One Piece
The Five Second Rule
Chapter Two: Experiment Gone Wrong
Celine looked back at the sandy shores one last time before following Law down the dark staircase. She'd heard about submarines when she was younger but had never seen one before, nor did she ever imagine to be actually riding on one but fate works in strange ways as she was going to be travelling on one.
"Miss Celine, would you shut the hatch behind you?" Law asked.
"Sure."
Celine heaved the large metal door shut and locked it tight. Now that it was closed, the staircase was virtually pitch black. With the lack of handrails and lights to guide her, Celine fumbled down the stairs briskly bashing straight into someone…
"Oof!"
"Sorry Law…" she whispered, peeling herself off Law's back. "You really should have lights in here. I can barely see a thing."
"Remind me the next time we're on an island," Law's voice drifted away into the darkness. "Come, you should meet rest of the crew."
The darkness soon faded away as they entered a large room, this seemed to be the common room as there were sofas and tables. Bepo was lounging on one of the sofas when they walked in. His ears immediately perked up after seeing the person his captain returned with.
"Celine!" Bepo sat up. "What are you doing here?"
"Bepo, call the crew here," Law ordered.
Bepo didn't seem to be bothered that his question went unanswered and strolled towards the back of the room and disappeared down another flight of stairs. Law directed Celine to one of the sofas and she sat down while he stayed stood up.
Not long later chattering and footsteps could be heard heading up the stairs. Penguin and Shachi emerged from the staircase with Bepo following close behind.
"Sorry captain, Ryuu said he has to steer the ship," Bepo mumbled.
"That's alright Bepo," Law nodded.
Two more figures appeared behind Shachi and Penguin. Celine had a brief look at the crew last night but she wasn't introduced to anyone back at the inn. Though she recognized the young boy and the taller man.
"What is it, Cap?" the tall man asked.
"From this point on, Miss Celine is a member of the Heart Pirates," Law announced.
Penguin and Shachi grinned as they peered over at Celine.
"It's nice to meet you all," Celine dipped her head.
"You already know Penguin and Bepo," Law waved an arm towards his crew. "Over here, we have Shachi, Kane and Jonah. Kane and his brother Ryuu work upstairs, they run the submarine."
"Hello there, little lady," Kane nodded with a smile.
Celine, taken back by his comment forced a smile back.
"Jonah, would you take Miss Celine to one of the spare rooms on the second level?"
"Right away, Captain!" the younger boy saluted.
Law smirked slightly at the young boy's vivacity, and headed down the staircase without another word to her. The rest of the crew followed their captain's example apart from Jonah who walked towards Celine.
"Hello," the boy greeted nervously.
"Hi," Celine stood up. "You're Jonah right?"
"Yeah, but please call me Jo," he smiled. "Come, I'll take you to your room."
Clutching onto her bag, Celine followed Jonah down the stairs. While she walked she grew curious to how many levels there were to this submarine. Once again the stairwell was dark and unlit. This was really something she'd have to get used to for the mean time. It really was a lot different from Kalmado where even at night the island was lit up brightly.
"How many levels are there in this submarine?" Celine asked.
"Three below and one above," Jonah replied. "Ryuu and Kane stay up at top where they control the sub. And below on the second level we have the crew quarters, the kitchen and the dojo."
"A dojo?" Celine exclaimed. "Just how big is this submarine?"
"Well I've never been on another submarine, but my guess is this one is bigger than an average one," Jonah replied.
They finally arrived on the second level, and they stepped into another dark corridor. This place seemed to be dark rooms one after another. Jonah stopped at a junction. Celine was surprised to see that the junction was actually lit by lights.
"Down there we have the kitchen and the dining hall," Jonah pointed towards the left corridor. Then turned to right. "Dojo's on that side, and sleeping quarters up front."
They started moving forward again.
"We've never had a female on board before but we do have a couple of spare bedrooms," Jonah briefed. "… Okay this is it."
Jonah stopped in the middle of the corridor and turned to his left. There was a door that Celine hadn't noticed before he stopped. Jonah opened the door and let her through first.
The room was sizeable, it was almost the same size as her old bedroom back on Kalmodo. Now she understood why the corridors were dark, in the bedroom there were large circular windows that covered the walls. On the outside of the submarine, lights were attached so the ocean would be visible. The room was pretty well lit as a matter of fact. There was a large bed centered in the room and a small dresser on the side, but other than that the room was pretty much empty.
"This is really nice," Celine smiled in approval.
"The lights were the Captain's idea," Jonah added. "It gets pretty dark underwater."
"Speaking of the captain, where does he frequent?" Celine asked, placing her bag down on the dresser.
"Level three," Jonah pointed towards the ground. "He usually stays in the med-bay but his bedroom is down there too."
"Ah, I see," Celine nodded.
"I'm afraid you'll have to use the crew's showers which is further up the hall," Jonah sounded sympathetic as he headed out the door. "But other than that, I'm sure you'll enjoy staying here. And after you've settled down, you should go see Captain Law."
"Alright, thank you Jo."
Jonah gave her one last smile before shutting the door behind him. Celine stood, and examined her room one last time before pulling off her cloak and gloves. It was rather hot in the submarine, even with the air ventilation. She walked over to the dresser and began to unpack her things. Sera seemed to have shoved whatever she could find in the bag, her clothes were there and her toiletries. It looks like she had everything she needed. Celine inwardly thanked her older sister. After folding her shirts, she shut the drawer and walked over to the window.
They must be really deep underwater now, there was no hint of sunlight when Celine looked above. Guess this was just something she had to get used to from now on. From her knowledge of the Grand Line, islands' distances could span from days of travelling to weeks. Though the next island should only be around two days away, which meant Celine would be under the sun in no time again.
With a smile, Celine sat on her bed and relaxed a little. Her whole day had been incredibly fast-paced and tense, perhaps now she could finally lay back and unwind.
A knock brought her back to reality. Hurriedly, Celine stood up and went to get the door. She peeked behind the small gap she opened. Shachi and Penguin stood at the doorway, they each had similar grins plastered on their face.
"Oh, hello," Celine smiled quickly. "Is there something I can help you with?"
"We were wondering if you're able to cook," Penguin said.
"Excuse me?" Celine opened the door wider.
"Cook," Shachi repeated, a small smile creeping on his face. "Jo has been responsible for the cooking since he arrived, but I'm sure you can do a much better job that him."
"Oh," Celine chuckled a little. "Sure, I can cook. I'm not as good as Sera or Bern but I'm sure I can cook up some nice meals for the crew."
"Perfect!" Penguin grinned. "We're gonna be eating good from now on!"
"I have to see the captain now," Celine told the two. "I'll start fixing dinner after I see him."
"Alright!" the two cheered. "We'll see you then!"
Celine watched the two head back down the hall with a small smile. The Heart Pirates were truly amusing – a spirited crew, a talking polar bear, and a mysterious captain. Celine just knew she was going to have an exciting time being on this crew.
After throwing on a sweater and her gloves, she headed down the hall towards the stairwell. Her eyes have adjusted well to the dark now and she was able to make out the steps, she walked to the last level carefully. At end of the steps there was a large door. Celine pushed the door open and winced her eyes shut. It was incredibly bright inside. Celine frowned slightly as she forced her eyes open, they strained to see properly under such bright surroundings after just getting used to the dark.
"Ah, Miss Celine," Law's voice appeared before her. "Have you settled in alright?"
"Yeah…" she nodded, blinking a few times. "So this is the med-bay?"
"Yes," he glanced around the room. "I'm a doctor, so I prefer to have a large med-bay."
"It's very impressive," Celine noted after finally getting used to the lighting.
There were rows of beds on either side and the room was equipped with high-end technology. Celine wouldn't have believed Law was a doctor if it weren't for the first-rate med-bay.
"It's also very bright."
"Yes," he replied with a slight shrug. "I find performing surgeries in the dark to be rather challenging."
"Are you being sarcastic?" Celine asked, a small smile forming.
"Perhaps," he titled his head to a side, his trademark smirk present. "How do you like your room?"
"It's very nice," Celine found herself repeating her words. There was simply no other word she could think of to describe it. "Though, I am feeling a little uneasy about sharing a bathroom with the rest of the crew."
"Oh, I'm sure a capable woman such as yourself will manage," Law struggled to keep a straight face.
"Right…" Celine rolled her eyes. "I should head back up, Shachi and Penguin has asked me to make dinner."
"I look forward to tasting your handiwork," Law said as he headed back down the med-bay.
XoXo
"Wait, what do you mean, 'you'll be taking over'?" Jonah exclaimed. "I happen to actually like cooking!"
"I'm under the direct orders of Penguin and Shachi," Celine shrugged. "And as the newest member on board, I really don't think I should be disobeying orders."
"But-."
"How about this?" Celine sighed. "Why don't we both cook? Two pairs of hands are better than one right?"
Jonah agreed with the compromise and they began making dinner. Truthfully, Celine hadn't cooked in a long time. Sure she had to fill in on times when Sera's sick, but that was rarely. Celine and Jonah spoke as they worked, she learned that he was the newest addition to the crew before her and that he was the 'errand boy' for the crew. That meant he helped with the cleaning, cooking and assists the captain occasionally down at the med-bay.
"Bepo loves fish," Jonah explained. "If a meal goes without fish, he'll complain like no one's business."
"Really?" Celine giggled. "What about everyone else?"
"They eat whatever," Jonah disregarded casually. "But the captain is something else… he likes his meals light and always with a bottle of sake, except for breakfast of course."
"Light?" Celine repeated.
"Just nothing too greasy or oily," Jonah shrugged. "But he doesn't eat a lot so it's never a problem."
"I see…" Celine nodded. "I'm done with the rice, is there anything else you need help with?"
"Nah, I'm just about done," he shook his head. "There's a Den-Den Mushi by that counter, tell the crew dinner's ready."
"Alright."
Celine walked over and did as she was told. She was slightly startled when she realized the whole submarine rang with her voice.
"Okay, now let's get this to the table," Jonah pointed back at the large dining table.
Celine carried two plates of fried rice out to the table. Thankfully the dining hall was just outside the kitchen. When they walked out, most of the crew was already assembled. The only ones missing were Kane, his brother and the captain.
"Wow! Looks good!" Shachi's mouth watered as Celine placed the plates down.
Penguin and Shachi immediately dug in.
"So delicious!" the capped men sang.
"I'm glad you like it," Celine smiled. "But shouldn't you wait for everyone to get here first?"
"Ryuu and Kane are always late, and the captain eats downstairs in the bay," Penguin replied. "Speaking of which, you should probably take Captain's dinner down to him."
"Why can't Jo do it?" she glanced over at boy.
"I never said I couldn't," Jonah replied, heading back into the kitchen.
Both Shachi and Penguin stood up simultaneously and ran after Jonah into the kitchen. A couple of hushed words were thrown around inside before Jonah emerged looking rather dazed.
"Uh… on second thought I can't," Jonah said. "I… I need the bathroom."
With that last word, he ran out of the room. Not long after Shachi and Penguin exited the kitchen looking very pleased with themselves. They strolled back over to the table and started eating again.
"Yeah, as I was saying," Penguin grinned. "You probably shouldn't keep the captain waiting."
Celine eyed them in disbelief. Those two are in trouble when she gets back. She stomped into the kitchen and picked up the tray with Law's food, and headed to the med-bay.
Celine kicked the large door open, as she had no hands to spare. Blinking rapidly, she began to walk down the aisle.
"Over here, Miss Celine."
She followed the voice through an arch and eventually found Law sitting by a large work desk. She noted there was also a closed door at the very end of the room. Celine wondered just how big the captain's quarters are, she bet anything that he has a personal bathroom too.
Seeing Celine with the tray, Law picked up his papers and rolled his chair out of the way, giving her enough room to place down the tray. She stepped back and leaned back onto a tall cabinet. Law rolled back to his desk and placed his papers into a drawer.
Celine waited in anticipation as she watched Law pick up his fork. Celine had taken out a portion of the cooked fried rice before adding in the beef. So what Law's having was just fried rice with egg, that's as light as it gets.
"This is nice," Law commented after taking a bite.
It's as if a heavy weight was lifted off her shoulders. Celine smiled and stood back up.
"Good, I'm glad you like it," she said before heading back down the aisle.
"Wait, Miss Celine," Law called after her.
Celine stopped and turned around. Law was stood up and walking towards her.
"While you're upstairs, notify Jonah to come pick up my plates after he's done eating," Law told her. "And after you've finished eating and cleaned up, please come see me."
"Alright, but what's this for?" Celine asked.
"You'll find out when you get here," Law gave her one last smile before turning back into his office.
Celine thought about his request as she walked up. What could Law possibly want with her? And why ask Jonah to come down specifically? Shaking her head, Celine remembered that this was Trafalgar Law she was dealing with, who knows how his thoughts are processed.
Returning to the dining hall, she saw that Kane was sat down with a man that looked around her age. Bepo's plate was empty and he was gone, probably returned to his room.
"Hey Celine!" Shachi waved. "How did seeing the captain go?"
"Nothing special," Celine shrugged. "Though Jo? The captain did say he wants to see you after you're done eating, said he wants you to take his tray back up."
"Ooo," Shachi shoved Jonah slightly. "Cap's asked for you specially! Have you done something wrong recently?"
"Why is that a bad thing?" Celine asked, sitting down. "To pick up the captain's tray?"
"Normally the captain likes stay in the med-bay by himself," Kane replied. "But sometimes he'll ask for specific people to come down, and that usually means they're in trouble."
"Seriously?" Celine gulped, a little worried over herself now. "I just got here and he also asked me to come down later, do you think I'm in trouble?"
"Nah," Penguin chuckled. "You should be fine, the captain probably just wants some downtime with you."
"What was that?" Celine gave him a stern look.
"Oh nothing…" Penguin mumbled.
Things quieted down when they went back to eating. Celine scooped some rice onto her plate and ate in silence.
"I'm done," Jonah said as he stood up.
"Good luck!" Penguin and Shachi called after the boy as he left the room.
For the first time since she has walked in, the man called Ryuu looked up from his plate. He watched Jonah go with an amused look in his eyes, then his eyes darted around the table and eventually stopped on Celine.
"Hey, you're that girl with the magic fingers," he said with a small lopsided smile.
"W-what?" Celine choked.
Everyone else in the room turned silent as Celine coughed. She reached for a glass of water and gulped it all down in one go.
"Magic fingers?" Celine chuckled. "No one's called it that before."
"… You're not mad?" Shachi asked.
"No, why would I be?" Celine wasn't so sure she'd like the answer.
"Captain Law told us to keep quiet about your powers, he didn't want us to offend you or anything," Shachi replied
"I already told you earlier you dumbass," Kane elbowed his brother.
"Sorry…" Ryuu yawned as he stood up. "I'm going back to work."
"Yeah me too, I'm done," Kane walked after his brother. "Thanks for the food Celine."
"Thanks Celine," Ryuu said as he headed out the door. "Come visit us up on the observation deck sometime."
"Will do," she nodded back, and then she turned to the remaining two. "You boys done?"
"Yeah," they replied.
Celine began to gather the plates and cutlery up as the remaining two men stood up from their seats.
"How would you two feel about helping me with the dishes?" Celine smiled as she placed a hand on her hip.
"Uh…"
Penguin bolted out the door immediately, leaving behind a disorientated Shachi. Celine understood the look on his face and put on scowl.
"Don't you dare," she threatened. "You leave me and I'll poison all your meals."
"… Fine."
Shachi picked up a stack of dishes and followed Celine into the kitchen. Thank goodness they're crew was rather small and there wasn't much to wash. Jonah returned with the tray a couple of minutes later, looking rather pale.
"Hey, you alright?" Celine looked over at him from the sink.
"What did the captain say?" Shachi took the tray from his hands and handed it over to Celine. "Hey, you don't look so good. What happened?"
"I'm not allowed to say anything to anyone other than Celine," Jonah replied uneasily.
Shachi looked back and forth between Celine and Jonah and voted to leave. After Shachi left, Celine finished up the washing and walked over to Jonah.
"What did he want?" she asked.
"Uh… Captain Law has an experiment he would like to perform," Jonah explained.
"Experiment on what?" she eyed him peculiarly.
"You," he muttered uneasily.
"What?" her eyes narrowed.
"You should go, it's best you don't keep him waiting," Jonah looked Celine in the eye. "He's excited…"
XoXo
Law read through his plan of approach one last time as Celine walked into the room. Law stood up waited by the arch between the office and the med-bay.
"Good evening," Law smiled. "Miss Celine, follow me."
Law headed back into his and sat down. He motioned Celine to sit on the examining bed opposite him. She did as she was told without a word and waited for further instructions. Celine has been to the doctors when she was younger, and Law gave off the same professionalism as they did. Perhaps that's why she felt the need to listen to him obediently while in a doctor's office.
"Now, Miss Celine," Law bent forward and rested his elbows on his legs. His fingers laced together, those tattoos of his seem to jibe at her. "I'm sure you're wondering why I've called you down here."
Celine nodded.
"I'll be frank," he stood up. "I'm interested in your Tacchi-Tacchi no Mi. I've never seen someone die like Mister Zed had, and I just want to make a few observations on an experiment. Solely for medical purposes, of course."
"And does this have anything to do with Jonah?" Celine asked.
"He has agreed to assist with the said experiment," Law replied. "I promise Jonah will not meet death due to the experiment. I am a doctor and his captain after all."
"… Alright," she hopped off the bed. "But if we do this, we do it my way alright? If I feel the need to stop the experiment, then we'll stop, understood?"
"Understood," Law agreed. "Come down tomorrow before breakfast, you should go get some rest."
"Got it," Celine headed out.
"Don't be late tomorrow," he leaned on the arch. "And Miss Celine?"
"Hm?" she held back a yawn.
"Goodnight."
"Goodnight, Law."
XoXo
That night, Celine couldn't sleep. There were numerous reasons to why she kept tossing and turning in bed. One, she hasn't washed yet as the showers were occupied by the males. She's decided that she'll take one tomorrow morning before heading down. Two, the lights that she loved so much before were blinding her. She had searched all over for a button or switch but found none. Three, Law's experiment has been on her mind since she got back in her room. On the upside, this would finally be a chance for her to understand her powers better, as all she's known about it before was to not touch anyone for too long. But on the downside, she'd be putting Jonah in danger. Even if Law insists on keeping it safe, accidents do happen.
Celine groaned as she rolled under her covers, a poor attempt in trying to hide from the bright lights. There had to be a button or switch somewhere, she just knew it. But for now she was too tired to care. She simply hid under the covers and tried to sleep, wishing the lights would go away.
The next morning, Celine woke up feeling as if she was suffocating. She kicked the sheets off and took deep breath, trying to regain her breath. Something seemed different. She rested an arm over her forehead and thought back over last night's events. Thought back over the things that bothered her.
Shower.
Lights.
Law.
The lights!
Celine sat up immediately and noticed the lights outside the window have been dimmed. Her first thought was that they get dimmed down automatically when it got later at night. Celine paid it no mind as she stood up and focused on her current problem – shower. She picked out a change of clothes and her toiletries bag.
Praying that it was empty, Celine pushed open the door to the showers. Celine was relieved to find the room empty. Half of the room was rows of showers and the other half was the toilets. Celine walked in and picked up a clean towel from a pile that was stacked on a counter. She noted that while there was a clean stack of towels as well as a giant pile of discarded used ones right next to it.
Celine crinkled her nose in distaste and walked in. Picking the cleanest looking shower booth she undressed, stepped in and shut the curtain behind her. A shower was exactly what she needed to wake her up in the morning, Celine was starting to consider taking one every morning.
After she was done, she twisted the tap shut and pulled the curtain open. She reached for the towel that she left on the hook outside. Celine dried herself off and wrapped the towel around her body.
The door swung open and someone walked in.
'No. No. No. This can't be happening.'
Celine held her breath and slowly turned around. Ryuu was standing by the door in his pajamas, eyes open wide and a hand under his shirt.
"… Sorry," he murmured quickly before dashing out.
Celine pushed the thought away from her mind and pretended the events just now didn't occur. She got changed right away and dumped her towel onto the pile. Reaching into her bag, she pulled out her toothbrush. She turned to the sink and noticed her face had turned bright red.
'Oh jeez.'
XoXo
Law tapped his index finger on the table at a steady pace. Jonah had arrived five minutes ago and now they were just waiting for Celine to show up. Maybe it's too early, perhaps she's still asleep in her room. Law wondered if he should send Jonah up there to check on her. Before he could say anything, Celine walked in with her hair still wet and looking rather flustered.
Law smiled. There was definitely a story behind that interesting shade of pink tinted on her cheeks. Something that occurred in the showers perhaps…
"Good morning," she murmured to the two.
"Good morning Miss Celine," Law returned the greeting. "I must say you're looking rather red this morning, are you feeling unwell?"
"I'm fine," she mumbled while tying her hair up. "Anyway, shall we get started?"
"Yes, right away," Law nodded and turned to Jonah. "Would you please sit down on that bed Jonah?"
He did as he was told and sat down on one of the many beds in the med-bay.
"Miss Celine?"
Law directed her to sit on the bed opposite the one Jonah's on.
"Miss Celine, I need you to take your glove off."
Celine watched Jonah's breath hitch as she pulled the glove off.
"Do your thing."
Celine glanced over at Law and saw that he had his eyes on her, his undivided attention, watching her every move. Celine took a deep breath and turned to Jonah. He looked unsure, almost as if he was scared. Celine held out a hand and waited for him to take it. The boy seemed to be chanting something under his breath as he eyed her hand. Jonah reached out and grasped onto Celine's palm.
It didn't feel right.
Celine wasn't used to skin-to-skin contact but it didn't take an expert to know that it felt wrong. Jonah's hand was shaking and his eyes stayed locked onto their hands.
"Five."
"Four."
Celine looked over at Law. He was leaned over closer, watching the hand, anticipating the moment when it happens.
"Three."
Law whispered, his face just inches away from their hands.
"Two."
Celine looked up and saw Jonah squeezing his eyes shut. Now showing his obvious obscure fear. She pulled her hand away quickly before Law could mutter the next number.
"Celine?" Jonah's eyes snapped up to her.
"You don't want to do this," she stated.
"…" Jonah's eyes darted over at his captain briefly before looking back at her. "No, it's not that. I'm just a bit nervous, that's all."
"Leave Jo," she said. "If you didn't want to do this and you should just have said so."
"But-."
"It's alright, Jonah," Law nodded. "You can go, please start making breakfast for the crew."
"Yes, captain."
Jonah took his hand back and held it as he ran towards the door. His footsteps echoed throughout the med-bay. Law said nothing but took the spot across from Celine. Her mouth went dry as she realized he was waiting for her to speak first.
"I'm sorry," she looked up. "It didn't feel right, he was afraid."
"Surprisingly observant, Miss Celine," Law remarked. "Yes, I also felt he only agreed out of the feeling of obligation."
"You're not upset?" she asked.
"No," he smiled. "We had an agreement, if you wanted to stop then we'd stop."
"It's not that," she put her glove back on. "I do want to find out more about my powers, I always have. I want to know if there's a way to control it better or even get rid of it. You have no idea what it's like not being able to hug your family or be intimate with a loved one."
"You want your powers gone permanently?" Law asked, somewhat startled by her sudden outburst.
"I mean if there's a way, I'd be happy to try it," she shrugged. "If it doesn't hurt…"
Law laughed at her last remark and stood up.
"I'm pretty sure that's not how Devil Fruits work, Miss Celine," he reached his hand out towards her. She took it albeit hesitantly. "Once you eat the fruit, it's forever… Well at least until you die."
"I don't have plans to die anytime soon," Celine said as Law helped her off the bed.
"Let's hope not," Law replied. "That'd be most unfortunate."
A small smile tugged on Celine's lips as he said those words. She looked down at her gloved hand over in large one. The same warm feeling came back to her, like that time when she killed a man while looking directly in his eyes. Slowly, Celine pulled her hand back.
"In the past, has there been a someone you couldn't be intimate with?" he asked, dropping his hand to his side.
"Why do you ask?" she smirked slightly.
"I ask because I'm curious," Law retorted at her obvious implication.
"There might have been one or two," she hinted with a complacent grin. "I don't kiss and tell, Captain."
"It doesn't make a difference if I find out now or not," he nodded as he walked towards his office. "I'll find out eventually anyway."
"You know Law," she called after him. "You're awfully presumptuous about someone you barely know."
"And you, Miss Celine, have a remarkably indecorous attitude towards your captain," he waved back.
"I'm sorry, would you prefer it if I addressed you as Captain Law from now on?" she crossed her arms.
"Sure," he turned back and gave her a satisfied grin. "I admit I do like the sound of that."
"Alright then, Captain," she stomped towards the staircase.
Oh god. How did it get to this? Just when Celine thought she was making some progress with Law, they were back to square one. It was his fault anyway; if he weren't so arrogant then maybe she'd answer his question.
"Miss Celine!"
She stopped mid-step and grinned.
"I'll be waiting for breakfast!"
Her grin dropped and she continued stomping up the staircase. All of Law's questions will go unanswered from now on.
XoXo
Something was definitely up with Jonah and Ryuu. That, everyone concluded when they arrived at the dining hall. It was normal for Jonah to be under the dumps as he had just spoken to the captain last night, and everyone knew the captain's wrath. But for Ryuu, this was different. The guy was quiet normally but now he wouldn't even utter a word when spoken to. Everyone's first guess was it had something to do with the new female on board.
Speaking of the devil, Celine walked through the door looking like she could kill someone. She sat herself down next to Jonah and helped herself to some pancakes.
"You all right Jo?" she finally spoke up.
"Yeah, thanks for that earlier…" he nodded back quickly. "I'm sorry I didn't say anything."
"No harm done," she shrugged.
"Hey, so Celine," Shachi said. "How about you take the captain's food down-."
"No, thank you," she snapped. "I think I've had enough of Captain Law for a day. You can take it down to him."
'Uh-oh.'
Penguin and Shachi exchanged knowing glances. Their plan to get the captain and Celine together had been running smoothly until just now.
"Did something happen with you two?" Penguin gulped.
"Nothing worth talking about," she scowled slightly.
Okay, so they weren't going to get anymore out of her today. Penguin turned his attention over to Jonah who looked guilty the whole time Celine was sat next to him. He turned to Shachi and whispered a few words.
"Say Jonah," Shachi glanced over at the boy. "Have you been practicing those moves we showed you?"
"Yeah, the boy nodded back.
"Then let's head to the dojo," Penguin stood from his chair. "We'll teach you some new moves."
Jonah agreed immediately and the three set off to the dojo, the boy oblivious to the fact that a long interrogation awaits him once they're out of sight. Kane sighed as he watched the three go, they'd completely forgotten about the captain's food. He stood up lazily and headed in the kitchen. When he walked back out with the tray he received looks from both Celine and his younger brother.
"Someone's gotta do it," Kane shrugged, heading out.
The incident in the shower played over Celine's head, she looked up at Ryuu warily and saw that he had the same look on his face. They were definitely thinking the same thing.
"So, where's Bepo?" she tried asking casually.
"He's still asleep," he replied, avoiding eye contact. "And uh-, I'm sorry for this morning. I didn't know you were there."
"… I guess it was kind of my fault," Celine shrugged. "Don't worry about it… we should just sort of a schedule or something."
"Yeah," he nodded, a small smile playing on his lips. "If it helps, I didn't see anything I found that captivating."
"… I don't see how that helps," she chuckled back. "It seems more like an insult than compliment."
"Take it however you like," he yawned, stretching his arms out. "I'm heading back upstairs."
"You were yawning last night too," she noted. "Did you not sleep well?"
"No, I'm heading to bed right now," he replied. "Kane and I take turns steering the sub, he works it during the day and I take over at night."
"Oh," she nodded as she began stacking the plates. "I thought you'd have auto-pilot on a submarine such as this one."
"Something I overlooked while designing," he shrugged, walking towards the door.
"You designed this submarine?" she queried.
"That's right," he glanced back at her. "My brother and I built it together back in North Blue."
"I have one last question about the submarine," she said.
"Shoot," he rubbed the back of his head sluggishly.
"Do the lights on the outside dim automatically at night?"
"What? No," he scoffed. "There's a small dial you turn to dim the lights. It should be somewhere by your bed."
"What? Seriously?" Celine felt like an idiot now. "Is it really inconspicuous or something? Because I searched that room over and didn't find a thing."
"No, it just sounds like someone's careless," he shrugged, turning away. "And sorry again."
"You're forgiven as long as you never mention it again," she nodded.
"You got it," he yawned again as he disappeared through the door.
Celine picked up Ryuu's plate and added it onto the pile. It seems there were a lot of things she has yet to learn about the crew and her new home. If what Ryuu said was true and there was a dial somewhere, then that could only mean someone had wandered into her room and dimmed the lights. The only creeps she could think of were Shachi and Penguin. Celine shook at that thought, they better not had come in her room. She was definitely locking the door tonight.
Just as she was about to bring the dishes in, Bepo strolled in. The polar bear glanced around and realized at once that everyone else was gone. His ears drooped slightly and he walked over to Celine.
"Am I late?" he asked.
"Yeah," Celine nodded, placing the plates back down.
"I'm sorry…"
Celine sighed and picked the plates back up again.
"What can I make you?"
Bepo smiled and followed Celine into the kitchen.
In the dojo, Shachi and Penguin had poor Jonah cornered against a wall.
"You're going to tell us everything," Shachi murmured.
"Please stop it," Jonah frowned. "You two are being really creepy."
"Just tell us what happened down at the med-bay this morning," Penguin snapped.
"Nothing," Jonah insisted. "Seriously, if you're so curious why don't you go ask Captain Law yourselves?"
"Jeez, we just want to know what happened, not sign our death wish," Shachi rolled his eyes. "So you're really not going to tell us?"
"No," Jonah affirmed.
"Say Penguin," Shachi turned to his friend. "Do you remember two days ago when we fought that sea king?"
Jonah gulped and glared at them.
"Yes, and Captain Law had to fix his equipment after just defeating the sea king," Penguin nodded.
"But I don't remember the sea king bumping into the submarine or anything," Shachi glanced over at Jonah. "In fact, I remember a certain someone was responsible for cleaning up down there after the last patient…"
"Now Jo," Penguin grinned at the boy. "We're not saying we'll tell on you, but if I were you, I'd be very careful with how I choose to answer the next question."
Jonah frowned and nodded for them to carry on.
"Will tell us what happened this morning?"
Jonah closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"It started last night when Captain Law told me he had an experiment he wanted to perform with Celine…"
So yeah… Penguin and Shachi are obviously plotting something. And wow! The response I got from last chapter was incredible! I got 11 reviews for a single chapter in a new story! That's really, really amazing! Thank you to everyone who reviewed, favorited and alerted!
And please if anyone has any ideas of what could happen on the upcoming islands please feel free to leave me a review or PM me, that'd be real great! :D
Replies to anon messages:
Icy-Blood-Lily – Haha, is that an actual thing? Well she did kinda(?) get rescued :P Thank you and I'm glad you like it!
anon – Thank you for your review! Much appreciated! :)