Don't Stop

⠀The persistent sunlight pours into the drapes of the dimly lit room. The comfortable girl reaches for more covers to escape the unwanted sunlight. But her efforts are meaningless as her alarm fills the silent air around her.

She grumbles, blindly reaching out only to touch soft fur. “Oh, Nero, it’s you,” she softly mumbles, picking up the kitten. A soft meow is heard from Nero as he climbs on her chest.

“I guess it is time to wake up, huh?” She says, petting the purring feline who only headbutts her hand in response. Slowly sliding upward, she sits against a chiseled, ivory headboard before sighing.

Glancing toward you, Chiyoko holds her hand out but slowly puts it back down, “I’d say, why not shake my hand, but I realize you’re on the other side. Anyways, hi, I’m Chiyoko, but I normally go by Tesu.” She smiles as her cat stares at her weirdly before licking his mini-sized paw.

Chiyoko gently cradles the kitten before she peels the pale green comforter back and slides into her panda house shoes. Setting Nero down on the floor, she glances toward you once again, “I guess you’ve already figured out by now, but that’s Nero, he’s my pet kitten. Yeah, so whenever he comes around, or I introduce him, I can say here’s the black cat, Nero. Cringe, I know.”

Walking toward her bathroom, she quickly flips the switch and starts to freshen up. Following her small skincare routine, she begins to brush her teeth. Turning to you once more, she quickly speaks, “Okay, guess what? I’m a pirate, well,retiredpirate. Ever since we lost Destiny, everything hasn’t been the same. I barely see the boys anymore.” She sighs, placing her toothbrush back, “But I have a feeling, I’ll get to see them soon though.”

“Now I have something very important to tell you-” She abruptly stops as she trips over the carpet and onto the wooden floor of her kitchen. “Son of a bitch!” She yells at her cat, who looks at her and walks away.

Chiyoko looks toward the author but refrains from saying anything and continues to feed her cat.

“I guess it’s not time yet,” she says. “But, like I said, I do miss the boys.” She fixes herself some cocoa cereal and goes to plop down on her smooth, gray couch. Turning on the television, the show Imitation comes on.

The plot seems good, and the men look good, so who is she to skip?

Exactly.

But as she is in the middle of some classic embarrassment, her phone rings loudly, disturbing her focus.

‘We’re still young and wild, we gonna find new world to be mine-’

“Hello, this is the city morgue. How may I help you?” Chiyoko answers nonchalantly whilst taking another bite of the cereal.

“Only you would answer the phone like that, Tesu,” the voice on the phone says. Chiyoko immediately stops chewing and brings the phone from her ear to her face to see who is calling.

“Aha! Captain, is that you?” Chiyoko speaks, knowing that voice. Or has it been so long that she’s starting to hallucinate him?

“Aye, mate, it is,” Hongjoong speaks back with a smile.

“Oh my god! Where have you been? It’s been months since you’ve left me stranded by myself! Are you alright? You know what, how dare you-”

“Look,” Hongjoong cuts off her rant, rubbing his forehead. “It’s time.”

Chiyoko raises an eyebrow, “For what?”

“To find her.”

“Look, Captain, I told you my sister died, like throat slit. Dead. Dead as hell. There’s nothing to find there.”

“No! Not her,” Hongjoong shouts. He may have had a thing with her sister. But that is a tale for another time. “I mean her.”

“Oh!” She exclaims, “So we’re getting everybody right?”

He nods, “Yes, so meet me bythewaves and the precious sea shore, and I’ll explain everything to everybody. And with that, see you soon.”

“Ah, okay! Bye, Captain!”

She throws her phone to the side and places her bowl on the coffee table next to her before jumping ecstatically. “I knew it!” She looks at you once again, “Didn’t I?”

“No time for that, I have to get dressed! I get to see the captain!” She hurries to her room with Nero following her trail.

Practically shoving her closet door open, Chiyoko quickly throws on an outfit and goes to fix her hair. It has been a long time since she has seen everybody; she needs to remind them who the treasured ninth pirate is.

Running her hands down her corset that leads toward her shirt and cape, she glances in the mirror, blowing a kiss at herself. She is aiming for a modern pirate look, as that’s what she is.

“How does it look?” She whispers in your direction.

Nodding, she quickly kisses Nero goodbye and skips out her door to see her neighbor taking out the trash. He turns to stare at her and the outfit she has on. Chiyoko is about to impulsively spurt something out, but holds back. So she quickly walks to her car and drives off as fast as she can.

𓈀

Chiyoko has her windows down as the wind pours in.

She sighs contentedly with a wide smile, as it reminds her of when she had set sail with the crew. She snaps her hand in the air and mutters, “Aha!”

“I can’t really look at you when I’m driving, but I think it’s okay if I tell you now,” Chiyoko says, trying to keep herself and the car safe on the highway while speaking to you as well.

“So, yeah, we lost our ship. You know, typical alternate dimension, battle with evil forces, blah blah, and then we lose Destiny!”

“So that really broke the Captain’s heart, hence why none of us have met in a while,” she sums it up as she parks near the pier. “Well, let’s go find ourselves a captain and a crew!”

She quickly exits her vehicle and runs in a certain direction before going to a bar named Wonderland.

Running inside the busy establishment, she quickly glances at the bar and sees Vicky.

The sexy bartender with an octopus tattoo.

“Hey, babe,” Vicky calls out to Chiyoko. “It’s been quite a while.”

Chiyoko blushes and beams a gushy, bright smile before sauntering towards her, “Indeed it has, you seen them around?”

Vicky looks around before nodding conspicuously, “You not gonna stay? Just for a little bit?”

Chiyoko glances Vicky up and down. It is hard to fight the urge to say yes, but she remembers the duty she has toward Hongjoong and Destiny.

“I can’t, but I’ll catch you later, doll,” Chiyoko winks as she makes her way toward the back of the bar.

She finds herself in the inventory room and glances around before remembering the next step. She quickly goes to the back of the room, where a couple of stray boxes lie, and pushes them out of the way.

“Ah, here we go,” she mutters before pulling the hatch and seeing those same old wooden stairs. She quickly descends to the hidden, bottom of the bar.

She is back home.

“Ah!” Chiyoko lets out an overexcited shriek, alerting the other pirates that she is there.

Seonghwa turns around just to down the rest of his drink, “Oh fuck.” Look, Seonghwa cares for her deeply, but the thing is, she gets on his nerves a little too well.

“Tesu, you’ve arrived!” Wooyoung shouts as he dusts his hands on his crisp, white apron. Chiyoko smiles and runs toward the male and gives him a big squeeze.

“Alright, Chiyoko, he can’t breathe,” San mentions from behind the bar. Chiyoko’s head whips in his direction, seeing Seonghwa, San, and Mingi.

“Oh, hello!” She squeals before giving everybody their share of affection from her.

“Oh, is she here yet?” Yeosang asks loudly, munching on the chicken from the kitchen.

“Oi, put that down, I’m not done cooking!” Wooyoung shouts at Yeosang before storming back to the kitchen.

Chiyoko smiles and brings herself up to one of the barstools.

Wait.

She is missing people, Jongho and Yunho.

“Hey, San,” Chiyoko beckons him over, “Where’s Apple? Better yet, where’s the captain?”

“Give ’em a few minutes, in the meantime, though, have this,” he says, passing her a glass before walking back to Mingi.

She raises an eyebrow but sips on the beverage nonetheless. She visibly relaxes, it is apple juice.

𓈀

“Chiyoko, wake up, it’s Captain!” The girl groggily sits up on the light brown couch.

“Captain?” She questions, rubbing the drifting sleep away. Slowly, all her memories from today come back to her. “Captain!” She exclaims, hopping up from the couch, but her body hasn’t caught up with her, and she falls to the floor.

“Seriously!?” She exasperates, rising to her feet and dusting off her skirt, “That’s like the second time today!”

“Are you going to keep talking, or can I share my plan?” Hongjoong asks, tipping his captain’s hat up.

“Ah, Captain!” She says, regaining her balance and making a beeline straight toward him. Throwing herself onto him, she gets him into a tight grip and snuggles up to him, “I missed you all so much!”

He breaks one of his arms free and pats her on the head, “We’ve missed you as well, but I gotta tell you the plan, so save this bit for later.”

She nods and slowly creeps back to the half-circle in front of the captain.

“I’ve gathered you all today to take Destiny back. It’s going to take a whole lot of work, and you each have your partner and role.”

“San and Wooyoung, you two have a poker game to get to, and make sure you win the prize at all costs,” he says as the two fist-bump.

“Jongho, Yeosang, Seonghwa, and Yunho will be searching for a safe at a pawn shop. Don’t leave without cracking that safe open. There are important things in there that we need.”

“Now for Mingi and Tesu-”

“Wait!” Mingi interrupts, “Why do I have to be with Tesu?”

Chiyoko glances up and gasps in offense, “What do you mean by that!?”

“Am I really that bad?” She glances towards you.

Mingi chuckles breathlessly, “See!? Who are you even talking to right now? That’s beside the point. Why can’t she just go with them?”

“I’ll tell you right now, Mr. Fix On, I won’t tolerate this disrespect-”

“Enough!” The Captain’s voice rings throughout the downstairs area, “She needs to be and stop this, you two look like children. Anyway, you two will be looking for something in a shady shop. That’ll be very important.”

“Lastly, for me, I have my own important task. But remember, this will be even bigger than that illusion. So everyone needs to be on their best behavior.”