Graveyard of a Madman Part 53

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Well, Rinji had a good night and morning of vacation before things started to go abuzz. Not only did the giant of the Skyline Pirates arrive on their island, but now everyone was talking about a wedding! Chio and Usagi were going to tie the knot, and Rinji was to be the one to see that it was done. To their surprise, his mouth dropped straight to the ground. He had no idea that they were even together. The embarrassment really struck when even Kimi, Jana, and Dala already knew about them, and they had only been on the crew for less than a month.

So many girls flocked to Usagi, all of them hugging her in excitement, and pulling her with them to go try on dresses and begging to be one of her bride's maids. Whenever Chio walked into any populated establishment, mugs were raised to greet him, and he was slapped on the back so many times, he was starting to get hand prints. However, the one he was really concentrated on was Rinji. Since his captain was so sorely injured in his last battle in the Black Bone Tower, they never got a chance to indulge their grand tradition. They met in one of the lesser populated bars in what remained of the city, sat down at a table.

The only ones in this place were both Carson and Timber sitting at a large table, which was absolutely covered in gigantic stacks of papers, all of them with sketches of rooms and labels, along with enormous amounts of mathematic formulas of ratio, and geometric shapes. Behind the bar was Lys, smoking cigarettes and handing out drinks with abandon as she was asked for them. Right now, it was pretty dead other than the few patrons.

Rinji: Well, my friend, here's to you, and your beautiful, blushing bride. [Poured them both a drink, and they clicked their shot glasses before downing it.]

Chio: Thanks, Cap. Sorry about the whole fiasco, I'm going to be honest, it was supposed to be a secret from everyone, but for some reason every one in the crew already knew. I just assumed you knew too.

Rinji: Mewhahahahahaha! When it's all said and done, it was really none of my business. Neither of you let it get in the way of being in the crew, and you two make a very good couple. So [Filled them both another shot glass of rum, and they downed them both, feeling the burn on that one, cringing.] I'm just flattered to hell that you both want me to be the Justice of the Peace. As if there hasn't been enough excitement in the past week.

Chio: Oh, believe me, I know. But really, with all of this going on, was there really a good time?

They both shared a good laugh at that as they continued to down their liquor. There was much reflection on how they came across Usagi, and how much help she truly needed in such a dire time. They had found her on the streets of some island in the Grandline, the name escaped them at the moment. She had a hefty price on her head, and bounty hunters were coming out of the woodworks in order to collect on it. She had cut down over twenty five men on that island alone, and she had not had a single night's sleep for a week. She was beyond fatigued, and with so many men ambushing her at once, she could not gain up the strength to take them all down.

Rinji and Chio found her as she was about to be taken down by one of the larger bounty hunters, and they took down all of them in her defense. Usagi could not sing their praise high enough, and she swore and everlasting life debt to the both of them.

Chio: Yeah, she never really said much about the Brute Pirates after she got the bounty for killing them all. The only thing she would ever say was that she was covered from head to toe in their blood. After that, she swore never to fly off the handle ever again. What she meant by "fly off the handle", I guess I'll really never know.

Rinji: And if what we've seen with women is any indication, let us pray we never will.

They both nodded at this. This was when Rinji let out a sudden, loud laughter that took Chio by surprise.

Chio: [Smiled a little.] What?

Rinji: But as her husband, I guess you'll be the next to find out! Mewhahahahhahahaha!!!

They laughed hard at this, not remembering the last time they had a good, hard guffaw at anything such as this. After a while, they finally calmed down.

Rinji: Whoo... Well, so long as we still scour the endless seas, you two can get married as much as you want.

Chio: You bet your ass. But, that also brings up another problem.

Rinji: What's that?

Chio: Well, to have the power of marriage, don't we need to have our own ship? I mean, in a perfect world, we would be getting married on the Panno Marie, but it doesn't seem like that's going to happen.

They shared a moment of silence over this. The loss of the Panno Marie still weighed heavily on all of the crew. The two of them alone had had the most tremendous voyage on board that wonderful, immaculate ship. It was very rare to run into a ship that had a soul, but if there was ever one, it would be the ship that was named in the vain of Rinji's late mother, Gods rest her.

Rinji: Yes, in a perfect world. [Rinji brought out the larger shot glasses, and poured the really aged, fine West Blue Sake in both of them, filling them to the brim.]

They raised both glasses.

Both: To the Panno Marie.

They drank deep of the sake until the burn became unbearable, and then they continued to drink some more.