"So do you drink, Mr. Heiwajima?"
Shizuo frowned a moment before shaking his head, "No-"
"Well, you do now. You drink like a madman."
Shizuo followed the man to the lower levels before pausing, his gaze glued to the other room. He stood and stared in a mixture of shock and growing fury.
"Mister Heiwajima~" Masaomi turned in midstride and frowned at him. "Hello, Shizuo~ The kitchens are not in the sleep room."
"…Kadota."
The mopping, hard-working crew member looked up, paling at the sight of the man, "…Shizuo?"
This was… this was unbelievable! What the hell was that guy doing on a- what was he doing on this ship!
"Shizuo…I can explain…"
"Yeah? That you somehow set me up to join this damn crew of bastards? I shouldn't have trusted some outsider. Some damn guy I had met only three weeks ago. Was I even supposed to go through that damn wedding?" Shizuo marched forward, preparing to strike. His fist moved back, preparing to make contact with that lying face.
"WHOA THERE BIG GUY!" Masaomi sprinted around him, forcing him to stop. "Just hold on a minute. Kadota's a new recruit. We don't kill new recruits."
"New recruits…"
"Yeah, we picked him up a while ago. He's new cabin boy until ol' stuck up capatain decides to pull the stick out his ass and give us back Karisawa and Yumasaki." Masaomi looked around before overturning Kadota's bucket, "personally, I think the scary pairing duo was better at cleaning."
"I'm new, I don't know how the hell you clean this ship."
"Which is exactly why you should not be cleaning at all. You should be doing just about anything else."
"Tell that to your captain."
"El Diablo Cap-i-tain, is busy cleaning his whiskers and having others stroke his fur."
Kadota sighed, "well, if those two come back sooner, that would be nice."
"They're probably down in the cells with Shinra… or what's left of him."
"Shinra," Shizuo looked at the boy, "Kishitani Shinra?"
"Yeah…"
"He was with your guys' raid."
""…No…"
Shizuo frowned, "I could have sworn that guy's name…" His eyes lit as he remembered, "he spoke to me! In the hall."
Masaomi grinned, shaking his head, "hell no. Shinra-san's the former first mate before this wonderful, boob-loving, whiskered fellow before you. He was driven mad by the captain and now sits in the cells, rocking on his feet and mumbling about curses and plagues. I mean, he's crazy."
"Driven mad?"
"Oh yeah, do not ever cross the captain. He's a monster. He's got a sick fascination with humans to go with it, making people go mad or shooting them or whatever he's in the mood for." Masaomi motioned to them both, "come along. We can go get some grub before returning to the grave digging."
"Grave digging?" Kadota followed them down the hallway and the blond boy stopped all grins, looking around the ship as though the whole place disgusted and scared him.
"Do yourselves a good favor, stick to yourselves. Don't ask questions."
"We joined this damn crew. We should be able to ask whatever we-"
Masaomi stopped them, pulling a door open, the scratching upon the floorboards made both men shiver a bit. He motioned them through. "We're making a side trip since you boys seem to be so rebellious."
Down they went then, through grimier and more decrepit chambers. The walls oozed something dark, clawmarks made up the walls. Shizuo and Kadota looked around silently, the face of Masaomi's turning darker, the light flickering off a fatigued, jaded young man. His eyes glinted with self-loathing and hatred.
Wherever they were going, it wasn't going to be pretty.
"Here." The first mate stopped before a door and looked at them both, "we'll be only spending a moment in here."
"What's in-"
"Let's go." Masaomi opened the door.
"May the gods be willing, save my friend from his accursed fate. Bring him out of the darkness, save his questionable soul from the damnation that has been branded into him. Please… Please save him…Please… I beg of you… he's my only friend…"
"Shinra! What have I told you?" The current first mate looked down at the former and grinned, "you just need to find a nice rack to spend a few nights with. You'll be cured of your mumbo jumbo!"
A shaggy, filth covered face looked up, eyes wild, the murmuring continued, "please save him, he cannot see what is becoming of himself. There is no time to spare. His soul with withering away. He is going to die. He will become the monster that she has cast him into. Kill the witch. Save the captain. Help find the cure to the plague of the captain's. He is not a monster, he had been made into one. He will die. He will die without any help. He needs to be rescued. He needs to be sa-"
"Hey, stop the weird muttering." Shizuo stepped forward and the wild eyes snapped from Masaomi to Shizuo. The eyes widened, his body shot forward to the bars, reaching out frantically.
"It's the witch! It's the witch! Kill the witch. Save the captain! Kill the true monster, save the captain! His soul! His soul is burning in eternal damnation. Must kill the monster."
"He's nuts." Masaomi shook his head, turning away with Kadota to see the cabin duo.
"Hey guys! Please tell me that you two have come to free us." Erika looked over at them.
"Can't… leave the cells… we'll die…" The other cabin boy stared at the ceiling, his eyes wide, face pale. He shook in Erika's arms.
"Erika! Walker! Walker, what the hell happened to you?" Masaomi and Kadota ran to the bars and looked at the duo in horror.
"I don't know!" Erika shook, but not nearly as bad as her friend, "he and the captain went to the other room, they were in there for only a moment and then Walker was like this! The captain… he stuck Walker in my arms… we were led down here… and Walker… he keeps mumbling like Shinra-san…." She looked up, near tears. "What happened to him? What brought him to this? He's my Walker!"
Shizuo turned and looked at the madman former first mate. "I'm not a witch."
The man pressed himself to the bars, whispering quietly. "You must be his only hope then. You must save him. That's why I brought you here. You must stop the beast from controlling him. You must save him from the monster that threatens to consume him. The plague… the plague…"
"Walker… please come back to me…" Erika nuzzled her companion, sniffling, "please… tell me what's wrong… tell me what happened…"
"Moment's up," Masaomi looked over at Shizuo, pulling Kadota away, "we're leaving now. Time for some grub."
They followed Masaomi quietly.
"KILL THE PLAGUE! SAVE THE CAPTAIN!"
"THE EYES! BEWARE THOSE EYES!"
"WALKER! WHAT EYES? WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?"
"What did that Shinra guy do," Shizuo asked.
"Huh? He was the first mate, I told you that."
"No, why did he get down there?"
"Oh, he introduced Shizuka and the captain to each other. Shizuka had a real nice pair on her chest, envy of everyone where she had come from, but she didn't like to be called a monster, the captain figured she would be a great raider… among other things," his perverted grin made the other two roll their eyes. "Anyway, Shinra was the physician as well as the first mate. Shizuka always fought with the captain a lot and hated Shinra, not that she wasn't getting pissed all the time anyway, but a few times she got pissier than pissed. She destroyed half the ship in her anger. We were stuck on land for two months when she found out how close those two were. Thank the stars we were near land."
"So because she went crazy and cursed him, he sticks his first mate in a cell?" Shizuo frowned.
"No, it was not that big of a deal actually. In the end, that fine, boobilious woman stabbed the captain's gut and tried to gut him like a fish. When that didn't work she did the whole, 'I am a goddess. I curse you to think about how rocking the bedsheets I would be. Look at me naked, oh, now I'm gonna jump off the ship.' Anyway, long story short, she jumped that sweet delectable body of hers into the ocean and the captain wouldn't stop bleeding. Shinra looked after him, but the curse about becoming a monster rang in everyone's head. Captain went to even speak with some fortune teller woman on the continent."
"And?"
Masaomi shook his head, leading them closer to the sweet scent of food. "and he returned that night in a fury. He did something no one ever thought he would do. He shot someone… killing him. That would be my last underling, Mr. Le Sung. And then he rushes to his chambers, Shinra following him like a pup. The lads spent the entire night in there and then this high pitched, agonizing, horror story… I mean, it was like nothing you would ever have heard in your life… this scream goes through the night. The crew and I all froze in our stations, no one with the guts to go see. We stood there for hours, the rain that pounded down against our skins nothing compared to the fear of what could have happened. I mean," Masaomi smiled sheepishly, "I climbed all the way up to the crows nest and stayed there all night, providing some reprieve for my friend up top by covering him from the rain."
"Well, what happened to the captain and Shinra-san?" Kadota looked as fascinated as Shizuo was.
"Not a clue."
"What?" Both men looked at the first mate in shock. The boy only shook his head and opened the door to the kitchens.
"Simon-san! Where's the food?"
"Ah, Kida! I have made fish for lunch."
"Man, I was feeling some steak man. I'm skin and bones here, wasting away. My mustache is even drooping."
"You eat, mustache grow strong."
"Really? Can it start doing the heavy lifting? It's not winning me in the looks department."
"It grow strong and lift boat."
"Promises, promises, Simon. I'm not seeing these results." The trio retrieved some lunch and Masaomi led them to a small eating chamber.
"That can't the end though." Shizuo looked over at Kida, returning to the story, "what happened?"
Taking a moment to chew, Masaomi sighed, "we found the captain crawling out from below deck in the morning. He tossed Shinra at a guy and told the crew I would be replacing him. We broke off from the company we worked for, the ship got a paint job, we became some seriously badass pirates, and we got to where we are today. The end."
"That's it? No one ever asked the captain what happened?" Kadota frowned.
"Oh no, someone did. And they got shot… three times, to the head, the chest, and right through the heart. Captain looked around at that point and asked if anyone else was wondering. He became a real monster after that woman jumped off."
"Sounds like it."
"He sounds like a bastard."
"Well… it sounds like my first mate is helping me make friends…"
Their blood turned to ice, their heads turning only to meet up with that of the captain, the man staring at the three of them. A knowing, aggravating smirk in place.
"C-captain!" Masaomi stood up, "I was just explaining to the new recruits to behave."
"I can see how good a job you are doing." The captain looked over at Shizuo, of whom was glaring at him as if he were the devil incarnate.
"Well captain, it had been great but I should get Kadota back to work."
"Yeah." Kadota nodded.
"Oh, gotta shave my stache as well." The duo stood and went hurrying away, leaving Shizuo to the captain.
"Well, well, well… So much for your little friends."
"You piss me off."
The captain laughed, sitting down more or less into his lap, grinning, "I piss you off, ne? Well then, perhaps we should work on that Shizu-chan."
"I'm not your damn Shizuka."
Laughter. Cold, heartless laughter came from the brunet as he leaned in closer, gripping Shizuo's face with icey, boney fingers. "That should make this all the more interesting, ne? Am I thinking of you when I decide to ram myself into you, or am I thinking of her?"
~.~
A/N: -sobs- Izaya! You're a jerkface! WHY ARE YOU SO MEAN! –sobbing hysterically- WHAT DID YOU DO TO WALKER! WHY?
Hmm, though... Hmm…