Matsubusa didn't know if the weather had actually called for rain the whole time or if it was just Kanto's way of rubbing salt in his wounds, but the sky had gone quite sour by the time the taxi arrived at the hotel Homura had booked for him. The dark clouds rumbling overhead, obscured by the night sky, didn't even wait for the redhead to finish exiting the vehicle before they opened up and dumped their soggy load upon him. Rain powered downwards, coating both the sidewalk and the redhead as he dashed across the pavement towards the doorway, the occasional rumble of thunder punctuating the dreary atmosphere.
Soaked and trembling, Matsubusa practically limped in to the building, his body heavy and motivated onward only by thoughts of a hot shower and warm bed.
Dante whined quietly as a quick shake did nothing to completely dry him. He kept pausing periodically as he followed Matsubusa, shaking one hind leg at a time in a futile attempt to be rid of the abhorrent water that clung to his skin and made his fur limp.
Matsubusa practically slumped against the reception desk, placing his hands against it to steady himself. "...Reservation for Kazan."
The receptionist almost seemed to be extra energetic to spite Matsubusa, flashing a bright white smile at him. "One minute please, Mr. Kazan~!" The brunette sauntered over to the back counter, humming an off-key tune that grated on Matsubusa's last nerve as she sashayed her hips. Just as he felt tempted to snap, she suddenly popped up in front of him again with his keycard. "It's on the top floor. Elevator's down the hall to the right. We hope you have a nice stay~!"
Matsubusa accepted the key wordlessly, turning on his wet heels and dragging himself towards the elevator. As he pressed the button, he thankfully didn't have to wait long as the elevator arrived quickly, opening its doors welcomingly to the redhead. Matsubusa limped inside and turned about, waiting for Dante to flop down beside him, before he jabbed the button harshly. The elevator promptly closed, with a snap of the doors.
The receptionist waited until the elevator's floor number changed before dropping the fake smile. Careful not to disturb her dark wig, Shelly activated the communicator hidden in her ear. "He's here. I'm going in."
The distance between Matsubusa's room and the elevator seemed insurmountable. And yet, his tired body mustered enough strength to make the journey. He roughly pushed the door open and practically pulled himself inside, using the door and the sides of the wall to get his body going even as it was on the verge of giving up. He was even contemplating forgoing the shower and just dropping right in to bed. His clothes would dry eventually.
Dante moved more easily than Matsubusa, but he too couldn't hide his fatigue completely as he yawned and stretched once the door was securely locked behind them.
Matsubusa sighed as he reached up and began unbuttoning his changshan. He'd hang it over a chair, and hopefully it'd dry enough by the time Homura came to pick him up. With the police station so close, surely Aogiri would keep his distance. He imagined the pirate would try to attack after he left the place, but by then he would have Homura and Tabitha to help him. "A few... a few hours of sleep... that's all..."
The ringing of the Pokédex drew a groan from Matsubusa. He recognized the electro swing music as the tune he picked for Tabitha and glared darkly until he saw his admin's face appear on the screen, the dark haired man's eyes open unusually wide and filled with panic.
"They sabotaged the helicopter!" Tabitha blurted out. "I can't get it working!"
Matsubusa stopped as he stared at Tabitha. "...What?"
"Team Aqua sabotaged the helicopter!" Tabitha repeated quickly. "It gets worse! Courtney found out they're using your Pokédex's GPS to track you down! Get out of the hotel right n-"
The flickering of the room's lights immediately seized Matsubusa's attention and Tabitha's voice turned into little more than a frantic drone as he watched in horror as the room went black.
Matsubusa stood in the darkness, his heart thundering in his chest. Fear flooded through his body, bringing with it new vitality – no matter how temporarily. He turned his Pokédex over quickly and ripped the battery out, then hurried to the door. He threw the door open and fumbled his way down the hallway to the stairwell, with Dante's eyes providing the only light. He didn't even glance back as he rushed in to the stairwell, his body moving on pure adrenaline.
The power flickered back on only a mere five minutes after Matsubusa and Dante fled the hotel. Shelly grumbled quietly as she waited for the elevator to finish ascending. It didn't surprise her that by the time she reached the hotel room where Matsubusa was supposed to be staying, she found no one inside. She checked her communication earpiece to see if it would work now that she was no longer trapped within the confining space of the elevator. "Bad news," she muttered. "The storm knocked out the power so Masky flew the coop before I could catch him."
"I guess he's gotten skittish," Izumi said as she typed at her computer. "I can't track him anymore, either. His Pokédex is either turned off or had the battery taken out."
"Probably the latter," Shelly grumbled.
Aogiri leaned forward in his seat in the truck behind Izumi, peering at the computer screen. The excitement dancing in his eyes had only grown stronger with each failed attempt to nab Matsubusa, making him all the more determined. "Well then, it looks like we're going to need to cast a wider net to snag a catch this elusive."
Matsubusa hurried his way through the city, darting behind buildings and ducking behind cars as he made his way to safety – as safe as he could be, at any rate, when he was being hunted. Even though he had put considerable distance between himself and the ATM, it still wasn't enough. Somehow, something mundane had become terrifying when the mere act of putting his battery back in his Pokédex had become dangerous. And yet, he needed the money – all venues of escape required money. Not only that, he hadn't eaten since the morning before, and his body was quite unhappy about it. He had risked activating his Pokédex just long enough to withdraw the cash he needed, then promptly deactivated it and fled in to the night.
Even stopping at the convenience store to pick up food had been nerve-wrecking, and he wasn't about to rest until he was even further away lest somehow that could be tracked as well.
It wasn't until his legs simply couldn't carry him anymore that the redhead finally ducked in to a dark, empty building and collapsed against the floor. He trembled for a moment before he set the plastic bag on the floor, opening it. Inside, there was a pack of jerky for Dante and a sandwich for himself, as well as still-hot coffee in a styrofoam cup. He opened the bag of jerky and set the meaty treats down for Dante while he gulped down the coffee, desiring the heat more than the beverage itself. It was hardly something he'd consider food, but it was better than nothing.
Dante flopped down beside his trainer, still rather miserable after all their running through the storm, and eagerly gulped down the jerky.
Matsubusa sighed before he leaned back against the wall, propping his head back. "...I don't know if I can keep doing this, Dante."
Dante whined softly and nuzzled his nose against Matsubusa's arm before resting his weary head on his trainer's leg.
Matsubusa reached up to gently pet his Houndoom as he closed his eyes. "...I should have... listened to Homura. I... shouldn't have opened my damn mouth..."
Dante let out another soft sound as he cuddled closer to Matsubusa, halfway curling around his trainer's body.
Matsubusa shivered, his wet clothes clinging uncomfortably to his body. Still, he could feel Dante's body heat through the wet fur, and he was thankful for it. "Do we try the airport again...? If Homura can't get the helicopter working, I..." He trailed off, then shook his head. "I can't wait. Every second, they're getting closer..."
Dante had no advice to give, not that he could voice his thoughts in words even if he did. All he could do was lay his head down on Matsubusa's leg and increase his core body temperature in spite of the nasty rain soaking him to keep his trainer from catching hypothermia.
"What else is there?" Matsubusa asked, desperately. "If I can't go to the airport, I can't get to my helicopter, I can't take a taxi, I can't walk, and I can't take a train... then what else is there!?"
There were no answers, not that Matsubusa expected any. He glared outside at the rain as it came down, cursing it for making his situation all the more miserable and because it was the favorite element of the people who were hunting him down at this very moment. As he watched the drops shift direction due to the wind, he caught a glimpse of movement that made his heart lurch with the sudden terrible fear that Team Aqua had found him again, only to see that it was just the flapping corner of a soggy poster hanging on the wall that was threatening to fall off.
The redhead redirected his angry eyes to the printed photos of smiling Pokémon and people as they stood on the deck of a ferry boat and the blithely cheerful catch phrases meant to get stuck in peoples' heads so they would think of that particular company. It seemed water had no end to its ways of mocking him.
As Matsubusa glared at the picture of the ferry, a thought began to surface in his head. His brow creased as he looked at the picture of the boat, drifting away on the water as it sailed towards Hoenn – a couple hours ride, it boasted. "...No, absolutely not."
Dante looked up at Matsubusa, his eyes wide and inquisitive.
Matsubusa didn't look at Dante, still staring at the poster. Even though he had outright denied it as a possibility, he couldn't look away from it. "There's no way... I'd ever get on a ferry. Never again. Even if it is the only option left... the only option they wouldn't expect. I'd sooner... I'd sooner be caught than...!" He trailed off, as visions of his captivity at the hands of Aogiri played through his mind. He wasn't sure what the pirate meant to do, but he knew it couldn't be good. It'd no doubt involve humiliation, public at that, and a sea of laughing faces mocking him. Aogiri had long since made it clear how much he enjoyed degrading the redhead. "I... e-even if he..."
Though Matsubusa tried to avoid thinking of worst case scenarios, his fatigued mind couldn't help but drift to unpleasant images. Aogiri playing with his body in front of a camera, doing unspeakable things before using it to humiliate him all over again, not just in front of Team Magma, but possibly the entire world. It was so easy to upload video to the internet, and even the threat alone would be enough to force the redhead to do whatever his captors wanted.
Matsubusa couldn't help but think back to his school days, of the hateful classmates who targeted him for being smaller and scrawnier than them, for being an orphan, and for even existing at all. They had laughed at and humiliated him until a Houndour puppy he befriended came around to burn their underwear to a crisp while they were still wearing them.
Matsubusa swallowed hard, his hands gripping the Houndoom tightly as he faltered. "Even if... it's still better than..."
Even as he spoke, more images came to mind. He could see himself being forcibly held down somehow, bent over harshly so that Aogiri to pull his pants down and strike at him to his heart's content – all the while, his crew laughing and cheering at Matsubusa's humiliation. Worst of all, he could see the horrible hooligans recording it, not only as something to remember it by but also to show the world what happened to those that questioned them.
Matsubusa's breathing hitched as he pulled Dante close, trembling. "...But a ferry? I... it's a ferry, for Arceus' sake!"
Dante let out a worried whine as he cuddled his trainer.
What was worst, in Matsubusa's opinion, was that traitorous part of him that wanted to give in. Whenever Aogiri touched him, pressed their bodies close together, or stripped in front of him while saying such suggestive things...
"What... what's the worst that could happen...?" Matsubusa asked, his voice weak.
As if to answer the redhead, his own mind helpfully brought forth yet another vision. In it, Aogiri and his crew loomed around him with varying degrees of sinister, lewd grins. As the various members of Team Aqua began to strip down, exposing both themselves and their horrid intentions, Matsubusa trembled, staring in terror with tear-filled eyes. Aogiri loomed over him with the grin of a shark.
"You better not be too tired from all that running, 'cuz you're about to be very busy." Aogiri growled.
"W-what do you-?" Matsubusa began before he yelped as Aogiri planted his foot against the redhead's chest and shoved him back down against the floor.
"It's about time someone taught you a lesson," Aogiri continued, his expression unfriendly. "You're gonna be personally apologizing to each and every member of my crew, and there's only one form of payment we're gonna accept."
As if on cue, Ushio and Matt grabbed at his changshan, ripping the fabric violently as the redhead shrieked and brought up his arms to protect himself. Matsubusa trembled as he shielded himself with his arms, gaping up at the captain of Team Aqua.
"And we ain't taking 'no' for an answer." Aogiri smirked.
Matsubusa jerked to his feet, knocking Dante off of him as he sent both his coffee and his sandwich tumbling to the floor. Matsubusa crossed his arms to hug himself as he paced the floor, his breathing rough. After several teeth-chattering moments, the redhead whirled to Dante. The wild look in the redhead's eyes did little to soothe the Houndoom's concerns. "F-f-ferry! We're... we're taking the ferry!"
Dante's head shot up as he outright gawked at Matsubusa, his mouth hanging open.
Team Aqua had commandeered an empty truck stop after stopping to refuel. With no new leads on Matsubusa's whereabouts, they were left with little to do except lay low and get some rest after being awake all night and on the prowl. Outside, other members of the team were rejuvenating in the sunshine. Ushio was boldly stretched out on top of one of the tables, leaving some grunts to eat their meals around him, occasionally being forced to move a drink before it got spilled when he sleepily scratched his face or side. Izumi took up another table, but there was no one eating there, just helping her look over her array of computers for any sign of Matsubusa. Shelly slept peacefully curled up in the driver's seat in such a contorted manner that it would make a pretzel wince. Aogiri knew he should be sleeping as well, but he let Matt take up the bed in the back of the truck cab and took the passenger seat, legs propped up on the dashboard, with Matsubusa's laptop resting on his thighs.
"Haaaappy birth-day to yooou~!" the chorus of voices sang, the sound being directed in to Aogiri's ears by his headphones. On the computer screen, a video was playing of Tabitha and the rest of the admins gathered around a table, singing. Homura's own voice joined them even though he couldn't be seen, which identified him as the camera holder. "Haaaaappy biiirth-day to yoooou~!"
On the table itself was a large birthday cake, red with black frosting and covered in a plethora of candles – obviously meant to be a joke. Even the Pokémon were chiming in, with Dante front and center, throwing his head back as he howled along with the others.
Matsubusa sat at the front of the table, quivering with his face bright red. His glistening eyes told Aogiri that the redhead was fighting back tears, completely beside himself as the camera focused on him.
"Haaaappy birth-day, dear Ma-tsu-bu-saaaaaa!" The admins continued, with Dante placing his paws on the table and letting out a piercing howl of his own to punctuate the name.
At that point, Matsubusa finally couldn't hold the tears any longer, liquid streaming down his cheeks as he squirmed and tried to cover his face with his hands.
"Haaaappy birth-day tooooo... yooooouuu!"
Aogiri felt his chest constrict at the sight of Matsubusa in tears. He just wanted to hold the other man close and never let go.
"I-insubordination!" Matsubusa choked out between his sobs. "This is insubordination!"
Tabitha laughed. "What? A surprise party is against the rules now?"
"Making Matsubusa cry is against the rules," Courtney said dryly before blowing on a party favor. Despite her dull expression, she was decked out in a crown made of pointy party hats and wore a googly pair of colorful glasses.
"There, there," Kagari crooned as she hugged her leader from behind, petting his hair soothingly. "Do you need a tissue?"
"I-I'm not crying!" Matsubusa protested, as he sniffled. "I have allergies!"
"An allergy to cake or bad singing?" Tabitha teased.
Courtney punched Tabitha in the arm without looking at him.
Matsubusa wiped furiously at his eyes with his sleeves, his face flushed. "H-hic..."
Aogiri's fingertips brushed against the laptop screen before he realized that he was reaching out to Matsubusa. He ached to have been at that party, to wipe away those tears and kiss the leader of Team Magma's brow until Matsubusa could smile.
Kagari sighed as she gave the camera, and thus Homura, a wistful smile before she reached over to grab some tissues out of a box and helped clean up Matsubusa's face. "Yes, yes. Here you go, sweetheart. Now why don't you try and blow out your candles, hm?"
"And make a wish," Homura said, his voice amused. "Do you know what you want?"
Matsubusa sniffled as he paused and looked at the cake, then at Homura. After a moment, his face twisted up again. "I-I already... g-got...!" He couldn't even finish the words, as he proceeded bawling once more.
"Oh, honey," Kagari crooned as she moved to wrap her arms around Matsubusa's neck, then looked up to Homura. "Homura, you're totally killing him right now. You awful thing."
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Homura said with a small laugh. "Just don't cry on your cake. I spent several hours making it, just for you."
Tabitha lunged to join the hug, throwing a lot of energy and a big smile into it. "We love you, Matsubusa! Don't you forget it!"
Courtney pulled the string on a party popper, sending confetti flying with a crackle so that it sprinkled lightly onto Matsubusa's head. "This is going to happen every year, you know."
Matsubusa could only reply with a thin whine of jumbled words, the redhead trying desperately to control his tears and communicate to no success. He covered his face with his hands, sobbing all over again. Dante hopped up to place his paws on Matsubusa's lap, pressing his nose against his trainer's cheek as his tail wagged.
"Okay, okay," Homura said, sounding exasperated. However, there was good-natured humor in it, as he clearly wasn't upset. "Let's get you cleaned up, and then start again-"
And at that moment, Homura turned off the camera, ending the video.
Aogiri held his chest where an exquisite pain squeezed his heart. He ached to touch Matsubusa more than ever, to create such beautiful tears so that he could kiss them away. He wanted to be someone who could be so important to the leader of Team Magma, to share in such obvious love the other group shared for one another.
To be loved.
"Matsubusa...," Aogiri whispered, rolling the redhead's real name on his tongue. He needed to succeed in this mission now because he was absolutely certain that this was the only way he was ever going to have a chance to be with Matsubusa. Years of flirting and getting no closer had proved it. All he accomplished was falling more and more for the masked leader of Team Magma who never seemed to hold more than a few sparks of interest.
That was all Aogiri had, but it wasn't enough. If they could actually spend time together like a normal pair of people, then he could turn those tiny embers into a roaring flame.
It was all Aogiri could hope for at this point.
The receptionist hummed as she slipped through the open metal gate, heading in to the covered dock area that worked as the ticket booth and lobby for the ferry. The computers and cash registers themselves were behind a fully enclosed, steel and reinforced glass booth, to which she held the key in her hand. She moved quickly as she only had a few minutes to get ready before the customers began arriving, ready to purchase passage to Hoenn and areas beyond. As she ventured in to the area towards her destination, she gave a quick glance around at the wooden benches that filled the lobby.
It was then that she saw a man curled up on one of the benches, cuddling against a Houndoom. The redheaded man was oblivious to her presence, though the Pokémon was staring right at her as he guarded his trainer. Still, the sight alone was enough to make the woman yelp in alarm and drop her keys on the floor, causing them to rattle noisily.
Matsubusa jerked awake with a gasp, snapping out of his uncomfortable doze to fall out of the wooden bench on to the floor. He yelped, then grimaced as his back protested both the fall and the hardness of the wood beneath him. Slowly, Matsubusa sat up and turned a groggy gaze to the receptionist as she stared at him with wide eyes.
"What... what time is it?" he asked, his voice shaking.
"I-it's... seven am, sir," the reception said, hesitantly.
"O-oh. Oh," Matsubusa murmured. "So you're... you're finally open, then?"
"Um, almost, sir," the receptionist said, then frowned. "Have you... been here long?"
"...A couple hours, I think," Matsubusa replied as he stood up and stretched, flinching as the action irritated his sore muscles. "Maybe? I don't know. Long enough."
"...May I ask why?" the receptionist asked.
Matsubusa hesitated, then looked towards the reception booth. "I... want to buy a ticket. For two."
The receptionist frowned. She clearly wasn't certain what to make of the answer, mulling over whether or not she wanted to press further. In the end, she decided it wasn't worth it. She moved to pick up the keys, then unlocked the booth and stepped inside. "Right this way, sir. One adult and one Pokémon?"
"...Yes, please," Matsubusa said as he gingerly crossed the lobby to the reception area. He tried to ignore how the wood creaked beneath him, reminding him that he was on a dock. "A room, if you have any."
The receptionist locked the booth behind her before she turned on the computers, waiting for them to boot up. As she continued setting up for the morning, the woman kept glancing at the exhausted-looking man as he waited at the window. When the systems were finally up and running, she set about checking the reservations for the morning. As she worked, other potential customers began filing in to the area.
Matsubusa paid no attention to the other people, even as many stopped to turn and stare at him. He knew he must've looked terrible, his clothes wrinkly and still damp while his hair was ruffled and unkempt. He was too tired to care at that point, he had other things to focus his attention on – like the fact that he was about to board a floating death trap.
"Yes, sir, we do have a room available," the receptionist said. "That will be-"
Matsubusa wordlessly dumped a wad of money in to the little slot through the window. The receptionist paused and looked down at the pile, then looked up to Matsubusa's tired face. She stared for a moment before she counted out what she needed, then handed back the rest. Matsubusa accepted the change and shoved it in his pocket, his movements dull and sluggish.
The receptionist processed the payment before the computer spat out the tickets, two slips of paper. She pulled the tickets from the machine and handed them to Matsubusa through the window. "Thank you for your patronage, and have a lovely trip. We'll be leaving port at nine o'clock exactly."
Matsubusa nodded slowly, accepting the tickets before he turned and limped away from the receptionist's desk. As he moved, he could hear low murmurs as people watched him, but he didn't acknowledge them. He focused his eyes on the dock itself, where the ferry was docked. He stood stiffly to the side and watched as sailors prepared the vessel for its morning voyage, stocking it with supplies while finishing their morning safety checks.
No amount of safety checks would ever make Matsubusa feel safe on the ferry, or any boat. Each time the ferry rocked due to the waves, he felt his stomach lurch. Even as he stood on the dock, his senses screamed at him that he was making a mistake – that he was better off waiting for Homura or being captured than boarding such an accursed boat.
But the redhead knew that wasn't the case, that he couldn't afford to be captured. He told himself over and over, like a mantra, that times had changed, that boats were safer now than they had ever been. What had happened before could never happen again, and he could even see the solar-powered anti-Pokémon device that was attached to the buoys at the far side of the harbor. These same buoys were scattered about the ocean, in areas where human traffic was common. They were required by law and maintained by the Pokémon Rangers, so he could trust that the journey would be perfectly safe – people had learned. There would never be another disaster, there would never be another situation like the one he had lived through.
Yet no matter how he repeated it, he couldn't help but feel like he was looking at a guillotine that was ready to come down on his neck. It was only Dante's constant presence, pressed up against his body, that he felt any strength at all to face the ordeal he was about to endure – about to overcome.
"The room better have alcohol in it," Matsubusa grumbled as he gripped Dante's horn, his fingers curling around it. "There's no way in hell I'm doing this trip sober."
"What do you mean all the flights to Kanto have been canceled!?" Homura shrieked in to his Pokédex as he paced the room, like a lion trapped in a cage at the zoo. "I have been trying to get a flight to Kanto for hours and now you're telling me that every single one has been canceled?!"
Kagari wearily watched Homura as he continued to scream and argue with the unfortunate airline employee on the other end, then turned to Courtney as their tech master worked away at her computer. The three of them were in the meeting room, with Courtney's laptop hooked up to the large monitor as she worked. Homura, Tabitha, and Kagari had gotten dressed before heading over after the panicked calls, but Courtney was still wearing her pajamas - black Charizard pajamas, to be precise. "...Tabitha still hasn't gotten the helicopter working. Team Aqua really did a number on it."
The sudden clatter of Courtney slamming her hands down onto the table made Kagari start, and even Homura jerked from his phone call to turn towards the dour girl staring at her computer screen. Courtney's mouth was drawn as taut muscles in her face turned her normally dead expression into something unnerving. "Matsubusa is trending on Pokébook."
Homura stopped at that and whirled to stare at Courtney. He then swiftly reached down to grab the controller to the overhead monitor, clicking it on so that it could display whatever was on Courtney's screen.
The webpage loaded was a popular celebrity tabloid site, specifically to an article about Matsubusa. Photographs, obviously taken by a phone or Pokédex, showed Matsubusa tiredly purchasing tickets then shakily clutching the rails as he climbed the gangplank with obvious fear. The article informed the world that a traveling trainer had recognized the CEO of Kazan Industries and snapped a photo of him without him realizing it. They then posted it to their Pokébook page and created a brand new hashtag for it that immediately went viral on the internet.
The picture gained immediate attention, with other travelers sneaking pictures of their own to verify that the original image wasn't a fake. According to the site, over one million people had seen the original post so far and the number was steadily climbing.
ceo of kazen talks smack about pirates. gets on boat #genius #piratebait
OMG! ITS REAL U GUYZ! :O #PIRATEBAIT
Stay off the 9am ferry today. #PirateBait #TeamAqua #KazanInc
Homura swiftly hit mute on his Pokédex, silencing the employee on the other line as he continued to apologize. "Take that garbage down! Now!"
Kagari glared up at the screen, her face twisted with disapproval. "Don't they know they could get him killed!? This isn't a game!"
"Nuke the whole website if you have to!" Homura barked. "Get it down as quickly as you can!"
Courtney's fingers stabbed at her keyboard, a terrible light appearing in her eyes as she attacked everything even remotely associated with the #piratebait hashtag.
As consciousness slowly returned to Matsubusa, he became aware of various sounds outside his room. They were dull at first, obstructed by the alcoholic fog that took over his brain, but slowly they came in to focus. It sounded like yelling and quick footsteps, as if people were running through the halls. A vague thought drifted through his mind, of him scolding the people for making such noise when others were quietly enjoying their drunken stupors.
Just as he began to drift back to sleep, the whole boat gave a mighty rattle. A deep-seated creak moaned through the whole boat as it rocked ever so slightly, though it was still enough to jerk Matsubusa awake.
The redhead sat up with a yelp, his eyes snapping open. He looked about wildly as his eyes scoured for the source of the motion, as if it could be found among the discarded bottles of alcohol on the floor. Behind him, Dante spooned his trainer with one paw draped across Matsubusa's waist as his tongue dangled out of his mouth. Just like Matsubusa, he had ingested his own share of the alcohol in order to make the trip more enjoyable. Unlike Matsubusa, he was still deeply asleep as neither sound nor motion broke through.
Matsubusa made a soft grunt in the back of his throat before he lifted Dante's paw off of him, groggily shifting his feet off the bed and on to the floor. He had drunk every bottle of alcohol in the mini-fridge, from cheep beer to expensive liquor, and had even called on room service more than once to replenish it. He was creating a sizable tab for Homura to pay when he arrived, but it was worth it for his own sanity.
Bottles rattled as the redhead waded past them, stopping at the door to the room. Tentatively, he opened the door, peering out in to the hallways. He saw people scampering away in all directions, apparently aware of something that he was not. He noted one particular crewmember scampering past him, causing him to raise his voice. "…The hell's going on?"
The crewmember stopped momentarily, startled by the question and Matsubusa's lack of awareness. He stared at the passenger before he recovered himself. "T-T-Team Aqua! It's Team Aqua! They actually... they actually came!We... we have to evacuate!"
"Team... Aqua?" Matsubusa repeated slowly, staring at the crewmember as he fled without giving the red-haired man a chance to respond. The words meant something, but his brain wasn't quite able to process it just yet. After another moment of mulling, the words managed to pierce the fog in his head. Matsubusa's eyebrows shot straight up, disorientation turning to shock and then vivid anger. "What!?"
Matsubusa should've been horrified, terrified even, that Team Aqua had discovered him on the ferry. All of his efforts had been for nothing, as the pirate had still managed to find him and pursued him to the Arceus-forsaken deathtrap.
Instead, Matsubusa was flooded with anger. The redhead whirled as he slammed his fist against the wall, glaring in both directions as he looked for the target of his ire. How dare Aogiri show himself, after everything he put Matsubusa through. From the hotel to the airport, then another hotel, and finally to the ferry itself, Aogiri had chased him every step of the way. He was tired, hungry, sore, and completely drunk. He had forced himself to board a ferry to try and escape the man, and Aogiri still insisted on chasing after him. It wasn't enough that he had to suffer through the cold, damp clothes, hunger pains, and water, the pirate wasn't going to leave him alone.
Matsubusa was done, enough was enough. He was going to give the pirate a piece of his mind, what wasn't currently completely soaked in alcohol, and make sure Team Aqua knew what he thought of them and their sexy stupid leader.
With a growl, Matsubusa stormed out of his room. His feet wobbled but he managed to maintain his balance, using the walls for support as he stalked down the hallway in the direction most likely to be the correct one – where the commotion was loudest. As people fled past him in a panic, he alone charged forward to the approaching menace. Other passengers and crew gave him confused looks as they fled, but he paid them absolutely no mind. He had a goal, he was focused, and Aogiri was in for hell.
As Matsubusa boldly strode his way out on to the deck, he was promptly greeted by a sea of people in white, black, and blue – Team Aqua grunts. He stood defiantly in the doorway and pointed dynamically towards the person of his ire just as the pirate boarded the boat from where a collection of hook wires seemed to be attached to the deck, his admins around him. "You bastard!"
To say that Aogiri was surprised was putting it mildly. He expected Matsubusa to barricade in some cabin or prepare a trap once word broke out that they had snagged the ferry. He was unprepared for the redhead to storm towards him, only a slight stagger to each step, as a wobbly finger tried to remain directed at his nose. The whiff of alcohol he noted floating on the air only confirmed his suspicions. "Are you drunk?"
"No, I am angry!" Matsubusa snapped as he pointed at Aogiri, scowling. He then paused. "And drunk. I am angry and drunk. Angry but also drunk. Angry drunk."
Aogiri looked sideways at his admins. "Finish securing things. I can handle this myself."
"Right, boss," Ushio said as he scratched the back of his head, then turns to the grunts. "Oya, don't let those gawkers just stand around! Get 'em movin'!"
"Don't ignore me!" Matsubusa snarled as he clenched his fists, shaking them at Aogiri. "I am talking to you!"
Aogiri placed his hands on his hips and returned his attention to their target. "Okay, Mas... Matsubusa. I'm all yours."
"Good! You need to pay attention when I'm yelling at you!" Matsubusa said, glaring at the pirate. He paused as it registered that the pirate had said his name, and his face promptly turned a dark shade of red. "C-c-cheeky bastard! Who said you could use my first name!?"
"I did," Aogiri said as he slowly approached Matsubusa, his voice lowering to a sultry whisper once he was close enough that the redhead could hear. "You see, I figured since we'll be getting to know each other a little better, we might want to start by calling each other by our first names. It's more friendly like that, don't you think?"
Matsubusa felt his blush deepen as Aogiri spoke, but he refused to release his anger just yet. "No! It's not fair! You know my name but I don't know yours! You're not allowed to call me by my name if I can't call you by yours!"
Aogiri's smile widened before he leaned in close enough Matsubusa could feel his breath tickle a few stray red hairs. "Aogiri."
"Eh?" Matsubusa blinked slowly as he stared up at Aogiri. He hesitated before he fidgeted with the front of his changshan, tugging on it. "A... Ao... giri...?"
Aogiri lightly ran a finger along Matsubusa's chin as he gazed deeply into the other man's stunning red eyes. "That's my name. Please do use it as often as you like." He dropped his voice another octave. "Especially when you're moaning in pleasure."
Matsubusa felt a shiver at the touch, his temperature skyrocketing as the finger left a blazing trail along his cold flesh. His heart fluttered in his chest as the pirate's words drifted through him like its own caress, stirring things inside of him. He struggled to respond, words failing him as his breathing hitched, before something in the back of his mind brought him crashing back to reality. The redhead jerked as he reached up to push against the pirate's chest, the gesture rather weak and shaky despite the effort. "No! Don't try to change the subject! I – am – angry at you!"
"Oh yeah?" Aogiri asked, cocking an eyebrow. "What for?"
"Everything!" Matsubusa snapped, furiously. "I'm cold, and wet, and hungry, and tired, and drunk, and on a damn boat, and it's all your fault!"
"Hey, we're both to blame for the plan going south," Aogiri said with a shrug. "Me for not expecting you to throw a dozen wrenches into the works." His expression turned devious, intense. "The original plan was to have you chilling on our island by now, preferably lounging in my bed while my magic fingers make you feel so good you don't ever want to leave."
"No, your plan was to spank my butt again and take pictures!" Matsubusa retorted, hotly. "It's all you ever want to do!"
Aogiri straightened up a bit as he considered the accusation. "Okay, I'll admit in the beginning my plans all involved ticking you off, but that changed a long time ago. Now all I want to do is make you ache for my touch." He emphasized his point by lightly brushing the back of his fingers across Matsubusa's cheek.
"Smacking my butt makes it ache!" Matsubusa huffed indignantly, even as the touch sent chills through his body, mingling with the ones he already felt. "I-I bet right now, you're just thinking about how you want to have your way with me! I am not a party favor that you can pass around to your crew, I don't care how mad you are!"
Aogiri blinked once, twice, then a third time for good measure. "I... wait, what?"
Ushio came back from helping the grunts round up the rest of the crew and other passengers when he stopped and turned to stare at Matsubusa. "...The hell's going through his head!?"
Matsubusa looked triumphant, as if he had caught Aogiri in a lie, as he pointed directly at the pirate's face. "I don't care how sexy you are, you can't just do whatever you are to me! You need to stop bothering me, and that includes coming after me in my dreams! I keep having to throw away all my underwear and it's your fault!"
Aogiri's eyebrows shot up and he found himself unable to respond. It was all he could do not to burst out laughing at the drunken accusations.
Matt skidded to a halt as he came back just in time to hear Matsubusa's personal outburst. "I... didn't just hear that, did I?"
Ushio stared at Aogiri and Matsubusa by the doorway and turned to Matt. "...Can we just say we didn't an' leave it at that?"
Matt spun around on his heel and raised his voice as he marched away quickly. "Heard what? We didn't hear anything! We were never even here! We're too busy securing the ship!"
"You think you can do whatever you want because you're sexy and handsome and built like a bronze idol, but you're wrong!" Matsubusa declared as he jabbed his finger at Aogiri's chest. "I only kind of want to have sex with you! And don't you forget that!"
Aogiri finally lost it. There was nothing he could do but laugh.
Matsubusa stared as Aogiri laughed right at him. As it slowly registered that the pirate found him amusing, anger and frustration bubbled up inside of him. The redhead grit his teeth as he clenched his hands, shaking them at Aogiri again. "You! Why are you laughing?!"
"Sorry, sorry," Aogiri managed between chuckles. "It's just that I was expecting to have a hard time turning you on, and here you are imagining some pretty kinky stuff involving not just me but my crew as well!"
Matsubusa's face turned dark red as he quivered, outrage flooding his face. "I am not-! You... you're the one who... I am not a pervert!"
Aogiri reached out to feel the heat in Matsubusa's red cheeks. "Never said you were, just there's one little thing I'd change about those fantasies of yours." He dropped his voice into a rich growl, his expression turning predatory. "The only one laying their hands on you is me. I'm not about to share you with anyone, not even my crew."
Matsubusa gaped at Aogiri, his eyes widening as his blush spread to his ears and down his neck. He trembled a moment before he let out a strangled squeak as a response with his words coming out all at once in a jumbled mess. He struck out at Aogiri's chest as the words continued to flow from him in a high-pitched whine before he whirled on his heels and stumbled back towards his room as fast as his drunken feet could carry him.
Aogiri chuckled as he watched his rival blindly flee and made to follow. There was no rush, not when on his turf. After all, there wasn't many places for Matsubusa to go, and he had a hunch where the redhead was headed.
The smell of alcohol was strong in the room, lingering on the countless tiny bottles scattered about haphazardly. Aogiri found himself surprised by the sheer amount that Matsubusa must have drunk in a short period of time. It was little wonder to him why he heard the sound of retching from the bathroom and found his brilliant rival purging the excess alcohol in the toilet.
Aogiri felt a pang of guilt. The chase must have stressed Matsubusa out more than he ever expected. He knelt down behind the other man and held the damp red hair back so that none of it would fall into the toilet.
Aogiri took note how Matsubusa trembled, how pale the leader of Team Magma's skin was. He had noticed it had been somewhat cool in places and warm in others, but a light touch revealed Matsubusa's hands to be cold and clammy while the other man's forehead was suspiciously warm. He wallowed in guilt as he waited for Matsubusa to stop heaving and moved away briefly only to get the other man a glass of water and a paper towel. "Here."
Matsubusa trembled, on his knees in front of the toilet as he gasped for air. His stomach churned, his chest hurting from heaving. He hadn't intended for it to happen, as he had planned to simply flee to his room to escape. However, he had finally reached his limit – the stress had become too much to handle. His energy was rapidly draining from his body, no doubt in to the toilet. It hadn't actually been all that permanent to start with, fueled mostly by adrenaline. He heard Aogiri's voice and felt his presence, which prompted him to turn to stare at the pirate with uneven eyes. "...I don't feel good..."
Aogiri made sure Matsubusa took the water and towel before he wrapped his arms gently around the redhead. "I took this too far, didn't I?" he said softly. "I'm sorry."
Matsubusa didn't have the energy to resist, going limp in Aogiri's arms. In the haze, he noticed how warm and strong Aogiri felt against his body, the pirate cradling him as he held him closely. It actually felt very nice, especially against his chilled body. He wanted nothing more than to drift away in to that warmth, to finally let his body succumb to the exhaustion he felt. "...Can we stop now...?"
The question wrenched Aogiri's heart to the point where words failed him. He couldn't think of anything he could say in response before Matsubusa went limp against him, passing out from exhaustion and excessive alcohol.
Ushio was the last of the admins to regroup at the front of the ferry, where their boat was docked. The rest of the grunts followed him before proceeding to board their ship, sliding down the ropes with ease. Ushio nodded to Matt and Shelly, then cracked his neck. "Well, I guess this means we're done, right? 'cuz none of you better tell me that Masky escaped after all this."
Shelly looked past Ushio to spy Aogiri coming onto the deck cradling a limp Matsubusa in his arms, with a suspiciously new Pokéball attached to his belt. She nearly cracked a joke when she noticed how pale the leader of Team Magma looked. "Doesn't look like it," she muttered before she moved to her leader's side. "What happened?"
Aogiri exhaled wearily as guilt helped the fatigue of the all nighter start to catch up to him. "Masky drank himself sick, and he's got a fever to boot."
Matt looked over, his brow wrinkling with concern. "Does that mean we'll be sending him back to Magma to recover?"
Shelly did a cursory examination of Matsubusa. "If his condition is bad, we should make sure he gets to a hospital." She raised her eyes to Aogiri's worried gaze. "But I'm not seeing anything that's making me worried... yet."
Aogiri managed a small smile. "When we get back to base, give him a full exam, and make sure to let me know all the details. I didn't have us go through all this to wreck Masky."
"I'm sure he'll be fine," Ushio said as he flashed his captain a grin. "There ain't no point takin' him to a hospital, 'cuz the best doc won't be there. There ain't no doc better than Shelly."
"That's true," Shelly said as she followed Aogiri to their boat. "But hospitals have more equipment." She cocked her head slightly. "We might want to consider adding on to our supply."
"That'll be next on the to do list," Aogiri said as he turned his gaze towards the dozing Matsubusa. "For now, we've got to lay low from the cops and Team Magma. They're going to be crawling up our ass as soon as we take off and Izumi's jamming signal gets out of range."
"Exactly," Izumi's voice came over their earpieces, as she remained on the ship with their technology. "They're already trying to post to Pokébook about this. Our hashtag's going to get flooded the very second we get out of range."
Matt propped his arms behind his head as he moved back to their boat. "Think anyone took any good video of us?"
"Sure as hell tried," Ushio grumbled. "Dumbasses couldn't put their Arceus-damned phones 'n Pokédexes down, even as we were puttin' 'em below deck."
Aogiri tuned out the banter and laughter of his comrades as he whisked Matsubusa off to his cabin. Normally, he would love to joke and celebrate their victory over Team Magma, but all he could think of at that moment was how shockingly small and fragile Matsubusa felt in his arms.