[25] Round-Robin
The best word to describe what Griswold looked like from the outside was: gorgeous. While most of the town's residences where hidden behind the natural, uneven rock wall, which protected the island for centuries. Still, Misaki could see the colourful stone buildings, and a thin red tower, that rose above the residences. From their current position, he could take out the three bells on the top of it.
"That's the Cadence Tower over there," Tooru told him, when Misaki's attention was captivated by the narrow view of the city. "It was built as gift of gratitude by someone from the city of Oumihara. They say, the three bells symbolize the three towns of this island and their strong connection."
Yoshimine looked at him puzzled at first.
"I thought people only built one city per island," he noted.
"Well, that's not always the case, ya' know. Griswold, Oumihara and Karaib were very different regarding their circumstances, but this is why they could work together so perfectly. Oumihara is like Angler's reef with the exception, they have the best music school in the entire archipelago and their knowledge about sounds is astonishing. I bet, they are the only loose-screws here, who have a singing lighthouse," he let out a wholehearted laugh before continuing. " Then there is Griswold, you've heard of that one, but I'm pretty sure if you ask Rensuke, he would be more than happy to tell you about the town. The last one was destroyed over the course of history, by his own people and outer forces like the Kingdom of Zeus, but the bell remained between the other two as a memorial."
The concept was weird. But then again, human's concept of living was completely nonsense for him sometimes. At first he thought they acted based on feelings and not instincts like most creatures, but then empathy and logic was brought into the mix, creating a strange miscellany of different ideas.
"Shouldn't they be happy that their rival is down?"
"I suppose yes," nodded the chef in agreement. "But Karaib, despite being a pirate village was important to both sides because they brought materials and valuables unattainable in legal ways. As long as they didn't sink their teeth into the other two, they were free to roam the seas."
"Your concept of piracy is even more twisted than I first thought," he murmured under his nose.
"Hm-hm. And this is why we thought you should spend more time with the captain."
"Like I'm not spending majority of my time around him already," Misaki scoffed.
"Being in a closed space together and spending time on your own is completely different, Misaki. I'm pretty sure you, of all people, understand this."
"Aye-aye."
"Spare your lack of enthusiasm for later," Tooru laughed before patted him on the shoulder. The impact was strong enough to make Misaki swing a bit forward.
Damn, he was already scared of thinking what Tooru and the others have planned for them, but right now the answer was closer than he had thought. All the hints on him visiting the town, and the grins they got from the crew member finally formed the full picture.
"You are worse than selkies, you know that?" he growled, glaring daggers into Tooru.
"Well, at least we won't drown you," Tooru grinned, obviously enjoying Misaki's struggles.
"What a relief," the merman huffed, retaining his usual, confident posture.
"Now, if you excuse me, I need you to get out of that boat."
Before he could say something, which was clearly against the idea of him leaving the only safe haven he had on the cursed ship someone grabbed him from behind and another pair of hands pulled him by the tail.
Traitor!, he was about to scream, but it sounded like a silent growl. A cloth prevented him from opening his mouth.
His clothes were in terrible shape.
The Prussian blue coat he would usually wear for negotiations was dusty and no matter how hard he tried to rub a wet cloth against it, he couldn't get the light grey stains out of the fabric. Rensuke had a faint recollection that this is how they got dirt out of their clothes, but it seemed to fail when he needed this knowledge the most. Sadly, there was a point where dust completely ate its way into the depth of anything, including wood, metal and even clothes and this was one enemy he couldn't win against.
The expensive coat died before he could ever wear it in public.
He silently cursed under his breath. It's not like he wanted to look good, but after what happened in Griswold he had to keep his image as a captain, even if he'd ruined his reputation with the current governor and burned down every bridge in before possible future negotiations.
"And yet I look like a clown," he sighed, readjusting the collar of his white shirt. If Naoto was there he would probably laugh at his pathetic outfit, calling him circus monkey or something along the lines. But said first mate was still hundreds of miles away from them, with little to no hope to meet the crew again. Even if it hurt it admit, after weeks, even Rensuke had to admit that if Naoto'd survived that siege it would've been a true miracle.
He didn't give up on him, it was just… hard. In the end, he got to the point to admit his mistake, but he only started realizing the emptiness behind Naoto's words. He dispiritedly threw the coat on his bed, before turning around to look for his boots.
"I hope you aren't planning to wear that atrocious coat."
"At least, I try to look presentable," he answered to Souma who invaded his room without any warning sign. His friend didn't answer, just walked over to the chest where he kept most of his clothes and started rummaging through the content of the box.
"Okay," the bosun looked up, wearing a rather irritated smirk. "Where do you keep your normal clothes? Why do you even have this?! No offence, Cap't but even Misaki has better style than you, and he is mostly naked."
"And the reason for your appearance is…?" Rensuke raised an eyebrow, letting the insult pass over his head.
"I don't know anymore." These words meant that Saruga already had something in mind, because there is no way in hell that he is going to let Rensuke wear that pathetic excuse of an outfit. He took great care of the ship, making sure she looks perfect, but everything is in vain if the captain looks like he just got out of the red light district after a long night. "First of all, take everything off safe for your underwear and the shirt."
"Excuse you…?!" Rensuke stared at him in disbelief, silently clutching the buttons of his shirt.
"Rensuke, do you want to ruin the reputation of the ship, too?" Saruga asked with a hint of seriousness in his voice. This seemed to be enough to drown the remaining words coming from Rensuke, because the captain silently took off the previous attire, while the bosun kept giving him the new pieces as replacement. In no time, he was wearing an embroidered vest (which he had no recollections of obtaining) and soon, white stockings were thrown at him. "The choice is yours. Breeches or trousers?"
"Trousers!" the captain spoke almost immediately.
"Good," Saruga nodded. "Then pair them with those boots, not your regular work boots, but the ones in the corner of the room and, then, we can talk. Everyone is waiting for you."
"What? Why?" Those were his last words, before the door closed in front of him leaving Rensuke alone with his confused expression.
Everyone was acting suspicious. Everyone.
Yet Rensuke had to admit that Saruga's choice of outfit was spot on. The maroon vest with its claret embroidery looked acceptable with the dark trouser and the boots. While he wouldn't admit it openly, he liked what he saw in the mirror, even though he looked nothing like a pirate. Certainly, as he watched himself, he thought of a noble from the Kingdom of Tengawara, minus the high and mighty attitude.
However, there was a crew he had to meet on the deck. A rather suspicious crew, to be exact.
"Here goes nothing," he told himself. His hand was already on the doorknob, but once he stepped out of his cabin, almost immediately the feeling of regret grew heavy on his shoulders. Everyone had a smile plastered in their face.
The first one to speak was Nagisa, along with Azu they made movements like two stage masters, announcing the arrival of their captain.
"Now that our greatest and beloved captain is finally here, and looks stunning in his new outfit, we the Kaiou pirates have a surprise to our kind-hearted leader! It is crafted with love!"
"What?" was all Namikawa could ask, before he got caught by the hand and pulled towards the end back of the group.
"So, we thought that you should get some free time away from the ship," Tooru explained. His voice remained calm the entire time Rensuke was dragged towards their little present, but a proud smile was on his lips during his speech. "But arranging something where both you and Misaki would stand or rather, sit on the same ground was hard. So Saruga had an idea, and Tairamaru, being the master of carpenters, offered his help to make something that would allow Misaki to see the world."
He was about to make a remark regarding fake legs, when he'd seen the actual device. Though, the word device might have been a little bit too strong for the makeshift wheelchair. It was just one of their regular old spare chairs from the kitchen, with padding, four wheels and armrests. Rensuke stopped dead, staring at the merman in front of him.
The crew did an extremely good job at hiding his tail, covering it with clothes and blankets and creating a tiny space under the chair, where they can hide the rest of his tail. But this wasn't the end of it, because they, for the first time in history, dressed the merman up. He was wearing a light brown shirt; probably loot from one of their previous hunts and draped a dark brown cape over his shoulders, kept together by one button.
It was Misaki, but at the same time, Rensuke couldn't really find the words what could describe the sight in front of him. Alien, perhaps? No, the fish-men deserved that word better. The merman in front of him was anything but alien. In some way, he would even admit that Misaki looked marvellous.
"I swear this wasn't my idea!" Misaki raised his hands up in a defensive manner. If his ears were not visible he could've been a disabled boy, but now said ears were flat against Misaki's head making his embarrassment more and more visible with each passing moment. "I mean, can you believe that I would ask anyone for these rugs?"
He let out a weak laugh, before he averted his gaze. He couldn't hide, and the fact that the entire crew was standing around them just made everything worse. If it wasn't embarrassing enough already, he had to deal with the smug grins surrounding them.
"No, you look fine!"
"What?"
Rensuke opened his mouth to answer, but he couldn't utter a single word. What, indeed.
"Would you two just stop waltzing around each other?!"
Suddenly everyone's attention was directed toward Kouichirou, the shortest member of the crew. He wasn't angry, but rather, he was disappointed by his stone-headed captain. "Rensuke, just once in this life admit that we did a good job and go with the flow. Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming."
"I didn't mean it that way!" he grunted. "And I'm proud of you, of course, but this won't change the fact that you did something behind my back and refused to tell me about it."
"Well that's the point of a gift," Kouichirou shrugged. "But this is so like you! Just say that Misaki looks dashing in the disguise we came up with, then go and show him the city."
"That's not how this works!"
Besides, first their problem was Rensuke not appreciating their handiwork.
"How what works?! Don't tell that you thought we are doing this because you are courting Misaki," he told him with a smirk on his face. Rensuke was losing in front of his entire crew and this was all thanks to that goddamned salmon. If he wasn't there maybe his rank as captain would mean something on this ship.
"Wait what does courting mean?" they could hear Misaki's voice from the background. He seemed to get over his initial embarrassment and now, the merman was ready to jump into the ring to take part in the conversation. However, his voice found deaf ears.
"I'm not courting him!"
"Then don't be a baby and take him with you, because you will certainly need someone, if you have to talk with the Governor here. And you must talk with him, because we need money, we need rations and most of all we need some days away from the sea without the fear of Yaku's henchmen kicking us out."
"Fine, fine. I'll take that big salmon with me, happy now?"
"Look, Rensuke, I know you are angry with us, but we did this for your sake," Nagisa stepped in, when he felt that the atmosphere has gotten too heavy to handle. His voice seemed to calm Rensuke down as his shoulder loosened a little bit. "You always look after us and work behind the scenes to ensure that we always have something to eat despite being pirates. You think we haven't noticed it? That whenever we were about to run out of money, suddenly we had just the right amount to continue our voyage. Whenever someone gets sick you rush to the nearest island. Captain, no, Rensuke just as you want to keep us happy, the same is true about your crew."
By the time Nagisa finished, tears welled up in Rensuke's eyes. It was a sudden change, but he felt like a child who was caught red-handed when he was fishing for cookies and he thanked the gods that Nagisa didn't go into greater details about his solo missions. It was bad enough that seemingly everyone knew about it, but he felt miserable at the thought of his friends wanting to repay his kindness.
"Thanks for pointing that out," he took a deep breath, successfully keeping his tears at bay. "But enough of this sappy party. What have you planned for today, if I may ask?"
His question was addressed to everyone. If they were so ahead of him, it would've been a shame to let their efforts go to waste, especially because, to his cursed luck, everyone was enjoying this little game far too much.
"We will take care of the regular stuffs around the ship like refilling supplies or getting money for maintance. Just write a list like you usually do with some of the things you should do around town and we will finish them."
"That's kind of you. But where does Misaki come into the picture?"
"He will be with you during your visit to the governor also we thought that Griswold would be the best place to show him first."
Saruga ungracefully butted into the conversation.
"Yeah, because Rottingham is anything but beginner friendly."
"We made a list of activities and places you could visit together as it would be important for us that our merman is well-aquitanced with human customs." Tooru handed him a piece of paper, filled with numbers and almost thirty lines of plans.
"You weren't wasting your free time, I see," Namikawa said as he skipped through the first ten or so lines. On first place, there was Visiting the Governor of Griswold, after it there was lunch, roaming around the city and other nonsense suggestions with the exception on one, which was underlined several times. Visit the church.
That one disturbed him a lot more he dared to admit.
Not because he hated churches, but because he felt uncomfortable around people who waited for salvation from someone up there. Even if God existed he must've hated pirates, and he just wasn't ready to listen to the priest's preaching about the errors of his ways for the hundredth time.
As if he could read his thoughts Tooru added, "Misaki will go as wandering pilgrim."
"Wait, you've been excluding me from this for too long. What?" Misaki's voice rang though the crowd, hands folded. "What is a pilgrim? And what is courting?"
"About courting ask the captain later," Nagisa quickly said, earning a snort from Azu's side. "Pilgrim is a person who visits churches during his travels. According to them this is the way to experience what God has given to us."
"What is God? Don't get me wrong. I appreciate that you think of me as an equal, but I still need a dictionary for you, guys." he said, but the boys could only shrug.
"God is like a person who is never at home and constantly leaves his kids alone in the kitchen next to a burning stove," Rensuke tried to explain, stopping his bitter remarks in the idea phase. "Some people worship him and by building churches they think they can be closer to each other."
"That's quite sad." the merman nodded "So what is my job as a pilgrim?"
"Just visit the church," Tooru smiled at him. "I bet Rensuke here still knows a few prayers from the old times. Out of everyone on this ship his mother was the most persistent person when it came to masses."
"Ach, don't even remind me," a grimace ran through his face accompanied by an over exaggerated chill which shook his shoulders. "All those mornings I had to spend in that ugly place listening to an old hag reading the most boring stories of the world."
"Well, at least you weren't kicked out like Wanda. And that's already gives us a better ground to work with."
"Aye, I might still remember some of the shorter poems so as long as I don't have to do more than that, we are going to be fine."
The difference between Naoto and Rensuke was always striking, but everyone recited the old saying opposites attract whenever it was mentioned. Being next to a religious country like Raimon made it impossible to get away from their pushy priests and soon on some way or other even the smallest town had its own cleric to share the word of their lord.
However, no one really cared about them.
It was like a silent peace-treatment with Raimon rather than an actual expansion of religion. They were happy to have representatives of their God everywhere, while the island nations didn't have to worry about a possible war over religion and since they mostly prayed to the sea, no one was really against a new building and some fancy customs as long as others, like the Coral Festival and their long running traditions could be kept or merged.
In the end, even pirate villages got their own representative. Needless to say, they soon turned toward piracy while writing reports filled with white lies.
Marine snow was no different.
After the disappearance of his father, Rensuke's mother however found her somewhat restless peace by visiting the church whenever she had something on her mind. Then, thanks to the unlikely friendship between the priestess and the pirate Rensuke ended up attending to classes with some other kids. But news travelled fast and soon Nagisa and Naoto were sitting among the group of students, talking about old tales and good deeds.
Tales. Because none of them truly believed in God.
Knowing the customs and beliefs was only important when it came to dealing with different regions and for a pirate it never hurt to know how to address their future trade partners or victims. That's what they kept telling each other after classes ended. However, Naoto could never really accept the fact that he was forced to learn about something he despised with his entire being.
I couldn't care less about your so called god, he said one day when the priestess tried to talk some sense into him. You keep talking about justice and equality. How the bad always gets punishment. But then what about us? What about my mother?
Why should I be here when I'm going to hell, anyway?
Then something snapped.
He remembered the look on the priestess' face and the red mark on Naoto's cheek. It was a natural sign that the boy had went too far, so no one really made a big deal out of the incident.
However, these words resonated deep within Rensuke's soul even today and now it seemed ironic that a pirate captain would visit a church or help a pilgrim as they were all sinners to begin with. These acts contradicted themselves way too much.
"You know, I just hope that the priest of Griswold won't chase us out from the church."
He smiled, mostly at his own thoughts, as if he suddenly understood the meaning behind Naoto's words.
"Well, we won't know until we try," Misaki chuckled.
"Stop that. You sound like some second rate knight trainee," Rensuke let a sardonic smile took the place his previous expression. It was a clear sign that his previous thoughts were shooed away. "And I won't forgive you if you turn out to be a Raimonian space-case when we are dealing with that scallywag."
Though, Misaki gave Rensuke a nod, the word Raimonian made him turn to Tooru in confusion. Courting, raimonians, churches… they meant nothing to the merman as the human vocabulary still held many unknown articles despite the fact that he'd kept listening to them, whenever they visited his island. Territory and culture specific words were out of his league.
"Just ask him later," Tooru told him, putting an arm on his shoulder.
The stage was set, the only needed to open the grand drape to see how their play would continue when other participants were brought in. And this time the crew of Ornitier was watching closely from the front tows, enjoying their work of art.
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A/N: And I'm back! With another ten pages of words and obtaining more books on marine history and naval tragedies than I ever thought I needed. Apologies, for being so slow with this update, though. It took me some time to get back to practice after this extra-long hiatus and I didn't want this chapter to be filled with more than my awkward wordings.
Also about Karaib! While the school was not present in any Inazuma, in the first season they've been shown for a brief moment, after they've lost against Zeus! However, the team was called Caribbean and I wanted to avoid confusions even if their presence was brief. Actually, it's kinda fun, because their shirts look like some kind of blue Kaiou-Prototype.
To Hideki: I'm glad that I could bring some fresh air into the fandom though the lack of clichés might be because the Inazuma fandom barely scratched the surface of canon and we seriously lack fics using the age of sail. Most stories I've seen usually use Raimon and put them in a western high-fantasy setting. :D On the note, I always thought that Minamisawa would be a really cunning or at least clever person based on his actions and on the fact that Gassan Kunimitsu is considered to be better than Raimon. Both in the anime and in the game he knows what is best for him, and acts according to that. It's shame that people miss the opportunity to write a truly witty character. :/
To Guest: I was always a sucker for slow-burn romance as a side dish to stories. I like it when both sides in a relationship stand as equals and they have more to them than cuddles and hugs. /
To serene-lourage: Ah, I'm certain this is not true. I mean, there are so many adventure fics out there- :3c And Aoba kids were one of the first teams I've encountered in the games so it would be a shame to not include them in some way, especially in a story where the focus stays on the poor background teams. I'm actually really excited to include Arakumo and Tengawara. (Though before Arakumo can take the stage I have to finish Rhapsody Afar as their circumstances are rather special..)