Title: ARR! (#011)
Author: Blue and Red
Characters/Pairings: Fuji; Shishido/Ohtori
Word count: 2160
Summary: In which certain pirates feel… restless.
Authors' notes (Red): Scary-long update, as promised in the last chapter. Complete with the long-anticipated Rikkai cameo. With any luck, the studying-induced brain-drain doesn't show too badly… Enjoy!

"Man… how did it get so crowded…" Momoshiro complained as yet another pirate stepped on his shoes. Atobe's main port of Hyoutei was full to bursting despite its massive size and facilities. Everyone was running around, preparing for a long voyage and carrying supplies. Suddenly Echizen didn't feel quite so out of place carrying the wicker basket of chickens Taka-san had given him to carry.

"Atobe's treasure hunt officially starts tomorrow morning. This is everyone's last chance to get ready." Fuji smiled benignly from behind the large hocks of salted ham Kawamura had slung on his shoulders. Somehow it seemed fitting he should be so cheerful carrying large amounts of semi-raw meat, "Also the quality of all merchandise on Hyoutei is without equal."

"Typical of Atobe," Kawamura smiled. Then there was a very solid thunk as someone ran into the barrel he was carrying on his shoulder. "Oh no! Are you alright?" for a second, Echizen thought whatever had run into Taka-san was wearing the most ridiculous hat of black seaweed he had ever seen.

"Aye. I'm fine. But ye won't be for long." Bloodshot eyes looked up at the Seigaku pirates, a malevolent grin spreading beneath them. The person was young, barely older than Echizen really, but he exuded a sense of power that might have rivaled their captain's. Fuji quickly stepped forward, hands raised placatingly.

"Please now, no need for that manner of thing. If you are unhurt, then let us part."

"Scared to fight? Heh, I didn't realize Seigaku pirates had gotten so weak."

"We only fight people worth the time."

"Echizen!" Momoshiro tried to do a little damage control but the cabin boy had stepped up to the challenger, oozing arrogance in that way of his guaranteed to annoy even the most level-headed opponent. This one just grinned even more maniacally, licking his lips as he drew his sword.

"I get to warm up on you? Excellent. You're small to start with; we'll be able to bury you in a cigar box by the time I'm done with you."

"Akaya!"

Something (with a mop of red hair) tackled the challenger in the midriff, sending him rolling into a stack of crates. "Senchou said no fighting!"

"They started it! He hit me on the head!" Gone was the red-eyed demon and suddenly their challenger to be was just a petulant child.

"Akaya." That one word was a command and instantly obeyed. Echizen felt like he should bow his head, but he threw off the urge to instead stare at the person who had just spoken. Who was it that could subdue such a wild demon with a single word? And the way he said the pirate's name… Gentle, yet steel edged those three syllables.

The actual appearance of the person, however, surprised him. A delicate, fragile man stood in the middle of the dock, cloak flapping on thin shoulders. He didn't look like he could actually hold his own in a fight. Yet… Echizen could sense respect emanating from virtually every pirate present.

"Senchou!" Akaya said quickly. "These people—"

"Now is not the time." The captain turned around. "We have a bigger fight ahead of us."

"Aye. But," he sneered at Echizen, "I think I'll be seeing you again."

"Likewise."

With the potentially epic duel postponed, everyone went on with their own lives. Echizen picked up his basket again and resumed the tedious but oddly therapeutic task of carrying supplies to the ship. This time, Fuji trailed him closely.

"Fuji-senpai, there's no need to follow me around… don't you have more important things to do?"

Clear blue eyes fixed on him. "I have to keep an eye on you. You've shown a marked tendency to get yourself into trouble, and I don't want Tezuka to get worried."

Echizen blinked. Fuji was being uncharacteristically straightforward. Indeed, the tensai knew how to throw someone off balance and get his point across.

"Fuji!"

The blue eyes vanished behind a facade of smiles. "Saeki!"

A pirate with partially bleached hair came up to them and clapped a friendly hand on Fuji's back. "It's been some time since you passed on Atobe's message to me. What's this I hear about you and Tachibana…"

Their chatter was tuned out by Echizen, who was once again sharply reminded of how green he was.

"…so Rokakku's participating in the hunt?"

"Of course…"

He let them continue for a while before deciding there was only so much reminiscing he could eavesdrop on and cut in. "Um, Fuji-senpai… This basket's pretty heavy…"

The boatswain took the hint. After that, few people interrupted their preparations for the upcoming journey – they had to get ready for their own hunt as well. The sun was a dull red when they could finally partake of their evening meal with all the other Seigaku pirates.

During a relative lull in the general chaos of dinner on Seigaku (Taka-san had just dropped his spatula – the peace couldn't last long), Echizen turned to Fuji. The boatswain had proved unusually straightforward during the day and he hoped he would remain so, long enough to answer his question at least.

"Fuji-senpai, who were those pirates we ran into today?"

"Hmm? We met lots of pirates today. Would you like me to name all of them?"

Echizen almost said yes before remembering that Fuji was a tensai and might actually make good on that. He quickly shook his head.

"No, just the ones who wanted to fight with Taka-san."

"Hey bay-bee. Those guys were good but we could have taken them!" In the face of Taka-san's utensil-induced insanity, Fuji did what he did best; he smiled benignly and nodded until the chef ambled off to resume his duties.

"Those pirates were from Rikkai. Marui Bunta's the redhead. The one with messy hair was Kirihara Akaya, their crew's prodigy. Not unlike you I believe."

Echizen ignored the reference to himself. He was more interested in another person. "And the other guy who told him not to fight? The tall one."

"Ah. That's Yukimura Seiichi, their captain. Strange to see him here though; I'd heard he was recuperating from some illness in the countryside."

"So he wouldn't be fighting at full strength now?"

"You're not to fight him, Echizen." Fuij's glare was fierce and the cabin boy felt like one of those pinned-up butterflies he had once seen in a rich man's house. "Even weakened he is very formidable."

"More so than Atobe?" Fuji started, thrown off for a second by the unexpected attack from Momoshiro.

Seigaku's young guns… They've no lack of ambition. "Even Tezuka-senchou would be hard-pressed to defeat him." He saw the bright eyes of Echizen and Momoshiro and he knew that any warning would fall on deaf ears. Their feelings we alien to him – why did they have a constant desire to conquer higher goals, to drive themselves past their limits?

Fuji plastered on his usual mask, not wanting anyone to sense the conflict raging within him. He excused himself, citing work and decided to seek out Tezuka. Knowing the captain's work ethic, he was probably poring over the piece of map Seigaku received. A puzzle would be good to take his mind off this issue. Or any distraction Tezuka could offer, for that matter…

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

"I've managed to identify three treasure spots in this map." Inui pushed his glasses up his nose. "There are probably more, but I cannot tell with the currently available information."

Fuji traced a slender finger over the canvas. "It's not that this copy was poorly made. The markings on the original must have been faded as well."

"That means we'll just have to make do with what've we've gathered so far," said Tezuka. "Inui, you mentioned that this map shows an area about a week from here?"

"Aye." Inui gestured to a quintet of distinctively shaped islands. "I recall that we took shelter here once during a storm. The nearest treasure spot is somewhere en route from Hyoutei to these islands. Weather conditions permitting, Seigaku should be able to reach it in no more than five days."

Oishi frowned. "I just realized something… We always run into a storm within a few days of leaving Hyoutei, regardless of the time of the year."

Fuji smiled. "We must be cursed."

ARRRRRRRRRRRR

"No! There it goes! The chair Shishido-san, under the chair!"

There was a scuffle, a squeak and a thump. Shishido straightened, holding a very dead rat up by the tail. Ohtori squeaked and scuttled even further back into a corner of the bunk.

"Choutarou, it's okay. The rat's dead."

"Um, yes. Okay. Could you get rid of it now? Please?" Shishido gave a long-suffering sigh and stepped out of the tiny cabin obligingly to throw the carcass overboard or to the ship's cat. Gingerly, Ohtori put his feet back down on the floor. The boards felt gritty beneath his bare soles, dusty. He'd have to see about getting a broom from somewhere to clean the place up. And find the rat hole and block it up. The young captain gave an involuntary shiver. He hated rats. They had been the bane of his life when he'd first started out being a pirate – the hold where the crew slept had been infested with them. Luckily, Shishido had always been very patient about killing them and when he'd been made captain, his first move had been to appoint Ohtori his first mate. First mate with his own rat-free cabin.

"Oi, you haven't died of shock or something, have you? Wasn't even that big a rat."

Ohtori looked up at Shishido, a smile spreading on his face. Here was his very own spiky-haired, short-tempered, rat-slaying knight in pirate's clothing. "Thank you Shish– Ugh! What is that smell?" whatever it was, Ohtori really hoped it wasn't his bunkmate. It might be a very unpleasant few weeks if so…

"Some stuff that Inui guy gave me. He saw me throwing away the rat and said it would block up the rat hole pretty good." Shishido held out a bucket filled with sinister-looking brown goo. A bubble burst on the surface and the stench increased ten-fold. Ohtori sought sanctuary further back on the bunk, a blanket held under his nose.

"'Tis a foul smell indeed. Perchance we might – RAT!"

"Huh? Where?"

"Over there, Shishido-san! It just ran from that corner!"

Time slowed; Shishido leapt at the rodent but missed. Terrified, the rat scampered up the chair and took a flying leap at the seemingly safest place in the room: the bed. Ohtori saw the rat leap, watched it fly through the air, straight towards his face with its grimy little claws, flea-infested fur and scaly, naked tail. He opened his mouth to scream but nothing came out…

Then the rat was gone. Ohtori blinked, the rat lying in a corner of the cabin now, clearly dead and Shishido was standing before him, a boot in his hand. The first mate dropped the piece of footwear and reached out a hand to stroke his captain's hair.

"Are you alright, Choutarou?"

"Shishido-san…" Words could not express the gratitude in Ohtori's heart right then. Shishido was his saviour! A knight, noble and pure who had rescued him from a fate worse than death!

Alas said the thoughts of said 'knight' were slightly less-than-noble right then. Mainly his thoughts were on now adorable his captain looked just then and how shiny and wonderfully inviting his trembling lops looked. Ah well, he'd saved him hadn't he? Shishido figured he deserved some kind of reward…

"What in the name of…"

Shishido jerked up from his compromising position and glared at the young pirate standing at their door. "Didn't you captain teach you to knock?"

"He did," the boy answered, "for doors that were shut. Yours was left slightly ajar and everyone could hear the commotion in there. I was sent to see what was going on."

"Everything is fine," Ohtori said politely. "Thank you for your concern."

The boy shrugged. "It's what we have to do." He turned to go, but stopped abruptly as if remembering something. "Oh, and the other pirates want me to tell you to um, keep it down. If you get what I mean."

"Aye, I get what you mean alright." Face flaming, Shishido pushed the kid into the passageway outside and slammed the door. He made sure to turn the key before he and Ohtori resumed their… activities.

ARRRRRRRRRRRR

"So, Echizen. Were they…?"

"Stop waggling your eyebrows like that, Momo-senpai. It's disturbing, they were, um… Well, not exactly. More like about to."

"How do you feel about it?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Do you feel grossed out, or something like that? I heard from Eiji about that time in Port Gray…"

"Not really. Why should I be? It's not like I don't see it on Seigaku all the time—oh."

"Echizen! Don't faint on me! I don't want to explain to Tezuka-senchou what we caught those Hyoutei pirates doing!"


Authors' notes, deux: According to our plan (I'm using the term loosely here), this should mark the end of the first story arc: introductions and setting the stage for the hunt. I'm not sure when we'll continue working on the next arc because somehow we have to conjure up sufficiently good grades in our upcoming exams to get into our courses of choice in university, so we could use all the encouragement we can get. Do let us know what you think of our fic! And hopefully we shall return with more cracky goodness. :)