And here is chapter 11. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece or any of the characters. I only have my OCs.
"How many times has he tried now?" Vista asked as he watched Ace fly across the deck, thanks to a punch from Oyaji.
"This is the fifth time this week, so he's up to fifteen attempts in two weeks," Thatch answered. "We're all taking bets on how long it'll be before he either gives up or gets himself killed. Want in?"
"I'll give him two months before he gives up," Hotaru said, taking the clipboard Thatch had procured seemingly from nowhere.
She quickly wrote her name down on the chart, underneath Izou's wager that Ace would last a month and a half. Somewhere near the top of the paper, Jozu had placed his bets on the Fire Fist going for six months. Hotaru could only hope that wasn't going to be the case. She was getting a little tired of Ace trying to kill their captain, after only two weeks of his attempts.
The evening before, Ace had tried to kill Oyaji in his sleep with a knife, effectively getting himself thrown out of the room and waking half the people on the ship. Hotaru had been the first to approach him, a scowl on her lips, and inform him that while he didn't have to get up at the crack of dawn, she did. She had then taken the knife from Ace and flicked it so that it landed with the blade firmly planted into the wooden boards of the deck, telling Ace that he didn't stand a chance against Oyaji with something so simple.
Noontime had brought an assassination attempt that had something to do with 'death from above'. Needless to say, it didn't work and Ace soon found himself not only flying across the deck, but crashing through the railing. The yelp of surprise was expected as the Fire Fist quickly found himself plummeting into the ocean.
"Aren't you going to go after him?" Vista asked Hotaru, while Thatch was already on his way to fish the flame user out of the water.
"Nope. I refuse to pull his stupid ass out of the water after an attempt on Oyaji's life. I'll fish him out after he falls overboard on his own, which I'm still trying to figure out."
"Figure out what?" a somewhat lazy voice asked from behind Hotaru and she turned to see Marco approaching, yawning. She figured he had just woken up, seeing as he hadn't been working the previous shift and he'd had look-out duty late at night.
"Why Ace keeps falling overboard. He'll be standing up, perfectly fine one moment. And in the next, he'll just fall over the rail. It's weird."
"It's his own business." Hotaru shrugged her shoulders, watching as Thatch returned with a very angry Ace. Hotaru could've sworn the flame user was pouting, but knew he'd deny it, just like any other member of the crew. Grown men didn't pout, as Hotaru had learned very quickly upon joining. Marco watched Hotaru for a moment, taking notice of the slight frown on her lips. He knew she didn't realize she wore that frown, but it meant she was still bothered by the topic at hand. "Oi. If it really bugs you, ask him."
Hotaru scoffed. "You say it like he'll actually talk to me, or anyone besides his ex-Spades for that matter."
"You're persuasive. You take after your mother." The nineteen-year-old gave him a smile before walking off to see what she help she could offer in the kitchen.
Sometime later, Hotaru found Ace sulking on the deck, against the hull again. She was very tempted to laugh at the sight, but figured it would be best not to insult the moody pirate. As she approached him, he didn't seem to acknowledge her existence. It was only when Hotaru sat beside him that he glanced in her direction.
"What do you want?" he muttered. Hotaru pulled one knee up to her chest and rested her arm on it, twisting her upper body so she was angled towards Ace.
"I want to talk," she answered with a friendly smile. When Ace didn't react, Hotaru decided small-talk likely wasn't going to go far with him. "Why do you keep falling overboard?" This earned a response from Ace. His head whipped in her direction and she noted that his eyes were slightly widened. He seemed to recover quickly, though, and a scowl adorned his features.
"Your damn captain keeps throwing me over."
"Watch what you say about Oyaji," Hotaru warned. "And I was talking about the times I have to fish you out of the sea. I'm sure you've noticed I don't dive in after you if it's after you try to kill Oyaji."
"You've only pulled me out once."
"Try ten times in two weeks, almost as many times as Thatch has had to go. So, why do you keep falling over?"
"It's none of your business," Ace snapped moodily. Hotaru watched him in silence for a moment, trying to figure him out. When helped, he was always sure to be polite, but he was temperamental all other times of the day. Hotaru know Ace was in an irritable mood, but she also knew Marco had been correct in saying she could be persuasive.
"If you tell me why you keep falling overboard, I'll tell you something that even most members of the crew don't know." This seemed to intrigue Ace for a moment. He glanced at Hotaru, as though trying to measure if she was telling the truth. "Come on; are you just clumsy or something?"
"No."
"Then what is it?" Hotaru asked. "You can trust me."
"How do I know that?"
"We're nakama."
"Don't say that," Ace growled, his wall of defenses reinforcing itself.
"Alright, fine. How about this? You can trust me because I care about you and I don't want you to drown."
At that, Hotaru watched that wall of defense weaken again. It was ever-so slight, but she could definitely see the surprise on the young man's features. It was as though he hadn't expected anyone in the Whitebeard Crew to care about him. Hotaru thought that was ridiculous, of course, because if they didn't care, they wouldn't have bothered to keep him alive or fish him out of the sea.
"You mean that?" Ace asked, his tone sounding a bit skeptical. Behind that skepticism, Hotaru could almost swear she heard a hint of apprehension. She gave him her bright smile again.
"Why wouldn't I? So, why do you keep taking a nose-dive into the ocean?" Ace was silent, watching Hotaru carefully. It seemed as though he was still unsure if he could trust her. Hotaru figured it was a case of 'you go first'. She gave a sigh, not particularly wanting to tell Ace about the little fear she had. After all, there was only one member of the crew that knew about it, and she was reluctant to spread it. "If I tell you, then you have to tell me why you keep falling overboard."
"Fine."
"Alright. I hate being alone in the dark." Ace raised an eyebrow at her before snickering behind his hand.
"You're afraid of the dark?" he asked incredulously, earning a punch to the shoulder.
"Shut up! And it's not the dark I'm afraid of. I just don't like being alone in the dark. I want to be able to see what's going on. Quit laughing!"
"I'm sorry, but what kind of pirate is afraid of-"
"Don't say it. Enough making fun of me. What's with you and dropping off the side of the ship?" Hotaru asked and Ace's laughter quickly stopped. He hesitated for a moment, leaning back against the hull of the ship.
"I fall asleep," he muttered, almost as though he was embarrassed. Hotaru raised a disbelieving eyebrow.
"You… fall asleep? Just like that?" She snapped her fingers to emphasize her point. "How?"
"Narcolepsy." Hotaru's brows furrowed slightly in confusion. What was narcolepsy? She'd never heard of it before.
"What?"
"It's why I fall asleep at the drop of a hat," Ace answered, still mumbling. Hotaru stared at him in silence for a moment before reaching behind Ace's head. She lifted the ugly orange hat from off his person and released it, watching it fall to the wooden boards of the deck. Once it had landed, she looked back to Ace with a smile.
"You're still awake," she offered lightly, earning a chuckle from Ace.
"So, why do you 'hate the dark'?" he asked and Hotaru smirked. She wondered if he realized he was entitled to an elaboration, as she had asked for one.
"I grew up on the streets, so I always had to watch my back. I don't like feeling completely alone because then I feel like I have to constantly look over my shoulder. It's just worse in the dark because I can't see." Ace nodded slowly as if he understood the sentiment, but said nothing more. He simply picked up his hat and let it hang off his neck, so the skull medallion was in front of his chest. Hotaru figured the conversation wouldn't be going and stood, dusting off her khaki Capri pants. "It was nice talking with you, Ace. I hope we can do it again sometime."
And thus begins their little exchange game. For every thing one reveals about him/herself, the other person has to tell their own story. Fun, right? Please R&R.