"This bastard is not human, is he?" Jun nervously laughed. Within just minutes… a dozen of his men were down.
Otoru was barely standing, yet he refused to fall. No matter what happened, he wouldn't let his back touch the ground. His fists were covered in blood; his resolve was covered in anger.
The blood wasn't his.
"I'm sorry, captain." Otoru raised his guard again. "I'm beating the shit out of bastards wearing our jackets. The jackets of the Infamous Pirates."
"But being a part of this crew isn't wearing the jacket on your body. It's wearing it on your soul!" Otoru dashed forward, but Jun parried his punch easily. "You've gotten sloppy! My plan was to tire you out, dumbass!" He pulled out the knife from his pocket and swung it towards Otoru's neck.
Otoru closed his eyes, bearing it with grace.
Yet even a second later, he was alive. He slowly opened his eyes, only to see Pablo taking the hit for him. The knife impaled his palm, and his feet wobbled.
"Huh? Wasn't he unconscious? And why is he protecting him?" Jun pulled out his knife and took a step backwards. "I won't let you kill him." Pablo grunted and clenched his fist. "He'll die in my hands, not yours!" He yelled.
"I guess we'll have to dig two holes tod-" Before Jun could finish his sentence, Otoru used this opportunity to dash in and punch him straight in the face. The punch dug deep into his face and sent him flying across the room.
Otoru panted, then looked at Pablo. "Alright, round 2!" He raised his fists.
Pablo grinned. "I'll make sure you-"
"BAGAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAGAHAHAHGAHAHA!" The sound of laughter echoed around the entire ship. "Who's that?" Pablo panicked and faced the direction.
"I know that laugh…" Otoru sighed.
In the room right next to them, Nasaki and Infamy were… sitting and sharing a drink. "I DIDN'T EVEN STAND A CHANCE, HUH, DID I?" Infamy kept laughing.
"BAGAHAHAGAHAHAGAHAH! Guess both of my losses belonged to a member of The Dreamers!" Infamy chugged the whole bottle. Nasaki had a smile on his face as well.
"I thought they were fighting!" Pablo forgot the fight he was supposed to have with Otoru and just stared at them with disbelief.
"Yeah, Captain is not a sore loser. And it seems like the blind guy wasn't out for blood either." Otoru placed his hands in his pockets and entered the room.
"I will kill you someday, though…" Pablo healed what he could, but he still failed to regenerate from the soul damage. He entered the room as well. "I guess thanks to you, I will stay undefeated." Otoru waved his hands in dismissal. "2 wins in just one day. I won't count all that scum as one individual."
"Such sportsmanship." Pablo rolled his eyes.
"Oh, Pablo-" Nasaki looked back, but then noticed the wounds on him. "What the hell happened to you two?"
"We fought." Pablo scratched the back of his neck. "And I won." Otoru crossed his arms with a smirk. "Also, Captain. The inner circle of Jun are rats. Well, were rats. I took care of them. They tried to assassinate me to take my spot."
Infamy cackled and grabbed another bottle, as if what Otoru said was just another Tuesday. "Yeah, I knew. I was just testing you. People like him are ambitious, but too ambitious. If he succeeded in killing you, he'd attempt to kill me afterwards. That's just how their brains work."
"Aha! I knew you were testing me! You lost to this blind bastard on purpose too, right?!" He smiled brightly.
"What? No, he kicked my ass." He chugged the remaining bottle. "Yeah, I kind of did." Nasaki cackled.
But as they were laughing, Otoru dashed again and threw a hook towards Nasaki's face with a ghost.
"Oh?" But to his surprise, Nasaki grabbed the punch without even getting up. "You're fast."
Otoru gasped; so did Pablo. Even if Pablo didn't see anything, he was shocked that Nasaki could block a punch from those invisible things.
"But fast ain't gonna cut it." Nasaki back-handed Otoru, but he dodged at the last possible moment.
Nasaki chuckled in excitement. "You really know how to pick a replacement. I expected him to be weaker than Tsuyoi, but it's clear he surpassed him." He drank again.
"Son, calm down. It was a friendly spar. I asked for it." Infamy got up and placed a hand on Otoru's shoulder. "Yeah. If he was actually going all out, maybe he could beat me with my blindfold on. I've had fun, geezer."
Otoru exhaled sharply and sat down, unable to stand due to his injuries. He put all of his remaining power into dodging Nasaki's half-assed attack.
"I'm feeling… no, this isn't fear. Unlike that guy and Pablo, I don't feel fear right now. I'm… shocked. That's the word, isn't it." Blood leaked out of his mouth. "I'm shocked god would allow someone to be this powerful." He clenched his teeth.
"John, you know how it is in the golden age, right? If I save your life, you owe me a favor. I chose to not kill you, which technically means I saved your life." He smirked.
"I've heard about Tsuyoi. I'm not going to save him. Never. Ever." He accidentally crushed the bottle in his hands. "Other than that, ask away. But I don't count that loophole. I simply feel indebted because you gave me such an enjoyable fight." He wiped the crust off his eyes.
"Huh?! I don't accept gifts, old man!" Nasaki protested.
"Nasaki Ryuko, you cannot reject! It's a tradition from the golden ag-" Otoru's yell was cut off by Pablo. "Wait, you too agree with this stupid-ass tradition?" He raised an eyebrow.
"Why wouldn't I? The captain believes it. And if I wasn't tired, I'd kill you for calling it stupid." Otoru furrowed his brows.
"Ah, in that case." Pablo grinned. "You owe me a favor."
"You think you saved my life?! I was going to win against Jun even if you didn't intervene. That doesn't count!" Otoru yelled in anger.
"Bullshit. I saw your face. You were too much in harmony." He mocked the expression Otoru did when Jun swung his knife by imitating it.
"You copied my face too! You damn bastard!" Otoru tried to slap Pablo, but Pablo returned the gesture. It's as if two angry cats were fighting.
"He has a point, you know." Infamy quietly said. Both Otoru and Pablo stopped, their hands still on each other's faces. "Huh?" The two said.
"He saved your life. You owe him a favor." He grabbed another bottle from his seemingly endless supply lying around the floor. "Whatever it is, you will do it."
"Captain…" Otoru's angry face turned into a calm, almost stoic one. "Ask right away." Otoru bowed to Pablo.
"Okay, there's no need for that, cut it out, man… I'm definitely not enjoying this…" He looked away, embarrassed.
Otoru got up. "Alright, I cut it out, favor paid. Get the fuck out of my sight."
"That's unfair, you cheating dickhead!" They returned to slapping each other.
"They're getting along well." Infamy watched, almost proud. "I'm glad your bar for mental health is as low as mine." Nasaki couldn't wipe the smirk off his face.
"Though I'm curious, Pablo Drake," Infamy snapped his fingers. A wind funnel pushed both of them away from each other. "What would someone like you want from my right-hand man?"
"It's simple, basically a no-brainer. Since this hobo won't come with me to the finish line." He pointed at Nasaki. "Me?!" Nasaki pointed at himself.
"Otoru…" Pablo looked at him. "...I want you to join me in my adventures."
Infamy, Nasaki, and Otoru were all silenced. Infamy was surprised, Nasaki was almost proud, and Otoru… well, he didn't take it well.
"You're really asking for a beating, huh? What makes you think I'll help you save Tsuyoi?" A vein popped on his forehead. "I've underestimated you. I shouldn't have expected less from the kid that brought Nasaki out into the seas again," Infamy thought.
"A favor is a favor, son." Infamy shrugged.
"What?! You're seriously okay with this, captain?!" Otoru rapidly looked back and forth between Pablo and Infamy. "You're not leaving the crew, are you? It's just that you're going on a… uh… what do the kids call it these days?" Infamy looked at Nasaki. "Training arc," he replied.
"Oh yeah, a training arc. It'll be good experience for you, won't it? You can't stay with me forever. You need to learn what it feels like to sail with weak people instead of relying on me forever."
"Ow." Pablo glared.
Otoru gulped and was left speechless. "I have one condition, then, Pablo Drake." He looked at Pablo. "Will we get hella bitches? And also, you're not my captain, got it?" The mismatch between the absurdity of what he said and the seriousness on his face caught Pablo off guard. "I… guess? Also, that was two conditions."
"Then I'm in." He crossed his arms, very much so not pleased with this situation. "But an independent Treasurer needs to have a dream before they sail, right?" He glared at Nasaki. "Nasaki Ryuko, my dream is…" He reached his hands for a fistbump. "...Defeating you."
Everyone in the room didn't take it seriously and was holding back their laughter.
Except for Nasaki.
"Alright." He met his fistbump. "Then the next time we meet, we're enemies, got it?" He grinned.
Otoru nodded. "Damn right."