Natural Enemy 3-4

“...you’re joking.”

The words were a knife to the ego, his pride slumping to the ground and holding his chest to keep the blood where it belonged. “I know it looks bad…”

“Looks?”

Kai bit back a sigh as a pair of red eyes snapped his way.

– o – o – o – o – o – o – o –

The walk back through Scuttle Town was worse than the walk in, the heat baking off the rusted metal underfoot even worse than when he entered the bar. His soles being mini-skillets was tolerable, though, and the greasy smell clinging to the dirty water was… was whatever.

But no, none of that was really the bad side of it.

No, it was mostly the fact that Kai was now leading some strange guy with target-practice eyes right to his boat.

The Naruto.

His only way out of this junkheap of a town.

Blue eyes slipped over his shoulder, and past his guitar, to see the guy that called himself Lucky Vee keeping a neat and crisp six paces behind him. There was no hurry to his motions, nothing bothering him at all as he just continued walking. Where Kai at least kept an eye out, the older teenager wasn’t looking at the shanties built into the sides of scuttled galleons or even peeking down any corners or alleys for ambushers. 

No, he just kept those target-eyes of his straight ahead.

Man, this might be kind of a bad idea maybe. 

That realization came a bit too late for it to be useful, especially considering they were already halfway to the harbor. Kai hopped up, sandal soles avoiding a puddle of what was either blood or really red oil. Bringing a bounty hunter to my boat. Good job, Kai. 

He’d had a whole bunch of good ideas in the last few weeks and he wasn’t sure if this was one of them. Just invite the fox into the henhouse.

But then he remembered the weight of Beula Billions' anchor passing over his head. The sound of his own ribs cracking too, and the choking feeling of being held up by his throat while rain splattered all over him.

Fighting another Beula alone was a tougher thing to deal with than a blonde guy walking behind him. Rival bounty hunter or not, Lucky definitely wouldn’t be as bad a fight as the whale. More than that, though, he was pretty sure he'd gotten lucky with all the guys he'd fought so far. 

Tuning fork guy, the bowler, the baker… they were all just gimmicks.

Beula was twenty-four million and wasn’t even close to the biggest bounty this section of the West Blue. If he was gonna fight more people on and above her level, people who could tank a hit from a truck… well.

A guy with good aim was really gonna come in handy.

Black waves slapped loud against wood by the time they reached the docks, the Naruto bobbing gently. With a single sweeping hand, Kai gestured toward his bright orange skiff. “There’s my little guy.”

“There what is?” Lucky stopped beside him, standing at the edge of the planks with a look as flat as any Kai had seen on his face yet.

“My ride.” A single hand kept pointing out at it, as if Lucky couldn’t see it. “The Naruto.”

Blond dreadlocks shifted slightly as the taller boy tilted his head, blinking at the sight of the sad little skiff bobbing in the sludge. 

The orange paint was chipped, the hull scarred from near misses from iron cannonballs and razor-sharp playing cards. The driftwood patch he’d slapped onto the side after the fight with the bowling guy looked even worse now, the ship leaking a steady drip of harbor water back into the sea.

Yeah, we’re gonna fix you up. Shrugging over at his potential partner, Kai asked the only question he could. “...so whaddya think?”

“...you’re joking.”

– o – o – o – o – o – o – o –

“This…” Red-target eyes drifted up and down the skiff, from the bow to the stern in a slow sweep. He took in the single padded seat, the control port lined with sea glass, and the undeniable lack of… well, everything else. “This… is a surfboard with a chair.”

“Hey, go easy.” Kai crossed his arms over his chest. “It’s a custom job, y’know. Wood’s solid and strong. It’s fast, too. Like, way faster than most of those big bulky-ass ships.”

“Mm. Sure.” The blond boy paced the length of the short dock, red eyes tracing the dimensions of the Naruto and making all sorts of calculations that obviously weren't adding up to anything useful. “Probably is fast, not doubting it. Doesn’t mean anything, though.”

“Why not?”

Red eyes slid back over to Kai, another disappointed look worn on Lucky’s face. “Unless, and stick with me here, unless the plan was for you to tow me behind you on a rope, or I’m gonna sit in your lap… I don’t know how you think this is going to work for two people.”

Kai blinked, looking down at the single seat.

Oh.

Something else he hadn’t really given much thought about stared him back in the face, another assumption — or lack thereof — that was already proving to be a major problem and they hadn’t even been partners for ten minutes yet.  Man, I just wanted a bounty buddy that could throw knives. 

And watch his back, too.

But the knives thing… that was the main part. 

“I mean…” Kai rubbed the back of his neck beneath his bucket hat, suddenly glad his skin was dark enough to hide the heat in his cheeks. “We could… nah, that wouldn’t…” He looked up at Lucky again. “What about your boat, man? You’re a hunter, right? You gotta have a ride.”

“My boat?” Lucky threw his head back and sighed, the sound the loudest noise he’d made in all the time Kai had known him. “I go around in a dinghy, lil bro. It’s smaller than this. Nothing but harbor hops and short runs. Never ever planned to hit the open ocean in that thing.”

“A dinghy.” Kai stared at him, the words coming out in a bite. “What? You hunt bounties in a dinghy? Lemme guess, you paddle up to ‘em and ask politely?”

Lucky stared back at him, eyes half-lidded as the joke ran off him like rainwater. “I travel light.” 

“Yeah, I bet.” Kai snorted.

“And I also don't pick fights with whales.”

Okay, ouch. His snort petered out, Kai frowning down at nothing. “So…”

“So what, lil bro?”

“So, what now?” Kai turned his frown over at Lucky. “Unless we’re gonna swim, I don’t have a bigger boat.”

Red eyes aimed themselves over at the Naruto again, Lucky giving Kai’s prized possession a once-over before looking back at Kai. 

A few seconds later, his gaze drifted down, lingering on the heavy backpack slung over Kai’s shoulder, the guitar sticking right out of the top. “Well…” 

A bit of a smile spread across his face.

A smile Kai wasn’t sure he liked. “Well…”

Lucky’s smile didn’t fade away. “You got plenty of Beri, right?”

Kai stiffened up, fingers twitching at his side as his mouth worked silently. What’s the right answer to this?  

Mentioning exactly how much money he had seemed like a bad idea, even if Lucky didn’t seem like a bad guy. Just no reason to bring that up to a stranger. Especially, considering he had seventy-six million Beri hidden away in the watertight secret compartments of the Naruto and stuffed into the false bottom of the backpack pulling at his shoulder.

He was practically a walking bank vault, and he wasn't about to advertise that fact to a guy who could put a blade through his eye from ten paces without breaking a sweat.

Still can’t believe I even have this much, though. It wasn’t easy at all, and had taken some real work.

Three weeks of solid, brutal work. 

Three weeks of sweating, sailing, and swinging for all he was worth. 

Three weeks of taking down four major bad guys and a bunch of smaller scrubs who thought they were tough. No single bounty had been as high as the sperm whale, but it still added up fast anyway. 

Really fast. 

Especially when you didn't have to split the take with a whole team.

Finally, after too many seconds of silence, Kai went with the truth. “Yeah?” A single eyebrow raised high, he asked his own question. “Do you?”

“Probably not as much as you,” Thin fingers tapped his chin as Lucky muttered half-under his breath. “But I know a fix for this. Long as we got Beri to spend.”

Kai stared at him, silence stretching out for another long second. “Lead the way, Red.”

Red smirked back his way. “You got it, Blue.”