Chapter Thirteen
Itazura Kukkuboi! [3]

"The seas be ours, and by the powers, where we will, we'll roam.
Yo ho, all hands, hoist the colors high.
Heave ho, theives and beggars, never shall we die."

-Hoist the Colors, Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's End

"How does this look?" Kaoru asked, holding the flag up. Ritsu grinned.

Kaoru has made tendrils of fire creep along the skull and roses, weaving them together to make a flaming inferno. However, Hikaru's rose was still visible, due to being a reddish orange instead of the pale color Kaoru picked.

Kaoru smirked.

"Of course," he sighed, walking towards the mainmast. "My work is always the best."

Tamaki checked behind barrels and the crates, looking for his gloves. Hikaru had took them out of his bag and thought it would be funny to hide them.

"There you are!" he cried, finding both Hikaru and his gloves. However, he did not expect to find a young boy with them. "Er, hello?"

The boy just glared.

The crew stood in a circle around the boy, who had brown hair and bluish brown eyes, watching him as he faced Ritsu.

"You stowed away on our ship," It was not a question.

"Yeah," the boy said, sneering slightly. "Are you the captain?" Ritsu's eyes narrowed.

"Yes, who are you?"

Everyone was caught off guard as the boy bowed before him, his head touching the deck.

"My name is Shiro Takaoji and I wanna be a chef on your crew!" he shouted, looking up to glare at Ritsu defiantly. The red head looked at him for a long moment.

"No," he said, turning to walk towards the wheel.

"What!" Shiro spluttered, looking affronted.

"I said 'no'," Ritsu said calmly, ending the discussion. "Mitskuni, how long before we reach Uso Akiraka Ni?"

"About two hours or so," the small blond replied, checking the charts. "The wind's steady at the moment so it shouldn't be too long."

"Why can't I be on your crew?" Shiro demanded, jumping to his feet and fixing the captain with an irritated look.

"Because you're a brat." Ritsu said, not bothering to look at him. Shiro stiffened.

"What does it matter?" he shouted. "It has nothing to do with cooking or sailing."

"You need to be able to accept my orders without question," Ritsu said sternly, looking slightly irritated with the boy. "Obviously that is a problem for you."

"Please!" Shiro shouted, a hint of desperation creeping into his voice. "Accept me into your crew! I can't break my promise." Ritsu watching him with an unreadable expression.

"Why this ship?" he asked quietly.

"I dunno," Shiro mumbled. "I just did." Ritsu seemed to accept this, looking thoughtful.

"And what promise did you make?" he asked. The crew watched them curiously.

"It was to a girl," Shiro grumbled, turning pink. Ritsu smirked. "We met two years ago. We promised to be cooks who would sail the world and be able to prepare any dish. Now that she can't fufill it," he looked at Ritsu with determination burning in his eyes, "I'll do it for her!" Ritsu smiled.

"No," Everyone, except for Takashi and Kyouya, fell to the deck in shock.

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU, YOU OLD MAN!" Shiro screeched, lunging at the red head only to be held back by a frantic Tamaki. "DON'T RAISE SOMEONE'S HOPES SO SIMPLY!" Ristu twitched.

"I'M NOT AN OLD MAN YOU STUPID BRAT!" he bellowed, turning red in the face.

"OLD MAN!"

"STUPID BRAT!"

Later that evening, the crew sat around the table, waiting for their dinner.

Shrio emerged from the galley, followed by an annoyed looking Haruhi.

"What's wrong with you?" Kaoru asked, frowning.

"He wouldn't let me cook," she growled, glaring at the other brunette. Shiro rolled his eyes.

"You were burning everything," he snapped. "It was a waste of food." They glared at each other, ignoring the others' amused looks.

Kaoru shrugged and picked up his spoon, trying some of the stew. He sighed happily.

"Sure we can't keep the kid?" he asked Ritsu, who merely raised an eyebrow, a familiar glint in his eye.

"Hey Shiro!" Mitskuni said, breaking the silent battle of the cooks. "Why can't your friend fufill her promise?" Shiro looked sad for a moment before sitting down.

"Well, it happened when we met Devil Eye Morgan."

"Really?" Haruhi asked, surprised. Shiro nodded.

"We were on a merchant vessel her father owned. Morgan attacked it with his crew. It didn't take him five minutes to take it down." the boy sounded miserable. "She went with it. After that, I decided to work for both of us."

Everyone looked at him sadly. Takashi dropped a hand on his head and rubbed it gently.

"Why do they call him Devil Eye Morgan?" Tamaki asked, seeming confused.

"There's a legend," Haruhi said, leaning forward on the table. "Thousands of year ago, an angel and a devil were caught up in battle. They had two swords, the angel's was made of diamond while the devil's was made of ruby. After a whole year, their weapons finally broke and the shattered pieces fell from the sky onto earth. Anyone who finds a piece of the swords are either known as Devil Eye or Angel Breath users. My mother was an Angel Breath user." The last part was spoken under her breath, only Takashi and Mitskuni caught it, but decided to leave her alone.

"So they give you magic powers?" the older blond said, looking awed. Kyouya looked thoughtful, as if planning something.

"The Devil Eyes are cursed though," Haruhi went on. "The power will eventually consume them and leave them as a shell of who they were. The Angel Breaths have their own unique problem. The users loose the ability to swim if their weapon is on their person."

"Couldn't they just take it off?" Kaoru asked.

"It's extremely difficult," Haruhi said, shaking her head. "The attempts usually leave the person near death or dead."

"That's a lot to think about," Ritsu said, tipping his hat down and leaning back. There was a general murmer of agreement around the table.

A/N: Does Haruhi (in the FUNimation dub) sound anything like Vivi (in the FUNimation dub)? They have the same Voice Actor but we're just not hearing it. Also, Shiro is voiced with the same person as young Zoro and Chopper in the FUNimation dub. (and Nina Tucker for the FMA fans). He shares his Japanese VA with Naruto Uzumaki. (He was Envy's little monster form VA too.)

- MinusOne - thanks for the review! Were you surprised by who it was?

- Shinu Mae - thanks for the review! Rival pirates sound good! They can have powers. Ace is awesome! Hate Imperial Down Arc because of what happensto him. :(