Hina wastes no time. The second the deck is within boarding distance, she springs out of the boat and launches herself at the biggest, buffest person I have ever seen in my life. Ever.
"Sakuraaaa!"
I yell in shock as the boat sways from her jump. The giant is also taken by surprise from the force of Hina's tackle. He loses his grip on the pulley system and my heart leaps into my throat as the boat plummets. Just as soon as I start falling though, the boat quickly jerks to a halt, thudding against the hull of the ship. I breathe a sigh of relief, placing a hand on my chest to try and calm my racing heart. One drop into the sea is enough for one night. As soon as the boat is secure, I crawl over the edge onto the more stable deck. Dear god, sweet solid-ish ground! I'll never take you for granted again!
Hina, blissfully ignorant of the heart attack she almost gave me, continues to happily squeeze her fellow pirate. "Geez, I missed you so so much!"
"I am happy to see you again too," Sakura replies.
Wait.
I thought…
Is Sakura a girl…? At first I thought she was a dude because her voice is deep and her appearance a little misleading…
I mean, I guess it's pretty obvious in retrospect. There's no mistake that she's a girl. Sakura certainly sounds like a girl's name, and it's hard to miss the large che—
Um. Yeah.
I'm going to stop there.
Her outfit's also pretty similar to Hina's. The most notable differences are the blue-striped shirt as opposed to plain white, and Sakura's large red jacket. The sleeves are missing and the edges around the shoulders are frayed and worn.
Sakura's smiling face slowly shifts into one of confusion. "But what are you doing back so soon? It has only been a few days. You should be arriving at your first stop in another day or two."
Hina lets out a soft chuckle as she lets go, but it's nervous and missing the usual mirth. "That's… Well, that's a bit of a long story. Short version, some complications arose and we had to abandon ship pretty quickly."
Calling the attack on the Sea Star a 'complication' is a bit of an understatement, don't you think? The most accurate word I can think of is disaster. Even just thinking about what happened makes my stomach churn. The whole thing really happened. The Sea Star was really sunk by pirates. And sunk is putting it lightly—they blew it to pieces and their own ship even got caught in the blast. Why would… How could anyone do anything so horrible?
Because they're pi—
I shut out the annoying little voice in my head and try to focus on Hina's words instead. She told me that not all pirates are the same—some can be good people and it's unfair to assume otherwise. So far, it seems to be true about the energetic girl. And, if I'm going to be spending some time here, I need to keep an open mind about what these people will be like. I know I wouldn't like it if a guest or customer in our bakery started insulting our goods and accusing us of purposeful food poisoning.
Hina brings me back from my thoughts when she throws her arm over my shoulders. "This here's Makoto," she introduces to her friend. "Sweet kid I met on the Sea Star. We managed to escape together and I offered to bring him to Elfport, but he said it'd be a better idea to come here instead."
"You said it was closer," I shrug my shoulders a little. Being the center of attention is a new and slightly uncomfortable position for me. Most of the time I just blend into the background. "And I told you already, I won't accept going home if it means you have to give up the chance to rejoin your crew."
"Like I said, he's a sweet kid," Hina smiles at Sakura. "So I said I'd see if he could stay a while with us. Anyway, this is Sakura." She gestures to the giant. "She's my bestest friend ever! She's really kind and caring, but I'd avoid picking a fight if I were you. They say she could be the strongest girl in the whole archipelago."
…Not that I was thinking of fighting her in the first place, but now I'm definitely not pissing her off. I quite like all my limbs intact, thank you very much. I reach out my hand and Sakura grasps it in her own.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Makoto," she nods, a small smile gracing her face. Her hand completely dwarfs mine.
"Likewise." I fight to keep the nervousness out of my expression. Geez, her hands are really big. And even if Hina's description is a bit exaggerated, she certainly looks strong enough to crush my hands into tiny, unrecognizable lumps of—
No! No no no, stop thinking like that! There's no point in assuming the worst when I've only known her for all of two minutes!
Yet even with that mental reassurance, I still have to stifle a sigh of relief when she finally releases my hand. It's not that I don't want to be friendly. As much as I want to, it's just difficult to accept this new reality when I grew up on scary stories of pirates coming to snatch up misbehaving children.
But, so far so good, I guess. I should put a little more faith in Hina and her words. 'They're all really nice' is holding up to be true, if only for one person.
"So what are you doing back so early, Hina?" Sakura questions the girl, getting straight to the point.
Hina shares a glance with me. She sweeps some of the loose hair out of her face and then exhales. "I… Sorry, Sakura, but I think I might explain it to you later. In all honesty, I'm kinda pooped right now. All I want to do is go to bed, but I need to go tell the captain about it first and get Makoto sorted out."
The muscular pirate gives a simple nod. "I understand. There's no need to apologize."
"Do you know if she's still awake?"
"I assume so—she normally is at this time, is she not?"
Hina lets out a massive sigh. "What are we going to do with her…?" She shakes her head and grabs me by the forearm. She seems to be doing this a lot tonight. I hope it doesn't become a regular thing… "I'll see you in the morning then, Sakura!"
"Good night, Hina."
With a farewell nod, Sakura heads to a set of stairs that lead down into the ship. She's probably heading to the crew quarters to get some sleep. At least, that's what I'd do in her position. It's really late. Or I guess she could be waking someone else to take her place above deck. That makes me wonder exactly how many people I'm even going to meet here. I hope I don't end up making anyone mad…
Hina tugs me back to reality and drags me and my arm in the opposite direction of where Sakura disappeared to, towards the stern of the ship. She pulls me up a different set of stairs to reach the level raised above the main deck.
"Captain's quarters are on the quarterdeck—that's really the only room up here, plus the poop deck above for steering and stuff. Hope's Peak has two levels below deck. Crew's quarters are on the first," she explains as we walk. "If the captain lets you stay, that'll most likely be where you'll sleep."
I nod along and find myself comparing the layout to the familiar one of the Sea Star. The merchant ship was larger with three levels instead of two, but they sound surprisingly similar. I say as much out loud and Hina smiles at my observation.
"Yeah, it probably used to be a merchant ship. Then some other pirates got their hands on it, and—well, we were in need of a new ship, so we stole it and—" She glances back and suddenly pales. "I mean, um… we acquired it. Completely peaceful interaction. They were fine when we left. Mostly."
She stops just in front of the door and positions me near it, cutting off any response I could've had. "Okay, now stay here. I'll go in and speak to her first, and then I'll come get you. Absolutely do not wander off from this spot. That's really important. Got it?"
"Uh huh," I comment. Geez, I did not expect the conversation to take that turn. Hina telling me that she's a pirate is one thing, but it hadn't really hit me until then that she's probably taken part in less-than-honorable activities more than a few times. I'm pretty sure the end of that was sugar-coated for my benefit.
She cups her hands on my shoulders and pats them, as if to reiterate her instructions. She gives me a thumbs up as she moves away and approaches the door. She knocks on it softly, but still loud enough to be heard. "Captain?" she calls out, easing the door open. "It's Hina. I'm back. Can I come in?"
She hovers there for a moment, but then I hear someone's voice from within. It's not clear enough for me to make out, but it must be some sort of invitation to enter as Hina gives me a quick wave before vanishing inside.
And then I'm left alone with the silence and my thoughts.
I walk over to the railing at the edge of the quarterdeck and lean against it. I almost expect the rail to vanish beneath my weight. Everything seems so weird and unreal, like it's all been a big dream and I'm about to wake up any minute. Is that strange, even though I experienced all of this firsthand? I just can't believe how I managed to find my way onto a pirate ship. Me, a baker's son, on a pirate ship. If someone had told me this morning that I'd be in this situation, I would've laughed and called them mad.
…Okay, I would've smiled awkwardly and silently continued to sweep. My point's the same regardless.
A yawn forces my jaws wide. I blink my eyes blearily, rubbing at them to ward away the urge to sleep. Hina's got the right idea. Right after this thing is sorted out, the only thing I want to do is sleep for as long as humanly possible. Tonight has lasted way too long and been full of so much… stress and emotional trauma that I barely know how I'm still sane.
As I've done several times tonight when left in silence, I think back to the Sea Star. What I thought would be a relatively uneventful job, with the most interesting things being the places we visited, turned into anything but that. There were so many people dying around me. What do I do in a situation like that? The most death I've had to deal with was our family dog and Miss Kinuyo, the old tailor who lived next to the smithy. They both passed on from old age. This was different. I was there—I could have done something to save them. Why… Why couldn't I do anything? Surely there must've been something I could've done. I could have asked Hina, or pointed them out to Kirigiri, or helped them myself! Why?! Why didn't I do anything?!
Because I was scared. I didn't want to die.
I take a deep breath and bury my face into my hands. That's the truth of the matter, isn't it? As much as I didn't want them to die, the people I was only just getting to know, I let them so I didn't have to risk my own life. I can say I wanted to help them all I want, but I don't even know if I'd be able to if I had a second chance. Fear is a powerful thing, and I'm left shivering just at the memory of the terror I felt.
I'm the only one who survived. There's Hina, but she wasn't part of the crew from the start. I'm the only member of the Sea Star who survived.
The only one who gets to keep living.
Gets to keep…
Keep… my…
Kirigiri's object weighs heavily in my pocket. I fish it out and let it hang from its string in front of my face. A small, silver pendant sways in the air, polished to a point where I can almost make out my reflection on it. Raised bumps on the front of it form the image of a flower, a kind I can't identify. Despite the gleam, the metal surface is littered with small dings and scratches. He must've kept it with him for a long time. The string however seems relatively new. I guess it was replaced whenever it got too worn.
I… I made a promise to him. He entrusted this to me. He's counting on me to look after his precious possession, the one he was determined to keep safe even as he stared death in the face. It was his last request, his dying wish. I can't really let him down, can I?
This was something that meant a lot to Jin Kirigiri, but now it means something for me too. A reminder of the tragedy tonight. A memento of the Sea Star, how the people there worked together, laughed together, lived together… and died together. If I'm the one who survived, the least I can do is keep those memories alive, right? Their last moments…
I slip the string over my head and rest the trinket against my chest. I'll keep it with me always. That way, I can keep my promise to him and remember what happened tonight as well.
Something about its design catches my eye again. I lift it and examine the dark spot in the middle of the flower image. At first, I thought it was some stain or a shadow from the flower bumps, but it's actually a tiny hole. Not a pendant, but a locket. Huh, I wonder what's inside. He didn't give me a key with it, so I guess I won't find out.
I drop the locket under my shirt and send a curious glance at the door. It's been about ten minutes now. I wonder what they're talking about. I can hear muffled sounds from inside, but I don't really want to eavesdrop. I'm already technically intruding, so the last thing I want to do is give them any reason to kick me off.
My eyes scan over the main deck of Hope's Peak. The silence only adds to the surrealism I was feeling earlier. Even aboard the Sea Star, I could still hear sailors up and about in the dead of night. But I don't think there's a single soul up here besides me. I look towards the poop deck and crow's nest in concern. Is that safe? Shouldn't there be someone to steer and to keep watch? Sakura was up here earlier, but she's gone below deck. Maybe she is waking someone up but they're taking a while to—
The sound of creaking wood interrupts my thoughts and my gaze immediately shoots towards the sound. Hina's head pokes out of the gap in the doorway, scanning around for a moment before her eyes rest on me.
"Come on in," she says, holding the door a bit wider. My foot shuffles an inch forward and I hesitate. Hina said those pirates were mostly fine earlier… Argh, wait, stop it! Don't think like that! You trust Hina and she said everything would turn out all right! I can't second-guess myself at a time like this. It's too late to back out now.
The moment passes. I move towards her, taking my first, cautious steps into the captain's quarters.
Like the deck outside, lanterns on the walls bathe the room in a dull light, allowing me to comfortably see it in its entirety. It's pretty empty in terms of furniture. There's a desk and a chair off to the right, but that's about it. Scraps of paper and other small objects litter the tabletop, casting shadows from the light of the lantern placed nearby. The only other thing of note is a curtain hanging off a railing on the left wall. It… looks like there's some space behind it, but that's all I can tell.
A short distance from the table is the only other person in the room. A young woman with long, lavender hair braided together and a dark purple longcoat that brushes against the back of her knees. The most striking thing about her, though, is the fact she appears to be the same age as me and Hina—someone in their late teens, barely even an adult. Is this really the captain of a pirate ship?
From the moment I step into the room, I can practically feel her intense gaze burn into me, watching me with sharp, purple eyes. To say it unnerves me is an understatement. I really wish that Hina's 'they're all really nice' sentiment could've lasted a little longer.
"So…"
Her voice cuts through the silence in the room and startles me back to reality. Instead of continuing, she pauses afterward, as if knowing it would cause my heart to beat faster. "Makoto, was it?"
"Y-Yes, ma'am," I stutter. How exactly do I address her…?
"Kyoko," she introduces herself. "I'm the captain of Hope's Peak."
…Really? I guess I expected as much—she is the only other person in here, and I didn't see anyone exit the room. But, in all honesty, I still have trouble believing it. She hardly looks much older than me. How can a teenager be the captain of a pirate ship?
Hina blanches from beside me. Kyoko's eyes narrow and she folds her arms across her chest. "Are you trying to insinuate something…?" The movement causes her longcoat to flutter and momentarily showcase the shiny hilt of a sword.
I… said that out loud.
I said that out loud.
Something pounds against my chest. Is that my heart? I think it's trying to escape the confines of my body which is exactly what I want to do at this very moment.
"N-NO, of course n—I-I was, I mean—I-I'm very sorry!" I bow my head, eyes squeezed shut and every muscle paralyzed. I'm dead. I'm so dead. She's gonna kill me. I survived almost being blown up and almost capsizing twenty times, but now this happens! All I wanted to do was make sure Hina got to her friends safely! Oh god, why did I think coming aboard a pirate ship was a good idea?!
The sound of footsteps quickly getting louder reaches my ears and I tense further. I don't want to die…!
A gloved hand carefully but firmly grasps my chin and forces my head up. I open my eyes. Hazel green meets vibrant purple from a distance of half a foot.
Huh, she's taller than me.
WHY AM I FOCUSING ON A DETAIL LIKE THAT NOW OF ALL TIMES?!
"I'll ignore that little comment of yours on account of the event that took place tonight." Her voice is quiet and cold and it terrifies me more than if she was yelling at me. Her grip on my chin tightens slightly. "But don't think you'll be so lucky if I hear something like that out of you again. Understood?"
"A-Aye…"
"Good." She lets go of me and walks away. The black ribbon securing her braid flutters as she turns. "I'm glad we reached an understanding peacefully."
I let out a quiet sigh of relief. I think this is what Hina meant when she said those pirates were 'mostly' fine. Physically fine but emotionally scarred for life. With this and the attack on the Sea Star, I think I've met my fear quota for the next six years. I steal a glance at the brown-haired girl beside me. Her face is a mix of relief, terror, and the expression someone gets when they watch a puppy narrowly avoid getting trampled by a horse-pulled wagon.
"Now, back to business," Kyoko says curtly, facing us again. "Hina explained to me what happened tonight on the Sea Star. With everything that occurred, she now expects me to let you stay here and treat you as a guest until an unspecified time where we can drop you off at port. Is that correct?"
"I… guess so, yeah." I share a glance with Hina. That's a pretty accurate summary of my situation.
"And what do I get out of it?"
…Huh?
"The world doesn't work for free, Makoto," Kyoko explains simply when I don't say anything. "Even when people say they'll do something for nothing, they tend to have an ulterior motive—be it money, resources, or simply being owed a favor. People don't do things out of the kindness of their hearts. Especially pirates. Well…" She pauses briefly, sending a glance at Hina, who is suddenly very interested in her shoes. "Most pirates."
I shift my gaze between the two girls. It sounds like Hina might've been lectured or scolded about her actions while I was waiting outside. I hope she's not in trouble or anything. That's the last thing I want to cause with my presence.
Then again, given Hina's disposition, it wouldn't surprise me to find out she's had this conversation in the past.
Kyoko returns her attention to me. "I'm told you've spent some time at sea?"
I don't know if five days gives me any room to say I have experience, but… "A-A short time, yeah."
"So you surely understand that ships must survive on finite supplies."
"I… do."
Kyoko nods, satisfied with that response, and continues, "We may have a slight advantage compared to other ships, but we still face a greater difficulty as pirates. Places that we can restock safely at are few and far between. If I let you stay, that means our supplies are spread thinner than they already are—and for an unspecified time period, if I may remind you. You could be here two days or two months. I am the captain, and thus, I have a responsibility to the welfare of my crew. I have no such obligations towards you. Unless there's a reasonable benefit to keeping you around, I'm afraid you're out of luck."
She tilts her head and observes me. "So what do you offer to me that makes it worthwhile to look after you?"
And now everything rides on my ability to sell myself. No pressure. I mean, I get the logic behind why she's doing this, but I am… really screwed. What exactly am I supposed to say? 'I'm a 17-year-old and my extra ordinary personality is matched only by my extraordinary bad luck'? Yeah, that'll definitely win her over.
But I can't just give her nothing, because then I'm guaranteed to never get a lift back home. Oh dear, I think she's beginning to get impatient with me. It's hard to tell because her face doesn't change much from that neutral expression. Argh, come on, Makoto! You've got to give her something! Just say anything!
"I… don't have any amazing talents or special skills," I end up admitting. "But I'll work hard with whatever jobs I get, and I'm good at getting along with others… And I guess the one thing I'd really say is that I'm more optimistic than most people."
…Okay, maybe I could have done better than anything.
Well, it's too late to take it back now. Then again, there's not much I can add to that either. I'm really not anything special, so that's probably the most accurate description I can come up with. I remain silent and try to gauge the reactions of the room's other occupants. Hina looks like how I feel: worried and nervous beyond belief. And the captain… Well, I know about as much as her expression will tell me—which is absolutely nothing.
There is no way this will convince her.
When she does speak again, it's not to me but to the other pirate in the room. "Hina, you're dismissed."
Her head jerks up. "Huh?! But Kyoko—!"
"Hina…"
At the slight edge to her voice, Hina backs down immediately. Letting out a defeated sigh and looking absolutely miserable, she mumbles, "Aye, Captain."
As she walks towards the door, she shoots me a look I can only describe as apologetic. My heart clenches as I watch her leave. She shouldn't be apologizing. She's got nothing to feel sorry about! She saved my life and had my best interests at heart since we escaped, there's no way I could blame her for anything! Before I can even begin to convey this through words or smiles or anything, however, she's already gone and the door closes with a solid thud.
And then it hits me.
I am alone in a room with a pirate.
After getting attacked by pirates and having the Sea Star blown up by pirates, my night is ending with me on a pirate ship with the pirate captain who is armed and I'm not, the one person who could possibly keep me alive just left, and I have no escape strategy whatsoever.
Again, why did I think this was a good idea?
When I turn back to said pirate captain, she's watching me with a raised eyebrow, her arms crossed once again. "You must be optimistic to go with a short spiel like that," she states. "I'll admit, I'm curious as to how you persuaded the Sea Star to hire you."
"I don't think 'persuaded' is the right word," I say cautiously. Keep calm, Makoto. You can do this. Alone in a room with the captain of a pirate crew? No problem!
Before right now, I did not think it was possible for your mental voice to crack.
I really hope we can just drop this subject, though. That day was extremely embarrassing. I can barely handle acknowledging that incident to myself, let alone share it with some stranger I hardly know. And I've already apparently given her a bad impression of me with my little self-description. The last thing I need is for her to know the exact extent of damage my luck can cause.
To my growing panic, Kyoko gives me a knowing smile. Not really one of amusement, at least that I can tell, but it definitely resembles the smile I'd expect from someone who witnessed exactly what happened that day firsthand.
"No? What word would you use then?" she casually asks.
Okay, wow, this is really different from what I was expecting. I didn't think she'd drop her seriousness in order to poke fun at me. She couldn't have been there, right? There's no way. She's got to be messing with me. I… Gah, I hope my face isn't as red as it feels. "Look," I stammer nervously, "I don't want to be rude or anything, b-but, um… Could we… change the subject…?"
Kyoko drops the smile and teasing to regain her professionalism. "Very well."
Thank goodness, there is a god.
"In that case, returning to your attempt to convince me of your worth…"
Aaaand I'm back in hell. My embarrassment is replaced by my anxiety from before, though funnily enough, I think it's slightly diminished. I'm still a nervous wreck, but I feel I can stay true to my claim of optimism and hope for a good outcome.
Kyoko rests her chin on her knuckles in thought, keeping her eyes on me the whole time. Finally she says, "You should know that you actually revealed quite a bit more about yourself than just what you told me."
"W-What do you mean by that?" I ask, the confusion evident in my voice.
She holds up one finger. "For example, you told me right off the bat that you're not talented—quite the opposite, actually. You're honest. You didn't try to fabricate anything to increase your chances." She pauses briefly and hums. "Perhaps a bit too honest."
"Uh…"
She continues despite my minor interruption. "Secondly, you're rather trusting. You don't know much about Hina, and you certainly don't know anything about me or anyone else on this ship—and yet here you are. Hina explained to me how you didn't interact much before tonight, bar a brief exchange on your first day, but you trusted her in your escape and you trusted her to get you home. Need I go on?"
"N-No, that's enough…" Enough to make me incredibly self-conscious of every action I've ever made. Do any of the crew even have privacy with this girl around?
"And…" Kyoko's eyes harden. "You have a little enmity towards pirates."
Oh no. I swallow thickly. "U-Uh, then Hina told you about—?"
"About your outburst after your escape?" she interrupts. "Yes, she may have mentioned that."
This is just fantastic. Why did I have to open my big mouth back then? I usually avoid letting my emotions get the better of me, because I know that if I let them take control of my words, I'll end up regretting it and it will come back to bite me in the butt. And this is biting me hard. I wait for her to continue, to tear into me and deny my request for shelter and make me walk the plank—but she does none of that. She just stands in silence, arms crossed, waiting for something. Actually, she's looking at me almost expectantly, as if she's waiting for me to do something. Does she want me to say something…? Explain myself?
"All my life, there's never been a moment where news about pirates has been good news," I start, fiddling with my fingers as I speak. "Even as a child, I was told stories about how they'd come and get me if I misbehaved. Before tonight, I'd never met a pirate personally, but I'd hear about how they burned towns and attacked people and that made me so angry because what did those people do to deserve it? And then, I got to witness an attack firsthand… and it certainly hasn't changed my opinion much."
I look up from the floor and meet Kyoko's eyes. They hold the tiniest hint of curiosity, and she remains silent, so I take both as a sign to continue on.
"Spending time with Hina has… opened my eyes a bit," I admit. "I met her before I knew she was a pirate, and I can't say how accepting I would be if I hadn't met her beforehand, but she is a nice person and a good friend. She's told me that not all pirates fit the same definition of malicious criminals, and I want to believe that." I sigh and bite the inside of my cheek. "It's just hard to overturn years of prejudice in a single night."
Once again, the room falls into silence, with me waiting for Kyoko to speak. She takes her time, closing her eyes as she mulls over my words. "So the bottom line is you still harbor some hatred towards pirates."
"I…" My chances of staying are already ruined and I basically already admitted it. There's no harm in being honest. "Yes."
"Hmm…" Kyoko lets out a long, low hum as she twirls her unbraided hair around her finger. "I should hope that won't be an issue when you spend time with the others."
"N-No, like I said, I'm trying to—"
Wait.
Hang on, what did she just say?
"Wait, with the others…? D-Do you mean you're letting me stay?!" I question, barely able to keep a handle on my excitement. She doesn't mean…
She folds her arms across her chest. "I won't tolerate disrespectful behavior to my crew."
Oh my god. She does mean. "I-I, uh, absolutely! I understand!"
"And I expect you to complete a share of the chores each and every day you remain here."
"Of course!" I can't keep the grin off my face. "Oh, thank you so much!"
It seems my elation is contagious as a small smirk works its way onto Kyoko's face. "I didn't think you'd be so excited about work."
I laugh lightly and wave my hands with slight embarrassment. "I'm just glad this turned out well. And about the chores, I was expecting to work on a ship for a couple of months anyway, so it's not a big issue."
"You truly have a positive outlook on things, don't you?"
My chuckles turn sheepish and I rub the back of my neck. My expression changes when a huge yawn overtakes me. When I close my mouth again, I'm left with an overwhelming tiredness. It seems like this whole talk has made me even more exhausted than before.
"I suppose it is getting rather late," Kyoko remarks with a glance out the window. She looks off to the side and thinks for a moment. "Unfortunately, with your arrival being unexpected, we don't have any additional rooms or beds prepared."
"No, that's all right," I argue. It was something I thought about briefly while I was waiting outside. I don't want to be a bother. Being able to stay here is good enough for me, so I don't particularly mind where I end up sleeping. I fight back another yawn and mumble, "I can just sleep in the cargo hold or something…"
"Don't be ridiculous," Kyoko dismisses instantly. "The deal was to treat you as a guest. The only ones who sleep in the hold are prisoners. No, you'll sleep in here."
With that, she walks over to the other side of the room. The prisoner comment catches me off guard so it takes me a moment to process her following statement. Then it takes me another few moments to repeat it in my head in case I misheard it. "H-Huh?"
Kyoko pulls back the curtain I saw earlier, the metal hoops attached to it scraping against the wooden pole holding it up. The action reveals a relatively large cubby hole, large enough to house a hammock which sways along with the motion of the ship.
"You'll sleep here for the night," she repeats. "And then, in the morning, you'll begin with whatever jobs are required of you. Understood?"
I stopped following along ages ago because I am still struggling to comprehend the first part of what she said. "W-Wait, wha—Sleep here?"
But this is the captain's bed. Which makes it her bed.
I can't sleep in her bed!
Kyoko raises an eyebrow at me. "You're not questioning me, are you?"
The question leaves me stuttering for a suitable response before I realize that she probably won't let me sleep anywhere but here, no matter what excuse I give her. Damn it. I feel my face go red and mumble, "N-No…"
She gives me a small, satisfied nod and holds her hand out to the hammock expectantly. I trudge over to it, feeling rather defeated. She is the one giving me a place to stay, though. I can't really argue with her. As I sit on the hammock and Kyoko moves to draw the curtain, I look up at her.
"Where are you going to sleep?" I ask just as she grabs the fabric. She stops and makes eye contact with me.
"I'll be fine," she brushes off the question, tugging the curtain across again. "You worry about yourself. You've had a long night after all, and daybreak isn't far off."
I wait for a moment and listen to her receding footsteps. When I hear a chair scraping against the wooden floor, I pull the shoes off of my feet and lie down on the hammock. I rest my head, pull the thin blanket up to my chin and drift off to the sound of rustling paper.
"…oto."
A small, soft sound, barely louder than a whisper, suddenly invades the calm reaches of my dream. A small frown appears on my face as I curl up. The last thing I want to do right now is wake up, especially when it only feels like I just fell asleep. But the voice sounds again, a little louder this time.
"Makoto."
Is that Komaru…? She's probably eager to mess around with me or make me help her bake or something, but I'm too tired at the moment. Why can't she just let me sleep? I instinctively tighten my grip on the blanket. She'll just have to wait, I can play with her later.
Instead of the blanket being flung off like I'm used to, the bed I'm lying in is suddenly pulled out from underneath me and I'm sent to the wooden floor in a tangle of sheets and limbs.
"Ack—! Ouch! I… What—?!" I splutter, dazed from the rude and abrupt fling to consciousness as well as the tumble to the ground. How did that even happen?! It's only then that I register the slight swaying of the floor and the muted sound of the ocean. O-Oh right, I'm on a boat, not at home…
"You're awake," a familiar voice interrupts my train of thought. I pull the blanket off of my head and my vision focuses on a young woman with braided purple hair, staring down at me. "Finally."
"Huh…?" I mumble to myself in confusion. Wait, but that doesn't make any sense. If I'm on a boat, then it should be the Sea Star, but I've never seen her before. Who is she?
It takes a moment—longer than I'd like to admit, really—but the events of the previous night eventually come back to me like a smack to the head. "A-Ah!" I shout. "Last night…! And I… Y-You're—!"
"Yes, welcome back to reality," Kyoko comments dryly. She… doesn't look very impressed with me.
"S-Sorry!" I blurt out, jumping to my feet. "I didn't mean to oversleep!"
Her mouth presses into a small line, scrutinizing me with her icy stare. I try my best not to squirm in place. She eventually turns away with a small sigh. "I suppose I'll overlook it this one time. No doubt you were left exhausted after what you went through. Don't expect the same treatment in the future, however, or you may find yourself drenched in saltwater."
Is she saying she'd dump water on me or toss me into the ocean to wake me up…? I really don't like either prospect. Regardless, the reminder of last night's disaster makes my expression darken. It's still hard to believe how quickly everything happened. If Hina hadn't been there… I'll have to thank her for everything she's done for me. And since I'll be staying here a while—again, thanks to her actions—I'll have plenty of opportunities to show my appreciation.
I look up and Kyoko's staring at me again. I feel uncomfortable from the attention, so I try to divert it by asking, "So um, what time is it?"
"Just before sunrise."
"Oh, all ri—Wait, what?!" I can't help the surprised shout, but before sunrise?! And she thinks this is oversleeping?! How the hell am I going to manage this? The Sea Star's crew wasn't this cruel!
"I'm only joking," Kyoko responds as she turns and walks to her desk. "Actually, it's just over an hour after sunrise."
I feel the worry drain out of me, only to be replaced by relief and minute annoyance. Of course it's just a joke. Thanks for that panic attack early in the morning. Kyoko stops in front of her desk and rearranges some things. I watch her for a moment before my focus drifts, pausing on something that seems rather out of place—the lantern on the desk. For some reason, it's still lit.
"Did you…?"
"Hmm?"
"A-Ah, never mind," I respond when she turns to look at me, waving my hands in front of me. I've really got to think about what I say before I go blurting it out. I made an amazing first impression that way, and I'd rather not have a repeat performance. So instead, I reword my inquiry of whether she got any sleep into an apology. "Actually, I'm sorry about taking your bed…"
"Don't let something like that bother you. I offered, so there's no need to apologize," Kyoko says. Yeah, but if me sleeping in her bed made her stay awake all night, that does kind of bother me.
She finishes her task at the desk and heads for the door. She rests her hand on the handle and continues, "Come on. Hope's Peak isn't the biggest ship, but there's still much work to be done."
"Uh, right," I reply somewhat hesitantly. I can't say I share the enthusiasm to start working, but I can't argue with her. That was the deal, after all. I hurry to stand beside her and, after a quick once-over of me, she pushes open the door and exits.
The ship was beautiful when I first saw it, glowing against the night sky and dark ocean, but in the daylight I can fully appreciate every detail. The maze of rigging high above stretches across like a forest canopy, with two towering masts to play the part of tree trunks. The large canvas sails are bundled up tightly except for one billowing on the main mast, the one closest to the stern. Everything is even more impressive when it's illuminated in the morning sun. If I tilt my head up, I can see a large piece of cloth flapping in the wind—a pale lavender color with bold black shapes depicting a hill to the left and a black star and moon in the top right. Hope's Peak's flag. It definitely fits the name of the ship.
As Kyoko leads me down the stairs to the main deck, I spot a familiar red-jacketed figure. She's leaning against the mast with her arms crossed, looking uncharacteristically deep in thought.
"Hina!"
Her head turns at my call and she brightens when she recognizes me. Before I even know what's happening, she crashes into me with the force of a fired cannonball. I can barely keep myself from falling over.
"Makoto!" she shouts happily, squeezing the life out of me. All too quickly, she lets me go and faces Kyoko. "Does this mean he can stay?"
"So long as he does his share of chores," Kyoko nods.
"Woohoo!" Hina cheers and jumps in the air. For a moment, it looks like she wants to give Kyoko the same courtesy she greeted me with, but all it takes is a sharp look and she backs off with a sheepish grin. A reaction like that tells me that expressive Hina has clashed with reserved Kyoko before and the captain doesn't want to deal with it this morning.
"So what have you got planned for him? Meeting the others? Tour of the ship? Let me do that for you! I'm sure you've got some super important captain stuff to do," Hina offers excitedly.
Kyoko remains silent for a moment, deep in thought, before she sends a glance my way. "You met Sakura last night, correct? Why don't you go reintroduce yourself? She's up at the helm. You can meet Keizo while you're there."
I look towards Hina and she waves her hand at me in a 'go on!' sort of way. I think I can see what's going on here—there are things to be discussed that they don't want me to know about. I can respect that. I nod at them and leave, climbing up the steps again to reach the topmost deck. There I see a tall blond boy in his late teens with his hands on the steering wheel, guiding the ship through the waves with ease. Sakura stands nearby, a good head taller than him.
No doubt noticing my approach in advance, Sakura greets me first with a smile. "Good morning, Makoto."
"Yeah, good morning. I came to say hi real quick and meet you," I say, directing the last bit of my sentence to the blond. "You're… Keizo, right?"
"So this is the reason we've turned around, huh?" He takes his left hand off the wheel and shakes my hand. "Good to meet you. Yep, I'm Keizo. I'm the navigator on Hope's Peak."
"Hi, I'm Makoto."
Keizo releases my hand and fixes the bandana wrapped around his forehead. "The captain was here earlier and explained the situation. You've got guts coming here after what you went through, I'll give you that."
"Um… Thanks?" Kyoko talked to him earlier, huh? I suppose everyone here has got to find out who I am sooner or later. And Keizo's designated job has got me wondering now… I turn to the girl nearby. "Hey, Sakura? If Keizo's the navigator, what do you do?"
"My job is more general than Keizo's is," she replies, her voice low. "But I usually handle anything that requires a great deal of strength." Sakura gestures above our heads, to the top of the masts. "I just finished taking down that sail several minutes ago, in fact. I was talking with Keizo about how many more I should untie before you came along."
"O-Oh, I wasn't interrupting anything, was I?"
Sakura gives a warm smile that soothes my growing concern. "It is all right."
"Yeah, don't worry about it," Keizo says dismissively. "I was still deciding on my answer. Sakura, I think the foresail and the gaff sail below it should be good enough," he addresses the girl. "The captain said we weren't in a rush for time and we'll make it back to Speswynn with enough of it to spare."
The name of my hometown instantly grabs my attention. "Speswynn?"
Keizo looks at me with a hesitant eyebrow raised. "Yeah, that's where you want to go, right? It's what the captain said…"
"Y-Yes, it is. I just…" When I notice his confusion only growing, I shake my head with a smile. "No, never mind. It's nothing."
Keizo stares at me for a little while longer before giving a shrug and dismissing the subject.
It's not nothing, but it's not really something that concerns him. I'm just surprised that we're heading straight back to Speswynn. The way Kyoko explained it last night made it clear that her priorities lay with the crew's needs before mine. I thought I'd be stuck here traveling wherever the pirates needed to go for several months, not arriving home in several days. I wonder why she decided to turn around?
I peek over my shoulder to where Kyoko and Hina are still deep in discussion. Their heads are close together so they can hear each other's hushed words. I don't think Kyoko would appreciate me going back at the moment—but at the same time, Keizo and Sakura are clearly still busy and I don't want to bother them any longer.
Sakura notices me shuffling my feet awkwardly and asks, "Was there anything else you wished to speak about?"
"Uh, well…" If she's offering, I don't see a reason why I shouldn't ask a question. "What does Hina do then?"
Throughout the conversation, Sakura's face has mostly remained neutral, kind of like Kyoko's. But the moment I mention the brown-haired girl who brought me here, I can see her expression brighten like a fire flickering to life. "Ah, Hina. Like me, she doesn't have a set job to do. However, it would be accurate to call her Kyoko's first mate."
"Oh, okay." She's like what Jukodo was to Kirigiri on the Sea Star. A second-in-command of sorts. When she said she wasn't the captain, she made it sound like she was just a regular member of the crew, not a step below captain.
Keizo glances towards me and laughs. "Don't let Hina pull a fast one on you, though," he warns. "The captain's having you do odd jobs, right? She won't want you to do anything too out there. If Hina ever tells you to hang upside-down from the rigging or use your clothes to dry the dishes, don't believe her."
I… don't think Hina would do that. She's not that kind of person. She's been nothing but nice to me since I met her. Plus, she was with me when I first met Kyoko. Hina knows how seriously I'm going to take this. She wouldn't mess with me like that.
Then again… there were those times where she tried to capsize our boat.
Those many times.
"Has she done that before?" I hesitantly ask. "Why would Kyoko let her have that much power if she just misuses it?"
"She doesn't always have that power," he corrects me. "Most of the time, 'first mate' is just a title—unless the captain says so, Hina doesn't have any authority over you."
"But don't crews normally have some sort of rank system?" At least that's how it worked on the Sea Star. Kirigiri was the one in charge of everything aboard the ship with Jukodo just a rank below him. Then authority tended to go to the sailors who'd been on the ship the longest and then all the way down to the greenhorns with no experience—in other words, me.
"Not on Hope's Peak," Sakura explains. "Common sense and decency apply if someone with more experience asks you to carry out a job, but otherwise we are all on equal grounds. Kyoko is the only one who truly carries any authority."
"There'll be times when the captain lets her order people around," Keizo admits. He grins at me. "But you'll know when that is."
Well, that knowledge is much appreciated. But now I'm curious as to why he'd bring it up in the first place if it never happens. I ask him as much and Keizo's grin grows a little.
"The crew know what's going on in terms of authority. On the other hand, you don't. Hina will probably take advantage of that for a few laughs." Keizo brushes a few strands of hair out of his face and shifts his bandana a little higher. "That goes for the others as well. Listen to their requests but try not to be fooled by the ridiculous ones."
I nod at him. "Thanks for the head's up." Keizo just gives me a thumbs up in response.
"Hey, Makoto!"
The call distracts me and I look behind to see Hina waving from the main deck. "We can get started if you're ready!" she shouts.
I turn back to my two conversation partners and rub the back of my head. "I guess that's my cue to go then."
Sakura nods. "There will be plenty of chances to talk later. I look forward to it."
Keizo gives a short wave. "See you around, Makoto."
I say my own farewells and hurry down the stairs, the boards creaking with each step. Once I reach the main deck where Hina is waiting for me, I scan the area, noticing the absence of a certain someone. "Where's Kyoko?"
"Off doing captain-y stuff," she answers vaguely. "But that's not something you need to worry about." She throws out her arms with a flourish and announces, "Time to start Aoi Asahina's Wonderful and Amazing Tour of Hope's Peak!"
I put my hand near my mouth to hide my smile, but a few chuckles escape. "Wonderful and amazing?"
She shoves my shoulder good-naturedly. "Hush, you! Now, first thing on the agenda: getting some grub into that stomach of yours!" Hina pokes my belly playfully, and as if on cue it lets out a loud grumble. She giggles and my face heats up with embarrassment. How the tables have turned. "The others will be having breakfast right now, so we can introduce you to them all at once! Two birds, one stone!"
Hina grabs onto my forearm—once again—and pulls me down below deck. With no windows down under, the hallway gets darker the further we go. More lanterns hang from the walls at regular intervals but none of them are lit at the moment.
"Down and to the left is a door that leads to the sleeping quarters, but I'm pretty sure you knew that already," she explains as we walk. "Someone will take you there at the end of the day to make sure you don't get lost, but we're heading to—"
"Wait, sorry, hold on," I interrupt. She turns to me quizzically. "Why would I know where the sleeping quarters are?"
Her confusion doesn't clear up with my question. In fact, it only seems to increase. "What do you mean? Didn't you sleep there last night?"
"Uh, no," I reply. Didn't she know this? I thought it would've been quite obvious considering who's room I walked out of this morning. "Kyoko made me sleep in her room."
Her jaw drops down to the floor.
"Kyoko let you sleep in her bed?" she whispers with a mix of terror and awe in her voice.
"Um. Yes?" I wasn't aware it was a big enough deal to warrant that kind of reaction.
"Hina? That you?"
Our heads jerk to the end of the hall where a guy even taller than Keizo walks towards us. As he gets closer, it's more obvious that he's about Sakura's height, though I can't say who's taller. The most eye-catching thing about him is his hair—part of it is dark at the back and reaches just above his shoulders, which is not that strange, but then there's the rest of it at the front that just sticks out, all light brown and fluffy and how does it do that?
He stops in front of us and grins at Hina. "Hey, didn't expect to see you back around here for ages! What're you doin'—Wait, what's with you?" he asks, noticing her expression.
I don't think she quite realizes he's there, so caught up in whatever astonishment she's feeling. "He slept in Kyoko's bed," Hina whispers again.
"What?!" The guy immediately rounds on me and his face explodes red. Oh geez. Help. "What the fuck were you doing sleeping in a chick's bed?! Especially the captain's!"
"She told me to!" I yell out frantically in my defense. God, please don't hit me! "I didn't want to but she wouldn't take no for an answer!"
"Likely story!" The cracks of his knuckles sound so much louder in the close confines of the hallway. "What's his deal, Hina? Stowaway? Prisoner? Only place he'll end up is the bottom of the sea when I'm through with him!"
"Whoa, wait, hold on!" Hina snaps out of her stupor at the threats and jumps between us, waving her arms to ward him off. "Relax! He's a good kid! And I saw Kyoko just now, she would've told me if he did anything bad!"
That seems to make him back off a bit. "You sure?" he asks dubiously.
"Of course I'm sure!"
"A'ight then…" He finally lowers his fists and they hang awkwardly by his sides.
"Sorry I zoned out," Hina rubs her neck and apologizes to me. "It took me by surprise a bit. I just thought you were sleeping in one of the empty rooms down here."
I let out a weak laugh and wave her off. I suppose with a person like Kyoko as their captain, someone's going to have picked up her ability to inflict total fear in me. Just my luck. "It's fine."
"Say, Hina…" The guy bends at the hip and gets so close to my face his hair is almost poking my forehead. He squints his purple eyes at me, focusing on me but addressing Hina. "Who is the little shit?"
"L-Little…?" I-I'm not that short, am I? I mean, Komaru's taller than me… but I can still grow a little more… right?
"Don't mind him," Hina sighs and gives him a solid shove. It's strong enough for the big guy to actually shuffle his foot to regain his balance. I don't think she appreciated the height joke either, considering she's as tall as I am. She gestures to him as she leads us down the hall again. "This is Mondo, Hope's Peak's resident potty mouth. He cusses like a sailor and drinks like one too."
"Drinks?"
Hina glances back and spots my scrunched up expression. "Not a fan?"
"Not really," I reply with a small shrug.
"Any reason?" Mondo asks, curious. Calmed down, he seems like a completely different person from his earlier rage-induced state. "Tastes like crap? Did some embarrassing shit?"
"Ah, I was just raised that way. My parents never really did so I didn't either." Plenty of people around Speswynn sure did though, so I know what the consequences are. And I wanted to be a good role model for Komaru—the last thing I want to see is my little sister stumbling around with the balance and mental state of a two-year-old. The Sea Star was actually the first time I drank any alcohol and the taste was definitely something I wasn't used to. That was about the time I talked with Jukodo about limiting the alcohol in my water rations.
Hina's expression changes a little. "Parents, huh?" Her tone of voice carries a hint of something I can't identify, but the sound of it makes me long to see my family again.
Mondo, on the other hand, lets out a snort. "I'm glad it was my bro lookin' after me."
"Oh… did you, um, not have…?" Wait, no, bad question, abort, abort—
"Nah, I had a mom." He scratches behind his ear as he speaks. "She was great and shit, but when we grew up, Daiya was always there for me and teachin' me stuff."
Phew… I'm glad he didn't get mad again. He already threatened to punch me once, I'd rather not have it actually happen. That question could've really turned out a lot worse than it did. I think I'm getting better at thinking before I blurt out stuff, but only marginally.
"Well, here we are!" Hina stops in front of a door and throws it open, the thud echoing through the walls of the ship. "Hey guys, guess who's back!"
A clamor rises from inside the room at her dramatic entrance. Surprised and cheerful greetings are tossed around from the room's occupants as Hina walks in. I trail in behind her and Mondo shuts the door behind him, immediately heading for the large table in the center of the room.
One of the guys seated, with fiery red hair, snickers when he catches sight of him. "Mondo, who're you trying to impress?" he calls.
"Shut the fuck up, Leon!" Mondo shouts at him and sits down loudly. A girl with curly black hair looks up at him from across the table.
"Mondo?" Her voice is quiet but the brusque tone which she speaks with catches his attention regardless. "You're not wearing a shirt."
"Hah?" That actually causes him to look down and realize that his tanned and very muscular chest is out in the open for all to see, as it has been since I first saw him. "Ah, goddamn it! Hina, why the fuck didn't you tell me?!"
She grins. "'Cause it was funny."
"For fuck's sake…" Grumbling some more curses under his breath, Mondo heaves himself out of his seat and leaves the room with a slam of the door.
Hina laughs and wraps her arm around my shoulders, gesturing to the room. "So this is our kitchen. We eat breakfast and dinner here. Lunch tends to happen at different times of the day for some of us, so there's not really a designated time for that. We just eat when we get a break."
My eyes widen. "This is the kitchen?"
"I just said that."
"And you have, like, actual cooked food? Like right now?"
The thick, sweet aroma of cooked food is quickly reminding my stomach that its last meal was mid-afternoon yesterday and currently floating in chunks somewhere in the ocean. Can a stomach speak to you? Because I swear the grumbles sound more like, Feed me, Makoto!
Hina laughs again at my eagerness. "Sure do!" She turns to the back of the room where the smell of food is originating from. Along the wall are some tables, much smaller than the one in the middle, arranged to form a workspace for the teenager currently using it. "Noriaki! Think you can whip something up for our famished friend?"
The guy turns when he hears his name called. He spots Hina and I near the door and gives a quick nod. Hina leads me to the large table and sits me down in an empty space near the others and plops down next to me. Starting from my right, there's the quiet black-haired girl, a guy with glasses who's busy trying to make some kind of tower with the spare wooden plates, the redhead whose name I think is Leon, and then Hina to my left.
My arrival in the room drew everyone's attention already, but it's only when I sit down that they truly focus on me—except for the glasses guy, but I think he's interested too, given the glances he keeps shooting in my direction. "Who're you?" the redhead asks bluntly.
Hina clears her throat and places a hand on my back. "All right, guys, this is Makoto! I met him during my last job and the ship we were on got sunk, so he came here and the captain's agreed to give him a lift back to Speswynn."
"To Speswynn?" the redhead questions. His eyebrows furrow and he looks me over. "You from there or is that just the closest port?"
"Uh… I'm from there," I answer after a brief hesitation. There shouldn't be any problem with telling him that, right?
He nods and falls silent after that. Okay, well that was weird. Hina shoots him a strange look but shakes her head dismissively. "Anywayyy… You might've heard Mondo mention his name, but this is Leon. A true example of your average teenager: he tends to laze around until Kyoko or I tell him to get on with his chores."
"Hey!" Leon shouts in protest. "That's a pretty cruddy introduction!"
"Can't really be cruddy if i's true, mate," the other guy interjects, barely sparing him a glance from his admittedly impressive tower. His voice carries with it a strong accent I've not heard before.
Leon glares at him. "No one asked for your opinion."
"Knock it off, you two," the girl scolds, leaving little room for argument.
The glasses guy raises his hands up in defeat. "A'ight, a'ight…"
"Whatever…" the redhead mutters.
Hina rolls her eyes. "Honestly though, he's a pretty cool guy. He's got a crazy good throwing arm, too," she adds. "He could throw a pebble from the top of the foremast and still be able to knock an apple out of your hand without even touching you."
"His aim is somethin' I can attest to," the guy chips in. His eyes hold a glint of mischief. "I've seen it fer meself."
Leon apparently sees a deeper meaning to his words and fumes. "I thought I told you to shut it! And that was just one time!"
"Ryozo, that's enough," the girl interrupts again. "Stop provoking him."
He waves his hands in an appeasing manner, but the grin doesn't seem as sincere. "Now, come on, I wasn'—"
"I'll knock over your tower."
His face instantly falls. "You wouldn'."
She doesn't back down. "You'll have to pick it all up and start over. From the beginning. And I won't be helping you this time."
"A-A'ight, I'll lay off, I promise," he says quickly. His arm casually stretches across the table between her and his tower. "And tha threat wasn' needed. I would've stopped when you said so tha first time."
The girl merely hums and says nothing more.
"That's Ryozo," Hina carries on once the show has stopped. "As you can see, he's a bit of a troublemaker. We can't do much about it, and I guess it makes things interesting. He disappears like a freaking ninja so expect to be asked if you've seen him many times in the next few days."
"I don' disappear," Ryozo mumbles as he returns to his tower and carefully lowers the next square of wood into place. "You guys jus' dunno how ta look fer wha's right in front o' you."
"Yes, because hanging from the bowsprit is right in front of us," Hina replies deadpan. She turns her attention to the girl to my right. "And over here is Nene. She's a little quiet but still good to talk to. And if Ryozo starts to bug you a little too much, come to her. Besides Kyoko, she's the only one he'll actually listen to."
Nene looks over at me. She raises her hand in greeting. I smile and wave back at her.
"That's it? No mention of her totally unnecessary harshness?" Leon complains, failing to notice the hard stare that Nene is now giving him. "You're more than happy to talk shit about us two, but when it comes to her, you're suddenly buddy-buddy?"
"Well maybe if someone hadn't constantly pounded on the walls the night I left, I'd be in a bit more of a generous mood!" Hina abruptly snaps at him.
"And wha' about me?" Ryozo pipes up. He doesn't look particularly bothered by his introduction, it's more like he's just curious.
She loses her anger quickly and shrugs. "I just call it like I see it."
Ryozo closes his eyes and nods. "Fair enough. Can' argue wi'that."
"And speaking of that night," Leon speaks up. He rests his cheek on his palm and leans over towards Hina's direction. "You gonna tell us about your top secret mission?"
She snorts in response. "Pfft, no way. That's why it's called a secret, you moron."
"Does it have anything to do with—?"
"Hey, mind your manners!" Hina suddenly cries out, clapping her hands over my ears and forcing my head away from the table. "The kid's been through a lot because of them, he doesn't need any reminders."
I can't hear Hina say anything more but it still takes a few moments before she releases my head and I'm free to move again. Leon looks a little disgruntled but it only takes a glare from Hina for him to turn away with a huff.
I hear footsteps gradually getting louder from behind and instinctively turn to look, but the plate placed in front of me draws my attention back forward. It's a simple meal of eggs and hardtack, with a cup of water—no doubt mixed with alcohol—to soften the rock-solid biscuits. It's not a massive amount but I wasn't expecting a mountain of food and the eggs smell super delicious anyway and oh geez, my stomach's rumbling really loudly.
Hina gestures to the guy standing behind me. "And last but not least, this is Noriaki. He's our cook, so he's responsible for that delicious meal you're already scarfing down."
"Thish ish… wearry gooph…" I swallow the egg in my mouth and smile gratefully at him. "Thanks!"
He shuffles his feet for a moment before he meets my gaze and gives a small smile of his own. "I hope you enjoy your meal."
I pick up the biscuit and dunk it into the water-alcohol mixture. I don't actually know how much of this is alcohol but I am way too hungry to care at the moment. I'm not going to drink it anyway, just use it to make the biscuit soft enough to be edible. I wish it would do so a little quicker, though. The sooner I finish the hardtack, the sooner I can eat the beautiful eggs that I'm saving for last.
For last…
Didn't Hina say Noriaki was 'last but not least?' "Wait, is this it?"
"Is what it?" Leon asks, still a little miffed from what Hina said to him.
"Is this everyone in your crew?" I clarify.
Hina hums in thought. "Uh, you've met Mondo, and Sakura and Keizo… so there's… two more you haven't met yet!"
Two more? Only two?
"…You run this whole ship with eleven people?"
"Yep."
"How do you do that?!"
"With skill," Hina answers, satisfied by my surprise. She snatches a bit of my egg with her fingers. "And lots of practice."
I try to protest but the food is already gone down her throat. Seriously? I'm pretty sure you ate already. That's just not fair. I let out a little whine to make my displeasure known and she smiles teasingly. I shove the hardtack into my mouth and test it. I can kind of sink my teeth into it. "And you're all the same age?"
"Yeah," Ryozo says. "Close enough, anyway. Tha small number o' people here means we don' burn through our stuff quickly like 'em other ships, even if we got ta do more work ta make up fer it."
Eleven teenagers run a pirate ship all by themselves? In comparison to the other ships I've seen in Speswynn's harbor, the Sea Star was just under medium-sized, a tad larger than Hope's Peak, and she had at least twice as many people! And of all the types of ships I know of, merchant ships tend to limit their crew to the bare minimum for more cargo space. "I don't know whether to be impressed or concerned," I admit.
"Go for impressed." It takes me a moment to realize Nene has spoken from beside me. "We don't get 'impressed' often."
The door to the room abruptly swings open. Kyoko walks in and frowns when she sees us all sitting at the table. Startled, Leon, Ryozo, and Nene all leap to their feet, with expressions I've seen Komaru wear when Mom catches her sneaking pastries up to her room. "C-Captain!" they stammer. Ryozo's tower crashes to the floor with a loud clatter.
"What do you think you're doing?" she demands. "There are floors to be cleaned if you think sitting and chatting here is more important than your duties. Or would your time be better spent assisting in the Dark Room?"
Their faces immediately go green. "N-No, captain!"
"Then hurry up and get to work."
"Aye!" they all chorus and almost trip over themselves in their rush to leave the room. Kyoko stands out of their way, watching them go with a hint of annoyance creeping into her usual impassiveness. She turns back to the table and narrows her eyes at the girl next to me. "Well? What are you waiting for?"
"M-Me?" Hina points to herself in surprise. "I was… I mean, showing Makoto—"
"Go. I will take over," Kyoko says. "You can start by helping out Sakura with her tasks."
Her face lights up with happiness at the opportunity to work with her friend, but then she looks down at me and that fades to reluctance. Ultimately, she gives her captain a nod and stands up. "See you around, Makoto!" Hina waves as she leaps over the table and hurries out of the room.
I just sit there dumbly, still processing how quickly everyone had left the room. A hand clamps around my arm and pulls me up from my seat. Without me even realizing, Kyoko had made her way over to me and is now dragging me towards the door. In my surprise, I drop my biscuit onto my plate where my half-finished egg still sits. I try to reach back for it but Kyoko's grip on my arm is like iron.
"Come on. Time to get to work."
But… But what about my food…?!
I did warn you about inconsistent updates.
(tbh i didnt think it'd be almost a year but whatev)
And here we get to meet (almost) all of Hope's Peak's crew! Yeah, it doesn't include everyone from class 78 but I have reasons for that. Mostly either because I didn't think they'd fit as pirates or I already decided some other role for them. But I'm fairly certain I planned a role for them all so you'll see them eventually. (hopefully).
Also the number one reason this chapter took so long (besides life): my OCs! yayyyyyy. Srsly tho I did stress about them a lot, lemme know what you guys think of them to begin with kthnx.
Now that Kyoko's shown up I feel a lot better about marking this with Naegiri (idk why I didn't do it from the beginning). It is gonna be slow tho so. bear with.
Oh and sorry if there's any formatting problems?? I'm posting this via the app (fanfic has an app apparently) on my mobile. If I find any issues I'll have to fix them next weekend when I have access to my laptop again.
REVIEW TIME
LyricstoSilence: ahhhh i still can't believe senpai noticed me. I'm glad this idea entertained you so much that you had to fangirl for ten minutes and read it twice. and i still love your fanart. thank you for it. it still makes me smile. Hope you enjoyed this latest chapter!
Fallenstreet01: Ayyy I managed to post it! Here's hoping it was worth the wait.
Savage theron: Hope you enjoyed it!
Tatsurian: Yep, this is gonna contain heaps of Naegiri! More than FTUH probably because I have a lot more to juggle there. I think it'll be easier to manage here. The way I've started planning SSDespair is with little scenes I'll connect together and tbh a lot of the scenes involve Makoto Kyoko interactions.
Archsage328: Mmmmmm I love my pirate AU so much and pirates in general. Swashbuckling shenanigans here we come. And yes, Kyoko's part of the crew. As it turns out she's the captain. Scary captain. Poor Makoto there's gonna be a lot of pitfalls before they fall in love. Regarding plot, I know what'll happen up to about when Makoto joins Hope's Peak (spoilers not spoilers bc srsly we can't have a pirate au without the protag becoming a pirate) so that's good. Best part about having them be pirates means they'll be at sea with nothing to do sO HELLO SOCIAL LINK OPPORTUNITIES. AKA Free Time Events. This story's gonna have a lot of them.
Keep smiling, readers!
