~ Hello! Bows. I still exist, so do not despair! So, welcome to the next installment of my story. I hope that you enjoy it. And, yes, I did have a lot of sugar. Now, in regards to the reviews that I received, thank you to all that replied. I'm glad that you liked it. Some of the reviews require a response, so here they are.
Shinigami Nanashi-san - First, thank you, for the review. Second, I didn't type it up in bold. I didn't even realize that the chapter was in bold until you said something about it, I took a look then. I don't really know how to fix it, so I'm afraid that if the chapters are in bold we will just have to put up with it until I figure out how to change it. Sorry.
Photo Shy HxS Fan 2.0-san - I'm glad that you enjoyed the last chapter. I'm sorry that you had given up on my story, but you are right. The writer's block just hit me good and hard. However, you're suggestions for Hiruma gave me some ideas for some later chapters. Through I think that the Yakuza would be afraid of Hiruma since he probably has dirt on them and proof to go with it. LOL.
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Alright. Now, I don't think that I gave some VERY important background info and everyone will need to know it to understand this chapter. There are FOUR, I repeat FOUR docks. Dock A, Dock B, Dock C, and Dock D. Dock D is the easiest dock to get into. The higher the dock letter, the rougher and harder the dock is. Sena aimed for Dock D. Each dock has its own set of runners. If a lower dock manager thinks that a runner would do well in a higher dock, he sends the kid with a message to the next manager to test the kid. That's how they know how well a kid will do. I'm sorry that I didn't make that distinction earlier. It was part of the original plot for the story, and I'm not deviating from the plot.
Anyway ENJOY!
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Disclaimer: as I have stated before: ME NO OWN! If I did, well Sena would be with Hiruma like two days in to the manga. Well, maybe not two days, but still. J
Warning: swearing and yaoi. This means boy on boy action people! If you don't like, then don't read it. If you plan on Flaming me, please note that I don't really mind Flames and that I find them highly entertaining. As a personal opinion, if you don't like something an author does in a story, inform them of it; and then give other options that they could have done. Don't just swear at them, and then inform the author that they're a bad author and that they suck. That's just childish and shows that your maturity level isn't very high. Please note that this is a personal opinion, not a general one.
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Speech - "Blah"
Thought - Blah
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Two weeks have passed since Sena's first day, and he's settled into a comfortable routine. He wakes up early, eats breakfast, then grabs his things and runs down to the dock. He then sits next to the wooden crates, and waits for everyone to arrive. While he waits, he draws and shades different people. Once Deruku-san arrives, Sena trots off to inform Reuisu-san that they were ready to begin the day. The days are then spent running messages, sketching, and getting things for the dock brats. He gets sent home at six; he does his karate workout, eats dinner, and takes a bath, then goes to sleep. Repeat the next day.
It had been quite normal for Sena to come home sore the first few days, but as he became used to the amount of running that the brats did, he grew less and less sore. It was two weeks to the day that Sena first went down to the docks, and he woke at his usual time.
Today wasn't the same as the previous days, as he didn't wake up in pain. He was pleased to find that he could stretch his body out and he didn't fell as much as a twinge. Getting up, he stripped his pj's and pulled on his clothing for the day. He had long since bought some similar clothes to the ones that the other teens wore. He followed his usual routine, and was on his away to the docks in ten minutes.
Arriving earlier than usual, Sena settled down at his spot. He had long since stacked them so that they formed a small hollow, similar to the Lounge, to get out of the sun. He had also set his flashlight so that it shone down from a corner. Noting that it was going to rain, he placed his bag in an empty crate near him. He slid in to the hollow, making sure that he could see the Lounge and that he could be seen as well. Turning the flashlight on, he pulled out his sketch pad. Opening it to a picture that he had been working on for the past few days he began to color it in. It was a drawing of the Lounge with all of the dock brats in it. He was in the process of carefully shading a red color in one of the teen's hair when he heard Deruku-san being hailed by one of the kids.
Setting the drawing aside, Sena got up and out of the crate, then headed off to Reuisu-san. It had started to drizzle while he was preoccupied. Carefully skirting workers, Sena made his way over to the main warehouse. Quickly spotting Reuisu-san talking to a worker, Sena moved to stand next to him. The worker, Samuerusonu-san, nodded to him before confirming that he understood Reuisu-san. Dismissing Samuerusonu-san, Reuisu turned to his head towards Sena.
"Brat, is Deruku ready?" the tall man asked. Sena smiled up at him.
"Hai, Reuisu-san. Deruku-san is all set. Shall I tell him that you're ready?" Sena inquired, tilting his head. Reuisu grunted, waving his hand in dismissal. Sena bowed and headed back to the Lounge. Seeing Deruku-san looking his way, Sena waved slightly, then gave him a thumbs-up sign; showing that they were set to go. Deruku-san nodded, and then turned back to Kode-san, a fellow runner. Heading back to his wooden shelter, Sena notice a large coil of rope and a big three pronged hook lying in the middle of the walkway. Thinking that he should move them so that they weren't in the way, he picked them up. Taking them with him, he sat under the protection of crate's wooden sides.
Gazing out, Sena watched as Deruku set runners to and fro. Bored, he turned back to the hook and rope. Shrugging, he looped the rope through the hook's circler opening. Tying off the square sailor's knot that one of the teens had taught him, Sena idly started to swing the hook back and forth. Back and forth, back and forth. It was hypnotic, really. Blankly gazing out of his hole, Sena didn't really watch everyone do their jobs. He listened instead. Listened to the rain lighten to a light mist; listened as feet ran on the wooden planks; vaguely listened to the talk of everyone.
Creak, pop.
Sena blinked, startled out of his trance. Stopping the swinging hook, he looked around. He didn't see anything that would have made that sound. Listening hard, he heard it again.
Creak, pop.
It was faint, the sound of rope being strained and then snapping. Looking towards the end of the wharf, Sena headed over to the only ship that was being unloaded.
Standing near, but not close enough to be in the way, Sena carefully looked over the crane. It was slowly lowering a load of looked to be fragile porcelain. The operator of the crane had stopped the machine, leaving the porcelain hanging in mid-air. Hearing the sound again, he looked to the rope supporting the load. Near the top of the crane, the rope was beginning to unravel. The workers didn't notice as they were clearing the area under the load. Knowing that there was no time to call to the workers, Sena looked about quickly.
Spotting a metal rope anchor (A/N: like one of the ones you would anchor a boat to on a dock with) close to the crane, Sena loosen a loop of the hook and rope that he had subconsciously taken with him. Spinning the hook to give it momentum, he let it fly. Up and over the crane's metal neck; down to hook the net supporting the large crate. Pulling the rope tight, Sena looped it around the metal T. Throwing the rest of the rope behind him, he took hold of the rope, and bracing himself away from the end of the wharf, wrapped it around his hands and arms. Just in time, as the rope holding the porcelain up snapped completely. The only thing keeping it from crashing down was Sena and his rope, who was sliding forward on the slick planks.
Deruku, having seen Sena head over and followed, shouted something to the dock brats, and grabbed hold of some of rope; right behind Sena. The others quickly followed in suit. The workers, having been shocked when the rope snapped and even more shocked when the crate didn't fall immediately, ran to help. More workers went to brace and support the crate. Sena was currently swearing every word that he had ever heard in his head, not having the breathe to do so out loud like some of the people behind him, as the strain of the large crate pulled at his muscles.
Off to the side, Reuisu was running towards all of them to take charge. Bellowing orders left and right, he made his way over to the line of workers and dock brats who were the sole support to for the crate. Nodding to them, he made sure that everything was clear, and then gave the order to lower the crate.
"Alright, everyone! Slowly now! Let go the rope in small chunks. We don't want to lose it! On my mark!" Reuisu shouted, lifting a hand. Bring his fingers forward, he gestured for them to bring the crate down, watching the crate make its descent.
"Loose!"
Opening and closing his hands in time with everyone, Sena let the rope slid through his fingers. Wrapped around his arms and hands as they were, there was an uncomfortable burning sensation as it moved. Clamping down on the urge to grimace, he watched as the crate was safely lowered to the ground. Once there, Sena waited until everyone had let go of the rope, so that he had the slack to unwind it from his arms. Deruku took hold of a slightly bloody limb. Looking it over, Deruku made a face at the rope burns.
"You need to get this cleaned, Sena-kun. Leaving this untreated is just asking to have it infected," Deruku informed the now wincing teen. Sena nodded, he was in full agreement there. Telling Apuriru-san to take over for a while, the older teen led Sena toward the main warehouse. Going up the office, Deruku told Sena to sit down on the old couch. While Deruku was looking for the first-aid box, Sena took in the sparse office. Off to the right side was an old desk with papers on it. Behind it was a well-worn brown chair. Along the walls where filing cabinets. To the left was a counter with a sink. On the counter, there was a coffee maker and a half full cup.
Having found the first-aid kit, Deruku knelt in front of the small teen. Taking hold of one of his hands, Deruku began cleaning the bleeding burns. Wincing at the sting of alcohol, Sena watched as Deruku disinfected his hand and arm, put some antibiotic on the burns and then wrapped it. As he was doing the same to the other hand, the door opened and Reuisu-san walked in. Frowning at the pair of teens, Reuisu came over to see what kind of damage was done to the smaller teen.
"How bad are his hands, Deruku?" the older man asked. He wouldn't be admitting it any time soon, but Reuisu had taken a liking to the kid. The brat never complained, was very polite, and was still somewhat innocent, considering the blushing that Reuisu had seen the kid do over some of the things the kid heard around here. Reuisu found kind of funny, as well as endearing.
"They'll be alright in a couple of days. The burns weren't too bad," Deruku said, looking up at the man. Turning back to Sena, he tied off the bandage. Packing up the first-aid kit, he stepped away.
"Sena-kun, make sure that you clean and change the bandages every day, okay?" he asked, concerned. Sena smiled and nodded his understanding. Standing, Sena waited for either Deruku-san or Reuisu-san to give him an order. He was going to have to wait a while to receive one.
"Deruku, what tipped you that the line was going to break?" Reuisu inquired. They were real lucky that that load of porcelain hadn't gone crashing down. The lives of the workers under it would have been lost and the people that the cargo was for would have been furious. Deruku shook his head and nodded to Sena.
"I didn't know that the line was going to snap. Sena-kun did. I had noticed that he had gotten up and moved over to where they were unloading the ship. I followed him to see what was so interesting. The next thing I know, he had that rope and hook flying over the crane's neck and was tying it down. Just in time to, since the supporting rope snapped right then. I ran over to help him, yelling for the others to help as well," Deruku explained to a surprised Reuisu. Both turned to gaze at a now blushing Sena. Reuisu gestured for him to tell his side of the story.
"On my way back from telling you that the dock brats were ready, I had spotted the rope and hook in the middle of the walkway. I didn't want them to be in the way, so I picked them up and took them with me to my spot," Sena said, explaining why he had the rope in the first place.
"I had been waiting for Deruku-san to bring me a message to run when I heard a sound. It sounded like some rope straining and breaking. Hearing it again, I got up to look for the source. Seeing the ship being unloaded, I went over there. Watching for a little while, I heard the sound of a third time. Looking up at the support rope, I saw that it was unraveling. There wasn't any time to warn anyone, so I threw the rope over the crane to catch the crate. I hoped to just anchor it until someone noticed." Sena shrugged at the end of his explanation. It was simple logic to him.
"Quick thinking," Reuisu commented. It impressed him that the kid had shown such quick planning and the guts to try to support such a large load. Deciding that he needed to see if the kid could handle the higher up docks, he turned to Deruku.
"You two can head back now." Nodding to the older man, Deruku motioned for Sena to follow him. Sena bowed to Reuisu-san before following Deruku out of the office. Walking slightly behind the older teen, Sena went over what had happened in his head. Deciding that he did do the right thing, he came out of his head long enough to separate from the older teen and head to his spot. Noting that someone had placed the rope and hook that he had found in his spot, he sat down in the small hollow. He was somewhat spacey for the rest of the day. When Deruku sent him home, the older teen told him to make sure to check the bandages and to get some rest.
Sena went through his workout and went inside to make dinner. His parents had gone out for the evening, thankfully. He didn't want to explain the bandages. Eating quickly, he went upstairs to bath and change the bandages. Once clean and changed, he went to bed, exhausted from the day's events.
! minor time jump !
The following two weeks was interesting for Sena. He had been sent on more message runs than normal. The runs weren't always on Dock D either. He was sent to Dock C and Dock B a few times. Each time that he was sent he was given some messages to run on that dock. It was kind of strange really. He hadn't meant to get the attention of the higher up docks. They were tougher and rougher than Dock D, which is why he choose that particular dock. It was the easiest one that Sena thought he could get into without getting beaten up. But, there hadn't been any mishaps while he was running the messages, so he just assumed that there good reasons for the messages and went with it.
It was a week before he was going back to school and he was kind of excited. He hadn't gotten the dock tattoo, but he was stronger and had more confidence in himself now. He had survived a summer at a place where none of the boys that bullied him would be able to. He was quite proud of himself. He was hoping that even without the tattoo, he would be able to break out of their shadows. Maybe the scars from the rope burns would make them stop to think. They had healed well, and the scars had faded some.
Sena was currently on a noon food run for some of the runners. He had gotten the food and was on his way back when he saw stopped by some of the every bullies that he was hoping to leave behind. He had taken a short cut through an ally when they showed up. They stood in front of him blocking his path. A few more blocked the way behind him.
"Well, isn't it our dear friend Sena-kun," Mamoru drawled. He was bigger than the beginning of the summer. The others had gotten larger too. Sena hadn't thought that they would come looking for him during the summer if he didn't go to the places that they hung out at.
"Mamoru-kun please let me pass. I have somewhere to be right now," Sena said, standing up straight and proud. He wasn't going to be cowed by some little boys after the summer that he just had. If he could survive the docks then he could stand up to them. He tone caused some of the boys to raise their eyebrows in surprise. Mamoru narrowed his eyes, not liking that it seemed like Sena had lost his fear of them.
"Really now? Well that's just too bad, because we need to have a talk with you. We haven't seen you all summer and we missed you, didn't we boys?" Mamoru asked, grinning meanly. Without warning, he swung his fist straight at Sena's face. Sena quickly moved his head back, dodging the blow. However the other boys had taken Mamoru's actions as a signal, and they joined in, swinging and kicking.
Sena was able to block several of the blows and he gave as good as he got, but it was ten against one, and he was soon overwhelmed. He continued to kick and block even when he was on the ground, but he really wished that he had some help. A wish that came true, in the form of several dock brats, including Deruku.
Deruku had wondered what was taking Sena so long, since he never was gone more then ten minutes when he was getting food, and it had already been twenty minutes. So he went to go find him. Several of the boys came with, since they were bored. Deciding to at the ally as a short cut to the food place, they arrived in time to see Sena go down to the ground fighting. The boys didn't even need an order; they went straight to the rescue.
Sena was surprised when the blows suddenly stopped. Looking up, Sena blinked at the sight of Mamoru and his friends getting beaten up by the very people that Sena had left them for. Deruku had taken care of Mamoru himself.
The boys didn't stand a chance. They were down on the ground within five minutes. Once the dock brats were sure that the bullies weren't going to be attacking Sena again, they moved to make sure Sena was okay. Sena, having gotten up while they were dealing with his childhood bullies, leaned against one of the ally walls. Tiredly gazing at the faces that he had grown to respect, he have a small smile.
"Sorry for being late, guys. I was detained," Sena said through a bloody lip and handed the food over to Ronu-san, one of the runners that he bought the food for. He had several bruises and cuts on his arms and legs.
He was a mess, and the dock brats weren't really all that surprised that he apologized for being late when he had gotten beaten up. They had noticed that Sena was rather timid and more likely to take the blame for something. Even if it wasn't his fault. Deruku shook his head at the smaller teen.
"Sena-kun, don't apologize for something out of your control. Come on, you need to have those cuts looked at and I'm sure that Reuisu-san is wondering where we are," Deruku said coming over to help Sena walk. Sena gingerly transferred his weight form the wall to Deruku's shoulder. Deruku glanced over his shoulder at the bullies, and then looked at the other boys. They nodded, they got the silent message. They were to make sure that Mamoru and his friends knew that Sena was off limits from now on
Even though Sena was hurt, the two boys quickly made their way back to the dock and into the main office. Reuisu glanced up from the paperwork on his desk to see who it was coming in. Seeing Deruku supporting a bloody Sena, he quickly stood and got the first-aid kit. One look at Deruku told him that he would be getting an explanation later. After patching Sena up and giving him some aspirin, Reuisu dismissed Sena to either go home or back down to the Lounge. Sena went to the Lounge; he wasn't going to leave because of some bruising.
On his way to his spot, workers asked him if he was okay and what had happened. He smiled back, said that he was fine, and that some older boys had taken a minor dislike to him. He was quite surprised that the workers noticed him at all really. Sena would have been shocked to know that the workers all had a soft spot for him and thought that he was really quite cute for a kid.
Arriving back at his spot, he didn't get a chance to sit down. The girl runners had spotted him, and taking in the bruises, all came over to mother him. They moved him back towards the Lounge instead of his little hollow. They were all quite upset that their little 'brother' was hurt. Sena was really unsure what to do with all the girls hugging him and asking him what happen. So he just smiled and said that he was fine.
! Meanwhile, back with Reuisu and Deruku !
"What happened?" Reuisu demanded to know. He didn't like that Sena was hurt at all. It was clear that he had been beaten up, but he didn't know how or why. Deruku sighed, running a hand through his hair.
"Sena was on a food run. He never takes every long to get food, so when he was taking longer than normal, I went to go find him. Some of the boys came with because they were bored. I had decided to take a short cut through an ally. In the ally, we found Sena surrounded by a group of boys that looked to be his age. I think that they went to school with him," the brunette shrugged.
"They were hitting him. He was fighting back, but the odds were ten against one. He was overwhelmed, and was on the ground when we arrived. The boys and I stepped in and kicked their asses for hurting him. I came back with Sena, while the boys stayed to make sure that those bullies knew that Sena was off-limits. I'm pretty sure that those boys are the reason that Sena decided to join the dock brats. If he was a dock brat, then they wouldn't touch him," Deruku explained his theory. Reuisu nodded thoughtfully.
"Yes, that makes sense. I had wondered why such a nice kid would come down here. He probably had the choice of joining a gang, or joining us. Becoming a gang member would have gone just has badly for him, so he came here. Smart of him really," Reuisu said, still thinking. Coming to a decision, he looked at Deruku.
"Deruku-kun, I've been thinking. Do you think Sena is ready to be mark as one of us?"
Deruku blinked, caught off guard by the question. Thinking back on the past four weeks, he had to concede that Sena was every good at running messages. The kid never stepped on any toes and was very polite to everyone. Thinking on the last meeting that he had with the other dock brats' leaders, he had to say that Sena had impressed everyone that had met him. The only person that didn't have an opinion was Chirurie-kun, the leader of Dock A's brats, as he hasn't met Sena yet.
"I think that it would be a good idea. All of the workers know him by name now, and he is the favorite of all of the dock brats that know him. Although, Sena-kun hasn't been to Dock A yet. I think that instead of asking Seberusu-san to come here, we should send Sena-kun up there. That way he gets to see Dock A, and we can see how he can handle everything up there," Deruku said slowly. Sending Sena to Dock A was kind of risky, considering how rough it was up there, but he handled the other docks with ease. Reuisu thought about it.
"True, we can see how he handles it up there. I have a message that needs to go to Marukusu-sama anyway. Seberusu-san won't be in until five though, so we'll wait until then to send him up," Reuisu said, handing some messages over to the teen. Waving a hand, he dismissed Deruku.
"Alright, Reuisu-san. Let me know when I need to send him over," Deruku nodded, leaving.
Deruku quickly made his way over to the Lounge. He stopped to stare when he got there. Sena was currently in the middle of a female huddle, being smothered with affection. It was very clear that the kid didn't know how to handle the situation, as he was giving any male that he saw a look that practically screamed "HELP ME!"
Chuckling, Deruku came to the rescue for the second time that day, give the girls the messages to run. The girls all pouted at him, but took the messages. They knew that he had given them the messages so that they would leave Sena-kun alone. Sena gave Deruku a look of gratitude for saving him. Deruku gestured for him to go sit down. Sena smiled and made him way to his spot. Sitting in the cool shade, Sena got a drink of water from his water bottle. He was glad for the rest. He hurt in so many places.
The day quickly passed without any more hiccups for Sena. He ran a couple of messages up to Dock C and B, but nothing went wrong. The dock managers gave him a strange look after reading their messages, but they didn't say anything beside to give him a couple of messages to hand over to their own dock brats. He was quick to hand the messages over and to get out of their way. Around five, Deruku called him over.
"Sena-kun, I have a couple of messages for you to run before you head home. They are both going to the same place so it shouldn't take too long. Give both of these to Marukusu-sama on Dock A. They need to get over there as quick as possible, okay?" Deruku asked, handing the messages over.
Sena nodded, eyes wide with shock. He didn't think that he would ever be sent to Dock A. That was the toughest dock there was. Eyes still a little wide; Sena took off at an easy trot. He didn't want to slip on the damp planks. Quickly making his way through the crowded walkways, he waved and smile at the workers when they called greetings to him. This was a common occurrence now.
Upon entering Dock C, he gave Binsentsu-san, the leader of that dock's brats, a nod and wave of greeting. He didn't slow down, though, which let the older teen know that the message wasn't for this dock. Sena moved through that dock with the same ease and familiarity of his own. Dock B was the same, though Jinnifuru-san gave him a startled look when he didn't slow down. He just gave a weak smile back to her. He really didn't know why he was being sent in to Dock A either.
He slowed when he reach the opening to Dock A. Looking around, he spotted the dock brats for this dock. Moving towards them, he was quick to locate the leader of them. The boy was sitting down, though Sena could tell that the teen was taller than him. He was wearing a black muscle shirt with black cargo pants. Combat boots adorned his feet. The teen had shaggy black hair and dark eyes. He was very muscular as well, though he was lean rather than bulky.
Coming to a stop in front of the teen, Sena waited for him to acknowledge him. When the teen looked at him, Sena bowed politely.
"Hello, my name is Kobayakawa Sena. I'm a runner from Dock D and I have a couple of messages for Marukusu-sama from Reuisu-san," Sena said quietly. He didn't want to offend the teen. He looked like he could easily kill Sena with one hand. The teen looked him up and down, studying him. Nodding, he stood up. Walking over to Sena, he pointed to a warehouse.
"I'm Chirurie, the leader of the dock brats of Dock A. Marukusu-sama will be in that building. Let me know if he has any messages to run. If he gives you one to run, come back here so that I can tell you where to find the person it is for," Chirurie said in a low tenor. The teen was over 6'. Nodding his understanding, Sena bowed once more and made his way over.
Along the way several workers tried to hassle him, blocking his way, making rude comments and trying to grab him. Sena, face blushing a deep red, easily sidestepped the grabs, and replied to the comments with set downs of his own. He was quick to get past the workers, and made it to the warehouse without losing any time.
Chirurie raised an eyebrow, having seen Sena get past the workers with relative ease. Most of the runners that get sent up here aren't able to do that. He usually has to step in to get the workers to leave the runner alone. It was rare that a runner could stand for himself and give as good as he got. The kid was polite about it too, which was even rarer. The kid bore watching.
Sena knocked on the office door, and waited for a reply. He was really nervous about meeting Marukusu-sama. Marukusu-sama was the head manager of all of the docks. He mainly stayed at Dock A, but he was in charge of all of them. Sena was told to enter by a light baritone. Sena opened the door and stepped in. Behind the desk was a muscular man in his late forties. Light brown hair was cut military-style, and green eyes gazed back at him. All of what the man was wearing that Sena cpuld see was a white T-shirt. Stepping up to the desk, Sena bowed deeply.
"Hello, I'm name is Kobayakawa Sena. I'm a runner from Dock D. I was asked to bring a couple of messages to you by Reuisu-san," Sena said nervously. He straightened from his bow to stand at attention. He was quick to place the messages on the desk in front of Marukusu. The man gave him a pricing look, taking in the bruises and cuts, then turned to look at the messages.
Marukusu-sama,
Knowing Sena-kun, he's already introduced himself. He is a good runner, and over the past week has shown that he can handle all of the docks, with the exception of Dock A. He hasn't been sent to your Dock yet, so feel free to see if he can handle it there.
I, has well as the others, feel that he is ready to bear the dock brat mark. The second note that Sena-kun has brought is a note for Seberusu-san to mark his wrist. If you decide to test Sena-kun at your dock, wait to give Seberusu-san the note. If not, let Sena-kun bring it to him so he can get it.
Sena-kun usually goes home around six, so please don't keep him there overly long.
Reuisu
Marukusu read the note, and reading between the lines, saw that Reuisu was fond of the kid. Marukusu had to say this for the kid, he was polite. Most of the new runners didn't bow or if they did, it wasn't very deep. Deciding to test the kid through Chirurie, he put the note down and pick up some messages that needed to be sent off.
"Here, take these to Chirurie. Tell him I said that you're to run two of them," he said, handing the notes over to Sena. Sena took them, bowed once more and left. Making his way back to Chirurie-san, Sena mostly ignored the cat calls that some of the workers were yelling at him. Sena knew that they were only doing it to make him flustered. Stopping near Chirurie, Sena continued to pretend that he was deaf. Chirurie looked at him, raising an eyebrow.
"Marukusu-sama told me to give you these and that I'm to run two of them," Sena said, handing the messages over. Chirurie looked them over, pull out two of them, and handed back to Sena.
"The top message is for Derirafu-san. She'll be on the west side of the dock. She's wearing a purple top. The other note is for Jioruji-san. He'll be on the east side of the dock. Believe me, you can't miss him. Wait for replies, then come back here," Chirurie pointed in the directions were they would be. He had purposely picked two messages on different sides.
He wanted to see how well Sena will handle getting to them and getting through the crowded walkways via the other runners that were about. They will tell him how well Sena handled himself in face of the numerous perverts that worked on this dock.
"Hai," Sena bowed, and then took off. He made his way through the crowds, still ignoring the cat calls. He didn't ignore the grabbing hands though. After dodging three hands that were going for his ass, he started lightly smacking them, with a scold that they needed to keep their hands to themselves. He never stopped or slowed down during all of this, even when the workers pouted at him. Which was amusing to the other runners that were passing by him, all going in different directions.
He reached the west side in few minutes, the run not taking long. Looking about, he spotted a female wearing a purple top with a clipboard. He made his way over to her, coming to a halt next to her elbow. When she turned to him, he bowed slightly.
"Hello, I'm looking for Derirafu-san. Might you be she?" Sena asked. The woman was rather pretty, with long pink hair and blue eyes. She was rather well endowed. She was wearing a light purple shirt and pant combo that was finished with dark purple boots. Upon see him, she squealed and glomped him.
"Oh, aren't you just the cutest thing? I'm Derirafu, who might you be sweetie?" she asked, hugging him to her appall chest. Sena's faced turned a deep red color. Carefully moving his head back, he looked up at the, as he decide, insane woman.
"My name is Kobayakawa Sena. I have a message for you. Um, could you please let go? I'm having trouble breathing," Sena gasped out. Derirafu let go of him quickly. Taking a couple deep breathes, Sena stepped back, out of her reach.
He held out the message to her, ignoring the calls of 'lucky bastard' from the workers around him. Taking the message, Derirafu quickly read through it. Writing a reply on the back of it, she handed it back to him.
"Now, don't be a stranger, Sena-kun. You come back to visit me, ok?" Derirafu said with a perky smile. Sena smile hesitantly back and nodded to her. Bowing, he turned and hastily left. Insane woman. Are all women that strange? Sena thought as the made his way over to the left side of the dock, dodging hands and ignoring cat calls. Finally getting tired of the cat calls, Sena replied to one has he dodged a worker's hand, smacking it lightly.
"That's not yours to touch. I realize that it's hard to resist, but do control yourself. After all, it's not like you could keep up with me anyway," Sena said with a wintry, but polite, smile. The worker in question stared at the still moving teen, before the man burst out laughing, along with all the other workers that heard Sena's reply. The runner that heard Sena's reply snorted, trying to keep from laughing himself.
This continued as Sena moved through crowd the rest of the way. A worker would try to make a pass, Sena would deny him, shooting the worker in question down with a well-placed smack and a verbal set down. Everything Sena did or said was very polite, be it him hitting a hand or him replying to something. Sena never once said anything rudely. It was very entertaining to the workers and the runners that heard and saw him.
Reaching the left side of the dock, Sena glanced about him. Spotting the oddest looking man, Sena suddenly knew what Chirurie-san was talking about. You just couldn't miss Jioruji-san. He was 5' nothing, with no hair on top of his head, but with a mass of brown hair growing from the sides. He had a long beard and was wearing an bright, neon orange jump suit. He looked like Santa on crack.
Blinking a few times to see if his eyesight was failing him, Sena made his way over to the strange man. Coming to a halt near the man, Sena watched as the man moved like he was cat. Twisting in an absurd fashion, Jioruji-san turned to look at him. Sena bowed, and handed the message over to him.
"Message for you, Jioruji-san," Sena said quietly. Jioruji blinked at him, took the message, and turned back around.
"You're new around here," the man observed while he read the note. He had rather high voice for a man.
"Hai, sir. I'm usually on Dock D. Reuisu-san asked me to run some messages up here," Sena replied. He was sidestepping workers when they came to close. He was also giving them looks that said quite clearly "No Touching."
"Hmmm," Jioruji murmured. He wrote a reply and twisting in the same fashion, handed the note back to Sena. Sena bowed, and headed back to Chirurie-san. The way back was the same as the way down. Workers trying to grope him, Sena smacking their hands, and delivering verbal set downs. He was replying to a particularly graphic cat call when he reached Chirurie-san.
"Now why would I want to do that? You look as if you could get a woman all on your own. Why would you need my help, when I'm sure you could pick up a nice, well-paying woman to help you out," Sena said in an overly sweet and polite manner over his shoulder, as he came to a halt in front of Chirurie. Turning to face the older teen before the man could respond, Sena handed the replies to a shock-looking Chirurie.
"You were right, I found Jioruji-san with ease. No offense meant to the woman, I'm sure she's nice and all, but Derirafu-san is kind of weird," Sena said, smiling slightly at the teen. Chirurie coughed into his fist, nodding. Everyone thought that about Derirafu.
"Here, give these to Marukusu-sama. Tell him the top one is from me," Chirurie said. Sena nodded, bowed and headed back to the warehouse. Watching the small teen go, Chirurie couldn't help but think that the other leaders were right.
That kid was very unique. The reports that his runners gave him showed him that Sena could not only handle himself but that he had interesting sense of humor. The reply that he himself heard was creative and it let the workers know that Sena wasn't going to put up with their shenanigans. Chirurie decided that he like the kid.
Sena was quick to knock on the office door. Gaining permission to enter, Sena opened the door, came inside, and went to stand in front of the desk. Placing the notes on the deck in front of Marukusu, Sena bowed to the man.
"Chirurie-san said to tell you that the top note is from him," Sena informed him. Inclining his head, Marukusu read Chirurie's report on the kid in front of him. Seeing that the kid could handle himself, even when faced with the kind of people that worked on this dock, Marukusu quickly made his decision. Pulling out Reuisu's second note to Seberusu, he wrote something on it. He then held it out to Sena.
"Take this to the building to the right of this one. Give it to Seberusu, follow his instructions. Then you can head back," Marukusu informed him. Sena could the note with some relief. He couldn't wait to get back to his dock.
"Hai, Marukusu-sama," Sena bowed. Leaving the warehouse, Sena turned right and went into the building there. Looking around the place, Sena thought that he stepped in to a tattoo parlor. There was tables, chairs, pictures of tattoos, and several ink bottles around.
Noticing a man in the back area, Sena cleared his throat. The man that came into the front area was tall and willowy. He was wearing all dark green clothes and had long black hair that was pulled into a low pony tail. He had dark eyes and his nose was a little big for his face, giving the impression of a hawk.
"I'm looking for Seberusu-san. I have a message for him from Marukusu-sama," Sena stated. The man nodded, gesturing for him to come forward.
"I'm Seberusu, kid. Take a seat in that chair," motioning for Sena sit in one of the chairs, Seberusu took the note from him. Reading what Marukusu wanted, he went about getting the inks and needles that he needed. Sena, watching him go about doing this, was quick to figure out that he was getting the tattoo of the dock brats. Anticipating what Seberusu-san would tell him to do, he sat with his hands turned down on the chair's arms.
Turning to look at Sena, Seberusu nodded in satisfaction. He didn't need to tell the kid what to do. Pulling up a chair, the man pulled on some rubber gloves. Taking an cotton swap, he cleaned the area that he was going to place the tattoo with alcohol. Normally, Seberusu would shave the area clean as well, but the kid was young enough that the hair on his arms was too fine to cause any trouble. Carefully bracing himself, Seberusu placed the ink gun against Sena's skin.
It hurt when Seberusu-san started to draw the design on him. It really hurt. Sena had to bite his lip to make it start hurting again, so that he had a distraction. As it was his other hand was currently digging his fingers into the chairs arm, curled in the shape of claws. Sena closed his eyes tightly, and began mentally swinging that rope and hook back and forth in his mind; hoping that he could put himself in to a trance-like state for the duration. Quickly achieving what he wanted, Sena remained in the trance until both wrists were done.
Sena had noticed, and asked about, the second tattoo on the dock brats other wrist. Deruku had explained that the second tattoo of the D with tally marks running a cross it showed which dock that particular runner could handle. A red tally make meant Dock D, a green tally meant Dock C, a blue tally meant Dock B, and a yellow tally meant Dock A. Deruku had all four tally marks. All of the leaders did.
Seberusu made fast work of the right wrist, the one that said that he was a dock brat. Glancing up at the kid's face, Seberusu notice the slightly glazed look in those honey brown eyes. Guess the kid decided to space out until this was over.
Seberusu didn't blame him. The pain of getting your first tattoo was enormous. Cleaning other wrist, Seberusu started on the second D. Ten minutes later, Seberusu finished the final tally and began cleaning up. Waiting for the kid to come back from outer space, the man carefully wrapped the tattoos.
Sena slowly came out of the trance that he put himself in, once he noticed that that the ink gun wasn't going anymore. Blinking a few times, Sena turned to look at Seberusu-san. Nodding that he was indeed done, Seberusu gestured to Sena's wrapped wrists.
"Leave the bandages on for two hours then removed them. The tattoos will scab over, don't pick at them. If they start itching, rub some scentless lotion on them. They'll be completely healed in two weeks. Don't worry about the cost. Marukusu-sama pays for all of the dock brats' tattoos," the tall man informed him. Sena smiled his understanding, getting off the chair. Bowing to the man, Sena took his leave.
"Thank you, Seberusu-san. Bye," Sena said, walking out the door. Seberusu waved, heading back to into the shop. Sena headed towards the dock exit, on his way he said goodbye to Chirurie-san. Waving to the teen, Sena was out of the dock and on his way to his dock. Moving at a quick trot, Sena waved to Jinnifuru-san and Binsentsu-san when he saw them. They both nodded, and smile when they saw the bandages on his wrists. Reaching his dock soon after, Sena headed straight for Deruku.
Deruku had been on the look-out for Sena since he had left. Seeing him come back with his wrists wrapped, Deruku felt a huge rush of relief. He knew that Dock A was full of pervs and that Marukusu-sama could have easily vetoed Reuisu's request to have Sena marked. Deruku was thankful that Sena was okay and that Marukusu-sama agreed to have Sena marked.
"Hi, Deruku-san. I'm back, and boy, am I ever glad to be back. Dock A was completely full of perverts," Sena informed the teen, with a completely straight face. Deruku smiled ruefully.
"Yeah, they all are. Most of them are harmless and are just having fun. Others…..well, I don't think that they mean any harm. They're just rather…exuberant," Deruku said, sighing. Sena nodded, in complete agreement. Derirafu-san was totally out of her mind. Those hugs of hers were lethal.
"Anyway, you can head home now. Be sure to not to bang those wrists. It will hurt if you do," Sena smiled up at the teen, and bowed. Grabbing his stuff, Sena quickly made his way home. Going through his workout, Sena couldn't help smile the whole time. He was officially a dock brat.
Finishing, Sena did his cool down stretches, and went inside. Quietly making his way upstairs, Sena took a quick bath, making use to keep the bandages on his wrists dry. He was careful to wear a long sleeved shirt, so his mom wouldn't freak out. Though, he needn't bothered. Turns out, his parents had gone out that nigh to a movie and dinner. Sena shrugged to himself. It made life easier to him.
After eating a hasty dinner, he removed the bandage from his right wrist and admired the elegant looking D. He gently rubbed some lotion on the slightly sore image, before he did the same to his left wrist. When he saw the tally marks, he gasped. He had thought that he would have the Dock D, C, and B tallies. Not only did he have those tallies, but he had Dock A's tally as well. He hadn't thought that he had done anything to impress Chirurie-san or Marukusu-sama. He thought that they just were being polite.
Laying down, Sena couldn't help but grin happily. He was an official dock brat, and he could go on any of the docks without someone making a fuss. Today was a good day. Sena fell asleep with a smile on his face that stayed there until morning.
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~ Whoot! I'm done with the next chapter! Told you all that my muse came back. *Dancing like a demented kid on sugar* I'm in such a good mood. Anywho, please review. Kisses. ~