Title: ARR! (#009)
Author: Blue and Red
Characters/Pairings: Tezuka/Echizen, Atobe/Echizen. GP is taken for granted and there's Atobe/Tezuka if you want to look at it that way.
Word count: 1619
Summary: In which Echizen might as well take out an ad in the papers saying, 'Single, pre-teen boy seeking trouble.'
Authors' notes: Thanks for still keeping up with this story!Sorry for the long wait, but here we are again (finally) with another chapter. Plenty of holes abound for your over-active imaginations to fill in – be careful not to trip.
Echizen started in surprise at the chorus of female voices and wormed to a better vantage point by dint of squeezing between Momoshiro and Taka-san's elbows. What he saw made him stop short and wonder where reality had been left behind.
A white mansion sparkled on the lawn, its Greek-styled façade unlike anything Echizen had ever seen before. On the steps were two lines of women, all young, pretty, and identically dressed in red frocks with aprons and throwing roses. Tezuka walked through the shower of blossoms, unfazed, to the more conventionally garbed man standing to one side.
"Captain Tezuka and the crew of the Seigaku reporting."
The man nodded somberly and handed Tezuka an envelope. While he read the contents, the rest of his crew stood surrounded by a virtual carpet of roses and stared at the flowers or the beaming lines of ladies according to their tastes. Echizen (barely) managed to fend off attempts by Momoshiro and Kikumaru to thread flowers in his hair.
"Everyone, let's go."
Partly to escape Momoshiro and Kikumaru, partly to be close to the only pillar of sanity in this strange, strange place, Echizen hurried until his strides matched Tezuka's at the head of the party.
"Senchou, what was all that?"
"Atobe being Atobe." Tezuka sounded both resigned and amused at the same time. "You'll just have to put up with it."
I really need to meet this Atobe guy… "Where is he, anyway?"
"I imagine that he'll wait for the rest of the major pirate ships to arrive. He always did like to make a grand entrance."
That didn't help Echizen much, but it seemed everyone was reluctant to part with information about Atobe and Hyoutei. Well, he was already on the island… it wouldn't take long for him to draw his own conclusions. "So, what other pirates will be here?"
"Rikkai is a given of course. I also expect Yamabuki…"
Echizen didn't recognize the other names and allowed himself to space out while listening to Tezuka. Senchou has a nice voice, he thought. Flat at times, but otherwise low and pleasant to listen too. Oddly enough, Tezuka seemed to fit in well with the luxurious surroundings. While most of the crew was visibly awkward, the Seigaku captain moved easily through the hallways of the mansion the unknown man escorted them through.
Finally, the party halted in front of a corridor lined with portraits.
"Your rooms."
Tezuka nodded a dismissal. "We'll rest here for now. I expect us to be here for quite a number of days… don't be afraid to make yourselves comfortable but always be on your guard!"
"Aye!"
ARRRRRRRRRR
Oishi was making an effort to keep the Seigaku crew away from the other pirates. That, Echizen was certain of. Every time he walked out into the common corridor, Oishi would insist on accompanying him and every time Echizen glimpsed a pirate he didn't recognize, Oishi would veer him off in another direction. After two days of this constant chaperoning, Echizen was bored to tears and ready to rebel. It wasn't that their quarters were small (they weren't) there was just nothing to do. He couldn't spar (Oishi had been angry when he caught Momoshiro and Kaidoh fighting), he couldn't gamble (Oishi said he was too young) and he couldn't explore the place (Oishi insisted on accompanying him everywhere outside the rooms.) Any way you sliced it, his boredom was all Oishi's fault so Echizen felt absolutely no remorse in tossing Karupin (the cat had followed Kaidoh on to the shore) and a bottle of catnip into the room Oishi shared with sailsmaster Kikumaru.
Freedom at last! If he knew how, Echizen would have whistled as a strolled along the deserted corridors beyond their designated rooms. After a seemingly endless maze of corridors (he never considered the possibility that he might be lost) Echizen stepped into the blinding light of day. When his eyes had adjusted to the brightness, he realized he was standing in a giant glass room. A bead of sweat trickled down his temple; it was very hot. The décor of the room seemed to match the temperature. As far as the eye could see- which wasn't very far – there was thick foliage from palms and a vast array of other tropical plants. Echizen hesitated only a second before pushing through, the sound of tropical birdsong in his ears.
He burst through the bushes and found himself at the edge of a large pool nearly covered with water lilies. The sound of water that had been the steady backdrop ever since he stepped into this strange room grew to a roar. The source was a waterfall tumbling down the cliff face that made the entire of one wall the glassed-in room.
"What on earth…" Echizen ran a list of expletives he knew through his head and finally decided none were worthy of the sight before him.
"Who are you? How dare you interrupt ore-sama's bathing time?"
Echizen jumped; he hadn't heard anyone come form behind on the soft, wet soil. The person who had managed to approach undetected was clad only in a towel wrapped around his waist, water trickling down his bare chest.
"Who are you?"
A contemptuous sniff. "I own this place. You are a lowly pirate. Now explain yourself."
Echizen had the vaguest feeling that the other man was looking down on him, but it didn't really bother him. What was foremost on his mind was the man's identity. "You're Atobe, right?"
"Brat, right?"
"Monkey King." Echizen just felt like provoking the arrogant pirate king. To tell the truth, Atobe was rather good-looking, especially with a surprisingly threadbare towel as his only covering and the his wet skin shining from what might have been bath water or might have been sweat; it was hot. All the warnings his senpai had shoved on him were thrown clean out the window when he finally saw Atobe in the flesh. Echizen could feel that Atobe was strong – he had the same aura Tezuka did, although there was a passion lurking close to the surface that Tezuka buried much deeper.
Atobe narrowed his eyes. "What ship do you hail from?"
"Doesn't matter."
The older man bared his teeth. "Who gets to decide that? You will be locked up until your captain comes to reclaim you… if you're worth that much effort."
In spite of the posturing and threats, somehow Echizen had the feeling that Atobe was more amused than angry.
"Kabaji." Atobe snapped his fingers and a huge man built like a plough horse appeared from the bushes behind Echizen. "Take this brat to the dungeons. Put him in a private cell."
"Usu."
"Hey!" Echizen found himself hoisted in the air by the back of his shirt. He flailed for a few seconds but stopped to scowl when he failed to hit anything. Kabaji tucked him under an arm as soon as he was still. Echizen wasn't worried that Tezuka-senchou wouldn't come to his aid but he didn't doubt his captain would be less-than-pleased at having to bail him out of this Atobe's dungeon. Somehow the prospect of Tezuka's displeasure was unacceptable to him.
"Fight me!" Kabaji and Atobe froze and slowly the pirate kind turned to face the cabin boy.
"You want me… to fight you?"
"It's alright if you're afraid, Monkey King." Atobe was treated to the patented Echizen Ryoma smirk. That its owner was dangling from the midriff only made the delivery even more insulting.
"Brat, you're a hundred years too early to even dream of challenging me. But if I have to disillusion you… Kabaji, get us the swords."
"Usu." The quiet giant dropped Echizen on the sand and shuffled off. The cabin boy looked up to see Atobe standing over him, oozing confidence and power.
"Prepare to be awed by ore-sama's prowess."
Echizen gave a feral grin. "Mada mada dane."
ARRRRRRRRRR
"NYA! O-I-SHIII! Where's Ochibi?"
The first mate disentangled Kikumaru's arms from around his neck and took a much-needed deep breath.
"I don't know, Eiji. I've been a bit busy trying to get Karupin out of our room. Have you tried asking Momoshiro?"
"He hasn't seen him either. You don't think he wandered off, do you?"
Oishi paled. "We better tell Senchou."
ARRRRRRRRRR
The sound of the double doors to his chambers slamming open made Atobe look up. Tezuka strode up to the recliner the pirate king lay on, a hapless servant in his wake, trying to tell him that Atobe had given explicit orders that he was not to be disturbed. Atobe dismissed him with a regal wave of his hand.
"I was expecting you, Tezuka."
"Where is Echizen?"
"Is that the brat's name?" Atobe calmly flipped a of the book in his lap.
"Atobe, where is my cabin boy?" Atobe's left arm was in a sling; Tezuka didn't have to know the pirate king and his crew member as well as he did to know there had been a fight. Atobe's sustained act of nonchalance didn't help his worry-frayed temper either.
"Infirmary. Relax, Tezuka. He's unharmed – more or less. The brat can certainly give any number of people a run for their money. Not good enough to beat ore-sama, of course, but he didn't keel over and die like most would. Where did you find him?"
"You're interested in Echizen." Tezuka said flatly.
"That kind of talent only comes along once every ten years." Atobe sat up a little straighter. "Don't go too hard on him, even if he is an ill-mannered brat. I'd like another round with him."
Tezuka's shoulders were still stiff when he marched out of Atobe's quarters, but the aura of suppressed fury was tempered somewhat by thoughtful eyes.
Authors' notes, deux: Yes, we are bent on leaving the pairings as open as possible. Like it? Hate it? Let us know. The purple button calls below.