Sunday, October 14, 2007
(Chap 4: Captor and Captive)
Shuichi made his way to the tied and gagged NG crew. Taking in the faces before him he noticed some were fearful and others were just plain annoyed. One of the more annoyed faces was none other Seguchi Tohma himself. Shu walked toward this particular man and gave him a dazzling smile. "Seguchi-san, I am pleased to finally have the opportunity and honor of meeting you." Shu just kept smiling while he gently untied the dirty, sullied rag that acted as a gag for the infamous and powerful Seguchi-san.
Once the gag was removed Tohma plastered an ever pleasant fake smile in his features and returned the pleasantries. "And who might I ask you are?"
Shuichi raised an eyebrow at the business like tone coming from the tied up man. "Oh! Forgive my impertinence! I am Captain Shindo Shuichi, Ninth Pirate King, and Captain to the Bad Luck." Shuichi straitened up and smirked down at the still smiling man before him. "Forgive me for inconveniencing you, but you see my crew and I were in dire need of a challenge. When My first mate Hiroshi," Shu gestured to the proper looking red head to his right, "informed me of your fleet here I just couldn't resist. But what really intrigued me was the information my accountant here," Suguru stepped forward not meeting the business mans eyes, "provided me with. Who would have thought that the famous Seguchi Tohma was actually on the ship of my desire? I just couldn't resist."
Tohma's smile faltered a tad as he looked upon Fujisaki, "So I see you have been making good use of my cousin Fujisaki. I knew he was captured by pirates but I had no idea he joined them."
Shuichi was well aware of their connection but still did not appreciate the tone of voice this man was taking with is crew. "Seguchi-san, if you would like to live past today I suggest you address me and only me. Fujisaki-san is part of my crew and as your captors he demands respect." Serious Shuichi disappeared just as quickly as he appeared and happy bouncy Shu appeared, "Now back to business. We will be leaving your other four ships unharmed, we will not kill any of your remaining crew, but we will be taking two captives and all the shiny pretty things that aren't nailed downed."
At the mention of captives Tohma's eye brow raised and he gave the pirate captain a quizzical look. Shuichi just continued to smile, raising his right hand in the air he snapped his fingers and four giant men stepped forward awaiting instructions. Shuichi turned around and addressed the men. "Ryuichi's new pet and my blonde opponent from before." The men bowed low and hurried away to gather their parcels.
When a struggling Eiri and a dazed looking Tatsuha came into view Seguchi became rather irate. "Wait a minute! You didn't say anything about taking my brother-in-laws as prisoners! You can't do that you little pip squeak!"
Shuichi whirled around, pulling his revolver out of the waistband of his pants. Pointing it at Seguchi square in the fore head Shuichi pulled the hammer back with a dangerous click. "There are some things in life Seguchi-san that you can not control and this is one of them. I will take your brothers and you will not say a damn word about it." When Seguchi's face registered acceptance Shuichi smiled widely and threw his arm in the air and fired one bullet into the late afternoon sky. "Good we are agreed! Now if you will all be quiet and still while we load up 'our' booty then no one will needlessly be killed, or injured."
The captives all looked a little more frightened at being privy to Shuichi's mood swings; although they were never needless, they were frightening none the less. Shuichi smiled and bounced other to a rope connecting the two ships. Jumping up on the railing he looked one last time at the NG crew, "Thank you so very much! We are forever grateful for your generosity." Waving madly at the scared crew he lowered his gaze to Seguchi, "Seguchi-san I hope to meet again under more pleasant circumstances." Winking at the pissed off business man he jumped into the air, swinging gracefully over the empty expanse between ships and landed flawlessly on the deck of the Bad Luck.
Once the Bad Luck was no longer in sight of the NG fleet Shuichi blew out a sigh of relief. Firmly standing behind the helm the captain looked out over the ocean and grinned to himself. This might have been the biggest haul they have ever done in one raid. Not to mention they had taken on two brand new hands on deck that both happened to be rather attractive. Shuichi gave another sigh. He had never seen any man like the fierce blond he had fought and beat. He was tall and fair. Not like anyone you would meet on the sea. This man, Eiri, was mean to be sure, but oh so sexy; especially when he was pissed. Shuichi grinned to himself when he remembered the sight of the sweating blond with scorching golden eyes lunging toward him. Shuichi had never thought of him self to be attracted to men, but this man was different. Different how; he would just have to find out.
The sound of a throat being cleared shook Shuichi from his heated reverie. He turned to see his best friend and first mate, Hiro, with his hands behind his back waiting patiently for Shu's attention. "Oh Hiro; what's the final count?"
Hiro smiled a bit and replied, "This is the largest haul we've ever had in one hit. I must say you are amazing Shuichi."
Shuichi blushed and turned back around to the helm to slightly adjust the direction. "But there is one thing I was wondering about."
Barely listening Shu continued to pull out his compass and make slight adjustments. "And what is that Hiro?"
Hiro stepped closer to his best friend and leaned on the railing next to the helm. He took a deep breath and let it out in a calming blow. Hiro closed his eyes and let the breeze whip across his face. "Shu, why did you take the blond as a captive?" Hiro turned to face his friend in time to see Shu still his motions and blush slightly in the setting sun. "I understand about the brunette, Tatsuha. Ryuichi fancies him and no one would ever dream of denying him anything, especially you. But why did you bring his brother along?"
Shuichi remained quiet and continued to stare off toward the sunset. Finally he took a breath and faced his long haired friend, "Hiro he's... I don't know. I just felt this force pulling on me. It felt... almost wrong to not take him with us." Hiro smiled an all knowing smile and leaned his head back and chuckled a little. "What's so funny?" Shu was a little curious as to what caused this sudden change in his friend.
Hiro continued to lean his head back and keep his eyes closed, "Shu, you are impossible."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Shuichi began to blush and turned away from his friend that knew him all too well.
Hiro stood up straight and turned to walk back down to the main deck. "Just be careful, o.k.?" Not waiting for Shuichi's reply Hiro turned and walked down the steps to join the rest of the crew in the division of the money, and other shinnies, leaving Shuichi to just stare after him in confusion.
Eiri was not pleased. First of all he was in a smelly cell in the belly of a creaky old boat, second of all he was still tied up and the lack of fresh air was making him rather nauseas. The sound of a loud and obvious sigh coming from the cell next to him told him his idiot brother was once again dreaming off into space. Rolling his eye Uesugi-san continued to work at shredding his ropes with a bit of broken rum bottle he discovered upon being thrown in the god forsaken sorry excuse for a holding cell. The nerve of that pint sized pink haired punk of a captain; taking him, Uesugi Eiri, prisoner as though he was some kind of damsel in distress. It was bad enough that he was stuck with his idiot of a brother but now he was being degraded by a bunch on lousy pirates. The one up side to this whole ordeal was seeing the look on Seguchi's face when that brat pirate king pointed and cocked that revolver in his face. A smirk grew on the writers face. At least that was wroth the embarrassment of being man handled be a three hundred pound gorilla of a man.
The sound of keys jingling and heavy foot steps followed by bouncing thumps and a melodic voice echoed through the lowest part of the ship. Tatsuha immediately sat up in anticipation of seeing his "captor" and Eiri grumbled at the prospect of being man handled again. The smiling face of Ryuichi was seen first. "Tat-kun! Tat-kun! Captain Shu-chan wants to see you!" Eiri rolled his eyes for what seemed to be millionth time that day and relaxed a little bit. At least he wouldn't have to see that infuriating moron of a captain. "Shu-chan wants to see you and mister Goldilocks too!" Tatsuha burst out laughing at the sound of his brother's gasp of appalled realization that Ryuichi had nick-named him Goldilocks. "Come along Goldilocks and Shiny-san." Eiri looked at his brother when Tatsuha's laughter stopped and gave an evil smirk that said, 'Shiny-san? Now who's laughing dumb ass?' Tatsuha stuck his tongue out.
Once both brothers were on deck the whole crew lined up on either side of the deck and stared at the new prisoners. Eiri felt quite uneasy at having all these people stare at him. Some with contempt others with interest and at least one with lust. Lucky for Tatsuha, Ryuichi had already claimed him as 'his' property and none of the crew were willing to challenge this mysterious, child like man with master swordsmanship.
The sound of heeled boots on wood drifted to Eiri's ears. The sight that matched the sound was that of a woman. To Eiri she looked meaner than most of the men on the deck. He took careful notice that she was definitely packing heat. And from her performance during the battle earlier that day she was not afraid to use said heat. She had pearl grip pistols on both hips and low cut blouse that left little to the imagination. She strode right up to Eiri, looked him up and down then reached her hand back and slapped him square on the cheek. Eiri's head flung to the left and he slowly brought it back to face his assailant. She smirked, "That was for attacking my brother from behind you bastard." Eiri was dumb founded. This little girl was protecting his brother, the captain and pirate king from his prisoner? The sound of laughter from the crew reverberated in Eiri's ears.
Eiri fixed his icy stare on this short woman in front of him. Realizing there was definitely a family resemblance only served to fuel his smart ass inspiration. "And the 'Great' Pirate Captain Shuichi needs his little sister to defend his dignity? He must not be a very manly captain?" Before he knew what happened the laughter had halted and the look of pure fury had replaced the smirk on the woman's face.
"No one says that about my brother." In the blink of an eye she had drawn the gun from her left hip and had it pointed in between Eiri's eyes already loaded and cocked.
Before she could pull the trigger a booming voice from above, full of anger crashed down around their ears and all motion halted. "Maiko!" Shuichi appeared on the opposite side of the ship above the deck on the helm station looking out over the deck. "You will lower your gun and step away from Uesugi-san. There will be no more blood shed today.
Eiri could see the slight hesitation in the girls face but to his relief she lowered her weapon. "Oni-chan this bastard insulted your honor as a pirate. He needs to be punished."
Shuichi's anger subsided, "I am well aware of that, Maiko. Much worse has been said to my face so I do not need you to 'defend' my honor." His happy smile returned, "Besides, Hiro needs your help in my cabin." Maiko quickly took her leave, but not before giving Eiri a death glare.
Shuichi bounced down to the main deck with energy just oozing out of him. The crew returned to their regular chores now that the 'show' was over. "I'm terribly sorry about my little sister Uesugi-san. She hates when anyone threatens me in any way." Eiri just grunted. Taking this as acknowledgment Shuichi continued, "So will you and Tatsuha-kun please follow me?" he started to bounce away then realized he wasn't being followed.
Looking behind him to Eiri and Tatsuha Shuichi cocked his head to the side in question. Eiri rolled his eyes, "We can't walk moron. We're tied up." Shuichi made an 'Oh!' face and snapped his fingers with a happy smile. The gorilla men quickly untied them and they began to follow the short pink captain to his cabin.
Once inside, Shuichi offered both men a glass of rum, which they both accepted and the three of them sat down at the small table in the corner of the room. Shuichi took a long drink and sighed in ecstasy. Eiri drained his glass and Tatsuha just sipped. "So now that we are all refreshed there are a few things I would like to discuss with you." Shuichi set his glass down, folded his hands in his lap and smiled in almost uncontained delight. "Now Tatsuha, since Ryuichi had specifically requested that we 'keep', you are to serve him in any way he likes." At these words Tatsuha nearly chocked on his rum and Eiri patted his starry eyed brother on the back. "You will not disobey him, got it?" Tat nodded in enthusiasm.
Shuichi smiled brightly and turned his attention to the gorgeous blond, "Eiri, since it was my choice to take you on as well you will be serving me." Eiri nearly dropped his rum and he looked at the smiling idiot in utter astonishment.
"Wait a minute you can't mean that I have to be your servant?" 'This is not happening!'
Shuichi smiled even wider, "Precisely! You are quite astute for so mean a man Eiri! You will do every thing I say with out complaint." Eiri grumbled and his demeanor became even darker then before. 'Like hell I'll be this punk's man servant.'
Tatsuha grinned evilly at his aniki. Shuichi just continued to smile unfazed by the dark cloud that now covered one third of the table. "There are a couple more things I would like to discuss about how this ship works and runs. You will bathe on at least a weekly basis. I don't like smelly people and it helps keep the crew from contracting any sort of disease." Eiri thought at least he didn't have to smell like a pirate even if he was going to have to live with them. "And lastly," Shuichi paused, "When neither my crew nor I have any more need or wish to keep you as a prisoner then you are aloud to either leave the next time we are in port or stay on as a member of my crew." Eiri's eye brow rose. He had never heard of a Pirate captain that was so kind to his prisoners. "The majority of my crew was once my prisoner and chose to stay when we no longer needed them for that purpose. Our manager and accountant Fujisaki Suguru was once my prisoner and chose not to return to his home but stay on as a part of my crew." Shuichi's smile softened to a pleasant warm expression. "I love my crew like my family and I don't allow any one aboard my ship to be mistreated or harmed beyond reason. If you step over the line of my hospitality then I will punish you. I don't like it but sometimes it can not be helped." This change was rather sudden. Eiri studied the face of this small but sharp pirate across from him. He had never heard of a pirate captain that offered an option of any kind; much less one that would willingly admit to a devotion to his crew. This Shuichi was becoming more of a mystery the more Eiri learned about him.
The serious smile vanished in an instant. "Ok! So I will let you, Tatsuha-kun, go find Ryu to begin your 'servitude', mind you he can be pretty harsh but I think you will enjoy his company." Tatsuha thanked him for the rum with a bow and left to go find his new infatuation.
Eiri downed the rest of his rum and waited for Shuichi to speak. Shuichi waited until the door was shut all the way before he turned to Eiri and spoke, "Well, Uesugi-san, shall we get better acquainted?"
A/N Sorry this chapter took so long. I had a bit of a mental block. I hope you enjoyed it and are anxious for the next chapter. Thank you for ya'll's comments, I appreciate them all. Continue to review as you see fit. See ya till next time.