Maki had barely been asleep for 20 minutes when a loud, high-pitched sound assaulted her ears. Her sore, bloodshot eyes shot open and searched the room for any intruders. She could see nothing in the pitch black, aside from the spot of faint light shining in through the door's porthole. Stumbling out of the hammock, Maki blindly made her way through the dark room and threw open the door to the outside.
She was greeted by a partly cloudy sky, and the sight of her bunk mate being whacked with a stick. "Wait, what?!" Maki muttered to herself as she ran over to the scene.
"Did you really think I didn't notice you sneaking that girl into your room last night? You fucking bird-brained imbecile!" Captain Umi brought her cane down against Kotori's bare back, creating more wide gashes.
"What are you doing?!" Maki shouted and tried to intervene. However, she was quickly held back by Rin & Hanayo.
"It's not smart to get in between Captain Umi and a punishment, nya." The small girl whispered to Maki.
Hanayo swallowed hard as she nodded in agreement. "She'll beat you twice as hard, so it's better to just stay back and let her get it over with…"
"But why is she beating Kotori?!"
"Well, Ms. Nosy," Umi retracted her walking stick and used it to point at Maki. "You're at fault for this, and you're lucky it's only your first day, or I'd be beating the shit out of you too." She dug her peg leg into Kotori's already bleeding back. "Now, are you going to be sneaking any more girls into your room without my permission?"
Kotori stammered a response as she lowered herself to the ground. "N-no, C-Captain Umi..."
Umi placed her leg back on the ground, relieving Kotori of the pressure. "Good, I'll have Hanayo bandage you up after this." "This", Maki soon discovered, referred to a sort of welcome "ceremony" for her. If ceremonies involved being enlisted with a long list of chores to immediately get started on.
Kotori held a cloth to cover her chest, and took her place next to Hanayo and Rin. "You," Umi rested her arms against her walking aid. "What's your name?"
"Maki Nishiki-"
"No, actually, I changed my mind. I don't need your name. From now on your name is 'Tomato Bitch'." Umi brought a hand to her chin as she thought over her decision. "Yes, yes that works."
Maki gaped offendedly at the nickname she'd been assigned. "Excuse me?! Why can't you just call me Maki?! You know, my actual name?"
Umi cut off any further protest with a sharp thwack! of her cane against the mast. "It's part of being a new recruit on Poseidon's Dishonor. Your name is Tomato Bitch, because your hair reminds me of tomatoes, and frankly, I think you're a bitch." She gestured to Rin. "Just ask your fellow crew mate. Rin, what was your name when you were new to the ship?"
Rin bashfully stuttered a response. "P-pussy…"
Captain Umi smirked triumphantly. "And just before you, we had Hanayo, the 'Four-eyed Glutton'." Hanayo whimpered at the memory of her former nickname. Umi finished her statement with a jab to Kotori's ribs. "And here we have my airhead of a first mate, Birdbrain." With a flourish, Umi turned her attention back to Maki. "Finally, we have you, Tomato Bitch. As of today, you are an official member of the Ocean Shadows, the crew I am proud to call my own."
Rin and Hanayo began applauding and welcoming Maki, Kotori soon following after holding the fabric in place with her elbows.
"Um… what exactly do I do?" Maki questioningly raised an eyebrow.
"Glad you asked," Umi stepped off to the side to gather some supplies she'd brought out for the occasion. "Hanayo, you've been promoted to third mate." Rin cheered loudly at the new announcement, jumping up and down and tackling the young girl.
"Nya, you get to be a mate with me and Kotori-chan now!"
Maki watched the display from aside in further confusion. "So then what does that leave me to be?"
"I was just getting to that." Without any other distractions, Umi brought over one of the barrels from the line Maki had drunk from along with a wiry mop. "You're our new swabbie. I expect these decks to be clean enough to eat off of by 13 o'clock."
Upon seeing the familiar oak barrel, to Maki's horror, she realized that she'd been drinking filthy mop water the previous night. "Is- Is that the barrel I was drinking out of?!"
Captain Umi deadpanned. "You wanna take another sip and find out? Quit bitching and get to work; a lot of dirt washed aboard while your lazy ass was sleeping." Maki reluctantly accepted the mop from her superior, and began dragging the heavy barrel across the deck as she cleaned away any dirt or sand she found.
By midday, Maki was absolutely exhausted. She collapsed beside her abused mop, nearly knocking over the half empty barrel along with her. In spite of the light drizzle of sea water splashing onto her occasionally, she felt that she could just fall asleep on the spot.
That is, until she felt a semi-thick piece of wood pressing against her exposed abs. "Sleeping on the job? What a pitiful swabbie you are." Once she heard the familiar booming voice, she knew that the piece of wood had to be none other than Captain Umi's infamous beating stick. "Oh well, I'll give you a break since it appears you've done as I asked. It's around 14 o'clock by now, so I've had Hanayo prepare us some lunch. Meet me in the mess hall below deck." Umi bowed, hobbling back to a larger hatch that likely led to the dining area.
Maki stretched as she stood up, placing the mop back into the barrel before following the path Umi had taken. She lifted the hatch door, and climbed down the small ladder that began right beneath it. The scent of boiling seafood reached her nose, along with what smelled like freshly baked bread.
"Ah, Maki-chan made it down for lunch nyaOW!" Rin rubbed her hand, which had been smacked by an irritated Umi.
"She's not Maki right now, she's Tomato Bitch. Or would you like to go back to 'Pussy'?" Rin shook her head furiously, looking back to Maki.
"I-I mean, Tomato Bitch, you came in time to eat what Kayo-chin made…" Rin did her best to assert her dominance over the rookie, which pleased Umi.
"What's there to eat?" Maki chose to ignore the use of her new nickname, curiously questioning the group as she shut the door. She jogged over to the group, where Kotori and Rin were sitting at a low table. Captain Umi stood authoritatively over them, and Hanayo watchfully guarded a fire pit surrounded by sand and steel bars.
"Nothing for you; you'll get whatever leftovers we have." Umi took her place at the head of the table, leaving Maki to despair over most likely not getting a meal. "Hanayo, is that crab any closer to being done?"
"It just finished, actually!" Hanayo beamed as she used her tongs to pull 5 large crabs out of the boiling pot, and placed them onto a serving platter. She hummed a soft tune as she carried it over to the center of the table. "One for Rin-chan," The orange-haired girl clapped in anticipation of the tasty meat, which Hanayo gladly put onto her awaiting plate.
Maki sadly watched from the side as everybody but her was served a juicy crab, but felt a spark of hope when there was the fifth crab still remaining. "I-is that?-"
"That would be my second crab." Umi spoke up, grabbing it off the tray with her fingers and placing it atop the first crab that Hanayo had given her.
Maki felt her heart sank once more, suddenly wishing she'd just hauled ass into the ocean rather than hopping onto the nightmare that was Poseidon's Dishonor.
"Tomato Bitch," Umi snapped her fingers impatiently. "Come feed me, I'm not feeling like lifting the crab legs." Maki gritted her teeth, refraining from saying anything that could earn her a punishment. She begrudgingly took her place next to her captain, who readily tucked a cloth into the collar of her shirt. "Save the front legs for last, they have the most meat in them."
Maki dutifully nodded, plucking one of the middle legs from its joint. While she did so, Hanayo brought over a bowl of lemon-butter for Maki to dip the meat into. She also left a slice of the bread she'd finished baking over the hot fire.
Umi thanked Hanayo, who curtsied before taking her seat opposite to Rin and Kotori. Maki once more received the signal to begin giving Umi the crab, so she snapped the leg in two and pulled out a bit of the stringy meat. She then drenched it in the melted, lemon-enhanced butter before carefully bringing it up to Umi's open mouth. Umi bit the crab meat, contently moaning at its sweet yet tangy taste. A bit of the butter dripped down her chin, but Maki was quick to grab a napkin and wipe it away.
The butter that was leftover on Umi's lips was quickly lapped up by said girl; she even went as far as to lightly lick away the butter that stained Maki's fingers. "Hanayo, you've done an amazing job on this crab." Umi praised as she nodded for Maki to feed her some more.
"Th-thank you, the fresh lemons helped…" Hanayo rubbed the back of her neck modestly.
The conversation fell into an awkward silence; Maki found it hard to be at ease when her fellow crew mates kept tossing nervous glances in her direction. "Is something going on?" She softly frowned.
Rin vigorously waved her hand to dismiss her. "N-nothing nya! I-I'm just looking next to you nya…" The girl poorly lied.
Maki was still confused on the matter, but Umi had soon finished her lunch. "Tomato Bitch, you can finish this for me. When you're done, bring the dessert to my cabin."
Hanayo, Kotori, and Rin avoided eye contact with Maki as they began to clear the table. Said girl sat down and began savoring her first meal since she'd gotten there, but couldn't help but continue to wonder what had gotten them so anxious. "So, seriously, what's got you guys acting so strange?"
Hanayo cleared her throat apologetically. "Um, dessert for Captain Umi… usually doesn't go very well."
Maki paused between bites of crab meat. "How so, exactly?" There wasn't much that could go wrong with a dessert, right?
Kotori proved her thoughts wrong by lifting her skirt up to above her knee and displaying the small scar across her knee. "If you get Captain Umi messy with her dessert, there's all sorts of punishments she can dole out on you…" She rubbed the slightly darkened area carefully, though it hadn't hurt in eons. "I dropped coffee in her lap…"
Rin helped Hanayo carry the dishes away so she wouldn't have to speak about her own injuries.
"Well, it's kinda simple to avoid it. I just won't be clumsy." Maki was fairly confident that she could feed Umi whatever it was she was having for dessert without getting any on her. "What is her dessert, exactly?" Maki finished licking the rest of the scraps away, trying to pick at what was left behind on the shell.
"Um, here." Hanayo uttered another "Sorry," under her breath as she placed a small, porcelain plate before Maki. A petite pudding cake was set in the center, surrounded by a circle of sweet blackberry sauce.
Maki shrugged her shoulders. "That doesn't seem so bad." If all she had to do was keep from getting Umi messy, she was safe.
"Good luck, then." Kotori kissed Maki on the cheek for luck, which led Rin to pout and stomp out after her without saying anything to Maki.
"Please forgive Rin-chan, she's a bit possessive of Kotori-chan and me." Hanayo pat Maki's shoulder before leaving as well.
Maki swore she heard an extra set of footsteps walk off behind Hanayo, but she shook away the thought. She opted instead to grab a silver fork along with the small treat, and began carrying them to the ladder. She placed the fork between her teeth and balanced the plate in her hand, using her other free one to hold onto the ladder , Hanayo had left the hatch open for Maki to easily exit the dining room. The red-haired girl set the cake to the side while she locked the door beneath her.
Maki then made her way over to the captain's cabin, quietly creaking the door open. Umi's room was rather simple, she noted. There weren't many decorations, though there were a few paintings hung up on the walls, along with what appeared to be old sheepskin maps. A sword was held up on its stand, leaving Maki to wonder if Umi had ever needed to use it.
Captain Umi impatiently drummed her fingers against the cedar desk that sat toward the back of the room. "What took you so long, there couldn't have been that much to eat. I'll bet you let my dessert get cold, didn't you?" Maki felt her eye twitch at the harsh critiques of her captain. "Actually, it's plenty warm." She said as she dipped her finger in the top layer of vanilla pudding. "Did I say you could touch my food with your filthy hands?! Whatever, just fucking feed me you degenerate."
Maki let out a sigh, taking her designated spot beside Umi. "Oh no, I didn't say you could stand next to me. Sit in my lap and feed me." Umi moved her chair back a bit to offer Maki some room."Wh-what?!" Maki intensely blushed at the order Umi had given her.
Umi merely rolled her eyes in response. "Do I sound like I'm speaking Chinese? Sit on my lap and start giving me that cake before it gets any colder, Tomato Bitch." In spite of the clear directions being given, Maki stood firm in her place. Captain Umi grew impatient, grumbling and forcing Maki onto her lap. "Now feed me, it's going to be dinner by the time you even start!"
Maki felt a lump rising in her throat; was this why the others had seemed so worried? She tried to cram it back down as she shakily plunged the into the soft pudding cake. Umi parted her lips in expectation, allowing Maki to just as nervously bring the bite-sized piece to her muffled sound of Umi's chewing calmed her nerves a bit; it meant she'd managed to get through the first bite without royally fucking up. "Get me some more of the blackberries this time, I barely tasted any." This was where it was going to get complicated. As Maki scooped some of the sauce on top of the pudding cake, she realized how prone to dripping it really was. If any were to drip onto anywhere but Umi's open mouth, Maki was unsure what the punishment awaiting her would be.
Swallowing the lump that seemed to be ever growing, Maki successfully got the cake into Umi's mouth without issue. She mentally cheered, but the struggle wasn't over yet. It seemed Umi was no longer satisfied with her position. "Stay on my lap, but face me instead." The shorter girl twisted Maki so that her legs were on either side of her hips, and left her hands to rest on Maki's waist.
"That cake's not getting any fresher, so you can keep going."Maki's heartbeat was accelerating at this point; she tried to keep a clear head, but her captain was intent on making that impossible. Then, as she attempted to shovel another piece into Umi's mouth, she made her first mistake as an official Ocean Shadow. At the time she'd been trying to scoop up more pudding, Umi decided it was the perfect time to cross her legs beneath Maki. But this in turn made the girl lose her balance and sent the cake toppling down over Umi's crisp uniform.
Maki gaped as she watched the sauce that would certainly remain as a stain forever ooze into the otherwise clean fabric. "Oh god, I'm so dead now." She felt the panic initiate when Umi grit her teeth and exhale loudly.
"My mistake I suppose. You'll redeem yourself if you go wash this with Kotori." Umi lightly shoved Maki off of her. "I won't take away your dinner privileges this time, but I won't be so easy on you if another mishap comes up."
Maki was too shocked to utter a word, so she dumbly nodded and quickly left the cabin. "That at least... wasn't as bad as I'd thought." The way the others had made it sound, she should have had a fork jammed into her knuckles. But all she'd gotten was wash duty? She certainly wasn't complaining, but it seemed off compared to what her crew mates had told her.
"Tomato Bitch," The booming voice of Umi returned. "You forgot my clothes." She was hiding behind the door so Maki wouldn't see her in the nude, but she nonetheless tossed her uniform out to be caught by said girl. The door then slammed shut once more.
"Hey, was that Captain Umi nya?" Rin ran over to meet Maki in the middle of the deck, gasping when she saw the pudding marks on the familiar clothing. "O-oh no, you messed up nya, Rin is so sorry..." She reached out, swiping a bit of the leftover sauce. "But so delicious..."
"Rin-chan, why are you tasting Captain Umi's clothes?" A confused Hanayo entered the scene.
"Maki-chan got pudding cake all over Captain Umi!"
"Oh no!" Hanayo began pinching Maki's cheeks and poking along her stomach. "Did she hurt you?! Where did she hurt you?! What was your punishment?!"
Maki quickly brushed Hanayo's grabby hands away. "I'm fine, I'm fine! She only hurt me mentally." She furrowed her brow as she tapped her chin. "Which reminds me, you guys made it sound so bad, but I barely got a slap on the wrist. Was that just to psych me out?"
Hanayo & Rin shared a bewildered look with each other. "A-are you sure about that? She didn't even use her stick?"
Maki shook her head. "No, not even that, even though she seems to love that thing. Is this part of the hazing process or something?"
Rin whispered to Hanayo, who seemed even more confused than before. "Well, it's good that you weren't hurt at least... But did she give you a punishment?"
"Yeah, I have to go wash this with Kotori. Do you know where she is?" Maki was directed to another room of the ship, a small washroom with a laundry mangle that stood about two feet tall.
"Ah, Maki-chan, so good to see you again~." Kotori greeted Maki with a kiss on each cheek. "Did you do well with Captain Umi?"
"Well, that's actually what I'm here about..." Maki shamefully showed the food that was beginning to settle into Umi's apparel.
"Oh no, she didn't give you anything that'll scar, did she?" Kotori concernedly frowned as she took the uniform from Maki.
"No, it was completely unexpected. She just... told me to come wash this with you, and that'd be it." Maki scratched the back of her head. "I still don't see why she'd do that, since it seems she gave you three such harsh punishments."
Kotori hummed thoughtfully as she prepared a barrel full of soapy water. "Could it be?... I mean I guess we'd have to wait and see..."
"Um, is there something you wanna tell me?" Maki snuck up behind Kotori after hearing the girl whisper to herself.
"Oh, it's nothing!" She waved Maki off with a giggle, then placed the clothing into the warm water. "Okay, now I'll do the main washing to make sure it doesn't stain, and you can run it through the mangle and dry it. How does that sound?"
"Well, it's my punishment, so shouldn't I be doing something more?" Maki asked, feeling rather useless at the moment.
"Oh no, it's fine! I like working with clothes, so naturally I'd like cleaning them too." Kotori assured her, beginning to scrub at a particularly deep blackberry stain.
Maki reluctantly agreed, sitting on the short stool behind the mangle. "So, how long have you been working under Captain Umi?" She attempted to start a conversation.
"Ah, I was a seamstress back where I came from, you see." Kotori sighed wistfully, looking as though she were being transported back to the time she was speaking of. "And Umi was this rumored pirate, who was said to be extremely handsome, and a professional thief." She paused in her scrubbing to smile at Maki. "One day, a tall figure pulled me aside and asked if I was happy where I was. I honestly answered that I could use some more excitement in my life, and the rest was history."
"Hmm, I see. So then, were you the first to join Umi's crew?" Clunk! It seemed Maki had asked the wrong question, because Kotori froze up and seemed to be staring at nothing in particular.
"U-um, that topic's for um- another time..." Kotori furiously scrubbed at the last pudding-stained spot, and once fully cleaned, passed it back to Maki. "But I can answer any other questions you'd like me to answer, though if you want more first day stories, you can ask Rin-chan and Hanayo-chan for theirs."
Maki hummed, a bit thrown off by Kotori's avoidance of the first question. Had there been another crew member before her? And if so, what had happened to them? Perhaps they'd done something to piss off Umi enough that she'd banished them from her ship. "All I'm doing is speculating. I'll just try to pry some more information from Hanayo or Rin later." Maki methodically cranked the handle of the mangle, hoping she'd be done with her task soon so she could return the clean threads.
"There, it's all done~." Kotori handed the freshly cleaned dress shirt over to Maki, completing the pile. "Good as new, so you can take them back to Captain Umi."
Maki nodded in thanks, carrying the now dried clothes in a small crate back to where Umi was likely still waiting. She lightly knocked on the door, and at first received no answer. She cocked her head to the side in confusion, knocking again with a harder force. This time she heard a muffled groan come from inside the room; she immediately rushed inside to see what was the matter.
The sight of Umi literally crawling across the floor to get to her bed was unusual. It didn't help that on top of that, she wore the bare minimum in regards to clothing. "U-ughhh," Umi looked up at the girl standing in the doorway. "Make yourself useful and help me into my bed."
Maki set the crate to the side, bending down to scoop Umi up into her arms. "Are you okay, Captain Umi?"
Umi clung to Maki, attempting to relieve herself of some of the pain. "The red tide is here…"
"The… 'red tide'?" Maki glimpsed a bit of blood trickling down Umi's thigh, catching onto what she'd been referring to. "O-oh, here, let me help you." She gently lay Umi onto her bed, taking a seat at the edge. "Do you need a rag, or are you covered?"
Umi weakly waved at a sheet that appeared to be partially torn. "I got a strip off of that, but I think I need more." Maki nodded in understanding, dashing over to rip a large strip off of the cotton sheet. She folded it over a few times for extra layers, then passed it to Umi. "That should hold off for a couple hours."
"Thank you…" Umi turned away so that Maki couldn't see her stuffing the cloth into her undergarments. "I have another request of you." The blue-haired girl tugged on Maki's shirt. "I would like to… lay against you, please. I'm in quite a bit of pain."
Maki's eyes widened at the amount of vulnerability Umi was allowing her to see. What happened to the hardass from before? "Well, yeah, I can do that…" Maki patted her lap, and her captain came scurrying over to lay her head in the dead center of her thighs.
"Ah, that feels a lot better on my neck." Umi's features softened as she allowed Maki to cradle her head.
Meanwhile, Maki lightly stroked Umi's hair to lull her into a restful sleep. "Wow, our captain is… quite useless." Nonetheless, Maki felt she could get used to this softer, much less harsh version of Umi.