[50] The Compromised Acceptance
Chapter 50: The Compromised Acceptance
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The night was spent on the ship for the crew since Cricket’s house wasn’t big enough for them all to sleep.
Hashirama brought the Sail of Ohara to this side of Jaya, from the spot it was docked before on the other side.
Everyone had their own room, so the night was spent quietly. Though Vivi did sleep with Karoo since the duck was particularly mad at her for leaving it on the ship. It had spent the entire day in hunger.
When the sunlight declared the coming of a new day, Hashirama woke up. As the captain, he took it upon himself to wake the crew up.
He took a quick 10 minutes to finish his morning needs and then walked out of his room and into the deck. Unsurprisingly, he already found Robin awake and reading a book as she sat against the border of the ship.
“Good morning. What are you reading?”
Stretching his arms, Hashirama asked. He peeked over, but she quickly covered the title of the book with her hand.
“Morning, and confidential.”
“You can’t be serious.”
Hashirama crackled up in amusement. He turned to look around the deck.
“Anybody else up yet?”
Robin put her book away, not wanting to take a chance with him, and nodded. Hashirama was surprised at that. Both of the other two girls went through quite a lot, so he wasn’t expecting any of them to be up by yet.
“Who-”
Just as Hashirama opened his mouth, the door to the kitchen popped open and the blonde Mikita walked out while wearing an apron.
“Oh-! Hashirama’s up. Looks like you were right Robin, to tell me to make extra.”
Mikita showed the tray in her hand that held four cups of tea. She walked closer to place the tray down, and Robin took a cup right away. Hashirama mimicked her, while Mikita too did the same.
“I am surprised.”
Taking a satisfied sip of the tea, Hashirama nodded.
“Why?”
“I didn’t think you’ll live up to your promise, even after I welcomed you as a proper member.”
Mikita scoffed jokingly hearing that. She dragged her ass to sit beside him and leaned her head on his shoulder.
“You’re misunderstanding. Since you welcomed me properly, I won’t clean the shi, behh. I just did the tea because I have been doing it for a while now for Robin.”
“Is that so?”
Hashirama smiled and let her rest her head. It felt nice.
The group of three continued chatting while sipping tea, while Robin kept staring at their romantically close forms. A minute later, Robin hesitated before sighing and looking at both of them.
“By the way, you two. I know… what you did yesterday on Bellamy Pirates’ ship.”
Mikita almost choked while Hashirama continued sipping tea as if she said nothing out of the ordinary. With a blush, Mikita started to speak gibberish. Hashirama just stayed silent.
“Well, looks like this guy isn’t surprised. Let me guess, that too was within your expectation?”
Robin asked with narrowed eyes as Hashirama nearly choked laughing.
“Haha. You’re overestimating me. I am not some mastermind. It’s pure coincidence, as I happened to have activated Observation Haki just at that moment. At that moment I happened to notice you peeking. Did you enjoy it?”
“W-wha-”
Now it was Robin’s turn to choke, as Mikita paused in her spot. She looked at Robin with wide eyes and a face full of surprise.
“You… Robin, I didn’t know you were a pervert?”
“Hey! Why are you playing along with him?! He is clearly trying to ruin my reputation, this evil brat. I have done nothing of that sort. It was a mere 3 seconds… 10 seconds? Something around that.”
Robin was flustered. That fluster only increased when she looked at the two culprits holding back a laugh.
“These two…”
Robin sighed. Shaking her head, she took a deep breath and looked at them seriously.
“I am serious. As for why I am saying this… Well, telling you two to stop will be a bit too much of me. Hashirama’s the Captain here and it’s clear that he isn’t used to being committed to one girl. I also know Mikita enough to realize what sort of woman she is. She will not step down from a guy just because another girl is interested in him.”
Falling silent for a brief instant, Robin continued. “Be a bit careful with Vivi, she is still a little girl, strong or not. And she loves you, Hashirama. It will not be funny to see a lovely girl like her be heartbroken. But it’s better she is heartbroken if the other choice is for her to be cheated on.”
“Either break the situation to her or work it out in some… other way. Otherwise, I am sorry but, I will tell her how you two behave behind her back.”
“….”
“….”
Hashirama and Mikita exchanged worried glances. To Mikita, it was clear that Hashirama had feelings for Vivi. However, it was also clear that he had feelings for her, otherwise, yesterday wouldn’t have felt the same.
For Hashirama, he agreed that Robin had a point, but he wasn’t willing to break Vivi’s heart. It just didn’t seem fair for her, and neither did he wanted to do it.
As for the other choice… Hashirama wasn’t sure what Mikita thought about it.
This world didn’t run by the 21st Century’s law or logic; even there, harems weren't unheard of. But still, would a girl like Mikita be fine with sharing?
If Hashirama had to choose—he wouldn’t give a half-assed answer as if he was unable to make a choice. He in fact had a clear choice, just like back then with his sister Tsunade when he was ready to leave his feelings for Vivi if Tsunade didn’t like it.
Mikita stared at him for a long breath, and at last, she sighed. She opened her mouth to reveal her decision, but then the door opened once again.
“I-”
“Oh. You guys are already up?”
It was Vivi who walked out with a drowsy Karoo behind her. Vivi looked around the scene with a curious expression; luckily Mikita and Hashirama were at a safe distance since Robin began to speak.
“Did I enter at the wrong time?”
“…No, Vivi. Come, we have a cup of tea for you too.”
Robin broke the silence, deciding to handle the matter for herself. She raised the cup at Vivi and whispered to the two near her.
“Let’s take this as a chance from fate. It gives you more time to think about your answer. We can talk about this later.”
Vivi looked cheerful as she ran to accept the cup. In the meantime, Karoo quacked in annoyance at not having any tea for herself.
* * *
The sky was gently bright due to the morning sun, and the sea reflected that light with a dazzling blue filter. The sky was littered with spots of white fluffy clouds, as two docked ships swayed in the waves near Mont Cricket’s house.
Tea wasn’t breakfast, so Hashirama’s crew came down from the ship. Then Hashirama and Robin went out to the market while Mikita, Vivi, and Karoo stayed back near Cricket’s house.
Around half an hour later, Hashirama and Robin returned with immediate food and supplies to cook later on. It was mostly meat and seasonings since everything else could be made by Hashirama.
“Is it cannibalism if I eat veggies that I make?”
“Shut up,”
Hashirama and Robin reached the remaining group, with him joking while she maintained a face that said she was done with his silly jokes. It appeared as if she had suffered his bad jokes for the past half an hour.
“Oh…!”
Vivi and Mikita exclaimed in surprise while Cricket and Karoo too looked bewitched. The target of their reactions was the food served on plates, that were being carried by three Clone-ramas behind the main.
“They smell fantastic.”
“Yep, it was a struggle to not finish them on the way.”
Hashirama told the excited Vivi and started to use his wood release to form a large dining table. It was a moment’s work before a table erupted out of the ground and the clones served the food for everyone. Chairs followed, and the group quickly took their seats.
“Quack! Quack! Quack!”
Except for Karoo who looked mad, since the chairs made for humans were not suitable for her to sit on.
After the clones were submerged into his body, Hashirama walked over to Karoo and patted her head.
“Sorry. Let me make a proper seat for you too.”
“Quack.”
Karoo was cheerful once he indeed made a proper chair for her. It was round and large enough for Karoo to easily sit on.
After that, the group of five humans and one duck ate breakfast. It was too heavy for breakfast, but nobody really minded. Just like Robin from a few days ago, Mikita and Cricket were surprised how the duck was eating chicken and other sorts of meat. What the hell was wrong with it?
“By the way- burp- ugh.”
Mikita started speaking after she finished her food. Accidentally burping, she blushed and quickly shook her head. Pretending that never happened, she looked at Hashirama and pointed at Karoo.
“I don’t mean any offense, but why bring a duck with us? It’s big too. I hear it’s the little princess’ pet, did she force you to bring it along?”
Karoo looked extremely offended and started to quack aggressively at Mikita. Vivi too looked mad. However, instead of engaging with Mikita, Vivi moved to pat Karoo and maintained a dignified expression.
“There there, Karoo. Don’t mind what any random vile women say. She can’t accept that Papa loves your Mama and wants me to have you by my side on this journey. Let her chipper alone, we are too good to care for her words.”
Mikita cursed slowly and ignored the glare Vivi shot her next. Mikita looked at Hashirama for the real answer.
Hashirama shrugged as if the answer was obvious.
“The sea is dangerous. We might get stranded on some island. Look at how big Karoo is. She is our emergency food.”
A small silence washed over the group before Karoo cried and ran off with a terrified expression.
Hashirama started laughing, which was followed by Mikita, while Robin and Vivi wore frowns. Vivi started to shout at him.
“There, you scared her. How could you say that to Karoo, who’s been with me for 16 years? Bastard.”
Hashirama made a hand seal, as a clone was created, and it ran to grab Karoo. The terrified duck was brought back to the group as the clone kept it in place.
“Sorry, Karoo. I was joking.”
Hashirama got up and patted the duck on its head. He turned to look at Mikita and explained the real reason.
“Karoo is a part of a special duck race. The super spot-billed ducks. She can run miles in minutes and is faster than a bullet if she pushes herself to the limits. She can also swim and fly. That, when coupled with her human-like intelligence, she makes for a great scout in the sea. Did you not know that every fearsome pirate needs a seemingly harmless cute pet?”
Vivi looked much more satisfied now, as did Robin. Mikita looked surprised and nodded soon after.
“It sounds pretty great. I was wondering why it seemed so smart.”
Karoo wore a smug expression, head high and eyes closed. She was surprised when Mikita walked up and patted her head.
The clouds high up cleared just a little and coincidentally created a focus around Mikita and Karoo. The scene looked enchanting, and Mikita’s next words matched that feeling in Hashirama and Robin’s ears.
“Oops, I should stop calling you ‘it’ since you’re so smart, right? As for me, I’m Mikita, but you can call me Mama-two.”
While Karoo hesitated before starting to enjoy the pats, Hashirama blinked while Robin narrowed her eyes. Mikita was… implying something. The three of them exchanged glances, and Mikita just gave them a bright smile.
“Hey, no! You can be her aunty. Not Mama.”
Vivi didn’t realize that Mikita said ‘Mama-two’ not ‘Mama-too’. She also didn’t notice the silent conversation that happened between the three.
While Vivi ran to hug Karoo, the three others nodded at each other.
Robin sighed in understanding, noting that it was fine for them to play behind Vivi’s back for now. Since Mikita was ready to share and did not want him for herself only. In that case, it’s better to hide and wait for Vivi to come to better terms with Mikita before the secret gets revealed.
A part of Robin questioned her own sanity, for promoting cheating, but seeing Hashirama and Mikita’s smiles warned her not to lose it. Nico Robin didn’t want them to be sad… not anyone who was part of this crew.
The sun rolled up to the sky, and the crew played under it. They will continue to do so for the years… and the centuries that lay before them.
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*All past chapters have been proofed by @Shortmotor and @MagnuS.
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