Silence filled the small room as the girl on the bed slumped back, seemingly unconscious from her fight to keep the pain at bay.Kaede allowed herself to fall into an armchair, body heavy and mentally exhausted from her fight to keep her sister alive. Sighing, she allowed herself a quick glance at the limp body on the bed – usually she'd avoid it – and immediately regretted it as her eyes began to water uncontrollably. Clenching her teeth and digging her nails as hard as she could into the arm of the chair she sat in, Kaede tried her hardest to compose herself before taking herself elsewhere.
"Show him out, Koji." She ordered as she swept from the room, red robe flowing behind her.
"Wait –" She heard Ace call after her.
"I wouldn't, buddy. Come on." Koji told him, lightly tugging his arm. That was the last thing she heard before rounding a corner, heading towards the only place on this ship that could bring her some kind of comfort.
Slamming the cabin door open, against the wind, Kaede stepped out onto the deck, welcoming the chill of the night. She walked into the storm, robe now billowing around her, leaving her legs vulnerable to the elements. Her hair, heavy with water stung as it whipped at her face, lightening took hold of the sky and she paused for a moment to appreciate its brilliance before climbing the mast. The grand ship was being tossed from side to side so violently that one of her hands was thrown from the slippery rope, causing her to lose her footing and she was soon hanging by one arm. With an agitated grunt she slung her body sideways, lifting her arm to grab hold of the thick rope once again before continuing her climb.
The crows nest was dark, void if the energy that would usually take solace in here. This was her space. This was where Akira lived and breathed as she watched over her siblings and their home as they slept soundly below deck. Kaede crawled into her younger sisters bed and stared out of the window at an unforgiving sea, waves crashing loudly. The sound of the sea soothed her but it hadn't always been this way. There was a time when she feared the sea and those that called it home.
Arms wrapped tightly around her legs, her chin settled atop her knees, Kaede tried to focus on anything but the current situation. She found herself chuckling quietly as she thought about the outcome of this evening if Fire Fist had dared board their ship while Akira was on watch
'He'd be going back to White Beard full of holes.' Although Kaede had the power and capability to kill at will she always preferred not to. Actually she hated it, Akira however, wouldn't hesitate to spill blood. She was a powerful fighter, so fast in battle that her weapon of choice became almost invisible to the human eye. Paired with her agility and speed her chain whip was merciless in her hands. The sharp spikes could leave a hundred holes in the strongest man in under a minute and if she was feeling really sadistic, Akira would blind her opponent first, smirking as she toyed with their fragile state of mind. Kaede both adored and hated her younger sister for that very reason. How could she have turned into such a ruthless, cold killer when her twin, Koji was the polar opposite? He didn't lack in the fighting department and held his own against anyone who forced him into a situation that warranted a fight. His weapon, understated in comparison to his sisters, were wooden tonfa. They allowed him to fight hand to hand as he preferred but still inflict heavy damage. He'd much rather not fight at all, unfortunately though that was the card they'd been dealt and to fight for survival was all they knew.
Kaede only used her devil fruit power when she felt threatened or was in immediate danger, it just so happened, that now she had a reputation she was always in immediate danger. Not tonight though. Her mind wandered a different path as she found herself thinking about Fire Fist, the first person to climb aboard her ship without intent to kill. Not even when he'd discovered she was the butcher did he attack, nor when she messed with his blood. At first she'd assumed he feared her, but his black eyes held not an ounce of terror.
"How strange." Kaede whispered to herself. She wasn't quite sure what to make of the freckled man, clearly he was reckless. Who in a sane state of mind hops into the ship of an unknown fugitive with a 7000,000,000 beli bounty on their head? Only a dagger strapped to his shorts, a hat upon his head and an arrogant smirk plastered on his foolishly handsome face. She'd heard of him prior to this evening, she was sure there wasn't a person in this world, pirate or not who hadn't. The man who escaped Impel Down and government execution, even Kaede had to admit she was impressed.
He wasn't anything like she'd expected the legendary pirate to be. She had expected a beard of some kind and maybe a disfiguring scar that left his face unthinkably grotesque. Much to her disappointment it was quite the contrary, not a single disfiguring scar marked his seemingly perfect skin, only the freckles upon his cheeks and the tattoo on his back. For a moment Kaede found herself lost in dangerous territory, remembering how the muscles in his back had rippled under his still wet skin, droplets falling slow between the valley of his shoulder blades and down his back as she approached him from behind, and the way his black waves had fallen into his face as he had whirled toward her. When he'd questioned her motives, coming to stand so close to her that she could feel the heat radiating from his body, his dark eyes almost burning holes right through her façade. It had taken every scrap of concentration she had to pull herself away from the man and keep her reputation in tact.
"Oh for goodness sake, pull yourself together." She told herself as she rolled her eyes. She'd realised as her mind wandered she'd wrapped herself in Akira's blanket and curled into her pillows. Allowing the bed sheets to swallow her, Kaede's eyes fluttered shut as she was carried into unconsciousness.
~
Koji led Ace into a large room and took a seat in one of four leather arm chairs surrounding a small coffee table. This room was far less extravagant than the one Kaede had taken him to earlier, dark red walls, cracked wooden floors and a large leaking window to his right. The lanky boy was quite clearly exhausted, brows drawn together as he inhaled deeply, elbows propped on his knees to hold his scruffy head up. Ace followed suit and sat himself opposite Koji, allowing himself to relax for the first time this evening and sinking back into the large chair. Looking to his right, under the broken window frame, Ace noticed a large cabinet holding untold amounts of sake and took it upon himself to grab a couple of bottles.
" Here." Ace smiled down at Koji. "Look like you need it." He added when the boy looked up at him confused.
"Are you offering me my own sake?" He asked taking the bottle gratefully, laughing quietly as he pulled the cork with his teeth. He was quick to finish the bottle, leaving not a drop to waste as he breathed heavily, slamming it onto the table. Ace sipped his slowly, still on a mission and still in the butchers firing line he couldn't risk having senses dulled by the effects of alcohol this evening. He felt perfectly at ease with Koji, the black haired boy clearly meant him no harm and was – from what little Ace knew – a nice kid.
He'd offered Ace a bed for the night and for him to stay as long as the storm raged, and if he remembered correctly, Nami had said something about this storm being one of the worst she'd ever seen in her time at sea. To be honest he wasn't entirely sure what she had said as he wasn't listening. He was too busy comparing his devil fruit fire powers with Franky's homemade ones. Ace suppressed a laugh as he remembered Franky's utter despair when his flame commandment had melted his left leg and he had hopped away to fix himself up.
"I suppose you want to know what's wrong with Akira?" Koji asked, another bottle of sake already clutched tightly in his skinny hands. Ace ran his hand through his still damp hair, blowing out breath he'd been holding as he contemplated his answer. He didn't want to have the kid spill his guts if it was going to upset him further. "It's okay." Koji said, sensing Ace's unease. "Long story short, we have no idea."
"She's your sister?" Ace questioned, looking for confirmation he was right.
"My twin." He corrected, drawing in an unsteady breath before continuing. "This has become an everyday thing since it started six months ago. Sometimes it's more than that. We've seen countless doctors, carried her limp body island to island but there seems to be no one alive that knows what's wrong with her. She's seventeen years old, Ace." Koji looked up from his hands that he'd been anxiously picking at and met the freckled mans gaze. "She should be living her life, grabbing at it with everything she's got and instead she's barely hanging on by the tips of her fingers. I don't know how to help her and it kills me because she gives her all to keep us safe." Ace listened as the boys words pulled at his heart strings, reminding of his own brother and what he'd do to keep him out of harms way. For what Luffy had done to keep him out of harms way not so long ago.
"Can't your captain do anything? I know she isn't a doctor but she did a pretty good job robbing me of my emotional rights earlier." Ace said, still a little bitter regarding the situation. 'psychopath' He thought before turning his attention back to her crew mate.
"She doesn't dare. We don't know what's causing Akira to convulse, or what's causing her pain so she feels it would be irresponsible to even try. She can control blood. The flow, the speed, can cause it to clot or thin to nothing. She can even take control of it outside of ones body. Gross, but incredibly cool." Koji laughed at Ace's conflicted expression. He didn't know if he was impressed, terrified or disgusted. Finishing his bottle Ace wiped away stray liquid from his chin with the back of his arm, before grabbing another for himself and tossing one over his shoulder to Koji.
"So, what are you doing now? Your captain has a plan right?"
"Keep sailing, keep looking." Koji's voice had become serious again as he continued. "It's been the three of us for so long. Me and Akira were only four when our father died." The broken boy before Ace held tighter to his bottle of sake, long fingers pale as a dead mans from the force. "Our mother died giving birth to us. After that Kaede took on the role of big sister and parent. She was eight." Ace wasn't even sure the boy knew he was talking anymore.
'Wait, sister?' Every now and again he'd sip his drink but the pained expression never left his young face. "Akira was always hard to handle, head as hot as lava and no one to guide her through our troubles. Kaede could have, she did me, but Akira wouldn't allow it. She much preferred to take our problems out on those who dared challenge us. Kaede never let that stop her loving her though. Even when Akira would hit out she'd hold her like she was the most fragile thing in the world, she'd stroke her hair and tell her she loved her even when she didn't want to hear it. When we were really small, when the sound of heavy boots and shouting would invade our dreams she would sing to us. A song she had heard some passing pirates singing one night that I took a liking to and that was the only time we were at peace. Our childhood was rife with blood, torture and the fight to survive was almost futile –"
"Why are you telling me all this?" Ace interjected before Koji could continue. Lifting his head to peer at Ace through his dark locks, a bittersweet smile gracing his face, Koji shrugged before continuing as if Ace hadn't spoken.
"That was until, when it seemed our short lives were over we were saved. I couldn't tell you the mans name but he took us from the celestial dragon holding cells. Kaede had been taken to a separate cell to be sold as a slave specifically for the men to bid on ." The boys green eyes twisted, his face contorted at the thought of what could have been. "Me and Akira were put forward as child workers. I'm not entirely sure how he did it but he took us somewhere safe, gave us food and water, sheltered us for the night and then set us up on a little boat the next day. We decided a few years back that we'd seek him out, thank him. We're hoping if we can get to him he might know someone who can help Akira. This is something we can't figure out by ourselves. We…" Koji met Ace's curious gaze and swallowing hard, uttered words he never thought he'd have to. "We need help."
"Not only are your memories of that night distorted they're not meant to be shared. With anyone." Ace and Koji both jumped at the interruption, Koji letting out quite an unmanly squeak and Ace cursing her as he dropped his bottle. The physical embodiment of rage stood firmly in the door way, only the drip drop of rain falling from her hair breaking the silence.
"Ah, shit." Koji whispered before chugging what was left of his drink, preparing himself for the verbal battering he was about to receive.