have to pay me, Watanuki," she chirped.

Watanuki groaned and got up. "You always withhold the most important part!" He complained.

Yuuko laughed. "Lunch, Watanuki! Chop, chop!"

"Ha-ha, very funny, Yuuko-san."

She smiled, "I'll have—" and she went off naming fancy dishes for him to prepare.

Watanuki cut the memory short right there. Any more and he'd grow irritated again.

The bell on the door to the bar jingled, and suddenly the whole room went quiet. Watanuki looked up at Himawari, eyes curious.

"Pirates," she mouthed.

His eyes widened below the shades. He supposed he shouldn't have been surprised, considering the fact that this was a portside city. But it was small and generally didn't attract the pirate public, or any public, for that matter.

He heard the pirates shuffle loudly into their seats; a table that wasn't too far from him. Great, he muttered to himself, more people to pick on the poor blind man. Who, I might add, wasn't actually blind. In fact, he probably saw more than these people ever would.

Once the pirates started up their own conversation, the other folks in the tavern spoke again as well.

"What can I get for you, gentlemen?" Watanuki heard Himawari ask.

He sipped at his saké, and very nearly spit it out when he heard someone ask for the local saké. It took him by surprise, only locals—or friends of locals—would know about their signature drink. This seemed to startle Himawari as well, but she recovered quickly.

"Right away, sir, is there anything else?"

The other pirates piped up, apparently wanting beer, and Himawari took down their orders. He doubted anyone, even remotely, guessed that he owned the place. Him being a "blind man", after all, he was considered to be an invalid.

Invalids weren't supposed to be rich, or popular, or whatever else fancied those biased tongues. He didn't mind, he supposed. It meant being left alone, for the most part, except for the occasional bullying. It also meant that no one paid him much attention and he could go wherever he wanted.

His reputation was that he was a blind man who could remember anything, and that's why he didn't have a cane. Luckily for him, when he dawned the shades an unexpected occurrence happened. His sight of the supernatural lessened severely, to the point where he could only see the huge, nasty, and powerful ones: the bosses.

A drunken man shambled over to the pirates' table and spoke with such slur, that the pirated had to strain to understand him.

"You pirates, have done good on this town," the man hiccupped, "you've managed to find the best damn saké in the whole world." The man chuckled. (Note: as you can imagine, the man didn't really speak quite that clearly, so I've spared you and made it coherent.)

The pirates guffawed, ultimately agreeing with the drunken man.

"Hey, old man, who's the feller up at the bar?" One rude pirate wanted to know.

"The bar…oh…don't need ta concern yerself wit' him, boys! That sonny is as blind as a mole rat," the man laughed.

The pirates sniggered. "Why don't he have a cane, old yeller?"

"That's 'cause they say he's got the best memory in the area, he remembers the ways to go even if he can't see no more."

Watanuki bristled. Honestly. He was "blind", for crying out loud! Not deaf. He could hear every word these brutes were saying.

"So, he hasn't always been blind?" The voice that ordered saké asked.

"Nobody really knows. He came in here one day, so the rumors go, with bandages around his eyes," the man chortled, "me thinks he was in a fight or a holdup!"

The pirates hmmed and ahed.

Watanuki shrugged mentally. The bandage part was true, at least. By then, Watanuki had long since finished his saké. He got up, his "blind-man" act on full blast. He called out to Himawari, "Goodbye, Himawari-chan~!" He smiled.

She waved, giving him a big smile, "Bye! See you later! Oh, and make sure to stop by Kohane-chan's place…she's worried about you."

Watanuki gave a small smile, meant only for her, and said cheerily, "Of course. Good day."

"Careful on your way back."

"Well, you know me, I can't seem to stay out of trouble," Hiro said lightly.

Himawari giggled, "That's true! Anyways, bye-bye!"

A loud "thump" sounded behind him. He sighed. Attempting to trip blind people, eh? How low could you get?

He ignored it, though, "See you later," he joked. Himawari got it and waved again, before turning back to her customers.

He turned to leave as well, but before he left…

He stopped deliberately in front of the foot that was stuck out. "Sir, you do realize I can hear, right? Your boots must be quite heavy. Excuse me." Watanuki stepped over the boot and walked out of his tavern.

Once he was far enough away, he dodged into an alley and laughed until his sides hurt. The looks on their faces were priceless. He decided that that was the best day he'd had in years. He settled down, eventually, and then went home.

~x*x*x*~

Rikuo was laughing so hard at the blind-man's jab, that his friend turned bright red.

"Shut up, Himura. And you too, Doumeki, wipe that patronizing smirk off yer face."

Syaoran seemed to be getting a kick out of it, too.

"Hush it, cabin boy."

" But, Kurogane…"

"Kurogane can do what he wants."

"Even if that means laughing at you, cap?" Syaoran asked.

Captain F. Hendricks considered this. "So long as he doesn't start—"

Kurogane held his sides and pounded a fist on the table, trying very hard not to show just how hard he was laughing. Then, he snorted.

"—snorting," the captain finished. "Ku-ro-ga-ne."

Kurogane looked up, tears in his eyes. He froze.

The captain's face was beet red from anger. "I WILL NOT BE RIDICULED!" He roared.

This made the whole tavern turn to stare at the group, and then erupt in a frenzy of laughter.

"I'll find that blind-man if it's the last thing I do," he whispered menacingly.

~x*x*x*~

The next day Watanuki was staring, troubled, at a full-length mirror.

"Fai-san, would you come here, please?" Watanuki called.

The blonde magician was there in moments. "Yes?" He inquired pleasantly.

"Could you 'transform' me, please?"

"Sure. What color this time, boss?" Fai chuckled. Though, he already knew the answer. It was a little joke between them, and they took pleasure in making the most of it.

"Hmm…red hair, I think, and how about dark brown eyes?"

"Sounds promising, I'll do my best." Fai twirled his fingers and muttered a few foreign words that sounded strangely musical, and voila Watanuki's hair was red and his eyes were brown.

Fai stood behind him and worked Watanuki's fine hair into a short ponytail. Watanuki admired the handiwork in a mirror. "Add a little muscle, would you?"

Fai laughed, "Of course."

Watanuki became buff, he snorted at the word, and a new man. It was his disguise as the bar owner. Himawari knew of it, and so did all his other employees: Yuui, Sakura, Nayuki, Mukofujiwara, Subaru, and Kamui. His suppliers: Seishiro and Fuuma, however, had no idea. Then again, neither did any of his regulars.

He took the last part of his first name: Hiro, and made it part of his pseudonym: Hiro Watanabe (or, if you're in Japan: Watanabe Hiro). The tavern he owned was also an inn, used mostly for the drunks who drank till they dropped. It's also reasonable to say that a fair number of them went by the drugstore across the street. Needless to say, it made the two places compatible business partners.

Hiro and Fai walked down the cobblestone road down to the tavern. It was five o'clock sharp. Drinking hour, also happy hour at his place.

"So, I heard an interesting story," Fai said.

"Did you now?" Hiro asked sarcastically.

"Yes, yes, I did. I heard that you mocked a pirate yesterday."

Hiro smirked darkly, "I did. It was quite amusing."

"I'd pay a fortune to see it."

Hiro snickered, "It was probably worth it. Those faces were priceless."

Fai smiled heartily, "You think they'll be there again?"

"The pirates? With out a doubt. They'll be there all right. Those types don't like to be made fun of."

"Hear, hear."

Hiro shook his head at the comment. They arrived at the tavern. He walked in.

"Owner!" Himawari called out.

Everyone immediately turned to stare. The old regulars—or loyaltists—didn't, though. They'd seen him before. These new regulars, however…this was their first time even hearing about the owner.

"Hello, Himawari-chan. Where's Sakura-chan?"

"In the back. A new shipment just came in."

"Ah. Are Seishiro-san and Fuuma-san still here?"

Himawari shook her head, "Nope, they just left."

Fai was busy staring at the pirates, and Hiro noticed.

"That one's cute," Fai whispered to Hiro, pointing.

Hiro elbowed Fai in the ribs.

"What? It's true. He looks fun…"

"Oh, dear, have mercy on that poor soul."

Fai laughed, genuinely, a lovely tinkling sound. "You kill me, Hiro-san."

Hiro rolled his eyes. "Play nice, Fai-san."

"Is that permission?" Fai waggled his eyebrows, "I'll take it."

With that, Fai was off to torment the poor tall man with spiky black hair and red eyes.

Hiro prayed for the man and then set about his business checking on the chef, testing the food, surveying the customers, and supervising his employees. Once he finished that, he decided to bartend for a little while. That was when the captain of the pirates approached him.

"Hullo, mate."

Hiro raised an eyebrow, and nodded his hello. He was occupied cleaning a drinking glass.

"What can I do for you?"

"Well, chum, you see yesterday my crew and I were here and there was a very rude customer that did us bad, ye see?"

"Rude?"

"A blind feller. Wore dark clothes."

"Ah…yes. Him. And?"

"We'd like you to…ban him from the bar."

"Sorry, sir, but that man isn't ban-material."

"What do ya mean, mate?"

"He's loyal, see. Been with me since I opened the store. Good friend of mine, too. I couldn't possibly ban him, mate."

"I could pay ya?"

"Can't buy me. I'm not that kind of guy."

"Alright, then. How bout you tell me where he lives?"

"So you can rough him up? I don't think so."

The pirate cursed. "Fine. We'll leave your pal alone. In exchange…"

Oh, boy, here it comes.

"I'd like you to tell me what's the deal with that punk. And, I'd like information."

"Info? On what?"

"Gimme what I want, first. Then we'll talk."

"When do you want to talk, cap?"

"Tomorrow."

Hiro grinned. It would mean coming in an extra day as "boss", but he didn't mind.

The rest of the day progressed slowly. It was well after eleven, and the pirates were still there. Hiro had to wonder if by "tomorrow", he'd meant at midnight. That was odd. He closed the store at midnight after all.

Many of the pirates were very, very drunk. Only three looked to be sober and that was the captain, a fellow with short black hair, and the same guy who had entertained Fai for most of the afternoon. Fai, who was passed out in a room upstairs and had left him to deal with the drunks by himself.

"Yo, pirates, I'm closin' up soon. If you want a room, speak now or leave."

The captain looked at him evenly. "We'll take a couple of rooms, owner-san."

"Alright, then." Hiro came from behind the bar and walked to the door. He locked it, and then checked it to make sure it was, indeed, locked.

Hiro was about to make his way upstairs when the captain told him to wait.

He leaned on the banister, his hand under his chin. "Yes?"

"How about we have that talk now."

Hiro smirked. What a truly peculiar pirate. "Certainly."

~x*x*x*~

A/N:

Hmm…you know. I'm starting to think that aside from chronic angst and long paragraph-itis (wordage is courtesy of quickand2thepointless xD) I have lots-of-dialogue-osis. *sigh* so how you guys like it~? Review ^^ (so that I know I should continue this)

I kind of added my own twist to their personalities…I mean it IS an AU after all…they should be at least SLIGHTLY different. I was thinking that this AU was a mix between our own modern world (with clamp-style thrown in [geez I'm makin em sound like noodles LOL] of course. Hehe it's like an ultimate crossover.) and one piece. What do you guys think?

and yes. i did give Subaru a good life. a happy one. Seishiro isn't evil...Hokuto is alive (she works at a clothing store but I'll get back to that later). I'd say poor Subaru deserves it, and so i gave it too him. He might as well be happy in at least ONE world, right?