Tom's Workers
KS: Hello once again! Welcome to chapter twelve of Tom's Workers! So far, there have been over 1000 hits and 46 reviews! I would like to thank Clarobell for plugging my fic on her profile (as well as plugging my art XD ) AND for giving me various ideas. (I'm working on drawing something special for her birthday as thanks! ;) )
At this chapter, I will be reinstating the special reward fic. So, if you want it, you have to review! You don't have to ask in your reviews, you just review. Of course, if your e-mail isn't displayed, you have to e-mail me personally, but some of you already know that!
Also, I'd like to take this time to say that I have discovered a mistake that I have been making. As I was looking at my copy of vol. 37, I noticed that the dining area, sleeping area, and drafting area were all in the same room. I thought they were separate, but they're not! There seems to be a number of rooms (by the number of doors in the larger room I would think there are at least 5 rooms in the place), but the manga only covers two. (The two rooms covered are, of course, the sitting room--where Franky & Usopp were when CP9 arrived--and the dining/drafting/sleeping room. Of course, the futons are put up when they're not sleeping I would assume, as that is how it usually works.) So, I may not go back and fix any place where that would cause a discrepancy, and then again I might. But, if you notice/have noticed it in the past or possibly in the future, ignore it. Or, you could bring it to my attention. Whichever you like:)
DISCLAIMER: I do not own ONE PIECE or have any affiliation with Toei Animation, Shueisha/Jump Comics, Eiichiro Oda, or even the evil 4Kids Entertainment.
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Chapter 12: Responsibility
Iceburg stared at his reflection in the mirror as he brushed his teeth for the night. His tiredness was clearly written on his face; it had been a long, hard day of work. But, he and Tom had made a lot of progress on a ship they were working on. He rinsed, gargled, and spat into the sink, looking back up with a slight smile of satisfaction. A good, honest day's work always gave you a good feeling about yourself.
In fact, they had made so much progress that day that they should be done in a day or two, as long as nothing came up. They were already a week ahead of schedule on their orders! If they kept going like this, they'd be done with all the ships they were scheduled to do in no time at all.
He put his toothbrush up and walked out of the bathroom, off to bed. Tom-san was already in there, asleep, and Cutty was sitting up and looking at illustrations of ships in an old book.
"Nma, Franky, what are you looking at in there? Those are warships." Iceburg asked as he walked up.
Cutty looked up at Iceburg. "Eh? Oh, I was just trying to get some ideas." he replied, looking back down at the thick volume on his lap. Iceburg rolled his eyes and sighed.
"Hah...Bakanky, you shouldn't be building stuff like that. You need to be more responsible."
Cutty pushed out his lower lip a little and huffed, first looking at Iceburg then turning his attention back to his book.
"Oh, you don't know anything, Bakaburg..." he muttered. Iceburg just shook his head and crawled under the covers to sleep. It was just Franky...that's how he was.
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The next day was another work day, and it was very pretty and warm outside. Tom was hauling some lumber, Yokozuna carried a box of tools as best he could, and Iceburg brought up the rear with a load of metal. Cutty was a ways off to the side, working on yet another Battle Franky.
"Nma," Iceburg started as he walked over to him, "You're going to work on that today?" he asked. Cutty was too enraptured in his work at the moment to look up--if he had, he probably would've hammered his thumb again. So, he just replied with a grunt.
"Mm-hm."
Iceburg shifted his load around. "You know, Franky, we could really use your help."
This time, Cutty tried to look up, but as soon as he did he fell from his upside-down perch on the railing of his new ship.
"Waah!" he shouted as he landed with a thud. He sat up, shaking the dust off of his head.
"No...I want to get this one done by the end of the month." he said.
Iceburg sighed. "Fine...suit yourself. But one of these days, you'll have to take up some responsibility." he said, walking away with his load. Cutty returned to his work, unconcerned.
"Whatever..." he muttered.
Iceburg didn't understand, and never would. Cutty mumbled to himself lightly, rubbing his slightly sore head as he picked his hammer up off of the ground. Ah...back to work. He took a nail and began to hammer it into place. He swung back his hammer quickly, but it felt weird as he did. He looked, and the head had flown off as he had swung it back.
"Huh..." Cutty mused. Where had it gone? Then, a sudden shout got his attention.
"Wah!!"
Cutty turned in just enough time to see the hammerhead hit Iceburg, sending him tripping forward slightly and therefore making him lose his balance with the load of metal he was carrying and fall, the metal coming down on his arm.
"AAGH!!" Iceburg cried out. Tom turned quickly, dropping his own load and rushing to help Iceburg. Cutty likewise stopped what he was doing and ran over.
"Ah...agh!!" Iceburg groaned as Tom lifted the metal off of his arm.
"Lie still, Iceburg." the fish-man said.
"Ah, Bakaburg, are you okay!?" Cutty asked as he came up. Iceburg groaned a bit as he tried to sit up. "Nma, I'm fine, I--" he stopped as a pang shot through his arm. "AGH!"
"I told you to lie still!" Tom-san said again. He turned to Yokozuna. "Go and get Kokoro-san."
"Gero geroh!" The sumo frog nodded, spinning around and leaping off to fetch her. Tom inspected Iceburg's arm carefully. "Ah...I'm afraid it's broken." he muttered.
Iceburg looked up at the Fish-man quickly. "Broken!? No! We've got work to do...!!"
Tom shook his head. "Don't worry about that, Iceburg, we'll be fine."
Cutty squatted down next to Iceburg. "Oh, man, does it hurt?" he asked innocently.
Iceburg rolled his eyes and sighed through his teeth. "Nma, Franky, you know it does."
Cutty just stared at it wonderingly, cocking his head. By now, Yokozuna was returning, followed by a worry-faced Kokoro. She came up and knelt down next to Iceburg as Tom moved out of the way and immediately began to assess the damage.
"N...tsk tsk...It's broken, all right," she said, "But...It doesn't seem to be too bad; it could definitely be worse."
Iceburg moaned as he sat his head back. Cutty looked at him thoughtfully.
"It's okay Iceburg," he said. "You'll be better in no time."
Yokozuna handed Kokoro a first-aid kit, and Kokoro pulled out a splint and bandages. "It will take a few weeks to heal, as long as you take it easy." she said.
"But Kokoro-san...we're ahead! We're doing so well..." Iceburg interjected. Kokoro looked down at him. "No 'buts'. If you're ahead, that means you'll have more time to rest. Isn't that right, Tom-san?" asked. Tom nodded.
"Right. You've got to rest, or else your arm will get worse and you'll never be able to build ships. Franky will just have to take over for you." he agreed. Cutty's head shot up.
"Eh---?!" he gasped. "Work for Iceburg? But, but..."
Iceburg reached and grabbed Cutty's arm with his good one. "Franky, you've gotta help out now. It's your responsibility until I get better." he said. Cutty looked at him a moment.
"Hmph, fine. My Battle Franky can wait." he sighed. Iceburg smiled a bit.
"It won't be so bad, Franky. You'll just have to work a bit more...you know, do the stuff I normally do." he said. Cutty nodded. "All right."
Iceburg smiled. "Thanks."
Kokoro finished wrapping Iceburg's arm. "There, that should do it." she said, standing. "Now, Iceburg, you should go in to rest." she added.
Tom nodded. "Don't work that arm or it won't heal!"
Iceburg nodded as he stood. "Right, Tom-san, I know!" he said. He went off with Kokoro-san to go inside, leaving Tom, Cutty, and Yokozuna to work.
"Well," Tom started, looking at Cutty. "Are you ready to start?"
Cutty grinned. "Of course, Tom-san!" he replied, pumping his fists in a super way.
"Good! Now, you know what we have to do. It'll be hard while we're one man short, so we've got to work with an extra 'DON'!" Tom said. Cutty nodded.
"Right!"
This wouldn't be so bad. He'd get to work with Tom-san without Iceburg being around for a while! It was super!
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It was about 10 o'clock now, and they were making fair progress.
"Oi, Icebur--I mean, Franky, could you get me that scale?" Tom asked. Cutty looked over at Tom from his task of carving a piece of lumber for the railing. "Eh? Oh..." he muttered. He sat the lumber and his plainer aside and hopped off his perch, fetcing the yard-long scale for the fish-man shipwright.
"Thanks." Tom said as he took it. Cutty sighed a bit and went back over to his own task.
It had been a rather hard day so far. It wasn't like he didn't help Tom-san before...he just did things sort of alternatingly...for a while, he'd work on a Battle Franky, and for a while he'd help Tom-san and Iceburg. But, now that Iceburg was laid up, he had to do the jobs that he'd normally do and the jobs that Iceburg'd do. It was running him a bit ragged.
"Oi, Franky, sorry to bother you again, but could you help me with this for now?" Tom asked again. Cutty sat his stuff aside once more. "Yeah, Tom-san, I'm coming!" he replied.
He hurried over to help. Still...he didn't mind so much. He liked spending time with Tom-san. And, he liked building ships. He was, though, getting a better feeling of what Iceburg had to do from day to day.
Being the oldest assistant gave more responsibilities, and Iceburg was four years his senior.
That gave him a thought. Iceburg's birthday would be coming up soon...Perhaps he should do something super special for it. Of course, he probably wouldn't have too much extra time, but...he could try.
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It was now 12 o'clock--time for lunch.
Cutty stood in front of the sink, placing a band-aid over a small cut he had gotten earlier on his face. He could smell various scents coming from the other room...mostly bacon and toasted bread. He figured they'd be having BLTs for lunch. He smiled a little, making the band-aid on his face wrinkle. A nice BLT sandwich and a cola sounded really good.
He looked to make sure that the bandage wouldn't fall off because of the smile (or future smiles), and noticed a smudge of grease. He wiped it clean with the still-damp hand towel--no one would notice--and left for the dining room.
He strolled out of the bathroom to the dining table, where Iceburg already was waiting. The older apprentice was engrossed in a book, being careful not to lean on his busted arm.
Obviously lunch wasn't quite ready yet, and he didn't know where Tom-san had went off to, so he settled himself in at the table to wait with Iceburg.
He sat there in the quiet for a moment. It was a little boring.
He started to drum his fingers on the table as he looked about. Apparently he became engrossed in it and was too loud, because Iceburg gave him a look that said simply, 'stop'.
So he did.
Still bored, he tilted his neck a little to see the title of the book that Iceburg was reading. It said: 'Kaigun'. Hm...what a weird name. "Iceburg..." Cutty started.
"Hm?" Iceburg muttered, not looking up from his reading.
"What'cha readin?" Cutty asked.
"Kaigun. It's a book about the Marines." Iceburg replied, moving his hand so Cutty could see the familiar seagull emblem of the Marines on the front cover. "It's fiction." he added. He went back into the book.
"The Marines?" Cutty asked, not quite ready yet to leave the topic. "They're the ones that executed the Pirate King, weren't they."
It was said more as a statement than question.
Iceburg looked up from his book, quiet a moment. It hadn't been that long since the Government had caught up with Gold Roger and executed him in Lougetown...it hadn't been that long since the Government had started to go after anyone who had connections with the Pirate King. It hadn't been that long since Kokoro and Tom-san had started talking about what might happen.
Iceburg nodded. "Yeah...they are."
Cutty thumped at the table a few more times with his fingers as he swung his feet about.
"...Is it good? The book, I mean." he asked.
It hadn't exactly been what Iceburg had expected him to say, but then again he couldn't predict the boy very well.
"...It's pretty good so far."
And then the room was quiet again...for a time.
That time was brought to it's end by Tom-san and Yokozuna coming in.
"Ah, Tom-san!" Cutty said, eyes brightening. "Where've you been?"
Tom laughed a little bit. "I had just forgotten to do something, don't worry about it." he replied.
About that time, Kokoro came in with the food.
"Ah, Tom-san, you're back already?" she asked. Tom nodded.
"Aa. It didn't take long." he replied. Kokoro smiled as she sat the plates of food in front of the hungry men--and frog. "Good, good." she said. She started back to the door. "I'll be right back with the drinks." And with that she stepped back out.
Cutty, though he really would like that cola she was sure to fetch for him, couldn't wait. With all the double time work he had done that morning, he was starving.
"Itadakimasu!!" Cutty said happily as he picked the sandwich up off of the plate. He shoved it into his mouth; that first bite was so good.
Food was always better after you work, of course, but Kokoro-san was a good cook anyways.
"So, Iceburg," Tom started, "How's your arm?"
Iceburg looked down at the bound-up appendage. He swallowed the food he had in his mouth so he could speak.
"Nma, my arm? It's fine, don't worry." he replied.
Tom nodded. "Good."
And about that time Kokoro came back. She sat an ice-cold bottle of cola down in front of Cutty, the little fragments of ice on the outside from the cooler wiped off, just how he liked it.
He snatched it up happily. "Thanks, Kokoro-san!" he said, taking a swig. Kokoro gave the others their drinks, too.
"N! Super!!" Cutty grinned. He sat the cola back down on the table, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. He didn't know what went into a cola, but they were great. And addictive! He picked his sandwich back up and took another large bite.
"Mm, Tom-sthan..." He started, the big chunk of food in his mouth slurring his words a bit.
"How long do you think it'sh gunna take ush to finish th' ship?" he asked, swallowing after he was finished speaking. Tom laughed a little.
"Oh, not long, not long." he replied. He looked over to Kokoro. "He's been a very good helper today." he added. Kokoro smiled.
"Oh, really?" she asked. Tom nodded, stopping to speak as he brought his sandwich to his mouth.
"Mm. He's a good shipwright...I can't wait to see the thing he'll build when he grows up." he replied. Cutty beamed, grinning broadly.
"Heh heh...I'm going to build the greatest ships ever!! Just wait, Tom-san!" the little boy said. Tom laughed. "Ta ha ha, I'm sure you will!!!"
Cutty smiled even more. See? It had been a great day so far. This 'filling in for Iceburg' thing wouldn't be bad. A bit more work...but not bad.
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KS: Daijobu saa mae ni susumou...oh, sorry. In a bit of a funky mood, listening to music...I think I'm about to pass out...I'd better go see about that. XP
Anyways, that's the end of that chapter. Don't worry, it's not a cliffhanger, there'll be more. And, pretty soon, we're going to be getting into the meat of things.
And, I'm REALLY sorry for the slowness of the updates, but I've been annoyingly busy. No time for drawing or writing...it's driving me nuts. XD
Ah…next chapter may come sometime soon, may not. Sorry!
