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As a general rule, Tokimitsu preferred to stay out of situations that would lead to trouble. It had been a recommendation from the town doctor, after he had almost fainted in the middle of the market.
“Where the hell has that little shit gone?!”
So yeah, Tokimitsu put himself out there after that day, vowed to a life that wouldn’t cause his stress and anxiety to reach such high levels ever again. He didn’t know much about life on a pirate ship, but he was strong and figured that it wouldn’t hurt to provide them with extra help for a few months. They weren’t on any dangerous expeditions at the time, he had been told, so what was the harm?
A slammed door. Heavy footfalls against hardwood. “I swear to fucking everything unholy. If I don’t get my hands on that conniving, fish-faced slime, someone is going to lose a hand!”
Tokimitsu was not a good judge of any situation. He should have known this when the town doctor said the exact same thing to him many years ago. What was he thinking? Joining a pirate crew? He can’t handle that! Seriously, all he was good for on the ship was lugging the heavy cargo and keeping the ship in peak condition. He should have just found a simpler job back home.
“Tokimitsu!”
“Ah! Sorry, sorry! I swear I’ll mop better!” From his hunched-over position at the stern, Tokimitsu was hoping that he would have been invisible and safe from the warpath that his captain was on.
For a pirate captain, Rin was… well, Rin was Rin. He was a good captain for his younger age, kept the ragtag group of people he’d cobbled together in line as well as their cluster of eccentric personalities would allow them. There wasn’t a huge desire to rule the seas, instead acting more as glorified bounty hunters. What Rin was really aiming for was to defeat his brother. That was all Tokimitsu had heard before he left for the sleeping quarters, and he had been too afraid to even think about approaching him to dig deeper.
“I don’t care about how clean the deck is right now.” Rin punched his fist into his palm, teeth grinding together loud enough for Tokimitsu to hear it from where he stood. “I care about getting my hands on that sneaky fucking shark bastard, and ripping him a new one!”
Before Tokimitsu had the chance to flinch away and hide behind the flimsy mop in his hands, Rin snarled and stormed away, muttering curses as he left.
That’s how it had been for the most recent weeks. While on a job, they had run into a group of merpeople, who, rather than being afraid, decided to try to steal a particularly rare and illustrious jewel they were hired to find. Getting it back hadn’t been the difficult part, no.
What had been troubling Rin was his inability to shake off a particular mershark whose interest he’d caught.
So for weeks, Tokimitsu had watched as his captain fended off the mershark who kept managing to board the ship and cause chaos wherever he went. It had not been good for his heart rate. Luckily, he had Aryu to help keep him calm.
“Psst, Toki-kun!”
The sudden voice made him startle, his body flinching away from the source as he tried to get away. When he looked down, he saw Bachira’s face just about peeking out from over the edge of the ship.
“Bachira-kun, y-you scared me.” He clutched at his chest, attempting to regain control of his breathing. If Rin was looking for Bachira, and Tokimitsu didn’t tell him, he would be in so much trouble.
As if he was able to read his thoughts, Bachira brought a clawed finger to his lips, grinning all the while. “Shh, please don’t tell Rin-chan I’m here yet. I promise I won’t tattle.”
Despite how nervous that idea made him, Tokimitsu felt inclined to believe the man, er, shark, in front of him. He made it unbelievably easy to fall to his whims, never requiring more than a simple smile or occasional wink.
It had been driving Rin insane.
“Uh, what are you– doing here..?” He asked, lowering his voice as if it would help hide what he was doing.
Bachira laughed softly, holding up a dagger that was more commonly seen strapped to Rin’s hip. “We are playing a little game of hide and seek. I obviously had to nudge him into it, but I think I’m winning.”
Oh dear. That was Rin’s prized dagger. If he knew Tokimitsu had seen Bachira with it, he would skin him alive with said dagger as soon as it was back in his possession. He shouldn’t get further involved.
“Okay, well, ah, I’m going to leave you now.” The grip on his mop tightened, the wood protesting as it was bent unnaturally. “Enjoy your, uhh, game?”
Bachira’s smile stretched wide, razor-sharp teeth glinting in the sunlight. He offered a single, lazy salute, before disappearing into the ocean with a splash, the echoes of his laughter filling the air until they became indistinguishable from the waves lapping against the ship.
With him gone, Tokimitsu’s entire body crumbled, a sense of relief overcoming him. At least he didn’t have to be the one to leave. At least Bachira would pop up somewhere else and the blame could be taken away from him. It wouldn’t be long before Rin finally found him, but Tokimitsu could at least make himself scarce by then.
Surely enough, not even ten minutes later, Rin’s enraged yelling was heard from the other side of the ship, paired with a round of delighted laughter. When Tokimitsu dared to take a look, he saw them both on the floor, Rin’s arm trapping Bachira in a headlock as he ground the handle of his dagger into messy, brown hair. They rolled around in their struggle, Bachira quickly managing to overpower him with a flap of his tail fin, lying on top of Rin and pressing them both into the deck.
“Get the fuck off me, Bowlcut,” Rin gritted out, muffled by the way his cheek squashed against the deck.
Tokimitsu didn’t know what to do. All of the crew members had been told very firmly that they were to not get involved whenever Bachira made his frequent appearances on the ship. Whether that was out of pride or something else, he wasn’t sure. This wasn’t an uncommon sight anymore, Rin and Bachira engaged in whatever it was they were doing while the crewmembers watched in bafflement and concern.
Bachira laughed once more, like windchimes twinkling in the breeze, then bent his head down and nipped the shell of Rin’s ear. Before Rin had the chance to react properly, he was gone, throwing himself over the edge of the ship with a delighted goodbye and promises of another visit very soon.
Reo, as Rin’s First Mate and the least likely to be stabbed, approached first, standing over their captain with hands on his hips.
“Rin?”
Rin didn’t speak at first, sprawled on his back, chest heaving and eyes closed almost serenely. Instead, he lifted up a hand, finger pointed, asking for a moment. He then dropped it over his eyes, seemingly not planning to move.
“Someone, anyone, get me some rum.”
-
Nagi didn’t hate being on a ship.
From a young age, he has been berated for never trying hard enough, always breezing through life with nothing more than a complaint, and always providing results. His parents had sent him off to the Navy as soon as he was of age, to teach him discipline, apparently.
Now, Nagi had hated that. There had been no room for error, every single sigh or show of laziness being beaten out of him for insubordination to the captain. Not that it had worked. Nagi was lazy, but he was also stubborn. Too stubborn.
It had only been six months into sailing when Rin and his crew had raided the ship. Nagi had heard a lot about pirates, fought off raids on their ship from them, too, heard about how they were bloodthirsty killers who would stop at nothing to rule the seas, sparing no one.
At first, Nagi had thought the same about Rin and his crew as well. He had boarded the ship, sword drawn and expression revealing nothing as he tore down the navy crew. Reo, behind him, who Nagi had briefly thought looked like the Mikage son who had disappeared mysteriously a year or so back, followed with his own vicious barrage of attacks.
Nagi wanted to fight back, maybe. But when Reo turned and raised his sword towards Nagi, the sounds of metal clashing and gunshots all around them, an idea sprung in his mind.
“How much effort is it to work on a pirate ship?”
“What?”
Reo had been stumped, if only for a moment, back to pointing his sword at Nagi’s chest before a clear opening was created. Not that Nagi would have gone for it.
He shrugged, letting his arm fall limply to his side. “Fighting is effort, and the Navy sucks. What can I do that requires not moving much?”
All around them, the fighting began to slow, Rin’s crew overpowering the Navy easily with their brute force. Reo kept his eyes locked onto Nagi’s, shoulders still tense as if he would make a move even while his sword was barely in his grip. “How’s your navigation skills?”
Nagi could read the stars, so he shrugged again. “I could do that.”
So when Rin’s crew, Nagi’s crew now as well, were loading the stolen cargo onto their ship, Nagi followed them. Without the pretense of fighting, they were completely different from everything that Nagi had drilled into him, loud and brash, sure, but they were also a close-knit family of weirdos who found solace with each other on the sea.
Being up in the crow’s nest was Nagi’s favourite place, on par with whenever he snuck into Reo’s hammock to sleep. It gave him such a wide view of the world around him, allowed him to laze around as long as he kept his eye out for anything out of the ordinary. He knew that this was not a typical pirate ship, and for that, he was grateful for the day his parents sent him off, for the day they decided to raid that lone navy ship.
He briefly paused his watch of the sea to look around on the deck, counting the heads that milled around below. Back to the water.
There was nothing strange, except for when he heard a familiar splash followed by a cheery greeting. Bachira always somehow managed to avoid his sight when approaching the ship, blending into the water despite the bright blond shock of hair at the nape of his neck. He liked Bachira. They hadn’t spoken many times, considering how much time he spent up in the crow’s nest, but whenever he paid a visit in the evenings, happy to spend time and eat with the rest of the crew after his routinely habit of bothering Rin, Nagi was happy to sit and listen to Bachira ramble away about whatever came to his mind.
“I’m not here for long, Rin-chan.” Bachira was loud enough for his voice to be heard clearly from so far away, a fact Nagi appreciated when he was particularly bored and nosy. “I do have a gift for you, though.”
“What the fuck?”
Rin’s harsh words were softened by how happy he actually sounded to have Bachira back on the ship. It’s something he tried to hide and something he failed spectacularly at, in Nagi’s personal opinion.
Bachira would agree if his bright laughter was any tell. He perched on the railing of the ship, arms folded on top so he could cushion his head. Surely, Nagi could abandon his post, for just a minute or two, to watch whatever was about to happen. If he was down there, getting involved would be far too much effort, but up here, safe in the crow’s nest, he allowed himself the entertainment.
Rin crept closer to the railing, standing just close enough that he could lift Bachira over if he wanted.
That was another thing. Bachira, obviously with no legs of his own, didn’t struggle per se to move around on the upper deck, but he found it easier to cling to the nearest person and let them take him to where he needed to be. At first, he had no qualms about clinging to anyone, still didn’t, really. It was Rin who had a problem with that. So, he had become the sole person to carry Bachira around on the ship. It was done with many grumbles and complaints, but he had kept it up nonetheless.
“Happy to see me as always, Rin-chan!” Bachira said with a smile, probably not even realising just how privileged he was to get away with calling Rin that.
“Are you coming aboard or not?”
Bachira tipped his head to the side, considering, then, with a nod, reached out to let Rin haul him over. He used that momentum to wrap his other arm around Rin’s neck, bringing him close enough to softly to butt their heads together.
“I’ve got two gifts, technically,” he said as he routed through the pouch tied to his neck. When he pulled out a large, shining pearl, everyone in the near vicinity stopped and stared in awe.
“What the fuck?” Apparently, that was all Rin could say.
With a huge smile, Bachira leaned closer. “You like it? You’ll like my other gift more.”
Then, Bachira opened his mouth, sinking his teeth into Rin’s jaw.
No one knew what to do, Nagi could tell. They all froze, instinctively reaching for the weapons strapped to their hips. But Rin didn’t move a muscle, not even to drop Bachira as he bit down.
When Bachira released him, all sunny smiles and a tongue swiping across his lips, he stayed frozen on the spot. Nagi brought the eyeglass up so he could see the expression on his captain’s face, one of utter shock and something else he couldn’t decipher. The bite was deep enough to bleed, a neat row of pinprick marks where the points of Bachira’s teeth broke the skin circling around the curve of his jaw up to his cheek.
Bachira leaned closer again, licking away a drop of blood that rolled down and whispering something in Rin’s ear that made him flush deeply.
“Okay, I’ll see you in about a week, yeah? Just before you head to port.” He wriggled out of Rin’s arms, waving goodbye to the rest of the flabbergasted crew standing around them before throwing himself overboard again.
Nagi had no idea what had just happened. Didn’t think any of them did.
Rin crumpled to his knees, putting his head in his hands. Even muffled, Nagi could hear his muffled shout.
“What the fuck?”
-
When he had first met Rin, Reo had been all of sixteen years old, running away from the stuffy life of a noble and an impending arranged marriage. He hadn’t had any real-life experience, not like he did now, naive and ignorant to the world outside of his own. Their meeting had been unpleasant, all things considered, with Rin still a little on the scrawny side but with enough bite to steal from him.
He’d been a blur, darting past and snatching his knapsack before Reo even had the chance to process what had happened. Their chase lasted a long time, Rin ducking through tight alleyways and past the vendors selling their wares for passing sailors, all the way to the back of an old pub, where Reo found a dagger to his throat.
“Stop fucking chasing me, you good for nothing rich boy,” Rin spat, the blade pressing against delicate skin, eyes burning with a fiery rage.
“Don’t steal from me then, short stack,” Reo had spat back, just annoyed enough to abandon the teachings drilled into his head about proper etiquette and spit in his face.
It hadn’t been a pretty fight. At the time, they had both been relatively inexperienced, Rin on the account of being so young, and Reo having only fencing lessons to fall back on with no blade. By the time they had worn themselves out, Rin had stood over him, declaring him worthy of joining his ship. Reo pulled himself up, clapped him on the shoulder, and the rest had been history.
That had been around eight years ago, give or take, the years at sea difficult to keep track of. They’ve both grown, both in the physical sense (Rin’s growth spurt a year into sailing together had been… something) and in their competency as pirates. Reo’s old life was long in the past, his loyalty solely to his captain and his fellow crew members.
Which is exactly why Reo was wondering if he should be adding another to his list of loyalties.
Bachira’s presence on the ship had been a shock to the well-maintained order Reo commanded on the ship, a force to be reckoned with that left everyone baffled by his interest in Rin and Rin’s tolerance of his actions.
Reo had been sailing with Rin for years, stayed with him as they worked their way up from a small ship that was comparable to a dinghy more than anything with an even smaller crew that had no right to have survived the waters for so long, to a ship worthy of the fear it instilled when others saw it. He’s watched Rin cut down men twice his age for daring to voice their opinions about him, seen him throw himself into a fight for even looking at him wrong. Hell, even Reo’s injured a person or two for speaking ill of his captain. No one outside of their crew got away with showing Rin anything but respect.
Which is why, when Rin ordered him to treat Bachira as a guest on the ship whenever he made his frequent appearances, Reo was too dumbfounded to do anything but agree.
Reo knew his captain, a side effect of working so closely together for as long as they have. He knew that this was different than anything he had ever had to deal with in the past.
He arose early, as he usually did, and began his typical routine of waking the crew for their morning duties as the sun crept above the horizon. Everyone woke with a symphony of grumbles and yawns, rubbing bleary eyes as they scattered around the ship to do their jobs.
Around an hour after rising, Rin emerged from his own quarters, the bright marks of sharp teeth on his jaw made more prominent by the orange rays of sunlight. It had started to heal well, all things considered. It’s the only thought that made sense when he laid his eyes upon it. Everything else left him with more questions than answers.
After two weeks, the rest of the crew had finally learned to stop staring so openly at the bite, instead sparing it brief glances when Rin’s attention was elsewhere and whispering amongst themselves about what the fuck it meant.
Reo wasn’t blind. He knew Rin was soft on Bachira, a feat he really didn’t think was possible. At some point, Bachira had wriggled his way into Rin’s heart and stolen it right from under his nose, and whether Rin had figured that out yet was a whole other story.
“Captain,” he said easily, mentally slipping out of his role as nosy old friend and back into that of First Mate, “Everything is going smoothly. The wind is strong, and we should be reaching port by tomorrow, if not sooner.”
Rin ducked his head, his fingers briefly brushing against the marks, a very new and persistent habit. “Good. anything else?”
“Kunigami has made a list of the provisions we need to stock up on.” They started their lap of the ship, Rin’s gaze occasionally flitting to scan the surrounding water. Reo spared him the possible embarrassment of voicing his observation. “I checked it over. Everything is in order.”
“Can you add something for me?”
Reo faltered, just barely managing to hide the stumble over his feet at his surprise. It was rare that Rin ever asked for anything when they docked, more inclined to ensure they had enough food and water to keep them going if a problem arose. “Sure, what else is it you need?”
That made Rin fluster, a flush creeping up his neck all the way to the tips of his ears. He looked away, muttering something indecipherable.
“Sorry, captain, what was that?”
“A bath.”
A bath? That was… a strange request, that was for sure. The bath they had already was in well enough condition that it didn’t need replacing. Reo had used it only a few nights ago, so it’s not like there could have been a drastic change that required it to be changed.
They paused by the rigging, turning to watch as Aryu checked the rope for frays and Nagi leaned lazily over the edge of the crow’s nest to scan the horizon. He risked another glance at Rin. “We don’t need a new bath.”
“No, it’s,” Rin paused, hand twitching as if to make another move for his jaw, before settling again, “It’s for my quarters.”
Oh. Oh. Reo understood now.
Bachira’s visits may have been frequent, but they were never long. On account of not wanting to dry out his skin, he had told them all a while ago on his way out one night. He had been a little tipsy after he had managed to convince Rin to let him drink some of his nicer rum, a state Reo didn’t think merpeople in general could be in, and before leaving, had promised to stay close.
So Rin had gone about finding his own means of allowing Bachira to stay for longer. But in his sleeping quarters? Reo had to stifle a laugh.
“Finally wanting to bathe with more privacy, sir?” He couldn’t help but tease.
Rin scoffed, punching Reo’s shoulder weak enough to barely make him sway on his spot. “Yes,” he grumbled as he walked away, “Let’s go with that.”
Reo couldn’t wait to be able to add more money to the betting pool.
-
“I have four coppers on next month!”
“Next month? Please. Rin’s so repressed, I’m going to give him at least seven weeks.”
“It’s not elegant to be betting on our captain like this... Two silvers for three weeks.”
It was carnage, the current state of the crew’s cabin. Karasu laid back in his hammock, arms folded behind his head as he watched with pride at the mess he absolutely had a hand in creating. Almost everyone, bar the few crew members who had the unlucky pull of manning the ship overnight, was crowded in the centre of the room, all circled around a pile of coins as they bet on their captain’s love life.
Their crew was a strange one, that was for sure. The old ship he had been sailing with was strict, cruel, and barely a thought in his mind anymore. Rin had seemed to be all hard edges at first, his sneers and threats of violence an echo of his past captain, but Karasu caught onto how happy everyone was on the ship, how, despite his gripes, the crew could treat him like any other person on the ship if they had earnt his loyalty. Once he liked you, Rin was about as harmless as an unloaded gun.
It was exactly why he had felt it was more than necessary to have started this betting pool when Bachira first made his appearance on the ship.
Reo stood above them all, dutifully noting down every sum of money tossed between everyone onto a scrap of parchment. His lips were drawn into a winning smile as he added his own coins to the pile, guessing a week and sending the rest of them into a frenzy.
“Four silvers,” Karasu decided to cut in over the noise, drawing the attention to him, “I bet they’ve already shacked up with each other.”
If anything, that made them all louder. Even Niko, normally quieter than the rest unless he’s playing music on deck, jumped to his feet and called him a fucking moron for thinking such a thing.
Kunigami mulled over his words, running a hand through his hair. “You might be right. Captain has been spending more time in his quarters lately.”
The bath in Rin’s private quarters had been an open secret as soon as Tokimitsu had hauled the thing onto the ship and out of sight. Of course, Rin had tried to hide it, but unfortunately for him, he had hired possibly the most gossipy group of pirates on the seas.
“When was the last time we saw him?” Aryu asked, glancing around the room and starting up another series of chatter.
Tokimitsu raised his hand, flinching when all eyes turned to him. “I think I last saw him getting food from the gallery.”
Karasu had seen that, too. Except, Rin’s plate had been piled higher than his regular serving. A very suspicious move.
He swung out of his hammock, cracking his back as he did. Hammocks, even after all these years, were still not the most comfortable to sleep in. “I’ll go check on him, I was meaning to ask him about the raid the other day, anyway.”
Reo gave him a look, almost a glare, if it wasn’t for the amused, knowing look in his eye. “Good luck with that.”
He spared them all a wave as he left the room, making his way onto the upper deck where Rin’s quarters were. The ship was silent, save for the splash of water against the hull and the thud of his boots against the wood. A peaceful night, for sure.
As a crew, they weren’t particularly modest when it came to each other, especially with how many of them had been together for so long, and it wasn’t like living together on a ship gave them much privacy. So when he reached Rin’s door, he only gave a single knock as a warning before pushing it open.
“Hey, captain, I–”
He froze at the sight before him, a vicious curl of glee in his stomach. Karasu couldn’t see much of Rin, considering he had his back turned as he sat in the bath, jagged lines of old scars crisscrossing down his spine highlighted by the low candlelight flickering on the table beside them.
Them being Rin, and Bachira. The mershark was between Rin’s knees, one clawed hand clutching Rin’s shoulder as he sank his teeth deeply into the flesh on his other shoulder, just between the junction of his neck, the other hand somewhere under the water. Rin’s hands were buried in Bachira’s hair, fingers curled tightly into the dark locks. His head tipped forward to bump against Bachira’s temple with a low groan, a sound Karasu never wanted to hear again in his life if he could help it.
When Karasu made his big entrance, Bachira shot back with a splash, sloshing water over the rim of the tub and staring at him with wide, surprised eyes. Rin turned sharply, his expression hardening.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” He asked sharply, the display made significantly less threatening by the fact his eyes were still hazy and the sluggish well of blood on his shoulder. The same blood that Bachira was licking from his lips with an appreciative hum. Holy shit.
Karasu felt like he’d hit the jackpot. Well, he had. Literally. That whole betting pool was his.
He grinned, folding his arms and leaning against the doorway. “Sorry, captain, is this a bad time? I’ll leave you to it.”
Rin’s skin, already flushed a rosy red from the warmth of the bath water, flushed deeper, scowling and flinging one arm over the edge of the bath. “Get the fuck out, oh my god!”
Bachira, recovering quickly from the shock of being caught in such a position, threw his head back and laughed. He reached out and laid a gentle hand on Rin’s knee, massaging his thumb into the skin. “Aw, Rin-chan, are you embarrassed by me? I’m a catch back home, y’know.”
Its effect was instantaneous, Rin’s entire demeanour softening as he looked back at Bachira. “No, idiot. I just don’t want my moron crew barging in like this.”
“Have a nice night, captain.” Karasu snickered, receiving another glare. He tipped an invisible hat, grinning wider as he heard the fucking die yelled through the closed door. Oh man, what a story he had to tell when he got back to the rest of the crew.
They had settled down by the time Karasu returned, back to sitting in a circle on the floor. He slammed the door open, spreading his arms wide. “Okay, pay up fuckers.”
“What?”
“No fucking way!”
He rocked onto one hip, nudging his head in the general direction of Rin’s quarters. “I would say go check for yourselves, but he’s otherwise preoccupied.”
Of course, they’re a ragtag group of people with absolutely no shame, so they don’t heed that warning. They scrambled to their feet, falling over one another in their rush to get to the upper deck, all yelling as they did so. Karasu followed them back up at a leisurely pace, arms folded behind his head, proud of his achievements.
The ship was filled with activity not moments later. The entire crew had crowded in Rin’s doorway, all yelling their congratulations and jokes. Rin barged out soon after that, all of them scattering to a safer distance.
At least he’s put pants on, Karasu thought with a huff of laughter, watching as Rin, with Bachira gleefully clinging to his back, swung his sword around in a wide arc that wouldn’t even come close to grazing any of them.
“I swear to fucking god, if you don’t all shut the fuck up and leave me in peace, I’m going to cut off all of your limbs one by one!”
Above them, the stars twinkled brightly, the ocean peaceful below. Karasu looked on fondly as everyone corralled together to toast to their captain finally getting his act together.
Their ship would be more eventful than ever, that was certain.