Grand Line Kaigun'in
A One Piece Fan Fiction
By Sacred Sakura

Chapter Title First Conceptualized: 1/24/2008
Conceptualized/Written: 1/20-21,24/2008, 2/23-24/2008
Published: 2/24/2008

Rating: T
Genre: Action-Adventure/General/Angst?
Disclaimer: If I owned
One Piece, I wouldn't be stressing over the fact that I need to get working on a crapload of scholarships. But I don't, so my social life is basically screwed.

Dedication: Mr. K., Lord of the Shadows, and AR1502599. And my faithful readers, especially Nezchan.

A/N: The past few months have been really out of whack for me, I swear. I've been swamped with endless amounts of homework since before winter break, and it's barely lightened up since. A thousand apologies for long overdue fics. Please forgive me and have patience!

FYI: I've been posting some of my art from past years! Finally! Please go to "sacredsakura DOT deviantart DOT com" to review my work! There are some pics of my OCs in there, although I have a lot more I still need to upload!

Requests: Any characters in here you want to see up on DA? Just PM/email me!


Training Day Nine: Unexpected Arrival

Two days had passed since the battle, and the camp was slowly falling back into its arduous routine of blood-and-sweat training. Most if not all of the trainees had recovered enough physically, although pretty much everyone—save for two—agreed that a demand for just a modicum less than one-hundred-and-twenty percent would have been nice. After all, not everyone was as sedulous as Yokurui and Kanshi.

Sergeant Major Jinbu, of course, remained deaf to their grievances. As always.

"Okay, the results of our skirmish with those damn pirates have led me to one undeniable, irrefutable conclusion—THE WHOLE LOT OF YOU HAS BEEN SLACKING OFF!!" He paused in the midst of his menacing pacing to throw a pointed glare at the ramrod-straight line of trainees. "Therefore, we're going to triple your current regimen!"

A collective groan filled the grounds.

"And I don't want to hear any of your damned whining! Now get to it!"

The marine recruits complied, slowly making their way to the edge of camp to begin their unending morning circuit. Within minutes, a few had already made their first run around the camp and were well through their second and third laps. As the marine officer snarled colorful streams of insults and curses at their supposed lack of celerity, nearly everyone agreed that the man was the quintessential training officer from hell.

A girl of small stature that belied her age slowed mid-run and stared out into the coruscating ocean. Its mellifluous waves danced lightly on the azure surface, a deceptive display that revealed nothing of the waters' true nature and the gargantuan denizens that traversed its depths. As she narrowed her eyes, the peculiarity that had caught her eye moments before began to take more solid shape and dimension.

Sails. Canvas clouds that crossed the vast blue, growing in size as the magnificent galleons approached the island. The sheet-white veils billowed and flapped over the hearty umber of shipwood and pitch, like a workman's uniform of a starched white shirt complemented by brown corduroy pants. Their increasing proximity allowed the young trainee to make out the vivid blue words and emblem splayed across the mainsail.

'"Marines"?' Her brow furrowed. 'Didn't Sergeant Major Jinbu say that the supply ship wouldn't arrive for another five days? Then why are they here?'

Suddenly, someone ran right into her, knocking her to the ground.

"Don't stand in the middle of the beach like some idiot!" The young man swore a couple times at the growing bruise in his arm as he glared balefully through a mess of sepia bangs. "You want to get killed?!"

Nervousness instantly invaded every cell in her body, as it always did whenever she was under even the remotest scrutiny of others. Her soft brown eyes averted from the trainee before her, flickering to the golden sand, the water's lapping waves, the small tufts of grass growing here and there—anywhere but his face.

"S-sorry…" she mumbled, her voice barely loud enough to hear. She hated confrontations; they scared her—in more ways than most people would naturally assume.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" He swore again. "This is why I hate stupid people; they don't know what the hell they're doing! And women are even worse!"

She stepped back, now extremely afraid of her proximity to the temperamental Yokurui, who evidently was a misanthropic mysogynist. "I'm sorry…"

"And quit apologizing!" snapped the angry brunet, his piercing beryl-hued eyes flashing. "It's so freaking annoying!"

"… And WHAT, exactly, is so annoying?"

A sharp crack could be heard from the necks of both trainees as their heads snapped up—to find the sergeant major glaring down malevolently at them.


The brunette slowed, then stumbled, finally collapsing in exhausted relief. Her heart continued to race despite weary attempts at regaining lost oxygen in her lungs. Puffs of dust stirred from the earth with each heavy breath.

"I'm so glad it's over…" Sei'i moaned. She lied upon the ground in a primarily prone position, her limbs utterly deadweight. "Only another four weeks, thank God…"

"It's not wise to maintain a horizontal position immediately after strenuous exercise."

"Whaaa…?" Sei'i looked up. "Oh! Kanshi-san! When did you get here?"

"Three hours ago," the dark-haired trainee deadpanned.

"Three—Wait a minute, what time is it now?!" She panicked.

"Breakfast." He inclined his head toward the viscously bubbling pot beside him. "Today is venison stew. A bit on the thick side, but we all need the energy."

The heavenly aroma of well-cooked meat and vegetables hit Sei'i like a falling galleon. Drool gushed like a small brook over her lips.

'I think I'm in heaven…'

Tossing a bowl of stew and a spoon toward the enraptured young woman, Eishi raised an eyebrow. "With a reaction like that from you, I doubt the rest of them will lag behind much longer. It's a west wind, after all."

Just then, Akino stumbled through the shrubbery. "OH. MY. GOD. WHAT IS THAT WONDERFUL SMELL?!"


"YOU! What the hell happened to the demitasse that I ordered fifteen minutes ago?!"

The unwary trainee froze midstep as her countenance paled upon the sound of the man's voice. Turning ever so slowly, cautiously, to face him, she gulped with apprehension.

"Yes, sir?" she responded faintly.

"I get really, really cranky this early in the morning," the man snapped, "and if I don't get my coffee by nine, I kill people!"

"Y-yes, sir! Right away, sir!" Not wanting to incite the man's wrath for something she didn't even know about, the trainee quickly dashed away in search of some REALLY strong coffee.

Sei'i looked back to follow the trainee's dusty trail. "Poor Namiki…" she murmured with a sweatdrop and propinquitous understanding.

"Oi! Greeny!"

"…But at least she wasn't saddled with such an annoying cognomen…" she deadpanned. Turning her head to face the man once more, she pasted on an I'm-not-really-irritated-with-you-no-of-course-not expression and struggled to respond politely with a respectful salute, "Sir?"

"Where the hell did you go with my demitasse?!"

"Sir, I was not laid with the responsibility of providing your beverages, sir. I believe that task was set upon Santōhei Kourino, sir."

"Then where the hell is this 'Kourino'?!" the man demanded. "Bring him here so I can fire him this minute!"

"Sir," she began, choosing her words carefully, "I do not believe it is wise to take umbrage at Santōhei Kourino, sir. His abilities and…erm…disposition…are better suited for combat, sir."

"I don't give a damn!" the man yelled, angrily slamming his palms down on the armrests of his chair. "I refuse to tolerate insubordination and insurrection from inferiors!"

'…Right.' She sweatdropped again. 'What a supercilious person!'

"I need my freaking coffee…" the man groaned, leaning back. He raised an arm and lazily ran his long fingers through his swarthy, dark chocolate locks, sighing deeply.

"Erm… I am certain Santōhei Namiki will return with your demitasse soon, sir…"

His dark eyes shifted from the trainee camp to the young recruit standing not two meters away. "Your name."

"…Eh?"

The man's voice deepened into a growl. "Give me your damn name!"

"Tashikame Sei'i, sir."

"'Sei'i'…" The man tasted the three syllables the way a connoisseur would an unfamiliar yet curious vintage of wine. "As in 'sincerity,' the kind to be taken in good faith?"

"Yes." She smiled to herself as a warm memory graced her shoulders. "My grandmother gave it to me in blessing." A fond laugh escaped her lips. "She's quite an oddball of an anchorite—not really a hermit, per se, more like she became tired of the responsibilities of being tied to my father's name. So I guess she's more like a nascent hermit than anything else."

Realizing that she was getting carried away, Sei'i flushed in embarrassment before changing the subject—to one that she had originally meant to bring up five minutes previous. "So what brings you to our training base? To my knowledge, the supply ship isn't scheduled to arrive for another five days. Not that we're complaining, considering the circumstances."

The newly arrived marine officer had landed not thirty minutes ago, getting comfortable in Sergeant Major Jinbu's chair—much to the chain smoker's dismay. Refusing to answer any questions regarding his rank, the purpose of his visit, and whether he intended to depart with the captured pirates in tow, he had immediately demanded a double-caff, double shot, extra strong demitasse with whipped cream from the unpleasantly dispositioned Yokurui. Of course, as to be expected, the easily infuriated—and somewhat insubordinate—recruit had stalked off with no intentions whatsoever of fulfilling the man's order.

"Sir?"

The man's dark eyes narrowed. He had come for the purpose of retrieval, and now was as good a time as any to find out "their" whereabouts. And the sooner, the better. He needed to find "them" before any more damage could be done. Before "they" could further profligate unwanted propaganda.

"You want to know why I'm here?" he asked slowly, his low tone growing darker with each word. "They" were a danger, a menace that had to be stopped. "Fine, then. I'll tell you why I'm here."

He rose suddenly and, removing something thin and square from his navy pocket, showed it to Sei'i. It was a snapshot of a blonde woman wearing a lily-white silk tunic. Her long arm was gracefully extended upwards into a canopy of wisteria, as if her slender fingers were about to pick one of the indigo blossoms. But most striking about the woman were her familiar azure-hued eyes.

"I have been sent by the World Government to find and apprehend this woman: Hinode Fuyuka, daughter of the former president-king of the Eijiyan kingdom, alias Sekidō Akino. Do you know where I can find her?"


Explanations for the good of the order, stuff like that.

time jump: Meh, I didn't feel like inserting filler. I had initially wanted to incorporate a discussion between Meiyu (the mousy-haired recruit) and Yokurui, and maybe one between Meiyu and Sgt. Major Jinbu, but then I changed my mind. I wanted to focus more on the arrival of the new officer this chapter, so you'll just have to wait.

plagiarism: Some people might call it that. Can you find it?

a second count of plagiarism: Oh, yeah, this one too… I didn't realize that until now….

NEXT UPDATE: Since I suck at updates, I can't give you a specific date for any time before summer break. BUT I WILL be able to get out a chapter or two before then, so no worries, 'kay? Gomen-nasai…