I just have to say I am ridiculously excited for the rest of this story. The outline at least is brilliant—according to myself haha. But it should be good and at the very least I'll have fun writing it ^^

Disclaimer: Don't own.

-xXx-

Shuichi leaned against the railing, watching wave after wave splash against the side of the ship. He had awoken in the morning to find nothing but a plate of food and note which read: "You're free to go where you like as long as you stay out of everyone's way-especially mine." Despite the rather lackluster note, Shuichi had to admit that he was more than a little happy to find a large section of the plate had been filled with strawberries. It hadn't taken long for him to consume the contents of the plate but when he had finished, he started to wish he had taken his time. Without all of the lunches, get-togethers, and parties usually planned by his mother to devour his time Shuichi found he really had no idea what to do with himself. He was tempted to explore more of the ship but Yuki's warning from last night was still very clear in his mind and he wasn't eager to have a repeat performance.

So now here he was, staring at nothing but water and wood, bored out of his mind. Truth be told he had expected a pirate ship would be a little bit more exciting than this.

"Do that the whole trip and I guarantee you'll have lost your mind by the end." Shuichi turned, fully expecting to find Yuki with his usual annoyed expression but instead was greeted with the sight of a smiling brunet.

"So you're the new guy our captain picked up, eh?" The pirate said, leaning against the railing next to Shuichi.

Shuichi inspected the man before him, trying to decipher his intentions, but all he could tell was that he was tall with dark auburn hair that curled at the ends and had vibrant green eyes. However, prior experience with pirates told him it would be best not to trust this one so he glared. "I'm not a stray dog, he didn't "pick me up". He stole something from me and I'm here to get it back."

The brunet laughed, it was a kind, genuine laugh and Shuichi decided he rather liked it; maybe not all pirates were as cold as Yuki. "You're an interesting kid, standing up to our captain. I'm Eric by the way, I'm in charge of the sails on this ship." He said, holding out his hand in greeting.

Shuichi smiled and took the offered hand. "Shuichi. And I didn't know he was a pirate when I got on this ship, otherwise I most likely wouldn't be here."

"Can't say I blame you, we do a damn good job of covering our tracks. But don't ask me to tell you how, that's a secret known only to us permanent residents on this ship." Eric said with a wink. "So," He continued hastily, not wanting to give Shuichi time to pry any further into the former subject, "how do you like our captain?"

Shuichi's smile changed to a scowl and Eric let out another laugh, "That bad, huh? Well he's not the easiest person to get along with, that's certain. But I promise you, he's a good guy—for a pirate."

Shuichi raised an eyebrow but didn't comment.

"Trust me; he would have killed you by now if he didn't want you around."

"Well he threatened to kill me at least." Shuichi said sulkily.

Eric laughed again, "Then I wouldn't worry if I were you. That's as bad as it'll get. He does that to everyone, you shouldn't take it personally."

Shuichi looked at Eric, thoroughly unconvinced. "How can you defend him so much? I haven't heard him say a single nice word to anyone!"

"He's a pirate, love, not a pompous figurehead of the state."

"Believe me I noticed." Shuichi muttered darkly. "At least our "figureheads" as you call them have manners."

Eric sighed. "Look, I don't expect you to fully understand but he is probably the only person on this ship that all of us respect and trust without question—not to mention he's a brilliant strategist. So I guess all I'm going to ask of you is that you don't write him off as a complete villain just yet."

Shuichi opened his mouth to make another argument for his case but stopped, remembering the strawberries that Yuki had left for him this morning. "Very well, I guess it couldn't do any harm."

Eric chuckled lightly at Shuichi's melodramatics. "Alright then, enough about Yuki. Tell me Shuichi, what part of society are you from? I mean the only other person I've heard speak like you is Yuki." Eric paused for a bit, in thought. "You're not related to him are you?"

"What? No! I'm the son of the Royal governor, there's no way we would have any relation to a pirate!"

Eric whistled. "Well, that explains a lot. No wonder Yuki's been so protective of you…" Shuichi couldn't help but feel a little nervous at Eric's reaction; he had assumed that Yuki had told them all his identity, the fact that Eric didn't know made him think that perhaps it would have been best to keep that little fact to himself.

"Uh well…what I meant was…I'm not actually-"

Eric took note of Shuichi's panic and set his own surprise aside, immediately giving him a reassuring smile. "It's ok, you're secret is safe with me." He said, adding a mock bow at the end in jest. "But I suggest you keep that bit of information to yourself from now on."

Shuichi nodded his head in agreement, "So, you're not going to tell everyone?"

"I'll keep my mouth shut—for a price." At Shuichi's indignant expression he just shrugged and said, "Pirate, love, what did you expect?"

"But I don't have anything! Not since your precious captain stole it all."

"Fair enough. I suppose I could settle for a kiss then." Eric said with a wink, all but laughing as he watched a thoroughly embarrassed Shuichi try to formulate a coherent response. Luckily for Shuichi a voice behind him saved him from having to respond.

"Eric, you did here me last night, didn't you?"

"Of course, Captain, I was just being friendly. Hey Shuichi, come find me sometime, I'll show you what I do on this blasted ship."

"Speaking of, shouldn't you be doing your job right now?" Yuki asked with a slightly threatening edge to his voice.

"Sorry Captain, I'm on my way." He sent Shuichi a wink and was off running before Yuki could say anything more.

Shuichi had fully expected Yuki to leave then and go back to ignoring him as he had all day so he was a bit surprised when a hand closed around his upper arm and started pulling him across the deck.

"Come with me."

Shuichi sat himself in a chair and crossed his arms in annoyance. "What did I do this time? Make a friend without your consent?"

Yuki glared at him from where he was standing. "No. I'm just a little concerned about who you're making friends with."

"If you're saying that there are people in your crew nicer than Eric then I'm starting to doubt your status as pirates."

"Look, all I want to say is be careful. Eric's known for being a bit of a playboy-with both men and women and I didn't want you—what?" He asked, noticing a rather ridiculous smile was spread across Shuichi's face.

"Awww are you concerned for my well-being? Yuki that's so sweet!"

"Eh? No! I was just going to say that it's best if you don't get attached to anything or more likely anyone on this ship."

Shuichi's smile stayed the same, "Yeah, uh-huh, sure."

Yuki opened his mouth to say something—most likely mean or crude—in his defense but was interrupted by a series of loud knocks came on the door. "Cap'n! We've spotted a ship on the horizon!"

"Flag?"

"French trading vessel."

"I'll be right there." Yuki called before turning his attention back to Shuichi. "It would probably be best if you stay here until I come back. Got it?"

Shuichi gave a half-hearted nod.

"I'm serious Shuichi, promise me you'll stay put."

"Yeah, yeah, I promise."

Soon enough Yuki was out of the room but it wasn't for nearly 15 minutes that he heard something. He could hear shouts in both English and French along with the clashing sound of steel against steel. After a few moments of painful curiosity, he hesitantly pulled open the door and snuck up the flight of stairs that led to the deck. Very tentatively he stuck his head around the corner just in time to see one of the pirates pull his sword from a Frenchman's body. He couldn't help but watch in horror as blood spilled forth from both the wound and the mouth of the victim before the body toppled over the edge of the ship and into sea below.

"What are you doing up here?" Shuichi jumped at the sound of Eric's voice and turned around.

"I-I was just…" Shuichi trailed off, his throat closing up as the tears started to form. He caught sight of a blood stain on Eric's hand and shirt and did his best not gag.

"I can't believe Yuki would let you come out here right now." He said coldly, guiding Shuichi back down the stairs and back to Yuki's rooms. Shuichi didn't say anything more; he just followed Eric into the room and curled up on Yuki's bed. He had seen men killed before but it was always for a crime, it was always deserved—at least by the courts ruling. But this was different, this was downright murder.

Shuichi wasn't sure how much longer the fighting went on; he could only assume it had ended when he felt the bed dip as someone sat next to him.

"You can't expect me to pity you, I specifically told you to stay down here."

"I know." Shuichi replied softly. "I'm sorry."

He could hear Yuki sigh above him and he slowly lifted his head. "Its fine," Yuki reassured, "I don't mean to sound angry right now I'm just..."

"Worried?" Yuki looked down at Shuichi who was staring back at him with the faintest trace of a smile on his lips.

"Fine. A tiny bit worried."

Shuichi's face quickly became somber again and he moved to sit up next to Yuki, "Hey… why do you have to kill them?"

"It would be bad for us if anyone could give the authorities our identity. Our whole operation out here depends on us remaining unidentifiable."

"I guess I could understand that, though it still seems like a bit much to me."

"Not all of us have had the same good fortune as you. Now come on, get up. It's time for dinner."

Shuichi fell back into the bed and rolled over so his back was to Yuki, the thought of seeing so many people that he knew had committed unnecessary murder just an hour or so before made him sick. "You go ahead; I don't really have an appetite."

Yuki gave a frustrated sigh. "Shuichi, I know you really can't stand doing what I tell you to do, but for once just trust me, you'll feel better with food in you. Or were you planning on hiding out in my bed the rest of your stay here?" When Shuichi made no response and didn't move from his position Yuki slid his arms under Shuichi's body and lifted him off the bed.

"Hey! What are you doing? Put me down!" Shuichi cried indignantly.

"Will you come to dinner on your own?"

Shuichi glared up at him. "Like hell! You can't make me go to dinner if I don't want to."

"Oh really? I beg to differ." Yuki replied simply, making for the door with Shuichi still in his arms.

"Alright! Alright! I'll come! So put me down!"

Yuki complied and Shuichi was shocked to see a quiet smile on Yuki's usually more serious face.

"What?" He asked, crossing his arms and looking at Yuki suspiciously.

"What do you mean "what"?"

"You were smiling."

"Sorry, I didn't know that was cause for commotion."

"It sin't. Unless it's you. Then we should either have a celebration or find a place to hide."

"Wow. Someone thinks he's funny. Now let's go, I'm starving."

As much as Shuichi hated to admit it, Yuki was right, he felt much better with some food and being around Eric's friendly charm helped him relax quite a bit—though that also could have been due to all of the alcohol Eric kept pushing him to consume until Yuki finally made him stop. It wasn't until Shuichi was practically falling asleep at the table that Yuki decided maybe it was time for Shuichi to go to sleep. And went to run a quick check of the ship, make sure everything was running smoothly before going to sleep himself. When he got back to the room he was surprised to find Shuichi was still awake and seemed to be waiting for him. Slightly unnerved by the boy's behavior, Yuki did his best to ignore Shuichi as he got ready for bed. Maybe if he ignored him he could avoid whatever conversation Shuichi had in mind.

"Hey, Yuki…" Apparently ignoring didn't work. "You never told me why you were smiling earlier."

Yuki finished changing his shirt before looking over at Shuichi. "You're bringing that up again?"

"Well the fact that you avoid answering makes me more curious than I originally was. And if you tell me I'll consider letting you sleep in the bed."

Yuki raised an eyebrow at this. "You'll consider letting me sleep in the bed? Might I remind you just who's bed that is. By all rights I should be the one saying that to you."

Shuichi frowned at him. "You would actually kick me out after the day I just had."

"Yes."

"Jerk! And by the way you're avoiding the question again."

Yuki sighed. "Fine, fine. Slide over a bit and I'll tell you." Shuichi quickly complied and moved over to the edge of the barely double bed. Yuki climbed in next to him and blew out the candle, sending the room into darkness.

"If you really must know, I was just glad to see that you seem less…upset than you were. I mean as much as I find your normal personality annoying, it's at the very least better than when you're quiet." Shuichi was glad that Yuki blew out the candle before saying that so he couldn't see the blush that spread across his face.

-xXx-

Ok. So… I actually have nothing to say now except review if you feel inclined otherwise see you next chapter!