Brightest Suns in the Sea

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/49269424.

Rating: Mature
Archive Warning: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of
Violence
Category: M/M
Fandom: One Piece (Anime & Manga)
Relationship: Jinbei/Original Character(s), Jinbei & Original Character(s),
Jinbei/Original Male Characters, Jinbei & Arlong, Jinbei & Fisher Tiger,
Aladine & Jinbei (One Piece), Fisher Tiger & Jinbei
Character: Jinbei (One Piece), Arlong (One Piece), Fisher Tiger, Aladine (One
Piece), Hatchan (One Piece)
Additional Tags: Pre-Fishman Island Arc, Post-Fishman Island Arc, Friendship,
Friendship/Love, Love, Fluff and Angst, Slavery, Blood and Injury
Language: English
Stats: Published: 2023-08-11 Updated: 2023-09-26 Words: 10,063 Chapters:
5/?

Brightest Suns in the Sea

by MunchedMarc

Summary

Mike's caught by human traffickers and taken to be sold as a slave. When all seems lost he's
rescued by the Sun Pirates. He takes a keen interest to one of them; his deep voice, cold
personality and strength only draws Mike to him more. His cold shoulder towards Mike
slowly grows into friendship...and maybe even more.

(Remember to read the tags!)

Notes

I first decided to write this because there's no gay Jinbei fanfics longer than 4 chapters, so I
took on the challenge. I plan on this book being more focused on Jinbei and Mike's growing
relationship instead of plot. I'll be creating side characters and using existing characters.

See the end of the work for more notes

 Captured Freedom

Mike’s POV:

Unbearable smoke intoxicated the air. My nose twitched as I caught the scent of something rotten.
Ropes suffocated my torso, preventing any movement. I looked around the pitch-black room,
searching for a way out before I gave up once again.

Human traffickers, I thought to myself. They’ve been ‘collecting’ people around town for months
now; it was only a matter of time before they got to me.

I could hear distinct shouts coming from the upper deck.

BANG!

BANG!

Silence soon followed then I heard a clicking sound approaching my cell. The door busted open,
and light poured in. As my eyes adjusted, a figure walked over to me.

“Funny… only one this time?” said a deep voice.

I looked at the person who just saved me. Water dripped from their body. They had blue skin,
yellow sideburns, and eyebrows, and their hair was black but golden at the end.

He must be one of those fish-men, I concluded.

The fish-man moved over to my side and untied the ropes binding me; I noticed he took great care
not to touch me. He gestured for me to follow him, and I did. As I looked around the deck, bodies
were scattered everywhere, bleeding out, evidence of some sort of fight. A merman with a trident
came over to us.

“We’ve finished raiding the ship; it’ll sink soon,” The merman looked over at you, then behind.
“Where are the rest of the captives?”

“This human” -I feel a bit of emphasis on the ‘ human’ - “Was the only one on the ship,” The fish-
man explained.

‘Fine, let’s get them on our ship then,” The merman said.

I walked over the plank creating a bridge between the two ships. As I stepped onto their ship, I
looked everywhere; fish-men were around. The fish-man I met earlier brought me into a room
filled with charts. A red-skinned fish-man sat at the desk in the middle of the room.

“Hello there, welcome aboard the Snapper, vessel of the Sun Pirates; my name is Fisher Tiger, and
you are? Tiger introduced.

“Umm…my name is Micheal or Mike, either works,” I answered nervously.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Mike; that fellow behind you is Jinbei, he’s my first mate,” Tiger
responded.

I turned over to look at Jinbei; he seemed pretty displeased and grumpy.

“Now Mike, I didn’t plan on saving any captives for the week, so unfortunately, we cannot drop
you off just yet, but we’ll make sure you’re comfortable. Jinbei will take you to your room now,”
Tiger explained.

“It’s fine, and thank you for saving me,” I answered.

Jinbei opened the door and started walking down the stairs; I quickly trailed him. As we walked
through the hallway, no one said anything; when we reached the room, I nodded in gratitude as
Jinbei left.

The room was medium-sized, and the floor and bed frame were smooth oak. I hopped on the bed
and peered outside the room window. Jinbei had practically ignored me the whole time, maybe he
wasn’t comfortable with humans, or perhaps he was just like that with everyone; whatever the
case, something was alluring about him, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.

As I questioned the day's events, a memory from months ago came flooding back.

As I headed into the street, I noticed people gathering around Mr Paywell's house. I saw broken
windows and a shattered door as I approached the house. Nobody had seen him since yesterday.
Everyone in town suspected some sort of kidnapping since Mr. Paywell had gone missing.

I decided to take my mind off some things, so I headed out of my room and onto the front deck.
Rich smells of barbeque danced about the deck’s atmosphere. Everyone seemed to be deep in
conversation or busy with their food. I was about to head to Tiger’s office before someone
intercepted me. They had pink skin, six arms, and grey spiked hair.

“Hello there! You must be Mike, I’m Hatchan, but everyone calls me Hachi, I was just about to get
you from your room to eat,” Hatchan introduced.

“Oh…um okay,” I smiled.

We headed into the kitchen; smoke and bubbling sounds filled the room.

“What would you like for lunch?” Hatchan asked.

I squinted my eyes as I tried to think. I was unsure of the ingredients available on the ship, so I
headed to the cabinet to check. After checking the ingredients, I decided to make rice with tomato
sauce. As I began to cook the rice, Hatchan looked at me curiously. Once it was done, I poured the
sauce onto it. I realized it needed something more, so I added some cooked sausages.

“Hmm… that’s an interesting dish, are you a cook?” Hatchan asked.

“I know how to make a few meals here and there,” I chuckled.

Hatchan picked a spoon and tried a bit of the food.

“Mmm, that’s pretty good and simple to make, I can’t wait to see what else you can make,” He
complimented.

I smiled at him before heading out of the kitchen. Almost all the tables were filled except one right
behind Jinbei’s. I was unsure what to do, but I passed his table without issue. Sitting down and
eating, I couldn’t help but feel people watching me.

When I turned around, everyone seemed hyper-fixated on random things. I looked toward Jinbei’s
table and caught him glancing at me; I didn’t know how to feel about it, so I just continued eating.

Once I was done, I felt lonely as everyone split into groups and headed to other places.

I wonder if Hatchan will mind me being in the kitchen with him. I asked myself.

Before I started towards the kitchen, I saw Jinbei looking at me again; I figured he wanted to say
something to me.

“Hey there,” I said as I reached him.

“Hello there Micheal,” He replied.

“So…what is it?” I asked.

He remained silent.

“Okay, did I do something wrong or what is it that’s causing you to give me the cold shoulder?” I
questioned with a hint of annoyance.

“There’s nothing wrong,” He answered emptily.

“Fine then, I’ll be on my way then,”

We both walked off in different directions after that. I headed into the kitchen again and found
Hatchan talking with another fish-man, who I assumed to be the head chef.

“-we just don’t have enough time to prepare it all in time,” The head chef said.

Hatchan seemed to take notice of my presence; I walked over to him.

“Sir, this is Mike, the captive that Jinbei saved, I think he could help us,” Hatchan proposed.

“Help with what?” I asked.

“Captain Tai wants a big buffet for tonight and I don’t want to disappoint him,” The head chef
explained.

“Sure I can help with that, I don’t have anything better to do,” I accepted.

“Great! We should probably get to work now,” Hatchan said.

The hours flew by as Pike (The head chef) and Hatchan instructed me on what to do and use. By
the time we were done, it was 10 minutes till dinnertime. We rushed all the food outside onto the
front deck; fish-men were already filling the tables. I smiled at all our hard work; Pike gave me and
Hatchan a look of approval and appreciation.

Tiger walked over to the three of us and smiled.

“Good job guys, I knew you could do it, and thanks for helping them out Mike,” Tiger thanked.

“No problem, I’m a bit exhausted, so I’m going to grab some food real quick,” I replied.

Hatchan and Pike nodded in agreement, and we grabbed some plates and food. I was about to head
to an empty seat before Hatchan invited me to sit with him; I accepted his invitation. Hatchan sat us
over with a fish-man with a saw-like nose. Jinbei walked over to the table and saw me; he seemed
to sit with us reluctantly.
“Arlong, this is Mike, Mike, Arlong, and you both already know Jinbei,” Hatchan introduced.

“Ah yes…the human everyone’s been talking about,” Arlong grinned.

My muscles tensed from the way he said ‘human.’

“Anyway, did you know Mike’s the whole reason, this buffet is even possible?” Hatchan
exclaimed.

“I just helped a little bit Hatchan,” I smiled.

“C’mon don’t be modest, you really helped out!” Hatchan insisted.

“The food is very nice, you can really tell you guys worked very hard,” Jinbei complimented.

Jinbei’s words fluttered through my head, causing me to zone out; it was the first nice thing he’d
said about me; it only lasted a while before Arlong began to talk.

“Why do we even save useless creatures like you?” Arlong asked rhetorically to you.

“Arlong…” Jinbei started.

“I mean your kind is inferior to us in hundreds of ways and you think you’re better than us,”
Arlong cut off.

My blood pressure rose.

“Not every human thinks that we’re better than you, including me,” I responded.
“Don’t give me that crap, you all think the same. You are all the same,” Arlong glared.

“That’s enough Arlong,” Jinbei warned.

“Oh…but I’m just getting started. You humans suppress us, enslave us and laugh at us. You’re all
filth,” Arlong snarled.

People started to turn their heads toward us.

“Umm…Arlong you’re causing a scene,” Hatchan warned.

“If Brother Tai hadn’t just had that meeting about sparing humans, right before we raided the ship
you were on, I bet Jinbei would have left you for dead,” Arlong sneered.

Jinbei banged the table with his fist, causing everyone but Arlong to jump. Jinbei glared at Arlong,
and he didn’t dare speak another word. Everyone looked away quickly and pretended nothing
happened. I ate my food for a few seconds before Hatchan talked.

“So…um…we have another upcoming raid, how good are you at fighting Mike?”

“I guess I’m okay, I know how to use a little Haki, but I think I need a bit more practice,”

“You’ll have plenty of time tomorrow to train, don’t worry,”

Once I finished my first serving, I went for more; once I returned, Arlong was gone.

“He headed off to bed,” Hatchan explained.

Great, first day, and I’d already made an enemy, I thought to myself.

Jinbei was looking far out to sea, deep in thought. The table was slightly cracked after Jinbei
banged it. Arlong’s words played through my head like a movie scene. Would Jinbei have left me
for dead? I barely knew Jinbei, but it was my first day on the Snapper, so what’d I expect?

Hatchan rambled on about some cooking recipes we could try one day, and more memories
flooded me.

Me walking home late at night, the moon being my only source of light. The sounds of dozens of
footsteps following behind me. Me stopping to try and fight my stalkers.

“Mike, are you alright?” Hatchan asked.

“Huh? What? Oh sorry Hatchan, I just zoned out a bit there that’s all,”

“Alright, I was just saying I’m heading over to see Pike. Will you be okay on your own?”

“What do you mean, Jinbei’s right here-” I started.

Jinbei’s seat was empty. I quickly scoped the deck for him; I spotted his huge body by the ship's
railings.

“Okay, see ya tomorrow,” Hatchan said as he left.

As people started to head to bed, I walked up next to Jinbei. The moonlight illuminated his skin,
making him look like he was glowing. His eyes were shut; I quickly realized he was meditating, so
I waited. After a few seconds, Jinbei opened his eyes and turned to me; we stood silently for a
moment before I figured he was waiting for me to talk.

“Is it true that you only saved me because of your earlier meeting?” I asked.

“I would have saved you either way,” Jinbei answered.

“Why have you avoided me the whole day?”

“I just didn’t want to paint an image in everyone’s mind that I was just around you because of
today’s meeting; it wouldn’t be fair on you, and also because of some things with Arlong,”

“Hmm, guess that makes sense,” I responded.

“I hope we can start afresh,” He smiled.

“Me too,” I smiled back.

The waves swaying filled the empty silence. I took a big yawn.

“You seem tired; let me take you back to your room,”

I did feel quite exhausted from the eventful day, so I agreed. Once we reached my room, I opened
the door.

“Good night,” I said.

“Good night,” Jinbei replied.

“Oh and Jinbei,”

“Hmm?”

“Thanks for standing up to Arlong for me earlier, I really appreciate it,”

He nodded and headed off. I closed the door behind me and flopped onto my bed; sleep followed
soon after. I couldn’t wait for the day ahead.
 Secret Crime
Chapter Summary

Mike's caught by human traffickers and taken to be sold as a slave. When all seems
lost he's rescued by the Sun Pirates. He takes a keen interest to one of them; his deep
voice, cold personality and strength only draws Mike to him more. His cold shoulder
towards Mike slowly grows into friendship...and maybe even more.

(Remember to read the tags!)

Chapter Notes

Sorry for late upload (Over 2 weeks later), just started school again. I'll be uploading
once every 1-2 weeks. Anyway enjoy the new chapter!

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Jinbei’s POV: 2 Days Later

As I walked down the hallway, I fiddled with my fingers. Arlong’s door swung right open. I turned
toward Arlong as he groaned.

“Morning brother,” Arlong yawned.

“Actually, it’s noon,” Jinbei grinned.

“Eh, whatever,” Arlong shrugged off.

As I continued to the main deck, Arlong followed closely behind. I scanned the deck for Brother
Tai; I spotted him talking with Chef Pike and Hatchan and headed over to them.

“Hey there, Jinbei!” Hatchan greeted.

Tiger quickly peered at my side, “Good morning, sleepyhead,” He said to Arlong.

“Where’s lunch?” Arlong asked.

“It’ll be ready in a minute,” Pike answered.

“It’s mostly just leftovers from last night,” Hatchan added.

At the mention of last night, I remember Mike and I’s conversation. I finally realized I hadn’t seen
Mike the whole day.

“Have any of you seen Mike today?” I asked.

As I said, Mike’s name, Arlong tensed and gritted his teeth.

“He might be back in his room; let’s go check on him,” Hachi suggested.

I nodded my head and went with Hachi over to Mike’s room. I was about to knock on the door
before I hesitated.

“What if he’s still sleeping or something?” I asked Hachi.

“I doubt anyone can sleep as heavily as Arlong, don't tell him I said that,”

I grinned, then knocked on the door.

“Yes, come in!” Mike shouted.

As we entered the room, paper balls were scattered across the floor. Mike sat at a desk, working on
something.
“What is all this?” Hachi asked.

“Just some drawings and stuff, Mike said while quickly cleaning up the mess, being wary not to
show any to us.

I glanced at the paper he was working on; I figured from the outlines he was attempting to draw
me. Mike noticed me looking at the paper, quickly grabbed it, and stuffed everything in a bag.

“On a different note, what is it?” Mike smiled.

“Oh it’s just nobody had seen you all day, so we came to check on you,” Hachi explained.

“Well, I’m okay…I mean, I’m rather hungry,” Mike grinned.

Hachi gestured for Mike to follow him; I looked at the bag with all the drawings as I left the room.
Mike sat down at one of the tables on the main deck as Hachi went to get him food. I looked at
Mike, and I wondered what he was thinking about. Mike noticed me looking at him.

“If it helps, I wasn’t just drawing you,” Mike sighed.

I felt a pang of unfamiliar jealousy; I was unsure where it came from.

“It’s okay; I’m just sorry you couldn’t finish it,”

“Meh, it wasn’t working anyway,”

Before I could press on, Hachi returned with some food for Mike. Tai came out of his office and
called me over to him.

“Yes, Brother Tai?” I asked.

“It’s about the upcoming raid; we don’t have enough resources for it, so we need to land on a
nearby island, but it’s some dangerous territory, so we have to prepare ourselves for anything that
could happen,” Tai explained.

“I understand, so we’ll cover this in the next meeting, right?”

“Yes, but we also have a small problem. It’s Mike, I’m not sure what we’ll do with him while we
head onto the island and also during the raid,” Tai explained.

“So, you need me to talk to him about it?” I guessed.

Tiger nodded and returned to his office. I turned back and found that Mike had left. I headed into
the kitchen; Pike practically chased me out because he was too busy.

“I just need to talk to Mike about something,” I explained.

“Well, it’ll just have to wait because I need him to help out without having any distractions,” Pike
frowned.

I didn’t press further and left it be; I could just tell him after dinner. I felt a pat on my shoulder; it
was Arlong.

“There’s nothing to do right now; I’m bored,” Arlong groaned.

“We can spar, but you know how that usually ends,” I grinned.

Whenever Arlong and I sparred against each other, I’d overpower him, and he’d become angry and
try to damage me.

“Let’s go and raid food from the kitchen,” Arlong suggested.

“Pike will kill us,” I replied.

“That makes it all the better,”

I realized if we could break into the kitchen, I could talk to Mike, so I reluctantly agreed to raid the
kitchen with Arlong. We looked for a way into the kitchen; Pike had locked the door, not that it’d
be helpful. Arlong grew a mischievous grin, indicating he had a plan.

“Pike always opens the windows to the kitchen when he’s cooking, we can dive into the water,
then climb up to the windows,” Arlong said.

“But, won’t he see us when we come through the windows?”

“Not if we create a distraction,”

I couldn’t see where this plan was going before I could come up with any idea; Arlong jumped into
the water, and I felt the pressure of being left behind force me into the water. As we neared the
windows, I could smell seaweed from the kitchen, or it was the smell of the sea; I couldn’t tell.
Arlong surfaced with ten sea urchins.

“That’s going to distract Pike?” I questioned.

“Of course not; I’ll throw this to the thing in there and it’ll distract Pike and Hachi, till we can
sneak in and hide,” Arlong laughed.

“Arlong…” I started.

It was too late; Arlong had thrown the urchins into the kitchen. Arlong usually never misses, but I
was hoping he would this time. A shriek came from the kitchen, and Arlong rushed into the kitchen
as I threaded the water with my jaw dropped. After a few seconds, Arlong returned with his hands
filled with Fish-man sweets.

“That went just as planned,” Arlong smiled.

We went back to the main deck; then, we heard the kitchen door burst open. Mike walked out with
a bit of blood on him. Arlong had a look of triumph.
Hachi looked a bit spooked, while Mike held an empathetic look.

“Hachi, you’re not even the one who got hit with them,” Mike groaned.

“They just came out of nowhere, of course I’m spooked,” Hachi complained.

“Just help me find the health office, so I can get patched up, then head back to Pike, so you can
finish making dinner,” Mike sighed.

I couldn’t believe Arlong had hit Mike with the urchins. Mike stared at me blankly, then hurried
off with Hachi.

“Why does Hachi spend so much time with them?” Arlong spat.

“Arlong, you’ve never treated other human captives like this…” I said.

“That’s because they’ve never been all in my space, and that one thinks he’s tough, I’m just
showing him he’s not,” I replied.

I clenched my fists; I couldn’t stand for this. I headed off without saying bye to Arlong. I headed to
Aladine’s office. Herbs and medicine were clustered together on most desks. Aladdin opened the
curtain, splitting the room.

“He’ll live,” he joked.

Mike walked into the waiting room with a few bandages.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“Except for my skin getting punctured, mostly okay; you should have seen Hachi when those
urchins flew into the kitchen,” Mike chuckled.
“As I said, it was freaky for them to just come into the kitchen; it startled me!” Hachi insisted.

“Anyway, Pike’s not letting me back into the kitchen today; it called the ‘attack.’ targeted,” Mike
sighed.

Hachi waved goodbye to us, and I was left with Mike and Aladine. Aladdin returned to work with
some herbs, so I took Mike out of the room.

“Oh, um, Tiger wanted me to check on what you’re planning to do while we do the raid,”

“I’ll help with the raid,” Mike said with seriousness and nervousness.

“No you should stick behind or something, it could get really nasty,” I insisted.

“I can fight, too, remember I got some Haki training in my hands,”

“Okay, what is this ‘hakai’”

“It’s ha-ki, and it’s the spiritual energy that any living being can use to do many things,”

I waited for him to explain and soon realized he was trying to bait me.

“Such as?” I took the bait.

“Well, there’s Armament Haki, which is like invisible armor; it can be used offensively or
defensively; then there’s Observation Haki, which lets you predict your opponent’s attack before
they do it; I only know Armament,” Mike explained.

“Okay, I need to see this haki in action,” I smiled.

“It’s at its strongest in the heat of battle, so let me help in the raid,” Mike smirked.
“Hmm, how about this? We’re going to a dangerous island to restock on supplies; we most
probably fight, then we can see if you can fight,” I suggested.

“Okay, that’s fair, so when are we going to this island?”

“Hopefully tomorrow close to midnight,” I answered.

“So, on a different note. Who did it?” Mike asked.

It took me a second to process and understand what he meant. My smile dropped; on the one hand,
Mike deserved to know, but on the other hand, Arlong could get into some real trouble for it, and I
didn’t want that.

“I’m not too sure, but I’ll talk to Tiger about it and see what happened,” I said.

Mike looked at me skeptically; then his face turned back to normal.

“Cool, so see you later?”

“Yeah…see you later,” I waved.

Guilt filled up inside of me for lying to him, but I couldn’t betray my brother. I decided I needed to
talk to Arlong. I headed for Arlong’s hammock and found him there.

“Arlong,” I greeted.

“Hmm?”

“We need to talk about your recent behavior,”

“By Neptune, this again?” Arlong complained.

“I’ve been covering up most of it from Tiger, but if you keep it up I won’t be able to, and it’s just
plain wrong ,” I continued.

“Why does it matter? The human’s getting off the ship soon, we’ll never see them again, and thank
goodness for that,” Arlong replied.

“We need to learn to treat humans just like our own kind; if we don’t, we don’t deserve to be
treated like they treat each other.

“Last time I checked, humans caused war and suffering, even to their race,” Arlong retorted.

“Not all humans are the same…” I started.

“All humans are the same, how many times…do…I…HAVE…TO…TELL…YOU!” Arlong

shouted.

I was no stranger to Arlong’s tempers; I just had to be stern with him.

“Arlong, you know that isn’t true,” I said.

“Ever since that human came on the ship and Tai gave that meeting, you’ve been acting odd; you
never saw humans like this,” Arlong growled.

I was about to protest, but then I realized he was right; why did I change so much? Why did I care
so much?

“I’m done with this conversation; you want to be a human smoocher, go right on ahead, but I’ll
always see that for the monsters they are,” Arlong grinned maliciously before walking away.

I felt some subtext in his words; it left a worried feeling in my stomach. I stared at the ocean as I
feared for the future, not mine but Arlong’s and possibly Mike’s.
Chapter End Notes

I plan on adding more fluff and romance in the next chapter. Maybe a new character or
two.
 Striking Midnight
Chapter Summary

Mike's caught by human traffickers and taken to be sold as a slave. When all seems
lost he's rescued by the Sun Pirates. He takes a keen interest to one of them; his deep
voice, cold personality and strength only draws Mike to him more. His cold shoulder
towards Mike slowly grows into friendship...and maybe even more.

(Remember to read the tags!)

Chapter Notes

Hey everyone! Enjoy this chapter of fluff and kinda angst! (I know I'm 2 days late)

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Marc’s POV: The Next Day

I stirred in my sleep, a musical beat hanging in the air. I shot out of bed; my body screamed in
protest as I walked, making my vision dizzy. I opened my door and peered at my neighbor’s. The
door was stickered with musical notes and instruments. I walked over to the door, and my eyes met
with a fishman with purplish skin.

“Oh! Sorry, I didn’t know you were sleeping next door,” she apologized.

“Don’t worry about it, it was a great beat!”

Her face lit up from the compliment. “Name’s Salley,”

“It’s a nice name, mine’s Mike,” I smiled back.

“Salley, here’s the other speaker-” Hachi started before he saw me. “Oh hey, there Mike, I see
you’ve met Salley here, Salley’s Carlos’s apprentice.”

“Uhm, who’s Carlos?” I asked.

“Oops, forgot you’re still new to the crew; Carlos is the conductor and main musician of the crew,”

“Anyway, you can drop the speaker off there Hachi,” Salley continued.

As Hachi dropped off Salley’s speaker, a gurgle escaped my stomach. It beckoned for food.
Salley’s stomach mimicked mine.

“Guess we should head for breakfast then,” Salley suggested.

As we walked through the hallway, Hachi explained that Salley was his best friend, and they’d
known each other since they were little.

“Don’t worry, Mike, you’re still a pretty good friend to me,” Hachi reassured.

The word panged my heart, friend. We were friends.

“Don’t worry about it,” I smiled.

I pushed open the door and bashed head-first into someone. I looked up and instantly sighed in my
mind.

“Watch where you’re going twig ,” Arlong growled.

I was about to respond snappily, but Salley beat me to it.

“At least a twig was born with a sense of direction, what happened to you?”

Arlong was instantly shocked, then shock turned into fright, and he quickly ran off. Salley glared at
Arlong, then helped me up.
“I didn’t think Arlong could show any different emotions from anger and spite,” I brushed off.

As usual, the deck was overcrowded with people. As usual, I was the odd one out; Hachi and
Salley went in separate directions, and I was still suspended from the kitchen till they figured out
the whole truth about the sea urchin incident.

I walked over to the breakfast table and scraped the remaining food. I plopped myself down on an
empty table I tried figuring out what to do with my day. I felt someone tap me on the shoulder.

“Hey there Mike,” he greeted sheepishly.

His awkwardness was contagious. “Hey,”

I got up from the table to look at him properly. I tripped a bit, and he helped steady me.

“So…we’re reaching the ‘dangerous’ island at midnight, it’s not that bad is it?” I asked.

“Haha! Don’t tell me you’re faltering already!” He chuckled.

“Of course not! I just like to be fully informed,” I responded.

We shared smiles, and Jinbei walked away from the crowd, looking at me, so I followed.

“You know it still feels weird for me to be on this ship,” I sighed.

Jinbei looked at me with deep empathy.

“Don’t worry; everything will work out, you’ll find your place and then you’ll head home,” He
reassured me.

Home, I haven’t thought about that in a while. I thought to myself.

“He, I’m still suspended from the kitchen, so I have absolutely nothing to do,” I laughed.

“Welcome to the club,” Jinbei chuckled.

“Alright, since we both have nothing to do, let’s find something to do together,”

Jinbei stared towards the sea and then back towards me.

“Wanna go for a swim?”

“In that freezing and unpredictable water?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be with you the whole time; I'm not sure how to fix the warmth problem,” Jinbei
replied.

There it was again, that weird flutter that he’d always cause in me like he was the only person I
wanted to be with.

“I don’t even have a swimsuit,”

“Hmm, we don’t carry any swimsuits on the ship because we don’t need any, but I think we can
find you some clothes you can use,” He said.

I wasn’t comfortable to be wearing someone else’s clothes.

“It’s fine; I’ll just use some of my dirty clothes,” I decided.

I headed off to my room and quickly changed and met Jinbei waiting for me outside the door.
“Ready?” He asked.

“Yep,” I smiled.

We headed to the rear of the ship. The water glistened brightly from the sun.

“That’s gotta be freaking cold,” I complained.

“Fishmen are cold-blooded, so all water feels the same to us,”

“Well lucky you,”

Jinbei smiled proudly.

“On three. One…two-” Jinbei started.

I frowned as I wasn’t ready. Jinbei could see my plan to back away, and he pushed me into the
water. Ice-cold water tickled my body and froze me to death. I spluttered water in shock as Jibei
crashed into the water as well.

“It takes a while, but the water’s not cold,” I said.

“Glad you like the temperature. Now hold onto my back,”

I was unsure what would happen next, but the warm glow around Jinbei gave me a sense of
security, so I followed his instructions.

“Draw a big breath and hold on tight!” He instructed.

We rushed through the water; bubbles hit my face. I opened my eyes wearily as we slowed down.
The sunlight from the surface pointed downwards, creating a beautiful illumination of colors.
Corals of various colors grew all around us.

“Pretty, isn’t it?” Jinbei asked.

I once again became shocked; fishmen could talk underwater! I nodded my head in agreement.

“Do you need to go back up to the surface?” Jinbei asked with concern.

I shook my head; I could last another minute or so before I started to lose air.

“Wanna pet a shark?” Jinbei smiled.

I looked at him with great happiness.

“Shark it is,”

Jinbei swam at a moderate speed while he looked for a shark. I watched multiple rare fish swim
past us. I’ve never been so close to the seabed; it was a sight to behold.

“Can’t find any, so let’s try this instead,” Jinbei started.

An odd sound and vibration escaped from Jinbei’s mouth. In a few seconds, some whales swam
over to us. I stroked the whales and felt my lungs ache. I tapped Jinbei and gestured for him to
return me to the surface. We burst through the waves and saw that the ship was only a few
minutes’s swim away.

“That…was incredible! I didn’t know Fishmen could do all that stuff, it really makes me jealous,”

“Actually not all Fishmen can call whales, forget fish,” Jinbei smiled proudly.

“Guess that just make you special then,” I smiled back.

We shared a look with multiple hidden meanings.

“Mike, you are an extraordinary person,”

The compliment made me redder than a tomato.

“And you’re an amazing person too, Jinbei,” I smiled sheepishly.

Now it was his turn to turn red.

“Ready to head back down?” Jinbei asked.

“Shouldn’t we be heading back to the ship?”

“We can always catch up to it later,”

“Alright, but what is there left to do?”

“It’s a surprise,” Jinbei grinned.

I played along with Jinbei and returned to his back. He rushed back down again, but I was more
prepared this time. Jinbei pushed me off his back, forcing me to tread the water.

“Fishman Karate! Ocean Current Throw!” Jinbei shouted.

A massive blast of water rushed towards me and lifted me to the surface and the clouds; I stayed
there for 20 seconds before I began my slow descent. Jinbei caught me in his arms and looked at
me with pure joy while I was shaken up.

“You could’ve warned me, at least!” I screamed.

“Then it wouldn’t have been a surprise!” He laughed.

I looked at him with a pissed face, but his laughter was contagious, and I found myself laughing
too.

“That sure was an adrenaline rush!” I grinned.

“Heh, I’ve never done that before…”

“So, you thought it’d be a good idea to test it on me?”

“Yep,” He blushed.

My heart skipped hundreds of beats by just looking at him. No, this is wrong; you’re too different
from him.

As the sun set, we looked off to the distance, the Snapper Head almost out of view.

“Everything out here at sea is truly beautiful; wish I set out earlier,” I admired.

“Why didn’t you?” Jinbei asked with curiosity.

“It’s a long story…”I said.

Jinbei didn’t pry any further but looked at me sorrowfully.

“Alright let’s head back to the ship then, everyone’s probably looking for us,”

I hope I can tell him one day… I think to myself.

I hop back onto Jinbei’s back, and we rush back to the ship. Just as Jinbei said, everyone was
looking for us.

“You scared us half to death!” Hachi sighs.

“Sorry, sorry, we just went on a little trip,” I explained.

Hachi looked at me funnily; then he returned to his calm look.

“Pike says you can return to the kitchen now,”

“My suspension is over?!” I smiled.

Pike walked over to me.

“That’s right, now stop chatting and get cooking!”

I rushed into the kitchen, my haven, and returned to what I was good at. After a few hours, all the
meat and rice was ready.

I noticed Hachi decided to sit with Salley today. So, I had to sit with Jinbei and Arlong alone.

Arlong shot me a dirty look as I sat down with my food. Jinbei welcomed me with a warm smile.

“Didn’t you guys spend the whole day together? I’d think you need time apart,” Arlong snickered.

“C’mon Arlong, can’t we just have a normal meal before we reach Grave Island?” Jinbei pleaded.

“Did you tell the little human about the incident ?” Arlong grinned maliciously.
Jinbei immediately tensed. Sweat dripped off his forehead.

“Well, you see, human I’m the one responsible for the sea urchin attack and it seems Jinbei didn’t
tell you even though he was there,” Arlong grinned.

I was at a loss for words. My suspension happened because of the sea urchins, and Jinbei knew . I
looked at Jinbei for an explanation, but he wouldn’t even look at me. I grabbed my plate and left
the table without a word.

I couldn’t believe Jinbei would keep that information from me. I had a right to know the truth, but
he had to have his reasons. Before I could get my thoughts in check, I heard a blowhorn sound.

“Alright, everyone, we are approaching Grave Island. Prepare yourselves and Mike…,” Tiger said.

I perked up even more at the sound of my name.

“Uhm, yes I’ll be participating in the raid and getting supplies,”

Tiger and everyone else was surprised by my response, and I realized I accidentally said I’d help in
the raid, even though Jinbei hadn’t approved me yet.

“Well, that settles it. Everyone will be helping during the raid, that is all,” Tiger finished.

I helped Pike clean up after dinner, and I headed down the hallway.

“Mike!” Jinbei called.

I kept walking because I didn’t want to know how I felt.

“Mike!” Jinbei called me again.

I hesitated that time but kept walking. I reached my door and opened it. Jinbei’s hand grabbed my
arm.
 “Mike please listen to me,” Jinbei begged.

I looked at him dead in the eyes and saw small tears rolling off his cheeks.

“I only didn’t tell the truth because Arlong’s my brother and I don’t want him to get in trouble,”
Jinbei cried.

“Jinbei I just need time, but I forgive you,” I replied.

Jinbei smiled weakly at me.

“Thank you, Mike,”

“I understand why you did it, Jinbei, but I still don’t think it was right; I need time to think about
everything,”

Jinbei let go of my hand, and I headed into my room.

“One hour till we reach Grave Island, will you be okay by then?”

“I should be, and Jinbei thank you for all you did for me today, I loved it,” I smiled.

“Glad you liked it,” Jinbei replied.

There was something that just shined about Jinbei. As I closed my door, I found myself lingering. I
loved him. I loved him. I opened my wardrobe and got myself ready for Grave Island.

Chapter End Notes

Great chapter, now things are getting interesting. I may or may not be going on a small
break, we'll see. (Don't forget to comment, leave kudos and more! It encourages me to
write more)
 Grave Island Arc (Part 1)
Chapter Summary

Mike's caught by human traffickers and taken to be sold as a slave. When all seems
lost he's rescued by the Sun Pirates. He takes a keen interest to one of them; his deep
voice, cold personality and strength only draws Mike to him more. His cold shoulder
towards Mike slowly grows into friendship...and maybe even more.

(Remember to read the tags!)

Chapter Notes

WARNING: Talk of Slavery, Alcohol use and hints to gambling

The beginning of an important arc! Let's see where this takes us!

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Jinbei’s POV:

I walked down the hallway as Mike shut his door, but Arlong quickly intercepted me.

“So the human didn’t eat you alive, too bad,” He grinned.

I balled up my fist and gritted my teeth.

“I just wonder how much longer that human will pretend to be a goody-two-shoes, I guess I’ll have
to force it out,” Arlong laughed.

“He’s not just a human, he’s a person with a personality and feelings,” I responded.

“You really have gotten soft, brother,” Arlong sighed. “Once that human’s gone, I have a lot to fix
about you,”

“I don’t need fixing, I’m a better person,” I responded calmly.

“Hmm…one hour till we reach Grave Island. That human won’t last a second there,”

My blood boiled even more; I was fighting the urge to beat Arlong to a pulp. Arlong grinned at my
inner rage and said something that pushed my final button.

“I might kill that human before we get to Grave Island, we can’t have a loose end,” Arlong
suggested.

Before I realized what I was doing, Arlong was on the ground, blood dripping from his nose and
mouth. My rage released, and I couldn’t stop it. Arlong was choking on his blood, and he couldn’t
stop vomiting it.

“ ENOUGH! ” I heard an angry voice say.

I looked over my shoulder and saw Tiger standing with Salley. I got off Arlong and wiped off the
blood on my hand while glaring at him.

“Both of you in my office. Now ,” Tiger commanded.

As we walked off to Tiger’s office, he radiated pure anger. As we walked in, I closed the door
behind us.

“I’m very disappointed in the both of you. And you Jinbei, I thought you were above this,” Tiger
sighed.

“I’m sorry to have disappointed you Captain Tai, I let my anger get the better of me,” I apologized.

“Now, someone tell me what happened,” Tiger asked.

“I’ll tell you what happened. Jinbei’s become a human lover, and he got fricking pissed off when I
said I’d kill the thing,”
“Mike’s not a thing Arlong,” I growled.

“Maybe to you, but he’s just something to get rid of,” Arlong smirked.

I looked to Tai for support, but he didn’t seem to disagree with Arlong completely.

“Brother Tai…please speak some sense into Arlong,” I pleaded.

Tiger sighed. “Arlong, you are not to harm Micheal and Jinbei. You should not start fights with
Arlong or anybody, for Mike’s sake.

I nodded in agreement; Arlong murmured a yes, and Tiger released us.

“You should go see Aladine before we get to Grave Island,”

“Mark my words Jinbei, I’ll get you back for this,” Arlong growled before heading to the Medical
Room.

Whatever was coming for me, I would face it head-on. Everyone came out to the main deck,
unaware of the events that had occurred before. Mike still hadn’t left his room yet. Salley and
Hachi approached me.

“I just wanna say…beating Arlong’s ass was pretty cool,” Salley grinned.

“I’m not going to involve myself in this,” Hachi sighed.

“And no one’s making you,” I responded.

“How’s Mike going to take this? See you as a hero or see it like you’re protecting him when he
doesn’t need it,” Salley queried.
“It doesn’t matter; I did it mainly for Arlong’s sake, he’s become more. Negative towards humans,
and I fear it’ll eat him up,” I explained.

Salley raised her eyebrow in disbelief but didn’t point out anything.

“Hatchan!” Pike called.

“Coming Chef!” Hachi said before bolting off into the kitchen.

Pike and Hachi began serving our final meal before we reached Grave Island. For the first time in
years, I sat alone and ate my food. The Dorm Hallway door busted open, and Mike was wearing a
simple outfit.

“I’m ready to kick some ass!” Mike shouted.

His enthusiasm was hilarious, and a few people couldn’t stop laughing. Mike looked a bit
embarrassed.

“Yeah…big entrances ain’t my thing. Is dinner ready?” Mike said.

I gestured for Mike to sit with me. There wasn’t even a moment of hesitation; it made me slightly
blush at how eager he was to sit with me. Mike looked around the tables and frowned.

“What happened with Arlong?” Mike asked.

I was surprised Mike was even worried about Arlong. How could someone be so forgiving and
caring?

“I’m not too sure…” I lied.

“It’s alright; it just means we get to have a meal without any insults or snide remarks,” Mike
smiled.
I smiled back, Mike. It was only a matter of time before he realized what had happened moments
before, and I wasn’t sure how he’d take it. Arlong walked onto the main deck, looked toward me,
and sat with his gang. After everyone finished their food, Tai blew his bullhorn to grab our
attention.

“It’s time, everyone; we have only a matter of minutes before we reach Grave Island; I hope you’re
all prepared. This might get nasty,” Tiger explained. “I’ll lead Division 1, Jinbei, you’ll lead
Division 2, Arlong, you’ll lead Division 3.”

I nodded and looked over to Mike.

“You’ll be with me, don’t worry,” I smiled.

“There’s nothing that could worry me,” He smiled back.

Tiger continued. “Division 1 will scope the area, Division 2 will involve themselves and get
supplies, and Division 3 will act as backup.”

Arlong stood up.

“Backup?! My Division can provide more than backup!”

“It is what it is, Arlong, and anyway Division 1 isn’t providing fighting support as well,” Captain
Tai responded.

Arlong growled and swore under his breath but didn’t go any further. The ship bumped into
something; I went to check and saw we’d landed at the dock.

“Alright, everyone! Follow the plan and we’ll make it through! Only fight if necessary!” Tai
instructed.

I got up, and my division followed along. A chill ran through my spine as I stepped onto the island;
the air was eerie and black with death. I see why they call it Grave Island, I thought to myself.
Pirates roamed the island freely; they all gave us scared and weirded-out looks as we usually got
wherever we went. It triggered a thought I hadn’t had for a while: Racist humans , I thought.
Mike’s side brushed against mine, which snapped me out of my trance. Mike was different; he
treated everyone fairly, even if they didn’t deserve it.

“Where should we head first?” Salley whispered to me.

“We should head to the groceries store,” I answered.

Salley nodded her head and explained the plan to everyone else. Once we reached the store, we
picked out all our items and headed out.

“Wait, guys, you didn’t pay for those!” Mike whispered.

“The cashiers never ask us to pay because they’re too scared of us,” Salley explained.

Mike frowned, looking back at the store. It made me feel guilty, but this was what pirates did. I
placed my hand on Mike’s shoulder as a sign that we needed to move on. We saw a Casino and
Karaoke Bar, so the division split into two. I went with Mike and the rest to the Karaoke Bar.
Multiple lights illuminated the room, making some people’s faces unrecognizable. Mike stayed
relatively close to me.

“Never been in a bar before?” I asked.

“Nope, never even touched alcohol,” Mike smiled nervously.

“How do you have such an innocent soul,” I teased.

“It isn’t so hard, just don’t do dangerous stuff,” Mike smiled.

“So will you drink something here tonight?” Salley asked.

“Yeah…no,” Mike laughed.

I sat down at a table with three seats. Salley and Mike joined me, and everyone else dispersed.

“Can I get you fellows anything? Hiccup,” The drunk waiter asked.

“2 beers please,” Salley ordered.

The waiter scribbled on his notepad and walked off to the bar table.

“Who knew humans would be so nice to us if they were drunk,” Salley grinned.

Mike rowed back and forth in his chair.

“Why do Fishmen and Humans have so many issues with each other?” Mike asked.

“Wow, you haven’t been around, have you, Mike?” Salley pointed out.

“I was stuck on my home island for over twenty years, so I’m not that well connected,” Mike said.

“Well I think it’s be best if Jinbei explained this all to you,” Salley sighed.

It was an uneasy topic to talk about, but Mike needed to know the whole story.

“Years ago, humans used to capture and enslave merfolk and fishmen; we had no rights back then;
we were seen as just fish; Tiger caused a prison breakout, and all the enslaved Fishmen and
Merfolk at the time were freed; a lot of them ended up joining us the Sun Pirates, our initial goal is
to end all suppression in the world,” I roughly explained.

Mike was left completely speechless.

“Sorry to unload all of that information on you,” I apologized.

“No, it’s okay it’s important for me to know this stuff, there’s so much I don’t know.”

The waiter returned with me and Salley’s drinks; he seemed pretty sober but still lost in his own
world. He placed down our drinks and walked off drunkenly.

“Are you guys sure you want to drink those?” Mike asked.

Salley answered that question by chugging down half of her drink. I faltered as I had a bad taste in
his mouth. Before Mike could ask anything else, a few of my division members turned the karaoke
machine on and were drunk . Mike, Salley and I couldn’t help laughing as they started singing on
the machine.

“Looks like one of them’s about to puke,” Salley snickered.

“Better get them all off the stage then,” I smiled.

I directed all of them off the stage and into an alleyway; all that could be seen was a sea of vomit.

“Let’s just hope, that Division 1 doesn’t finish too soon,” I sighed.

“What are we still waiting for on this island anyway?” Mike asked.

“We need to investigate the island and see if it’s a possible resting space, and we still need some
other supplies that we can only get in the morning,” Salley answered.

“And where’s all the fighting I was promised?” Mike grinned.

“I said there’d be a possibility of a fight and what happened to the promise of not fighting in the
raid till I verified you?” I retorted.
“Well I wasn’t thinking properly at the time and it wasn’t my fault,” Mike responded.

Mike’s face dropped as he said that last phrase. I guess he wasn’t entirely over me not telling him
about the urchin incident.

“Sorry,” Mike apologized.

“Don’t be. It was my fault, I shouldn’t have done it,”

“Alright! Enough yip-yap, let’s go check on Division 3 and see if any can take the drunken ones’
spots,” Salley suggested.

“Good idea,” I responded.

We headed back to the Snapper Head. Arlong and his division were playing Blackjack.

“Arlong! We need some your division to move in, ours are pretty drunk,” Salley commanded.

Arlong’s head perked up, and he had a sly smile.

“You’re only getting my division members, if I move in,” Arlong grinned.

I was about to disagree with that plan, but Mike beat me.

“Fine, Arlong, but can you try not to get into fights, cuz it seems like something you’d try to do,”
Mike sighed.

Arlong growled. “Fine then. Boys, you heard em, let’s move.”
 We headed back to the Casino to pick up the rest of Division 1. As we we’re leaving the casino, a
random groups guy walked up to Arlong.

“You filthy fishmen don’t belong here,”

Before I could stop him, Arlong was beating up one of them and before long the whole casino
turned into a free-for-all.

“Oh shit,” I swore.

Chapter End Notes

I'll be on a break next week or next chapter will be released late. Sorry for the
inconvenience! Big things are coming for this story guys!!!
 Grave Island Arc (Part 2)
Chapter Summary

Mike's caught by human traffickers and taken to be sold as a slave. When all seems
lost he's rescued by the Sun Pirates. He takes a keen interest to one of them; his deep
voice, cold personality and strength only draws Mike to him more. His cold shoulder
towards Mike slowly grows into friendship...and maybe even more.

(Remember to read the tags!)

Chapter Notes

Hey guys! Sorry for the late upload! Enjoy the new chapter!

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Jinbei’s POV:

I didn’t want Arlong’s division to leave the ship; they just began mayhem from the slightest
comment. Now we’re starting an unnecessary fight.

“Hey it’s not all bad!” Salley reassured. “Mike gets to show off his fighting skills!”

I glanced back toward Mike; he looked at me, waiting for instructions. I was unsure I wanted Mike
to fight against pirates we had no information on, but we needed everyone we could get.

“We need to clean up this fight quickly, before we attarct too much attention, Salley handle
keeping any unwannted guests away, me and Mike will support here,” I instructed.

Salley nodded and ran off; Mike walked to stand side-by-side with me. He looked up at me with a
smile of confidence.

“Let’s see what you got,” I smirked.

I threw punches towards some of the swordsmen’s stomachs for quick knockouts. Arlong was
doing some pretty harsh beat-ups. I rushed over to him to prevent fatal injuries; I grabbed Arlong’s
arms and looked at him dead in the eyes.

“Arlong, remember what we came for, don’t allow yourself to be clouded with anger,” I spoke
calmly.

Arlong seemed to cool down a bit; he still delivered some power punches and snappy words. I
glanced at Mike, unsure how he’d fight without a weapon. One of the gunmen fired a bullet
towards Mike.

“Watch out!” I shouted, but I feared I was too late.

Mike swiftly turned towards the bullet and blocked it…with his arm. Mike proceeded to sucker
punch and kick a bunch of the pirates with the strength of a fishman, possibly stronger. It was a
beat-down massacre; the fight was over in 7 minutes.

“See, I know how to throw a punch,” Mike smiled.

“Yes, I can see that,” I smiled back after my wave of shock passed.

Unconscious - or I hope they’re unconscious , said a part of me- pirates flooded the floor, and the
casino was utterly deserted. Arlong seemed a little too pleased for himself, and Mike was bursting
with energy and practically dancing around the place. Salley came rushing back with a grim look
on her face.

“Ambush pant …back pant …at the ship,” Salley managed to get out.

“Great, that means I have more heads to bash,” Arlong grinned.

“Not great, the only person protecting the ship is Pike,” Salley retorted.

“Well, we just need to wait for them to touch the food stash, and we’ll get a seriously pissed off
Pike,” Hachi pointed out, half kiddingly.
“Whatever the case, we need to go back and defend the ship!” I shouted.

That snapped everyone back to their senses; we were all running toward the ship. Mike managed to
get way ahead of us. I hoped he’d deal with the problem before the rest of us got there.

“Damn, he runs fast, maybe he should be the chore boy,” Salley half-joked.

“I’m worried about the ship,” Hachi groaned. “Anything could happen!”

“We let our guard down, now we’re paying the price,” I sighed.

“Oh, stop with his sentimental stuff! The Snapper will be fine!” Arlong shouted.

This is why I saw Arlong as a good brother; he boosted morale and kept spirits up, even if it was in
a weirdly harsh way.

“Thank Arlong,” I thanked.

Arlong scoffed at my soft words and moved forward to avoid looking at me. I looked over at
Salley; they were a complicated person, but they always managed to have reasonable thinking.

“Salley we need to know what we’re up against on the ship,”

“It’s just like the guys from the Casino, but double in numbers and danger; we’ll need the whole
crew to manage this ambush; we’re too few, though; we need to take out a lot more, and spread out
too,” She analyzed.

“Hachi spread the message around,” I instructed.

Hachi went all around telling each individual fishman what to do. By the time he finished, the
Snapper Head was in view; there was a small fire, but it was growing fast. I couldn’t make out
Mike or Pike anywhere amongst the crowd on the ship. The fire burned even more, engulfing half
of the ship. I dived into the water.

“Fishman Karate: Whirlpool Shoulder Throw!” I shouted.

A flying water geyser splashed onto the ship, extinguishing all the flames, knocking down a few
raiders, and drenching others. I jumped onto the ship and started knocking people off the ship. An
explosion went off in the kitchen, and everyone on the deck, friends and foes alike, turned around
to look at the smoking kitchen door.

“Them bastards locked us in the kitchen! Time to knock some heads!” Pike shrieked a battle call.

Mike caught Pike before some severe damage could be done. Pike glared at Mike as he was
escorted back into the kitchen. Mike came up to me, holding a laugh. The rest of the crew arrived
along with Tiger. After a few heads were bashed, the raiders swiftly retreated, and we roared in
victory.

“Okay, who’s willing to head back and grab the drunkees?” I asked.

Nobody wanted to return and get them, especially if vomit was involved. I looked over to Mike; he
seemed nervous, then sighed.

“Sure, I’ll head off with you Jinbei,” he smiled.

We headed back onto the island, weary of the stray raiders attacking. It took me a moment to
realize we were utterly alone. When we rounded the corner, Mike tapped me on the shoulder.

“How much puking will there be?” He chuckled half-heartedly.

“Hopeful, not much,” I chuckled back.

All I could think about was the moment we shared before when we were at sea. The way we
looked at each other and everything just slowed down. I wish we could just have moments like that
everyday.
“Um, Jinbei are you okay?” Mike asked.

“Oh! Um sorry Mike I just fazzed out a bit,” I apologized.

“It’s alright,”

“How about we do something together after this?” I asked hopefully.

Mike’s face lit up immediately. “Yeah! I mean sure,”

I smiled back at him, and a blush hit Mike’s cheeks.

“Why are you so embarrassed?” I laughed.

“I just thinking about that swim we went for,”

Now, it was my turn to blush hard.

“It was great, Jinbei, I hope you have more trips like that planned,” Mike chuckled.

Gosh, why’s he so adorable?! I asked myself.

We arrived on the street with the casino and bar; we headed back into the bar and saw most of the
crew drunk and asleep on the ground.

“Do we wake them up or…” Mike started.

“Well we sure as hell can’t carry them all,”

“So what’s the best way to get them up?”

I shouted with a massive roar that jeered everyone out of their sleep.

“Jeez, what the fuck, Jinbei,” said one of the fishmen.

The fish man had sleek black hair yellowish-green skin like Salley’s, and wore punk clothes. I
identified that it was Stark the leading musician of the crew

“Stark, we must head back to the ship, round everybody,” I commanded.

“Aye, aye captain,” Stark said drunkenly.

Once everyone was up, we started to head back to the ship.

“What’d we miss? Any fights or anything?”

“We had one fight and had to beat off some raiders on the ship. But otherwise you didn’t miss
much,” I answered.

Stark rubbed the back of his neck in nervousness.

“Sorry we didn’t help out. Is everyone alright?” Stark asked.

“Yes everyone’s alright, thanks to Salley’s quick waning to us,”

“Classic sis, always one step ahead,”

The Snapper Head had already left the docks by the time we arrived. The night sky and mist made
making some party lights out at sea hard. Mike looked mildly concerned about how cold the water
was.

“Welp, you know the drill. The last one there gets no booze,” I laughed.

Everybody dived into the water; I looked over at Mike.

“Ready?”

“I hope so,”

Mike hopped onto my back as I dived into the black sea. My eyes adjusted to the lighting in the
water, making it seem lit up; I zoomed forward, passing all of my division. The area around us was
murky, possibly from pollution. The hull of the Snapper Head was coming into view. A glint
attacked my eye. I looked toward the source of the light and saw a submarine approaching. I wasn’t
sure what to do. I needed to drop Mike off before he ran out of oxygen, but the rest of my division
was still too far to deal with the submarine.

“Can you last in the water a bit longer?” I asked Mike.

He nodded his head in agreement. I dived even further into the water till I was face-first with the
submarine. I recognized the faces in the submersible. It was the raiders; I bashed the submarine
with my fists till water began to fill in; they began to panic, exited the submachine, and headed for
the surface.

“That’ll teach them,” I growled.

Mike repeatedly tapped my shoulder as a sign he needed to go up. I zoomed back to the surface as
Mike gasped for air.

“They were really coming back for revenge,” Mike panted.

“Yeah, luckily, I managed to stop them,” I replied.

The rest of my division finally arrived.

“Um, I don’t know if you know, but there are some raiders in the water,” Stark said.

“Yeah, we know about them; we just dealt with them before they could further damage the
Snapper Head,” I replied with a hint of triumph.

We stepped onto the Snapper, and a full-blown party was going on. Stark headed off for the booze.

“Didn’t you guys already drink?” Mike laughed.

“That was just for fun! This is for the party!” Stark shouted back.

Mike and I shared a look of laughter. Hachi and Salley came over and scooped up Mike and took
him off somewhere. I walked over to Tai.

“Mike did well for himself, he should be fine during the raid,” I said.

“It is quite an issue that he can’t breathe underwater though, we’ll need to find a way to fit him in,”
Tai responded. “He can hold his breath quite long, but I think we should put him with the landing
team just to be safe.”

I nodded in agreement with Tai; then, I had an essential question at the tip of my tongue.

“Uh, Brother Tai, when will we drop off Mike?” I asked.

“Possibly a week or so after the raid,”

I instantly deflated; I hoped to have more time with Mike before we had to set him off and maybe
enough time to get my feelings in check.

“Go and party Jinbei, you’ve earned it,” Tai smiled.

Tai walked off and started discussing with Pike and Hachi, so Mike decided to come to me.

“What’s this I hear about fireworks?” Mike asked.

“Stark and Salley managed to get their hands on some fireworks, so we’re getting a light show, and
I know the perfect spot to get a great view,” I replied.

I extended my hand, and Mike grabbed it; we headed to the masthead. We both sat down and stared
up at the sky. The stars illuminated everything, creating a beautiful scenery.

“Can you see any constellations?” I asked.

“Well, I don’t even know which to look for or what constellations there are,” Mike chuckled.

“Me neither…so can you tell me something about you?” I asked shyly.

“Well…I lived in my homeland the majority of my life, did some basic fishing, lots of cooking,
then…” Mike started.

“Then?” I asked.

Mike’s face turned quite grim before I could ask anything else. The fireworks went off, casting
different contrasts of colors adn shapes, it entranced anyone who looked at it.

“Those are some quality fireworks,” Mike gasped.

“Yeah,”

Mike leaned in closer to me, the interaction shocked me, but it felt…nice.
 “You’re a great friend Jinbei,” Mike sighed.

“You’re a great friend too,” I smiled.

We looked back up to the night sky as the fireworks began to end.

Chapter End Notes

I know I'm keeping you guys on your toes, but I want to pace this story perfectly.
You'll just have to wait for Jinbei and Mike to kiss.

End Notes

Let's go! First chapter done! Hope you all liked it; I promise to have more Jinbei in the next
one. I'll be posting a new chapter at least every week if I can.

Please drop by the archive and comment to let the author know if you enjoyed their work!