Rescuers in the Night! Crossed Swords with a Daibukai!

[Fox]

Well, this was certainly something of a setback. After taking over that slaver vessel at Kabukimono, Yukiko figured that they’d have some sort of log pose to help them traverse the Grand Line. Nope. Instead, they had an eternal pose, leading to the Crescent Moon Islands, which also just so happened to be at the start of the Grand Line. The exact opposite from where she wanted to go. Yukiko sighed.

Not only that, but the ship had been seized by the local authorities. Yukiko flashed her bounty hunting license, which made them relax a little bit, assuming that she was just a Devil Fruit user of some sort and letting her go. Really, she was a Mink, but it was easier to just let people believe what they wanted to believe. So, she sat in a pub in town, wondering what to do. She didn’t have any money on her, so she couldn’t just hop on a ferry to the next island up the chain. She’d have to do a job or, more likely, many jobs to afford the travel costs.

Yukiko rubbed her snout with a paw and coughed into a handkerchief, coming away with a small spattering of blood. She looked at the blood grimly. She didn’t have a lot of time. Yukiko pestered the bartender for jobs. He pointed her to a bulletin board that she’d already looked at a dozen times over.

“No, you don’t understand. I need a very lucrative contract. I don’t have time.”

The bartender sighed at her, clearly exasperated. “Look, ma’am. I promise I’ll let you know if I hear anything, but those bounties are the best I can offer you right now. Alright?”

Yukiko groaned and flopped onto the bar like a puppy who’d had their favorite toy taken away. "Alright..."

---

Yukiko | #f0ffff | Post Count: 1

[Aromancer]

"You won't find anything good around here."

A voice from the next table over cut through the conversation between Yukiko and the bartender. Looking over, she would see a boy with spiky black hair and a giant green sword slung across his back. The powerful aura emanating from that same sword left no doubt: it was seastone. A touch greener than most seastone she was familiar with, but no less powerful.

The boy took a drink of his bourbon, then set it down on the counter between them. "I've been here for weeks, and there's nobody been on that board worth more than 10k all that time. But, that's what I get for going to an island run by a Daibukai."

He shrugged, then turned to face her directly. "Always nice to meet a fellow freelancer for justice. Name's Lee; Viper D. Lee." The boy held out his hand to shake hers. "And like I said, the only criminals 'round these parts have had their bounties frozen. Doesn't matter much to me; way I see it, a pirate's a pirate, bounty or no."

He took another sip of the bourbon, allowing his words to hang in the air for a second before setting it down again. "Sucks for business, though."

[Fox]

Yukiko’s ears perked up when someone addressed her only to confirm her suspicions. It was a boy. Very young by the looks of it with a certain air of arrogance about him that a lot of young bounty hunters had. He had an impressive looking blade that seemed to be made of Kairoseki. Yukiko vaguely wondered if such a blade originated from Wano since it resembled her own to quite a degree even down to having prongs, which was very uncommon. He was drinking bourbon, which earned him a rather motherly look of disapproval.

“Are you old enough to be drinking that, young man?”

Yukiko shot the bartender a look of undisguised motherly rage, which made him shrink back and run to tend to his other customers. She narrowed his eyes at him before getting up from the bar and joining the boy at his table. She gave him a rather worried look, glancing at him with his alcohol.

“Freelancer for Justice is a rather… colorful way of putting it,” she commented, immediately and immensely worried that Lee was the sort to bite off more than he could chew and get himself killed. She shook his hand with her own, of course, but his words only made her brow furrow even more. “Nice to meet you too, sweetie.”

Yukiko visibly grimaced when he took another sip of his bourbon, barely able to focus on what he was saying. “I… ah… Yes. It is bad for business, isn’t it?” She said, clasping her arms with her paws tightly, resisting the intense growing urge to swat the bourbon out of his hands and onto the floor.

“I’m Yukiko. Momochi Yukiko. I have… rather pressing business in the later half of Paradise, so I’m rather eager to work up the funds to get there and fast.”

Her eyes and nose scrunched up as she gestured to the bourbon, unable to leave it alone.

“Do you… like the taste of that? It’s really not good for you, you know. Wouldn’t you prefer some tea? I have tea!”

---

[Aromancer]

"There's no law says a 16-year-old can't have a bourbon when he wants it," Lee said, smarmily taking another sip of the drink just to spite Yukiko. "Least not one that'll get you a bounty." He offered a consolatory look to the barkeep, sympathetic to the plight he was facing with the angry fox woman staring him down.

Lee enjoyed the growing look of consternation on Yukiko's face as he had another sip of bourbon, then set the drink down again when she mentioned her business. "What're you doing here, then? This is about as far as you can get from the later half of Paradise!"

He snickered when the girl asked whether he was enjoying the taste. "It's not about the taste, "mother." It's about letting yourself relax for a bit. You should try some, you seem stressed out." The fact that he was a major source of that stress right now was... irrelevant.

"Anyway, there is one job that pays better," he said, "but it's not on that board, and I'm not taking it. Word on the street is, this island is a major source of the... "chattel" they trade in Sabaody. Boss of the island pays top dollar for quality body guards to make sure the goods arrive safely." Lee took another swig and spat onto the floor. "The man's scum."

[Fox]

This child was very much testing Yukiko’s patience. She put her paws together, staring at him with immense concern and breathed deeply to calm herself down. She was definitely going to swat that away from him when he wasn’t looking though. For sure. She just had to wait for her moment. “I’m well aware of its uses. I’m also acutely aware of its detriments to things like judgement and inhibitions, sweetie.”

Yukiko used the nickname without irony, unlike Lee. Her ears flicked back when he asked what she was doing here. “I faced an… unforeseen setback.”

Yukiko became visibly upset when Lee mentioned slave trading. Here? She bristled, her claws digging into the tabletop and leaving deep gashes. This might not be as big a setback as she thought. If only Diango were here… they could do another raid just like before. She relaxed just a little as she contemplated. It was odd that the World Government would turn a blind eye to what appeared to be an open secret of a crime. Or perhaps the boy was just well connected, but given his youth, she was more inclined to believe the former.

“I… hm,” Yukiko pondered the matter for a moment longer before her ears flicked up and rotated to the door. Someone new had entered the pub with a bundle of papers in hand. They made a beeline to the bulletin, posting up some new bounties as well as some job requests. “Oh! Look! There might be something worthwhile now. Why don’t we go take a look?”

Yukiko stood up and gestured to the board, waiting for Lee to get up and follow her. The moment he left his drink unattended, she fully intended to swipe it off the tail with her big bushy tail. It was somewhat refreshing not to hide her appearance, admittedly. She often concealed it with a mask, but she’d lost that a while ago. Maybe most were just chalking her up to being a Devil Fruit user. It felt freeing in a way, but she was still careful not to let her guard down totally.

The bulletin board was filled with bounties, some old, some new. There were a couple new ones for pirates in the Blues. “Shadow Puppeteer” Toulon. “Red Terror” Grimm-Rosa Scarlette. “Boiling Tide” Marina Blood. But those were either out of her league or off in the blues. Either way, none of them were here. What did catch her eye was a flyer that described an extremely lucrative job, but the details would only be given out upon meeting with the employer. As desperate as she was for money, those sorts of jobs were pretty shady and usually more trouble than they were worth.

---

[Aromancer]

"Yeah, well, Dad always told me I had poor judgement, even before the alcohol," Lee replied. "Not to mention I've got a higher tolerance than most; I've had way worse than this in my system, and I'm fine." He finished off the glass before she had a chance to knock it away, then slid the glass back towards the barkeep.

He hummed, nodding when she mentioned "unforseen setbacks." "Yeah, I'm in kind of the same boat," he agreed. "Started heading down the Grand Line before I really understood what's out here. Almost got got by these three brothers, spent a couple months in the hospital... come to think of it, I might actually be 17, now." He shrugged. "Passage of time, right?"

Lee had been lucky to hear about the slave trade at all; he'd been hunting some of the Big Guy's minions for booze money when he'd overheard one of them questioning why all their passengers to Sabaody were young women. Nothing had been directly stated, but the guy he had been talking to had been pretty cagey about the whole thing, only mentioning that it kept them in good with the Celestial Dragons. It wasn't that hard to put two and two together, though; most people were well aware of the habits of the Dragons.

Lee was about to explain these circumstances when Yukiko pointed out the new bounties. "Ooh, let's see what they've got!" Hopping off his stool, he walked over to the board.

"Yo, check out this chick," he said, pulling down Scarlette's poster. "A hundred twenty mill, and she's a Devil Fruit user! I'm calling this one!" He tucked away the poster for later; she was nowhere nearby.

"As for more pressing stuff... hm. Well, this one's new, it's local, and it pays really well." Lee pulled down the vague flyer. "Might as well go hear them out, yeah?" The caginess wasn't really an issue for him; some people appreciated their privacy for less "legal" tasks.

[Fox]

He’d had worse than bourbon in him?! The baby boy! Oh no, sweet baby boy. Yukiko’s levels of concern were rising through the roof and smashing into the skies. Also! She was going to pop this boy’s father in the mouth if she ever met the man. Clearly, he hadn’t been a good father. It sounded like Lee had had quite the time of things. Some of it was probably his own doing. Hell, most of it was probably his own doing, given his attitude, but that didn’t mean Yukiko looked down on him. Quite the contrary, it concerned her extremely.

Concern that did not go away when Lee snatched the highest bounty off the board. Yukiko’s eyes went wide. Calling what? A coffin?! An early grave?! Yukiko took a deep breath and smiled at Lee. “M-Maybe work your way up to that one. Slowly. That’s not a… small bounty, y’know? And just because you have a Kairoseki sword doesn’t mean you can just take on every Devil Fruit user there is…”

That particular lesson Yukiko had learned the hard way, and she still bore the scars of that encounter. Arrogance and overconfidence were much worse than any physical poison. And, of course, Lee wanted the lucrative shady offer. She sighed. She sort of knew he’d go for it. Even if she decided not to go, he probably would. Which. She didn’t want to let him go alone. Though, she was a little surprised.

“Jobs like this are… usually less than legal,” Yukiko commented, “And pretty dangerous to get involved with. You okay with that, Mister freelancer for Justice?”

---

[Aromancer]

"Hey, trust me, I don't go challenging people willy-nilly, not any more," Lee said, a bit perturbed by the fox-woman's advice. What, did she think he was stupid? "I'm gonna have to get some intel on this lady first, make sure she's really the sort of bad news needs to get taken down a notch. Once I'm sure she's bad people, I'll keep to the shadows until I've got the upper hand, then catch her off-guard. Biggest advantage of being a hunter is you get to choose when the hunt begins." And losing the element of surprise was not a mistake he planned to make again.

"Anyway, not like it's my first hunt," he pointed out. "I've taken out targets in the tens of millions before." The low tens of millions, but Lee didn't see a reason to make that particular factoid known. "This lady's still on the low end of the hundreds of millions, she's not that much worse than my other marks."

He cracked a wide grin when Yukiko brought up her concerns about the other job, the more local one. The lack of legality, the danger. "Justice and the law are two very different things, fox-lady. And it can't always be achieved through entirely legal means. I'm well-aware this job is probably illegal, hence why some wealthy benefactor doesn't want his name and face attached to it. But it could absolutely still be the right thing to do; we won't know for sure until we go to hear him out. And as for the danger... well, nobody ever achieved greatness without a little risk-taking! God knows I haven't!"

[Fox]

Not anymore? Yukiko tried to control her expression because she could tell that Lee was getting a little offended. Once he was fed up, boys his age would just let any advice go in one ear and out the others. His process was a little interesting to hear about though. It seemed like he understood that not all people with bounties deserved to be killed or captured. The rest of his plan left her extremely worried, especially when she heard about his history.

“Mm… well, actually, sweetie, people who break one hundred million beri bounties are usually leagues above the tens of millions. It means some of the best and brightest of the Marines really struggle to deal with them.”

Realizing that she was again, probably verging on advice that would be completely ignored, Yukiko pulled back. “Just… don’t forget to scout out her combat abilities while you are determining if she’s good people. Even if she’s bad, if she doesn’t seem like someone you can handle, don’t risk it. Your life is more important, sweetie. Live to fight another day and all that.”

The topic of conversation moved on to the other job. Yukiko was again surprised by his views. She smiled a little at him for it. At least until he mentioned achieving greatness by taking risks. Oh heavens. She was definitely going with him to make sure he didn’t get himself killed. Yukiko didn’t want to see a child cut down before his prime even if he was cocky and self-assured. No one deserved that.

“Then, let’s go hear them out,” Yukiko said, “If we don’t like the job, we just leave. Easy.”

To be honest, Yukiko was desperate enough to take some risks. She had a time limit, after all. She couldn’t always afford to play it slow and safe. There were jobs where she’d draw the line, of course. She’d never do anything to support the slave trade. Yukiko coughed softly into her hand. “Lead the way, Lee, sweetie.”

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Yukiko | #f0ffff | Post Count: 5

[Aromancer]

Hm. This woman seemed to put a lot of thought into how she spoke to other people. That was never really a concern of Lee's; normally, he would just say what was on his mind; but seeing how delicately she was dancing around what she wanted to say... Lee was almost impressed.

Still, it seemed her efforts were somewhat in vain, as her mention of combat abilities caused his jaw to set more firmly in place. "If somebody can beat me in a fight, they can beat most other people way harder," he told her. "If somebody is bad news, even if they're stronger than me, I owe it to everyone they have hurt, everyone they are hurting, everyone they will hurt, to intervene. If I don't, there's not a whole lot of people out there who will. Somebody has to stop them; and if nobody else will do it, then it has to be me." He looked away. "It's not just my life at stake."

Fortunately, it seemed Yukiko was at least willing to entertain the notion of this job. Lee read the paper and handed it to her to review as well, setting off once she was ready.

"One more thing:" he told her, as they left the bar, "don't call me "sweetie." I know you don't mean anything by it, but it's degrading. I have a name."

[Fox]

“Oh…” Yukiko’s ears drooped at Lee’s request. Calling him sweetie was degrading? Ah, she hadn’t intended it that way. If anything, it was a term of endearment to Yukiko, but… she didn’t know the boy’s history, and using any terms that might have unintended negative connotations to him would actively go against everything she was trying to do. So, the only thing to do would be to respect his boundaries. Yukiko smiled apologetically.

“Of course, Lee. I’m sorry,” she said, putting a paw to her chest. Of course, his words from earlier did worry her. In some ways, it was a noble sentiment. In other ways, it just made her sad. The silence stretched between them for a long while as they walked toward their destination.

“May I ask… what made you take up bounty hunting?” Yukiko asked after a long moment. She could intuit why he hadn’t joined the Marines instead from their earlier exchanges. Sometimes doing the right thing required going outside of the law. Yukiko didn’t necessarily disagree. She’d actually be a massive hypocrite if she did, considering her recent team up with Diango. But still, Lee was very young. He was probably very skilled as well, but bounty hunting was a hard life, and not one aspired to frequently.

“It’s not… an easy path,” Yukiko murmured, reflecting on her own experiences and regrets.

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Yukiko | #f0ffff | Post Count: 6

[Aromancer]

"Thanks." The flat tone belied a hint of genuine appreciation; Lee hadn't met many adults willing to listen when he had something he wanted to say. The fact that Yukiko was willing to drop the "sweetie..." well, it was nice to be listened to.

The two of them walked in silence for a minute before Yukiko spoke again, asking what had driven Lee to bounty hunting. The boy shrugged. "I grew up in a rough part of town. Had to do a lot of bad stuff for a lot of bad people to get by. When I got older and stronger, I wanted those kinds of people to get their just desserts. I tried the Marines first, but..." he shook his head. "Turns out the only difference between them and the criminals is a government sponsorship and good PR."

He let out a short, barking laugh. "Same deal with the Warlords versus regular pirates, come to think of it." The Warlords were just pirates, after all, just ones who'd gotten the government's permission to do piracy.

"I know it's not easy," he told her, "but few things worth doing are. My whole life's been pretty sucky; but if I can make other peoples' lives better... well, it seems like a good calling. Plus, the pay is amazing! The Marines will pile million-berry bounties onto chump change pirates! And as for bigger marks? The Reznikovs have banked my checks for the next year!" He gave her a smile to show that he wasn't suffering that badly.

"So how about you?" He asked. "No offense, but you don't strike me as the type of person to look for a fight. What led you to the hunt?"

[Fox]

Hm, so he had tried the Marines first. Yukiko had an inkling that he’d have disagreed with their usual way of going about things. Lee seemed to struggle with authority as a lot of boys his age did. She didn’t imagine being a choreboy appealed. No glory or fame to be had there. He wasn’t even old enough to enlist as a Seaman Recruit yet either. Plus, it sounded like he’d had perhaps a less than ideal captain. Corruption was everywhere, huh? Not all Marines were like that, of course, but she wasn’t going to press the topic.

“It does sound like you had a difficult start in life,” Yukiko said, looking a little sad, “I’m sorry that happened to you, Lee.”

Lee had good intentions at heart it seemed. He just also wanted wealth and glory to go along with all of it, which, really, was to be expected of a boy his age. She chuckled at his remarks about the pay. The chuckling made her winced as she had a minor fit of coughs, turning her head away from Lee. Pain lanced through her chest like a knife, but Yukiko ignored it, turning back to smile sheepishly as Lee turned the question back on her.

“Oh, well… I was adopted by my family at a young age. If they hadn’t found me, I don’t think I’d be here today. They were farmers, so we never had very much. And, me being young and… arrogant, I suppose, left home to become a bounty hunter. I wanted those big pay days to help them pay the bills at home as well as help people.”

Yukiko put a hand on her cheek and sighed, her expression becoming much more pensive.

“A lot of things happened after that… I was at the top of the bounty hunting game once upon a time, taking down targets left and right both in Paradise and the New World. Later, I fell in love, retired, and started a family. He left, but I could make ends meet.” Her expression sharpened with a fierceness that rarely graced her features. “Eventually, the consequences of my actions caught up to me. Some pirates with axes to grind. They took… much from me.”

Yukiko’s face softened again as she smiled with a hint of sadness at Lee. “I’m still trying to get it back.”

---

Yukiko | #f0ffff | Post Count: 7

[Aromancer]

"Woah, hey, you okay?" Lee held his arms out to hold Yukiko as she was suddenly wracked with coughs. His face softened unexpectedly, as he tried to help the woman recover. "You sure you're good for hunting right now? Last time I coughed that bad... well, let's just say I wasn't in hunting shape back then."

He allowed her to get her bearings back, waiting until he was sure she was alright before responding to her story. "Heh. Young hotshot, not a lot of money to her name, sets out for fame, fortune, and a life or heroism. Sounds like you were a lot like me back then, huh?" His eyes flickered away for a moment. "Except... sounds like you had a family that really cared for you. No, that's not fair." Lee shook his head, turning his head toward the ground as he reminisced. "Dad... he loved me, in his own way. He just... never understood."

His eyes widened when Yukiko mentioned the New World. "You hunted in the New World?" He asked, internally grateful for the ability to change the subject. "That's awesome! The pirates over there are on another level from anything we face around here! Did you ever meet Big Mom? You must've, right? She's been a big name for longer than I've been alive! What about Gold Roger? Did you ever meet him? Would you be old enough? I'm not sure... agh, this is so cool!"

His excitement faded as she finished her tragic backstory. Her partner leaving didn't get too much attention from Lee; that's what partners did, after all; but the part about pirates taking something precious from her he could absolutely relate to.

"I hear ya," he said, nodding sagely. "Trying to get even with those guys before taking yourself an early retirement. Well hey, chin up! I know you'll get them!"

[Fox]

Lee’s sudden worry for her surprised Yukiko. Not that she thought him a heartless, callous boy, but his consideration for her was appreciated. His reaction to her story was also somewhat curious and piqued her curiosity. Lee’s family did seem like a sore subject to him though. She rolled her eyes and chuckled when he got excited about her time bounty hunting in the New World and offered her a vote of confidence.

“Haha, thank you, Lee,” Yukiko smiled, “And, yes, once upon a time I did hunt in the New World. Admittedly, I tried to steer clear of the Pirate Emperors. Not quite that confident in my abilities, you see.”

Her smile faded a little bit as she put a hand to her chest.

“That was a long time ago now. I’m not the same bounty hunter I was then…” Yukiko paused. Lee should probably know if they were going to work together. “I’m sick, you see, Lee, and that makes it a lot harder for me to do what I used to do. It doesn't seem to be getting better no matter what I do, but!”

Yukiko smiled to reassure Lee. “Don’t worry. I can still hold my own and have your back. I won’t slow you down.”

Yukiko flexed her arm as if to prove the sentiment. She didn’t know if he was the type to worry about or protect her, or if he was the type to just care about how her performance would affect him. Lee was a sweet boy despite his proud exterior, so she suspected the former was true. She didn’t want him to worry. She still had enough life left in her for this. She had to. Until she found her lost child.

“Oh! Is that the place?”

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Yukiko | #f0ffff | Post Count: 8