Yumichika checked the Log Pose, adjusted the helm and called one of the lower ranked seamen to take his place. He left the man very detailed written directions, and headed for the galley. Ikkaku was already there, leaning back on two legs of his wooden stool, feet propped up on the table while he munched on a sandwich. Yumichika checked the fridge and found a whole plate of delicious-looking sandwiches.
The cook had probably expected the crew to get hungry, and made extra; he quietly congratulated himself on picking such a competent, skilled cook for the crew and joined Ikkaku at the table.
Ikkaku asked, "How long 'til the next island?"
"Not very. The air pressure's changing, since we're approaching the Red Line."
He nodded pensively and stuffed the last corner of the sandwich into his mouth. "Where's captain?"
"He's checking the maps."
Ikkaku's expression said, No, really, but he got up and headed for the map room anyway. Yachiru intercepted him at the door and scrambled up his back, "You're gonna go see Ken-chan, right? Gimme a ride!"
Ikkaku groaned and swatted halfheartedly at her; Yachiru dodged, clung even tighter to his neck and kicked him in the side a few times for good measure. Yumichika stifled a laugh and started on his sandwich. He'd spent all morning at the helm, and the last thing he wanted to do was go look at maps. Still, if Ikkaku was going...
He finished the sandwich in a few bites. It wasn't nearly enough, but it was also only about an hour until lunch and it would tide him over until then.
Yumichika arrived at the map room in time to see Yachiru leap from Ikkaku's shoulder to Captain Zaraki's, and Iba and Renji both bent over a table-sized map. Ikkaku hung back and listened to them talk. His sense of direction and map-reading skills were awful at best, and oftentimes nonexistant. Yumichika joined the cluster around the map, turned it to align with the log pose and slapped the log down over the compass rose in the corner.
Both Renji and Iba looked incredibly relieved to see him, and they excused themselves from the room. Following orders, manning cannons, fixing the sails was one thing-- knowing where they were was a whole 'nother story. Kenpachi's eye flickered to Yumichika, acknowledging his presence before he slid the map over. "Pose is broken. 'S pointing down."
Yumichika frowned. "The next island is the Red Line. If anything, it should be pointing up. Maybe there's something underwater--"
The door slammed open. Maki-Maki burst in, panting. "Pirates! Three o'clock, and gaining fast. We're not sure what they want, but... they have an incredible bounty! It's a strong crew, captain!"
Ikkaku and Kenpachi didn't wait for him to finish before heading out, both drawing their cutlasses, both grinning. Yumichika followed after, patting Aramaki on the shoulder as he passed. There was no way he'd miss this fight.
Kenpachi waited by the rail, waiting for the other ship to draw close enough so he could board. Renji drew his cutlass and he and Ikkaku clenched them in their teeth, then dove into the water-- to pre-empt the ridiculous-looking ship with a lion figurehead. Kenpachi glanced at Yumichika. "Not followin'?"
He beamed back. "I'd rather wait for them to come to me."
Iba stood in the crow's nest, one hand wrapped in a length of rope attached to the mast. Just as the other ship pulled alongside them, Kenpachi and Yumichika leapt the difference and landed on a springy, grassy deck. Yumichika could see out of the corner of his eye Renji parrying blows from a skeleton and Ikkaku clashing with a man with green hair. A boy leaned over a rail and stared at Kenpachi.
"Hey, you're the captain?" It vaguely occured to Yumichika that this man had a three hundred million beri bounty, compared to Captain Zaraki's two hundred million. Then again, in their own rampages across the Grand Line, they hadn't taken down Enies Lobby. Straw-hat Luffy grinned down at them. "Your friend said you like to fight."
Kenpachi looked at the boy, and grinned. "You strong, kid?"
"Yeah, I'm pretty strong."
He dropped his sword, kicked it aside and went at the boy with his fists. Straw-hat didn't have a sword, so why the hell would he shorten the fight by using his own? Ikkaku, from across the deck, grinned as he felt Captain Zaraki's spirit sweep through the ship. Yumichika approached a skinny, blond man.
"Are you a fighter?"
"Yeah."
Yumichika smiled.
Iba approached a man who wore nothing but a shirt and underwear. "Yo, wanna fight?"
The other man shrugged. "Why not?"
Yachiru approached a girl and asked for candy.
By the time the sun had set, the blond man Yumichika had been fighting had a feast set out. A fishman who Yumichika later learned had been traveling with them set up a takoyaki stand and they had all stuffed themselves.
Luffy sat next to Yachiru and a mermaid on the lawn of their deck with a plate of food, entertaining them by stretching his face out into ridiculous shapes. Kenpachi sat nearby and roared with laughter. They had fought to a standstill (Luffy insisted that they not break the ship, and Captain Zaraki had, unexpectedly, relented) and they declared the fight a draw.
Roronoa Zoro sat with Ikkaku, Renji and Iba. A small, cute girl, a skeleton and the man in his underwear sat with them. Nami the cat-thief, Dead-Bones Brook, and Cyborg Franky. Yumichika had seen their wanted posters. The crew was, as a whole, a lot less terrifying than their bounties had suggested. They were all drinking heavily, though the skeleton was drinking tea and the cyborg had cola.
Yumichika himself had been pulled aside. He sat at a table with Nico Robin (she really was quite beautfiul), their ship's pet (and, he supposed, doctor) and a man with an unsightly long nose. Robin told him about the Sabaody Archipelago, marked it down on a map and offered to take them there.
He politely declined. They still had some unfinished business to see to before crossing over into the New World, after all. When they departed, Luffy shouted to Captain Zaraki that they could have a rematch next time, on land! Where they could both go all-out!
Ikkaku clasped hands with Roronoa Zoro (they really had to spar again sometime) while Iba and Renji deferred to Nami as the greatest drinker this side of the Red Line.
They all parted on good terms.
Robin commented, later, that she really hadn't expected the crew captained by a man known as the 'Demon of the Grand Line' to be so pleasant. |
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
convault) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
baroqueworks2009-08-02 07:45 pm
no subject
no subject
no subject
Yes, I have knowledge of One Piece, it was my first manga ever to be precise :D
I hadn't even thought abouy One Piece when I thought about pirates; it was after I saw "Dead Calm" and thought about Yumichika and Ikkaku pirates... But I loved the cross-over! They would probably get along quite well... <3
Thaaaanks :D
(Can same person request a story twice or more?)
no subject