The sun was just beginning to rise, enlightening the dirty waters of Roanapur's port. Revy yawned, sitting on the boat's torpedo, and fished her pockets for a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. She pulled the last one from the crumpled package and right before crushing it noticed something inside. It was a piece of neatly folded paper. Again. "Since you refuse to let me say this aloud - I'm sorry."
It was a week after their argument.
"Fuck you, Rock." Revy calmly answered to a silent morning air and flicked her lighter, watching as the paper smoldered before her eyes before letting the remains of it fall into the water.
Soon she heard steps on the boat.
"Good morning..." Benny said sleepily.
"Hey." She glanced at the smiley face of her teammate, wondering from where does he take the positivity he radiates almost every day. It was 5 am, and he managed to yawn happily.
"How come you're so early?"
"Couldn't sleep."
Benny smirked. "Good for you, I guess… I honestly feel like I'm sleepwalking."
Revy chuckled. "Yeah... 5 in the morning is a weird time to start a job. I wonder who's to blame." She gazed into the water, pulling a smoke. Dutch did not fill them in in detail when he called late yesterday night.
"It's Chang." Rock's voice reached them from another side of the boat as both turned to look at him approaching, carrying some heavy bags. "I was in the office when he called."
As Rock came closer, having left the bags on the deck near the entrance, Benny squinted his eyes at him. "Is that… a black eye?"
"Yeah… Some spanish speaking guys jumped on me yesterday on my way from the office to the apartment. Luckily Dutch heard the commotion and planted some bullets in some legs through the window." He placed a cigarette between his lips. "Can I borrow a light? I lost mine."
Since Benny only stared at his bruised face and showed no signs of looking for his lighter, Rock glanced at Revy. The usual friendliness he'd expected to see there was still absent.
"Catch." She warned, throwing the lighter, which Rock awkwardly tried to catch with his left. After picking it up from the deck he fruitlessly tried to light it, but didn't go any further than the sparks. Revy and Benny watched mildly amused, wondering why it looked like it was the first time he was doing it. After another unsuccessful attempt Rock cursed under his nose, took the lighter into his right hand, winced in pain rolling the wheel, but finally managed to get the flame.
"What happened to your hand?" She inquired after he returned the lighter to her.
"Raised my arm in defense yesterday when one of the guys aimed to kick me in the head. It's not a big deal, but I broke my forearm when I was 15, so sometimes it hurts even after a slight hit."
"Clearly that didn't save your face." Revy scoffed, joined by Benny's laughter. Soon the chuckling took over Rock too. He was relieved that Revy stopped ignoring him.
"How did you break your arm?" Benny asked semi-curious, making small talk before their boss arrived.
Rock didn't answer immediately. He walked over to the edge of the boat, pulling his cigarette, lost in thought. Both Revy and Benny turned to look at him and his unusual silence, as he pondered whether to tell the truth.
The urge to withhold the actual events felt so strong as if it was an instinct. Perhaps, after living so many years without ever telling anyone the truth, it became one.
And the innocent question made him feel suffocated again, the same way he felt while living and working in Japan. Reduced to some lowly being that needs to lie about himself in order to make his way through life, pretending to be normal. A being that needed to bow his head and think about his career and perspective, and eliminate some parts of himself that did not fit in.
But as he stared at Roanapur port buildings, at the city that stank of death, he remembered vividly the day he decided to stay - as this place promised an escape from the life he led. This stench for him was the smell of freedom. Was there a point of hiding his past from this place, to hold back and pretend nothing ever happened before here and now?
"I was disciplined." The ashes from his cigarette fell into the gentle waves. As the silence filled the air, he turned to look at rather surprised faces of his crew, which he found funny. Two pirates speechless after hearing about a beaten child.
"By your parents? Did they… want to break your arm?" Benny asked, suddenly much more interested.
"My father. I don't think that was his intention, but he never told me it wasn't."
"Why did he beat you?" Revy asked with curiosity about the "you" part. Considering Rock came from a functional society, she always thought about him as a good boy in a good family. Abuse did not fit there. Spanking - maybe, but arm breaking?
Rock half-smiled, shifting his gaze back into the sea, and took another moment before answering. "He caught me masturbating."
"What?" Benny scoffed with disbelief. "That's sick!"
"That's what he said!" Rock gave a short laugh. He didn't.
"No, I mean… Oh for fuck's sake you know what I meant, Rock." Benny shook his head frantically.
"I know, I know." Rock replied, still smiling with a weird enjoyment.
Revy's eyes narrowed and lingered on Rock's bruised face, while she was trying to connect the dots. Is that really what happened to him? After all this time working together, she was for some reason certain he had an uneventful, sheltered upbringing. This story came unexpectedly. What else was he hiding inside?
"Morning, crew." Dutch interrupted the further talk. "Slept well? You got a nice one Rock." He said, looking at his face.
"Yeah, thanks to you I only got one."
"So, what are we doing today, Dutch?" Benny inquired.
"Smuggling two police officers from Japan. Apparently they got into some trouble and fled, and Mr. Chang very generously invited them under his wings. They will be waiting for us on some island with an ex-military base in South China Sea, it's somewhere between the Philippines and Vietnam."
"How much he's paying and why so early?" Revy grumbled.
"25,000 dollars for a job plus fuel expenses. They are under pursuit, so it's best if we pick them up at dark and still have some nighttime to lose the tail. If we leave now, we should be there around 11 pm."
"16 hours one way?" Revy's eyes widened. "Fuck."
Dutch nodded.
"Benny." Dutch handed him a piece of paper with coordinates. "Rock, did you bring the food?"
"Yeah." He nodded his head towards the direction of the bags. "Microwaved pizza and hotdogs are on the menu."
"What about beer?"
"And plenty of beer."
"Great."
Some hours into the trip Rock woke up from a long nap and went to the fridge. He stared at the beer, pondering how many to take, and who to go looking for.
He shuffled around the boat, finding Benny deep in his computer, too lost in whatever he was doing to pay attention to Rock; and Dutch motionless in his captain chair in the cockpit, either sleeping or pretending to.
He sighed. Was Revy an option? He still tiptoed around her. How the hell was he supposed to know if he needed to give her more time, or are they good enough to have a drink together?
With that thought in mind and a couple of cold cans in his hand, he plopped on the bunk bed again and opened the beer. He used the other can as a cold pack for his eye, and although it was stinging, it felt much better. He positioned the opened can on his hurting forearm, enjoying the cold.
Ten seconds later Revy appeared out of nowhere, her hair down and messed up. It felt like the sound of hissing beer just woke her up, but he kept the joke for himself.
She stood right next to him with her hands on her hips and stared down, while he looked up at her with one eye. It felt like he was about to get scolded for something.
"That bad, huh?"
He shrugged his shoulders, taking a gulp.
"Want one?" Rock asked, taking off the can off his eye. "Should still be pretty cold."
She accepted the can, still staring at his face. "I can get you an ice pack."
"It's fine, don't worry. The arm hurts worse anyway."
Revy sat across him silently. "Why did these guys pick on you?"
"Actually, I'm not sure. It was a little weird."
"What do you mean?"
"I noticed one of them pointing a finger at me from another side of the street as soon as I left our office. They shouted something amongst themselves and came straight for me, in the middle of the street, broad daylight. Without them even saying anything to me kicks and fists followed. They didn't ask for money or anything, didn't threaten me with guns or knives. I don't understand what they wanted… if they wanted to kill me, they could have shot me. If they wanted to seriously injure me, they could have stabbed me. If this was supposed to be a warning about something, that's a shitty one because I'm clueless what about."
"It sounds like they wanted to create some problems for themselves rather than actively harm you."
"Or attract some attention, which they did - Dutch immediately heard them. But why would they want to get his attention?"
"Did you say they were speaking Spanish?"
"Yeah. South American."
"Hmmm." Revy sat down, thinking. "I don't remember us ever having any trouble with South American groups. Unless you personally had some matters with someone?"
"No, I hadn't."
"That's really weird. Maybe they took you for someone else?"
"Well to be fair, there aren't many men in Roanapur wearing shirts and office pants and frequenting Lagoon's office, are there?"
"Another argument for changing your office attire." She reminded him of her disapproval of his white-collar look.
Rock remembered the touch-Revy-and-die bar scene. "If people decided that it's okay to... pick on you whenever they want just because you wear what you wear, would you change yours?"
She didn't have to think about this one. "Point taken. But I'd pull my guns. You don't carry guns."
Rock rolled his eyes. Here was the scolding he anticipated. But inside he was quite happy to have Revy talking to him again. It sounded like she maybe even cared. However this time he didn't feel like trying to get her to admit that. Lesson learned.
And yet, a sad thought - that she actually might not ever be able to - was starting to sink in.
Two men were waiting near the small port, hiding from the pouring rain under the roof of some old crooked building.
Dutch and Rock jumped out to meet them, while Revy and Benny watched from the boat, hearing muffled bits of greetings and exchanged introductions.
One man said his name was Michi. He was an average height japanese man with short black hair, his mostly notable feature was his confident look. The other one called himself Tarou. He was taller than Rock, dark-haired, broad-shouldered and sported a wicked grin despite the circumstances he was in. Rock eyed the second man curiously. That self-satisfied grin seemed familiar.
Four men entered the boat, now all dripping wet after just few minutes in the storm outside. Dutch went straight to the wheel and started the engines, their boat soaring off into the dark waters, while the rest of the company and two passengers went inside the cabin. It was dimly lit, but much brighter than outside, allowing the people to see each other more clearly.
Benny shook Michi's and later - Tarou's hand. "I'm Benny. This is Revy."
The men nodded, Tarou carelessly eyeing her up and down with a grin.
Revy stayed silent, suspiciously glaring at Tarou.
Suddenly Benny heard Dutch's voice over an earpiece. "Benny, keep an eye if we have company." He pushed a button and replied "Sure thing!", waving at the people and flying to the control room.
Meanwhile, Rock stood frozen, staring at Tarou's face. The man turned his head to acknowledge the look, and his eyes widened. With a surprise in his voice asked in Japanese.
"Okajima?"
"Kenshin Satori, isn't it."
Tarou, or Satori, burst out laughing, as if having heard the greatest joke of a decade. Then squinted his eyes a little. "I can't believe it. What are you doing here? A hostage?" Amused by himself, he kept on laughing.
The other japanese man rolled his eyes, looking at his partner.
As the boat soared through the waves, Revy sat on top of the mini fridge, eyeing the men intently. She didn't understand what they were talking about, but the intonations changed enough to make her alarmed.
Rock crossed his arms, his eyes squinting a little as well.
"In all fairness Satori, seeing you in a uniform is way more ridiculous. Although now that you became our client, it makes a little more sense. And to answer your question, I work with The Lagoon Company." He answered coldly, his words slow, carefully selected. Inside, however, the anger started to build up.
"Shit, did they take you in out of pity?" The man chuckled. Michi, standing nearby, decided to interfere, nudging Tarou in the shoulder. "Hey, calm down." Ignoring his partner, he hollered. "Is that black-eye your salary?"
Rock gulped, suddenly grasping for a retort. Despite feeling the heat on his face and neck, he knew he had to remain calm. He had to.
"I can see you did not develop any signs of maturity since the school days, Satori." His hands unconsciously curled into fists as the heart pounded in his chest hard. With every beat he felt the whooshing blood inside his skull echoed. "You're far from becoming an adu…"
"It's Tarou now. And since we're talking about changes…" Satori's lips warped into a nasty smile. "You might look smart now, but you're still just a rag doll, Okajima."
The intonation of the sentence and suddenly tense Rock's face was enough for Revy to intervene. She slid down from the fridge and without taking her eyes away from Tarou uncliped one of the pistol holders, keeping her right arm across her breasts, fingers already clasping a handle. She stepped closer to Rock and coldly asked in Vietnamese.
"Rock, is the guy asking for trouble?"
"Rock!?" Satori burst into another laughing fit. "Did she actually call you Rock? How pathetic is that!?" He hunched over, clasping his abdomen in faked hilariousness. "The only rock you are is a tiny annoying rock in my shoe!" He was clearly enjoying himself and his sarcastic comments, and the best part of this was that he saw they were working.
Rock's eyes blazed with shame and anger. High-school memories came rolling back, and once again he found himself void of words - a skill he seemed to have mastered now gone again.
However, the familiar sound of Revy's Cutlass gave him just the reassurance he needed. And yet, he did not want her to interfere, as that would give Satori another reason to mock him. Without a deeper thought, he extended his arm in front of her, hinting of a line he did not want her to cross. At least not yet.
"You have a nerve, Satori." Rock slid his hands into his pockets, mainly to hide the tremble. "Your safety and your life depends on us now, and you dare talking like that?"
"Yes, I dare, Okajima." He looked amused. "What are you going to do about that?" He paused, staring into Rock's eyes. Michi was trying to interfere, but neither of the men heard what he was saying. "Just because you work in this shit boat, you think of yourself as a badass pirate? Don't make me laugh! You are the exact same weakling as before, only now hiding behind some bitch's guns. You're pathetic!"
The comment brought it over the top. Rock clenched his hands into fists, in his anger fit not bothering to calculate his chances with a taller and stronger man. Tarou's smile widened as he saw the change, but the next moment Michi stepped between them. He faced his colleague without a drop of intimidation.
"Enough, Tarou! They're doing us a favour, stop being an asshole."
"What are you talking about, we're paying them! They are our transport service and nothing else!"
"No, it's not us paying them! And they can always decide not to do the job and drop us off here and now. Considering we're in the middle of a sea AND a storm, that's not a prospect I'd like, so shut-the-fuck-up!"
"Fine, partner." Tarou smiled cockily, and threw another mocking look at Rock, before casually sticking his hands in his pockets and turning towards other cabins, probably intending to explore the ship. Next moment Revy's cold voice and the sound of release of the gun's safety stopped him.
"Where exactly do you think you are going?" She asked in English.
Tarou turned around to see a barrel pointed at his face. "Guns." Revy didn't need to say more, her eyes and voice spoke plenty of what she wanted from him. She glanced at the other cop. "You too."
Michi was more cooperative, and brought out his two pistols. As Revy's hands were busy, he intended to hand them to Rock, but after taking a good look at his red face, he turned slightly and placed them on the table. He didn't want to risk a bloodshed, caused by a fellow japanese guy, who was looking like he's about to erupt.
"How long will it take for this boat to get to Roanapur?" Michi attempted to easen up the atmosphere by stepping into some neutral ground.
However, during the intense staring contest between Tarou, Rock and Revy, the question hung around like a stray cat by their feet - nobody cared, yet it was too uncomfortable to leave ignored.
"16 hours." Rock muttered after a while, his eyes still fixed on Tarou. "We will give you a cabin."
"That's great. Thanks."
Meanwhile Tarou's attention turned to Revy and her gun. Slowly unholstering his pistol, he asked in his broken English.
"I take off more then guns to you, lovebird. You look hot with pistols. My kind of chick." He smiled.
"Shut up and fuck off." Revy hissed. "Now through that door, both of you." As they walked towards their cabin, Revy eyed Tarou's back, where his shirt bulged suspiciously.
As two passengers entered the cabin, she stepped inside behind them, with several quick movements easing Tarou of his second gun. He turned around with a smile and grabbed her hand. "Hey doll, undressing already?" Revy's pistol rammed straight into the front of his pants, and a part of his smirk was wiped away. "Calm down, doll."
"Call me a doll once again and I will start calling you Cock-less. We clear?"
"Of course. Revy-chan." He winked.
Flustered, she turned on her heels and locked the doors of their cabin, shoving the key in her pocket. The only reason she largely ignored Tarou's lame advances on her was because she was too preoccupied with what she witnessed just moments ago with Rock. She hurried back to the main cabin only to find that he went outside, leaving the questions she had unanswered.
Considering how overwhelmed he became, his absence wasn't that surprising. Revy easily recognized the need to be alone and cool off, because she had that need as well.
What was concerning was that she has never seen him react like that to anything.
When he got dumped by his company and was told to go die somewhere, he surely was shocked. But this was something different. He was in pure rage, and all it took was just one man speaking some shit. Rock was not one easily provoked. All the words would bounce off of him straight away, as if he didn't even listen. But this, now, was completely opposite.
Sure, it seemed like they knew each other in the past, so perhaps there was something very personal going on during that conversation. But what could he have possibly said to provoke Rock into almost punching him?
She gazed up the ladder, badly wanting to follow him. It wasn't only curiosity. Revy felt worried. She saw a side of Rock she never knew existed, and now she didn't know what to expect.
She stomped back and forth in the cabin, swaying left and right as the boat fought the waters, fighting her urge to go. She knew she wouldn't want to speak to anyone if she were in his shoes.
Besides, what would she even say? What does someone say in such situation? But is he going to be okay?
Seconds passed and became minutes. A can of beer, recently opened, was quickly becoming lighter and lighter. He didn't come back, and her nagging feelings only got stronger. There wasn't much shelter on top of the boat in this weather...
Suddenly her eyes caught the sight of her lighter, laying on the table.
She very well knew he had lost his own.
It was dark, cold and windy outside, with rain droplets falling from all possible directions. Revy held onto a handrail, stood up, and looked around. From there she could barely see the ship's stern, but at the speed the boat was running, it was nearly impossible to stay there without being blown away.
She made her way down towards the bow, the breezing wind harshly blew against her skin and within mere seconds she was drenched with rain. She squinted her eyes and scanned the deck but there was nothing there, just the waves splashing water on the deck as the boat soared through the sea.
Her heart started beating faster. Rock was nowhere to be seen, and shouting in this weather was useless. It was wet and slippery on the deck. Maybe that dumbass slipped and fell into the water?
With her eyebrows furrowed, Revy made her way around the anti-aircraft gun, where the wind became less intense. From there she saw the other side of the bow, where a certain white-shirted figure stood, clenching the handrail, clothes and hair harshly tormented by the wind, his eyes facing the sea.
Her face eased with relief.
She watched him from afar, then glanced at the lighter she held. What was she even thinking… Offering him to light a cigarette in the storm? Unless she had a blowtorch, this was a stupid-ass idea. And a stupid-ass excuse to go to him.
Suddenly she became annoyed with herself, and hurried back inside before he saw her. What was she doing? What the actual fuck was she doing?
Somehow, over all these years she spent on this boat, she has never found herself trying to understand any of the behaviour or emotions of her partners. Nor was she eager to know about their past, and neither were they. This was the exact reason The Lagoon company lived on merilly - the companions never dug too deeply into each other's minds - the lesson Revy has taught Rock not once, but twice already. And now, well accustomed to these hard-set rules, she was feeling the urge to break them herself.
Dutch's heavy steps echoed on the boat as he left the cockpit and ventured outside. His steps halted suddenly, and Revy heard muffled bits of shouts before he and Rock came inside.
Her eyes immediately shot to Rock. He was completely drenched, with clothes sticking to his body like a glove. He ran his fingers through dripping wet hair, then looked down at his hands, as if only now noticing the effects of the storm he just endured outside.
"What the hell have you been doing out there, are you out of your mind, Rock?"
He found a towel in one of the cupboards and after wiping his face raised his eyes to Dutch. It was still noticeable he was not quite back to himself, but his voice was calm and composed.
"I needed to cool off."
"Cool off from what? Where are the cops?"
Rock peeled a pack of cigarettes from his shirt pocket, looked inside and frowned. They were completely soaked. His eyes slowly found Revy's, who gently tapped a finger on the table next to her pack and a lighter. He stepped towards where she sat, giving a barely noticeable nod. His eyes did not linger on her wet hair, however Dutch noticed, although decided to let it slip.
"Calm down, Dutchy, things are under control."
Revy sat up and scratched her head, some strands falling loose from the ponytail. She pulled her hair band out and began reassembling her locks. "I took their guns and locked 'em up."
Dutch stared into Revy inquisitively, trying to understand her reasons from the shallow response. Considering the last job, there was no surprise in taking the guns; but locking everyone up seemed to be a bit overboard. The cops seemed like comprehensible fellows to Dutch at first glance, so this turn out was eerie.
"What the fuck happened?"
Rock, who was silently pulling the cigarette and rubbing his hair with a towel, calmly spoke up. "One of them was my classmate back in high-school, I recognized him only when I took a good look at him inside. We weren't on the best terms then and surely aren't now. He's got an attitude. Tried to provoke me, then acted all superior and was undermining us. I think both me and Revy were under the impression he might cause some trouble."
Dutch raised an eyebrow. "Which one was it? What did he say?"
"Tarou, the tall one." Rock responded, pulling some frozen pizzas from the mini fridge. "His real name is Kenshin Satori. He threw some random insults at me and Revy, and was disrespectful with us in general, trying to escalate a conflict. Called us a delivery service, and didn't want to give up his guns."
"Dutch, the guy is an asshole. I don't know what he was saying, as they spoke japanese, but he was looking for trouble." Revy added.
Dutch nodded. "Okay, if you felt this was necessary, it means it was."
Revy stared into the wall, lost in thoughts, replaying the words that Rock just said. Random insults?
Seeing how flustered he became, those were hardly random insults. Did he genuinely think so, after coming back to his senses, or just didn't want Dutch to know? Was he downplaying what happened? The implied fact that this is not to be shared with the others from the Lagoon peaked her curiosity even more.
Suddenly something jolted inside Revy. "Wait, Rock... What exactly did he say about me!?"
Rock cursed in his thoughts, unpacking a pizza. He glanced at Revy and knew how badly this is going to get if he tells her, but he also knew she would never let this go.
"Doesn't matter, Revy. It's just empty words." He tried.
"I will decide for myself if it matters or not!"
"Just let it go, it's not important."
"Rock!"
Rock shared a look with Dutch, who shrugged his shoulders in a sympathetic, but helpless manner.
Revy jolted up, anger taking over her.
"Oh for fuck's sake, do I really have to pull a gun to make you speak!?"
He sighed, and looked at her pleadingly. His eyes were met with a stern look.
"He called you ...baita." He replied unwillingly.
Revy rolled her eyes, grunting in frustration. She didn't have to tell him she didn't understand the word, it was rarely used even among the japanese.
"Roughly translates to a prostitute."
The cabin became very silent for a few seconds. Then, hell broke loose. "AND YOU WERE PLANNING TO TELL ME THIS WHEN!?" Revy pulled out both of her guns, shouting curses as she stomped towards the cops' cabin. Dutch tried to catch and stop her, on his way knocking down a dresser that was littered with empty cans, causing a noisy avalanche on the metal floor as they fell. The microwave began ringing with an annoying tone, announcing food was ready to eat. Amidst the chaos, Benny opened the door, his cheerful "Heee-" gradually losing the intonation as he tried to register what exactly was happening. "-llo…"
While Revy and Dutch wrestled, Rock updated Benny about what he missed. Eventually, the company settled, only Revy stood pouting, twisting her gun around her finger.
"Benny, can you bring some pizza for the cops?" Dutch asked, deciding on the most neutral of the party to do the task.
Benny shrugged. "Sure."
"Actually…" Rock suddenly chimed in as Benny was already raising from his chair. "Why don't we invite Michi to eat with us? He seemed genuinely friendly."
While neither Dutch nor Benny thought twice about Rock's seemingly neutral suggestion, Revy's eyes were set on Rock's face. For some reason his suggestion sounded slightly suspicious to her. Perhaps Rock did not have any bad intentions, but she could swear he had some other reason for inviting Michi to their table other than him simply being friendly. Given the scene that she witnessed and the fact that the two cops were, after all, partners, it did not feel right.
Their eyes met briefly. She could see the determination in his eyes. Revy was intrigued, but somehow she had a feeling that it was best to keep it silent now. Which meant there was one way left to find out.
"Let me do it, Benny. I have the key." Revy grabbed a plate, with Rock's eyes following her all the way to the cabin's door. His face became unreadable.
"Don't shoot him, Revy." Dutch warned, stuffing his mouth with pizza.
"Yeah yeah."
Unlocking the door to the cabin Revy was ready for anything, but after opening the doors she found the two of them casually chatting about something in Japanese. Seeing Tarou's face made her flush with anger, but since shooting him was not an option, the next best thing was to pretend he was not even there.
"Oh, now you feed your prisoners?" He mocked, as she carelessly shoved a plate on a table.
Revy ignored him completely. "Michi, you're invited to eat with us. Come."
Michi glanced at Tarou, whose face elongated and then warped with anger, and nodded. "Sure."
Finally, the company of five leaned back in their chairs. The ex-cop Michi was apparently quite a fan of beer, and after a few cans loosened up.
"Thanks guys, you're really hospitable. I'm sorry he acted this way with you two, but he is an asshole, he's like this with everyone. He had probably 20 different patrol partners, all of them hated his guts."
"What about you?" Benny asked.
"I feel like babysitting a big child, really. He has never succeeded in provoking me, so eventually stopped trying. Although if I knew how this would end for me, I would have switched partners as well."
"So what happened in Japan to make you flee?" Rock asked.
"This won't come as a surprise - it's 'cause of him. One night there was a call about a break-in into the apartment of one of the highest ranking police officers. We were sent to investigate. Upon arrival we found the officer, his wife and children freshly murdered.
Second squad arrives and are perplexed to find us there as they had been told they were the first to get the call and respond. Anyway, we close up the scene and leave it to detectives to investigate. A week later we get called in the office for "additional statements". But right before coming to the station I got a tip from one of my buddies that they are planning to arrest us. Apparently, the officer and his family were shot with a policeman's weapon, their reports show our team never got a call to the scene, and Tarou's fingerprints were everywhere in the flat. Tarou made one call and within an hour we were taking off with a small plane to that island you picked us up.
Tarou then confessed that he was recruited by Japanese mafia group to spy on the officer and had been in that apartment multiple times before. So my guess is that the family was killed by the mafia, and we got a fake call for Tarou and me so we'd be there first, which from police's point of view was really suspicious. We had no proof we got that call, so it looked like we were there when the murder happened, not after. The circumstances were manipulated so that the mafia got rid of the officer and Tarou. Now we're wanted for homicide."
"Efficient." Dutch leaned back in his chair, pulling a smoke and nodding his head. "And how does Chang come into play?"
"This I don't know. Tarou knew someone who knew Chang, and he decided to help us out and recruit us. I don't know anything about the guy or if he will have any kind of work for us." Michi replied.
"There's always work in Roanapur." Revy chuckled. "The only question is whether you have the balls to survive."
"Cheers to that." Benny raised his can into the air, with Dutch and Rock joining.
After Revy took Michi back, Dutch yawned. "Revy, could you steer the boat for a couple of hours? I want to lie down for a while."
"Sure. Knock yourself out. I'll wake you up if something comes up."
"Okay." Dutch stood up and stretched, turning towards his private cabin.
"Benny, maybe you want to rest too?" Rock asked, already knowing the answer.
"No, I'm good. I sleep in that chair more than you all think." He laughed. "Besides, there are too many buttons for me to explain if I ever let you near the computers."
"Suit yourself."
Everyone left, leaving Rock sitting alone at the table. He leaned back into a chair and closed his eyes, deeply inhaling the dry, slightly fuel-scented air, enjoying the seconds of tranquility before his mind would bring him back to the incident. The beer dulled his emotions, but the shame and disappointment resurfaced almost instantly as he sat with his thoughts.
How ironic. In the early hours of the morning he briefly remembered his past, the memories of his teenage years flashed in his eyes alongside the face of his bully; but Rock had been determined to let it all go, to drop those lingering emotions that held him like chains, to be free and enjoy his new life in Roanapur. But as if the fate itself wanted to laugh at him and teach him a lesson, it showed him on the very same day that his determination meant nothing when that haunting past stood straight in front of him and stared into his eyes.
He sighed, scanning the cabin for cigarettes. His own wet pack sat on the cupboard, positively doomed.
Revy… And the way she looked at him.
He wished she wouldn't have seen any of it, and yet he knew wishful thinking will not get him anywhere. But now he dreaded facing her. Because he was ashamed. And because he didn't want her judgement for the way he couldn't handle the situation.
And yet, something was dragging his feet towards the cockpit where she sat. He lied to himself that he is only going to borrow a cigarette, but deep inside there was something else going on. Despite not expecting to be understood, he was still hoping to be. At the very least, he didn't want to be alone.
He found her in the chair with her legs up on the control board, head leaning against the chair's headrest, her hair down and flowing around her shoulders. Her eyes were closed, but she wasn't sleeping. When he entered, she lazily opened her eyes, but he avoided the look. He sat on the ground beside her and leaned his back against the wall.
"Want a smoke?" Revy asked.
"Please."
She looked down as he again wrestled the lighter with his left hand, this time eventually getting to the flames.
"Rock The Two Hand in cigarette lighting. Bravo!" She gave a laugh as he passed the lighter back to her hand, a small smile surfacing onto his face. She tried to make him laugh, and he raised his eyes, feeling genuinely grateful. However, her next words changed the mood dramatically.
"Do you want me to kill him?"
Her words got him suddenly frozen. She took him by surprise. He hadn't thought about killing Tarou at all.
His gut reaction was an immediate no, but the reason he hadn't spit that out yet because the cigarette fumes were only just entering his lungs. And that part of the second was probably just enough to make him realize that he actually did not have a straightforward answer to the question.
A thought of Revy's bullets sinking into Tarou's body, and him falling into dark, furious waters suddenly appeared very satisfying. So much so that even this thought was enough to get him excited. No one in Japan would miss him, he was already a dead man. Michi did not seem particularly attached to his partner either. Chang would likely be pissed about losing a potential worker, definitely paid us less money, which would definitely leave Rock's pockets empty. Was that a big price to pay for the taste of revenge? Not at all. Revy's suggestion did not seem nonsensical at all.
But there was one aspect of it that made him feel uncomfortable. He remembered well the things she said to him when he asked for her help again, unable to achieve something alone. The feeling that she felt used by him, like a tool. Just a gun.
And he did not want to make her feel like just a gun, killing the people he needed to be killed.
Despite how tempting her offer was, he did not want to make her deal with his problems. He needed to deal with this himself, alone. No more hiding behind her guns.
"No... But thanks." It was eerie to think he was thanking for a murder idea. "I feel like I need to do this myself."
"You mean… shoot him yourself?"
Rock smiled. "No, not that." He let out some smoke from his lungs. "That's your way of destruction, Revy. I guess I need to come up with my own."
She raised her eyebrows, shaking her head in surprise. "I haven't expected to hear that from you. Never took you for a vengeful one."
"I'm inclined to say I never was, but that may not be true. Maybe I was, but the circumstances were not… optimal."
"You mean the civilized Japanese society and all?"
"Precisely." A sort of satisfaction was apparent in his voice.
Revy turned her head to look at him. Surrounded by shadows, lit only by the dim light coming from the control board and his smoke, his face with a black eye looked sinister, contrasting strikingly with a positive and sometimes naive guy she knew.
"So… you have a plan?" Her lighter flickered in front of her, briefly colouring her face in warm orange hues.
"Not yet. I don't know enough about him."
"Is that why you invited Michi to sit with us?"
"Yeah."
Revy paused before pulling the cigarette. A question was on the tip of her tongue, and yet she wasn't sure if she wanted to let it slip.
She glanced at him, hoping it will help her decide. His eyes were hidden by the shadows, and almost unnoticeably, his lips warped into the tiniest of smiles as he lost himself in a thought. Somehow, something inside that familiar man sitting next to her suddenly sent chills down her spine.
She silently sighed, and stared into the darkness through the window. What did he say to you? echoed repeatedly in the back of her mind, and coupled with the memories of what happened back then in a cabin, made her heart beat faster. She couldn't understand why was she so hooked up on that.