And a bottle of rum

Prologue

“Don’t go too far, darling,” his mother called and he nodded, promising he would stay close by. The shopkeeper paid him no mind as he slipped back out of the door, the little bells tied to the top jingling to signal his exit, like some sort of royalty.

She would be in that bakery for hours, asking the cook about different flours and bargaining with him to make cakes without sugar for her. He could wander off to another country and be back and still have to wait- but instead he settled for walking the streets, looking at what the latest ship vendors had to offer. They had always interested him… traveling the high seas to go from port to port, selling their hand-made goods.

He had always wanted to travel like his father but his mother always insisted he stay home- after his father had been killed by pirates she had barely let him out of her sight, save for places she trusted. For some reason the port was one of them, although he wasn’t sure why. She could just as easily lose him here as on the high seas…

A vendor smiled at him as he passed and he gave her a slight nod. She was a local and he was well known- his uncle was the highest general to the king and he had lived with the man ever since he had been a child, since his father was always traveling and away from home. He had tons of money and a large home, but there was only one bakery his mother liked getting pastries from and it was right on the seas. She had taken him with weekly since he was a child- back then he had loved being in the shops, looking at all the sweets. But ever since he had come down with an almost fatal illness years ago she had decided to only let him eat certain things, insisting it was because he was so unhealthy that he had almost died.

Little did she know that Linda snuck him sweets behind her back.

“Hello, Near,” blonde haired girl greeted as he took a seat beside her, looking out at the seas. “Back in town, I see?”

“Hello, Misa,” Near responded, looking over the different ships at the port, learning all their names with curiosity. “Of course, every week, like clockwork.” Misa hummed and Near glanced over at her. “Have you made any big sales today?”

Misa glanced down at her merchandise- she sold fruits of all different sorts and, in Near’s opinion, they were the best around. “In fact, I have. A group of pirates bought a whole crate of oranges.”

Near tilted his head, interested. “Oh?” He and Misa always joked that the different ships had pirates on them although neither of them knew for sure.

Misa smiled. “I’m certain they were pirates. One of them had an eye patch,” she covered one eye with a hand. “And another had a hat just like a pirates.”

Near laughed, looking around at the ships. “Which ship was it?”

“That one,” Misa told him, pointing to a large ship which did not look like a cargo or trader’s ship.

“Interesting.” Near stood up and gave a short bow. “I will see you next week, Misa. In the meantime, I’m going to check this out.”

Misa nodded and Near turned, walking toward the ship.

As he approached he noticed that the crew wasn’t walking around, loading things like most of the other boats. In fact, there were only a few people in sight. One of them caught Near’s eyes instantly and he hummed, moving closer to get a better look. When he still couldn’t see he crouched behind some of the boxes and moved even closer, looking up at the man from around one of the crates, extremely interested.

The man was wearing a striped shirt and black pants- he must have been the one who bought the fruit from L because he was wearing a hat. Underneath it Near could see ear-length red hair and he could just barely make out blue green eyes-

“Well look what we’ve got here.” A voice behind him caught his attention and Near jumped, turning around. A blonde with an eye patch glared him down, his arms crossed over his chest. “What do you think you’re doing?”

Near tried to come up with an excuse but before he could force out something the red haired man stepped over, laughing out, “Be nice, Mello.”

“Nice?” The blonde, ‘Mello’, huffed. “He’s probably trying to steal our things!”

“I doubt he needs to steal anything,” the redhead hummed, giving Near an almost friendly smile. “Don’t you see his clothes? He’s obviously rich. He’s probably just interested in the ship.”

“The ship.” Near agreed, nodding quickly. It wasn’t really the ship he was interested in but he had a feeling if he disagreed, Mello wouldn’t be the only one wearing an eye-patch.

“I’m Matt,” the redhead informed, holding out a hand. “Captain of the Kira. This here is Mello, my first mate.”

“Kira?” Near asked, glancing at the boat and noticing the name.

“Its how the Japanese say ‘killer’,” Mello purred, leaning in closer, trying to scare Near off.

Near, however, became more interested. His eyes widened. “You’ve been to Japan…?”

Matt laughed. “Kid, we’ve been all over the world.”

Near hummed for a few moments before he looked at Matt. “Most boats aren’t permitted to travel all over… which means you must be-”

“He’s a smart one, this kid,” Mello hummed, walking around Near in circles, looking him up and down. “But we’ve got the day off, kid, so don’t go shouting it around. I don’t really want to kill anyone, right now.”

Near shook his head, not looking fazed by Mello’s threat. “I’m not going to say anything.”

“You’re a cute kid,” Matt hummed before asking, “What’s your name?”

“Near,” Near informed.

“Interesting name,” Matt grinned.

Mello placed a hand on Near’s shoulder and said, “You might want to get back home, kid, before something horrible happens to you.”

Near shook his head. “I don’t have to go home for a while.” He then turned to look at Matt, offering, “I could help you load your ship?”

Matt looked surprised. He glanced to Mello who huffed and walked away, muttering something about stowaways. Matt laughed and looked at Near once more, saying, “Sure, I guess. Why not? We could always use the help.”

Near nodded and asked what Matt wanted him to do. Matt pointed to some boxes only to laugh as Near attempted to lift them, failing miserably. The redhead then gave him some much lighter boxes, letting him take them to the ramp but not on top the ship. A man wandered down the ramp and began to take the boxes inside- he had black hair and dragged his feet, hunched over.

“I think that’s everything we need,” Matt informed no one in particular, looking over a list in his hands. Mello, who had returned to moving boxes, muttered something about lists and glared at Near, obviously disliking the interest his captain put in a boy they didn’t know.

“Can’t you just steal these things?” Near asked rather bluntly.

Matt laughed. “We could, but that’s a lot more effort then we need. And besides, what s the use of stealing gold if we don’t use it on things?”

“I still say we should have used it on sweets,” the man loading the ship called.

“I got plenty of sweets for you!” Matt protested with a pout. “Your room is stocked!”

“That will last him a day,” Mello informed.

“You’re one to talk, chocolate addict!” Matt yelped, glaring at the blonde who glared right back. “You can eat more chocolate in an hour then he can eat in a day!”

“At least its not rum,” Mello huffed. “Weighs less and isn’t as expensive.”

“I wouldn’t have to buy it if it was rum!” Matt protested. “We could steal rum from other ships- but none of them carry your gourmet chocolate!”

“We all have our likes and dislikes,” Mello stated simply, crossing his arms.

Matt sighed before looking to Near as the albino giggled. “Boy, you are as cute as a button,” Matt hummed, poking Near’s nose. He laughed at the look on Near’s face. “Well, you just made my day, kid.”

Before Near could say anymore more, a voice called his name from somewhere down the port.

“Aye, I think that belongs to you,” Matt hummed, nodding toward the pastry shop where Near’s mother was panicking a bit.

Near sighed. He didn’t want to return but there was nothing he could do. He turned to Matt and bid farewell, knowing chances were he would never see the so-claimed pirate captain again. As he rushed over to his mother he looked back, only to see Matt watching him.

“There you are, dear,” his mother said. “I told you not to wander too far!”

“I didn’t, mother,” he promised. “I was just over there by those ships.”

“Stay away from those people!” she huffed, taking his hand and leading him out of the port area, back to their carriage so they could return home. “They are dangerous!”

Near spared one last glance toward Matt’s ship, finding those eyes still on him. Then he rounded the corner and the redhead was out of his sight, as if he’d never been there in the first place.