Jasha's smile was just the way Arisa wished to remember it. Hesitant, fleeting, wistful....but gentle. Always so gentle, at least the way it had been in the time before, when both his life and hers remained largely unmarred by the strokes of tragedy. And seeing him now, she couldn't help but pose the question to herself:

So which was it that came first... my sin or yours?

But her reaction was visceral and immediate all the same. She instinctively lurched forwards, launching herself into his arms. Saying nothing, he nestled her closer against him in a tender embrace, and for a fleeting moment it was as if everything had gone back to the way things should have been, before times had changed for the worst, before their entire world had splintered into pieces, and she felt nothing other than a brutal, crushing sense of relief - enough so that tears sprang to her eyes and a choking sob lodged at the back of her throat.

I miss you, she murmured, closing her eyes and relishing in the steady rhythm of his heartbeat.

She felt his hand stroke her hair in familiar, calming motions.

I miss you too, 'Risa.

I'm sorry, she whispered, fingers curling desperately into the fabric of his shirt. It was all she could bring herself to say. I'm sorry. It was all my fault. I-

You didn't listen to me, he said, drawing back slightly and cupping her cheek. That radiant smile was still affixed to his features. Remember what I told you? What you promised me?

I know. And I-I'm sorry. But I can't... Her voice wavered, fracturing into innumerable shards of glass. You know that I can't go on living this way. I have to do this.

Delicate fingers ghosted past her jaw and tilted her chin upwards. His smile grew sorrowful as the longer she stared into the familiar amber depths of his eyes.

Jasha...?

Horror bloomed in her chest when she saw a bead of dark crimson well up at the corner of his lips and trail down his chin.

No. Please... The imploring plea fell past her trembling lips in a half-whimper. She took a tremulous step back as he began to cough uncontrollably, eyes beginning to glaze over in that awful blank sheen as his hands flew up to claw uselessly at his throat.

Why do you still hold on? he rasped, choking out the words past mouthfuls of gushing blood. Why keep dwelling on this?

What do you... even expect... will happen?

It's only... going to hurt you.

Drowning. He was literally drowning, just like before - just like he always did in her prevailing nightmares. Drowning in his own embittered grief, in the harsh cruelties of that awful war, in her unavailing hubris, in their shared spate of reciprocating transgressions.

Faces of the dead flickered across her mind's eye, their visages twisted into ghoulish masks which rang a discordant note of despair reverberating in her hollowed chest. Countless faces from countless wanted posters; countless names from countless obituaries. Countless pairs of empty eyes staring accusingly back at her through the darkness. Were they innocent? Irredeemable? Who was she to decide?

A separate voice emerged from the abyss - its familiar, raspy timbres throttling her with unadulterated terror.

Blood is on your hands, little monster.

He remained a stalwart, haunting presence even from the realm of the dead, with his bitter eyes perpetually affixed to hers and gleaming teeth smeared in a ruby sheen as his lips curled back into a vapid, wolfish grin. Omniscient and omnipotent within the confines of her screaming mind, coalesced into a travesty of divinity itself. In the end, perhaps that was exactly what he was - something ghastly and otherworldly, a lurking devil wearing the flayed skin of a rotting corpse, inexplicably set on envenoming her existence with misery.

Remember what you did at Sabaody. Remember what you did for his sake.

You're no different from the Nightingale, no matter how vehemently you may deny it.

And that's why you deserve to burn.

Her shoulders quaked with noiseless sobs as a smarting combination of grief and remorse shrouded her lungs. A scream clawed its way up her throat, threatening to rip past her jaws in a scorching outcry of wordless agony. She couldn't speak, couldn't breathe -

'Risa... Jasha's voice grew feeble. ....why won't you listen to me?

Why can't you just forget?

──────────────────

"...aneki? Aneki!"

Darkness greeted her vision when Arisa finally dared to open her eyes. Her heart pounded like a jackhammer beneath her sternum, her breathing resonating in shallow, rapid bursts as a vicious bout of pain squeezed her insides. Barely suppressing a wince, she rose halfway by her elbows in a faint rustle of blankets. It took a few moments for her to situate herself back to the narrow confines of her bunk, the quiet hum of the engines cradling the hull, the rhythmic breathing (and occasional snore) emanating from her surrounding roommates.

"Aneki?" Riyu repeated in a loud whisper.

Arisa felt her fingers curl into the blankets and breathed in deeply as the horrible recollections slowly receded from her mind's eye. She hesitated, then shifted to her side to peer down to the aisle. Riyu was sitting sideways on her bunk, legs dangling over the edge as she peered anxiously up at her friend.

"Riyu..." For a split second, Arisa's eyes darted to the human-sized lump of blankets residing in the bunk directly across from her. Ikkaku remained dead to the world, mumbling something incomprehensible in her sleep before shifting over to face the wall.

Riyu followed her gaze before looking back to her, whiskers giving that familiar twitch.

"Mind if I come up?"

Arisa's immediate instinct was to refuse. But the Mink caught her expression and nipped the impending response in the bud by clasping her hands together in a show of mock earnestness.

"Pretty please?"

She looked so ridiculous that Arisa couldn't help but chuckle quietly.

"There's barely enough space -"

But Riyu was already halfway up the ladder.

"Then it'll be extra cozy for us both!"

"Tch..." Arisa rolled her eyes, but grudgingly shifted over closer to the wall to make room as the Mink climbed up at the foot of the mattress. "Why even ask to do something if you're set on doing it anyways?"

"Dunno! Maybe it's that famous Amenoka-ji courtesy Donabe-dono always keeps talking about -" Riyu paused and frowned, reaching down to bounce her hand against the pallet. "Woah, wait a sec... They gave you a different mattress, didn't they! Mine's way stiffer!"

"What? Don't be ridiculous." Arisa started to scoff, then paused and tilted her head upon noting the shock written out over the Mink's features. "...wait, are you being serious?"

Riyu held her expression for a good two seconds, before a goofy smile captured her lips. "Nope, just kidding!"

She began to giggle quietly into her palm, only to barely stifle a yelp as Arisa rolled her eyes again and elbowed her lightly in the ribs. Eventually, the two settled down side by side beneath the covers. Arisa folded her arms loosely over the covers and curled up on her side facing the wall, while Riyu rather childishly opted to lie flat on her stomach with her face buried halfway into the pillow enfolded in her arms.

"Remember all the times we slept over at Shiorin's place?" she presently whispered.

Arisa tugged the blankets closer and let out a bemused snort.

"How could I not? It was more of an all-nighter than a sleepover for me since the two of you couldn't keep your mouths shut..."

"You had fun those times though, right?" Riyu gave her a nudge. "Admit it!"

"Maybe the first time. All the others..." Arisa squirmed away from another poke, muffling a small laugh into the back of her hand as she turned back over to face her friend. "Alright, alright! ...it was fun."

"Hehehe! Told ya so!" Riyu laughed quietly along with her, but her expression underwent a minute shift as her voice eventually died away, the mask giving way for but a flicker of a second to reveal the concern simmering beneath that playful facade. Arisa caught the look and slowly leaned back into the pillows. A gentle sigh eased past her lips as she fixed her gaze to the ceiling.

"Riyu."

"Hmmm?"

"...I'm sorry for making you worry."

Riyu went quiet for the better part of a minute, her expression momentarily cloaked by the shadows shifting across the room. Then she let out a small sniff and turned abruptly beneath the blankets, nestling closer for a hug.

"It'll get better eventually, alright?" she whispered. "Just like it did for me. It'll get better soon. I promise."

Another familiar stab registered within the walls of her heart - this time of guilt rather than pain. Arisa choked out a bitter laugh and returned the embrace.

"Hopefully," she answered, hating herself for how thin and disingenuous her voice sounded. "Someday."

──────────────────

"Looks like you've really gotten the hang of things," Ikkaku reflected lazily, her elbows propped up on the bar.

It was the morning of the sixth day, and all activities in the kitchen were hectic as per usual. Rakko was in a remarkably good mood for whatever reason, and for that he'd announced a radical change to the lunch menu. Now, he was whizzing cheerfully about from island to stove, toting plates piled high with batter-coated ingredients to submerge in the frier. Arisa had set up her own station on a separate table and was currently in the midst of assembling more than three dozen bentō boxes according to his instructions. From the week or so she'd spent under his care (as he would have liked to believe, anyways...), Arisa had learned it was best not to question the cook, as most of his decisions came down to mere whimsicality.

"Seriously, nee-san, it's great!" Rakko laughed, lifting the ladle strainer weighed with the fried goods. "Look at the two of us - working together like naturals! Eh?"

Ikkaku caught Arisa's eye and smirked.

"You better prepare yourself. Knowing him, he's likely to start expounding to us on the power of friendship at any moment."

A pair of chopsticks in hand, Arisa finished arranging the two slices of egg roll in the last bentō box. She looked up, setting down the plate of ingredients with a small laugh.

"Oh, but we've gone down that route before. Countless times, in fact."

"That's right!" Rakko sang, fishing out another steaming load of tempura with a strainer. "You might as well call us kindred spirits, Chidori-sana and I!"

"Of course." Ikkaku snorted. "Why am I not surprised?"

Setting the empty plate aside, Arisa stole a surreptitious glance towards the latter as she reached for the jar of pickled plums. Secretly, she wondered what had come over the raven haired woman to deliberately seek out their company in this way. There was nothing close to animosity between the two of them - the closest thing being the simmering tension left behind from the strange exchange they'd had on the first day - but over the course of that week, Arisa could get the general sense that Ikkaku was uneasy of both her and Riyu in a way that seemed largely incongruent from the rest of the crew. It had been glaringly apparent in the first few days, when she had obviously been making an effort to avoid them. She'd opened up a bit over the course of time that followed, though her skittishness was still made clear by the few stunted conversations they'd exchanged.

"Hey, Chidori-san," Rakko called out, breaking her out of her thoughts. "How are the boxes coming along?"

"Let's see." Arisa glanced down at the array, taking note of the finished components. "I'm done with the rice, pickled vegetables, edamame, and egg rolls... Just getting started with placing the umeboshi now."

Rakko nodded in approval.

"Good, good. I'll have these done in a jiffy!" he called over the crackling oil. "Oh, and remember - no umeboshi for Captain!"

"Ah, that was right." Arisa paused and made a mental note. That was one unintended consequence of taking on this side gig - having to keep track of the crew's various cuisine-related penchants of which there were surprisingly many, as Rakko was wont to lament. Law's apparent dislike of umeboshi and bread wasn't even the start of it - Ikkaku snubbed sweet potatoes and peas, Penguin shied away from raw carrots, Azarashi had a sweet tongue but disliked anko, Uni couldn't handle spicy food.... Really, the list went on and on. Rakko's dramatics regarding his crew's pickiness were admittedly high-flown, but they certainly weren't baseless.

"Eh? But then it won't be a hinomaru bentō," Ikkaku pouted. "That's the whole point of the umeboshi on the rice - it's supposed to represent the sun!"

"Well, his can be the exception -"

"No, come on! It's cute! Hey Rakko, boil a slice of sausage as a replacement!"

"Hey Rakko, boil a slice of sausage as a replacement!" Rakko imitated, rolling his eyes. "Funny how my day gets longer the more loiterers are in my kitchen!"

"Don't worry, I can do it later," Arisa interjected hurriedly. She set aside one umeboshi-less box to the side and took up the jar again. "Shouldn't take more than a minute."

"Ah!" Rakko pretended to wipe a tear from his eye with a flourish. "This is exactly what I mean! The difference between you two, it's like night and day! Just look, -" he gesticulated wildly as Ikkaku proceeded to make faces at him over the counter, "- look at that ingrate wretch! And do you think the rest of the crew is any different? No, it's 'No sweet potatoes!' one minute and 'Make me a fish sandwich!' the next! There's no end to the work with customers like them! I'd had my doubts when Captain announced that alliance, Chidori-san... but why, you're practically saint in comparison!"

"Watch it with the flattery, Chef," Arisa ribbed back, cracking a small grin. By now she'd grown fully accustomed to these outbursts. "You can't have the part-timer thinking too highly of herself now, right?"

"Hah! Part-timer indeed!" Rakko guffawed, regaining his humor in an instant. "You might as well be a pro now - all thanks to my instruction, of course!"

"Guess it really goes to show how gifted you are as a mentor, Ra-kun." Ikkaku quipped sarcastically, resting her chin over the heel of her palm.

"Oi! Take that disparaging tone elsewhere, nee-san!!" Rakko playfully batted his towel at her direction. He turned to Arisa as Ikkaku merely stuck out her tongue in response. "For all high-and-mighty she's acting now, you wouldn't believe how useless that woman is in all matters kitchen-related! Why, you should've seen the one time I tried teaching her and Uni how to clean a Sea King! You'd have thought that it woulda been a piece of cake for someone who literally cuts people open for a living - but nope! 'Oh, I'm too squeamish for this!' was her excuse - can you imagine that?!"

Ikkaku laughed lightly.

"First of all, I'm an anesthesiologist - meaning no, I don't cut people open for a living. That's more of Captain's thing. Secondly, this is food we're talking about. Not patients, food. There's a big difference! I'm fine with blood and guts in a clinical setting. But having to see the innards of something you're gonna eat later? No thanks!" She made a gagging noise, then leaned over the counter to snag a leftover piece of egg roll from the discarded plate. "Speaking of which - this is extra, right?"

"Oh." Arisa paused and straightened, halfway in arranging an umeboshi over a bed of rice. "Yes, but Rakko doesn't -"

"Hey!" Rakko barked from the other end of the kitchen, batting his towel again. "Back off! No snitching food!"

"Too bad, finders keepers!" Ikkaku stuck out her tongue again and took a bite.

"Outrageous! I'll penalize you for that! One less tempura for you!"

"Wait, seriously...?" Arisa sweatdropped. She made a mental reminder never to allow Riyu to visit her in the kitchen, lest the Mink unwittingly induce a rage-induced brain hemorrhage.

Ikkaku shrugged and popped the remaining half of the egg roll into her mouth.

"Cut out one of the veggies then," she said around a mouthful. "The sweet potato tempura - I never liked those to begin with."

Arisa finished placing the last umeboshi and glanced between the two Hearts.

"What's even the occasion with the tempura?" she asked the cook. "It's unlike you to make something so fancy for lunch."

Ikkaku gave a nonchalant shrug.

"Well, today is a special day according to our dear Rakko."

"It is?"

"What do you mean, it is? Why, it's the last full day we spend at cruise depth! !" Rakko exclaimed, sauntering back from the stove with a plate piled high with fresh tempura balanced on his fingertips. He shot Arisa a knowing grin. "Whenever we're on the home stretch of a voyage, I always like to make something special to cheer the boys up. Give them that one final boost of motivation before we finally get to see sunlight again, eh?"

"The final stretch..." Ikkaku repeated, her lips quirking into a small frown. "At least to this Mine-Mino.."

"Minetsuki-jima," Arisa corrected patiently.

"Yeah, at least to that place. Question is, how do we go from there to the final destination? You at least told Captain about it, right?"

Arisa hid a smile as she screwed the umeboshi jar shut.

"I did," she admitted. "Don't worry - he'll explain everything when we get there."

──────────────────

Later that night, she encountered Ikkaku once more when she went to the kitchen to get some water. The raven haired woman was seemingly there for no reason, as Rakko was off shift, but her intentions became clear when Arisa saw her emerge from the pantry with a glass in one hand and a large bottle of sake dangling from the other.

"Seriously?" she questioned in a loud whisper, shaking her head disapprovingly.

"Shhh!" Ikkaku slanted her a wicked smile. "Don't tell Rakko, alright?"

Arisa rolled her eyes and turned back to the sink. Ikkaku sauntered over to the island and began unscrewing the cap.

"Want some?" she asked. A quiet clink of glass sounded, followed by a swish of liquid as she poured a serving. "This is good stuff."

Arisa started to answer, but then stopped short.

"No... it's fine," she answered, a tinge of self-doubt creeping into her voice. "I... uh, I don't drink."

Ikkaku raised an eyebrow but thankfully didn't pry. She tilted back a sip and leaned against the counter by her elbows, directing her gaze pointedly to the ceiling. Arisa finished rinsing her cup and set to work wiping down the counter.

"Say... Chidori."

Her motions stilled, fingers tensing into the worn damp fabric of the kitchen rag as she distinctly became aware of the hectic thudding within her ribcage. Something in Ikkaku's voice had betrayed the dreaded question even before it was posed.

"This is only because I don't think anyone's ever asked you outright, but... You are the Nightingale's daughter, right?"

Arisa turned to look over her shoulder. Ikkaku still kept her gaze directed at the ceiling, posture lax and the glass hanging loosely between domed fingers.

"Yeah," Arisa said quietly. "I am."

Ikkaku kept her voice casual. All too casual. She drank again.

"That incident..." she mused slowly over the rim of her glass. "It was such a big deal back then. No surprises as to why, of course, but..." She paused. "It was all anyone could talk about for a long time, even in the remotest islands in the North Blue..."

Arisa resumed wiping. In a strange way the repetitive motion helped to anchor her spiraling thoughts.

"Yes. I can imagine," she heard herself say, somewhat stiffly.

Ikkaku finally tore her eyes from the ceiling. She set the glass down and leaned in slightly against the counter.

"How old were you around that time?"

Arisa narrowed her eyes, her unease having long given way to distrust. At its surface, this exact routine had grown all too familiar to her in the aftermath of Mother's execution. The curious looks from strangers and acquaintances alike. The wonder, the false pity, the disgust underlying their intrusive questions. But for whatever reason, she sensed something different here which heightened her suspicions. There was a certain calculating edge to Ikkaku's voice only scarcely cloaked by her aloofness.

"Why do you ask?" she answered, far more sharply than she'd intended.

"I don't know," Ikkaku answered. Her jaw gave a curious tick. "You're in a unique position, being her daughter. But even then, you..." Here, she met her gaze for the first time. "....you had to have feared her after that, right?"

Arisa's hand tensed up again. Her chest suddenly felt impossibly tight, as if a gnarled set of claws had clenched viciously over her heart.

You had to have feared her afterwards...right?

Yet in the years following her death, it couldn't be denied that the image Arisa had conjured of her had been hopelessly distorted beyond recognition, muted colors softened and blurred by the brush strokes of nostalgia. A subconscious mechanism, perhaps, to stave back the bitterness left stinging her tongue over the closure she'd been denied at Impel Down. After all, it was so much easier to envision her as the young mother who'd crushed her daughter to her chest and wept bitter tears over the prospect of her only child following her own bloody footsteps as a yōgari. It was so much easier to bury the pyroclastic embers of resentment left smoldering white-hot at the base of her chest, to ignore the distant looks and extended bouts of absence throughout her childhood and adolescence. It was so much easier to snatch up the fragmented memories she had left behind, unheeding to how their jagged edges pierced her fingertips like broken porcelain, and meticulously piece together a crude caricature to worship atop a pedestal....

Arisa eased out a measured breath and turned away. Ikkaku's accusing gaze continued to bore between her shoulder blades as tangibly as a dagger blade might sink into flesh.

"...why does it matter to you, what anyone thinks of her now?" she asked, her voice expressionless. It was all she could bring herself to say. "What's done is done. They caught her; they killed her. There's your Justice. The end."

(It was so much easier to remember her as Mother. Not Uguisu-hime. Not the monster, the unrepentant killer deserving of the world's unanimous condemnation. Not the maddened, blooddrenched creature the Marines had found that day, aimlessly wandering the ruins left at the wake of her own annihilative frenzy....)

Ikkaku's eyes flickered dangerously.

"...you don't hate her for everything she did?" she demanded. And Arisa could have sworn to have heard her voice tremble as her words grew louder, more forceful. "For slaughtering all those innocent people?"

(It was so much easier to carry on loving her...)

Arisa's voice hardened, her free hand tightening into a fist at her side.

"That has nothing to do with you."

(And in the end, this perhaps would be Murasaki Arisa's greatest sin.)

──────────────────

"Are you still taking those tablets?" Riyu called, incredulous.

Arisa stiffened in shock, hastily choking down her sip of water as she glanced down over the edge of her bunk to frown at the yōgari.

"You need to stop doing that," she managed to get out between fits of coughing. Fumbling a bit, she shoved both the thermos and pill bottle deep into her cloak with her free hand.

"Doing what?" Riyu tilted her head at a slight angle, but the sparkle in her eyes easily betrayed the fact that she knew exactly what her friend was talking about. She blinked in mock innocence, then broke character with that high-pitched titter of hers. "Jeez! It shouldn't be my fault that your Observation sucks that bad!"

"Ah, there you go again...!" Arisa rolled her eyes and leaned back against the wall. She was sitting on her bunk sideways while the Mink was lounging in the cot directly below. With the conversation she had with Ikkaku the night before still lingering fresh at the forefront of her mind, she was left in an unusually agitated state.

The fluorescent lights overhead gave off a tinny buzz, drowned out by the stampede of footsteps emanating from the hallway. The protocol with surfacing was nearly identical to when they had submerged. With most of the crew occupied as they worked to bring the Tang back up to the surface, Arisa and Riyu found themselves back at the crew's quarters, taking account of their few belongings as the time of their stay drew to a close.

"Seriously, though..." Riyu spoke up again. "Isn't that a bit overkill? You've always been better than me when it comes to motion sickness!"

Her tone only betrayed light befuddlement, but Arisa found herself freezing up again all the same. Fingers tightening ever so slightly against the curved glass walls of the bottle, she shifted her perch and began to chew her lower lip nervously.

"I heard that it gets bad when we're closer to the surface," she answered, voice light. "...it's better to be safe than sorry, right?"

"Hmph." Riyu let out a small huff. "Suit yourself then..."

Unseen, Arisa's shoulders sank ever so slightly in relief.

──────────────────

Standing alongside Penguin and Bepo on the deck of the newly surfaced Polar Tang, Shachi could only scratch his head in wonder as he struggled to make sense of the situation. By now, he'd grown well accustomed to this feeling of bewilderment - sharing the same living space with this Riyu-slash-Kamome creature tended to have that effect on people.

"What's she doing now?" Penguin asked aloud, his chin tilted against thumb and forefinger. "Yoga?"

Bepo shook his snout helplessly.

"I have no clue..." he muttered back over the swell of music.

Standing stalwart behind his captain, Jean Bart merely folded his arms and declared out loud that the depths of the little one's imagination really knew no bounds.

"The hell is this, anyways?" Rakko remarked, gaping unabashedly.

"Go on and ask her. I betcha it's another sacred Mink custom we've never heard about before," Clione answered loudly, snickering alongside Uni.

"Is that right, Bepo?"

"I dunno... I'm sorry..."

Soon after resurfacing, the crew had originally congregated on the deck so that Captain could explain how they were going to get to Amenoka-jima from Minetsuki. The meeting was derailed before it could even start, however, all thanks to Riyu's unintentional shenanigans.

The Mink in question was standing at the center of the deck, unabashedly carrying out a series of simple calisthenics. A Tone Dial was placed at her feet, emitting a steady stream of generic-sounding classical piano music which she used to time her movements.

"One, two, three, four... " she chanted. "Five, six, seven, eight!"

"Weasel-ya," Law said, making no attempt to conceal the utter bafflement in his voice. "What..." He deliberately cleared his throat. "What exactly are you doing?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Riyu shouted over the peaceful melody, swinging her arms and bending her knees in time with the rhythm. "Radio exercises!"

Everyone on the deck visibly sweatdropped.

Radio exercises...?

"Nothing beats a set of radio exercises in the sun! One, two, three, four... One, two, three, four... You should all try it!" Riyu continued, now bending from side to side to stretch her back. Even for a Mink, she was absurdly flexible. "It's said to be very good for your health! Five, six, seven, eight... Besides, I've heard of a granny who's lived past a hundred and fifteen years who swears on this routine for longevity! One, two, three, four..."

"So it's for old people, then..." Penguin remarked. He brightened and turned. "Oh - hey, this'll be perfect for you, Jean Bart!"

"...do you want to die, kid?"

"Ah," Bepo suddenly blinked and perked up. Shachi turned to follow his gaze, only to sweatdrop further when he spotted Chidori sulking at the far corner of the deck.

"I never thought that I'd be this embarrassed in my life," she was muttering to herself, doom lines visible over her head.

"She's just like me..." Bepo remarked, stunned.

"Hey aneki!" Riyu ordered, transitioning seamlessly over to a new exercise which involved stretching her arms high above her head and bouncing on her heels. "You need to do this too! It's for your health!"

"No way in hell!"

"Don't be so shy about it and come join me!" the Mink sang. "It'll be just like the old days!"

"Old days...?" Penguin echoed.

Approximately twenty pairs of eyes went immediately swinging over to the silver-haired woman. Her blue eyes opened wide in panic, her cheeks flaring in color.

"W-what are you -" she began to sputter.

Shachi and Penguin both jolted in shock, cheeks flushing bright pink.

S-she's actually really cute when she gets flustered -!

"Exactly!" Riyu nodded. "Did you forget that we used to do this all the time, aneki?"

"When we were kids!" Chidori shouted back, a desperate edge to her voice. She straightened and marched across the deck in an attempt to wrestle the Tone Dial away. "Now turn that off! You're wasting time!"

"Nope! Don't wanna!" Riyu snatched the shell up in her free hand and pranced away, still comically attempting to contort her limbs in accordance with the exercises as she proceeded to skip around the deck to evade. "One, two, three, four... Feel free to join in, everybody!"

"Ri-yu!"

"Guess what - this is actually the secret to unlocking Haki! You'll all get stronger if you do this! One, two, three, four..."

The outburst had a decidedly mixed reception. Law shook his head with a slight scoff. Jean Bart let out a bemused chuckle, while Ikkaku rolled her eyes and muttered "Bullshit" beneath her breath. But Penguin and Clione were immediately enthralled. They stared after the Mink with a renewed sense of appreciation kindled in their eyes.

"Wait, r-really?" Penguin stuttered, his flush deepening.

"Are you serious?" Clione chimed, eyes as wide as saucers. "H-H-Haki, you say?"

Rakko, meanwhile, had already started imitating Riyu's moves.

"As if anyone's stupid enough to fall for that!" Chidori shouted, outraged.

"Hahahaha! It was worth a shot, though~"

"O-oh..." Rakko lowered his arms and staggered to his knees, dramatically clutching at his chest as if to nurse a broken heart. Penguin and Clione were already slinking away into the shadows, their postures sagging like demoralized gastropods.

Ouch... Shachi hid a wince, before letting out an audible snicker. Those idiots.

Luckily for everyone involved (mainly Chidori and her bruised ego), Riyu's radio exercise track ended after only about three minutes. With that out of the way, they were finally back in business, with Law and Bepo taking the floor to direct the meeting.

To start things off, Law tossed a large rolled map to the floor. It landed with a heavy thud and a cough of dust, the page fully unfurling to cover the center of the deck. The crew murmured and crowded around to study it. Shachi and Penguin stepped back to give the others more room - they both already recognized the sketch from the daily officer meetings.

"This is something Captain had me work on for the past week, with Chidori and Weas- Riyu's assistance," Bepo explained. "It's a rough map of the local area, using Minetsuki-jima as a central reference point."

Law raised his chin and stepped forwards.

"We are currently here -" he used his nodachi to point at the center of the map, which depicted a rough drawing of a crescent-shaped island "- just off the southeastern cape of Minetsuki-jima."

All eyes snapped over to barren land mass looming over the railing, then back to the map. Everyone nodded solemnly in understanding.

"According to Chidori-ya, our intended destination is here." The nodachi shifted down further to the right, coming to a rest over a larger island drawn near the bottom corner. "Amenoka-jima is located in a Remote Clime that encircles this rough area -" he demonstrated by tracing a circle around the indicated region, "- which means from this point going forward, we are unable to rely on Poses of any type."

"So how are we supposed to get there?" Hakugan, their helmsman, called out. He stepped forwards to examine the drawing. "I mean... distance-wise, we should be able to get there in less than half a day at maximum submerged speed. But with the weather conditions being the way they are in the Grand Line, there's no real way to navigate these waters without a Log Pose."

His gunmetal eyes landing on Chidori, the surgeon gave a slight nod. The young woman broke her glare at Riyu and let out a breath, before briskly striding out from the perimeter of bystanders with folded arms. Her shift to seriousness from her previously beleaguered demeanor was so abrupt that it was almost disorienting.

"You're right," Chidori said calmly, sweeping her electric blue gaze over the array of faces that attended her. "Pose-less navigation is indeed impossible in the Grand Line. For humans, that is."

"For humans..." Hakugan repeated, shifting his weight uneasily. He turned his head to face Law. "Do you mean to say that we...?"

Law merely propped his nodachi against his shoulder and nodded, a faint smirk surfacing.

Chidori raised her chin resolutely.

"Remote Climes block out the region's magnetic field from the outside," she began, "but the barrier is not actually irontight - trace signals are still able to get through. Of course, the overall field strength is so dilute that they are undetectable with Pose technology. However, there are some migratory sea creatures that are capable of navigating to regions in Remote Climes by sensing these electromagnetic signatures. In our case, we will be relying on a Sea King named Iroha to take us to Amenoka-jima."

Another murmur rippled through the audience.

"Ehhhh?"

"A Sea King?"

"Yes. Iroha is an ōnamazu - a giant catfish yōkai. Due to their size, they are classified as a type of Sea King by the outside world." Chidori ruminatively propped the sheath of her katana against the deck, a wry smile capturing her lips as she took in the stunned faces of her audience. "No need to worry - Iroha is a benevolent yōkai. Along with her siblings, she has served the Children of Amenokaji for decades."

"Yeah!" Riyu grinned. "Iroha's great!"

"Question!" Clione's hand shot into the air. "C-Catfish primarily swim at the ocean floor, right...? So how... uh, how exactly is this Iroha gonna take us there? "

Riyu's eyes gave off a mischievous gleam.

"In her mouth, of course!"

The crew was immediately thrown into a commotion.

"IN HER MOUTH?!" Shachi and Penguin whirled to gape at the Mink in horror.

That wasn't what they told us in the meeting - !

"That's disgusting!" Rakko sobbed, clinging dramatically to Bepo's arm. "Bepo, hold me!"

"...let go, you're scaring me..."

"Have some compassion for a comrade in distress! Look at me, I'm about to faint!"

"...I'm sorry..."

"Captain," Penguin wailed, "how is this not a trap?!!!"

"I don't wanna die as catfish bait~"

"I-I wouldn't mind it, as long as Chidori-chan is there to comfort me - OW! Nee-san! What the hell?!"

"W-w-what if it accidentally swallows the Tang whole? We'll drown in stomach acid! Catfish stomach acid!"

"That's enough!" Law ordered, cutting the bickering off short. He glared over to the grinning Riyu, who was now perched atop the railing behind him, clearly enjoying the fruits of her labor. "Quit messing around, Weasel-ya!"

"Hmph, you're no fun, Mr. Dots!"

"S-s-so that... that was a lie?" Rakko stammered.

"She's just messing with you," Chidori deadpanned, stifling a smile. "There's no need to submerge, either. Ōnamazu have flat heads, so Iroha will have no problem balancing the Tang over the surface."

A collective sigh of relief passed over the crew.

"In other words, all that's left to do on our end is to wait." Law directed his stare back to Chidori. "How long will it take to get there?"

"A little less than three hours." Chidori turned her attention to the map, tapping the drawing of Amenoka-jima with the point of her sheathed katana. Reluctantly, everybody crowded closer to see. The land mass was of an odd trapezoidal shape, with the locations of several villages and the central shrine marked and labeled. There were two smaller satellite islands clustered near the southeastern portion, labeled KIRIGIRISU and TAKANOTSUME, respectively.

Chidori pointed to the island dubbed TAKANOTSUME.

"Iroha will drop us off here," she said. "As long as we are within the Remote Clime, we can rely on an internal Log Pose to navigate." She gestured to the narrow channel separating the island from the mainland. "There is a ferry operating three to four times a day to shuttle visitors between Takanotsume and Amenoka-jima. Once I inform the elders of your arrival, you will be permitted to utilize that to travel to the mainland."

"Just to be clear..." Jean Bart cleared his throat. "...you did obtain permission for us to go there, right?"

Chidori's expression remained inscrutable, though for a split second Shachi saw her eyes flick sideways to lock with Riyu's.

"Of course."

The motion didn't go unnoticed by Law. He narrowed his eyes slightly but merely assented with a terse nod.

"Then it's decided," he announced, voice brisk. Tattooed fingers tensed ever so slightly over the patterned sheath of his nodachi as he pronounced the following words. "Our next destination is Amenoka-jima."

──────────────────

Around the same time, two singular individuals - a man and a woman - were hanging around the various stone outcroppings littering Takanotsume's coastline. The woman was alert and attentive, leaning over a stray boulder and frequently glazing the horizon with an eyeglass. It couldn't be denied that her ornate attire - a lavender kimono with the flowing sleeves cinched at her elbows with a cloth tie - was rather incongruous with both her activities and general surroundings. Her weapon - a naginata - lay within arm's reach on a nearby boulder.

In stark comparison, her companion was dead to the world. Slumped against the trunk of a nearby pine tree fast asleep, he was dressed and groomed rather shabbily, with his haori thrown crookedly over his shoulders and fiery tufts of flyaway hair escaping his topknot in opposing directions.

The young woman presently rose with a small scoff, stashing the eyeglass away into her kimono. She turned to the young man.

"Himuro," she hissed in a loud whisper.

The young man murmured something in his sleep and turned his back to her.

"Himuro." The woman narrowed her eyes as she drew closer, noiselessly reaching for the spear. "...Oi, Himuro!"

Still no response.

"Hi-mu-ro!" The end of the naginata went slamming into the hard packed dirt with a deafening thud. "Himuro Kōyō! Wake up!"

"Gyaaaah! Sensei!" The man's hazel eyes popped wide open. He bolted up with a high-pitched scream, limbs flailing and head flinging from side to side. "Ack, sorry! I d-didn't mean to -" He paused upon spotting his companion. " ...oh, it's just you- Gah!"

The young woman had reached down to yank him to his feet by the ponytail. She poked him once in the cheek.

"It's almost time, sleepyhead!" she scolded.

"Time...?" the dazed Himuro repeated, warily rubbing the tender spot on his face.

"Time to greet our guests!" The young woman descended on him like a mother hen, immediately setting to work brushing stray pieces of grass from his attire, her. "Ugh, look at you - your fashion sense is just abysmal! Fix your collar! Straighten your belt! And your hair...well, isn't that a travesty-!" She cut off with an exasperated sigh. "Don't you remember my guidelines on hospitality? Rule number one - don't be an eyesore to the guests!"

"Tch. Who cares about how I look?" Himuro protested, picking his nose. "I didn't ask to be a part of any of this! And guess what? I already read up on this crew and it isn't as if they're any better! Hell, they all wear the same ugly outfi- ow!"

"Rule number two!" The woman poked him again in the forehead. "Don't, under any circumstances, go out of your way to offend the guests!"

Himuro swatted her hand away.

"I don't care...! I'm sleepy! Leave me alone!" His expression darkened, a tinge of sulkiness underlying his voice. "I betcha you and Arisa are gonna be in a whole lot of trouble once Tatsuhito-dono finds out about this."

The young woman rolled her eyes.

"Tell me something I don't know," she answered. "But I've already sent Iroha on her way, so there's no going back now. Besides..." the woman trailed off, a mischievous spark kindling in her eyes, "...how can I ever say no to my dear little sisters?"

Himuro groaned aloud.

"...you're incorrigible, Shiorin," he deadpanned.

"Pirates or no," the young woman continued enthusiastically, "guests are guests. And if there is one thing we at Hidamari Village are known for, it's our hospitality!"

A devilish smirk dawning over her face, Isseki Shiori slammed the end of her naginata into the ground once more for good measure.

"Let's hit them with a stylish welcome, shall we?"

Note(s):

- Tempura (天ぷら): A Japanese dish. Vegetables and meat deep fried in thin batter.

- Hinomaru bentō (日の丸弁当): A type of bentō in which a single umeboshi is placed on the bed of white rice, making it look like the rising sun (aka the Japanese flag).

- Radio exercises (ラジオ体): Also called "rajio taisō." In Japan (and other parts of Asia), these are standardized calisthenics performed with music, usually broadcast over radio or TV. It's hard to describe, but it's just one of those things that's well-ingrained into Japanese culture. Like, everyone has memories of having to do these routines in school growing up lol. And many people continue to do them in adulthood for exercise and flexibility. The most famous routine is called 「ラジオ体操第一」(Radio Exercise #1), and this was the music I had in mind when I was writing the first half of the scene on the deck. You can look it up on Youtube if you want to experience the cheesy piano music and see what Riyu was doing for yourself xD

- Ōnamazu (大鯰): Giant catfish.

- Kirigirisu (キリギリス): Grasshopper

- Naginata (長刀): A type of spear used by samurai.

What can I say - Riyu is that one kid who has no filter and just spills all the embarrassing family secrets to strangers.

Thanks for reading,

-shiba