Chapter Text
Another night in a lively town, another opportunity to cause reckless mischief.
Taichi burst out of the doors of a bar in the pirate village of Jundo, where he had just outwitted a pirate by winning a drinking game. Just as he picked up his loot, he saw Yamato throw a punch at a pirate of the same gang, one who had tried to steal a kiss from Mimi. Taichi grabbed more of the gold than he actually won and ran, with Yamato taking Mimi by the wrist to follow behind.
"Give me back my gold, Taichi!" roared the tall, stocky pirate who broke the bar doors as he barged out, and Taichi laughed at him back, clutching the bag of loot to his chest.
"You steal a kiss, I steal your gold, Pie-Pie!" he yelled back, angering the pirate even more.
"He's gaining on us!" Yamato yelled, encouraging Mimi to keep up.
"You're lucky I can run fast enough in these heels!" Mimi snapped back.
"Jou!" Taichi shouted as they neared the docks. "Pull the anchor!"
Jou's head appeared from the deck of their ship, the DoreDore, which was docked right at the end of the portside.
"Now?!" he asked.
"Do it! We'll catch up!"
Jou observed his running captain, along with the swordsman and chef speeding along, followed by the huge, threatening pirate right behind. That scared him enough to flail from his spot and lunge toward the rope to pull the anchor.
"What was I thinking, joining this crew?!" he asked himself. When he pulled the anchor, he rushed across the deck to tug on the sails for the ship to start moving.
"We have to keep going!" Taichi said, not halting when he ran across the docks.
"Wait!" Mimi said. "You don't mean-?!"
Taichi turned around and grinned, and Yamato smiled as he caught on.
"Captain's orders, Mimi!" Yamato said, and Taichi shouted as he swung the bag of loot over his shoulder before taking a leap off of the docks and splashing into the water.
At the same time, Piper the Pirate let out a low menacing laugh as he was now inches from Mimi's grasp.
"He'll catch us!" she cried worriedly.
"Trust me, he's not going to get us. On three, we jump. One, two-"
Yamato already jumped, and Mimi screamed as he grabbed her waist to bring her into the water with him.
"You didn't say 'three'!" Mimi whined as she smacked Yamato's shoulder, splashing him in turn.
"We needed to catch him off guard, too," Yamato explained, supporting her as they swam behind Taichi. "Besides, Pie-Pie can't even swim."
Mimi laughed with Yamato as Piper wailed in his defeat.
"Another win for the DoreDore!" Taichi yelled, and his crew cheered in response, including Jou and Koushiro, who threw down the rope ladder for their floating members to climb aboard.
"I want my gold back!" Piper cried loudly, his voice echoing across the water.
"Gee, Cap," said Jou, watching Taichi empty the soaking bag full of gold dripping water on the deck. "He sounds really sad. Maybe we should give it back."
Taichi ruffled through his hair, twisting the water out. "If there's anything you should learn about being a pirate, Jou," Taichi said, "it's that you shouldn't bet on something you aren't willing to lose. Otherwise, what's the point?"
Koushiro handed a towel to Taichi, Mimi, and Yamato, and they all laughed with each other, reliving the night as they shared their story. They sailed on the DoreDore along the silent seas in the dead of night, knowing the Marines weren't lurking around to try to catch them.
As soon as Mimi yawned, they all parted to their quarters on one side, Taichi heading the opposite direction. He went down to his stores to toss the new gold on top of the rest. He turned the iron handle until he shut the door, walked up the steps, and headed to his own quarters.
Right before he entered, he stopped and listened, thinking that he would hear a tap, a creak or a clatter. It had been a few months - six, to be exact - since the Hagu attack on Taiyou. He had only seen her a handful of times since then, and the gold continued to pile up, but it surprised him how long she left it untouched.
Just as Taichi wondered the next time he might see her, he saw rope hanging on the side of the ship that she liked to sneak in from. He walked along the deck to that side, but realized as he walked closer that it was the rope that Koushiro rolled out earlier. However, as Taichi tugged at the rope, his eyes spotted over the ledge a small boat floating alongside his ship, small enough to fit one body, curled in a fetal position as she slept peacefully inside of it.
How long had Sora been sleeping there?
Beneath the glow of a setting moon, a fleet of seven Marine ships floated atop the calm waters of the sea. Fresh from departing the Marine Headquarters on Mizuha Island, the ships sailed together before dispersing in different directions to begin their patrol for the next few days. In charge of the ship in the very front was Chief Motomiya who stood at the bridge as his crew, despite running low on sleep, prepared for their next course.
"Officer Hida!" the chief called, and a few seconds later, a short, slender young man appeared before him, holding his arm up in a salute.
"Reporting for duty, Chief!" said Intelligence Officer Iori Hida, then lowering his hand to join his other behind his back in straight posture.
"Always prompt and neatly groomed - I like that about you. Had your coffee already?"
"I don't drink it, sir. I've never liked the taste."
"Huh. Curious." Chief Motomiya then turned to survey the bridge where a few of the crew sat in their seats, some of them yawning, others nearly drooling on the equipment as they slept.
"Um, Chief? Ready for the morning report?"
"Oh - Why, yes, of course."
As usual, Officer Hida recited the non-urgent matters that occurred overnight - complaints of pirate tomfoolery and thievery on various lands that may or may not have been worth looking into. The Goma Gang. the Toge Pirates. the Kabuteri. It seemed as though a new name came across his ears every other day.
But as far as the Chief was concerned, there was only one gang of pirates he waited to hear about every morning.
"And? What of the DoreDore Crew?" the Chief asked.
"They were seen just off of the peninsula of Yuujou," Hida replied.
"And?"
"Nothing more to report, sir."
Chief Motomiya sighed. Yuujou was an island where only pirates were allowed to dock - an infestation of them, he thought - and if he had his way, he would have that island blown off the map, if it meant to rid them all. Marine ships couldn't be caught dead near that island if they wanted to live.
It frustrated the Chief even more that it was another instance of letting the DoreDore Crew sail on through under his watch. They were lucky that his dimwit of a son Daisuke let them escape on Hagu, even within his arms' reach.
"Chief?" Officer Hida called again, and the chief snapped out of his raging thoughts. "We'd better head in a different direction. We're about to trail into Jundo territory, and it's going to be a breach in the agreement of the treaty.
Chief Motomiya scoffed. "Don't think I don't remember the peace treaty, Iori," he grumbled. "We don't want to test the patience of Princess Miyako and her people. Head starboard!"
"Aye, Chief!" yelled the crew at the steering post.
Officer Hida spoke just before the chief was about to dismiss him, and what he said gave the chief pause:
"Sir… There have also been reports of activity from the Yami Crew."
"The Yami Crew?"
"Affirmative."
"Are… Are you sure they are credible? I haven't heard that name in years."
"Reports are that they're headed south, just past the Doki Island."
It was hard not to forget that name. They were a crew of twenty, its captain once a no-name pirate who led the crew to wreak havoc in every town they passed through. It was only until a few years ago when their bounty skyrocketed to the top five, after they raided a port town one night and nearly burned it down, barely escaping on their boats as they left it in flames. That same night, the town's blacksmith and his wife lost their lives to those filthy pirates. The Governor and his family joined the townspeople in mourning two of their beloved, declaring a ban on pirates from ever setting foot in their town.
What angered the Governor the most, Chief Motomiya recalled, was that this ban included his own son, who chose to live in exile on the night the town went up in flames, with the eldest son of the blacksmith sailing along with him.
There was no mistaking that the Yami Crew was heading back to Taiyou. But, why they decided to go there left the Chief at a loss.
"Send word to Sergeant Motomiya in Taiyou," the Chief commanded. "Tell him and his men to keep a watchful eye. It'll give him something to do other than kick rocks in front of the mansion."
Officer Hida bowed and turned from the chief to report to the communications officer, although, he wondered to himself, why the Chief always thought so lowly of his own son.
Hikari woke at the tapping outside of her bedroom window.
The maids hadn't burst through her doors to open the curtains, which meant that the sun had yet to rise into the sky. It was too early for her liking, but the tapping was no surprise - she knew who they came from.
She sat up on her bed, recognizing her long, sleek brown hair falling around her shoulders. Her mother got her into the habit of brushing it before bed, so that her hair was perfectly neat and untangled upon waking up.
She still hated it.
Sighing, she gathered it to drape over her shoulder to just above her chest before getting out of bed. Part of her wished it was like her younger days, when she would open up the curtains to meet her older brother, still in his school uniform, but greeting her with a grin after sneaking out past curfew with his friends. In the weeks before he left the town, he began to show up with odd spectacles over his hair, boasting that it was going to be his claim to fame - or infamy, as Hikari joked with him.
As she opened the curtains, her eyes met with one who wore his own strange pair of spectacles above his burgundy-colored hair. Her brother, Daisuke certainly was not, but the mischievous grin on his face was surely reminiscent.
"Good morning, Lady Hikari," he said, leaning against the ledge by her window as she unlocked and pushed it open. His grin faded as soon as he noticed she wasn't smiling back. "What's wrong? Did I wake you at a bad time? Should I come back later?"
"No, Daisuke, it's…" Hikari looked down to her hair, frowning even more. Her own appearance was a reminder of the days to come. "Don't mind me. Or else, I'll complain about things I'll never be able to change, again."
"Oh."
For a moment, Daisuke wasn't sure how to respond. He and his men were assigned to watch over Taiyou Town since the last pirate raid, with a special request from the governor himself for him to guard the mansion, and, in turn, to keep an eye on Hikari. Over the last six months, he had watched her as she joined in meetings with her father on government affairs, as well as practicing etiquette with her mother. He stood by at dinner events and meetings with other officials and potential suitors for Hikari, which, after leaving his own father disappointed, did not include him.
Hikari, of course, hated every minute, and she despised the fact that she was constantly chastised by her parents and was forced to be looked after. Daisuke hated seeing her unhappy, being chastised himself. However, there were two things he knew that would cheer her up. The first was when he guarded her bedroom door, explaining to her mother and maids that she had fallen asleep early, whenever she was whisked away to go around town with Takeru.
The second - with her brown eyes lighting up with the smile he adored to see - was when he brought her news that Taichi was safe and sound.
"Your father must be thrilled," Hikari said with a chuckle, her mood suddenly brighter.
"Every step closer to them is another step away from his reach," said Daisuke, finding amusement in knowing his father's annoyance. "He is over the moon."
"Living freely with nothing to hold him back. I really should have left with Nii-san, after all."
Hikari's face fell again, and before Daisuke could respond, Hikari's doors burst open, with three maids walking in. Everyone turned to each other, and the maids stopped in their tracks.
"Oh, by Heaven's Gate!" shouted one of the maids, holding her hand to her heart. "It's only you, Sarg! For a moment there, we thought you were-"
"Nope, it's only me!" Daisuke said, laughing nervously as he scratched the back of his head. Hikari turned to him and flashed an apologetic smile before turning back to greet the maids.
Yeah, it was only him, and a sense of disappointment loomed over him every time they mentioned it. He wasn't the goggle-headed boy that Hikari had always wanted to join. He wasn't even the blacksmith that Hikari wanted to be around. He was only Daisuke, the good-for-nothing, son of a Marine Chief, that Hikari had no choice but to see everyday.
"I guess I should get back down, then," said Daisuke, who turned to begin his climb, when he felt Hikari's hand placed over his to stop him.
"I'm glad you're here, Daisuke," she said, smiling warmly. "I couldn't trust any other Marine."
Daisuke grinned again. "Hey, there's a reason I'm known as the best around here!"
Except when I'm not.
"Hikari-chan," said one of the maids when she approached her, the other two making her bed and preparing her wardrobe. "Are you sure you want to wear this piece today? Your mother says it's meant for tomorrow's ceremony."
"I'm aware," said Hikari, and Daisuke looked to the item in the maid's palm. It was a small comb, decorated with navy blue gemstones that shimmered in teal and gold when hit by sunlight, which, with their luck, was beginning to illuminate the sky. Daisuke had never seen such a sight, and Hikari had explained once that it was an item meant to keep within Yagami tradition.
Daisuke remained quiet as Hikari enclosed the bejeweled hair comb in her hand. It was part of the tradition for the woman to entrust this treasured item to the man she loved, whom she intended to spend her life with, and with whom she was to continue the family name.
The man in the forthcoming ceremony was none of those things - even Daisuke knew that.
"Did you have any more news for me, Daisuke?" Hikari asked then.
He did. Among the news of the DoreDore Crew, he was informed of another name, the Yami Crew, who apparently had their sights set on Taiyou.
"Nothing else important - well, nothing me and my men can't handle, anyway."
"I'll hold you to that." She stared him down with skepticism. At least she seemed back to her normal self.
With that, Daisuke finally climbed back down to the front of the mansion. Maybe it was because the sun had just barely risen and it was too early, but he fully expected Hikari to cause an uproar about the ceremony in front of him and her maids. Even in the early hours, she was surprisingly calm.
Maybe there was something that Hikari wasn't telling him, but perhaps it was only fair. He didn't want her to worry about those pirates; she had enough on her mind already.