Disclaimer! I own none of Vocaloid, nor any of its characters. They belong to their respected owners.
A/N: ALRIGHT GUYS, SORRY IT'S LATE BUT AT LEAST IT'S HERE, I GOT STUCK FOR MONTHS AND MONTHS ON THIS CHAPTER AND TODAY 09292015 I GOT THIS SUDDEN RUSH OF THIS CHAPTER AND THE WHOLE SEQUEL. GET READY FOR AN EMOTIONAL ROLLER COASTER RIDE.
This chapter is at least three times as long as usual...
*Compass Rose*
"Yuuma, trouble at hand!" Yelled Taito, slamming the door open. Yuuma sat up immediately, noticing that some of the furniture had moved and things had fallen off their shelves. The ship had clearly been thrown roughly by the waves. Piko was out of bed in a flash, heading out onto deck.
"What's going on?" Yuuma demanded, following Piko to the main deck, where Taito stood sending crew left and right to prepare for attack.
"We're being followed, enemy ship has been gaining speed and trailing us." Kaito explained from a few feet away. He motioned for Yuuma to take a look as he pointed to the stalking ship and handed him a spyglass.
Yuuma growled in frustration as he peered through the glass into the dull early morning, making out the distorted figure of another captain, watching him through his own. "The enemy appears more powerful," Kaito said quietly behind Yuuma.
"That bastard.."
"But maybe they're not more powerful, after all, we do have a siren on our side." Taito added.
"That's right," Kaito started, "Piko! We need you to-"
"Piko, no!"
*Compass Rose*
"They're preparing," Yohio said quietly, leaning on the banister and looking up at Mikuo as the captain watched carefully through the glass.
"Like we should be," added Luki.
"Can it, you smart ass!" Mikuo snapped, smacking Luki on the head with the metal rim of the spyglass. "We're well prepared. Can't this ship move any faster!"
"We're going as fast as possible in these conditions, sir!" Called a crewmate from the background.
"Then start throwing yourselves overboard to reduce weight! I want to be close enough to a- !"
Mikuo was interrupted as the whole ship tilted to the left.
"We've been hit!" Shouted Yohio, heading toward the leftmost side of the ship to check for damage.
"Impossible! We're too far for them to be able to attack us yet!" Luki yelled in response, following Yohio and Mikuo,
As they all three looked over the side, Mikuo gasped in shock. "You-!" He growled, staring down at the white haired, demon-like creature that clung to the side of his ship.
It was as if his eyes stared into the eyes of Hell, and they stared back- deep into his soul. The thing with pale white skin blotched with patches of midnight black scales, and leathery skin like that of some serpent that surrounded his eyes and filled the hollows of his cheeks. A paper thin fin protruded from the undersides of his arms and between each of his slim, black-tinted fingers. Its claws had easily torn through the wooden ship, holding his weight above the water. Its dead, cold, mismatched eyes focused on Mikuo and his black lips split into a wicked grin, revealing deadly, sharp teeth.
"What IS that thing!?" Mikuo shouted, pulling out his gun. He tried to shoot at it, but the angle wouldn't allow him to aim properly. "I want it dead!" He fired helplessly, but the siren ripped at the boards of his ship and tore a hole large enough to pull himself through.
"Below deck, intruder aboard!" Luki announced loudly. "Shoot on sight!"
Below deck, Piko worked quickly with attempts to disarm and destroy the enemy ship. He lifted the heavy cannon balls and disposed of them by throwing them through the hole he had created. 'At least now they won't be able to attack the ship as badly,' he thought, throwing out boxes of gunpowder and bullets. He moved frantically at the sound of rushed footsteps and did what he could to further disarm Mikuo's ship and his men. As the stomping grew closer, he hurried back to the broken side of the ship. Although, he quickly discovered that without being drenched in saltwater, he was weaker and a small bit shorter. He struggled to reach the broken wood and when he did, it was with just his fingertips. He didn't have the strength to pull himself up and out.
He let go and ran to the back of the storage area, hiding behind stacks of wooden crates and holding his breath.
Yohio lit a torch and used it to light his way through the mess. "Where are you, devil?" He asked teasingly, pulling back the hammer on his gun. "I know you're down here somewhere, come out!" He stepped over shards of broken wood and trails of spilt gunpowder. Yohio stared at the messy floor and sighed. "Did that thing…."
"Yohio! What's going on down there?" Luki called from above the stairwell.
"It looks like it tried to ruin our supplies!" Yohio reported. "Our cannon balls are gone and gunpowder is spilt!"
Piko listened in while trying to think of how he could escape. 'Like what I did with Taito the first day.. If I can send that kind of note through his veins then..' He shook his head. 'That's impossible. I can't get that close to him.'
He tried to shrink into the corner a bit more as Yohio's shadow seemed to stand next to him. He held his breath and stared in terror as Yohio came close to rounding the corner.
"YOHIO, LUKI!" Shouted Mikuo. "Take the boat and get your asses out there! Save what you can!"
Piko sighed in relief as the man on his trail turned and left up the stairs. Once cleared, Piko quickly pushed crates to the area below the hole, stacking them so he could climb out. Just as he started climbing the boxes, he heard gunfire and felt a burning pain in the back of his leg.
He cried out and fell a bit, glancing back at the enraged pirate captain, who was drawing the hammer back to fire again. No words were exchanged, only a smug grin and a horrified gasp as Piko hurriedly tried to scale the boxes. He was shot again, in his shoulder this time, but he hauled himself out of the ship and tumbled into the water. He had been sobbing in pain, and though he could still feel the heat and stinging of the wounds, the saltwater and his instant transformation healed them. He swam deeper to avoid the bullets being fired into the sea and quickly returned to Compass.
"God, dammit!" Mikuo shouted, watching the demon-creature escape toward the enemy ship. He slammed a fist on the banister as the siren climbed the side of the Compass the way it had on his own ship. The only difference was that once it reached the deck, it was greeted and welcomed. "Hiroshi's kid is working with that?" He mumbled, rubbing his head. "It doesn't matter. We'll take him down either way."
*Compass Rose*
Piko leapt from the water, digging his nails into the ship and flapping his tail around to quickly dry it off. When his legs, though scaly, took place of his tail, Piko grasped the rope ladder that hung from the side and climbed up. He fell onto the deck with a sigh, exhausted and feeling his heart start to beat again as a wave of relief flushed through him.
"Piko!" Taito shouted, rushing to him. Yuuma followed quickly behind.
"Are you crazy?" He asked, helping the siren up. "Are you hurt anywhere?"
"No," Piko whispered. "No, I'm not hurt." He huffed and started laughing quietly. "I threw out some of their supplies. I don't think they can hurt us too badly."
Yuuma laughed and pulled Piko over, smirking at Kaito. "See? He's not so bad! He helps us." He laughed again as Kaito rolled his eyes.
"Yuuma, this is serious. Because Piko went over there, Hatsune and his ship know we have a siren. They know what to expect."
"Kaito, calm down. We're clearly more powerful than them, there's nothing they've got against us when Hell's on our side." Yuuma laughed at his own comment, but stopped when he received a glare from Piko. "Right, sorry.." He chuckled a bit. "Alright, back to work then! Kaito, I want you to figure out if we can reach any mass of land by the time they catch on us. Taito, you're the best at math here, figure out how long it's going to take them to catch up. Piko, take their commands and get information for them." The captain nodded before setting downstairs to make sure everything was being taken care of below deck.
The three nodded in understanding and set off in different directions. Piko followed Taito first.
"Okay, Piko," Taito sighed, and the questioning began. After answering and onslaught of Taito's mathematical inquires, Piko was relieved of his duties and sent to Kaito.
"What did you and Taito find out?" He asked first.
"Taito says we've got about 13 hours before they reach us- if we remain at this rate they'll be on us around 7:00 tonight."
"That doesn't sound good, there's no land that close." Kaito grumbled, looking at his map. Piko stood on his toes to look over Kaito's shoulder.
"There might be," He said simply. "See, there's an island right… here." Piko mumbled, pointing to a mass of water. "It's where you guys found me, but it's not on the map." He looked up at Kaito, and Kaito returned a slightly curious look.
"Alright then. Swim out there and see if there's anything near."
"That's how you ask someone for a favor?" Piko teased, crossing his arms and sticking his hip out a bit.
"You're here to take commands, not requests. Now go."
Piko grumbled and walked to the front end of the ship, diving off into the waves. A second before his tail formed, he kicked off the ship to give himself a boost, propelling himself in a straight line toward the rising sun.
Kaito watched Piko until he disappeared deeper beneath the waves. Just as the siren faded out of sight, Taito approached.
"Kaito," The younger brother started softly. "Be honest, what do you think our chances are?"
Kaito only sighed and thought for a moment. "The Crypton is.. Its captain is who killed Maia. I'm not sure why Hatsune is after the Compass again, but I've got a feeling that Yuuma won't fall to him the way Hiroshi had. Really, back then, she'd won fair and square. Hatsune, however, killed her after the battle had ended."
"His ship, his crew- they're much larger than we are, Kaito. I'm worried." Taito admitted, hanging his head a bit. "Piko was able to destroy Kasane's ship, but it was smaller than what the Crypton is- what if he can't help us this time? We almost met our match with the Utau.."
"I really don't know, Taito," Kaito muttered disappointedly. "We'll just have to fight our hardest and hope for the best. Piko is.. Well he's a lot weaker than we thought he was at first."
"He's not weak at all!" Taito protested in defense.
"No, no listen to me, Taito. Sure, Piko can scream at the top of his lungs and destroy a ship, and he can sing something and heal people who are dying, but his voice can't stop a bullet and he's no good on his feet." Kaito thought for a moment and looked out over the waves. "Maybe we could make some plan but.."
About then, Yuuma approached the duo, his boots thumping against the deck with each step. "Where do we stand? Where's Piko?" He asked with a proud captain's voice, rather than his usual smart-assed-older-brother voice that he used toward the two.
"The enemy is at 13 hours distance, Piko is still out searching for land." Kaito reported. Taito, however, only stared in fear at Yuuma's new apparel. Surely there was nothing fearful about what he wore- in fact he looked quite stunning. But that was exactly the problem.
Instead of his usual brown pants and pink blouse, Yuuma wore black pants and a maroon blouse, with a black belt that had a gold buckle and a white, black, and pink tailcoat that had belonged to Hiroshi. His katana was sheathed at his hip and his gun was tucked into one of his tall, black boots. He held his compass tightly in his hand, which Taito knew was a usual nervous act of Yuuma's.
It was clear that Yuuma was dressed in his finest for this battle to look presentable when meeting his mother again.
For a swabbie to see that even his proud captain did not expect to win this battle felt as if the earth itself froze over.
Taito quickly and quietly made his leave as he felt his eyes beginning to water. He wouldn't cry before his two brothers. They expected the outcome, and were holding it together quite well. Why couldn't he do the same? He sniffed softly and disappeared to below the deck to help prepare for the battle.
Yuuma watched him go and sighed, sitting on the deck and resting his chin in his hand. Kaito joined him on the deck.
"Poor kid.." Yuuma muttered after a moment, sighing once again.
"He's worried about this fight because of it being who it is." Kaito tried to explain.
"I'm worried too, to be honest, but.. I'm confident that we'll be able to get through. Mom defeated this asshole before, didn't she? And surely he's old and crippled by now. what, like forty-something?" He laughed, though it wasn't his usual genuine laugh. It was awkward, nervous. "I hoped I had killed him that day but.." He frowned and looked down at his compass. Kaito could easily sense the distress in his adopted brother and gently squeezed his shoulder.
"The worst thing that could happen would only reunite us with Maia, you know." He said quietly. It would sound terrible from anyone else, but Kaito knew that it was the one thing Yuuma wanted most in the world.
"No." Yuuma growled. "The worst that could happen would be that I don't see this fucker dead. I want to be responsible for the Crypton lying on the ocean floor. I won't die easy until I am."
At about that moment there was a splash and a bang, and the ship rocked to the side. Piko soon hauled himself onto deck, smoothing his wet hair back out of his face. "We're 12 hours from land by ship," he reported happily. Could this possibly mean that they'd be able to replenish their short supply of ammunition before the battle began?
Seven hours that should've been long flew by the crew, with the sibling trio alternating to peer behind them at Hatsune.
"Taito, why do they seem to be getting closer?" Kaito asked, admittedly a bit nervous.
"I-I'm not sure, if I'd calculated correctly-"
Eight hours and the Crypton was even closer.
"Piko I thought you said-!"
"Could it affect the calculations if I threw out some of their supplies?"
Nine hours and the ship had no trouble to close in.
"So they've been traveling faster than us this whole time, huh.." Yuuma ran a hand through his hair slowly. "How far are we from land?"
"Three hours time, Captain."
Ten hours passed.
"How long before they reach us?"
A nervous pause, and Taito stepped forth.
"Two hours."
"And we're how far from land?"
"Two hours."
And just like that Yuuma was faced with the toughest decision of that long, dreadful day. He pondered on the idea in his mind, wondering if they could make it just a little quicker. Surely, if the battle was on the coastal town, they could raid and pillage for ammunition and supplies. But if they threw out their remaining supplies and Hatsune still caught up to them, what could they do to fight back? They'd have no choice but to surrender.
With the eyes of his crew on him he stepped a bit higher, standing with all the pride and courage he could muster and spoke in a broad voice.
"Men, and Galaco," He smiled weakly in her direction, then plastered his original face on. "I am honoured to have sailed with all of you- the crew my mother hired when she first set out for her own adventures. But I am sad to say that the Rose has well outlived her time on the sea. She floats humbly here under my unforgiving command, assisting me in my search to avenge my mother, Captain Hiroshi." There was some muttering, mostly about where Yuuma could possibly be going with all of this. Piko sensed despair, squeezing Yuuma's hand and wrapping his free arm around his waist. Yuuma put his free hand up to silence the chatter. "As not my men, but as Captain Hiroshi's, show your respects by sacrificing yourselves to the Ocean."
Then there was an outburst of protests against this idea. Yuuma stepped down, having nothing else to say on the matter, and left it to Kaito and Taito to explain. "Now listen to me, people!" Taito spoke first. "Yuuma respects each of you, very much! If he didn't, he wouldn't ask this of you. We're low on supplies and ammunition, each of you know that… Die now with your honor and dignity, by forfeiting to the sea, or die in the next hour by forfeiting to the cheating dogs who ended Hiroshi's life!"
Kaito decided that Taito had pretty well covered it, but still the men protested. Loud clicking boots were heard and a woman's voice called out.
"Now, look it here, boys!" Galaco announced, catching everyone's attention. She nodded with a 'hmph!' and turned, walking along the lengthy 'plank' with bravery. Tears filled her eyes but she refused to back down. She simply turned her back to the waves and stared to the sky, her hair blowing in the wind.
Yuuma himself was crying, hidden by Piko who held Yuuma's head to his own, tiny chest. What had Yuuma just asked of his family? He watched through tears as Galaco directed her stare to the clouds and screamed at the top of her lungs.
"For you, Captain Hiroshi!" She hollered, her voice steady. And with that, she fell to her death, smiling softly.
There was silence, and no motion, until suddenly, slowly, silently… Every man followed Galaco's example. It tore into Yuuma's heart, but he thanked and saluted each individual before they stepped onto the plank.
Within thirty minutes it was just Yuuma, his brothers and Piko. The four embraced, none too proud to let their tears flow in the moment as they held their small family close, tightly.
It went unsaid that Yuuma wanted some time alone with Piko before the battle begun, so Kaito and Taito went off to begin loading all of the guns and preparing extra leads and powder. Once they were gone, Yuuma sat on the wooden step, corroded by years of salty mist, and invited Piko to sit next to him. The boy sat one step down, angled inward to face Yuuma a bit.
"You know I love you," Yuuma whispered, sounding defeated. Piko gave a gentle smile.
"I love you too, Yuuma.." He muttered. The words still brought in a flood of thoughts and memories, both good and bad, but he pushed all of that aside and focused on the Yuuma that was here and now.
The two joined hands and Piko rested his head on Yuuma's lap, looking up at him with bright blue and green eyes. For a moment, as he became absorbed in the heterochromia gaze, Yuuma almost forgot that perhaps his last battle was upon him. He sighed and moved his mouth to speak, but Piko met him with a kiss before he could.
It was slow and deep, meaning everything Piko or Yuuma could possibly say in the moment. Neither really took note of exactly how long it lasted. They just knew that it last long enough to say what it needed to, but not at all long enough to satisfy their desire for each other.
After sharing a silence after they finally broke the kiss, Yuuma spoke up first.
"Piko, this battle is.. well," he fumbled around, searching for the words. Piko waited patiently. "Piko I expect to avenge my mother, but I don't expect to win this battle. Does that make sense?"
Piko thought on it, and decided that it did and also didn't.
"Piko what I mean is that I may take down Hatsune, but his men will react and take me down in turn.."
"I see," Piko nodded softly. "I'll be here to protect you. I could destroy his ship? His crew?"
"I wouldn't want you to risk that. The Utau didn't expect you but these guys know what's coming."
Piko thought for a moment and frowned slightly, unable to find a loophole. Yuuma kissed Piko's knuckles softly and smiled reassuringly. "But everything will be okay, for you. Right now, I need you to leave and-"
"No." Piko said stiffly, standing and staring down at Yuuma. "I'm not leaving. I'm part of this ship too. You're bound to be my mate one day, you and your brothers are my pack now. I'm not leaving you behind- if you're fighting, so am I."
Yuuma stood and opened his mouth to counter Piko's argument, but caught the glare in the siren's eyes and knew it was futile to argue with the cocky, stubborn brat. So instead he lifted Piko's chin with the length of his finger and met his lips for another kiss.
The kiss would've only lasted a few short seconds if Piko was as submissive as he looked, but when he wanted something he took it, and now was no exception. Just as Yuuma tried to break the kiss, Piko forced all of his weight against Yuuma, catching the taller male off guard and giving Piko the opportunity to have his pirate-captain lover against the wall for once. The kiss became deeper and more eccentric, but Yuuma wouldn't simply give Piko full control.
With a swift movement their positions switched, and Piko found himself pinned roughly against the oak-wood wall. He gasped as a bit of pain shot down his back, but decided he'd worry about it later as Yuuma caught his lips again for an open-mouth kiss that was more fighting with their tongues than it was kissing. Yuuma wedged a knee between Piko's knee, and the siren didn't hesitate to grind his crotch on Yuuma's thigh.
One of his own slender hands trailed down Yuuma's chest and stomach to his lower regions, massaging the area skillfully. Yuuma gave a low groan and moved to kiss Piko's temple, then just behind his ear and down his neck slowly. He sucked and nipped lightly at the curve of Piko's neck, drawing from the siren weak moans that Yuuma could feel through his bones. He started to remove Piko's shirt and wore a smug grin as Piko busied himself by kissing and nipping Yuuma's earlobe, his hand still working between their tangled legs.
Piko's shirt was discarded somewhere beside them and Yuuma's lips trailed down to Piko's collar bones, then down his chest and stomach. His hand caressed Piko's thighs slowly as he knelt before the albino, teasing him with small kisses along the hem of his pants. In an instant Piko grew annoyed with the teasing and pushed the article down off his waist, exposing himself to the pink-haired tease. Yuuma smirked at how hard his boyfriend had become already and grasped his member lightly, stroking it slowly and swirling his tongue around the tip, collecting a bead of precum as he did. Piko gave a strained cross between a gasp and a moan, tipping his head back and tightening his hands into weak fists before deciding he'd do better to tangle his fingers in Yuuma's hair. Yuuma sucked the tip with tight lips while his hand stroked the remaining length. Piko's hips bucked forward impatiently as the boy whined for Yuuma to take more of him, but Yuuma only gave him the eyes-only equivalent of a smirk and bobbed his head all the way down Piko's shaft, then back to the tip again.
Piko yelped and gave a loud moan, one hand releasing Yuuma's hair to cover his mouth as he started to roll his hips at a steady rhythm he didn't remember setting.
Yuuma came off Piko's tool with a quiet 'pop' and wet his index and middle fingers before returning to his previous task. Piko watched nervously, then closed his eyes just as nervously when Yuuma pressed the tip of his middle finger to Piko's hole. He slowly inserted the digit and waited until Piko's nervous tensions started to subside before he started moving his finger into and out of the boy's ass. Piko whined and moaned loudly, desperately, his cheeks flushed red and a thin layer of sweat starting to form just above his lip.
Yuuma waited until the first finger could move with ease before adding a second, and repeated the process to add a third, all the while sucking and licking Piko's cock torturously well. By the time Yuuma started to move his three fingers together inside Piko, the albino was already close. Yuuma could tell, too, by the way Piko squirmed and whined and rolled his hips. It only took his middle finger hitting Piko's prostate twice or three times before he came with what would be better described as a scream than as a moan. He doubled over Yuuma, his knees bent and threatening to drop him. He moaned continuously as he rode out his orgasm, but Yuuma didn't wait any. He spit Piko's come into his hand and used it wet Piko's hole well enough to make sure he wouldn't hurt him. Gasping in shock as he felt the sticky liquid, Piko grabbed hold of the banister to the stairwell.
Yuuma lined himself up with Piko's entrance and leaned over the boy, pressing a small kiss between the boy's shoulder blades before thrusting fully into him. This drew another strained moan from Piko, which was a shriek at first and simply dragged out into one of his beautiful moans. "F-fuck.." Yuuma grumbled, wrapping an arm around Piko and placing his hand on the boy's chest, using that position to pull Piko slightly closer to his chest. He pulled out completely and thrust fully into him again, repeating this at a steady rhythm while Piko moaned and cried out in pleasure. Yuuma moaned, giving into the temptation he had to use his own voice as Piko's harmonic sounds sent shockwaves through his body as they always had. He moaned something incoherent along the lines of how beautiful Piko was, or something similar. His speech was practically useless, he could probably bark orders if he wanted to be dominant, but he and Piko were at the same level right now and neither were dogs, just human and siren, so there would be no barking. He muffled his voice in the crook of Piko's neck until he soon climaxed, pulling out just soon enough for it to make a mess of Piko's pale back.
Both were panting breathlessly and Piko was first to fall forward, his knees on one step and his arms and head on the fourth step up from that one. Yuuma laughed softly at the sight and fixed his pants before sitting down.
"Um, Captain Yuuma?" Taito's voice was heard from around the corner and Piko sat up quickly, trying to fix his pants. Yuuma stood and grabbed Piko's shirt, tossing it toward him on his way to stop Taito at the corner, but judging by the blush on his face, he'd been standing there waiting for an appropriate time to speak. Yuuma didn't find it in him to care, what didn't Taito already know?
"What is it, Kiddo?" He asked, snatching a cleaning rag that Taito subconsciously kept in his back pocket. He tossed it to Piko so the albino could clean up.
"I'm sorry if I'm interrupting but.. It's time to load up," he announced softly, looking off the side of the ship.
"Already?" Yuuma sighed. "Alright… Let's go, Piko." He called, waiting for the albino to saunter over to him and clutch his hand before he started walking. As the three marched to the other end of the grand ship, Yuuma looked to the larger ship approaching in the distance.
"I can't help but notice there's no land in sight yet," Yuuma muttered to neither of the two specifically.
"We should be getting close," Piko noted softly. "It was a straight shot there."
"I think we may have calculated Piko's speed a little off, Yuuma," Taito confessed weakly. "The land he must've been talking about is visible from the crow's nest, a short way's, however. I'd say we're another two or three hours from civilization." He frowned a bit, knowing it'd upset Yuuma that his crew had just walked for nothing. All three kept silent for the remainder of their walk to Kaito.
"I'm using Mother's gun." Yuuma said firmly just as Kaito moved to hand him some other, random firearm from below deck.
"Very well, make sure it's well loaded." Kaito muttered. He handed the remaining gun to Piko, who was clearly frightened but was putting on a brave face.
Yuuma attached his katana to his belt at his right hip and his mother's revolver to the left. He hid a dagger in his tall boot in case he needed it, then tended to Piko while Kaito and Taito arranged their weapons.
"Now look," He said softly, tightening an extra belt around Piko's waist. "I don't want you in any close combat, so try to keep out of it. If you need to defend yourself, don't you hesitate to shoot." He took Piko's gun and stood behind him to show him exactly how to use it.
"You've got six bullets, six shots, alright?" He started, pointing to the cylinder. "There's no reloading, we're down on ammunition, so make your shots count. Take time to aim before you fire." He continued to show him where to look to line up his aim and how to generally work the firearm.
"How many bullets do you have?" Piko asked nervously, worried that Yuuma was going into this fight with too little to back himself up with.
"Eight." Yuuma answered, releasing Piko's hands and moving his own hands to the albino's hips. Piko turned around and wrapped his arms around Yuuma, laying his head on his chest. The realization of what was to come hit him all at once, and he found himself tearing up against Yuuma's shirt.
"Are we gonna make this?" He asked, choking back a sob, his voice both weak and muffled as he buried his face in Yuuma's chest.
Yuuma hesitated for a moment and simply held Piko tighter, stroking his rather knotted hair with one hand while the other held him close at the small of his back. "Somehow," he finally sighed. "You will make it, at the very least." At the sound of this Piko cried a little harder, shaking pitifully in Yuuma's arms.
Kaito and Taito watched on, though trying not to make it obvious that they were doing so. They exchanged a glance, clearly having both noticed the weakening expression in Yuuma's eyes. They both gave a slight nod and stepped to the pair, Taito patting Piko's back while Kaito pried the siren off the captain. Piko shouted in protest against this, causing the three men around him a sharp pain in their heads, but Taito took him anyway, leading him away from Yuuma to let him calm down before things started.
Kaito and Yuuma left in the opposite direction, but remained in view of the other two. Yuuma was biting at the inside of his lip, trying to keep from shattering. He looked to Kaito and felt obligated to explain, so he started to do so.
"I- How can I stand here and tell him I might not make it through this? He sees us as his pack-" Yuuma started to fumble over his words, and Kaito shut him up quickly.
"You want to kill this guy, don't you?" Kaito asked. "He killed Hiroshi, he's the reason you've put up with every battle you've gotten into between then and now, right? Because you wanted to find him and kill him off."
"Right." Yuuma said, visibly pulling himself back together. When had he become so weak anyway? He removed his hat for a moment with his right hand, and ran his left through his hair before replacing his hat. He chuckled a bit and shook his head. "I'm getting so worried, it's because those two are like children, depending on me to win this and it makes you worry that you can't, you know?" He laughed nervously, looking over at Kaito. "Being low on bullets means nothing. Mother could've killed him if she was a heartless crook, and that was just with her sword. I can take him the same way." He nodded in determination.
"That's right," Kaito smiled, slamming a hand against Yuuma's back. For a moment it fell silent between the two and Yuuma's eyes shifted over to Piko, who was clinging to Taito in desperation. Taito was clearly shushing him and rubbing his back slowly, pressing chaste kisses to the top of Piko's head which for a split second almost made Yuuma jealous. Yuuma approached with his normal proud demeanor and stroked Piko's hair to catch his attention. The boy of course looked up with teary eyes and stepped away from Taito.
"Piko,"
"Yuuma.."
"Quit'chur crybaby-ing," Yuuma gave his usual smirk. "We'll take this bastard down without a scratch."
Piko couldn't help but crack a bit of a smile, which Yuuma took as an invitation to start cleaning the siren's tears from his cheeks.
From that moment on, their time together passed all too quickly. Before they knew it, The Crypton stared down at them from its greater height. The four stood tall and proud, facing the ship where they could see some crew members who appeared to be choking on their laughter. As there was a thick board lowered from Hatsune's ship onto Yuuma's, the pink-haired captain turned to his siren boyfriend.
"I want you to hide in my quarters, lock the door and don't come out, alright?" He nodded. He would've sent the boy to the cells as usual, but he preferred somewhere where he could get to him easily if he needed to.
"But I-!"
"Piko, please," Yuuma sighed. The siren pouted and nodded a bit, turning to go tuck away into the captain's quarters.
Just as the door shut, the surprisingly young opposing captain stepped onto the plank and walked proudly over the crashing waves to The Compass. He was followed by a blond and a pink-haired male, the rest of the captain's crew waiting for those three to step aboard the enemy ship before they would join them. For a moment, Yuuma thought about how strangely organized and non-reckless this pirate was.
Yuuma met him just as the three stepped onto his deck, his territory- no, his mother's- and stood with his left hand on his katana, his eyes on the enemy.
"Call off your men, Hatsune!" Yuuma started louder than he really needed to be while noticing The Crypton's crew preparing to descend. "It was in my mother's victory over our previous battle that you should have fallen dead, but instead it was Her because of your cowardly retreat. This battle is between you and I alone."
Yuuma was met with a disgustingly twisted smirk and a spark in Captain Hatsune's green eyes. He waved a black-gloved hand to halt his men's actions as he replied.
"I couldn't agree more, Hiroshi," he snarled, "For it was my grueling father who killed Madame Hiroshi, and it was you who in a frantic rage over her death killed my father. A fair battle is to commence, out of respect for our deceased captains our guns shall stay put. I seek to settle this and avenge my late father and I assume the same you to your mother." Yuuma was take aback slightly by how orderly this person was. "Allow me, now, to properly introduce myself. I am Captain Hatsune Mikuo."
Yuuma noted the use of Mikuo's ancestor's name as his own surname. Such was not a way of this time and era, but was the way of pirates like himself, who were born and raised on the sea. Where official surnames didn't have a purpose, Mikuo's addition of 'Hatsune' to his own name was a proud label to tie him to his father, and so that his enemies would know with whom he shared blood.
"Captain Hiroshi Yuuma." He said with an unwavering voice. He noticed that at the sound of his name, Kaito and Taito stepped forward, ready to take on Mikuo's two men and lead them away from the main battle, so that Yuuma would have no diversions and no trouble killing off Hatsune Mikuo.
Yuuma dragged his katana from its sheath and held its blade toward Mikuo. Mikuo's own blade met Yuuma's, only as a tap, near the middle. Kaito and Luki, Taito and Yohio followed suit. After a few seconds of 6 pairs of eyes exchanging glares and glances, there was the sharp hissing of both Mikuo and Yuuma dragging their blades across one another's- and with this odd deformation of a 'fair-game handshake', the true battle begun.
Yuuma stepped back fluidly as he and Mikuo swung their blades, Yuuma blocking each of Mikuo's swings and Mikuo blocking each of Yuuma's. They were getting nowhere but further onto Yuuma's ship, so that there'd be no chance of Mikuo's crew being able to shoot him down from their close proximity.
Taito started his fight with a swing of his sword to the right, and a swing of his leg to the left. As Yohio moved to block Taito's blade, Taito was given the opening to kick the blonde's legs out from under him. Yohio fell from the force of Taito's kick, landing in a way that caused himself harm on his own blade. He looked up with blood oozing from his face, and through a red filter saw Taito darting off in the opposite direction.
He wasn't running like a coward, he had a side-mission to accomplish. The board that connected their ships plummeted into the ocean, and now Taito was just trying to lead Yohio away from Mikuo and Yuuma. Taito had gotten to Kaito's side promptly, and had just enough time to turn his back to his brother before Yohio reached him. Taito struggled to block Yohio's frequent swings- the pirate was clearly enraged over the gash starting above his left eyebrow and ending on his right cheek. Already Taito could hardly stand the sight of so much blood, but knew he had to keep his eyes on his opponent.
Kaito fought Luki off with almost no trouble. It was an equal match for him, and both he and Luki were quite cut up. It was as if their minds worked identically, for they seemed to make the same moves at the same time, causing them both some harm. Neither bothered to block, unless the blade approached a crucial area like their neck or low abdomen.
Yuuma knew already that Mikuo was a much stronger opponent than himself. Each of Mikuo's blows were delivered with such force that it took much of Yuuma's strength alone not to be pushed backwards by blocking them. Finally he took an opening and swung at an angle, managing to slice open Mikuo's shoulder. Mikuo hissed at the burning pain but continued swinging, his strength weakening very slightly.
But that minor change was enough to help Yuuma stay on his feet and have a chance to fight against Mikuo.
"A little scratch is nothing, Yuuma," Mikuo snapped with a smug grin. "You and your devil's ship will fall by my hand, if it's the last thing I do."
"Devil's ship!" Yuuma barked back, swinging a bit more angrily. Their blades clinked and hissed together with each move either of them made. "Are you speaking of my mother that way!"
"No, not your mother," Mikuo smirked, slamming his sword against Yuuma's katana. Though he blocked it, the tip of Mikuo's sword reached just far enough to cut Yuuma's neck, dangerously close to his jugular vein. Yuuma gave a sound of distressed but continued fighting his opponent. "The sea-demon you sent to attack my ship! You and your boys will sink with this disgraceful ship, and I will take that devil as my own to sell as nothing more than a freak-show attraction!" He laughed a bit at this.
"He's no demon, Mikuo, you've got it switched," Yuuma chuckled, continuing to move about to dodge Mikuo's attacks and search for an opening. "He's a siren, a cold-blooded atlantic hunter who lives to destroy ships and slaughter men." Yuuma was bragging a bit, sure, but he knew none of these things were particularly true about Piko. Yes, he was a siren, but he wasn't cold blooded or blood-thirsty. "But my siren-" He continued, "My siren's got a specialty to him- he brought a deadman back to life. Even if you manage to kill me, I assure you I will return to take you on again until I come out as the victor."
"Back to life you say?" Mikuo mused, quickly avoiding one of Yuuma's moves and hitting his katana with his sword, trying to force it from Yuuma's hand. But the only way he'd ever do that would be to pry it from the pirates cold, dead hands. 'If Yohio locates that thing like he's supposed to, I could sell his secret 'power'. I'd be the richest man alive, no doubt.'
Taito worked hard to move his blade quickly enough to block Yohio's attacks. Each hit forced Taito back by a few inches, and he struggled to keep his footing. Yohio's strength clearly came from his rage over the injury he'd obtained and the fact that he'd let Taito get the best of him. He aimed to slaughter the puny brat.
After long minutes of blocking hit after hit, Taito found himself with one leg in front of him and one behind, both knees bent and his heels dug into the deck. He held the handle of his sword with both hands, fearing that Yohio's hits would throw it from his grasp.
Yohio raised his sword over his head and brought it down with unimaginable speed. Taito blocked this, but his weak blade couldn't take the force of this particular swing. The blade split in the middle, and Yohio's blade dug into Taito's chest on the way down.
Taito cried out in pain, holding his chest and covering his hands with his own blood. By now he was on his knees, covering the large gash with one hand while the other still held to his broken blade. He looked up with teary eyes, feeling he knew what was coming next. But what he saw was Yohio's eyes fixated on something in the distance, his sword still raised.
Taito looked in the same direction and realized Yohio's eyes were locked on Piko, who was watching all of this through Yuuma's window with wide eyes. His hands covered his mouth as he stared on in worry and shock.
Yohio glanced down at Taito, who looked up at him, then left the violet-haired male so he could tend to capturing the demon. He ran, determined to get to the siren before it could run away. Piko noticed and disappeared from the window, leaving Yuuma's quarters and hurrying up the stairs, hoping to find somewhere to hide from the pirate.
Unfortunately for him, there was nowhere to go once he was up the stairs. Yohio caught up, cornering Piko. The siren searched desperately for a way out of this, his eyes darting back and forth. Suddenly, he remembered something. He reached into his belt and pulled out his handgun, pointing it at Yohio with as steady a hand as he could manage. Yohio backed up a bit. Just as Yuuma had told him to, Piko didn't hesitate to pull the trigger- but rather than a brutal 'bang' he heard a pathetic 'click'.
The sound caught Yohio's attention and a grin fell across his face as he approached the albino again. Piko quickly drew the hammer back and tried again to fire, but again only heard a 'click'. He looked at his gun, back at Yohio, then behind him at Yuuma.
"Yuuma!" Piko screamed, bracing himself as Yohio raised his sword. But as he screamed, the sword fell and Yohio doubled over, holding his now throbbing head.
In the same second, Yuuma looked up from his fight to see Piko cowered against the banister of the raised platform where the wheel was located.
During the split-second moment that Yuuma was distracted, Mikuo's sword connect with Yuuma's left arm, right at his elbow. Yuuma couldn't help but scream at the pain this caused, his sword falling from his lifeless hand. With the same movement as he tried to stop the bleeding, he whipped his gun from his belt and fired blindly toward Mikuo, his right hand- being non-dominant- causing him terrible aim.
He didn't stop over his own pain or to see if he'd killed Mikuo, he simply continued firing- now at Yohio- not bothering to count how many bullets he'd fired. He was focused on Piko.
Yohio darted off to avoid being shot, and at about this time Taito was back on his feet, leaning weakly against a pole. He saw what had happened and hurried, ignoring his pain, to get to Yohio and kill him. As he ran he drew his gun.
Mikuo scowled in disgust as blood trickled down his chest, coming from his neck. The bullet had only skimmed his neck, causing a burning wound.
"Piko, what happened!?" Yuuma shouted, meeting Piko at the bottom of the stairs opposite of the flight Yohio had followed Piko up. "Why didn't you use your gun!"
"I tried!" He cried out, teary-eyed from the frightening experience. "It won't work!"
"Give it, hurry up!" Yuuma snapped, snatching the gun and trying to fix the loosened hammer, which didn't reach the cylinder like it should have.
"Yuuma! Your arm!" Piko cried, noticing how the limb was hardly still attached.
"I'll live," he grumbled, working one-handedly on the gun. He didn't need Piko to tell him what he'd lost.
The sound of five bullets being fired caught Kaito's attention, and he noticed Yuuma running off with a gruesome trail of blood behind him. He kept fighting Luki, until he noticed Mikuo drawing his own gun. Instinctively he abandoned his fight and ran, pulling his gun as he did and pulling back the hammer. He stopped, standing directly between Mikuo and Yuuma, and aimed his gun at the teal-haired captain. But before he could pull the trigger, Kaito had fallen, a dark pool forming around his head.
Piko screamed, crying harder now, and Yuuma turned, hardly wanting to know who'd been shot. When he saw Kaito laying there, dead, all the colour flushed from his face. He looked from the dead body to Mikuo, hearing gunshots behind him but his eyes stayed fixed on the other captain. Taito and Yohio joined them on the main deck and froze in shock.
As if on cue, every gun was drawn and aimed. Mikuo's aim remained locked on Yuuma, and Yuuma quickly aimed Piko's now fixed gun back at Mikuo, his hand shaking. Yohio aimed at Piko, and noticing this, Taito pressed his barrel to Yohio's temple. Luki aimed at Taito, triggering Piko to snatch Hiroshi's gun from Yuuma's belt and aim it back at him.
Piko and Taito fired simultaneously, wiping out the opponent's back-up. At the same time, both noticed that neither Mikuo or Yuuma had fired just yet.
Mikuo stared at Yuuma, silently daring him to pull the trigger. But everybody realized at once that Yuuma had never taken a life, and while Mikuo meant as much to him as the dirt on the bottom of his shoe, he was still a living being.
From across the deck, Taito screamed desperately. His gun was out of ammo now, so he urged Yuuma to quickly fire and take care of Mikuo. Piko, however, could tell that Yuuma had shut down in the moment. He quickly grabbed Yuuma's right arm and hurried off in the opposite direction, firing one of the two bullets left in Hiroshi's gun. He missed, hitting a steel-lined barrel of gunpowder instead and causing it to ignite Mikuo's side of the deck with hellish flames. Piko kept running, dragging Yuuma behind him, as he felt the wood under his feet shaking. The ship had split from the explosion and was starting to sink.
The siren knew that if he and Yuuma both jumped into the water below, he could get Yuuma to land within fifteen minutes. Such was his plan as he made for the end of the ship.
"Yuuma, we're gonna have to jump!" He explained, yelling over the sound of the waves below them and the flames behind them. He climbed over the banister and offered his hand to Yuuma to help him over as well.
"I'm not going." Yuuma said bluntly. There was about 3 feet of wood beyond the banister, which Piko turned around on to face Yuuma.
"What do you mean you're not going?" Piko asked, furrowing his brow. "You won't drown, I can get you to land quickly enough! You're badly injured, we need to get to land and get you some help!"
"No." Yuuma mumbled. "This is my mother's ship. I couldn't avenge her- I didn't have the balls to shoot the bastard- the least I can do now is go down with her."
"Yuuma, you're babbling nonsense, now!" Piko snapped. "Just jump, please!"
Yuuma only shook his head. "You go on."
"Shut up!" Piko snapped angrily. "Mikuo's dead! There's no way he lived through that fire!"
Which was when they both realized. Taito was there, too. Where was he now? Piko's eyes filled with tears, and Yuuma quickly wiped them away. "He wouldn't have wanted to live- not without Kaito. He's better off…"
Piko's voice now was weak as he spoke again, letting out squeaky whimpers under his words. "Please, Yuuma… Don't leave me alone, please…"
"This is how it should be, Piko. You'll be okay without me, I promise."
"I won't! I won't be okay, Yuuma!" Piko screamed, cueing tears to flood down his cheeks and himself to reduce to broken sobs. "Please jump…"
Yuuma climbed over the banister, but sat on the extra bit of deck that was there. He motioned for Piko to sit with him. Piko slowly lowered himself, shaking pitifully.
"You really need to calm down, Piko," Yuuma sighed, putting his arm around him and holding him close. He rubbed Piko's arm gently while the siren cried into him.
It took Piko about five minutes to pull himself back together. Yuuma was set on this, so Piko would do the only thing he could.
"I can't drown when the ship pulls us under…" He muttered. "But I'm going to stay with you until…" he choked up a bit. Silently, he took Yuuma's gun, which was still in his hand. Yuuma was on edge about this, but waited to listen rather than jump to conclusions. "Once you're gone.. I'll follow you, okay?" Piko was trembling. He held the gun and turned the cylinder slowly.
Yuuma was going to object to this, but knew starting an argument would make matters worse. "I never fixed the hammar." He said softly, reaching for it. Piko looked up at him nervously, but gave it to him.
Acting quickly, Yuuma emptied the gun, all six bullets at one time, then tossed the gun itself into the water. Piko said nothing to this, only drawing out Hiroshi's gun.
"One bullet left." He said simply. As Yuuma reached for the gun, Piko hurriedly put it to his own head, daring Yuuma to make another move. Yuuma stopped immediately and put his hand up in defeat, watching Piko carefully. "I'll see you through," Piko mumbled. "And if I can't revive you… This last bullet is for me. For us- so we can be together, right?" He gave a sad smile, tears dripping off his chin.
"Don't…" Yuuma whispered with a quiet sigh. "Please, just live without me."
Piko sighed as Yuuma placed his hand also on the gun, in a way that his and Piko's fingers were interlocked. "I'm not letting it go.." Piko mumbled, kissing Yuuma's fingers.
Just then, while the barrel was pointed to the sky, Yuuma pressed down on Piko's trigger finger, firing that last bullet. Piko looked up at him, the most upsetting look in his eyes.
"Why would you do that…" He managed weakly, looking at his hand on the gun, the gun itself, then back to Yuuma.
"Because you're gonna be okay. You can get by without me, do you understand that?"
Piko froze for a moment then fell into Yuuma, holding onto his bloodied coat as he cried. Yuuma held him tight and gently pressed his lips to Piko's head. It took all he had left, and then some, not to break down and cry as well. But he was trying to show Piko that he was okay with this, and he couldn't do that with tears in his eyes. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a few things, one being the heart-shaped locket he found on the island he met Piko on. "This is yours, remember it?" Yuuma asked, giving a half smile. Piko looked at the charm and nodded, slipping it over his head so it could dangle from his neck. After he'd done that, something heavy and cold met his hand. Piko looked down to see Yuuma's compass in his hand.
"Please-"
"Take that with you, okay?" Yuuma asked, smiling. He kissed Piko's forehead then leaned back against the banister and sighed. He could feel the ship sinking slowly, just like the sun on the horizon before them.
Piko held the compass in front of him, staring at it through glossy eyes. He was mesmerized by the reflection of the dancing flames. He gave a nervous laugh. "Yuuma, do you remember how I didn't know what fire was?" He asked, looking over at the captain.
"I do," Yuuma said through a weak chuckle. "You didn't know what a lot of things were, really…" Piko followed Yuuma's gaze to the setting sun and watched it for a minute, then looked back at the compass. He noticed something different about the reflection in it this time, so he looked over his shoulder to figure out what it was.
He gasped, standing quickly and facing the burning ship. Yuuma followed suit, as both saw a nightmarish scene.
Emerging from the devouring flames was Mikuo's figure, his hair and shredded bits of his clothing flowing behind him some embers still burning in the fabrics. He was a bloody mess, staggering toward them with severe burns covering his skin. In his right hand was his revolver, and on his lips was a sinister grin.
"Yuuma-!"
"Jump, Piko. Leave, now."
"Not without you! Jump with me, please, Yuuma!"
Yuuma only turned his face to Piko and caught his lips for a split second, just as Mikuo raised his weapon. "I love you, Piko."
"Yuuma-"
"I'm sorry." Mikuo's thumb drew back the hammer as Yuuma's hand landed on Piko's chest, shoving the siren backwards toward the roaring ocean.
The sound of gunshot filled Piko's ears on the way down, and tears filled his eyes once again just before he was submerged in the salty ocean waters.
(A/N: Forgive me if this sounds rude, but I truly hope you at least teared up a bit. I know I've been sobbing all week as I typed this. There's an epilogue to come within the week. Please stick around. I love you guys, and until the epilogue- stay beautiful!)
P.s: I am eagerly awaiting you guys' response to this. Please review on this chapter before moving on to the epilogue! But remember that your reviews are public, so don't include major spoilers!
