Cat on Water

Chapter 13

Yoruichi was darting across the ocean, having entered the Sambas Region. She had decided to follow Rain’s advice and head for the Baratie. The main issue that she was having was that the damn thing could move. She had been told it was southwest of the village, which she left 3 hours ago, but that was obviously not true. She had extended her spiritual sense out to feel for presences, and ran all the way to the calm belt, even surprising a sea king or two down there. She still hadn’t found the restaurant.

Running for another 10 minutes, she finally felt something. A ship full of people. She turned to head in their direction, intent on asking if they had heard of where the Baratie might be.

A few moments later, this advance was stopped by cannon fire. Yoruichi stopped moving, watching as the cannonballs from the ship sails way overhead and made a splash behind her.

‘Looks like they were shooting at my after images.’ She thought, before focusing on the ship that had just fired on her.

Glancing up at the flag, she saw something. “Pirate ship. That explains a lot.” She said to herself, now standing casually in the middle of the ocean. There was another boom, and Yoruichi disappeared again, a few seconds later appearing on top of the pirate ship’s main sail. Looking down on them, she could see 8 men, running around the standard sized caravel. This did not include the other 12 she could sense down below decks manning the cannons, or the other two men in what was probably the captain’s quarters. She turned to look at the last man unaccounted for, who was up in the crow's nest about 10 feet to her left.

She snickered, before blurring again and appearing crouched on the railing of the bucket shaped platform’s railing. He still hadn’t sensed or seen her. She was suppressing her presence enough that even when he looked right at her, he saw nothing.

‘Amateurs’ she thought, before grabbing the man by the scruff of his shirt, pulling him toward her, and slapping her other hand in his face. That hand glowed with a red light, the light of Bakudo #9, Geki, and the man froze paralyzed. The man was still in motion from her pull, toppled over the edge of the crow’s nest, crashing the 30 or so feet below to the upper deck.

All the men on the ship froze, including the ones below deck, who had heard the thump above their heads. In stunned silence, the crew stared at the now unconscious and heavily injured man, who was lying with blood all over him from the impact of his fall.

That was when the cabin door to the Captian’s quarters slammed open, a visibly angry man came stomping out. He was a tall, muscular man, with a short crop of blue hair, reminiscent of a marine drill Sargent. He had a black and blue striped shirt on, with black pants and boots. Over his shoulders he had a dark red Captians coat on, which had the kanji for Yes on the back. He had a sheathed blue and white katana at his side, displayed proudly.

“WHAT IS GOING ON OUT HERE?! I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO SHOOT THAT PEROSN YOU SAW! I WANT TO KNOW HOW THEY CAN WALK ON WATER! WITH THAT ABILITY I WILL BE ABLE TO CROSS THE GRAND LINE AND BECOME KING OF THE PIRATES.” He roared. He stormed over to where his men had now crowded and pushed them aside roughly. “Get back to work! We need to find that water walker-“ he stopped, looking at the broken man on the deck.

“Isn’t that the lookout?” He asked a bit hesitantly. The man next to him, a tall, reedy and frail man, also holding a sword, a cutlass this time, responded, “Yes, Captain, that is, er, was. Dunno what he’s doing down here though.”

Yoruichi watched all this play out and started snickering even more when he saw the men all start looking up, and then around searching for the cause of the man’s fall. She glanced around, noticing the ship was still moving in the direction of the calm belt.

Her hand came up to hold her chin, resting on her knee, finger tapping thoughtfully on her cheek. “Hmm.” She pondered. “Calm belt, or ‘ghost ship’” she said to herself. She then drew her Zanpakuto, having decided. Her Wakizashi flashed, and the canvas used for the sail fluttered down to the desk.

She could hear cries of surprise as the canvas fell on top of most of the crew, including the captain.

She glanced down, looking for a spot to land. She found one, near the left railing. She then stood up, reached a foot out, and let herself fall. As she fell, she intoned, “Sekienton” pointing her hands at the deck. Right as she made impact, a red smoke burst out from underneath her hands, covering her, and the entire ship in a hazy smoke.

The captain, finally out from under the canvas, came out swinging his katana side to side, breathing madly. “WHO IS-“ he choked on the red smoke, inhaling too hard and causing some of it to get into his lungs. He could feel it was harder to breathe, like he had Asthma.

Yoruichi watched as the entire crew started inhaling her smoke. One of the things she had created along with flash-step during her career as a captain was personal variations of Kido she liked to use. She had combined Bakudo #21, Sekienton, which she just used, with Bakudo #9, Geki, which he had used to paralyze the lookout.

Sekienton was originally used to obscure someone’s escape, but she used it as a wide area nonlethal takedown, infusing the paralytics of Geki with the explosive coverage of Sekienton.

She had created a bunch of others, mainly for usage in tandem with her Hoho or Hakuda skills, such as Hadō #24, Raitodatsu, which created many Kunai out of white light and sent them in a barrage at her enemy.

Yoruichi watched as the men around her slowly collapsed, and then she stomped on the ground creating holes in the deck, before her body flickered and more holes appeared around the deck. The red smoke spread down into the lower decks, causing the men down there to start coughing as well. 

After about a minute, there were three men left; the captain, the thin man, and another man who was very large, dark skinned and braids coming out the sides of his head. He had come out from below deck, probably the master gunner.

Yoruichi let her presence be known, before clearing her throat and crossing her arms. All three men turned to her, trying to hold their breaths. She waved her hand, a white light briefly covering her palm. A gale of wind came flying by, taking the smoke away from the ship. Bakudo #3, Kyofu. She created that one specifically for clearing out this one, since she once got herself trapped in the outer reaches of the Rukongai with the smoke all over. She had later learned it had other applications, but that was its original purpose.

The three men cleared their lungs, before standing up straight and glaring at her, faces full of malice.

The captain stepped forward; sword pointed out to him. “Who are ya, girlie, and why’re you attacking my ship? Do you know who I am? I’m Billy the Orca Killer! I’m gonna gut you like I did the whale that gave me my name!” He said, starting to charge toward Yoruichi. The other two men, not even hesitating charged too.

Yoruichi sighed, before flicking her arms out in a blur. Both men to the side of the captain froze, trying to look down at the pain in their throats.

Yoruichi ignored the now dying men, who she had thrown the knives she had gotten at Goa into the throats of, and focused on slipping the attack coming for her, not that it was very hard. She ducked underneath the wild haymaker-like swing aiming to decapitate her, and then bent backward, her leg snapping up in a crescent kick to smash into the pirate’s head. She connected solidly with a dull thump, before the man crumpled to the ground crashing his head against the railing.

Yoruichi looked around, absentmindedly sidestepping the weak bear hug the thin man tried to give her from behind, before he collapsed on the ground in front of her.

Every single man on the ship was down for the count, most paralyzed, unable to even speak, two dead, and one unconscious.

She nodded a bit, Thinking, ‘Not bad for 10 seconds with only Kido and some knives.’

She walked over to the captain, who called himself Billy the Orca Killer, and grabbed his blade to inspect it.

Running her hand down the blade, she muttered to herself, “Yeah, this thing is way to high quality for someone like this. Didn’t Garp say these things were called maito, or was it Meito? Yeah. Yeah Meito. Named Blades. This would probably sell well.” She looked back down at the unconscious pirate, before putting the blade in her satchel and rolling him over. She flicked her finger, causing ropes made of energy to bind his hands and feet.

She then slapped him lightly on his now bleeding face, waking him up from unconsciousness.

His bleary eyes opened, then cheated at her with increasing clarity. Before he got the chance to speak, Yoruichi put a finger to her lips and said “Nonono. No speaking. Only speak when I ask you a question. Now. Answer this one little question, and I’ll let you go. Where is the Baratie?” She asked, a serious tone to her voice. You don’t become the captain of the stealth force without getting good at interrogations. ‘Not like this guy had any chance anyways.’ She thought to herself, as the guy in front of her had his eyes widen more and more in disbelief.

“Tha-that’s all you wanted to know?!  Why didn’t you just say that?!” He said, progressively getting louder until he was practically shouting.

Yoruichi smiled ‘kindly’ at him, stating “Now now, that’s no way to talk to someone who has absolute control over his own life. Only. Answer the question. Nothing else. And I’ll let you go. Anything else comes out of your mouth, I will make sure you stay in this boat for the rest of your life.” The man started shivering, hearing her words. She smirked inwardly. ‘The fourth division is such a good place for learning interrogation tactics. You don’t even have to do anything to them, just smile kindly and they give you everything you could ever want.’

The Healer corps, or the Fourth Division under Retsu Unohana was one of the most bipolar divisions in the entire soul society. Most would say they’re complete pushovers, especially the Eleventh Division, until that same Division ended up in their care. Then they turned into monsters, at least according to the other divisions. Yoruichi had learned her Kaido skills from Captain Unohana along with the now Lieutenant Isane as a payment for a favor to Yoruichi’s father. She learned so much else too.

The man sputtered, before getting out, “Fine, Fine, I’ll tell ya. It was docked at the Okyot Kingdom for resupplies. You’ll find it there.”

Yoruichi smiled at the man, before standing. “That wasn’t so hard, was it? Now, I’ll leave you here. Good Luck! You’re gonna need it.” She grinned at the man, before flickering and disappearing.

A few hundred yards away from the ship, Yoruichi stood watching it slowly float into the calm belt. She had given it a little push with her Kyofu earlier, giving it just enough boost to float itself into the calm belt. She watched as the massive sea kings erupted from the water, one devouring the boat whole.

“Whew” she said, “That’s some giant sushi.” Before turning around and blurring away in a flash step.

Exploring for 30 minutes in the direction of the Okyot Kingdom bore fruit. She found the floating restarting headed away from the island, most likely done resupplying. It was a ship shaped like a large red and white fish, with a multiple story green building with a red roof. It looked nicely decorated, a must for a famous restaurant.

Yoruichi could sense about 20 patrons having lunch, along with the 10 or so chefs. One of the patrons felt quite strong, though in the grand scheme of things nothing much. There were two others she could sense, both in the kitchen, that were much stronger. One was young, probably about 17 years old. He felt, fake. She didn’t know how to describe it, but that’s what it was. He also had a sort of fiery feeling to him. The other was markedly older, probably around Garp’s age, maybe younger. He was only a tad weaker than Koushirou, and she could sense awakened Observation Haki from the man.

She smiled, before flash-stepping onto the ship, and walking to the door. ‘This was gonna be interesting’ she thought, pushing the door open and walking in.

 

***

 

Zeff POV

Zeff stood in his kitchen, arms crossed across his chest, supervising the lunch rush his. Cooks were supplying. Today was slightly busy, with almost 30 food orders in at once. His kitchen was a mess of loud noises, pans clacking, and fires roaring.

He turned around as the swinging doors to the kitchen opened, his receptionist on rotation today, Maitre D’ came in.

“Sanji,” D’ said, causing Zerg’s Sous chef to turn and look at the man. “We need another server; a customer just came in and we don’t have enough out there.”

Sanji grumbled, saying “Make someone else do it, I’m busy right now.” He turned back to the food he was preparing.

Matre D’ grinned before saying, “It’s a woman kid, and a very pretty one at that.”

Zeff watched as that sparked an entirely different reaction in the kid he could call his own son. Sanji almost burst out in dance as he spun around, hearts visibly coming out of his eyes. “I shall serve the manifestation of beauty to the best of my abilities!” He cried, grabbing a plate of food and whirling out the door.

D’ stepped to the side, letting him pass. Patty, another one of his cooks shouted, “Hey! Get back here brat! That wasn’t her food! Ah forget it. He does this every time” turning back to his station from where he had tried to grab Sanji.

Zeff chuckled to himself. Sanji sure had some quirks about him that he didn’t know about when he was in that island with him. He then froze, a thought crossing his mind that he didn’t focus on in the commotion. Even though he never made it to the New World, he still made it to the end of Paradise and awoke his Observation Haki. A mean feat that made him extremely dangerous, especially on this sea. What worried him though, was that he did not sense a customer enter the restarting, or even step on the ship. He had been able to sense everyone who came on board, even Vice Admiral Garp, even though the man seemed like an insurmountable mountain to him.

Zeff turned to D’ who was halfway out the door. “Oi, D’ hold on.” He said, causing the man to face him. “You sure there was a customer out there? And that this isn’t just a prank on Sanji again?” He asked gruffly.

D’ nodded, stating, “Yeah, sir, a customer is here. Short woman, very attractive, purple hair in a ponytail. Asked for a seat, so I can back to ask for another waiter because everyone else has a full area.”

Zeff rubbed his mustache while staring out into the dining area thoughtfully. He then turned away, beckoning D’ onto the second-floor stairs near the left side of the door. “Come point her out to me” he grumbled, before shouting “Patty! You’re in charge until I get back.”

“Yes chef!” Came the reply from the assembled cooks, and Zeff turned and headed up the stairs, intent on solving this mystery. He arrived at the second-floor balcony looking over the dining area. A nicely pastel colored area with tables dotted around, and booths on the sides of the area by the windows. There was a spiral staircase going around the main pillar in the center of the room.

“Point her out.” He ordered Maitre D’, who subtly pointed to a woman sitting at one of the tables near the door.

He looked at her, then tried to sense her with his Haki. He could definitely see her, but he couldn’t sense anything. Frowning, he pondered what to do. It was not a good situation. Being able to hide one’s presence was something only extremely powerful people like the Dark King Rayliegh or the new Yonko, Red Haired Shanks was rumored to be able to. He didn't know how she did it, and he didn't care. It wasn't good either way.

He decided to sit and wait, as she came in as a customer, and his motto was to feed anyone who asked. So, he would treat her as one, until things went undoubtedly wrong, since Sanji was in the mix.

Zeff sighed, rubbing his temples. He loved the kid, but Sanji and overly attractive, overly powerful women only ended in one scenario.

 

***

 

Yoruichi POV

Yoruichi was sat in the dining area at a small table clearly meant for one or two people by the door she entered from. She was right next to a window, providing a nice view of the ocean.

She was looking out said window when she felt the ‘first’ presence come up to her. She turned to face the teen, who looked about 17, and was already smoking a cigarette, with a mop of blonde hair hanging down to cover one eye. He was wearing a black double-breasted suit with a blue striped shirt. He came in like a whirlwind, literally spinning like a top before placing a plate of food in front of her.

“One plate of braised short rib, with a side of fried rice and vegetables, for the most beautiful star in the universe. Ohhh……” the teen cried, almost shouting out what was sure to be a wonderful soliloquy.

Yoruichi glanced hesitantly at the food, before back at the teen who was spouting off about undying love and how he wanted to marry her etc. etc.

“Well, while it does look good, I haven’t even ordered yet. This isn’t mine.” Yoruichi said, pushing the plate back in his direction.

She then put her arm on the table, head resting in her palm as she watched the kid pause in his masterful monologue, before saying “Oh, well, my dear star, such things do not matter. For we are destined to be together, and our love, pure, unfiltered, and unquestionable, takes precedence. Please take this beautiful flower, which almost attempts to capture your celestial radiance, and sail away into the sunset with me as we get married.” He finished his speech on one knee, holding out a flower before her, a purple lavender.

Yoruichi had one thought in her mind, ‘What the hell kind of restaurant is this?’ That did not stop her from saying, "Ara ara, I did not expect such a welcome. Certainly not one so…. Expressive.” She said, wagging her eyebrows suggestively at the statement. The blonde teen was still kneeling, hearts visibly coming out of his eyes, flower held unflinchingly before him.

She realized he wasn’t really paying her actual attention, probably because he couldn’t see with those hearts and all. “Yoo-hoo” she said, waving her other hand a little. “Maybe I should take that flower and leave by myself if you’re not up for a conversation.” She smirked suggestively, the blonde teen finally shooting to his feet.

“Nonono!” He cried, hands waving in front of him in a stopping motion “you mustn’t! Please, let such a falling knight such as I serve you hand and foot!” He ended his second speech with a bow, hand under waist, head down.

Yoruichi just kept staring at him, thinking, ‘Damn. I just want my food, man. Oh well, at least he’s entertaining.’

She gestured to her plate, and said, “Maybe, if you escort what is most likely a delicious meal to its rightful owner, and take my actual order, I might…. Show you something.” She said with a flirtatious smile, eyes twinkling, and eyebrows raised suggestively.

That caused a visible blush to appear on the kids face. He reached out to grab the plate, still red, and said, “Of course my etoille brilliante. My name is Sanji, and I shall be your server for the day. What would you like to order?” He pulled out a notepad, seeming to fall slightly into automatic training as a waiter.

Yoruichi ordered, a tuna salad with a glass of milk, and watched amused as the waiter left, still pink in the cheeks. ‘Ah. Such fun to tease people like him. They can dish it out as much as they want and to anyone they see, but they can’t take it whatsoever.’

She glanced up to the two men she had seen standing on the balcony overlooking the dining area, the first a squat man, who was the host when she walked in, and another man, slightly taller, with a very tall chef’s hat, and chef’s clothes on, with short blonde hair and probably the longest braided mustache she had ever seen. She could feel the man’s observation haki permeating the room, trying to find her presence, which she knew it couldn’t.

‘Probably why he’s staring at me so intensely.’ She thought. She looked at the blonde hair, and wondered, ‘Would that be the kid’s father? Might be.’

She waited for another 10 minutes before the blonde whirlwind came spiraling out of the doors, her order in hand and hearts back in his eyes. He placed it before he with a bow, ready to regale her with tales of heroic and romantic ballads. She shushed him with a finger against his lips, before gesturing to the other seat. “Come now, less talking more sitting. I said I would show you something, didn’t I?” She winked, almost forcefully gesturing to the seat.

The kid, Sanji, looked a bit wary. “Miss? Are you sure you want to show me, here? In the dining room?” He finished, a questioning lilt to his voice.

She smiled at him suggestively, gesturing to the seat again. “Of course, silly. Now, take a seat. Let this big sister take care of you.” She watched gleefully as Sanji’s face went almost beet red, almost down to his neck.

“O-okay.” He stuttered, before sitting in the chair opposite. He sat there fidgeting nervously, but she could feel the almost palpable anticipation coming from him. She smirked lightly, before starting to eat.

‘Let’s let him stew for a bit.‘ she thought, eating the food. After he first bite, she looked down in surprise. Audibly moaning in delight. ‘This is amazing! How do you even cook such good food’ she asked herself, knowing that between her, Tessai, and Kisuke, two of them burn water when they even go near it, and the last can bake a singular cake, sometimes, if they get lucky.

She almost scarfed the food down it was so good, before glancing at Sanji, who was now visibly sweating, eve redder than he was before.

She smirked at him, saying “Now, let’s show you something special, okay?” Sanji nodded, and she then reached over to grab a napkin by the side of the table. She then pulled a pen from Sanji’s pocket, drawing 4 lines to make a grid of 9 squares. She finished, grinning triumphantly at Sanji who was now staring dumbfounded at the napkin.

He dumbly pointed at the napkin, asking, “Uhhh. What is this?”

Yoruichi giggled, hand going up to her mouth to cover the devious smile. “It’s tic tac toe. Have you never heard of it? It’s easy peasy. Here, you’re Os, I’m Xs. I go first.” She drew an x in a corner, and then handed him the pen. “Your turn!” She smiled brightly at him.

Sanji sat there, frozen at the events in front of him. “Uhhhhhh.” He said, Sanji.exe having completely crashed. Yoruichi giggled at him, before getting up, walking behind him, and saying, “Here. Let this big sis show you properly.” She reached over, and grabbed his right hand, before putting the pen in it. She was now leaning over his shoulder, breasts pressed into his back, arms wrapped around him to grab his arm and guide it.

“You just… do… this!” She said, as she made his arm draw a sloppy circle in the rightmost center square. She looked down at the still frozen teen, though for completely different reasons now, before laughing and giving his head a hug. “You did it! That wasn’t so hard, was it! I’m proud of you! You’re such a big boy!” Happily exclaiming for all to hear Sanji’s heroic deed of drawing a circle on a napkin.

That broke Sanji completely. He squawked incoherently, before pushing Yoruichi off him and almost sprinting back into the kitchen. She watched him go, one arm under her breasts and the other supporting her chin, hiding her Cheshire grin.

‘Ah. Such fun.’ She thought, before happily sitting down to have the best part of the meal.

Milk.