Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Saturday, November 24, 2007

(Chapter 8: Ice Cream and Rum, Prostitutes and Revelations)

By the time Bad Luck was docked and most of the crew had debarked Shuichi was in such a nervous state he had succumbed to hiding out in his cabin. He sat at his desk staring out window and watching his crew mingle with the girls from The Chicken Ranch that had come to welcome them home.

The anxious pirate sighed deeply and watched his crew disperse with their new found companions. A single blond figure was standing at the end of the dock watching Ryuichi drag his captive down the street and into the local People's Pub. Shuichi perked up at the sight of the stoic blond and raced out of his cabin and on to the main deck.

When the energizer pirate reached the main deck he scanned the dock bellow looking for the owner of the blond head, Eiri. Shuichi caught sight of his receding back as he headed down Main Street.

A broad smile spread across the pirate captain's face and he dashed down the dock to chase after the quickly disappearing Eiri. Running as fast as he could, Shu saw Eiri turn down a side street. 'Damn, he walks fast. It's probably his long legs.' Speeding after the tall blond, Shuichi burst out of the ally and stood there huffing out breaths with his hands on his knees to keep his balance, he looked all around and didn't see a single golden hair. Lowering his head in defeat Shuichi kicked at a broken bottle on the ground, 'I lost him.'

Just when he was about to turn back around and retreat back to the ship, Shu heard a deep baritone voice coming from a shaded ally not twenty feet away. "Looking for me?" Eiri stood leaning up against a building with his arms crossed and a slight smirk stretched across his face.

Shuichi straightened up and gave his captive the brightest smile Eiri had ever seen. "Eiri-san! I thought I lost you." Eiri simply stared.

Shuichi continued to smile and tried again. "Would you like to take a walk with me?" Eiri raised his eyebrow, but conceded. Shuichi strode up next Eiri and led the way down the street.

After a good ten minutes of silence Shuichi couldn't take it any longer. "So, Eiri-san, have you ever been to Pleasure Port before?"

Eiri snorted in amusement, "I wouldn't be caught dead in a place like this." The moment he said that Eiri regretted it. Shuichi looked away form the taller man and suddenly found the side walk very entertaining. Eiri's heart sank; he didn't mean to be so blatantly abusive. Eiri couldn't think how to make this awkward silence vanish; although he wished for it to more than anything. It was strange, but his heart hurt at the sight of the crushed pirate.

Shuichi felt like he wanted to cry. Sure Eiri didn't know that he grew up here on this peninsula, but he still didn't have to insult it. 'He's so mean! He's just a stuck up noble jerk.' But if that's true then why does Shuichi feel so hurt by his comment? Shuichi tried to not let it bother him but he just couldn't let Eiri insult his home.

Shu looked up at Eiri with a scowl that stopped the blond dead in his tracks. "Eiri, just because this place is not to your liking does not mean that you can just insult my home!" Shuichi was fuming. "I have lived here all my life and you have no right to pass judgment where you know nothing about anything!" Ok so Shuichi was sounding adult until it started to crumble at the end. "And… and… you're just a big mean jerk!"

Eiri raised an eyebrow. He had to try so hard not laugh at that meager attempt at an insult. "Nice one kid, but I've been called worse by my own dad." Eiri's expression softened when he saw tears shining behind the anger in the young pirate captain's face. "I… I'm sorry." 'Am I really going to apologize to him?' "I shouldn't have said that." 'Yep I am.' Eiri sighed; he had a soft spot for tears.

The tears were instantly gone, Shuichi's determined and angry face was a thing of the past, and a smile appeared. Eiri noticed that it wasn't nearly as bright as his previous one had been, but it was still better than tears.

Just when Eiri was getting used to this new smile Shuichi's face changed once again, to a humbled and somewhat sad expression. He seemed to be looking through the horizon and playing back old memories that were long since lost. Eiri didn't know what to think, he had no idea how to deal with this new, contemplative Shuichi.

Eiri was about to open his mouth and ask the pink haired pirate what was wrong when Shuichi beat him and began to speak. "You know I have lived here all my life and never once have I ever appreciated it." He looked away from the horizon and turned to look Eiri in the eye. "When I was growing up I hated it here. I preyed for an opportunity to leave. Then one day I just snuck aboard a ship that was docked here and I was gone."

Eiri looked mildly puzzled so Shuichi elaborated. "What kind of a place do you think Pleasure Port is to grow up in? My roll models were prostitutes and pirates. Not that I minded. The real reason I wanted to leave so badly was because I wanted to live on the sea. My mother hated the idea of me becoming like my father, but she said she would support me as long as I was good person in the end. Apparently he was a no good bastard of a pirate. The kind that honest sailor's night mares were filled with."

"You never knew your father." It was more of a comment than a question.

Shuichi sighed, "Yep, I never knew the bastard. My mom told me he came to her one night and forced himself on her." Shuichi looked at Eiri to gage his response. He was pleasantly pleased to see the normal blank expression instead of disgust, so he continued on with his story. "She said it was the most frightened she had ever been. Needless to say, she hated him." He paused and Eiri looked down at him to see that his fists were clinched so hard his knuckles had turned a light shade of purple. "The next morning he boarded his ship and left."

Eiri walked next to Shuichi silently waiting for him to finish. He couldn't imagine what his mother must have gone through. Shuichi's anger subsided and he resumed his neutral tone, "Soon after she found out she was pregnant." Eiri wasn't surprised, but still kept a neutral face. "She, even though she hated him, could never hate her child so nine months later I popped out." Shuichi gave off a dry humorless laugh.

Shuichi suddenly stopped and looked up at Eiri. "Hey! Do you want to go get some ice cream?"

It never ceases to amaze how many different emotions the pirate captain could go through within the space of an hour. Eiri stared bewildered at the shorter man.

When Eiri made no move to answer Shuichi took that as a 'yes' and grabbed Eiri's hand running off down the street in the direction of a beat up old ice cream stand manned by a grizzly looking pirate sporting a mouth filled with all of four rotting teeth.

Eiri took one look at the man behind the stand and turned tail to run. He would have escaped except Shuichi had such a tight hold on his hand his fingers were turning blue. Eiri surrendered and let him self be dragged to the obviously unsanitary ice cream stand.

Shuichi bounced up and waved enthusiastically at the pirate. "Hey Tom! How is your leg?" Shuichi had known Tom since he was born and has been buying him ice cream since he could walk.

Tom stepped out form behind the cart to show off his brand new peck leg. It had a silver claw foot clutching at a deep indigo glass ball. Shuichi bent low and examined the new appendage oohing and awing in an impressed tone. "Wow Tom, who did you kill to get this one?"

Tom laughed with a toothless grin, "I had this one made. The ice cream business has been good to me." Tom let his pant's leg back down and returned to the cart. "So, the usual for you, Shuichi-kun?"

Shuichi smiled brightly and nodded enthusiastically. Tom smiled back then turned to Eiri. "And who are you?" Tom gave Eiri an appraising look and puffed himself up.

Shuichi jumped to Eiri's side and grabbed his arm. "Tom, be nice. This is Eiri Uesugi. He's new on Bad Luck." Eiri noticed how Shuichi failed to mention the part about him being a captive.

Tom threw his head back and laughed in Eiri's face. "What ship did this one come off of?" He still would not address Eiri, but continued to direct his questions to Shuichi.

Shuichi laughed nervously and his eyes shifted to Eiri. Eiri had a very un-amused scowl plastered on his golden brow. "Well… um… He joined us off the uh… NG Flagship." Shuichi looked anxious like he wanted nothing more than to end the conversation. Eiri wondered why that was.

Tom's eyes grew to the size of ice cream cones and his laughter immediately sobered. "You attacked an NG flagship?" Tom looked bewildered.

Shuichi smiled sheepishly and nodded, his face turning a bright shade of red. Eiri tried his best to look board, but the serious look on Tom's face was perplexing. Tom turned to Eiri and finally acknowledged his presents. "Uesugi-san, tell me, what was your job aboard the NG? You certainly aren't a regular crew member, so what was your station aboard that 'fine' ship?"

Shuichi was about ready to wither and crumble away. He didn't want any one to know he had captured Seguchi-san's brothers or else the more un-reputable citizens of Pleasure would want to sell them into slave labor or hold them for ransom and Shuichi wanted neither to happen. "Now Tom, I'm sure Eiri-san here is hungry and would like some ice cream so can he get some vanilla and-"

Eiri could tell that Shuichi was nervous and didn't want his connection to Seguchi to be known so he thought he would spare the runt from any further anxiety. "I was Seguchi-san's personal assistant." Shuichi was stopped mid stream in ordering some kind of horrid sounding sundae on Eiri's behalf, when Eiri answered the toothless pirate's question.

Shuichi's eyes grew wide and looked like he was about to faint. Tom, on the other hand looked thoroughly satisfied with the answer. "Ah, Eiri-kun, so tell me, is Seguchi-san a real devil to work for?"

Eiri could tell he was going to grow to like this man. "I like to think of him as more of a demonic sadist." Shuichi looked at Eiri with an open mouth. 'Holy shit; I didn't understand half of that, but did Eiri just make a joke?'

Tom slapped his knee and let out a grotesque sounding hack in replacement of a laugh. "You got that right! Son of a bitch has been gunning down pirate ships for years. The bastard wouldn't even be attacked and he would open fire."

Eiri frowned, he knew his Brother-in-law did not tolerate pirate ships attacking his vessels, but he had no idea that he would just hunt them down. When he gets back to Japan he would have to have a word with Seguchi about that; if he ever gets back to Japan.

Tom quieted down a bit and began to make their ice cream. "Well enough about that prick. Shuichi, have you gone to see her yet?" Eiri's ears perked up, 'Who is her?'

Shuichi looked down at the ground and kicked a stone a couple of feet away. "No."

"You know she has missed you. Every time I see her she talks about how much she misses her 'Shu-bug'." Tom snorted when Shuichi shot him a 'Not in front of Eiri!' look. "Fine, suit your self, but don't come crying to me when it's too late to make up and she's moved on."

Shuichi scowled at the old man, "Yeah, thanks, I know." Eiri was a little more than pissed now. He had no idea who this mystery woman was or what her "relationship" with Shuichi was. Not that he cared, but still it was really rather rude to talk about a subject that a party present has no idea what's going on. Needless to say Eiri did feel his heart scream at the thought of Shuichi possibly already having a lover. 'Wait just one damn minute! Why would I care if he already has a lover?'

Tom handed Shuichi and Eiri their ice cream and the two men headed off toward an old run down park near by.

Shuichi was happily slurping away at his cone when he suddenly acquired a scowl that could kill a rhino. Eiri noticed this, but kept quiet.

After several minutes of scowling and silence Eiri had to satisfy his curiosity. "What are you scowling about, brat?"

Shuichi jumped six feet in the air and yelped like he had been struck with a hot stone. "Jesus Eiri! Don't scare me!"

Eiri sighed in frustration, "I've been here the whole time!" Shuichi looked rather embarrassed and apologized. Eiri waved it off and restated the question. "So what are you thinking about?"

Shuichi looked away and continued to lick at his melting cone. After a moment in silence Shu looked up at the taller man, "I was thinking about someone I left behind here… last time I shipped off."

Eiri felt a pang of sympathy when he noticed the sad look on Shu's face. Shuichi continued in his explanation, "We used to get along great. We were best friends; then last time I came into port we got into a huge fight. I told her we were going after some African gold and would have to travel in land to find it. She freaked, she didn't want me to get hurt and she threatened to never speak to me again if I didn't abandon the plan." Shuichi sighed as he recalled the hurt he felt at hearing those words come out of her mouth. "I told her it was my life and she couldn't run it anymore."

Eiri was jealous at the closeness described by the pink haired pirate captain and this mystery woman, but he remained silent and let Shuichi continue. "That night I boarded the Bad Luck and left at first light. I didn't even say good bye."

"Jeez, you are a bastard."

Shuichi's head snapped toward Eiri in horror. "This coming from the king of stoicism? If you were any less emotional you would be a hamster!"

They stood there for a few moments on silence, Shuichi red faced from anger and Eiri surprised at such a well executed insult. When the full effect of Shuichi comparing Eiri to a hamster set in both men burst out laughing and nearly fell to the ground in hysterics.

Both men struggled to regain their composure, but as they both whipped away their tears of laughter and the atmosphere had grown increasingly more familiar and comfortable gold met violet causing a spark to fly. They stood frozen. The space between them was growing steadily smaller and more heated.

Eiri's lips tingled and he could barely breathe. What was it about this brat that made him feel this way? The urge to pull the smaller man to his chest and devour his mouth was so over whelming he could barely control himself. He had never felt this way, about any one and it scared the living day lights out of him.

Shuichi felt as if he was being drawn into the fiery golden gaze of the taller man before him. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest and he could practically hear it echoing in the air around them. Shu so wanted to feel the older mans lips again. They were so soft and warm. His taste was almost addictive and Shuichi wanted it. He wanted more.

Shuichi began to lean in closer. Eiri's eyes were clouded with longing and he could barely think. All he could register was that the brat's lips were growing steadily closer to his. He could feel Shuichi's hot breath brush against his skin and he had to suppress a shiver that traveled up his spine. He wanted the brat to kiss him and he wanted to taste him, from inside out.

Shuichi began to close his eyes and cover the short distance between them when, "Ow!" He felt something hard smack him in the back of his head. In that split second the mood was shattered into a million pieces and both men jumped apart as if they were on fire.

Shu rubbed the back of his bruised head and turned around to see the culprit. His eyes met with a very pissed off squirrel hurling large acorns at the two men. Eiri had plastered a very annoyed look on his face to hide his tremendous disappointment. He had to say something to cover his embarrassment at feeling such a thing. "So, what were you saying about a hamster?"

Shuichi stuck his tongue out at the squirrel then turned to glare at Eiri. "Nothing; never mind." He wanted to kiss Eiri, not have nuts thrown at him by a freaking rodent!

Eiri didn't have time to waste sitting here babysitting a brat like Shuichi, at least that's what he told himself. "If you are done then I am going to the local pub."

Shuichi felt rising panic as he watched Eiri walk away, he didn't know what it was, but he needed to have Eiri close by him. "Wait!" Eiri turned to look at him over his shoulder, 'waiting'. "I… uh… wanted to ask if you um… wanted to go and visit some one with me?"

Eiri scowled he really didn't want to go and meet Shuichi's lover, or ex-lover, or what ever she was to him. He didn't think he could take it; after all, he wanted to be the brat's lover. 'Wait a minute, I didn't just admit to wanting to be his lover, did I?' "Whatever I got nothing else better to do."

Shuichi shined a brilliant smile at the tall blond and hopped up and down. "Yay! You will lover her!"

Eiri highly doubted that, but he put on an annoyed face in replacement of how saddened and beaten he felt inside. "Fine, whatever led the way."

"More rum for my Shiny-san, John!" Ryuichi had been force feeding Tatsuha rum since the ship docked. Tatsuha could hold his alcohol, but this home made stuff they sold at the People's Pub was something else. It was definitely stronger than any rum Tatsuha ever had before. As the bartender, John slid another glass of rum across the sticky, beaten bar toward Tatsuha he barely caught it as his reflexes were seriously hindered by the alcohol: blood ratio in his body.

Ryuichi had just as much rum as Tats had, but didn't seem to be affected at all. He just had rosy cheeks that added to the innocent façade hiding his adult interior. Tats struggled to make his words coherent while he begged Ryu to stop the never ending flow of alcohol. "Ryu baby, I can't take much more. I think I'm going to hurl as it is." Tats threw a hand to his mouth and stumbled through the crowded bar to the out side to empty his angry stomach.

Ryu watched his lover/captive run for the door with a worried frown. "Maybe I gave him too much." Ryuichi scratched his head and pondered his own statement.

John, the bartender, snorted. "He's a delicate one that boy. Where did you find him? He's not used to the rough life."

Ryuichi wasn't too keen on sharing Tats' history with the town's psychiatrist so he just fibbed a little. "He was a cabin boy on the NG Flagship. I thought he was extra shiny, so I asked Shu-chan if I could keep him."

The bartender knew he wasn't telling the whole truth, but also knew not to badger Ryuichi about something he didn't want to divulge unless you wanted to meet your maker at an early age. "Shuichi let you keep him did he? Well, he seems to be good for you."

Ryuichi looked at the man with a bright smile. "I really like him, John. He's different from the other captives we pick up on ships."

John smiled sweetly at the child-like man before him. "That he is." John noticed the obvious dreamy look on his favorite patron's face. "Be careful Ryuichi. When he goes back to where ever he came from, and he will, I don't want you to come in here and drown your self in rum like the last couple of times your captives went back to their homes."

Ryuichi looked sadly at John and gave him a somber smile. "I know John. Don't worry about me. I'll be fine; and besides he's different, he won't leave me… not with out saying good bye." John sighed, he knew his friend was going to get his heart broken, but there was nothing he could do about that now. He could only help drown sorrows, not stop them from happening. He turned back to his customers leaving Ryuichi to think about the past and the future.

Suguru walked into the People's Pub with a sad somber face. John shooed away a drunken old ex navy man to make room for his other favorite patron. "Fujisaki-kun, how are you doing this lovely evening?" Suguru, sat down on the bar stool and slammed his head down on the wood. "That good, huh?"

Ryuichi moved over next Suguru and placed a kind hand on the frustrated man's shoulder. "Suguru-kun what's wrong? I've never seen you this way. It's scaring me." John busied himself with an extra strong drink for his troubled customer while Ryu tried to coax Suguru into confiding in his friend.

Suguru lifted his head up and took the drink that was offered to him. After a few moments of silence Suguru decided to confide in his friend. "Sakuma-san, have you ever loved anyone, but knew they loved another?" Ryuichi nodded and Suguru continued on. "Well, what did you do to get them to look at you in a… non friendly way?"

Ryuichi tilted his head in a confused puppy look. "What do you mean Suguru-kun? If you told me who you love then maybe I would be able to tell you how to get them to love you back."

Suguru looked really apprehensive, but after some internal struggle finally conceded. "Promise you won't tell any one?" Ryu nodded energetically, he would never tell a friend's secret. "Well… I… I love Nakano-san."

Ryu gasped, immediately converting over to his childish nature and began to jump up and down. "That's wonderful! Suguru-kun, I'm so happy for you!" He grabbed Suguru's hands and pulled him into a strangle hold of a hug. "Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy!"

"Ryuichi please!" Fujisaki was terrified some one would over hear. Ryuichi, seeing the panicked look on his young friend, stopped bouncing about and gave him a sheepish grin.

Suguru gave a tired smile back and sat back down on the bar stool. Ryuichi came and sat down next to him with a questioning look on his face. "What is wrong Suguru-kun, why do you look so sad? You should be happy!"

The younger man looked sadly at Ryu, "That's the problem Ryuichi, Hiroshi doesn't love me. He loves Shindo-san." Ryuichi looked at him like he was completely crazy. "I saw them. Before we docked, they were on the helm deck. They were…" Suguru trailed off.

Ryuichi hopped off of his stool shook his hands in front of Suguru. "No, Suguru-kun. Hiro doesn't love Shu-chan! He can't! That would be like me and Kuma-chan!" Suguru frowned and didn't acknowledge that he even understood. Ryu tried again to make Suguru understand, "Hiro and Shu-chan are like brothers. Hiro knows things about Shu-chan that only his family would know. He is like a protector to Maiko-chan and Shuichi."

Suguru sat there and stared at Ryuichi letting the gravity of what he had said sink in. His eyes grew to the size of saucers and jumped off the stool. 'I have to find him!' He had to get to Hiro and tell him how he felt. He lunged at Ryu and hugged the air out of the older man. "Thank you so much Ryuichi." He let go and dashed off toward the door. Just before he burst through the door and into the street he stopped and turned around. "Ryuichi, where is Hiro-san?"

Ryuichi laughed, "He's at The Chicken Ranch. Go get your man!" Suguru smiled and dashed out the door almost running over a hung over Tatsuha.

Tatsuha stumbled over to Ryuichi and practically fell into Suguru's vacated bar stool. "Where is Suguru off to?" His face was a light shade of green and he laid his face down on the cool wood of the bar.

Ryu laid his hand on Tatsuha's head and stroked his fingers through Tats' think brown hair. "He went to get his man." Ryu smiled and stared off dreamily.

Tat raised his head and looked at his dreamy lover. "Oh…" he decided not to ask.

Shuichi was standing on the porch of The Chicken Ranch. Eiri was standing a few steps back tapping his foot impatiently. Shuichi lifted his fist to knock on the door, right as his knuckles were about to touch the hard weathered wood he pulled his hand back as if he were burned. Eiri sighed in frustration and strode forward; he pounded on the door alerting all its inhabitants to their arrival.

Shuichi coward behind Eiri as if the door was about to explode. The sound of hard heels on wooden floors echoed through the door, it burst open to reveal a frazzled and tipsy looking woman with ample cleavage and miles of leg. She looked Eiri up and down with a hungry eye. When he gaze landed on the mop of pink hiding behind him her face broke into a smile.

"Shu-chan!" She lunged forward and grabbed Shuichi by the arm, hauling him into the house, leaving Eiri to stand alone and annoyed on the front porch.

"Shu-chan baby, it's been so long!" the frazzled prostitute adjusted her cleavage. "I assume you have finally come to see her?" She looked expectantly at Shuichi still ignoring the annoyed and puzzled looking blond behind them.

Shuichi turned red for the millionth time that day. "Yeah, do you know where she is?" He glanced back at Eiri and gave him a sheepish apologetic smile.

The prostitute smirk in a seductive longing way and nodded her head toward the stairs. "She's in her room; Hiroshi-kun is already here with Maiko-chan." At the mention of Hiro she had a hungry gleam, but when she mentioned the dangerous female of Bad Luck she had a jealous scowl.

"Thanks Darla." Shuichi smiled sweetly at the woman and lead the way up the stairs to 'her' room.

Eiri followed and was reaching his limit on the mystery woman. 'Who is this woman? Why is she living in a whorehouse? Why are Nakano and Maiko here speaking with her?' He was on the verge of throwing Shuichi up against the wall and asking all those questions.

They reached a fancy set of French doors with pink cloth the color of Shuichi's hair hanging on the inside obscuring the view of the room behind them. The smell of lavender was drifting into the hall way from behind the doors. Eiri felt an odd sense of comfort. Apart from being in the center of a whorehouse the room behind the doors gave off more of a homey feel than Eiri had ever felt in his own home.

Shuichi knocked on the door and waited feeling anxiety wash over him. It had been almost a year since he had been back. A sultry seductive voice floated out of the room, "Come in." Shuichi immediately felt at ease. It was a voice from his child hood.

He tenderly pushed the French doors open to reveal a middle aged woman lounging on a Cleopatra sofa in a feather silk robe sipping tea out of fine china. In two purple plush chairs sat Hiro and Maiko also drinking tea out of the same fine china.

The woman was beautiful. She had a round heart shaped face that was made up with blush and blue eye shadow that brought out the color of her violet eyes. Her long pink hair was draped over her shoulders falling to cover her barely concealed breasts. At the sight of the pirate captain standing in her door way she sat up from her lounging position and set her tea cup on the deep purple marble coffee table in front of her.

The two pairs of violet eyes locked and the atmosphere immediately became tense and uncomfortable contradicting ever aspect of the woman and her sitting room. Hiro and Maiko watched the two people eye each other. With out saying a word they nodded at one another; setting their tea cups down, they rose from their scarily comfortable chairs and walked out of the room.

Eiri was at a loss as to what was going on. The woman looked like an older female replica of Shuichi, or was Shuichi the replica. A huge part of the blond was so relieved he didn't know what to do. Eiri's heart fluttered at the knowledge that Shuichi was, for lack of a better phrase, ripe for the taking. This woman… was his mother.

Eiri was about to turn and follow Nakano and Maiko down the stairs when he heard the woman's silky smooth voice call out. "Well Shuichi, are you going to stand there or are you and your friend going to take a seat?" Eiri could only assume that by friend she meant him, but wouldn't make a move until Shuichi acknowledge it was what he wanted. Shuichi looked back at Eiri with pleading eyes, begging him to stay.

Once Eiri and Shuichi were situated in the recently vacated arm chairs the woman leaned back on her sofa and lounged like nothing had happened. "Shuichi, are you going to introduce me to this handsome young man or are you going to leave me to guess as to who and what he is?" She sounded almost pleasant as she talked to Shuichi like he was a child.

Shuichi jumped at the sound of her voice. He raised a shaking hand and gestured to Eiri, "This is Eiri Uesugi; he joined us from the NG Flagship."

Her eyebrow rose when the NG was mentioned, but she made no move to question it. Eiri inclined his head toward her and uttered a forced, but polite "How do you do?"

She let out a gorgeous laugh that sailed through the room, "My dear Eiri-kun, you have no need to be so formal around me. After all I am only Shuichi's mother; and the Madame of The Chicken Ranch." She added the last title as almost an after thought.

Eiri's eyebrow rose. Shuichi's mother was the Madame of the Pleasure Port whorehouse? Well that was a surprise. She gave another seductive laugh and added, "You can call me Madame Rumiko, or just Rumiko if you wish."

Eiri smirked; this woman was definitely smart, he would have no problem holding an intelligent conversation with her as he does with her son. "I think I will stick to Rumiko-san, if that is alright?"

She giggled like a school girl. "Oh Shuichi, I like him." Shuichi growled in a territorial sort of way. Her eyes snapped to his and he immediately coward even lower in his over sized purple chair. "Is there a reason you came to my door, Shuichi? Or shall I throw you out for trespassing?"

Shuichi rubbed the back of his head, this was what he had been dreading. "Uh…yeah actually."

She puffed in exasperation. "Well get on with it or I will get David to haul the both of you out of here." Eiri could tell where Shuichi got his strangely short temper from.

Shuichi jumped up from his chair with his hands clinched into fists and arms flailing about. "Jesus, mother I came to apologize if you would only drop the act for at least ten seconds and listen to me!"

Silence filled the room. Then the feather robed woman jumped up and took a flying leap into her son's arms. "Oh Shuichi dear, I missed you so much! I was worried sick about you!" She let up on her choke hold to look Shuichi in the eyes and shake her finger at him. "If you ever leave without saying good bye again I will chase after you and shackle you up to your bunk bed. I can't believe you left without even a kiss on the cheek. You are a horrible son!"

She had burst into tears and Shuichi was now rubbing her back in soothing strokes to calm her down. "Jeez mama, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have left without saying good bye. Please forgive me."

After a few moments her crying ceased and she straightened up to stand on her own. She placed both hands on either side of Shuichi's face and kissed him on the nose. "I could never stay mad with my little boy." She let Shuichi go and walked back over to her lounging sofa and resumed sipping her tea. "So tell me; how did you go about acquiring Eiri-kun here?"

"Mama!" Shuichi had turned bright red as he tried to hide his embarrassment at his mother being so blunt.

She waved a hand at him. "Oh, come now it's a mother's duty to learn about her son's lover."

"We're not lovers!" both Eiri and Shuichi had shouted at the same moment. Upon hearing their response come from the other they glanced at each other then averted their gaze. Shuichi found the four poster bed in the corner very interesting, while Eiri examined the pattern on the tea cup in his hand.

Rumiko raised her eyebrow and smirked in that all knowing motherly way. "Oh I see. So what, pray tell, exactly is your relationship?"

Shuichi laughed nervously, "He's uh… my captive."

"Oh, lucky him." Rumiko watched in delight as Eiri squirmed at her comment. He had no intention on letting either Shuichi or his mother know he felt that way. Rumiko took pity on the two would-be lovers and changed the subject. "Enough raking you two over the coals; Eiri-kun, tell me about yourself."

Eiri was more than happy to oblige the woman in her conversation change. "I am an aspiring writer." He was at a loss of anything better to say that Shuichi would approve of.

Rumiko's ears perked up. "What kind of writer dear? You can't just tell me something juicy like that and not elaborate on it."

He gave her his most charming smile, "Romance, mainly."

Rumiko bounced in her seat and clapped her hands like a child. It's obvious Shuichi inherited more than just her temper and looks. "Oh, I love Romance novels! If you have any problems with material or need any… inspirations just ask me darling and I'll be more than happy to help you out."

"Mother." Shuichi's warning was heard loud and clear, but she continued to smile at Eiri in an innocent way only a Madame could master.

Eiri didn't want any more crying to take place so he tried to deuce the flames. "That's quite alright; I think I can manage on my own."

She smirked, "I'm sure you could." It took a split second to realize she was staring at Eiri with a predatory gleam in her eye. "Oh sorry if I'm making you uncomfortable sweetie, but it's hard to kick years of a bad habit. Never become a prostitute, but I don't have to tell you that. You probably have more money and women than Midas." Eiri blushed, just the slightest bit, but she saw it. "I thought so. Enough about you lets talk about me."

"I'm rather curious myself as to your story Rumiko-san." Eiri was trying to be charming and could tell that the little amount of flirting with Shu's mother was getting underneath Shuichi's skin to the point that he was white knuckling the arm rests on his chair.

She giggled, "Now, Eiri-kun, no flirting with me while Shuichi is right there. You may not admit it, but I know you like him, so try not to make him jealous it would not bode well for you." Eiri blushed even more, she called his bluff and he was amazed she could see through his carefully placed façade. "Yes, I saw right through you. I am trained to read men and men I read very well. There is nothing you can hide from me that I wish to know." This statement gave him the creeps, but he kept his gaze even with hers. "So, back to me."

She leaned back to get comfortable. "I came to this Island as a little girl with my father. I grew up here and I loved it. It sounds weird, but I loved every minute of it. My father didn't want the life of prostitute or a pirate for me so he hated it. After he died the first thing I did was join the girls at The Chicken Ranch under the last Madame. I soon worked my way up the ranks and became the number one prostitute on the peninsula. I could pick and choose who I serviced." She stopped to sip her tea with a satisfied smirk on her lips. Eiri was in raptures, never before had he heard the story of a prostitute and it fascinated him.

She set her cup back down and resumed. "I had power in the community and I could say who was to be serviced by the rest of the girls and who wasn't. The only one with more power than me was the Madame her self." Her face grew solemn. "Then one night he came. He was horrid. He tried and pleaded with me to be his companion, but I knew about him, I knew what he really was. He was the worst and cruelest pirate on the seas at that time and I wouldn't service him, nor would any of the other girls. But he had an eye for me." She visibly shuddered and Eiri could tell where this story was going. His memory went back to the walk to the ice cream stand. He was shaken from his reverie when he heard her sultry voice once again.

"He attacked me one night after he broke into my room. It was horrid and I will spare you the details. The next morning having what he wanted, he set sail and thankfully never came back." Soon her dark face was replaced with a dreamy and happy expression. "Soon after that I found out I was pregnant with Shu-bug here. I was so happy. Sure I hated his father, but I knew he would be nothing like him. He would be everything that was good and kind. I made sure of that while raising him." She laughed now. "The only good thing that ever came out of that man was the sperm that helped make my baby over there."

Eiri spit out his freshly sipped tea trying to surpass his laughing fit and Shuichi slapped a hand to his forehead. "Mooooooom! Do you have to be so embarrassing?"

"Yes darling. It's my right as a mother. Any hoo, back to me." Shuichi scowled, 'Jeez, egocentric much?' Rumiko paid no mind to her son's scowls and continued on with her story. "They were the best nine months of my life. I was so excited and so were all the girls. When Shuichi was finally born every one was on pins and needles. John from the People's Pub came down here with Tom from the ice cream stand and just about the whole town was in the sitting room awaiting my baby boy." Shuichi sighed in embarrassment and Eiri was slightly jealous at the caring of these people. They were supposed to be the scum of the earth and yet they were all excited and in support of one of their own bringing a new life into the world.

"You can imagine I was more than pleased when he came out to look exactly like me and nothing like that bastard of a sperm donor." No one was listening. Eiri had long since been distracted by the violet eyes of Shuichi. They had been glancing at him off and on throughout the whole story and he had finally caught them in the act. They were staring at each other with such intense heat that their bodies seemed give off steam.

Eiri's whole body was tingling in the gaze of the younger man sitting in the chair beside him. He studied every feature that made up the beautiful man's face. His soft supple lips the color of a rose and his button nose. But the thing that kept Eiri's gaze retuning to them the most was his eyes. They held a plethora of emotions ranging from, passion to lust, but the one that kept Eiri glued to the spot was something completely foreign to him. Something he had never felt himself. Oh, but how he wanted to feel it now.

Rumiko noticed she wasn't the center of attention any more and took a breath. She studied the two men in her parlor and smiled to her self. 'They have it bad and they don't even know it.' She sighed and set her chin on the heel of her hand to watch the two would- be lovers.

As her sigh echoed through the room Shuichi and Eiri's concentration had been shattered. They shot their gazes to point directly a Rumiko. She lifted her head, "What? I was just watching." They both gave her a withering glare. "Jeez ok fine I'll continue. God can't take a joke." She laughed at her own wit, but continued on.

"So after Shuichi turned three another man came into my life. He had washed up on shore a quarter of a mile away from the docks. The men from the village had no where to put him so I offered to take him in and nurse him back to health; and did I ever. To make a long story short we fell in love and soon after we… you know… my baby girl Maiko was born. She of course got her father's hair, but my eyes. He was the picture of father hood. I quit being a prostitute and took over as Madame. Shuichi saw him as his real father and he saw Shuichi as his son." She sighed and smiled in a lovingly dreamy way. "Sadly about three years ago he died. We were devastated; Shuichi came back to Pleasure Port for the funeral and stayed for quite sometime. Then both my babies left me. You know, 'Any where Oni-chan goes, I want to go' I just couldn't stop my Maiko from following in her brother's foot steps, but I trusted him with her. He was always the most wonderful brother."

Shuichi smiled then piped in, "Yeah I didn't know how much I needed Maiko with me till she actually came on Bad Luck. It was like one of the missing pieces was put in place." He laughed sheepishly. "I love having Maiko with me; and so does the crew."

Rumiko smiled. "They were always sweet to each other, when they weren't giving each other black eyes." Eiri chuckled, imagining mini Shuichi and Maiko with matching black eyes. "So that's where my story ends. What's your story?" She placed her chin, once again, on the heel of her hand and smiled at Eiri.

He felt a little nervous, for some reason he wanted to impress this woman. "Well, I was on vacation with my older sister, her husband and my younger brother when Bad Luck attacked our ship and took my brother, Tatsuha, and I captive."

Rumiko, still smiling sweetly, waved her other hand in the air, "And…?"

Eiri could feel the heat in his face rising. "And… When the pirates aboard Bad Luck stormed the ship it took us by complete surprise. They had raised the friendly flag and we fell right into their trap. They disabled our four escort ships with canons and began to storm the deck like mad wasps. Our crew was going down left and right. Tohma Seguchi was already tied up and my sister was engaged in a sword fight with Maiko. Of course my little bother was nowhere to be seen, no doubt getting drunk bellow deck blissfully unaware of the fight." He paused, took a breath then trudged on. "I fought my way across the deck trying to take down as many pirates as possible. My strategy was effective, but not fatal. When I made it half way across the deck I noticed a short runt of a pirate with bright pink hair."

"Hey!" Shuichi shouted and glared at Eiri.

Eiri ignored him and continued on. "His back was turned to me, but he held himself in such a way I knew he would be no easy target, sneak attack or no. I charged him and sure enough just in the nick of time he spun around and blocked my potentially lethal attack." Rumiko was enthralled in the story Eiri was telling. Her heart was racing as if she was actually there experiencing what he was experiencing. 'This guy's good.' She smirked.

"We danced around the deck neither of us had the upper hand and we were quickly loosing our strength. His boundless energy was surely coming in handy, but I had to end it and soon or I would be run through. Without blinking an eye the pink haired pirate had me pinned to the mast, his sword's deadly blade at my throat." Rumiko gasped. Eiri continued. "He ordered his mountain sized goons to tie me up with the others. He acted as if it were mere play and nothing to get excited over. I was furious. Once he had finished belittling Seguchi, to my great satisfaction, he ordered the mountains to carry my little brother and me to Bad Luck. We were then thrown in the cells bellow deck to await an audience with the pink haired, violet eyed captain."

Eiri, having finally finished his story felt his face grow unbearably hot with embarrassment. He had never told a story like that to any one off the top of his head, much less orally and in person. He was sweating lightly and quickly sipped his, now cold, tea to wet his dry mouth.

Rumiko took it upon her self to applaud the nervous would-be author. "That was fantastic! I was like there! Wow. Shuichi, how come you don't tell stories like that?"

Shuichi was staring at Eiri with an open mouth. He had never heard anything like that. If it was possible he may have fallen in love with the man right there in his mother's sitting room. The passion that filled Eiri's eyes while he was retelling the story of the attack on the NG was astounding. His heart did a little flip when Eiri's golden eye met his violet ones. He could suddenly see himself spending lots of time in the future looking into those eyes; and he liked it.

"Hello? Earth to Shu-bug. Honestly, if you're going to stare off into space, at least acknowledge your mother when she is speaking to you." Rumiko's words snapped Shuichi out of his daze.

Shaking his head he turned away from Eiri's gaze and looked at his mother. "Sorry, I'm just tired."

Rumiko smiled warmly in a motherly way. "Well that's understandable. You are welcome to stay on your old room or do you want to sleep on that ship of yours? Eiri-kun is welcome to the top bunk if he would like to stay as well."

Shuichi smiled at his mother standing up to decline, but before he could even utter his objection Eiri intervened, "We would love to, Rumiko-san." Shuichi was speechless. He gave Eiri a questioning glance who was responded with a 'Hey, it'll be fun" smile. Shuichi sighed and conceded.

Rumiko jumped up and ran toward Eiri. Throwing herself into his arms she hugged him warmly and gave him a big red kiss on his cheek. "You are so sweet! It's been so long since my Shu-bug has had a 'friend' sleep over." She smirked and winked at Eiri. Eiri gave her a questioning look and set her back down on the shag carpeting. "Follow me boys. You will absolutely love what I've don't to Shuichi's room." An evil smirk crossed over her elegant face and Eiri couldn't help, but wonder what she was up to.

After donning her four inch matching feather heels to go with her practically, if it wasn't for all the feathers, transparent robe, she led them out of her room and down the hall to a door painted bright purple with pink flowers.

Shuichi stared at the monstrosity of an entrance way and screamed. "Mama! What have you done to my room?"

Rumiko smiled sweetly, "Don't let the door fool you sweetie; I let the girls decorate it. They wanted to do something sweet for their little Shu-chan. The inside is way less, how shall I say this, girly." With that she threw open the door open leading into a master piece of a bed room.

Shuichi's mouth fell open for the tenth time in less than three hours and he slowly stepped into his once childish room. It was painted sandstone brown with sandy gold trim. Every where you looked there was ancient pirate artifacts, a giant map of the eastern oceans was framed and hung opposite a queen sized four poster bed. Shuichi could hardily believe his eyes. It was his dream room, the room he had wanted as a child.

Shuichi could feel tears prickling at his eyes, "Mom, how did you do this? This is amazing!" Without waiting for an answer Shuichi jumped in the air and ran around the room exploring every nook and cranny of the newly remodeled room.

Rumiko laughed at her grown son's childish antics and turned a smiling face to Eiri. "About a month ago, a French interior decorator stayed with one of my girls for a week, but he couldn't pay for it. I told him I would cover his costs if he redecorated this room for free. He agreed, but only after meeting with my late lover's revolver in a very close call."

Eiri smiled and turned to Rumiko from watching the pirate captain running about his now "adult" room. "You seem to have made him very happy."

Rumiko's eyes got a dangerous gleam in them and Eiri grew ever so slightly frightened. "And if you ever compromise that happiness you will have to answer to me, my girls, Hiroshi-kun, Maiko, Suguru-kun, Ryuichi, and the crew of Bad Luck. They may go easy on you, but I assure you, I will not."

Eiri was speechless. This woman was definitely not kidding. He wouldn't dream of hurting Shuichi, but still, he was just the tiny bit afraid of the consequences of doing so.

The tense silence between mother and Shu's soon to-be lover was broken when Shuichi glomped his mother. "I love you, mama! You are the best! I love it."

Rumiko laughed and carefully pushed her over enthusiastic son from around her waist. "That's nice sweetie, but its way passed my bed time. You boys have a good night." She kissed her still smiling son on the cheek. She then turned to Eiri and motioned for him to lean down.

Eiri was at a loss as to what she wanted, but he obliged and leaned down to her level. He was taken completely be surprise when she once again laid a big sloppy kiss on his cheek. She smiled sweetly at him and turned to exit the room.

Shuichi waved after her and shut the door. "Well, what did you think of my mom?"

Eiri turned a stoic expression on and looked down at the smiling pirate before him. "She is smarter than you, that's for sure." Shuichi scowled and smacked Eiri on the shoulder.

A/N I took all Thanks Giving week and week-end to write and edit this chapter. Whew! It's finally finished. There was a lot of information I wanted to get across. I hope I didn't confuse any of you and ya'll aren't too mad at me for the lack of action. I promise there will be action and smutty smut in the next chapter. Read and Review I can't wait to hear from ya'll! Thanx Graviluvr and VioletEyes!

By the way, I made Tom and John up. *smile*