Pointless Report:
GYAHAHAHA~!
Hey guys, anyways, this is sort of a mini chapter that I (finally) completed for Arrowashi.
Thank you again Arrow for your support in my chapters, I really do appreciate it.
My usual rant is in chapter 15 which is on the next page. (Lucky you!)
Also, as an extra apology, I'm submitting this side chapter along with the actual chapter and a bonus Christmas side story.
Enjoy the chapters!
-"~"-
Mariko yawned and stretched out her legs in the crow's nest. The night was clear and the stars were completely visible. She traced out some familiar constellations with her finger. It was nice going up to the crow's nest every now and then, especially if the night was as wonderful as this.
A faint breeze blew loose strands of hair around her face. She let it be, there was no point getting worked up about something so petty. She closed her eyes and listened to the waves gently crashing against the boat. She licked her lips, still salty from the spray of ocean mist that had hit her face that afternoon. It had been a pleasantly warm day so the cold mist had felt delightful.
She watched the sky thoughtfully and tried to discover her own constellations.
'PRINCESS!'
Mariko rolled her eyes and tucked her legs in. Maybe if she stayed quiet enough, he'd just go look somewhere else.
'PRINCESS!'
She forced herself to stay curled up in a ball and had to keep herself from screaming back at him. She heard him yell out her name a few more times, each time growing louder and adding a few more swears at the end. She didn't care, he could scream until his voice went out. He could deal with his own problems.
She sighed, and shifted her weight into a more comfortable position. Why did he come a get her to clean up his messes?
She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Maybe she should start setting traps for him again. Maybe not as deadly as the ones she'd made in her first two weeks but they'd definitely keep him on his toes.
She grinned to herself. A little paranoia might be good for the annoyingly laid back captain.
She was planning a delightfully complicated trap when she realized she hadn't heard Law for a while. For a moment she felt a small glimmer of hope, maybe he'd gone below deck or all together given up.
She laughed silently and shook her head at the thought. He was stupid but not that stupid. He knew she was probably up there. After all, he was the one who made her the ship's lookout. But it was odd that he'd stopped calling.
Curiosity gnawed at her to peek over the edge to see if he was still down there.
'If I don't hear anything in the next 2 minutes I'll look.' She muttered to herself.
She waited. She drummed her nails on the wooden floor. 1 minute and thirty seconds left. She looked up at the sky that stretched out beyond her vision. 1 minute and seventeen seconds left. She muttered a few quotes she'd read in books. Forty nine seconds left. She hummed a few notes of a song stuck in her head. Twenty three seconds left. She chewed her lip and wondered if Law had planned this purposely. Thirteen seconds left. She chewed her lip, forcing herself to wait until the 2 minutes were up.
When her mental timer rang she uncurled herself, crawled to the edge of the crow's nest and hesitantly peeked over.
A head popped up and she screamed bloody murder.
Law's eyebrows were knit into a scowl. 'Next time I call you,' he said through gritted teeth, 'at least have the decency to answer me instead of making me climb up here. Now you'd better haul your ass below deck, and get control of your demon. I'd like to eat my supper without having to worry about her jumping me and stealing it!' he snapped.
Mariko nodded numbly, making a mental note to find a better hiding place. Preferably one with more escape routes.
-"~"-
Law heaved a sigh of relief as he watched Mariko leave with the demon clutched tightly in her arms, completely ignoring the death glares being shot at him as the two left the room.
He took a bite out of his food, savoring the taste of his dinner. Now that the immediate threat of having his dinner was gone he let go of the tension in his shoulders. He leaned back in his chair. He never liked being uptight, people who couldn't let themselves go had a hard time dealing with pressure and stress. As the captain of his ship he had to keep a calm level head, his crew was counting on him. Not to mention that he was also the ship's doctor. He couldn't count the number of times he'd had to operate on one of his crewmates, knowing full well that their lives were depending on him.
He absentmindedly took a swing of his drink and wondered why Mariko had brought the dreadful creature onto his ship. He also questioned why he'd even agreed to it in the first place. He took another bite of his dinner. Something had to be done about that cat. He needed to think of a plan by the next meal, and fast.
-"~"-
Mariko hugged a squirming Arasoi to her chest.
'There there sweetheart,' she cooed, 'I know Law's just over reacting.'
Arasoi, still trying to escape Mariko's death grip, hissed and tried to take a swipe at her face.
Mariko stroked Arasoi thoughtfully. 'I just don't understand why he doesn't seem to like you. You're such a good kitty.' Arasoi, realizing the battle for freedom was futile went limp in the girl's arms giving into her inbred desire to purr.
'I wish I knew why.' She said wistfully.
-"~"-
Law sat down on the deck and watched the sunrise slowly up into the sky. He'd had a shitty night sleeping and was feeling absolutely drained. He lay down and pulled his hat down over his eyes, maybe now he'd actually get some rest. He could only hope the crew liked their limbs firmly attached to their original bodies.
He sighed deeply, and watched the light shine through his hat. For some reason he could feel someone staring at him. He shut his eyes willing sleep to wash over him.
The feeling still hadn't gone away.
He peeked under the rim of his hat. He couldn't see anyone.
Curiosity gnawed at his mind until he pushed up his hat and glanced around the deck. Still he could see no one. He froze as he heard a familiar sound coming above him.
'Muureeehhhh~'
He jumped up and looked around him, desperately trying to locate where the sound was coming from.
'Shit, where the Hell are you?' he muttered through gritted teeth, he grimaced. Mariko's habit of talking to herself was starting to rub off on him. He dropped his hand to his sword, unsure if he would even be able to use it. Then, silence. Law felt the hairs stand up on the back of his neck.
Shit.
He looked directly up in time to see a black shadow launch itself from one of the masts.
Three thoughts went through Law's head as he watched, completely stunned as this kamikaze demon flung itself into the sky. He wondered how long that Hell-sent creature had been lurking in the shadows, waiting for the moment to strike. He wished Mariko would have been able to see the evil in the cat. And most of all he wished that he'd stopped thinking of questions and get the Hell out of the way before the cat came close to landing on him.
Arasoi interrupted his train of thought shortly afterwards.
-"~"-
'-think he's-'
'-yeah it's Law he'll be-'
'Wake up-'
'-Captain?'
Law opened his eyes and was temporarily blinded by the light hanging above him. He blinked quickly as if to eliminate the stinging in his eyes. He tried to focus on what was going on around him.
'Captain you're awake!' He heard someone say. By the pitch of the voice he guessed it was Bepo. But where the Hell was he?
'Hey! Someone turn down the light, he's going to get a migraine from staring at it too long!' He heard someone else call.
The light mercifully dimmed to a more bearable intensity. Law sat up and looked around, he was in the medical room.
A few crewmen stood around him in a semi-circle with identical expressions of relief.
'We found you lying unconscious on the deck. There's a huge bump on the back of your head. We thought someone had snuck up on you and attacked you. Jean Bart carried you here. And just for precautions we checked the whole ship. No one other than our crew is here.' Bepo explained.
'So were you attacked?' Zeke asked anxiously.
Law tried to gather his thoughts. It had been such a blur, he'd been tired and gone up to the deck and then…that god damn cat knocked him out?
'It was the de-'
The door burst open interrupting Law's sentence.
Law looked up in surprise, not because of the noise the door had made but the person who had opened it. Mariko stood there, her eyes visibly rimmed with red and tears streaked down her face.
'You-You idiot!' she screamed running up to him.
Just as Law was starting to organize his thoughts Mariko lifted her hand and slapped him across the cheek.
'You jerk!' she cried trembling. 'What did you do?'
Law looked at her in complete confusion. 'What?'
She sniffed and rubbed her eyes. 'You know exactly what I'm talking about you jerk!'
Law relaxed. 'Princess…I'm all right. It's just a bump on the head I'll be fine.'
'I'm not talking about you!' she snapped.
The crew, who'd been following the conversation, had no idea what Mariko was so worked up about.
Neither did Law, who was trying to figure out why Mariko was yelling out verbal abuse at him.
'Then who…?'
'Arasoi!' She screamed. Fresh tears dripped down her cheeks. 'She's all shaken up! She's hidden herself somewhere and whenever I find her she runs away! She never does that! You horrible man, what have you done to my cat?'
'You're cat? The Captain's been knocked out for hours and you're worried about your cat?' Zeke demanded accusingly.
'Of course I am!' she snapped back. 'My poor little kitty might have hurt herself! I know you did something to her! Law you bastard!'
'I didn't do a damn thing to your demon! She attacked me!' Law retorted.
'Don't lie to me! Arasoi is a sweet little creature who'd never kill a thing!'
'She doesn't need to kill anything. She just needs to cause it bodily harm and torture!'
Mariko would have slapped him again, had Jean Bart not stepped in and grabbed her hand.
'I think it would be best if you left the captain alone.' Jean Bart said gently.
Mariko glared at him and marched away. She stopped at the doorway and whipped her head back at Law. 'I hate you Trafalgar Law! I'll never forgive you!' she yelled, slamming the door behind her.
The crew stood there, speechless.
Law slumped back into the bed.
Damn that demon!
-"~"-
So the days went by, and no one saw Arasoi or Mariko walking around the ship. Mariko had stubbornly locked herself in her room and Arasoi might as well have disappeared off the face of the planet.
The bump on Law's head was slowly becoming less noticeable, but the ship seemed unusually quiet. Zeke once tried to bring this to Law's attention but Law shrugged it off.
'She'll get over it eventually.' He said.
But it wasn't just the noise that had changed. It was the overall feel of the ship. Rumors spread, how Arasoi had actually fallen over board and drowned, and her vengeful spirit haunted the bilge. It was said that if you were down there after midnight, you could hear sobs and meows echo off the walls and a strange ball of light would suddenly appear out of nowhere.
They could only imagine what Mariko was doing, shut up in her room all day.
-"~"-
Mariko curled up into a tight ball. She'd wrapped all her blankets around her resembling a patchwork cocoon.
She didn't want to have to leave her bed. It was safer here, with pillows to rest her head and blankets for her to wrap herself up in. And most importantly it was her own room, not like the mattress stuffed into a spare closet like when she'd first joined the Hearts but an actual room to herself. It didn't bother her in the least it was a small room, tucked away in a little corner. She didn't have to share with anyone, this room had been an extra that no one had used due to the fact it got colder faster than the rest of the ship and that there was a bit of a leak in the corner. But it suited her just fine.
In her room, she didn't have to deal with anything, or anyone.
Still, she was grateful to Zeke, who brought her a little bit to eat every now and then. It was a touching gesture, and she didn't have the heart to tell him that she'd been sneaking down to the kitchens at night and helping herself to the pantry. She suspected he mostly just came to check up on her.
She crossed her arms stubbornly. Zeke said she couldn't stay angry forever, but he seemed to underestimate how long she could keep grudges against people.
The anger she'd originally felt had dulled and soured in the pit of her stomach. She felt ill-tempered and crabby. It wasn't just about what Law did to Arasoi anymore, now she was just plain irritated. She knew Law was avoiding going near her room as did most of the crew.
She didn't give a damn that she was being difficult and getting on everyone's nerves. But she wasn't going to be the one to yield this time. And if she had to spend the next month imprisoned in her room. So be it.
-"~"-
Law shoved his food into his mouth. At least there was one upside to this whole drama. He didn't need to fight off Arasoi for his dinner.
Mariko was being childish about the whole thing. Besides, he hadn't done a thing to that damn cat. And then there was that business about the ghost in the bilge. Most of their supplies were down there and convincing someone to go down there was like pulling off heads…Without using his devil fruit powers.
'It might not be such a bad idea to go down there and check it out,' he thought, 'that rumor's getting out of control.' He considered taking Bepo or Jean Bart with him, but decided against it. He was the captain and this was his ship, no ghosts or spirits were going to scare him.
-"~"-
Law waited patiently behind some boxes. It was almost midnight. It was time to solve this mystery. The sooner this was dealt with it the better.
It was dark down there. He'd chosen not to bring a lantern. He wanted to catch whatever was down here by surprise. He could understand why it was unnerving to come down here alone. There was little light, and what light there was made twisted shadows move on the ceilings and floors. Every sound was amplified and echoed across the room. A pair of footsteps could be mistaken for those of a giant.
Law waited anxiously, he only hoped that he wouldn't have to wait all night for this thing to show up. The circles under his eyes were dark enough without adding fatigue into the mix.
He scanned the area around him, nothing yet. He was about to go back to his hiding spot, when he saw a small pinpoint of light flickering on the other side of the room.
He moved stealthily behind a stack of crates. The spirit had finally shown itself!
Broken sobs and moans echoed against the room.
Law felt his pulse quicken. The ghostly sounds were definitely coming from the direction of the light. He'd seen strange things on the Grand Line but not on his ship!
He pulled out a rock from his pocket that he'd found on the deck (he reminded himself to have a word with whoever was responsible for cleaning the ship). Before he could have second thoughts, he threw the rock onto the floor. The rock hit the floor with as much force as a cannon.
The light stopped, and slowly turned to his direction. Law pressed himself against the crates, willing the shadows to hide him.
After a moment's hesitation, the light advanced, slowly towards him.
Law stood his ground. It was too late now to make a break for it.
'Besides,' he reminded himself, 'I'm scarier than any ghosts, and by far deadlier.'
He waited until the light was close enough, then he leaned his weigh against the crates, sending them tumbling down. An ear piercing shriek rang out and something metal clanged across the floor. The wailing thing ran into some more crates and boxes, which caused more chain-reactions. Soon it seemed even the ceiling was falling down on them.
When everything had settled, Law was practically buried under crates and boxes of all sizes. He looked around and blinked.
'Mariko?'
'Damn…Law is that you?'
'Yeah, what the Hell are you doing down here?'
Mariko emerged from behind a crate, she was covered in dust and her lip was bleeding, but was otherwise unharmed. 'I could ask you the same question.' She grumbled dusting herself off. 'Hang on…Damn, don't tell me you were the one who caused that avalanche.'
Law scowled and tried to free himself. No such luck.
'Hang on, let me relight the lantern. It feels weird talking to you when I can't see your face.'
Law heard the hiss of a match and had to close his eyes for a moment as a candle flickered to life.
'So you're the ghost.' He said looking from the lantern and back to her.
She shrugged. 'I suppose so, unless there's someone else down here.'
'Don't jinx it.'
'Yeah yeah,' she rubbed the back of her head. 'I've just been coming down here looking for Arasoi. She likes dark places and it doesn't get any darker then here.'
The candlelight seemed to exaggerate her features. Her eyes had deep circles under her eyes that rivaled his own and her skin seemed somehow paler.
'Need some help?' She asked.
'I got it.'
'You know there's a mountain of shit on you right?'
'I know.'
She looked at him skeptically.
Law sighed in defeat. 'If you could start by moving the stuff on my right, that would be greatly appreciated.'
'Not the groveling I hoped for but it'll do.'
Law couldn't tell, but he could have sworn she was smiling.
'I thought you weren't talking to me.'
'This coming from the guy who buried under a mountain? I'd have waited until after the person was done digging me out, and then reminded them that they hated my guts.'
'…Right.' Law muttered trying to free his arms.
She sighed, 'Do you believe in karma?'
'No.'
'I didn't think so. Let's just say that I'm helping you because I think it'll give me a better chance at finding my cat.'
'Even though it's bullshit?'
'Especially because it's bullshit.'
Law felt one of his arms loosen and tried to yank it free, as soon as he'd done so, a box, which had been delicately balanced at the top, came crashing down onto his head. He groaned and could have sworn he heard Mariko giggle.
'Still think karma's a load of bullshit?'
'Are you going to help me or are you going to mock me?'
'Both, I prefer to have a nice balance of things. I help a little, I mock a little.'
'Like your damn karma?'
'Yeah, now shut it before another box beats me to it.'
-"~"-
Law rolled his shoulder, nope, nothing broken. Worst he'd gotten was a couple of bruises and a few cuts from the sharper edges of the crates.
Mariko finished stacking the last of the crates. 'What's in these things anyways?'
'Food and other essential supplies.'
'I guess that explains why they're so damn heavy.'
Law watched her contemplating.
She scowled. 'What?'
'Would you like me to help you find your damn cat?'
She scowled even more. 'I'll still hate your guts even if you do.'
'I realize that.'
She raised an eyebrow and sighed. 'More then you realize.'
'Great, so where do we start?'
'Nowhere in particular, but since you're here, we can probably just walk around.'
'That's it?'
'Well, she kind of hates you so if we happen to walk past her, she'll probably attack you. But don't worry, if I think she's about to do any real damage to you, I'll stop her.'
Law rolled his eyes. 'I feel so reassured. I'm sure every pirate captain loves being used as bait for a ferocious man killing beast.'
She grinned. 'That's the spirit!' she chirped grabbing his hand and dragging him along.
Law sighed.
It was going to be a long night.
-"~"-
Law stood in the medical room rolling bandages onto his body. Mariko leaned against a wall cooing to Arasoi who was asleep in her arms.
'"Stop her" my ass.' He growled tightening his bandages.
She grinned, 'I stepped in eventually didn't I?'
He snorted in reply. When Mariko had finally pried Arasoi off of Law she'd happily announced that there seemed to be nothing physically wrong with Arasoi.
'Need any help?' she asked cheerfully.
He glared, 'No, you can help by keeping hold of your monster of a pet and keeping it as far away from me as you can.'
She shrugged and snuggled the cat closer to her.
Law couldn't shake the feeling that the cat was still watching him from under its eyelashes.
'So do you "forgive" me, now that we know I didn't do a damn thing to your demon?' He asked putting away the roll of bandages.
She petted the sleeping creature in contemplation. 'Well, you did help me look for her…But I dug you out, so…I guess we're even.'
Law wisely decided not to comment.
Mariko looked up at him mischievously. 'You were scared down there weren't you? You thought I was some ghost coming to eat your soul.'
Law snorted. 'Only in your dreams.'
She grinned. 'Well goodnight!'
Law rolled his eyes. It was late and he'd need his energy for tomorrow at breakfast.
God did he hate that cat!
