For a few seconds, Gin wasn't sure what had woken him. Then sunlight stung his eyes. He muttered a protest, flinging one arm over his face. He stayed like that for a while, until he realized that he wasn't going to fall back to sleep.

Raising his arm, he found that Bahari was gone. When he touched Bahari's side of the bed, it was cold to the touch. Gin huffed out a laugh, remembering how earnestly Bahari had insisted that Gin spending the night was fine. Instead it looked like the guy had crept out of the room, not wanting to disturb him.

"It was your room. Should've kicked me out," Gin muttered. He shook his head. Then he laughed again, amused. Maybe Bahari had left him with the bill. It would serve him right for letting his guard down like that and spending the entire night with a stranger. He could imagine Haruna's smirk as she asked if he'd enjoyed himself.

His stomach pinched at him, reminding him that aside from The Lion and the Giant's whisky, he hadn't drunk or eaten since before the sparring match, when Sanji had cooked them both an early breakfast. At the thought of Sanji, some of Gin's amusement faded. He wondered what excuse his nakama had given when Sanji had noticed Gin was gone.

Then again, maybe Sanji hadn't noticed, too distracted with his waitresses. Gin's belly pinched at him again. When he raised the shutters, squinting against the light, it looked like early morning. He hoped the tavern served breakfast. He crouched beside the bed. His belongings were still where he'd stowed them while Bahari had been distracted undressing.

He ran a hand over one of the tonfa's handles; his thoughts turned again to the upcoming rematch. Anticipation settled his stomach. When he rose to his feet, he was smiling.

"Hey, boss," Meifeng said cheerfully. She had paused when he'd stepped into the hallway, but now she resumed braiding her tangled hair. She raised an eyebrow, glancing past him. "Do I get an introduction?"

"He left before me," Gin said, and grinned when Meifeng pulled a face and said, "Damn, you got him out of there so fast none of us got a good look. Finn was dying of curiosity."

Then something changed in her face. She hesitated. "Sanji was asking after you. Jedrick said you were following doctor's orders and getting an early night's rest."

Gin snorted, torn between pleasure that Sanji had noticed after all and annoyance over Sanji's certain smugness at Jedrick's excuse. He touched his head where the strongest kick had landed. It ached a little, but not as much as it had yesterday. "Shit. Jedrick really had to go with that? I'll never hear the end of it from Sanji."

Meifeng shrugged. "Yeah, well, you know Jedrick. His head's full of doctoring and fancy words. No room to be a good liar." She paused and added, her eyes warm with sudden humor, "Makes for a bad pirate, but hey, takes all kinds…."

They both turned at the sound of hurried footsteps. It was the bartender from the night before.

Meifeng's smile turned puzzled. "Domnall? Something wrong?"

Domnall's infatuated grin of the night before was nowhere to be found. Instead he wore an anxious, tight-lipped look. Glancing around furtively, he stopped in front of them. "There's, uh, trouble down in the dining room."

"What kind of trouble?" Gin asked.

Domnall licked his lips and looked around again. When Meifeng put a hand on his arm, he grimaced and tried to smile. It came out crooked and worried. "Look. Um. Brohst was claimed about a year ago. The crew's, uh, objecting to you and the Straw Hats being here."

Gin remembered Bahari's anxious question about Gin claiming the island and the relief in his face when Gin had said no. What had he thought would happen if Gin had tried to claim it? Probably, Gin thought dryly, exactly what would happen now if the other crew refused to believe that Crimson Serpents didn't want the island.

"We're not supposed to talk about it," Domnall said miserably. "If they knew I told you…." He trailed off, his dark skin turning ashen at some memory.

Gin looked at him for a moment, wondering what the crew had done to ensure an entire island's silence. Then he said, "Good thing Meifeng and I decided to look for breakfast and stumbled into things, then."

Domnall managed a wan smile which grew stronger when Meifeng kissed his cheek and added, "Right, you slept in and I didn't have the heart to wake you. Now go lie low. And don't yell too much if we break a few things."

"All right, just try not to destroy the bar," Domnall said, and kissed her back.

Once he was gone, Meifeng raised an eyebrow. Her expression set into familiar dangerous lines, and she bounced a little on the balls of her feet, eager for the fight. "Well, boss? How do we want to do this? I left my swords back on the Tsuchinoko, but I don't mind improvising a little."

Gin smiled. He'd seen Meifeng's "improvising" in the past. It was always impressive. "Let's see who we're up against first," he said. "We might be able to handle them ourselves, or I'll send you for reinforcements."

Meifeng nodded. The gleam in her eyes hungered for the former. "Whatever you say, boss."

The door to the dining room was slightly ajar. Gin stepped close, listening.

"We'd like to avoid any unpleasantness," a man was saying. "That's why we wanted to speak to you alone."

Gin recognized the voice, though the last time he'd heard Hotham speak the man's voice had been a guttural string of curses, the words half-lost beneath the roar of the fire destroying his ship.

"Shit," Meifeng muttered, the word breathed into Gin's ear. Disgust twisted her face. "Why the hell is Hotham here? Didn't he go crawling back to the North Blue?"

"Guess not," Gin said. There wasn't any hope to convince Hotham that they'd accidentally encroached on Seven Sails territory. This was going to involve a fight one way or another. He frowned. "We'll need reinforcements."

"On it, boss," Meifeng said, and went swiftly down the hall towards the exit.

Gin stepped closer to the door, peering through the crack.

The Seven Sails crew faced away from the door, all seated except for Hotham, who stood with his hands clasped behind his back. Hotham's voice had been calm, but Gin could see tension in his white-knuckled hands.

Rising a little on his feet, Gin tried to peer over them and see who Hotham was using his reasonable tone on, but Segar's broad shoulders blocked everything.

"I've done a bit of research into your crew," Hotham said. He sounded as Gin remembered him, his mild voice less like a pirate's and more like a kindly teacher's, calm and sympathetic and sensible as he spouted bullshit. "I know that you met Gin and some of his men when they were still under Krieg. I just don't know why you would form an alliance with them."

"We're friends," was the answer. Gin swore silently as he recognized Luffy's voice. Luffy sounded confused and a little irritated, like he was tired of repeating himself. "Don't you have friends?"

Hotham's hands clenched tightly behind his back. "Friends?" He rolled the word around in his mouth. "It's dangerous to have friends on the Grand Line. I prefer not to take that risk, myself." He shook his head. "But the Crimson Serpents don't have friends. Temporary allies, occasionally, but more often they have enemies. It's not just the Navy that hates them. If you take my advice-"

"You promised breakfast," Luffy said, interrupting. Despite the situation Gin had to fight back a laugh at his plaintive tone. Somehow it didn't surprise him that Luffy had been coaxed away from his ship with promises of food.

"Sania, see what you can find for Captain Luffy," said Hotham. One of his crew rose to her feet with a muttered, "Yes, captain." Hotham's hands unclasped and lifted in a beseeching gesture. "Listen. Perhaps you knew Gin in the East Blue, but the Grand Line changes people. He-"

"Is disgusting." This came from Segar, bursting out of him in a snarl. He leaned forward in his chair, and now Gin could see that Nico Robin was with Luffy as well, wearing a faint, unreadable smile as she watched Segar. "He'll spread his legs for any man who wants him." He turned and added with a sneer, "Bahari can tell you all the nasty details, can't you, Bahari?"

Gin started and then looked more closely at Hotham's crew. He'd been too focused on Hotham and Segar to see Bahari, the man's thin face made almost unrecognizable by misery. Bahari looked down at his feet and said nothing as Segar laughed.

Gin had a moment to viciously curse his own stupidity before Hotham said, "Segar puts it crudely, I'm afraid, but he isn't wrong. Look how Gin's ruined one of my best men!" He laid a hand upon Bahari's shoulder, and though the touch seemed gentle, Gin saw Bahari flinch. "I admire his dedication to our crew, but-" Hotham shrugged. "Gin's sickness is infectious. It has to be rooted out."

It was the same thing Hotham had said before, and explained in the same reasonable tone that had made Gin's crew so furious the last time they'd encountered the Seven Sails. Gin remembered how white Jedrick had gotten, listening. Anfinn had actually had to hold him back; otherwise Jedrick would've fought Hotham himself.

"I wonder who he wants on your crew," Segar said. Then he looked at Nico Robin and laughed harshly, his gaze traveling slowly over her body and lingering on her chest. He leered. "Or maybe Haruna-"

Gin kicked the door open so hard that it came off of its hinges. He strolled inside, twirling both of his tonfa. He smiled as Hotham's crew whirled to face him, their expressions varying shades of alarm and fury- and in Bahari's face, a strange relief.

He ignored them all for a moment and met Luffy's eyes. "Luffy, I would've warned you that the Seven Sails are idiots. Has Hotham complained how we burned his ship yet?"

It was Nico Robin who answered him. "No," she said, still with that small smile. "He and his first mate were too busy describing your...perversions." She looked at him, her head tilted a little. "Spreading your legs for any man, I believe was how they put it."

Pinned beneath that steady gaze, Gin remembered her wanted poster and the rumors about her. He knew better than to lie to the woman once known as the Devil Child. He still hesitated a second more, weighing the odds of Luffy and Robin turning out to have the same views as Hotham. Then he shrugged and grinned at her. "Any man? No. I think Segar's still a little hurt I turned him down."

"You!" Segar's face was red. "I didn't- you and Haruna-"

"Segar," Gin said, and his tone made Segar pause in reaching for the pistol beneath his coat. "Remember what happened the last time you insulted Haruna in front of me?"

Segar touched his jaw, grimacing, and then scowled and drew his pistol.

Gin didn't give him the chance to aim. He broke Segar's wrist and then caught Segar's neck between his tonfa, using all of his strength to lift Segar off the floor. He watched as Segar's face turned purple, his legs kicking wildly. Gin waited until Segar was almost unconscious, slumped between his tonfa like half-dead weight. Then he said calmly, "Next time I'll break your neck."

"Gin?"

Gin's grip slipped on his tonfa and Segar fell at his feet. He started to turn, but his limbs felt weighed down as though turned to stone by Sanji's call. He remembered his nightmare, with Segar's disgust on Sanji's face. How had he not considered there might be other Straw Hats there too?

Slowly, reluctantly, he met Sanji's gaze. He had only a second to feel sick at Sanji's expression before there was a loud cracking sound beneath his feet. Gin stared down at the thorn-covered vines that had erupted from the floor, his mind slow and stupid with unhappiness. Before he could react, the vines twined around him, the thorns digging painfully through his clothes. One long sharp thorn pressed against his throat.

He was pinned in place, Sanji hidden from view as Hotham stepped between them. The other man looked pleased with himself, smirking. "I admit, before I came to the Grand Line I thought that devil fruit was as much of an abomination as people like you. But I've found that it does have its uses." He stepped closer. When he waved one of his hands, the vines rustled and tightened until pain pricked all over Gin. Hotham hummed thoughtfully. "What were you saying to Segar? That you'd snap his neck? Perhaps I'll snap yours."

"Gin?" Luffy called.

Gin answered the unasked question. "I'll handle this." He took a deep breath. Despite the pain, his mind cleared, focusing on his enemy. It was easier to consider how to defeat Hotham than to think about how Sanji had stared at him like he was a stranger. He even managed a brief grin in Luffy's direction.

"Really?" Sneering now but still sounding amused, Hotham took another step closer. "I wouldn't be so confident if I were you." He took one more step. Now he was within reach.

Gin lifted his arms, the faint prickling discomfort increasing, and pressed the hidden catch in the tonfa's handles. There was a clatter of wood as the tips of the tonfa fell at his feet. Then he pressed the tonfa against the nearest vine.

The vines recoiled as though he'd burned them. Gin ignored the hot pain in his throat and arms as the retreating thorns tore at his flesh. The vines writhed and seemed to half-hide behind Hotham. Before Hotham could back away, Gin pressed the tips of the tonfa against his chest.

"What…?" Hotham's strength fled and he fell to the floor, his vines browning and wilting until they crumbled to pieces around him. His face blanched pale, so white that his features looked like a corpse. He drew in a struggling breath, his mouth working as though trying to speak, but only a harsh gasp escaped him.

Gin's wounds stung; he could feel a few scratches throb and warm as they dripped blood. He kept the tonfa against Hotham's chest, leaning against it. He didn't dare to look over at the Straw Hats to see if Sanji's expression was still the same. "Segar asked me once why the Crimson Serpents have such a large bounty. I told him it was a long story. It's not. We stole an entire shipment of seastone from the Navy."

Hotham tried to swear, but his voice was still a strangled, weak sound in his throat.

Gin paused for a second more to see if Hotham could summon up enough strength to speak. When it was obvious he wouldn't, Gin knocked him out cold. Then he looked up at Hotham's crew. He frowned. Bahari was gone. Gin remembered the way that Bahari had winced at Hotham's touch and his relieved look when Gin had interrupted. Well, Gin would deal with him later.

He met each pirate's gaze, taking satisfaction in their collective flinching. "I don't claim islands, but I think it's best if you leave now and don't come back."

A few of them started to back away towards the doorway. They paused as Segar struggled to his feet, cursing. He had a long dagger in his hand; his other arm dangled uselessly at his side, his wrist swollen and red. Segar managed one menacing step towards Gin. Then he turned into a blur of movement, pin-wheeling away from Gin. Crashing through a chair and then a table, Segar slammed into the nearest wall. He crumpled to the floor and didn't move.

Sanji lowered his foot, hissing out a sharp exhale around the cigarette in his mouth. He glanced at Hotham's crew. His eyes narrowed. "Gin said to leave. Or do you have shitty hearing as well as a shitty captain?"

The crew didn't need any more encouragement. They bolted, a few lingering just long enough to drag their unconscious captain and first mate behind them. The last of the crew, Sania, emerged from the kitchen, took one look at her fleeing crew-mates, and then abandoned her plate of rolls to join them.

Gin watched them go, though he kept most of his attention on Sanji, half-hoping Sanji would look at him and half-hoping he wouldn't. But Sanji was scowling after Hotham's crew, his face flushed and his teeth bared.

"Should we be expecting any more of your enemies?" Robin asked as the last of the Seven Sails pirates leaped or stumbled over the broken door and disappeared.

Gin didn't look away from Sanji. He'd changed his mind. He wanted Sanji to look at him. Every second he didn't was making Gin's wounds hurt worse, somehow. The faint but steady dripping of his blood upon the floor was too loud in the silence of the room. He pressed his hand to his throat where the pain was sharpest, trying to staunch the bleeding. He shrugged. "Doubt it. Well, unless the Navy shows up wanting their seastone back."

He'd aimed for sounding unconcerned, but he must have missed the mark, because Sanji snapped, still without looking at him, "When's the last time you ate?"

Gin thought about it. His stomach twisted unpleasantly. He had to swallow a couple times before he answered, feeling both hungry and sick all at once. "Yesterday morning," he admitted.

Sanji swore, fervent and so profane that Gin was surprised his ears weren't blistering. Then he stood in front of Gin, his visible eye narrowed. "Sit down, idiot. I'll make you something." He jabbed his cigarette at him like a punctuation to the order.

Despite Sanji's scowl, relief as strong as a tsunami crashed over Gin. There was frustrated concern on Sanji's face, and not- He grew dizzy on his relief, groping blindly behind him until someone gripped his elbow and maneuvered him to a chair. When he turned to thank his helper, he found it was one of Robin's devil-fruit hands. It dissolved as he stared. Would he ever get used to devil-fruit powers?

"Sanji, I haven't had breakfast either," Luffy whined.

"Yeah, well, Gin hasn't eaten in twenty-four hours," Sanji said sourly. "I'll feed him first." He stomped his cigarette to pieces beneath his shoe. Then he pulled out another cigarette. His long fingers were strangely clumsy. It took him a few tries before the cigarette was lit. He took one sharp, greedy inhale of it before he stalked into the kitchen.

Gin stared at Sanji's retreating back. He licked his lips, uncertain in a way he hadn't felt since after Krieg had dismissed him and he'd found himself staring at a future not ruled by Krieg's orders. He weighed his options now, trying to be logical even as everything in him wanted to go after Sanji and try to explain. But maybe it was better just to pretend nothing had happened, though that was a miserable thought.

Luffy laughed, his good humor apparently restored by the promise of breakfast. He threw himself into the chair next to Gin, nearly tipping over as he tilted the chair towards Gin. He was grinning, his eyes bright with curiosity, as he said, "You stole an entire shipment of seastone? That must've been fun!"

Gin's lips twitched, remembering how close they'd all come to nearly dying. Then there had been the three months after the theft, during which it felt as if every single Navy ship had been after them. It'd been worth it, though, to have that protection against devil-fruit users on the Grand Line. It had saved the crew more than once. "That's one way of looking at it," he said. He accepted a handkerchief from Robin with a muttered thanks, pressing it to his throat. The other cuts were shallower, the bleeding already slowing.

He turned at the sound of a struggle. Most of his crew rushed into the room, weapons at ready and Anfinn and Renshaw dragging Bahari between them. Luong let out a disappointed groan as he realized they'd missed the fight, and Meifeng looked as though she wanted to add her voice to his complaint.

Jedrick frowned, hurrying towards Gin with a dismayed, "Captain!"

"It's nothing serious," Gin said absently, watching Bahari. The man was terrified, struggling wildly and looking down when Gin tried to meet his eyes. Obviously he assumed that Gin would hold a grudge. Gin studied him, thinking. Bahari worked for Hotham, but he'd also given Gin his real name when Gin had asked. Those eager kisses hadn't been faked. And then there was the way he'd flinched when Hotham had touched him, and everything Gin knew about Hotham.

"You know him, captain?" Haruna leaned against his table, her dark gaze moving slowly between Bahari and Gin. Her eyes lingered a little on his injuries, a small furrow creasing her brow, and Gin knew he'd get Haruna's equivalent of an earful later. "We caught him running like his life depended on it."

Gin nodded, waving Jedrick back before he could start fussing and derail Gin's plans. "Bahari," he said as Bahari twitched and turned gray-faced with fright. Gin leaned forward, waiting until Bahari actually looked at him. He kept his voice low and even. "Want to join my crew?"

"Join your..." Bahari blinked at him. "Join..."

Gin waited until Bahari had stopped laughing. Then he said, ignoring how understanding touched a few of his crew's faces, Haruna's among them, "I know something about loyalty and captains who waste it. Hotham's a bastard. You're welcome on the Tsuchinoko." He paused, but Bahari was still staring at him. "Though there are a few conditions."

That Bahari understood, because he blinked and straightened in Anfinn and Renshaw's hands. His eyes were fixed upon Gin now. He licked his lips, wary and still suspicious. "Conditions."

"I don't sleep with my nakama," Gin said bluntly. "You'll have to find someone willing on shore when we're at port." He remembered the way Bahari had grimaced and mentioned past mistakes. "And if you run into trouble, we'll have your back."

The disbelief in Bahari's face was changing to uncertainty. "I," he said, and stopped. He glanced up at Anfinn and Renshaw, as though trying to see if this was a joke, but they were eyeing him curiously now. He licked his lips again. "Can I think about it?"

Gin shrugged. "Of course. It's your choice." He nodded at Anfinn and Renshaw. They released Bahari, who stared around as though he didn't quite believe they'd let him go that easily. Then he bolted out the door.

There were a few seconds of silence. Then Jedrick said, a little petulantly, "Now may I look at your injuries, captain?"

Gin grinned at his worried nakama. "Sure." He dropped the handkerchief onto the table and paused as gold flashed at the corner of his eye. He looked up into Sanji's face, smiling instinctively as Sanji handed him a spoon and a steaming bowl that smelled of egg, miso, and pickles. His smile faded as Sanji didn't look at him, turning sharply on heel.

"Sanji," he said. He wished he hadn't, because Jedrick blinked at him, something startled in his eyes, and even Luffy's normally animated features went strangely still. Heat crept into Gin's face. He cleared his throat, ignoring the discomfort. This time he tried to sound normal. "Sanji, uh, thanks for breakfast."

Sanji paused on his way back into the kitchen. For a second Gin didn't think he was going to answer. Then he said, "Eat before it gets cold. Luffy, I'll have your food in a minute," and disappeared into the kitchen.

Gin's belly turned over unpleasantly. He wondered if it was too late to burn Hotham's ship a second time. It would distract Haruna from whatever unpleasant fate for Sanji she was imagining, judging by her narrowed eyes. He looked down at his bowl. He took a bite of his breakfast, but couldn't taste it. He forced another bite down. He was vaguely aware of Jedrick sighing over his cuts and dabbing at them with an ointment that stung, but that too he barely felt.

Then Sanji was back, setting the bowl in front of Luffy. As Luffy threw himself at the food as though he had been the one who hadn't eaten in a day, Sanji turned a little towards Gin. He was breathing a little quickly, agitated puffs of smoke escaping the corner of his mouth, his face flushed from the heat of the kitchen, and he still wouldn't meet Gin's eyes. "Well?" he asked sharply. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "How is it?"

Gin blinked. It was a struggle to keep his smile from growing too wide with relief that Sanji was talking directly to him. He steadied himself with a quick glance at Haruna's unimpressed look. "Perfect," he said, succeeding in sounding normal. He made a show of stuffing another spoonful in his mouth. This time he could almost taste it. After he'd swallowed, he added, still aiming for normal, "Your jellyfish experiment is ready today, right? If your nakama like the taste, I don't mind helping you get a few more jellyfish. They'll survive in the aquarium, won't they?"

He kept his head lowered over the bowl, but his eyes fixed on Sanji's face, and saw Sanji shake his head a little, his mouth twisting around the cigarette. Then Sanji straightened, blowing out a slow breath, and met Gin's eyes. There was something like a challenge in his face now. "Is that your way of saving you're too beat up for our rematch?"

Gin laughed sharply, swallowing back more laughter before it could get strange. Still, he knew his grin stretched from ear to ear as he shot back, "Like your kick and Hotham's devil-fruit trick could do much damage."

Sanji's smile turned dangerous, but it was a familiar look, and Gin welcomed it. Sanji turned towards Jedrick. "Remind your captain of those words when you're patching him up tonight."

Jedrick sighed. He crossed his arms against his chest, frowning. He glanced between them, his gaze lingering on the ointment-covered cuts on Gin's arms. "I don't believe the captain should-" He stopped with a sigh as Renshaw flung an arm across his shoulders and bared his teeth at Sanji.

"You might be Black Leg Sanji, but Gin will kick your ass."

Sanji smirked. "Is that so?"

Gin took another bite of his breakfast. This time the pickle burst between his teeth, and he could taste the delicate balance of egg, rice, miso, and a dozen other flavors he couldn't put a name to. Maybe he didn't need to burn Hotham's ship again after all. He leaned back in his chair, looking up at Sanji, his stomach settling at the sight of that familiar grin.

"I guess we'll see," he said. If he was disappointed that Sanji acted as though the encounter with the Seven Sails crew had never happened, well, no one was the wiser, except perhaps Haruna, who kept her steady gaze on Gin and scowled whenever Sanji tried to draw her into the discussion.