Rin allowed himself to be hauled unceremoniously from his bed, though he found his legs trembled minutely so that he couldn't keep his balance on the slightly shifting deck. Makoto was smiling like he had just discovered the secret to eternal youth; hell, Rin wouldn't put it past him to manage just that in the middle of an orgasm. Come to it, Makoto certainly hadn't needed much help with that, and Rin found himself more than a little frustrated at Makoto's refusal to allow him any more intimate contact… he had more than one vengeance to plan tonight.

"How are we going to accomplish it?"

"Huh?" Rin blinked owlishly, still pulling his clothes back into place. Makoto was already collected, rot his eyes; the man was an expert at all things sartorial; skilled both at stripping clothes off and at putting them back again as though he'd never even been ruffled. If he wasn't such a good first mate, Rin would have been tempted to appoint him the captain's official valet.

Then again, Makoto was rather good at occupying that position unofficially.

"I assume we are still intending to loot what we may from the savages. How do we intend to accomplish it."

"Oh."

"That is not the answer I was looking for." And didn't Mako just look like the cat that ate the cream?

"We need a cat."

"Also not the answer I was looking for; I am however, deeply intrigued."

"No, I just meant- never mind."

"Go on, I want to hear." Makoto leaned back against the desk insolently, stretching his lithe muscles in a way guaranteed to catch his captain's interest.

"We have rodents, not many but a few- a cat could take care of those. Nitori would thank us for it; he'd probably even ask to take care of the wretched animal himself. He strikes me as the sort that would welcome an enigmatic companion." Rin's expression soured; he'd never much cared for cats, too demanding the lot of them, always gazing superciliously off into the distance. His mother had told him once they could suck the breath from a newborn's lips. Wicked, nasty, creatures.

"I daresay he would, but that has no bearing on our current mission. I propose that we first make off with anything that glimmers and then concern ourselves with pests."

"Of the feline or vermin variety?"

"Both. But first, the Human sort."

Rin nodded, bringing himself back to the subject at hand with effort. "I had an inspired idea-"

"Inspired." Makoto snickered, eyes twinkling with good humor.

"The dark one,"

"Haruka. Do not pretend ignorance, Rin. You've always had an eye for a handsome face. Unless of course you are referring to the devil himself, and I-"

"Haruka implied his own retribution would be swift. So we anchor off shore, just far enough out that we don't risk bottoming out when the tide goes in. Force them to come to us. We'll leave a skeleton crew aboard the Samenoe and take a shore party to stow away somewhere onshore. While the locals are otherwise distracted, we move in and take their loot."

Makoto pursed his lips, head tilted as though listening to a voice only he could hear; it wouldn't surprise Rin at all to learn he had a few familiar spirits at his beck and call, in fact it would explain much.

"You are presupposing that we are not already being watched. If our positions were reversed I would have posted lookouts to watch our vessel the moment our feet left shore."

"And were we in daylight it wouldn't work, but evening is stretching on and the sun will soon be falling."

Makoto snorted, "Men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil."

"What?"

"Something a desiccated wanderer told me years ago. The man was half-mad to begin with, but that always struck me as truth. It hardly matters; I am more interested in learning how you plan to approach the shore and where we would hide that the inhabitants could not find us. They have had many more years to learn the peculiarities of this land than we have."

Rin strode over to his desk, pulling out sheets of wax paper and laying them across the varnished wood. Makoto's expression swiftly changed from one of curiosity to dismay.

"Captain, if we are going to use the paper I beg you give me the pen. Paper is not a ready commodity- it is costly and we have no way of knowing when we will put in to a proper port again. You've ruined sheets enough."

"Your point is made." Rin pushed the papers and ink pot to Makoto with ill-grace, digging through the drawer until he came up with charcoal and a small box of sand.

"I think a map of every part of the island you can remember would be fitting; I'll dictate my own path to you and see that you get it right."

"Aye, captain." At last Mako's smile had returned. He would be in his element here, plotting and scheming toward an enemy's downfall.

Rin was looking forward to it himself.

!

!

!

Haruka sneezed violently, startling the few men gathered around him just beneath the questionable protection of a rocky outcropping on the Southern shore. The sole woman in the party only laughed aloud at their discomfiture, though she was good enough to muffle it after a stern glance from Haru.

"Someone is speaking ill of you, Haru." Miho chuckled softly, pausing in the act of honing her blade. Haruka did not think it strictly wise to inform her the blade could not be any more keen; clearly it was more a gesture of comfort than utility.

"I wonder whom that could be?" Muffled laughter; tension was running high, but so long as they could laugh all would be well.

"How much longer do you suppose we have to wait?" Goro murmured, shifting his weight off his heels. His legs were probably beginning to cramp after so long in the same position; Haru was having the same problem and if Miho's wince was anything to go by, she wasn't faring much better.

"Until I no longer see sunlight on the water."

Heartfelt groans sounded from either side of him, and Amakata flopped back against him, knocking him off balance and into the gravel.

"It'll be hours-"

"However long it takes, we will wait. If you would prefer to return to the village-"

"Don't even think of excluding me, Haru. I would make you suffer the torment of the damned."

Silence reigned for all of ten minutes before she was speaking again. "Goro's claimed the little gold savage, I want the beanpole healer. Which one has caught your eye?"

In truth Haruka was undecided. He would give his right eye for a chance at the smarmy, bronze man with the too-knowing eyes, but their captain-

"I will take whomever I can. But if we scuttle the ship it no longer matters; we can pick them off at will as soon as they come ashore."

"Doesn't mean we can't have a preference."

"Then I think it only fitting I see to the captain while you minister to the crew."

"An excellent choice. Maybe you should keep him; we can bring him out on special occasions, show him as an example to anyone else that makes land here. He'd look very fetching in a collar, don't you agree?"

Haruka snorted mirthlessly, "He would look charming with a noose about his neck, and if the Imperial navy was patrolling the waters for any threats instead of posturing for the benefit of their ranking officers, he would have been wearing one long since."

"My mother always taught me never to question a gift-"

"Odd since mine taught me gifts are never without cost."

Miho's eyes glittered dangerously, "You are becoming arrogant, Haru; there's a very good reason you keep me by your side, though you seem to have forgotten it in all this chaos."

Haruka inclined his head humbly, acknowledging the justice in the rebuke, "I am sorry. You were saying?"

"Leave the wreckage of the ship off shore as a warning to anyone that turns covetous eyes toward us. Keep the captain, string his bones up on the shore if it pleases you, but let's have an end to the raiding season."

Haruka shook his head briskly, "A ship's wreckage would draw attention. Others would want to investigate, vultures would come to salvage what they could. Leaving corpses ashore would invite questions and landing parties. Our safety lies in secrecy."

"Fat lot of good it's done us over the years. Perhaps if we could construct a barricade just beneath the water? Something that would damage any ships that attempted a close approach?"

"If you can design a trap that will run the length of the shore and the materials to build it then you have my blessing. Otherwise, mind on the matter at hand; I'd say we have a little under an hour before we can make our move."

"And you expect me to be silent until then?"

Haru smiled warmly, "Yes."

Miho smiled back, sweet and innocent, with more than a hint of a devil beneath, "Not likely."

Damn.

!

!

!

Rei glanced up from his plate cautiously, seeking to catch the eye of the man only now beginning to pick at his food.

"Nagisa." Gently, so as not to startle.

Nagisa did not even look up, picking restlessly at the skin of the fish before him.

"Is there something troubling you, Nagisa? Can I be of assistance?" He felt a small prick of excitement at the thought; it was rare that Nagisa ever accepted his aid, rarer still that he would ever admit to a need for it. Disheartening, given that was almost the entirety of Rei's motivation for taking up with pirates in the first place.

He rapped the table with his knuckles and Nagisa flinched, dropping his fork and turning his knife so the blade faced his partner. He relaxed and forced a smile when he saw the open shock painted on Rei's features.

"The fish was only caught this morning. You should finish it; no telling when we'll have such a treat again."

Nagisa's lips quirked into a mere shadow of his normally bright grin, but he took a bite if only to satisfy his partner. "I'm sure if I asked it of you, you would rig up a line and bring me fish any time I asked for it." Spoken sharply, almost as though he intended to wound.

He couldn't, it was nothing less than the truth.

Rei quickly reviewed the events of the day- had it been only a day? It felt like a week. Nagisa had been his usual lively self when he stepped onto the deck, ready to take on the world come what may. Now he was thoughtful, and a tad downcast.

Neither of these were moods Rei would ever have associated with his lover. He had seen him both furious and joyful, but never sad. And deep thought was not something that came naturally to one so consumed with energy.

No, it had to be Rin's order that had upset him.

"You understand the captain had to order you to make your apologies to Ni- to the surgeon regardless of his opinions on the matter? A ship can only function when the crew is of one mind."

Nagisa flashed him a look whose significance he could not read: fear perhaps? Or longing? He was a career soldier, not a poet; this business of dissecting others with a single glance would always be beyond him.

"I may have underestimated the surgeon. He is no fool."

"Timidity and foolishness are not necessarily the same. Personally I've never seen them occupy the same space."

"How do you mean?" Now Nagisa appeared fascinated with every word from his mouth, and Rei warmed to his topic considerably, glad to help in any small way he could.

"The cautious are timid, and fools are not known for being cautious; they're far more likely to be brazen- a quality no one would accuse a timid man of owning."

"So you're saying I'm a fool?" Nagisa smiled crookedly, genuine amusement showing through, but Rei shook his head violently, raising his arms in a gesture meant to appease.

"No, no. Brazenness is a subset of foolishness. Fools are always brazen, but the bold need not be fools."

"Subset?"

"I assume you are familiar with the principles of mathematics laid out by-"

"Enough, Rei, I was only teasing."

This was a strange caprice indeed, but Rei was not about to object to it.

"Rei, has it ever occurred to you to wonder why we found that chu- the surgeon in the brig? Why he was chained?"

"Insubordination is common enough. Surgeons rarely volunteer for sea duty; normally they must be forced aboard ship and if that means keeping them in the brig until they are resigned to their duties then that is what a captain will mandate."

"They were far from shore, even had he been permitted the freedom of the deck there is little he could have done save leap to a watery death."

"Perhaps that is what he threatened to do. What is this sudden concern with Nitori? He has always been an adequate healer; the needs of this ship are few but he has tended to them."

Nagisa pushed his serving away, grimacing as though it had offended him. "But the chains, Rei, why the chains?"

"Nimble fingers could have made quick work of that pitiful lock. I imagine Nitori thought so too."

"And you call him by name. Are you friends?"

"We are not enemies." Rei answered tactfully. Nagisa had never concerned himself with Rei's companions before and it was disconcerting that he should fix upon it now.

Nagisa eyed him steadily until Rei began to squirm in his seat, finally spitting out the rest. "It's difficult to say, there are times I think we have reached an understanding…and there are times I am not certain he is in his right mind. The right hand is not responsible for the actions of the left if you take my meaning."

"I do." Nagisa downed the last of his vinegar wine quickly, gagging at the taste. "I take your meaning fine, but I think we should keep a weather eye on the surgeon from now on."

"That should not be too difficult, Makoto has sent me to collect weapons from you."

Nagisa and Rei flew back from their table simultaneously, knocking their benches over in their haste to stand. How the hell had Nitori slipped up on them soundlessly in this corner of the galley? They were shielded entirely from view and to come this near, he first would have had to open the door and- how much had he heard?

Nitori's face was neutral as always, pleasant even albeit slightly bemused at their confusion, but certainly not offended.

"Weapons?" Nagisa squeaked, pale as a sheet.

"The first mate has advised me to take my place among the crew. He thought you might have a suggestion concerning suitable weaponry."

"Hell's teeth." Nagisa hissed under his breath, he raised his voice to be heard across the space separating them. "I've always thought that scalpel served well for your purposes."

Nitori's face brightened, "Makoto suggested as much; I am relieved to find you in agreement." He turned to leave abruptly, not bothering with any pleasant superficiality, but before he returned to the deck he turned back to catch Rei's eyes, "I have always considered us to be friends, Rei."

With that he took his leave. It was long minutes until Rei and Nagisa no longer felt the weight of his presence though.

Rin paced the deck rapidly, unconcerned that twilight limned his form for anyone near enough to see. Doubtless Makoto was correct in supposing Haruka had set lookouts on shore, but that was hardly his concern. At present moment he awaited only Nagisa and Makoto; between the three of them they certainly couldn't hope to carry off a full cache of treasure, but at least enough to count their point made and to assist with secure trading the next time they made land anywhere near a market.

Nagisa ambled out on deck, Rei following close behind him; both appeared more than a little shaken and there was none of the disturbance usually associated with Nagisa's passing. They were quiet as the grave and pale as corpses in the dimming light.

"Something you ate?" Rin half-joked. They had taken aboard bad grain once and lost a few crewmembers to ergot; thankfully not a week later they had run across the ship carrying Nitori.

The man was as much a blessing as he was a curse.

"Someone we saw." Rei smiled, but it was a ghastly expression indeed, mixed of equal parts fear and doubt. Rin decided not to press him; Rei was an easy one to spook, and Nagisa often took his direction.

"I trust you know your orders, Rei?"

"Sing out at the first sign of trouble? It's no different than any other night."

"It is. You can expect an attack tonight; I want you to make sure it is unsuccessful. Make it an abysmal failure if you can- I wouldn't object to taking a few prisoners. There's a market for the exotic further inland." He smiled thinly, but they both knew it was purely in jest. Rin had always been adamant that the Samenoe would never become a slaving vessel; it would be both the destruction of his ship and crew.

Makoto padded toward them on cat's feet, altogether more sombre than was his wont.

"Everyone is prepared?"

"Yes. I've had the dinghy made ready again."

"All is well, then. Good luck, Rei." Makoto nodded reassuringly, leaning aside to whisper in Rin's ear: "Is he ill? I don't believe I have ever seen him so pale."

"I remarked the same myself. When we return I'll ask Nitori to have a look at the grain again."

"They had fish tonight."

"Then I'll ask Nitori to have a look at the fish. Do you suppose we can go now?"

Makoto nodded his agreement, if grudgingly. They headed for the dinghy, not a word spoken between them, but just before they could hoist themselves into the craft Rei groaned, a tentative "Captain?" floating through the still air.

"If he is bluffing, I will gut him myself." Rin growled.

"Rei never bluffs. He can't even play a decent hand of cards." Nagisa grumbled.

The party hurried back to him, squinting in the direction he pointed. "I can't be certain, but I think that may be a ship."

"No." Rin gritted out, "No, that is not a ship; the shadows are playing tricks on you. And if it is-" Rin hastily spoke over Nagisa's objection, "It is far enough away that we can afford to take a few hours more at anchor."

"Beg pardon, captain, but if that is a ship and it is visible from this distance then it is likely a frigate. Frigates are unique to the Imperial navy in these waters, save those few that have been commandeered by pirates."

"Neither one of those sounds promising in our present straits, Rin. I suggest we be about our business and gone by the time full dark has fallen. frigates are not built for speed, but our ship is compromised and couldn't move much quicker. We need to keep our distance." Makoto glared at the spot on the horizon.

Rin sighed pitifully, "Then we are certain it is a ship? All agreed?"

"Aye."

Damn. "All right then, I'll allow for two hours before we need to be back aboard ship. If we are separated, we meet here, anyone that doesn't is left behind."

Rin wasn't much better at bluffing than Rei, at least not when it came to facing off against Makoto; his first mate's wry smile said plainly he knew not a word of it was true.

Rin would sooner abandon his family than he would his crew. He had, once, and never questioned the decision.

!

!

Haruka opened his eyes hesitantly, waking from a half-doze in the span of a few seconds. Miho was already alert, slipping her knife from its sheathe when she noticed Haruka's accusatory gaze.

"The sun has gone down. I thought we agreed this was the time."

"Well enough, we did." He turned back to the others, an unaccountable feeling of dread settling in his gut. "Everyone stay close together, we swim in formation and I expect two by two. The tide is with us but that is no excuse to let your guard down."

Much as he would have liked to, there was no excuse to stall any longer. He followed Miho to the water's edge and beyond, slipping a makeshift chisel from his trousers and clutching it between desperate jaws. Not ideal, but the best he could manage under the circumstances.

When he finally slipped into the surf his worries melted away, submerged beneath a far greater concern for the task ahead.