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Another Fuyuki chapter. *Sighs* more Saburo stuff.


Mopping Saburo's ship was terrifying. Mostly because Fuyuki kept finding skeletons in the closets - literally. There were bones, skulls, and all sorts of gross parts all over the place.

"M-maybe they're plastic..." Fuyuki nervously chuckled to himself. Saburo wouldn't really have skeletons on the ship. He knew Saburo and he knew Kululu. And they weren't down right evil. They wouldn't kill anyone.

Correction. Saburo wouldn't kill anyone.

He had seen anatomical models in the science room. Maybe they were like that. He tried to keep his mind off of the terrifying situation he had found himself in.

"S-saburo... K-kululu..." Fuyuki stuttered out when he saw the two of them chatting. "I-I keep finding skeletons everywhere..."

"Oh. Toss those off the ship, please. Ku ku, I keep forgetting to get rid of those," said Kululu.

Fuyuki frowned.

"I... I um... don't take any offense to this, but can I ask you something? Have you killed anyone?" Fuyuki knew they wouldn't. They were good people.

Well, Saburo in his world was a good person.

Saburo and Kululu glanced between each other. "Yes," they both answered.

Fuyuki's eyes widened. So those skeletons... They had been real. He covered his mouth in horror. This couldn't be real. Not at all!

Saburo and Fuyuki looked at him for a good moment, then both burst out laughing.

"You won't last long here with that attitude," Saburo told him.

"I don't want to last long here! I want to go home!" Fuyuki reminded them.

Kululu stopped laughing. "There is no home to go back to. And we won't help you until you help us kill some Pirate Lords. Ku, ku, ku. Just you wait - soon we'll make a murderer out of you, too!"

Fuyuki frowned. He didn't want to kill anyone. Not even those two rival Pirate Lords of Saburo's.

He gulped. Kululu was frightening, but Saburo was still laughing. He seemed less cruel than him. Maybe I can win him over. Stop him from murdering anyone and helping me instead.


Despite not being an official part of the crew, Kululu and Saburo brought Fuyuki to their chambers as they held a planning meeting of where to go and how to strike.

Fuyuki didn't really understand or get any of the sea terms they used as they unrolled a map. He didn't get anything they talked about. But as Kululu suggested different theories he had about the Pirate Lords' whereabouts, Fuyuki easily figured out that Saburo was less cruel.

"Then it's decided. We'll go to the Trazeh Sea in search of our rookie Pirate Lord." Like any bad pirate, Saburo struck his blade into the map.

"Ku! You ruined a perfectly good map!" Kululu gasped.

"Plenty more where those came from," said Saburo. "Anyway, let's take it slower with this attack - a bit of the Waiting Game won't hurt anybody."

Saburo was also more thoughtful than Kululu, Fuyuki noted. And this Saburo was so mysterious. Maybe it was the way the feather on his hat blowed in the breeze, even though they were inside a room and there was no breeze.

How had someone like him become the Pirate Lord of the sea? He was so much tougher and more distant than the other Saburo.

After Kululu finished recording their battle strategy, Fuyuki approached Saburo. He wanted to talk to him without Kululu interrupting, although he knew Kululu would hear him.

"I know you're not truly evil. Do you really have to kill the Pirate Lords?" Fuyuki asked him. "You don't have to do this." He didn't want to see an alternate version of his friend go down this path.

Saburo shrugged. "In this business you have to be tough, Fuyuki."

"You don't have to be tough around me." Fuyuki grabbed his arm and tried to look at him, really look at him. Saburo would be able to see his friendliness and non-threatening appearance, right? He could trust him. "I want to genuinely be your friend. And you don't have to kill anyone for that."

Saburo paused a moment as if listening to Fuyuki, but soon enough he coldly brushed him off, ignoring his offer. "So there's only two Pirate Lords besides us left." Saburo ignored Fuyuki and talked to Kululu. "I hate the newest one. That bozo thinks he can be a Pirate Lord so easily... Just comes outta nowhere! Let's take him out first."

"Ku, agreed. We'll take out the more experienced one next," said Kululu.

Kululu and Saburo kept chattering about their plans. When Fuyuki finally got Saburo's attention again, he just brushed him off.

"Clean the ship. You shouldn't even be listening to these plans. I only brought you here to scare you anyway." Saburo told him.

Fuyuki looked down. Brushed off and ignored again.


He mopped the floors again, looking depressed.

"Ku. Cleaning duty again, huh?" Kululu approached him ,laughing at the very sad kid. Fuyuki brightened up when he saw someone he knew, even if that person was Kululu.

"Kululu... is Saburo usually this distant? My world's Saburo is usually much more fun-loving and easy-going," he said. He hadn't expected Saburo to be so different in this other world.

Kululu sat down on a barrel, looking at Fuyuki for a moment. "Don't judge him too harshly. He may not have had a chance to show you, but Saburo's a good guy."

"He's planning on killing people!" Fuyuki said.

"Well, deep down Saburo's a good guy. Unlike me, ku ku. He might be a lot like your Saburo, for all you know. He has to put on a tough front as a Pirate Lord, after all. It's a tough job. Pirate Lords are supposed to be unstoppable scourges of the sea, inspiring fear in all. And Saburo's one of those three people who has the title," said Kululu. "He's worked hard to be a top pirate."

"But... he's so mean to me..." Fuyuki looked sad.

"Of course he is. He has to especially put up a tough front around you! You are the first person to stumble into his treasure trove, a treasure trove that's hidden away on an invisible island. I don't know how he came upon it, he's even a bit mysterious to me, but you somehow got into a place that no one's ever seen before. So he's threatened by you and he has to intimidate you so you don't tell anyone about it," Kululu explained.

Fuyuki nodded. So that was why Saburo was trying to act so scary!

He was glad that he wasn't the only one who knew nothing about him, though. Kululu seemed to not know some of Saburo's mysteries, as well. That made him feel better.

"Why are you telling me all this?" Fuyuki asked finally looking at Kululu. It seemed awfully nice of him.

"Ku. Because Saburo thrives on friendship, unlike me. And you said you wanted to be his friend," he said, "I owe Saburo a lot. He's a good friend of mine. So I thought I might explain why he's acting like that. And you know a part of Saburo I don't, from the other world," he said.

Fuyuki smiled. He was glad that Kululu was so loyal to his friends.


Eventually Saburo approached him, stopping his work.

I have to be friendly enough so that he stops feeling like he needs to intimidate me, Fuyuki reminded himself.

"Since you'll be on this ship for a while, I thought it would be in your best interest to give you a tour," Saburo told him. Fuyuki nodded. Maybe he'd learn more about Saburo through this.

"I'd love to!" he said.

"You'll regret saying that, ku, ku, ku," Kululu laughed.

"One has to have my permission, of course, to be able to see the ship." Saburo started the tour showing Fuyuki around. "I have to let you enter it. In a way, it's very spiritual." He fiddled with the talisman around his neck that caused the ship to be invisible. "It's like a phantom. That's why I named it that."

"The Phantom sounds like a nice name for a ship," Fuyuki complimented. "Did Kululu make you the talisman?"

Saburo looked confused. "No. It's magic. I got it from a plunder."

"Ku. Sure ya did. I'll learn someday where you got it." Kululu rolled his eye.

Saburo continued the tour. "Of course, you already know I'm the captain of the ship, and these are my quarters." He showed him the door.

"And Kululu's the first mate!" Fuyuki guessed.

"Nah, he's not my first mate," Saburo chuckled. "He's our surgeon - a very important job for any ship."

"Ku, ku, ku. Need a limb removed? Cuz I love doing that," said Kululu. Fuyuki winced and tried to hang to Saburo's arm.

Saburo laughed.

The tour mostly continued like that. Kululu trying to scare Fuyuki, and Fuyuki trying to be more friendly with Saburo. It mostly worked, but he didn't learn much more about him. Saburo still thought Fuyuki was rather weak, but he did feel closer to him, like he was less of a threat.

"All right, tour's done," Saburo finally told him. He had shown Fuyuki all the places on the ship. "Now, I guess you're a part of my crew. Hm... think I'll make you a cabin boy. Do you want to relax and take a drink with the rest of the crew?"

Fuyuki paled. "A drink?" He was underage! In his universe, he knew drinking underage was not something he should do... but he wanted to get in good with Saburo and the crew to get their help. So he slowly nodded.

"Great! We have plenty of booze to go around!" Saburo clapped his hands.


"Uhh... Saburo?" Fuyuki looked at an empty room. The crew that he had seen all over the ship had not accompanied them. "Why isn't the crew here to drink with us?"

"Ku, ku, ku. They're afraid of me. They never party with us anymore," Kululu said simply.

Fuyuki opened his mouth, but then closed it. That actually made sense. He would probably make the same choice. It was a smart one: avoid Kululu.

"They think he's twisted," Saburo whispered, pouring Fuyuki some beer. Fuyuki looked at the glass, but didn't drink. He still didn't want to. It felt wrong.

Saburo and Kululu drank, though. And they drank a lot.

Probably cuz they're pirates, Fuyuki reminded himself. It didn't take long for Kululu and Saburo to just start laughing, drunken and hammered. It hadn't actually taken long at all.

They sure drank a lot, Fuyuki saw. And he was still holding his first cup, looking down at it awkwardly.

Did Saburo get drunk in front of Fuyuki because he trusted him?

"Ku, ku, ku. We're the Pirate Kings!" Kululu clacked his cup against Saburo's and drank again. Saburo laughed.

"Umm... Saburo?" Fuyuki asked.

"Want to join in on the hearty conversation? We were just talking about which part of the body was least important," Saburo smiled.

"Ku, ku, ku. I said eye. Get it? Cuz I don't have mine! Ku, ku, ku!" Kululu burst out laughing, pointing to his eyepatched eye.

"Yeah, about that... Why do you have an eyepatch over your glasses lens? Wouldn't it be easier to put it under it?" Fuyuki asked.

Kululu stared at him blankly. Saburo stared down at his glass.

"God, I'm drunk. I'm always drunk, aren't I?" Saburo asked. "I've never once asked that. But that's the smartest question I've ever heard. Make this boy king!"

Kululu just stared. He didn't know, himself. "I... well, I can't see if I don't have my glasses on..."

"But you have no eye." Fuyuki pointed out. "You couldn't see anyway."

Kululu looked down at his cup. "Nobody could tell that I had no eye if I put it under my glasses." But he wasn't sure himself why he had made that choice. Why did he want people to know he had no eyeball? To look cool? He took another drink, not wanting to think about it.

Fuyuki smiled. Now that he had gotten in good with them and made idle conversation, he could finally start asking the real questions. "So... why are you a pirate, anyway, Saburo? Why did you choose to have this life?"

Saburo took a slow drink, "Getting deep, aren't we?" Saburo asked. "It wasn't anything like I was forced into or born into it. It was just my dream. When I was little, I would always hear tales of pirates. It fascinated me. It always did, even if the sea turned most people away. I wanted so much to be famous, to get the most treasure in the world. To go down in history. And I'm so close to my goal of being the best in the sea." He grinned.

Fuyuki grinned a little. That actually wasn't too bad of a reason, nothing really scary. "That's kind of how I feel about studying the occult," he shared "I loved it as a kid, and now it's just kind of my passion."

Saburo smiled at him.

"Ick. Stop this friendly nonsense," shouted Kululu.

Fuyuki smiled back. He could feel it. The two of them were bonding!

"You're a good person, Fuyuki. Not bad at all," Saburo told him, "It's likely that we'll perhaps become good friends someday since it's very unlikely you'll be able to return to your world."

Fuyuki's smile dropped at that depressing bit of information. He took a sip from his glass finally. He didn't want to think about that, all the things he was leaving behind. He wanted to be home. He liked Saburo fine, but he wanted to be with his friends and family.

"So... do you miss anyone? What do you miss most about that world? I'll try to make it easier on you being here; at least you have one old friend, me, right?" said Saburo.

Kululu clapped. "Yes! Tell us about your boring life in your old world and the pathetic stuff you miss."

Fuyuki drank a bit more. He didn't really want to talk about what he missed in his world. "Well, naturally I miss my family, like sis and Mom, and my friends, like the Sarge."

"But what do you miss the most?" Saburo asked. Fuyuki thought. And in his hazy, drunken state, one thing came to mind.

"Well, I mean there is this one girl. Ack! But I don't like her or anything, not in that way. But she's a good friend of mine, I was going to go to our club today. She's so sweet... Kind of cute. But wait! No, I didn't say she was cute! She's not like that. We're just friends, I don't have a crush on her... But I do want to see her again..." Fuyuki started blushing as he talked about Momoka. He couldn't just leave her in the other world alone. He missed her so much.

Saburo stared blankly as he talked about his crush and drank more. Soon he started frowning.

"Okay, maybe I do like her. But don't tell Fuyuki! I don't know yet," Fuyuki slurred drunkenly. He wasn't sure why Saburo was frowning at him. Hadn't there been a friendly mood moments ago?

Kululu stood up, dropped his cup, and left.

Then Saburo pulled out his knife.

As if realizing the danger, Fuyuki's mind sobered up for a moment. "Wait... what are you doing, Saburo?" Saburo pressed his knife against Fuyuki's throat, not nearly hard enough to draw blood, but he looked mad.

"Kululu's not my first mate, but he my best friend," he growled. "And making him uncomfortable is unforgivable and even if you are pretty cute, if you do it again I'll have to kill you."

Fuyuki looked frightened. "Wh-what did I do? How did I make him uncomfortable?" He hadn't even noticed the change in Kululu's expression and how his laughter had stopped when he had talked about Momoka.

"There's a rule on this ship. One I should have told you. We do not ever talk about lovers. You should best remember that before you talk about your girl." Saburo pulled the knife away from Fuyuki and slumped into his chair, pulling his hat over his eyes so he could get some drunken sleep.

Fuyuki looked at Saburo for a moment. "Why not? Why does that make Kululu uncomfortable?"

Saburo peered out of under his hat. "Because he lost his. He doesn't like talking about it. Ever heard the phrase misery loves company? That's him. Other people talking about how good they have it makes him remember. So don't say anything."

Fuyuki looked so confused. He had honestly had no idea. "I'm sorry," he said. "The Kululu in my world is such a loner... He prides himself on being the most dislikable guy. I don't think he'd ever even want to have a lover, so I had no idea..."

"Shut up," Saburo told him. "And don't ever talk about that with Kululu."

Fuyuki winced as he watched all his progress with Saburo go down the drain. Soon, Saburo was asleep.

Terrified, Fuyuki curled up on the floor and fell asleep, hoping that someone from his world would come and save him.


As you can see Fuyuki's chapters are a bit more plot filled. They have a goal of finding the pirate lords.

And yes, in this fic Fuyuki does like Momoka.

Please review.