39

The Boss was on edge. Eka didn't like it much- it made the rest of the Oni on edge as well. Even him, truth be told. It was clear as day- Kaneki was pacing, sure, but the boss was about as subtle as a brick to the face...what worried him was that it was even obvious among the other Oni.

Chandos had leaned himself against one of the shelves, arms folded as he glared at the room over his hooked nose. That was normal, or as normal as he got. The fact that the man's claymore had been yanked out of its sheath and was leaning on the shelf within easy reach wasn't.

Pamca was harder to read, but not by much. The huge albino was still. Perfectly, completely still, kanabo held loosely in one hand.

Percy was moving slightly, feet slowly shifting through footwork patterns as the bald, battered prizefighter kept his gaze on Kaneki.

Tina was leaning on the haft of her battleaxe, black hair shadowing her features.

Dui...well, Dui was looking around with almost glacial slowness, one hand on his saber and his dark blue hair pulled back in a tail, away from his eyes.

And himself...heh. He let out a breath, and eased up on the white-knuckled grip he had on his cleaver-like dao.

C would be alright. And if he wasn't, it didn't matter what this shopkeep really was. They'd take a price in blood- or the closest equivalent the bastard had. He nodded to himself, forcing his muscles to relax.

As if that was a signal, the sound of the shopkeeper's voice appeared, drawing closer.

C and the shopkeep came into view, and the tension in the air vanished like a pricked balloon. The Boss grinned.

"Looking good, little brother."

C grinned back.

The Boss was right- C cleaned up nice. Somehow the shopkeep had found a three-piece suit, charcoal grey with a dark red tie and white shirt. But what really caught the eye was the mask. Bone white, it covered everything down to the mouth. It resembled a skull more than anything else, right down to the partial jaws that flared down from the sides to mirror C's own, lined with teeth. A slight crest, the same color as the rest, swooped down from his forehead, forming a subtle M-shape that melted into the mandibles on the sides, the topmost points looking almost like horns.

The shopkeep clapped his hands- or, well, whatever was under all those feathers. "You are all satisfied, yes?" he asked. "Good. Now, to the pack…" Suddenly a large red box was in his...fuck it, Eka would call them hands just for sanity's sake. The shopkeep opened it.

Inside, six half-masks, dark red and resembling fang-filled maws, sat in two neat rows of three.

Dui whistled softly. The Boss glared at him, and he stopped.

"They are not supplied with...whatever it is your captain uses it for. But the mechanisms are closely duplicated."

Eka narrowed his eyes. "How'd you know? There's no way you knew we were coming here, not so soon."

"I did not." Eka got the impression of a smile. "But I am very quick, and you, good sir, were kind enough to provide me with an example."

Six masks, that quickly? That was…

Eka sighed. "Guess we've got a lot to learn about the Grand Line and the people on it, then."

"Oh, you have no idea," the shopkeep said.

C fidgeted, and the Boss growled slightly, before taking a step forwards. "You mentioned your...brother...sent something on. Mind showing that as well?"

"But of course."

Eka staggered as the weight of the box suddenly appeared in his hands, but he rallied and carefully lowered the thing to the ground. Christ, did he fill the thing with rocks?

The Boss held a smaller box, black, in his hands. He opened it. His eyes widened, and he put the lid back on the box quickly, before bowing slightly. "Thank you," he gritted out. "What do we owe you?"

"For this? Nothing at all, little cousin."

Wait, what.

The boss bristled. "You're like me. The others running the shops, too?"

"We are," the shopkeep said calmly. "It is...interesting, to meet one of our kind...and something new is an even greater surprise. Who is your crew?"

"Nightmare Pirates."

"Akakakakakakaka….an auspicious name. I wish you luck, little cousin. You have a hard road ahead, and much to learn...and it is not the place of my brothers or me to teach it to you."

The Boss gave the other ghoul a rude hand gesture, and turned to go.

Eka swallowed his questions, and followed him out.

Money, money, money. Boring, but sadly necessary.

And that was why Vinci found himself in what passed for a central square in this pirate town, listening to some asshole in gaudy clothing talk.

Seriously, though. He was half-tempted to mug the fellow, even with the mob of goons in plate armor surrounding his little pulpit. There was enough gold thread in his gigantic puffy sleeves to set the Nightmares up for months.

"-the Doge will pay well for strong fighters, and those who serve faithfully will have the opportunity to plunder what they please from the rebels."

Yadda, yadda, yadda, fight these guys for us and we'll give you money. Simple.

"-sail tomorrow for the Archipelago, and those who follow us shall be greatly rewarded."

Booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooring.

He looked over the crowd. Most were rough men, almost generic. Boring, and likely useless. But a few caught his eye.

A group of men in hooded cloaks, longbows slung over their bodies.

A grey-bearded, heavily built man in an ornate coat, with five others in dress uniforms standing directly behind him.

A massive man in a horned helmet, and a crowd of smaller men carrying shields.

A pair of men, one carrying a gigantic tuning fork, the second anonymous in bronze armor.

Heh. Maybe this could be interesting after all...

Night was fun.

His new clothes and mask were fun, too, but he really liked hunting at night. Parts of the town were quiet, but others were loud and full of light.

Mostly bars. He could tell from the smell of alcohol.

C jumped from rooftop to rooftop, grinning to himself. Brother had gone elsewhere, letting him hunt on his own, saying he trusted that instinct would work well enough.

C wasn't sure about that himself, but it didn't matter. He might not have Father-Brother's tails, but he had powers, and with the knives he was carrying it didn't matter- magnetic force could propel the blades faster than bullets, that much The Captain had taught him.

Hmm. There weren't many people around. He'd probably want to hide out somewhere, ambush them. Running someone down would probably be...tiring. And attract attention.

He jumped down from his rooftop.

Edge of town...good. He sniffed the air. There were some people, coming closer, but still distant. He turned the corner. And looked up. And up. And up.

"Hello!" he said brightly to the gigantic man. The guy had bear ears on his hat- that was definitely awesome. And besides, he smelled like oil, not prey. Probably wouldn't be tasty.

The very large person looked down, a very slow process. "Hello," he said gravely.

"Who're you? And where'd you get that hat?"

The large man blinked, clearly surprised. "I have had it for years. And I am Bartholomew Kuma."

"Oh, cool. I like that name, jishakukukuku...what're you doing here, Mr. Bartholomew?"

"If you went on a journey, where would you like to go?"

C cocked his head. What kind of question was that? "I don't know. I like this place here, I guess. It's interesting." He smiled. "What about you, Mr. Bartholomew?"

"I have a place in mind. And a great deal of work to do. Now, if you would excuse me…"

"C, what're you- oh fuck what the hell."

"Brother! I made a new friend!"