Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece
Late the next morning, after Marco had finally been able to fall asleep, he walked out onto the deck -shielding his eyes form the glare of the fully risen sun- hearing the sound of Aiko speaking to an overly obnoxious voice he was all too familiar with.
She was seated in the slim line of shade provided by the mast and had a DenDen Mushi in front of her, donning its very own red shell and the infamous scar along its left eye.
"AIKO!" It was obviously Shanks on the other end. Marco would have to be a fool to not know who it was. "ARE YOU ALRIGHT?!" Aiko had both the receiver and the DenDen Mushi a good few feet away. "THAT GUY HASN'T DONE ANYTHING TO YOU RIGHT?! YOU CAN COME BACK!"
"Sheesh, Captain. This is why I call Benn most of the time when reporting." Aiko sighed.
"Don't be cold Aiko." She could hear the grin in his voice. "Benny's a bit busy right now, getting his booze for the banquet! Said he had something real special just for me! Can you believe that?" Aiko could just imagine the childish grin he was donning.
"A banquet without me, Captain? I'm hurt."
"It's not the same without you Aiko!" He said very quickly. "Don't let that Whitebeard pirate do anything weird, I saw the paper! HAHAHAHAHA! Rho was rather heartbroken!"
"That was a long time ago Captain!" She defended, now yelling herself.
"Whatever you say, Aiko."
She didn't like that nonbelieving tone of his.
She looked up and noticed Marco looking at her with his usual bored expression, sighing she said "I'll talk to you later, Captain."
"WAIT AI-"
She hung up.
For a second, she grinned at the Den Den Mushi trying its best to catch its breath from all the yelling it was doing because of Shanks. Poor thing was wheezing and everything.
"Your Captain's still as noisy as ever." Marco remarked, listless eyes looking even lazier in the morning.
"And why haven't you gone and called up your mates I wonder? They must be worried about you." She grinned at how he rubbed the back of his head, obviously dreading the thought.
"I think I'll deal with the laughter and teasing another day, yoi." He muttered, tone displeased and mind obviously on the gossip panel that the journalists or whoever it was that fixed it up decided would be a good idea to release.
"Well-" Aiko stopped mid-sentence and quickly looked out towards the sea. Marco seemed to feel it too because he was staring in the same direction. "We've got a stalker." She tried to pinpoint more ships, "Just one?"
"A lot of men." Marco said clearly bored. "Or… wild animals?"
"I think your Kenbunshoku Haki is more developed than mine, phoenix." Aiko muttered "I'm not too good with identifying from such long distances." She looked back towards the general direction of the enemy ship, right now it was just a speck of black in the background, but if that was a real pirate ship, they'd have no problem catching up.
"You get used to it, when you're stuck on the Moby Dick all the time, yoi."
"Hmmm…" Aiko hummed and got out a tiny telescope, checking the sail of the ship currently heading their direction. "It's one of Big Mom's. Shall we lay low for a bit? They might not know that we're on this ship and think it's some kind of fishing boat or travelling merchant or something."
"Yeah." Marco agreed. "That sounds good." The last thing they needed was to start a war with Big Mom while they were away from their crew. Attacking them now would be reckless if they didn't know if that ship was really tailing them or just heading in the same direction. They were near a Winter Island after all, though that particular island was under the protection of Whitebeard and they'd have no business on it, Yonko were strict about the pirates that entered their territories, so maybe a different destination?
"You think they're going to stop by the next island?"
"That island is under Pop's protection, yoi, if they're planning on stopping by, I'm planning on questioning them." Marco said confidently.
"Hmm…" Aiko gave him a grin, "Maybe they're returning the favor? I don't think they liked it all that much that a Whitebeard and Red-haired pirate so easily went on Big Mom's turf." A thousand thoughts instantly ran through her head, did Big Mom think they wanted to wage a war against her? It's not like they did anything bad, sheesh, they were on that island for an hour tops and everyone gets their panties in a bunch.
"How annoying." Aiko muttered under her breath. "Well, they're bound to catch up to us, phoenix." She looked back out at the rival crew, quite a distance away but she knew that it was steadily coming closer and gaining on their poor excuse of a ship. "Hiding or questioning, whatever you decide to do, decide now."
He didn't move an inch.
That was enough of an answer for her.
"Are you scared, yoi?" He asked in a way too smug tone. He had his hands in his pockets, feet shoulder length apart and chest sticking out proudly showing his Whitebeard Jolly Roger permanently inked on his perfectly toned chest. His eyes though, never left the ship as it slowly but steadily approached.
Aiko gave a small grin, not like he could see it with his back towards her, before she flexed her hands a few times to get the blood pumping and she quickly adjusted her gauntlets, preparing for a fight if push came to shove. "Are you?" She shot back.
He smirked.
"Sir!" A man hastily ran up to his superior who was seated in his office, noisily chewing on candy. "We've spotted Marco the Phoenix and Killer Punch Aiko!" He could see the man breathing heavily, as if he was already in danger when they hadn't even passed by the damned excuse of a ship yet. How could two commanders stand such a small ship? It didn't even look like it could survive a New World storm.
The man didn't even bother acknowledging his lackey and instead walked briskly past him and towards the deck. His heavy footfalls alerting everyone of his presence. Grabbing a telescope from an unsuspecting lackey, he saw the two pirates his lackey's seemed to be so afraid of.
And there they really were, Marco the Phoenix standing tall and proud with a blank look on his face staring straight at their ship, waiting, and at his side was Killer Punch Aiko, her hands on her hips with a huge grin adorning her features.
The man grimaced, breaking the hard candy in his mouth with one hard bite before directing his men to pull up towards the side of the puny boat.
Marco watched with half-lidded eyes as the larger ship made a complete stop next to their much smaller one. Making and holding eye contact with, who was most probably, the captain of the vessel. Marco sized him up immediately, the Captain was pint sized though many were small compared to Marco's towering height, standing at about two heads shorter than him donning a pink jumpsuit with red stripes that hurt his eyes just looking at them. Dark purple hair and shades to cover his eyes, Marco couldn't see any visible weapons, but the Captain had guts, to be looking straight at him.
"An o-ka-ma nightmare." Aiko said flabbergasted, completely breaking the silence.
Marco sighed and broke eye contact to give Aiko a look. She was definitely in Shanks' crew. No doubt about it.
She just smiled at him in return.
He heard a few wolf whistles coming from the other crew and could see them eyeing up Aiko, who also seemed to notice and grinned cheekily back. Marco sighed, irritated, at the hearts in their eyes. Wasn't this supposed to be a serious talk?
"They call me Kit." The captain spoke up, biting through another hard piece of candy. Didn't he know his teeth would fuck up?
Eh?
Both Marco and Aiko's heads snapped up to look at the Captain properly.
…
Wasn't that?
"Are you a girl?" Aiko voiced out the question on their minds making Marco suppress a grin at her tone.
"WHAT?!" Kit screeched in a high pitched tone, clearly the question got to her, him, whatever. "NO! I'M NOT! I'M A GUY!"
"YEA! Don't say that about the Captain!" His crewmates were quick to defend.
"The captain just has a naturally girly voice!"
"He can't help it if it's high pitched!"
"SHUT UP!" Kit yelled, clearly pissed.
"Hahahaha." Aiko laughed without restraint in the young captain's face, "I'm glad we cleared that up then." And she flashed them a friendly grin, the kind you pick up and master when you hang around Shanks. "Don't you think so too, hot stuff?" She asked Marco, grin still in place.
He just shook his head at her, but she could tell he was amused.
"So," Marco's hostile tone got everyone back on track, "Where do you think you're headed?"
"And is that any of your business, Phoenix?" Kit shot back aggressively.
"It is. Since the next island is under Pop's protection." Marco replied, voice somehow both calm and hostile at the same time. Holding a threat, but never losing his cool.
"We thought we would return the favor," Kit gave a sly grin. "Seeing as how you lot decided that you'd be welcome even in Big Mom's turf. Mama's angry." He said it as if the Yonko was there and going to kill them if they decided to harm even a single disgustingly purple hair on his little head.
"I don't see her around." Marco said relaxed.
Though he had to see how things played out, if the kid said something wrong, he couldn't just up and destroy their ship, they could end up starting a war just because everyone seemed to overreact about a few supplies. It's not like they stole them and the Red-haired pirates were known to stop by on any island regardless of whose territory it belonged, but suddenly everyone becomes trigger happy and ballistic when a Whitebeard pirate accompanies them.
"Hmm…" Aiko contemplated a few things in her head before speaking. "We were just grabbing a few supplies. Red-haired pirates walk freely on everyone's turf." She lifted her tank top, showcasing the Jolly Roger tattooed near her hip for emphasis. "Everyone knows that."
It wasn't that red-haired pirates were allowed to go everywhere, it's just that most Yonko would keep to their own respective islands, choosing not to bother with anyone else, Shanks though was the exception, he was just a hard-headed adventurer.
"Just because you do, doesn't mean Mama isn't angry at you!" Kit roared at her. "You Red-haired pirates are all so cheeky and full of yourselves thinking you're free to walk around anywhere. Well, you're NOT! Especially not with a Whitebeard pirate! What are the two of you doing together anyway?! HUH?! Just what are the you planning to do to Ma-"
Kit was cut off by a burst of Haki that just barely missed his head, cutting his cheek and splitting the main mast in two, like a twig. Men began screaming as they got out of the way of the oncoming sail about to fall on them thanks to the bitch that was gravity.
"Oi, kid." Aiko muttered seriously, making Marco look at her through the corner of lethargic eyes, eyes glowing fiercely and a smooth expression of silent fury decorated her face, he was reminded of when he had fought her at the beginning of all this. "What did you say about my crew?"
So he was right when he had first assessed her back on the Moby Dick, she was the type that got angry at the drop of a hat.
Marco could see Kit taking out a set of daggers and getting into a fighting position. His crew seemed to follow, all ready to move at their Captain's command.
This was bad.
He needed to stop this.
Now.
Marco dropped a hand on her head, making her glazed over eyes go back to the kind ones he was so used to seeing.
"Wait, yoi." He said, voice clearly exasperated. "I have questions."
"I don't care if you have questions! I won't answer anything you damned people have to say!" Kit yelled back.
"Oi." Aiko could feel the fear that shot through the other crew as Marco summoned a few bright blue flames, giving him an eerie glow. His face, in that light, looked sadistic beyond belief. It was unfair, his reputation, that just by calling his name it could strike fear in almost anyone. "I wasn't giving you a choice."
You know what else wasn't fair?
Him.
Stopping her and in the end taking the action for himself.
Her eye twitched at his attitude.
And not ten minutes later, Aiko sat comfortably on an empty crate on the deck of their small ship eating away at a persimmon with a contented grin on her face. All around, in the sea were the remains of a once large pirate ship reduced to nothing but ply wood and crew members hanging on for dear life, yelling profanities in her direction.
Marco sat next to her, bored expression still in place as he stared down at the cocky pirate captain sitting cross legged in front of him. Kit scoffed at their overconfidence they didn't even bother tying him up, he hated being taken so lightly. He kept clicking his tongue, wanting some candy so badly, it was becoming physically painful. He had lost all his candy when the damned Phoenix commander suddenly up and started destroying everything, then Killer Punch following his lead.
"So… I don't think you can actually reach wherever it was you were planning on going." Marco started, never losing his calm exterior even when the young Captain sneered at him. "Tell Big Mom, we aren't out to cause any trouble, yoi. We just needed supplies, which were properly paid for, by the way."
"We got information, from an outside source." Kit decided to tell them, so that they would know that whatever nonsense about supplies they were spouting out was bullshit. "That Whitebeard and Red-haired Shanks met and allied together to take someone down." He sneered. "The two of you together is proof enough of that. Mama will hear about this."
Aiko and Marco shared a look.
"Outside source?" Aiko questioned.
"That's none of your business!" Kit shot back.
She grinned at him. "Well, I doubt you know anyway." Kit's eyes widened at her claim. "I bet you were just on Harpy Island at the time, so Big Mom told you to keep an eye on us and you got cocky thinking you could take us down or get info from us." She could tell she was right on mark by the way Kit seemed to fidget. "You're not an important piece," She taunted. "There's no way you know who this outside source is."
"It was the Marines!" Kit shouted, but as soon as he did he puckered his lips shut as tight as humanly possible.
She grinned.
"The Marines, eh?" Popping a persimmon in her mouth, she looked over to Marco who had a thoughtful expression on his face. "I'm amazed at their information network."
"Are the Marines trying to pit the Yonko against each other?" He let out a sigh, "The world will fall to an imbalance, yoi."
He stood up motioning for Kit to follow, he did albeit warily. When they made it to the side of the ship, Marco muttered, "I hope you're not a Devil Fruit user, yoi."
And with that, he pushed him off the side of the ship.
"AHHH-!" Kit yelled, high pitched voice screeching making Aiko wince, before being cut off by the water which splashed so much despite his small self.
"Captain!"
"Hurry! He can't swim!" His crew yelled already trying their best to swim over and help the young Captain latch onto ply wood. So the kid really was a Devil Fruit User, too bad they didn't get to see it. That or he didn't know how to swim, but just what kind of pirate doesn't know how to swim?
"That wasn't very nice." Aiko told Marco as she walked up to where he was looking at the pirates squirming and stranded in the sea as their own ship sailed off. Slowly leaving them further and further behind. Soon, they'd become just specks in the background or sea king food, there was always that too.
"I'm not very nice." Marco replied simply. "I need to call Pops about this."
She nodded slightly. "No doubt the Marines are up to something."
He had a faraway look in his eyes, undoubtedly assessing the situation in his head and all the possible outcomes. That along with his power, she could easily see why he was the first division commander. The aura he exuded was different from the rest, it was also part of the reason she felt so attracted to him all those years ago, despite having just met him. The man had an appealing air about him.
"Hey, Marco."
His eyes quickly darted towards her at the sound of his name leaving those lips, it sent a sensation tingling throughout his whole body, all the way from the soles of his feet, up his head and down to his fingertips.
"What's on your mind? I'm getting jealous." She flashed him a grin. All milk and honey.
"You, of course." He lied, playing along with her easy going attitude.
"Liar." She responded immediately, but she still had that grin adorning her features, clearly pleased about his half-assed response.
"Never, yoi." He said back just as easily, "If I told you all the things I wanted to do with you, you'd run away. So, I'm left to fantasizing."
"Please, phoenix." She looked him straight in the eyes, those honey colored irises catching his attention instantly. "You're not that unbelievably mind blowing."
"I beg to differ." He gave her a narcissistic smirk. Jeez, how many different smirks did this guy have?
"Careful there, phoenix. Nobody likes egotistical men." She couldn't blame him though, he had been regarded as one of the most powerful men in the world for years now, something like that was bound to inflate your ego.
"I don't mind, yoi." Shrugging those broad shoulders before continuing, "As long as you like me its fine."
"Well, I don't like egotistical men."
"Liar." He threw back at her, complete with infuriating smirk.
"You're impossible." She muttered.
"I try, hon." He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her so that she crashed on his chest.
The first thing she noticed when she did, was his height again. "You really have gotten taller."
"Didn't you say something about wanting to see what else got bigger?"
He was really going all out today wasn't he?
She'd have to up her game.
"Hopefully, it did. The size was pitiable, downright laughable actually, the first time around."
His mouth formed into a displeased frown.
"Oi." He pulled away a little, so that he could look at her face clearly. "Don't go insulting my manhood, yoi. It's done nothing, but fulfill your wildest dreams."
"Does 'wild' mean something else in your dictionary?"
He rolled his eyes at her snarky attitude. Something not many can say they've made the almighty phoenix commander do. The ability to be able to bring those lethargic eyes to life.
"What's with you and insulting the family jewels? I didn't see you insulting them at that time."
"I was young." She shrugged. "And inexperienced."
She didn't seem inexperienced to him at that time. There was no way she was a virgin back then, which meant she was lying, definitely lying.
"Ohhh…" But instead of calling her out on that blatantly obvious lie, he decided to focus on the other thing she had said. "And just how old were you at that time?"
"Haven't we been through this already phoenix?" She shook her head at him. "This is a trap, like if a woman asks if she has small boobs. You can't say yes 'cause she'll be insulted and you can't say no because then she'll know you were looking at her breasts."
He raised an eyebrow at the analogy, but didn't question it.
She was right after all.
"Well, I just want to know if I'm bordering on becoming a pedophile." Marco said as casually as possible. She was amazed at how he could retain such a straight face while saying that, even she wanted to laugh and she was doing a very poor job at suppressing it too.
"Why? You only interested in older women, phoenix?"
He shrugged. "I wouldn't know, you don't want to tell me your age."
"I'll tell you if you tell me how many women you've slept with." She said with an innocent smile.
Rolling his eyes once more. Aiko could feel a twinge of pride in the pit of her stomach at getting him to do that again.
'Trap.' He mouthed towards her.
And she laughed.
Freely and without restraint.
He watched her, laughing in his arms -eyes crinkled in absolute mirth- a hand over her mouth trying in vain to suppress it. It gave him a different kind of warmth to see her laughing so comfortably around him, he wasn't so blind as to not know what kind of warmth it was. It settled deep in his stomach and pinched at his heart, and he couldn't seem to get enough, like an addict needing his next fix. When did he become so greedy?
Her laughter slowly seemed to die down, and he let go of her before it completely did. Observing the way she wiped a small tear from the corner of her eye.
'This is bad.' He thought.
You've got it bad. Something whispered to him in the back of his mind.
He cursed whatever part of him that agreed with that.
Shaking his head to rid himself of his own traitorous thoughts, he needed to focus on Ace. This was why they were out here in the first place, if Ace wasn't gone then he'd still be back on the Moby Dick… left to wonder. He didn't know if he should be thanking Ace's fiery temper or cursing it for giving him this temptation that he now needed with all his being to resist.
Resist.
Even though his head knew it, his heart couldn't seem to catch up.
Aiko looked at him strangely, he was looking at her, but not exactly at her. As if he was seeing a spot well past her. She waved a hand in front of his face, catching his attention and releasing him form whatever trance he put himself in.
"Are you hungry or something phoenix?"
He just nodded his head at her with his usual composed face.
Not really hearing what she was asking.
He wasn't paying attention, she could tell. But she didn't push him to focus, instead she said, "Then let's have brunch. We've got a long day ahead of us."
A/N: Peeeoppple, thanks for all the favorites and alerts and stuff :D
Please don't forget to review!