~R~

I took a deep breath, letting all the noise fade away around me. I kept my sight along the arrow as I pulled the string back. My focus sharpened, and then I loosed the arrow. It buried itself deep into the center of the target. I smiled at the praise I received.

"Nice shot!" and, "That was awesome!" were the ones I heard the most.

"This bow is great!" I exclaimed. I studied it, appreciating the amount of work that went into it. It was recurve bow carved from a sturdy type of wood. It was pretty light, and fit in my hand perfectly. Of course I took note of the tiny jolly roger that was etched onto it. It was Whitebeard's symbol. I liked it. And the arrows were very well made as well. Nice and sharp. I'm guessing the arrowheads were intended to look like hearts (probably so they'd befit a girl) but since they were arrowheads, they looked more like spades. I liked them anyway. "Thank you, Souji-kun!" I said.

"Oh, its no problem!" he replied sheepishly. "Its the least I could do. You rescued me, right?" Even though I told him it was Ace and Marco who did most of the work, he still insisted he owed his life to me as well.

I smiled and turned back toward the deck where the crew had set up a bunch of targets for me test out the bow. I got a bulls-eye on all of them, even the ones that seemed too far away to hit from where I was standing.

"You look like you're having fun."

I grinned and looked at Ace. "I am!" I replied.

He chuckled. Then he asked, "Say, you're not gonna start using that during the game, are you?" He looked a little apprehensive, as if I'd actually start tagging people with my arrows.

Then I got an idea. "Hey, that's a good idea! Not with real arrows though. Suction cup arrows!" I said. "Souji-kun, can you make those?"

"That shouldn't be a problem." he replied.

"Nice going Ace..." I heard Thatch mutter. Ace murmured a quiet 'Sorry' in response. I snickered.

~M~

"It might just be me, but it looks like you're getting a little too much enjoyment out of this..." I said.

Rory was kneeling behind a barrel with one of those suction cup arrows notched. "Hey, if you think about it, I'm getting some practice hitting moving targets! Don't you think that might come in handy?" she asked. "And the guys can brush up on their evasive skills."

"I guess that's true." I replied. It a way it was. It still looked like she was enjoying sniping our comrades though. Thatch especially. It might have something to do with whatever he did to deserve that hand-print before. I never found out what happened, but I'm sure it was something perverted.

I'm convinced that Thatch is a teenager trapped in the body of a man in his thirties. I'd sooner expect that behavior from Ace, being the eighteen year old that he was. But I guess age doesn't have much to do with maturity.

Speak of the devils. I spotted the two of them walking cautiously, looking every which way. They were watching their backs for any flying arrows. They were the worst offenders, after all, so its only natural that they would be targeted the most. Rory went into focus mode and aimed at one of them. Her eyes didn't leave her prey once. She didn't even blink. She loosed the arrow at the precise moment, and heard Ace yelp. I looked over and saw the suction cup arrow sticking to the center of his chest.

I have to admit, Rory is a deadly shot. An excellent edition to the crew, if I do say so myself.

Upon seeing the arrow, Thatch took off. Rory tutted her tongue and followed him. She made sure to be stealthy about it though. She used walls and barrels for cover.

~...~

For some reason or another, a party had brewed that night. (Possibly to celebrate Rory's archery skills. These guys will use anything as an excuse to party.) Most every one had been drinking. Even Rory's cheeks were tinged pink due to alcohol. Thankfully she knew better than to drink too much, unlike Thatch who had passed out.

Rory took advantage of the opportunity. I couldn't fathom why, but she had a marker tucked into her boot. (Though now that I think about it, yoga pants don't have pockets, do they?) She took it out and started doodling on Thatch's face. Revenge for the jokes, I assume. The guys around her roared with laughter.

Personally I was more amused a little while after that. Ace ended up having a little too much to drink as well and somehow ended up asleep with his head resting on Rory's shoulder. I doubt the crew's ever going to let him live this down. Rory didn't even seem to notice though, and instead focused on some story Vista was telling. I wondered if she was as oblivious as Ace was. In that case, that made them a perfect match, huh? I shook my head.

~A~

I felt oddly comfortable for someone who passed out while drinking. I opened my eyes, noticing it was still nighttime. I was about to go back to sleep, but my eyes snapped wide open and I didn't dare to move or even breath for a moment. I was definitely using someone as a pillow. And this person was very soft. Or at least the part of them I was using was soft. And warm. I lifted my head and looked up at Rory's sleeping face. I was frozen in place as my eyes flicked toward her chest, where my head had been resting, heat rushing to my face.

I scrambled backward, a bad idea because it caused me and the chair I was sitting to crash to the ground. I cursed when I hit my head, and then murmured apologies in response to the annoyed and sleepy mutters I got for waking the others. I sat silently and waited for them to fall asleep again.

I looked over at Rory and breathed a sigh of relief when she didn't wake up. I watched her for while as my heartbeat slowly returned to normal.

I planned on going to sleep right then and there, but the mischievous part of me made remember the journal. I tried to push it out of my mind, but it wouldn't go away. It was too tempting. I couldn't just go to her room though, even if it seemed like no one could catch me. I knew there were eyes and ears all over this ship. I had no reason at all to go into Rory's quarters.

Unless...Unless I carried her in there. Yeah...

I stood up and walked over to Rory to pick her up.

"What are you doing?"

I jumped slightly and looked at Marco who was watching me from his seat. Was he watching the whole time? "Uh, I was just gonna take Rory to her room. You know... So she's more comfortable..." I replied.

"Uh-huh..." I got the impression he didn't believe me, but he didn't comment. "Alright, whatever."

"Okay then..." I said. I picked Rory up and quietly carried her to her room. I looked over my shoulder, in case someone had decided to follow.

However when I got to Rory's room, I was met with quite a surprise. Looks like I wasn't the only one who was snooping tonight. However I didn't plan on going to these lengths.

"Thatch!" I hissed.

He jumped and looked looked over his shoulder at me, momentarily pausing his rummaging through drawers. "Oh, it's just you. What's up?" He then registered that Rory was in my arms. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"Me? What are you doing?" I asked.

"What does it look like? You'd be surprised what you can find in here..." he said. To give me an example, he showed me a bright red g-string.

I'm pretty sure I looked like a tomato at that point. "Uh, y-you should probably go wash your face or something..." I said. I just wanted him to get out of there.

"My face?" He picked up a mirror. "Ah, what the hell!" He dashed out of the room.

I sighed and placed Rory on her bed, pulling the blanket over her. After that, I started picking up the things Thatch had left scattered on the floor. Most of it was underwear, so it felt like it was way to hot the room. (Says the fire man...) I put it all in the open drawer and closed it.

I sighed when it was done. I looked around and noticed Rory's journal on the nightstand, right where it was last time. I walked over and picked it up.

"What do you think you're doing?"

I jumped (there seems to be a lot of that going around tonight) and reflexively dropped the booklet on the nightstand. I looked over my shoulder guiltily.

Marco was looking into the room with his arms crossed.

"Uh...Nothing..." I said.

Marco lifted his hand crooked his finger, signaling for me to go over to him.

Man, if I had anywhere to run, I'd be gone in a flash. But I didn't so I walked over to him and stepped out of the room. I heard Marco close the door.

He then pushed me down the hall, and I was prepared to get an earful.