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[ Of the few rules of operating within Rin's fleet, one of them is very simple: take no prisoners.

Unless the captain feels like it. And in this rare instance, Sousuke does feel like it. Usually he's perfectly content to put the survivors of a defeated ship on bits of flotsam and send them on their way. Someone would pick them up before long and Sousuke's crew could pick apart the remains of their ship at their leisure.

But then he's finally, after months of begging, let Momotarou take command of the cannons during battle. The results had been... rather predictable. Rather than systematically take out more and more of the ship's mobility until it was dead in the water Momo had focused too much firepower on the ships center, and a solid ram from the Sano had been more than enough to break the military vessel clean in half. Sousuke ultimately blamed himself. Momo had already been worked up over the fact that the navy ship had attacked them, rather than the other way around; he should have known better than to let him have his way.

Sousuke's position on his own ship as it lazily saws through the remains of the enemy frigate puts him near the other ship's bow, which allows him to see several very important things. First, that the captain is dead. Second, that the second in command is not. And third, that the second in command is very rapidly sliding down the sharply tilted deck as his half of the ship floods with water. And with their prize rapidly sinking, Sousuke decides that the next best thing to plunder from this outing is information.

So in a flash he's swinging on a rope (how dramatic), kicking off from the side of his own ship, and plunging halfway into the water to seize the flailing, brown-haired captain by the back of his shirt. He's laughing as he hauls him up. ]

Easy there, 'captain'! Flail too much and I'll have to drop you again!

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[ The idea of being dropped -- back into the water, back into the ocean, with no clear and definite sign of rescue -- is certainly enough to make Makoto stop flailing. In fact, he stops dead, wraps his arm around Sousuke, and lets out a noise that's half-hiccup, half-sob.

He is the worst sailor, the absolute worst, and he knows it; he's uneasy about swimming even at the best of times, when it comes to the ocean, but now? When his ship is sinking, when the waves are a little rougher than he'd like, when he might have to hope he finds a piece of wood to hold onto until he's rescued? He's not Haru and he doesn't think he could survive something like that. It's always a danger, when you're on a boat, but he was second in command -- there were a lot of risks he didn't have to take, anymore. And being attacked by pirates -- not even that, but attacking pirates first! Makoto hadn't wanted any part in it, had asked the captain to rethink the decision, but the man was adamant. And now he was dead for it, and Makoto felt a high degree of sadness (of guilt, of the sharp sting of surviving) over the entire thing, but more than anything was a desire not to end up the same way. ]

Please -- [ There's water in his mouth and salt in his eyes and Makoto just shakes his head a little, voice strangled and high and tight with anxiety. ] -- Please don't drop me! [ He sounds like he might die if Sousuke drops him.

He might actually die if Sousuke drops him. ]

[ ... Well, then. Sousuke hadn't meant it as an actual threat, but clearly it had worked as one. He frowns at Makoto, thoughtful... and then laughs again. ]

Of course, of course. Just hold on tight. [ Sousuke keeps a firm hand on Makoto's collar, the other on the rope - and after a moment he orders Makoto to do the same with his free hand. It only takes a bit of shouting to get the crew's attention, and from there only a few moments of coordinated hauling for the lot of them to get Sousuke and Makoto back on deck. Sousuke is greeted with laughter and cheers. Makoto is greeted with a pair of irons, a blindfold, and rough hands grabbing him by the shirt and dragging him across the deck. There's doors opening, doors slamming, and eventually Makoto will find himself in a very, very, very small room - though a bit of feeling around will reveal that it's full of crates and may actually be a big room with little space left in it.

Regardless, Makoto is left there for hours as the sounds of battle fade and the Sano eventually continues on its way. Dinner comes and goes and it's (probably) well into evening when Sosuke finally opens the door. Very pointedly, he leaves Makoto's blindfold on. His tone is cheery when he speaks, however. ]

Evening. Dried off yet?

[ Makoto jerks at first against the blindfold, against the chains -- but he knows better than to struggle, and paradoxically, he relaxes slightly when he's forced into the room. If they're imprisoning him, then they have a use for him, and while that should terrify him, he finds it unlikely that they'll drown him. He isn't particularly loyal as a sailor; he cares about people, but he joined when Haru was pressed into service. They'd been seperated early on, put on different ships, and where Makoto had excelled at following orders, the last he'd heard Haru had never attained a higher rank...

While Makoto wasn't exactly willing to sell out the entire militia, he wouldn't mind doing his best to be useful in exchange for ... not being tortured or drowned, and hopefully put back on land, eventually.

He's pretty sure he falls asleep, for a brief period; the rocking of the ship is familiar, and even if the sounds of the ship are different, they're similar enough that they don't set Makoto too on edge. He jerks when the door opens, and turns to face Sousuke as best he can, judging direction purely by sound. ]

Ah -- y-yes. [ He remembers the voice, knows it's the captain, and knows that even if he's intending to do his best to negotiate his release, dealing with the captain of a pirate ship is dangerous work at best.

Makoto hesitates, because he wants to say something else, but doesn't know what, so all he can think of to blurt is the only real fear he has left, at this point, pressing down on him like a hundred heavy ships --]

You aren't going to make me w-walk the plank or anything, right?! [ Because that would, again, involve becoming very intimate with a large body of water in a way that Makoto is not remotely comfortable with. ]

[ Makoto's panicky question is met with a long, heavy silence, broken only by the sound of water lapping against the hull of the ship. Then Sousuke laughs, a startled and genuinely happy sound. It continues for several long seconds before Sousuke regains control of himself long enough to speak again. ]

No, no, nothing that like. [ 'Walk the plank'? Really? That sounds like something a kid would ask. ] Come on, take off your blindfold. Let's talk. [ 'Talk', Sousuke says, but when Makoto opens his eyes he'll find that the closet he's been locked in is above deck, set just next to the captain's quarters. Sousuke is leaned comfortably against the wall immediately adjacent to the closet, a scrap of paper in one hand and a charcoal in the other. ]

I've just got some questions for you. Up for answering?

[ Makoto flushes slightly when Sousuke laughs at him; it probably was a stupid question, but it's the first time he's met a pirate on his own ship. Makoto reaches up and slides the blindfold off, peers at Sousuke for a moment and imprints him on his memory like it'll do him a bit of good. If he escapes, what'll he say about the pirate that captured him -- black hair, blue eyes, well-built, looks like a thousand other people?

Makoto is apprehensive at the idea of answering questions, because so far he likes not walking the plank and not being tortured by... what else did the rest of the sailors say when they'd trade stories about pirates? Tortured by having his fingernails ripped off, or being forced to do nothing but peel potatoes for weeks on end, or to only be given salt water to drink! ]

I -- I'll try. [ he doesn't really want to say anything that could get him into too much trouble, if he gets out of here... he's not really sure how he can -- the fact that he's been taken prisoner already means that a lot of people are going to assume he just defected, especially with the captain dead -- but there's still a chance. ]

[ So far so good. Makoto seems nervous, still, but that at least seems to be making him eager to cooperate. Though Sousuke is willing to confirm that there will be no plank walking, there's no reason to assure Makoto that he'll be treated well otherwise. Let him be anxious and squirmy. It should make it easier to get information out of him.

But for now it was best to start simple. He wanted Makoto nervous, not terrified for his life, and the best way to strike a good balance was to give him more reasons to think he'd be left alive. ]

What's your name, first off. I can't just keep calling you 'captain', can I? [ He smiles again, this expression just a little sharper than the last. ] Even if your old boss is dead.

[ Makoto fidgets a little, someone smaller than he is fit into a body that he still isn't quite used to, after all these years. The term of address makes him nervous -- he doesn't want to be a captain, particularly not of a vessel that was just pillaged. Granted, if he had been captain, the end result probably would have been the same, if not worse -- surrendering to pirates is generally not well received... ]

Makoto. Tachibana Makoto -- first mate. Or -- ... [ He was, anyway, but he swallows that and looks down for a moment. He's still reeling after the events of everything -- still isn't quite processing everything. He's operating under a lot of assumptions: that he'll escape, or that they'll let him go; that he'll have anywhere to go back to; that he won't be branded a traitor by the time he does; that he won't deserve it. He isn't stupid, and he knows a lot of pirates became such to avoid being pressed into service, or to escape captains much more stupid and cruel than Makoto's had been.

So, instead, mildly-- ] What's yours?

[ Sousuke makes no attempt to interrupt Makoto's fidgeting or rambling. He expects Makoto to talk himself into a corner and spill more information than he'd been asked for right then and there - so he's a little surprised when Makoto pulls himself together long enough to ask a question. Sousuke arches a brow, at least looking more impressed than unhappy at the sudden shift. This guy might have a better head on his shoulders than he'd first assumed. ]

Yamazaki Sousuke, captain of the Sano. [ He gestured to the ship gone quiet in the nightly lull of activity. ] Ah, and I don't know if your captain knew this, but we're a part of Matsuoka Rin's fleet. [ Sousuke's tone and expression are still mild and neutral, but he watches Makoto's reaction carefully. Rin's name is well known by pirates and military alike, but his actual reputation varies wildly both between and within either group.

It's time to see what sort of reaction Makoto has to the name. ]

[ Makoto can't help it. He might have, if he'd been fully rested and in a more comfortable environment; if he'd been surrounded by people from the navy, who didn't like Rin, who held the name in disgust and contempt, then he might not have done it. But he was here, and Sousuke was someone who knew Rin, and so instead, it came out--]

Rin-chan? You're -- [ and then he realizes what he's just said, and turns a red that's a decent approximation of Rin's hair color, all things considered. He shouldn't have said that, and he knows it, but it's done now, and, well...

He answers the question that he knows Sousuke is going to ask next, because it's what any sane pirate would ask after that. ]

-- we were friends as children. [ for awhile. not that long, in the grand scheme of things, and Haru was considerably closer to him, but ...

then Rin had left and become a pirate, and Makoto's parents had heard and begged Makoto not to follow the same path (no matter how much Ran and Ren loved to play Pirates), and Makoto had genuinely hoped to never run into him, when Makoto and Haru were stuck in the navy and Rin was off... making people walk the plank and stealing booty, or whatever it was, exactly, that pirates did.

He wasn't sure. ]

[ There are a lot of reactions Sousuke had expected and would have been alright with. Terror would have been a good one, though simple unease would have done the trick. Even a flat out failure to recognize his name would have done the trick. And of all the the reactions that he would have been okay with, Makoto doesn't go with any of them. He sounds shocked, sure, but not a bad sort of shocked.

In fact, going from that nickname, he almost sounds happy. Makoto explains why and Sousuke looks... less than happy. That calm, slightly smug expression of his fades into an expression that's still calm, but decidedly unhappy. ]

Yeah. [ He sets aside his parchment and charcoal as he speaks. So much for that plan. ] I recognize your name now. [ He fits the age and description, too. Just about twenty, brown hair, green eyes, scared of the ocean... Sure, there's probably dozens, even hundreds, of other men that fit that same description. But how many of them would have the balls to call Rin 'Rin-chan'? Not many, Sousuke thinks.

More importantly, there's probably not many people Rin would be made to learn had been cuffed and locked in a closet all afternoon. ]

Come here. [ Sosuke waves Makoto forward, and should Makoto comply he'll withdraw a key from his pocket and use it to undo the cuffs around his wrists. ]

[ Sousuke is the taciturn type, but Makoto is used to that -- he has an unfailing affinity for black-haired, blue eyed men who say more with their silence than their words. Makoto can tell he's thrown Sousuke a little off balance, but Makoto is an upstanding member of the navy (or ... was, anyway) who just admitted to being friends with Matsuoka Rin, close enough to call him by Rin-chan. Makoto hasn't seen Rin in years, is pretty sure that he's not remotely the Rin he remembers (enough so that he doesn't think he'd be comfortable enough to call him by the nickname to his face), but all the same.

Makoto scoots himself closer, and immediately rubs at his wrists once he's free. He doesn't make any moves after that; he knows that while he isn't exactly a prisoner anymore, he's still not exactly a guest, either.

He also knows that the distinction is something that is going to make the navy less than thrilled to take him back. It wasn't as though they were completely unaware of the fact that they had all been friends, back in Iwatobi village. Makoto getting picked up on a pirate ship that was connected to Rin, when the captain was dead... well, the chances of the navy buying that story weren't exactly in Makoto's favor, his service record aside.

He didn't really want to think about that for too long. He hoped Ren and Ran wouldn't be too upset. ]

How is Rin doing, these days? [ it's all he can think of to say -- something that seems like it might be safe topic; a way to broach the weird situation they're both in. a vague connection between the two of them. ]

[ That precarious balance between guest and prisoner is one that Sosuke is keenly aware of, and one that he's not entirely sure how to handle. On one hand, he'd dearly love to assume that Makoto is a liar hedging on a lucky guess - Rin would probably even forgive him for such an assumption, as long as Makoto weren't treated too harshly. On the other hand, the odds of Makoto being a liar seem depressingly slim, and Sosuke would rather not do anything that would require seeking Rin's forgiveness in the first place.

Makoto's question is met with a flat look, Sousuke's expression slipping into complete neutrality. It's just his his resting face also happens to look a little angry, and he's well aware of it. He stares at Makoto flatly for a long moment in the wake of his question... before he heaves a sigh and lets his expression melt into a smile. ]

Ah, well enough. [ There's nothing to be done for it, it seems. At least this guy isn't Haru. ] Honestly, I haven't seen him in months. [ Sousuke turns finally, striding away. ] Come on. If you're really a friend of Rin's then I can at least make sure you've got better sleeping arrangements.

[ Makoto can't help but be a little apprehensive, in the face of Sousuke's expression -- he hasn't quite forgotten that Sousuke is the captain of a pirate ship that killed a good portion of Makoto's crew; the last thing he wants to do is make him mad. But -- well -- he trusts Rin's judgement, for the most part, so he doesn't think Sousuke can be that bad. Probably.

Being a pirate is pretty bad. ]

Oh -- thank you! [ Even when he's not-exactly a prisoner and not-exactly a guest, Makoto is still unfailingly polite. he figures it's a little less likely to get him killed, in the grand scheme of things... though he's not sure how polite pirates generally are.

they don't seem to be nearly as bad, actually, as the navy would have him believe, but admittedly, that might be because Makoto wasn't dead, being tortured, or anything else nefarious. ]

I'm sorry. You must have been trying to get information... [ and now Makoto doesn't really have any incentive to give it.

though, actually, he'll probably give it to Rin, if he asks... things Makoto is bad at: keeping secrets. ]

Yeah, you're right. [ Sousuke doesn't go far before he stops, pausing just long enough to pull over his cabin door. The room inside is small and cluttered, but the furniture looks both sturdy and comfortable and the room as a whole looks well-used and lived in. A fluffy grey tabby lays stretched out on the bed, but Sousuke doesn't pay her any mind as he waves Makoto inside. ]

But if you're anything like Rin described, then I'm not the one that has to get it. [ He gives Makoto another smile, this one a little more knowing and a lot more confident. ] I'm sure he'll just have to ask nicely. [ Which probably isn't a nice thing to point out, but if Makoto's going to bring it up then he deserves whatever discomfort he gets.

Sousuke follows Makoto into the cabin and drops himself down into a chair. ] Make yourself comfortable.

[ Makoto takes a moment to look around the cabin. It's strikingly different from the compact cabins captains have on navy ships; he's used to things being considerably less personalized. This looks like a cabin that someone actually lives in, from the maps strewn in every corner to the gentle spray of personal possessions to the cat that appears to have been nesting on a map. He resists the urge to immediately go for the cat, but only because it wakes up, gives him a disdainful look, and then promptly leaves the room. Aren't pirates supposed to have birds? And -- peg legs, and scars, and while Makoto can't definitively say Sousuke doesn't have the latter, he definitely doesn't have the former... ]

This is your room? I don't need anything this nice, really! [ he'd be happy with a bunk just about anywhere, so long as it wasn't involving him being locked up, and he doesn't really want to be an imposition. ]

[ Sousuke reaches out to gently nudge the cat with his foot as she passes, prompting her to turn and swat briefly at his foot before she saunters away. Otherwise, however, Sousuke remains focused on Makoto. ]

There's no room for you anywhere else. [ After their past few run-ins with navy vessels, the Sano is full up on defectors looking for a better, freer life with Rin's fleet - who are just another reason to keep the possibly-still-loyal Makoto away from the rest of the crew. More important than that, however: ] And Rin will pitch a fit if I make you sleep somewhere uncomfortable.

Oh... [ Makoto realizes how much of an imposition he's being, and it strikes him as just a little odd, that he should feel bad about being an imposition when he's been taken prisoner... but all this ties back to Rin, and so he can't be too upset at what Sousuke has done.

At this rate, he won't be able to go back to the navy because he'll be too much of a pirate sympathizer. ]

I'll do my best to stay out of your way! [ If that's all he can do, that's all he can do.

Though, he's a little concerned -- is Sousuke staying in here, too? Makoto senses that for all that Sousuke is as stoic as Haru is, it would be a considerably more awkward night. ]

[ It turns out that yes, Sousuke is still intending to sleep in his own cabin. Makoto gets a spare hammock strung up between two support beams while Sousuke himself drops contentedly (and mostly naked) into his own bed later that night. The cat quickly decides that Makoto's hammock is her new favorite bed and that the only thing to do in that instance is to smother him into submission - and when that doesn't work, she graciously deigns to allow him to stay there in exchange for serving as her pillow.

The next morning, at least, Sousuke seems a little more affable. He doesn't hesitate to introduce Makoto to the rest of the crew as 'an old friend of Captain Matsuoka' (which immediately gains him their favor) and sets him to a series of easy but important tasks. The crew takes an almost immediate liking to Makoto, prying him for stories about Rin and sharing plenty of their own. Some of them tease too much and other tell them off for it, and overall Makoto is quickly treated like a welcome, if slightly untrustworthy, guest. Sousuke keeps himself busy and therefore scarce during the day, mingles with the crew at night, and never hesitates to drag Makoto into a round of cards or drinking. He gives Makoto access to a spare pair of pajamas, free use of his tiny (but private) bathroom, and is generally a pleasant, if often absent, host.

They're a week into their journey when the storm hits in the late afternoon, choppy waves rocking the boat gently at first, and then with more and more ferocity as it wears on. The winds pick up, rain begins to fall, and the ship explodes into action as crewmen scramble back and forth to secure everything and keep the chip steady and on course. It is, ultimately, a rather mild storm, which is why Sousuke is content to return to his cabin before it's quite over.

He's just a little surprised to find it empty, is all. He'd told Makoto to stay put, not wanting him to get in the crew's way, and isn't sure what to make of his seemingly empty room. ]

Tachibana?

[ Makoto doesn't reply at first. He'd been fine when the storm started, just a rocking of the ship and some thunder, but it had gotten worse and worse, and -- well, if you asked him, he would tell you that he was just keeping the cat company because she seemed so scared. In actuality, though, Sousuke's bed was fixed firmly enough to the ground and Makoto was big enough in the cramped space that he could almost ignore the rocking, in favor of the purring ball of cat in his arms.

She did wonders to convince him that the ship was not going to sink, Makoto was not going to drown, and everything was going to be fine. Except he's still more than a little unsettled, and embarrassed on top of it, so he peers out from under the bed, only to jump slightly when another crack of thunder predicts another bout of fierce rocking.

Instead of a greeting, he just sort of squeaks. The cat lets out a slightly irritated meow, abandoning Makoto's suddenly too-tight grip in favor of twining sulkily around Sousuke's legs. ]

[ The cat is a seasoned veteran, it seems. She's quite to say purring in her spot and give Makoto irritated little nips when he shifts about or squeezes too tight. Her purring is intense, though still not quite loud enough for Sousuke to hear over the din of the storm.

Fortunately the combination of squeaking, meowing, and disgruntled twining is enough to finally direct Sousuke's attention down. He kneels down (pausing long enough to stroke the queen herself) before he drops to his hands and knees and peers under the bed. He wears a skeptical and, quite frankly, somewhat judgemental expression as he takes in the sight before him.

He didn't even realize someone Makoto's size could fit under his bed. ]

Lose something down there?

[ Makoto's first attempt at speaking comes out as a broken squeaking noise. It's high pitched enough that he's not actually sure Sousuke can hear it. It might be something only dogs can hear, and there's not exactly a surplus of those on pirate ships.

His second attempt gets out a single croaked pronoun before the ship gives another violent rock, and Makoto automatically lunges out to grab onto Sousuke's shirt in complete terror. ]

-- I don't like storms! [ he finally manages it, and sure, it's not the mostly manly thing, he'd really rather have tried to make up an excuse, but it's hard to think of one when every loud peal of thunder makes him tense up.

he has so many regrets about his life. ]

You're a sailor.

[ He sounds pretty exasperated, honestly, though not exactly disgusted. It's kind of awkward to have Makoto grabbing onto his shirt like that but Sousuke doesn't try to shove him away. Instead he grabs hold of Makoto's arms, jsut above his elbows, and then starts to drag him out from underneath the bed. ]

Come on, you're just gonna bash your head against the slats if you try to stay down there.

[ Though, honestly, his cringing and hiding is kind of endearing, in a way... ]

[ Makoto makes a noise that can only be described as a whimper, allowing himself to be tugged out from underneath the bed. He even does a little to help, gently climbing to his feet once he's out, head still bowed slightly with the knowledge that at any second, there's going to be another crack of thunder to terrify him again. ]

They're too loud. [ The loudness reminds him that he could drown at ANY MOMENT. Well. Okay. Not this particular moment, because he's on the boat, but what if the boat capsizes? What if a huge wave comes up and destroys them and they all die and he'll never see Haru or Rin or his siblings ever again? ]

...and the boat rocks too much like this. [ WHICH IS WHY SITTING IS BETTER. ]

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