Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece
Two uneventful weeks passed and they were already in the first half of the Grand Line. Paradise, those too weak to make it in the New World called it. That day, Izou had called -unknowingly interrupting the romance the okama wanted so badly to happen- to deliver a message to Marco for them to go and 'visit' one of the central Marine Bases responsible for moving along information. If anything, Marco thought Pops' was just a bit angry at the Marines for spreading false rumors from the information they somehow always managed to get their corrupt justice filled hands on. Hopefully, while they were there they could find out some information on Ace's whereabouts as well. The man suddenly disappeared off the face of the earth, though thankfully, Aiko had found a lead on Blackbeard seemed the fatso had been spotted in Jaya Island.
So, that's why Marco and Aiko were currently walking down the streets of the extremely hot Summer Island that was Lowe Town. It was a bustling village, full of life. They were in the market area, so people were buzzing around like flies. Men and women shouted, advertising their goods, trying to get some random gullible person to buy worthless junk at insanely expensive prices. Paradise was just how Marco remembered: full of people that didn't know them. Sometimes citizens really were dense, though if they did notice them, they probably just thought that there was no way that the infamous and –according to every newspaper in the world- currently travelling together Whitebeard and Red-haired pirate were there on their island.
Denial was a beautiful thing.
They had been cooped up on the ship for so long, not that he was complaining. He felt better, when he was out at sea. But it was good to have his feet walking on solid ground again and he could see by the skip in Aiko's step that she was glad to be able to have an adventure on an island. Whenever she was like this, it reminded him more of her Red-haired captain. Though seeing the less serious and more relaxed side of her was always nice, the side that didn't put up her guard and didn't tease and test his willpower constantly.
Marco watched as Aiko made a sudden left giving no warning whatsoever to him as she moved away from his protective side to go inside a small antique shop in a dingy back alley. No one was around there, because for one it was a dark ominous looking alley for Roger's sake, the only people that would be dwelling in such a rotten place were the kinds you wouldn't want to be associated with and two, most people tended to avoid antique shops. Why? He would never know. At least you could actually find some genuinely interesting and valuable albeit old stuff in there. Unlike those little side stalls most people seem to just love to waste their perfectly good Beli on. If this whole pirate thing didn't work out, maybe he could have scammed people on the streets, looked simple enough. Marco gave her a head start, taking a moment to watch her hips sway in her usual long dark blue sari-like skirt as she disappeared within the shop.
He mentally counted to ten, before making his move, taking a step into the dirty alley to follow after her. As he entered the shop his listless yet observant eyes did a quick look around, more out of habit than interest in the shops dusty interior, all the goods seemed to have been randomly strewn about, seeing as how there was no real order or attempt at some form of organization. Some things were dusty, others new, either way the place looked like it hadn't been cleaned up in a few decades. A brief image of Izou and the okama commander's strange cleaning habits flashed into his mind, he would probably have had a fit before going into one of his infamous frenzied cleaning mode. The okama was oddly clean for a pirate.
Marco shooed the thoughts from his mind. He didn't think he'd be missing his crew this much, he briefly wondered how Ace must feel being out all alone at sea, endlessly searching for Teach. No doubt the fire commander would be having a woman at every port, Whitebeard commanders were heartbreakers that way.
He grinned a bit to himself.
By the time his lazy steps brought him towards the counter of what was actually a pretty big shop or maybe it just looked big from all the junk that could miraculously fit in it, like everything had its own little place, there at the counter was Aiko, back towards him and attention on an old man with an extremely unkempt beard and balding head sat running the store. If this place actually had a shop keep, shouldn't he at least take some time to clean? Then maybe other customers and not pirates like them would actually stop by, even if just to window shop. The old man handed her a long looking item that she quickly paid for, he couldn't see her face but he just knew she was grinning happily. Marco hoped she wasn't getting scammed. They still had a lot of money from the fat pouch Shanks' had so generously given, but that didn't mean she could go and waste it.
"Find something interesting, yoi?" He called out, a few feet behind her with that same lazy expression on his face.
"Yea." She confirmed, turning around and showing him a long, elaborate looking belt accessory –thing- it was made of gold. Just how much had she spent? "Pretty cool, huh?"
He shrugged, not really caring.
He wasn't one for needless accessories.
But if it made her happy…
"It was a good price, phoenix." She grinned at his blank eyes. "Half-off, so don't look at me like that. I'm not wasting money, I swear."
He raised an eyebrow.
"Grandpa!"
The three all looked towards the entrance of the shop where a girl came dashing through, obviously not looking where she was going because she ended up bumping straight into the back of one bored looking phoenix commander. Said commander turned his head slightly to raise an eyebrow at the girl who quickly backed up from him with a very prominent blush covering her cheeks.
"I'm s-s-sorr!" She could barely even finish her sentence, before the papers she had been carrying in her hands fell and she scrambled to pick them up.
Crouching down, Marco picked up most of them with smooth movements before handing them back to the girl, who in response blushed madly.
Aiko grinned at the girl, she looked about eighteen, had a short blonde bob cut and she was wearing a large oversized sweater and tights. The girl was cute. Probably the type that loved to daydream. When Aiko saw the girl blush, she couldn't help but let her grin grow just a little wider, the kid –when compared to her age- was totally crushing on Marco.
"Lyka!" The old man at the counter yelled. "Are you alright? Where have you been?"
"Ah!" She quickly stood up, Marco following though at a much slower pace. "Sorry, Grandpa! I was at the library!"
"How many times do I have to tell you to call first?" The old man scolded.
"I'm sorry!" Lyka said in a panicked voice, before her eyes widened and she turned to Marco. "T-th-thank you!"
"No problem." Marco gave the girl a pleasant grin.
"I'm Lyka!" She looked towards Aiko as well, to show that she had acknowledged the older woman in the room and not just her companion. "Are you two customers?"
"Well, I am." Aiko spoke up, friendly smile all Red-haired pirates seemed to have, in place.
"Ah! I'm sorry about that you two! This is my granddaughter Lyka, she's a bit of a klutz, but she means well."
"Grandpa!" The girl yelled, embarrassment clear on her face.
"No worries Gramps." Aiko replied back easily, pointing a thumb at Marco, "It takes a lot more to knock down this guy."
"Thank god for that, no? Is this your boyfriend young Miss?" The old man at the counter asked happily. "Young love really is a spectacular thing." The man continued, not even waiting for a response.
Aiko laughed heartily, the contagious musical sound reaching Marco's ears and like always, had him struggling to hold back a grin. Marco didn't know why she was laughing so much, was it the man's question about them being together? Was it really such a laughable notion?
"Young, huh?" She muttered, but his trained ears easily picked it up. "I don't really think you can count me and this guy there, gramps." The old man looked at her strangely to which she just smiled. "But yes, young love is a spectacular thing." She looked pointedly at Lyka, who blushed profusely, noticing her stare. "Anyway," Aiko tugged on Marco's arm to get the man moving. "Thanks, gramps!" She said happily to the stunned old man inside, still left wondering about what she had meant by not being able to count her as young.
Once they left the shady alley that lead to the shops entrance, Aiko turned and stood in front of Marco, placing the elaborate golden belt around the light blue sash he kept tightly tied around his waist.
"There." She finished, smiling up at him.
He was staring at it with his usual expression.
"I'm not one for accessories, yoi." Was his only reply.
"Well," She patted his chest with one gauntlet covered hand. "You don't dress properly either, but you don't see me complaining, so just take the gift will you? I bought it out of the kindness of my heart."
"Kindness? That's news to me. And what possible reason would you have to complain about, yoi?" He raised an eyebrow at her. She swore this man took lessons in doing that, he just did it so damn well.
"It tempts me." She said with no shame whatsoever, not caring that some people had actually stopped to try and listen in on their conversation.
He rolled his eyes, a motion that was becoming more and more frequent when she was around. The action had her grin spreading a little bit wider.
He shook his head at her. They were too suspicious around these parts, no matter where they went even if everyone was too dense to recognize them, the duo seemed to gather unwanted attention. It wouldn't do if a Marine on patrol saw them around, it was actually a wonder that they hadn't been spotted by one. The Marines had a great information network, but they seriously needed to do something about the incompetence out here in Paradise. Well, not that he was complaining.
"Let's find a pub." He said, eyes already scanning the immediate area for one.
"My, my… Do you want to get me drunk, phoenix?" She teased in a patronizing tone. "Just what do you want to happen, huh?"
He leaned in close to whisper in her ear. "Do you really want to know?"
Aiko was about to respond to his cocky attitude when a voice cut her off.
"Wait!"
The two turned their heads to look at Lyka, who ran out and stopped in front of the duo. She was out of breath from her short run and was panting heavily in front of them.
"Hmm… Watsup?" Aiko asked. "Did we forget something in the store?"
"Ugh.. N-n-no." The young woman waved her hands to and fro as she said this, further confirming her response. "You two are new here, right? W-well I-I-I was actually wondering if you needed a g-g-guide!" She yelled out the last word, her eyes darting up to Marco's pineapple head.
Aiko moved her head, pretending to be thinking it over before addressing Marco. "What do you think, Phoenix?"
He gave a broad shouldered shrug. "Sure, yoi."
The girl lit up at the man's response, before saying happily, "Then where do you want to go first? Ummm…" She let the silent question hang.
"I'm Aiko and this tough guy here is Marco."
"And actually we were about to go to a pub." Marco continued, "Know any good ones?"
"AH! YES!" She pointed left, "Let's go this way, there's one there. But its only 5o'clock, are you sure you don't want to go to an inn first?"
"Well…" Marco shot a look towards Aiko.
"I find it more comfortable to sleep on the ship." She shrugged, the sea lulled her to sleep like no other place could. The ocean was home. "You could go to an inn I suppose." She shot him a wink to which he just responded by rolling his eyes.
"Pub it is then." Marco muttered.
"Alright!" Lyka replied enthusiastically.
As expected, the pub she had brought them to was actually a pretty decent place, clean, good reputation, the works. Even had a fruity little name like 'Cocktails' or was it 'Nightshade'? Well, whatever. They couldn't tell her that they'd rather go to a back alley watering hole, it would be way too suspicious. Well, even though it wasn't the usual shit hole Aiko would visit to dig up some juicy information, it would have to be good enough. All barkeeps had to know at least a little dirt, right?
She just hoped they wouldn't run into some Marines in such an upstanding place. Well, she doubted Marines would even notice them, pirates just didn't frequent places like this. She didn't know if it just made you look weak or what, leaving some bar for goody-goody citizens. But, not going to these types of bars was some kind of unspoken law for all criminals.
Marco's eyes scanned the immediate vicinity, seeing drunk Marines in one corner. They were totally shit faced and loudly complaining about their boss. He took a seat with Lyka at a corner booth, mostly hidden by shadows as a waitress came to take their orders. He briefly wondered if Lyka was old enough to drink, well, he wouldn't stop her.
"I'll just have some grog and something with meat." He told the waitress who carefully jotted the order down.
"And you, sweetie?"
"I-I'll have a fruit cocktail."
The waitress gave the two a grin before leaving with practiced hips swaying to and fro. Marco saw from the corner of his eye, Aiko, who upon entering the fine establishment had immediately opted to ditch the two and go straight up to the bartender. He could see all the eyes directed at the woman, he scoffed to himself, he didn't dress properly? If there was anyone who didn't know how to dress properly, it was her. In fact, all women pirates. He saw her practiced hand sipping sake straight up as she chatted up the bartender, probably already using that sweet alluring voice of hers to have the man cough up information.
"You like sweet drinks, yoi?" Marco asked, to keep up the conversation with Lyka.
"Y-yes. I'm not really good with sake or beer or anything straight." She gave him an embarrassed grin.
"That so?" He muttered lowly, eyes darting once again to Aiko's slender form as she downed another cup of sake. "Maybe you just need to get used to it. It's more of an acquired taste, I suppose."
"Ah… Y-yes." She looked back up at him then cast her eyes down. "Do y-you always say 'yoi' at the end of your sentences?"
He laughed slightly. "It's one of my quirks, yoi."
The waitress came back with their orders and Marco immediately went in to take a large chunk off the meat in a single bite. As expected of a pub out in the open, they had good food. Quality alcohol too, not that cheap watered down stuff.
"Uh… Uhmm…" Marco could see her fidget from where he sat across from her in the booth.
"Hmm?"
"I-Is Aiko-san, you're… Umm…" She let the question hang.
Before he could respond however, Aiko swooped in with a sake bottle in one hand and a small white cup in the other. She sat at the little space next to Marco, who she playfully shoved further inside the small booth to make more room for herself, paying no attention to his personal space.
"Drinking without me, phoenix? I thought we had something special." She gave him a smile.
"Chatting up that bartender, Hon? I thought we had something special."
"I-I-I have to use the b-b-bathroom!" Lyka suddenly announced, standing up and leaving a half-finished cocktail.
"Oh…" Aiko suddenly said, realization crawling on her face. "Did I just interrupt something?"
"Not really." Marco muttered back.
"That girl has the hots for you, ya know?"
'Well, obviously.' He was about to sarcastically reply, before he bit his tongue and instead teased, "Jealous?"
She gave him a winning smile. "Obviously."
He couldn't tell if she was being sarcastic or not.
"You know I've only got eyes for you, yoi."
"Well, I find it cute that you have an admirer." Aiko said, "Cause in the end you'll still pick me."
God.
Did this woman have to make it sound so cheezy?
"What did you find out?" He asked instead, choosing business instead of adding fuel to whatever fire that sweet comment of hers would get them into.
"Absolutely nothing. The bartender epically failed at trying to flirt a bit with me and I found out that he knew nothing. Nothing about Ace, Blackbeard, not even the Marines on this island. What a waste of time." She frowned plentifully, before giving him an amused grin. "So, I told him you were my husband and you should have seen his face!"
He shot a look towards the bartender, who he found was staring intently at Aiko. But when the man caught his eye he quickly turned and coughed into his hand.
"Anyway," She lowered her voice a bit, "Seems we can just do Whitebeard's visit tonight. If this barkeep didn't know anything, the others are probably just as clueless. Even Izou-san sounded pretty amused over the DenDen Mushi."
"Well, they angered Pops', yoi. I'd rather we just take the info and leave peacefully, but they can't just try to get Big Mom against us and think we won't retaliate."
"Yes, yes." She said, "The whole world knows what happens when you mess with one of Whitebeards sons. Especially his number one commander."
He gave her a triumphant smirk. "That's right. Number one."
She rolled her eyes at his response.
Lyka came walking back and sat awkwardly across the two, she felt strangely like the third wheel. But, she couldn't help herself, she had never seen a man who caught her attention so much before and she just had to follow. Call it teenage impulses or whatever, all she knew was that she wanted to get closer to him. But, of course, as with all good men, there was a girl in the way. Not that she was angry at the beautiful woman, Lyka could tell why Marco liked her so much or at least why he kept the woman around. She had a certain grace to the way she moved and her presence just demanded your attention. She talked as if she had experienced everything and knew whatever the world had to offer. As expected of an older woman. But, Lyka did have youth on her side, so she would just have to clarify what they were to each other. She really had no intention of breaking them apart, if they were together, she'd leave it, but if they weren't then she had a chance, no matter how miniscule it may be.
"So," Aiko placed her chin in her palm, "How long have you lived around here?"
"All my life." Lyka muttered, "Do the two of you come from nearby as well?"
"Something like that." The older woman gave a mysterious grin. "We're travelling right now. Sightseeing and all."
"Ohh… What do you two do for a living?"
"We run a small tavern back home. Cozy place."
"Haha, with the tattoos, I thought you two might have been pirates or something." Lyka gave a grin, nodding her head towards the large mark on Marco's exposed chest.
"Do you not like pirates?"
"U-uhm… They're scary, I guess? I've never really met one. But, I don't think they're good people. Just what kind of person would choose a life of piracy after all? Becoming an outlaw, purposefully becoming outcasts from society and isolated away from everyone else, I just don't understand how someone would willingly choose that kind of life for themselves and enjoy it, no less." Her eyes widened, catching her tongue before she spoke anymore. "Not that I didn't think you two were bad! It's just-"
She stopped at the amused grin gracing Aiko's features.
"You're quite honest, aren't you?"
Lyka felt the tension somehow rise from the things she had said, had she been too honest and they thought she was weird? Has she shared her opinion too strongly to two people she had just met? She took a peek at Marco, who was quietly drinking his beer, already finished with the rather large serving of food they had given him, even though ten minutes had just barely passed. He didn't seem too interested in what she had been saying and was instead quietly playing with a golden accessory attached to a sash tied tightly around his waist. She recognized the accessory as the most expensive item they had in their shop. But hadn't Aiko-san said that she was the customer? So she had bought it for him then? They really were together?
Lyka unconsciously frowned at her own thoughts.
"Don't frown." Aiko suddenly said, "Being honest isn't a bad thing."
"Ah, no. It's not that."
"Hmm?" She raised an eyebrow.
"N-nothing. Nevermind." Lyka finished up what was left in her small fruit cocktail. She saw that Marco had already downed his grog and that Aiko had long been done with her bottle of sake. Were they waiting for her to finish?
"Thanks for showing us around." Aiko said, grin forever in place as she placed some Beli on the table. Lyka didn't know why, but there was a strange tension in the air that didn't want to dissipate. A huge elephant in the room that only she didn't seem to know just what it was.
"I-It was only the pub." She replied weakly. She looked towards Marco, hoping to get the man to talk once more. "When will you two be leaving? I can take you to an inn or back towards the docks if you'd like."
"No. We've got a few things we need to sort out tonight." Marco replied back, Lyka noticed he still had a bored expression.
"Between the sheets." Aiko said loudly complete with wink at the blonde haired commander, who put a hand on her head and ruffled the woman's hair as if he were dealing with a little kid.
Lyka swore she saw Marco's eyes flash for a split second with what? She didn't know, but she decided against attempting to have his eyes do it again.
"Thanks a lot." Marco told her once more, giving her a friendly grin as they set food outside the pub and were about to go separate ways.
"No problem." She said with downcast eyes, before watching the pair walk away until they faded out of sight.
"That girl's opinion surprised me." Aiko said with a sigh in her voice. "Only people in Paradise and outside of the Grand Line could think something like that. Makes me miss the New World."
"We'll be back before you know it." Marco replied, lethargic eyes staring straight ahead and posture as relaxed as can be.
"I guess we'll just have to get used to it for the time being, huh?"
"Everybody has something they believe in, yoi."
"I believe I'll have another drink after this little mission."
He grinned.
"We'll have a little toast just for ourselves, what do you say Phoenix?"
"As long as you don't try to come onto me, yoi." Was the immediate response.
"No promises."
"Alright, Hon. It's a date." The two stopped right in front of two thick overly large solid metal doors attached to a huge building, the building itself looked to be about as big as the Moby Dick, which by the way was huge. The building had the word MARINES running across the entire thing, even though it was approaching dark, sounds of beeping machines could still be heard from the outside. So, this place really was an information center.
Aiko looked over at Marco, the perfect picture of confident and powerful. His feet were as far apart as his shoulders and instead of his usual lethargic expression he had on a sadistic grin. A grin she hadn't seen since they fought a few weeks back. It made shivers run up her spine.
"Let's get this over with, yoi." Marco said, fingers twitching at the prospect of a fight. Fighting was something he lived for and that would never change. He took a peek at Aiko, who instead of her usual grin had on a serious expression, she was tightening her gauntlets and looked to be sizing the building up and down. She was probably thinking whether entering through the front door or through a wall would be better. This woman really was all brute strength. He should probably be a little concerned about it, brute strength really wasn't striking in a woman. But when they fought, he could clearly remember how attractive she was in her fury. Especially in her fury.
"Try not to destroy too much, Phoenix. We need to get some info on that hot-headed commander of yours."
"I'll just give them a little scare." His sadistic grin seemed to widen as he called upon a few flames to surround his body. It made that sadistic expression of his downright disturbing.
"You're creepy, phoenix." She repeated her line from back when they were still in the New World with their respective crews, but it only seemed to egg him on, because he lit even more blue flames. She sighed before looking at the building once more and like a switch had been turned on became freakishly focused on the task at hand. She used her Kenbunshoku Haki to analyze every aspect of the building. There were a lot of Marines, nothing they couldn't handle. But she couldn't pinpoint a well-guarded enough room where they would pass on and receive information. Maybe underground then? Her eyes narrowed at the building in front of her as she began making her way towards it. "I'll take the left, Phoenix. Let's meet in the middle."
"Towards that room with the stairs that leads underground?" He clarified, obviously he had put his own Kenbunshoku Haki to good use.
"Don't be late." She winked at him, before punching right at the metal door, sending the thing flying and dozens of Marines gasping from shock at just what exactly was happening.
"Roger." Marco called loudly over to her, before changing into his Phoenix hybrid form and came crashing down through the ceiling of the Marine base, his talons effectively slicing through reinforced steel like butter.
The sound of guns being loaded were the next thing the two heard, along with only one command:
"F-Fire!"
A/N: Well... Yeaaa :D Sorry this is pretty late, I was supposed to have it out a few days ago... but, well, I was trying to fix it up more. Well, this chapter's pretty long, so hopefully it'll make up for its two day lateness... Hahaha ANYWAY, thank you for the reviews, follows and favorites.
Please people, don't forget to REVIEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW :DDD