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‘Three anchors visiting a beach sounds like the beginning of a bad joke,’ said Sakazuki’s traitorous mind.
He pushed the thought swimming in his head away. If he didn’t, it would be admitting he was at the butt end of said joke. Sakazuki clenched his fist, glaring daggers at the white foam crashing against pink sand before him.
After all, Fleet Admirals weren’t supposed to get pranked, even if they were newly promoted.
On either side sat his two new Admirals, Issho and Aramaki. They must’ve made quite the sight, three large men huddling beneath a too small umbrella. This was ridiculous, and Sakazuki regretted being talked into such a pointless activity.
‘It’s mandatory to get to know your new team,’ Sengoku had said, ‘yes, every new Fleet Admiral has to do it with their chosen Admirals,’ and on and on he went, until Sakazuki had agreed. If it was that important, then he would do it.
That retired geezer must be eating his rice crackers somewhere, laughing at them right now. Sakazuki was going to have a few choice words with Sengoku when he returned.
Next to him, Aramaki wiggled his toes to get rid of the sand. He pushed his sunglasses up, squinting at the sky before pushing his shades down again. “Gonna be hours until we can leave the beach, Sakazuki-san!”Aramaki griped, chewing on his cigarette. “Are you sure we hafta do this?” The pitch in his voice came dangerously close to a full-blown whine.
A part of Sakazuki agreed with the sentiment, as sick of sitting around doing nothing as his Admiral. However, another part, the one dictating most of Sakazuki’s actions, pointed out that the vacation had been fully paid for. If they left now, there would be no refunds.
“We’re staying,” Sakazuki ground out.
Aramaki’s bottom lip protruded but he gave up when it was clear he wasn’t changing any minds. Blowing away the hair that covered his eyes, Aramaki grumbled, “Whatever you say.”
With one Admiral handled, Sakazuki turned to the other. Issho seemed content spending the time listening to the waves. He appeared unbothered by the palpable misery around him. In his hand though, was a wrapped box.
Sakazuki’s eyes narrowed. He had noticed it early that morning, but hadn’t acknowledged it. It was obviously a trap, and Sakazuki was not going to give in to his curiosity.
As if feeling Sakazuki’s eyes on him, Issho asked, “What’s wrong? Are you two bored?” The knowing smile was a dead giveaway. That damn Observation Haki! Sakazuki’s annoyance intensified.
The subtlety was lost on Aramaki when he scrambled toward Issho. “Duh! Why ain’tcha bored too?!”
Issho chuckled, presenting the mysterious box like a gift. “Sengoku-san gave this to me before we left. He’d anticipated us needing some kind of activity to keep ourselves occupied.”
“Really?!” A pause. “...Wait a minute! Ya mean we coulda had fun this entire time?! Why didn’t ya say anything sooner?!”
Issho’s smile was entirely too innocent. “You seemed more insistent on pouting than entertaining yourself with anything else. It’s counterproductive to offer something you aren’t interested in.”
Sakazuki side-eyed Issho. That meddling geezer had given the box to Issho for a reason. And Issho himself had waited until they were both bored enough that they would agree to pretty much anything. The sly jerks. Just from that conclusion alone, Sakazuki wanted to refuse whatever was in the box.
… But he was also restless, and yes, bored .
Thankfully, Aramaki’s cluelessness saved Sakazuki’s bruised pride from a worse injury. “Well? Let’s see what it is!”
Snatching the box from Issho, Aramaki held it up, shaking it before tearing apart the wrappings like a kid with a birthday gift. “What are these pieces?” Pulling out a blank piece of paper, Aramaki made another confused noise. “And it comes with a weird sheet of paper that only has bumps on it? What are we supposed to do?”
“Hand that to me, I can read it,” Issho said, taking the paper. He traced over the texture. “It explains the rules of this board game,” Issho informed.
“A board game?! With dice!” Aramaki cheered, “And the pieces come in different colors! Which ones do you want, Sakazuki-san?! The red pieces?! Rahahaha! There are even green ones! And purple! It’s like the game was made for us! Isn’t that cool?!”
Sakazuki couldn’t believe his ears. “Sounds like gambling. Gambling is bad! You two are Admirals! You’re supposed to set an example! We are going to lose face with your childish acts!”
Dead silence.
There was a wordless exchange between Issho and Aramaki.
“Well, boss, I don’t see anyone else around besides us… So you keep face if you want to, but I ain’t doing it…” Aramaki shrugged, giving Sakazuki a look like he was the moronic one. “Alright, deal me in, Issho! Are we doing cash?! Rahahaha! Your lucky days are over!”
Reminding himself of how Fleet Admirals should act, Sakazuki gave the two the dirtiest look he could muster which was promptly ignored by both. Damn his fondness for people with strong personalities, it was certainly not working out very well for him at the moment when both of his new Admirals were unruly assholes .
Aramaki sat cross-legged in front of Issho, a large grin on his face as he sorted out the game pieces. The rules weren’t anything complicated. Roll the dice, move across the board, knock down the opponent’s pieces and force them to restart their round, get to ‘Home’ safely…
Sakazuki huffed, glaring at the azure waves. He wouldn’t partake in this gambling activity. He was not even going to look. They brought shame to the Marines.
Unfortunately for Sakazuki, his resolve to pay no mind to the degenerate game was immediately tested when he saw Issho’s fingers subtly shift. His well-trained eyes followed the die, the spin rate slowed down just enough to tip him off. Sakazuki gripped the sand beneath him, his determination to stay out of it warred against his natural instinct to say something when he saw a wrong.
The die stopped, a perfect 6.
“You’re cheating!” Sakazuki accused through gritted teeth. Issho gave him a confused expression. That clueless look might have worked on any local yokels trying to earn money from an easy mark, but Sakazuki was no idiot. He wasn’t going to let Issho hustle him. “I saw that. The die was spinning too slow.”
Issho smiled. “But Saka-san, perhaps you just weren’t paying attention and seeing things. Isn’t this just a friendly board game? We even decided against betting money because you are so unhappy about it. Why cheat when there are no stakes?”
Sakazuki’s lips thinned, anger simmering just below the surface. It had been subtle enough that it could be explained away, but Sakazuki knew what he saw.
“C’mon, boss, we’re having fun!” Aramaki protested, watching with rapture as Issho levitated one of his pieces and had it hop for six spaces, the movement exaggerated just to delight Aramaki. “You gonna join us? If ya got a problem with our game, then join and try to beat us.” The cocky grin plastered across his face was a challenge, a dare.
Sakazuki narrowed his eyes.
He didn’t back down from a challenge, for better or for worse.
“Fine. I’ll join this foolish game but there’ll be no talk of this when we return.”
“Yeah, yeah, Sakazuki-san, whatever ya say,” Aramaki dismissed the words with the carelessness of someone who didn’t understand why it mattered. He rubbed his hands together. “My turn. You’re goin’ down, Issho!” he said, tossing the die. A trail of grass sprang up, chasing after the die as if trying to catch it. Some managed to sneak underneath, preparing to flip it and change the result.
Such a blatant attempt at cheating!
Sakazuki’s hand moved faster than the eye could see, grabbing the die and a handful of seedlings. This was the undeniable proof. “Cheater!” Sakazuki snapped.
Aramaki looked at him. “What, Sakazuki-san? Can I see which number I rolled?” he asked.
Sakazuki growled, opening his palm only to discover crumbling sand and a perfectly unmarked die, a four.
“I’ll take it,” Aramaki said, reaching over to pat Sakazuki’s arm. “Ya gotta relax, boss. You’re too tense.” Even the previous plants Aramaki had grown were turning to dust, leaving no trace behind.
Sakazuki held onto the die as Aramaki moved his piece with a vine. Sakazuki was someone who played by the rules, but without knowing what they were, he couldn’t follow them. Looking at Issho and then at Aramaki, Sakazuki rearranged the events in a new way.
“My turn,” he said, a lot calmer this time. Issho and Aramaki perked up, catching on to the fact that Sakazuki had managed to figure out the game. Sakazuki tossed the die high in the air, focusing his Observation Haki outward to try and predict the number. There! Six!
Sakazuki’s hand was a blur in the air as he caught the die just in time for a vine to wrap around his wrist.
Sakazuki opened his palm, showing the number. A six.
“You’re quite lucky yourself, Saka-san,” Issho commented with a smile. “Good to know fortune doesn’t just extend to us two.”
Aramaki sat back, the vine slowly uncurled around Sakazuki’s wrist. “Rahahahaha, Sakazuki-san! That was badass! Didn’t know ya could move so fast! Shoulda expected it from the Fleet Admiral though!” His grin widened just a bit more. “Whatcha’ say? You're gonna finish the game with us?”
Sakazuki had to force down a pleased smile. Cheating was the point of their game. But how subtle could he cheat and if all three of them cheated... How was he going to sabotage the other two?
Sakazuki grabbed his piece, making calculations as he moved it slowly across the board. He was at a disadvantage with his power, but that wasn’t going to stop him from playing by the rules, or from winning for that matter. The competitive spark that Sakazuki had always possessed flared up in the presence of two other people who could perfectly keep up with him and some more.
There was no mistaking Sakazuki’s interest when he spoke, and both of his Admirals could feel that. Issho chuckled while Aramaki laughed louder.
“Alright, Fujitora, Ryokugyu, let’s play your game.”
Unbeknownst to the group, someone was looking at them from far away. At some point, Sakazuki could be seen catching the falling die while shoving Aramaki out of the way. Sengoku lowered his binoculars, grinning in satisfaction. “ I knew it . Sending three anchors to the beach is the best way to get them talking to one another.”
It had concerned him seeing a Fleet Admiral too focused on work while ignoring his two fresh Admirals completely. The years had taught Sengoku that the job was more than just fighting pirates, it was running the Navy. In one of his last acts to help, for old time’s sake, he had pushed Sakazuki to go on a vacation with his chosen Admirals.
Sengoku snickered to himself as he continued watching them. And look at that, he still had it. Just because he was a retired old man didn’t mean he had forgotten how his Marines behaved.
There was a small hand on the lobe of his ear.
Twisting .
“ Yeouch! ” Sengoku yelped, dropping the binoculars as he faced a very unamused Tsuru. “T-Tsuru-chan!”
“Having fun spying on them?” Tsuru asked, “Just leave them be. They’ll bond at their own pace.” Her sharp eyes swept across the expanse. “This is supposed to be our vacation.”
Sengoku gave the other an apologetic grin, “You have a point. Let’s head back.”
As always, she was right. The new Fleet Admiral had started talking to his Admirals about something other than work for the first time. They would work things out themselves.
Everything was going to be okay.