Dr. Heart Stealer
Ch25: The Marine's base and the Search for the Missing Girl
"The name's Rin. Lieutenant Rin Key." Harmony smiled at Rin.
"Harmony. Pirate captive Harmony Zepheron. Well, un-captive now," Harmony told her, Rin stood there with her mouth slightly agape. She put her hands on the blonde's shoulders and looked her dead in the eye.
"Are you okay? I've heard about people like you. People that survive the cruelties of pirates while being prisoner. C-can you tell me about it?" she asked hopefully. The blond grinned and nodded. Rin took Harmony's hand and began to run off in what appeared to be a random direction looking for a café, and completely forgetting her skateboard.
Harmony was dragged painfully by her wrists as Rin sprinted along. She pointed to a brown building with the words 'Bullet's Cafe' painted in red under a large window that gave a nice view of the people chatting inside.
Harmony hesitated going inside, just because of the word 'bullet'.
Especially when she heard a gunshot, and heard a speeding bullet fly through the open door of the cafe and make a hole in the brick wall behind her.
She turned to Rin, who was smiling widely, with a scared look.
"No! No way am I going into that place! I could get shot!" Harmony screeched in fear, Rin just laughed at her. As Harmony stood in her place paralyzed by fear, Rin walked to the door.
"Oh come on, as long as you have me no one will dare get near you!" Rin said encouragingly.
"They don't have to be near me to kill me! They have guns!" Harmony yelled. Rin sighed and she walked over to the blonde. Rin grabbed her wrist again and dragged her into the cafe like a sack of potatoes. Harmony put up a good fight, but nothing seemed to stop Rin.
"I'm home!" Rin yelled, the entire cafe stopped what they were doing and looked over to the purple headed girl. Everyone inside began to laugh, with Harmony being the exception of course. Harmony looked up to Rin from her spot on the floor.
"What do you mean 'you're home'?" Harmony asked skeptically. The cafe had only one floor and was the size of an ant compared to the other buildings on this island. There was no way it could even think of being a house!
"Silly, this is a marine base! Although it's underground to keep the pirates guessing," Rin explained. Harmony nodded in understanding. Who knew a marine base could be located underneath a cafe? Rin walked farther into the cafe, and Harmony trailed behind her. The lieutenant lead her to the back wall where a set of twin pistols crossed over one another were mounted, and the wooden planks groaned in protest of being stepped on. The purple haired girl pulled on the pistol that was closest to her.
The floor began to grumble softly next to Harmony as it moved down and to the left. Harmony jumped away from the secret door in shock, which earned a laugh from Rin who began to descend a flight of stairs that were now uncovered. As Rin became smaller and smaller as she ran down the stairs, Harmony began to follow attempting to catch up with the swift girl.
Rin jumped off five stairs before the bottom and landed with a twirl. Harmony, not wanting to risk a broken anything, didn't jump off the stairs, and simply continued to run down the steps so she could reach her new friend.
When she did she was gasping for air desperately.
"You're too fast! Did you do track or something?!" Harmony asked between gulps of air. Rin laughed loudly, and it echoed through the empty, white passageway.
"No, no, nothing like that. But I have been training to be a marine for at least thirteen years old!" Rin continued to laugh and Harmony stood in shock.
"What? Thirteen years? You can't be a year older than me! We're the same height!" she screeched. Rin looked to Harmony, who had the same height as herself, and smiled. Harmony only had the chance to blink before she was punched in the face.
"I'm not short, if that's what you're saying. Also, I'm twenty four. By the way, never call me short ever again," Rin continued to smile as she talked, and Harmony held her face in pain. Rin spun on her heel and continued down the hall. Despite the pain she was in, she made an attempt to keep up with the marine walking away from her.
Rin lead her to a restaurant-like place, much nicer than the smelly mess hall of the sub, but not quite five-star material - she would know. The walls were painted a light blue in contrast to the white outside, black kanji littered the walls all of them saying 'justice', the floor was a dark navy blue and white, the tiles were arranged in a checker-like pattern, long tables with small spinning seats were laid across half of the room, the other half was dedicated to the preparation of food and distribution of meals. Rin sat down at one of the seats and began to spin on the rotating top, Harmony copied her actions.
When Rin stopped, she spoke.
"So, you promised to tell me what happened on the pirate's shi-"
"Submarine," Harmony cut off. Her words earned an astonished look from the purple-haired adult.
"As in... Trafalgar Law's submarine? As in the Surgeon of Death?" she asked in amazement. The younger nodded.
"Yeah, what of it?" she asked with a mad look on her face. Rin's eyes began to sparkle in awe.
"Y-you... You are so cool! You have to tell me every detail! He's got to be one of the worst pirates you could have been captured by! I hear he's known for his cruelty towards his crew and his ability to slice people up without them dying! Just thinking of that torture makes me want to cry!" Rin said. Harmony shrugged.
"It wasn't that bad, and he was rather kind to his crew. So, at first..." Harmony began to describe the high and low points, the major and minor details, and the troubles and challenges she had to go through with the Heart Pirates, and how she had escaped from the yellow, submarine-shaped cage.
~X~With Law, the next day~X~
Law stretched his body along the sheets as he began to wake up. It had been a while since he had last gotten any decent sleep, between one of his crew members being turned thirteen and a few new medical journals, sleep had been his lowest priority. He sat up in the hotel's bed and yawned, swung his legs over the side gracefully, and began to get dressed for a day of searching.
Last night, his seamstress had gone missing, well her younger form had. Law was sure that if she was her normal age, and understood what was going on, she wouldn't have run away.
Or called him a weirdo.
Or attempted to shoot him.
Or break her precious gun. Law was just waiting for the fit of rage that would occur when she turned back to normal.
Or fall for Sadao... The moment that thought drifted across his mind he cut it down.
Or get sick.
Or dump water on his head.
Or make him worry.
The list went on and on. He tried desperately to think of one of his medical journals that he had read before passing out last night. But the doctor couldn't seem to detach his attention from the image of her face smiling, or frowning, or contorted with rage.
He wanted his seamstress back, whether he wanted to admit it or not.
Law walked to the door and opened it with a frown, he wanted his mind on anything but his seamstress right now. She had been on his mind too much lately, and it had been distracting him from just about everything.
He stormed loudly down the stairs to the commons area of the hotel. His crew was being boisterous and obnoxious as they sat around the commons, sitting on chairs or the floor, drinking and eating fresh breakfast that steamed, and made the mouth water. The cheery air simmered down when they caught sight of their captain, and everyone stood to attention, being careful not to spill their meals on the carpeted ground.
Law sat down on the floor and leaned against Bepo. His crew did the same.
"Everyone, as some of you might have heard, Harmony has gone missing. We need to find her. If the marines find her first, and she turns back to normal, she'll be arrested, and we'll be short a crew member," Law said. "We need to find her without causing trouble. We can't go and ruin the festival that Kazue will be coming back to. If the marines do get to her first, those of you without bounties will go in and get her. No matter the cost." The crew nodded. Although some were a bit worried, it just wasn't right to not cause havoc to find or do something the Heart Pirate way. And 'no matter the cost', was very vague, meaning that someone might cause a riot just to get her back. "Well, let's get looking."
The crew cheered, and people began to rush out of the doors, and into the currently not-yet-crowded streets.
~X~With Hiro, Jake, Masanori, and Sadao~X~
The quartet, which had deemed themselves the 'trustworthy group', were allowed to wear something other than their jumpsuits so that they could blend in with the crowd.
Hiro wore a pure white shirt that was brand new, as well as tattered jeans that hung down and brushed the road as he walked, black tennis shoes with white soles adorned his feet, and he wore a jean jacket with a red zipper to top off his look. The jacket seemed to contrast with his usual cheery attitude.
Jake had donned an ebony button-up shirt and dark jeans with a sky-blue belt, he had no shoes, he never wore any anyways. His long blonde hair was tied back in a pony tail, much like his sister's usual hairstyle.
Masanori had no shirt, but still wore a black cape that had some battle scars, yet flowed around him like a waterfall. There was a snow white scarf secured tightly around his neck like a snake. His shorts came just above his knees, they also had quite a few battle scars, maybe even some moth bites. The socks he wore matched his scarf and covered his ankles, his shoes were as black as night.
Sadao seemed rather pleased with his attire, which consisted of a plain gray undershirt, a Crayola blue suit jacket, that had a black collar as well as black cuffs, his slacks matched the jacket to a tee. His shoes were the same color as Masanori's but they were very dressy, and looked uncomfortable to walk in.
And of course, they were all still equipped with their weapons.
The "trustworthy" group walked down the streets that were just starting to flood with people making it harder to search for the missing crew member. They ended up stopping a few young girls who had blonde hair, but none of them had they same eyes that they all knew so well.
After a hour of looking, and nothing new or exciting happening, Hiro scratched his hair in frustration.
"Guys! This is so boring, and I'm hungry! Let's go grab a bite to eat, please!" he begged. The other three looked to each other, contemplating whether to do as the young chef said, or to continue their search. We can leave it at, the odds were not in Hiro's favor. "Please! What if she's been in that cafe the whole time or something? Maybe they're nice enough to pick someone off the streets and save their lives!" Hiro tried to convince them as he pointed at a brown cafe near them. With a huge sigh Jake shrugged his shoulders, the others nodded in defeat. Upon seeing this, Hiro began to run towards the cafe in excitement. Maybe he could snag a new recipe or two from this place.
Hiro burst through the door with a grin on his face. Masanori, Jake, and Sadao walked in slowly behind him. A blue-haired man greeted them as they walked in. He had his royal-blue hair down and it sat on his shoulders like a parrot, his eyes were the light blue of a clear blue sky and over them was a pair of glasses, he wore a brown button-up shirt that had a name tag on it, it read 'Osamu', and blue jeans that had the kanji for 'justice' falling down the side, his shoes were a light gray with white laces.
"Hello and welcome to Bullet's Cafe. Please follow me to a seat," the man said to them. He led them all to a table for four. "I'll be back to take any orders." With that, the blue-haired man left them.
The trustworthy group heard a laugh, that only Jake had heard before, come from next to them.
A girl with one eye covered by her flowing blonde hair, her visible eye was a deep red color. Just like Harmony's. Although this girl wore clothes that fit her well, and didn't sag around her slim body. She had on a striped navy blue and white sailors shirt, and a white jacket with a dark blue trim, a white and blue skirt was shown off around her waist, showing off her long legs, sandals that were light blue and had little white flowers on them were on her feet, a dark blue sakura with white accents was nestled into her hair, also, a pair of glasses were sitting on her nose.
Someone had obviously taken her shopping.
… Or a marine gave her a choice to wear something from their closet.
The group of four was hoping for the former option.
Hiro stood up to walk over to Harmony. He was mid step, when Harmony's head snapped to the side, looking Hiro dead in the eyes. Time seemed to stop in that moment. Harmony's eyes shrunk in anger, and she became stiff like she was about to fight for her life. Hiro on the other hand was a bit shocked that she had looked over to him, but thought nothing of it and continued to make his way towards her with a smile on his face.
"Harmony! We have to go back to the sub! The captain is worried about you. Well, he won't admit it, but he is," Hiro said, a smile still plastered on his face. Harmony stood up from her seat, catching the attention of the Heart Pirates and Rin, and punched him in the face. The trustworthy group was staring at the two in shock. Rin was laughing a bit.
"That's going to leave a mark! Harmony, that was mean, you should be nicer to the poor guy!" Rin said in sympathy. Harmony just scoffed.
"Nice guy? He was one of my captors, he is not a nice guy," Harmony said in rage. Rin's eyes became hard, after hearing what cruelties she had been put through, from Harmony's own mouth, she despised the Heart Pirates. Hiro's eyes began to water as she said that. He was usually full of hatred for the opposite gender for the murder of his parents, but after some convincing, Hiro believed that Kazue was a friend. And her being set back a few years would change nothing, although this hurt. It hurt like being run over by a truck of bricks.
"Oh," Rin began, her eyes darkening in anger, "Captain, don't let this pirate scum get away! They are the subordinates of Trafalgar Law, the Surgeon of Death, punishable for kidnapping this harmless girl!"
The trustworthy group looked to the side and sweat dropped.
"Well, harmless might not be the right... word for her..." they said in unison.
"And just what's that supposed to mean!?" Harmony yelled.
"Well... wait a week or two," Jake said.
The high-pitched shiin-clang! of a sword being drawn and struck immediately came from behind Jake, as Sadao drew his katana and blocked an incoming dagger in one smooth motion, ending with the cobalt katana in a high guard stance near his face. Osamu chose that moment to throw one of his three remaining knives, berating his subordinate in the process:
"Lieutenant Rin, you will remember who gives the orders!"
Hiro's equally swift block was punctuated by the loud rip-crack of his steel-and-kairoseki battle fans as he drew them, followed by another rip-crack of Hiro closing them into his guard stance reflexively after the block.
Seeing that Osamu was applying something to his remaining daggers, Hiro lunged forward and feinted a fan at the man's hands while slicing the second towards his neck, hoping for a quick victory.
Focusing on his knives, Osamu almost didn't see the incoming fans, but his last-second sidestep kept his head attached while a quick parry put one fan offline, followed by a riposte with his knife.
Hiro pulled up his fan and blocked the knife. As the knife made contact with the fan, Hiro closed his weapon (rip-crack) and spun, forcing the knife from Osamu's hold, stepping back to avoid a swipe from the dagger in Osamu's other hand.
Hiro brought up his fan back online and returned the attack when a rope wrapped around his arm.
"Did you forget about me?" Rin yelled as she stomped her foot down on the floor to brace, then tightened the rope around Hiro's arm and tugged back, making him stumble. But then the rope broke as a katana sliced it in two.
"Jake, call Law while you have a chance." Jake nodded and ran out of the door and disappeared into the crowded streets. Rin clicked her tongue in annoyance and pulled another rope from her jacket, this one was more like a noose. She threw the loop around Sadao's neck from behind as he was swinging at Osamu's neck. Rin pulled the rope back making Sadao choke. Rin just wouldn't let up her hold. Hiro couldn't help him, as Osamu made sure that the spotlight was all on him while fighting. Rin continued to pull on the noose relentlessly, like she was trying to pop Sadao's head off. Sadao's swords fell from his hands as he jolted back from the force of the pull.
With a gasp, Harmony ran towards the noose and tugged it towards Sadao, just as Law was arriving.
"Wait! I know that Sadao is my enemy right now, and that he deserves to be arrested for the things that he's done, but he doesn't deserve to die!" she screeched, at this point Sadao was scratching the noose from his neck, while Rin was distracted, "He may be in direct contact with the creepy doctor, but he was one of the ones who helped me hide from him. I thought you were just going to give him a slap on the wrist and then arrest him. So please, please don't kill him!" she pleaded. Law was shocked from Harmony's words, the words that had just saved one of his crew member's lives. Sadao would be in her debt, and for a long time to, even if she didn't remember it later on.
"Hiro, grab Harmony, then let's all get out of here!" Law shouted. Everyone nodded, and with tears in her eyes, Harmony was snatched away from her new friend and taken with the retreating Heart Pirates.
~X~X~X~
~X~X~X~
A/N: I know, I'm late. But school is annoying and makes being on the computer hard, as well as some internet issues. So, who likes Rin or Osamu? I knew that I needed more female characters, so I made Rin. And something you might not have known, I was originally going to have Osamu be on Law's crew, but he seemed more like a marine to me. Hm... I feel like i should continue to rant about things... Oh yes! Soon Kazue will go back to normal, can't tell you quite when, but it'll be soon. Until next time, keep being awesome!