User:The Koromo/RAP Part 3

Kentani Hibachi looked out toward the island ahead of them, sighing and hoping sincerely that they had a shipyard somewhere on this island. Regardless, he would search the island from top to bottom in desire for a decent-sized ship – this three person boat would carry another crewmember, hopefully one he’d find on this island, but nothing more than that – he wanted to have a bigger pirate crew, for chrissakes. “Maybe that island has a shipyard,” Shiro noted and yawned, supposedly reading Kentani’s mind and spitting out the bubble gum that was resting in his mouth, without chewing it – he just sucked out all the taste, oddly enough. “And we could get some food there, too. Man, I’m starving…bubblegum ain’t a big help, man.”

“Yeah,” Kentani sighed. He rested his palm on his chin and waited until the sail took them to the docks.

“Koromo? You in here?”

The room was dark, but dimly lit – the only sound coming from the buzzing of the unseen heater in the blackness. A nightlight was on in the corner, the only light illuminating the room other than the tiny lightbulb on the ceiling. Dolls and teddy bears of all shapes and sizes were littered about and thrown carelessly around the room. The short, raven-haired girl who stood at the doorway frowned when a young female voice responded.

“What is it you desire?”

“Do you want to come out?” the raven-haired girl said. “Agiyoshi made fried shrimp and flounder – your favorite!”

“I am not hungry,” the voice said. She was clearly young and female, but the only thing visible of her was her ominous, looming shadow. “I miss Hagiyoshi.”

“I miss him too, but his run with us ended, Koromo. You know that. Are you sure you don’t want to come down and eat dinner?”

“Positive.”

“O-okay.”

Hajime closed the door, closed her eyes for a second and breathed, then jumped when she heard a voice behind her - “Hajime, how is Koromo doing?”

“Bad,” Hajime stated simply. “She didn’t even get excited when I said Agiyoshi was making fried-shrimp…she usually jumps for joy over that…I don’t know what to do, Touka.”

The other girl, Touka presumably, sighed and responded “Neither do I. She’s been on a serious downward spiral recently, ever since Hagiyoshi left. She was surprisingly close to that man – I didn’t even know she was that close to him. I guess in this case, I didn’t really realize what Koromo had until it was gone, desu-wa. But I guess Koromo knew, desu wa.” Touka was average height, with frizzy blond hair and a strange strip of it poking out of the top of her head.

“The evening meal is ready, Touka-ojousama,” a man said. Touka and Hajime turned around to come face to face with a man of about six feet, wearing a black tux and his brown hair spiky and seemingly unwashed. “While you eat, may I ask for permission to be excused from the manor temporarily?”

“Of course, desu-wa,” Touka responded. The man nodded and turned his back on the two, walking down the hall towards the stairs.

Kentani and Shiro docked about seven minutes after the latter spit his bubblegum into the sea, and as they stepped off the docks were greeted with a nice little town-island that had a thick brush of forest in the back. A man at the docks was giving out free cotton candy, to which Shiro happily complied and took a stick of the treat. A few minutes later, the two made it to the town plaza, a little square center in the middle of town full of shops and restaurants.

“Ahhh…” Shiro whined. His stomach was unsatisfied with the cotton candy; he needed more. “Any chance we can stop at a restaurant? I’m really going to die of starvation if we don’t get a bite to eat soon.”

“Why are you asking me? You’re the one who’s got the money.” Kentani smiled at his crewmate.

Shiro grinned in exchange. “Gotcha. So which do you want to go to, wiseguy?” Kentani pointed at a small building in the corner of the plaza which had flashing neon signs and colors, despite the fact that it was day. Since it had the word “restaurant” at the end, it was safe for Kentani and Shiro to assume that it had some sort of delicacy. “That one looks lively,” said Kentani. “So, deal?”

“Deal. Let’s pig out then find ourselves a ship.”

“I’m with you on both ends,” Kentani said, grinning.

“This is probably the first time dessert’s tasted better than the entrée,” Shiro said finishing his chocolate cake. The two pirates were eating outside – their waitress had lead them to an outside table. Shiro stretched, yawned, and leaned back in his chair, enjoying the warm North Blue weather.

“Iths preety gud,” Kentani agreed chomping into the last bit of his ice cream cone, his mouth stuffed. He burped and blushed, excusing himself. Seeing what Shiro was doing, he also leaned back in enjoyment of the sweet weather.

While the relaxed Kentani’s eyes were closed, Shiro jolted up for a second, feeling a spark of negative energy around the table. Across the way, he saw a man looking to be about in his early thirties or late twenties walking out of a store. He had spiky brown hair and was wearing a sort of suit – a tux, Shiro could see. As the man disappeared into an alleyway, Shiro nudged Kentani.

“Eh? What is it?” Shiro’s captain asked, a bit miffed that the pleasure of the warm breeze was interrupted. Shiro’s eyes looked stark; serious.

“There was a man just walking across the way over here,” Shiro recounted. His eyes narrowed and stared at the alleyway in which the man walked into.

“So?” Kentani yawned.

“So I could feel that he had a very negative presence. In other words; there was something off about him. Way off.”

“Alright, what do you want me to do about it?”

Shiro was angry now, but he didn’t explode. “This might be another pirate, Kentani. If this is a pirate island, we’re in for a load of trouble. Our crew only has two people in it right now – you and me.”

“I doubt it, man,” Kentani said. “This is a nice little town, and I’m pretty sure we’re the only pirates here. And besides, even if it is a pirate island, you haven’t seen the full extent of what I can do.”

“Alright,” Shiro sighed, giving up. I’ll just go with the flow for now.

“Hello again, you two!” A female voice punctuated near them, startling the two. They both felt relieved when they realized the voice was that of their waitress. “I hope you enjoyed your meals and dessert. Just a check, I presume?”

“A check will do,” Kentani said, and Shiro nodded. The woman nodded but, right before she was about to turn around, Shiro asked her something.

“Hey, lady – do you know if this island has any shipyards or ships for sale or anything?” the swordsman asked. The woman blinked, then answered.

“Yes, but the shipyards are all owned by the Ryuumonbuchi family. Usually they charge you an insane amount of money to buy a big ship, but if you get on their good side, you might just get one for free…might.” The woman smiled.

Ryuumonbuchi…family? Well this is ominous, Kentani thought.

“Alright,” responded Shiro, snapping Kentani out of his thoughts. “Where does this Ryuumonbuchi family operate?”

The woman responded again. “The family manor is located quite deep into the woodland area of the island. You can get to that area if you take the route that leads out of this town plaza and make a left; then you’ll see where the woodland is located. So good luck with the ship, if you have the money.”

“Alright,” Shiro repeated. That was his sort of catchphrase, Kentani noted mentally. A few minutes later, the check came and the two were off, taking the direction the woman told them.

“Alright, this is getting monotonous,” Shiro suddenly blurted as the two continued walking down the dirt path in the forest that supposedly led to the manner. “We’ve been walking for thirty minutes straight and we haven’t found a single trace of a house, not to mention a manor. We’re lost for chrissakes!”

There was a thick brush ahead of them, leaves blocking what was beyond it. “Yeah, I know, it’s tiring,” Kentani agreed, “but we can’t turn back now. We’ve been walking for half an hour, turning around and going the other way is not an option at this point. We could be clo – OOOOOSE!”

Kentani stumbled backwards, almost falling flat on his back. He looked at the brush, blinked, and Shiro asked “What happened?”

“I almost fell off of something!” Kentani punctuated, surprised. He blinked again at the brush.

Shiro unsheathed one of his swords and pushed back the leaves, to reveal a small cliff that stood about five feet from the ground – one that Kentani and Shiro could easily step off of.

“It’s a cliff,” Shiro said.

“NO SHIT!” Kentani said comically. The two, upon stepping off of the small cliff, were instantly overjoyed when, in the distance, they saw two massive buildings illuminated by the sunset. The two smiled at eachother and instantly got back on the dirt path that lead up to the entrance of the manor.

As they walked, the gardens adjacent to the manor were a sight to behold – some flowers and plants towered high above the two, some even reaching about seven or eight feet. There were fountains all around, the water shimmering in the setting sun. Kentani’s heart almost stopped when he saw that, about a hundred yards behind the manor, was a rocky slope that lead down onto a beach – a beach where dozens of ships were docked.

The two pirates exchanged smiles.

“Jun! Stop snoring so loudly, desu wa! Man!”

Jun, a tall grey-haired boy seemingly a part of the Ryuumonbuchi household, woke up and indeed stopped snoring, but was instead awoken by Touka’s punctuated “man” comment, to which Jun simply responded “I’m a woman, dammit” and closed her eyes again. Which was hard to believe, but true.

“Errrgh! You people!” Touka complained, pouting. Tomoki, who was on her netbook in the corner, mumbled “get over it” and Hajime, as always had to make peace with Touka. “Relax, Touka. I know you’re upset about Koromo, but…” Hajime paused for a second – “but she’ll be fine. Her mood is just downhill since Hagiyoshi left, but she’ll get over it. It’s a phase. Right, Tomoki?”

“Right.” Tomoki never once looked up from her device.

Touka calmed herself and then sighed. “I knew something was wrong for letting that man off. If I had only known how much his absence affected Koromo…”

Hajime opened her mouth to say something, but was stopped short when the doorbell rang. Touka shot up, surprised, and marched over to the door. Her hand was poised to open it, but she suddenly said “Just who could it be?!” and twisted the doorknob clockwise.

The door opened and revealed two people, one of them a man and the other, by the looks of it, a teenage boy. The two looked at eachother, before smiling awkwardly – Kentani noticed Shiro put his swords down next to the garden.

“Who are you?” Touka spat towards the two. They answered.

“I’m Shiro.”

“And I’m Kentani. We’re pi-“

Shiro quickly slapped his hand over his captain’s mouth. “Travelers,” he assured, still with that awkward smile. “We’re looking for a ship, and we heard and saw that you have quite the hearty supply. How much does it cost for one of the bigger ones?” “None, sale is not open right now, goodbye!” Touka slammed the door on the two’s faces, and Kentani and Shiro’s hearts both melted.

“Why didn’t that lady tell thus they weren’t on sale,” Kentani whined softly.

“Touka! They were travelers. What you did was rude.” Hajime got up from her spot on the couch and strolled over to the door, reopening it. “Please, come in. What Touka did was rude. Make yourselves comfortable.” The two smiled, though still glum about the fact that there were no ships on sale.

“Ha-ji-me!” Touka emphasized. “When were you ever the leader of the Ryuumonbuchi household?”

“We really need a place to crash for the night, too,” Kentani said. “Like he said, we’re travelers. We’ve been on the seas for two days.”

Hajime smiled at the two before turning to the house leader. “Touka, may I have a word with you?” Without asking for her opinion, Hajime grabbed her friend by the wrist and pulled her a few feet into the kitchen next to the living room, before letting her go. She glared. “Touka, are you serious right now? We have two innocent travelers here and you’re treating them like dirt. They just need a place for the night. Is that too much to ask?”

“Yes, desu-wa! We don’t even have any room…” Touka pouted again. Hajime was getting tired of that, especially since she heard it every day.

“That’s bull and you know it. Since when do you think you can get away with being like this just because you’re upset?” Hajime was going to wag her finger, but she figured that would be too condescending in addition to making Touka madder, so dropped the idea, instead just crossing her arms.

Touka groaned, about to respond harshly, but suddenly stopped herself. Doing a double take of her thoughts, she paused, took a deep breath, and decided. “Fine. But on one condition. They leave tomorrow, and that’s that!” Touka also thought of the benefits of keeping these two for a night – she thought of her cousin.

Hajime lit up. “Thanks, Touka.”

The two of them headed back inside, Touka trying her best to force a reluctant smile. “Your beds will be prepared shortly, desu wa,” she decided. “The evening meal has been prepared and we will eat shortly. Please, make yourself at ho-ho-hoooo-“

“Make yourselves at home,” Hajime finished with a smile. Touka sighed.

“Thanks, lady!” Kentani and Shiro said at the same time. Shiro plopped on the couch, followed by Kentani.

“What’s this?” Kentani asked to Jun who was sitting next to her. He was referring to the program on the television set.

“Oh, it’s a show called Deathwatch¹.” She paused to take a bite of popcorn, before continuing to speak with a mouth full. “It’s a game show that gathers skilled fighters from all over and makes them fight to the death, or at least near death.” She grinned. “Pretty brutal.”

“Where is it?”

“The Grand Line.”

“Deathwatch…I heard of that…” Shiro rubbed his beard.

Jun got up to get herself a drink, and it was when Jun did this that Shiro noticed a man walk from one room into another hastily. He had spiky brown hair and wore a tux with a green tie – exactly how Shiro had remembered from that restaurant. Shiro’s eyes shot open, a chill thrilled down his spine, and he nudged Kentani’s ribs, a bit too hard, to which Kentani complained. “Kentani, it’s that man…!”

“What? The same one from before?” Kentani looked around, but saw no one. “Where?” “He disappeared into that room,” Shiro said with fear, “and I’m dead damn set that it’s the same guy.” Shit, shit, shit, not only are we on the island with him, we’re in the same house!

“You’re overthinking it, Shiro,” Kentani attempted to assure.

Shiro was still suspicious. “Man, I don’t know…He gave me a really bad feeling…”

Upstairs, Touka hesitantly knocked on Koromo’s door. A meek voice from inside said “Come in” and Touka turned the doorknob to reveal what she had expected – a dimly lit room. “Koromo, may I speak to you?”

“About what, Touka?” the voice asked.

“There are people here. They want to see you…and maybe even be your friends.”

“So what’s for dinner?” Shiro asked. “I sorta had a big lunch, but I’m game for another round. My second stomach still isn’t satisfied, anyway.”

Three of the five girls and the two pirates (though the girls didn’t know that yet) sat at the dinner table, a massive household structure that spanned the entirety of the dining room. There were far too many chairs at the table for a house of about eight or nine people, which triggered Kentani’s OCD – his response to this to just sweat and hold in any questions he had about it.

Apparently within earshot of Shiro’s question, Touka walked in the room, smiling. “I can assure you that your second stomach will be satisfied tonight, because our dinner tonight is a ham. Agiyoshi!”

The man from before appeared behind her, holding a tray of the food. “Yes, Touka-ojousama.” He placed the ham down on the dinner table, at the area of the table in which the guests and their hosts were gathered. Shiro looked down, away from the butler, but Kentani paid him no mind and prepared to dig in as a slice was prepared for him. On the side was broccoli and tomato soup, the latter of which Kentani had happy memories with.

“Also,” Touka said suddenly intercepting the eating, “there is someone who would like to meet you.”

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a small girl jumped from the door giggling and laughed onto Shiro’s shoulder. Shiro, who jumped in surprise, fell off his chair and onto his buttocks, where the girl snuggled him. “HAAAAAI!” she said. “I heard you want to be The Koromo’s friend? Is that true?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Shiro said, pushing her off. Kentani just laughed.

“Seems like someone likes you,” Kentani said, then regretted saying this when the girl jumped onto his arm and started hugging him.

“And you too?” Koromo asked with puppy dog eyes. Kentani just blinked, and she jumped off his forearm.

“Koromo simply wants to make some introductions, desu wa,” Touka said with a smile.