Chapter Text
eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Everyone on the deck seemed like they were in constant motion as you watched with no particular interest in anything they were doing.
They had just had a successful raid on a marine base so everyone was just itching to celebrate the win rushing around getting tables for the food and a variety of different things to use as seats from the storage rooms.
Not that you cared.
You weren't even allowed to partake in the raid.
Everybody you asked gave you a different bullshit answer as to why you couldn’t help.
“You’re not skilled enough with your sword yet” Izou said in a soft tone that was meant to be comforting in some way but it just made you grit your teeth in annoyance.
“It could get pretty dicey in there. It's better if you stay on the ship” Thatch said as he ruffled your hair before you swatted his hand away.
“We don’t want you getting hurt kid” Jozu said before you could even open your mouth to ask him.
All of it was bullshit.
And if you weren't allowed to fight with them why should you celebrate?
“Why are you pouting?” Haruta asked from right beside you, making you flinch back and jump.
“I'm not pouting!” you say defensively after quickly regaining your composer.
Haruta raised his eyebrow at you as he looks you up and down “really? It sure seems like you are” the teasing tone in his voice made you actually start to pout which just made Haruta smirk.
“Did you come over here to make fun of me or is there another reason” you snap as you cross your arms over your chest and let out an annoyed huff of air.
A look of pure mischief crossed his face at your question making you blink at him slightly caught off guard.
Leaning in a little closer so he can whisper to you without anyone hearing “I want your help with some… harmless pranks” his grin only grows bigger and bigger as he talks.
You look him up and down suspiciously “why me though? Why not Thatch or Ace?” you ask the hesitation in your voice instantly apparent in every word.
“First off lower your voice we don’t need everyone here to know what we’re doing.” he said matter of factly like you had already agreed to help him. “And I want your help because you’re a little grump so no one would expect it was you who’s helping me”
You were about to open your mouth to defend yourself but you clamped it shut as quickly as you opened it. You’ve already argued with Haruta about him calling you a grump or grumpy in the past and it just went in circles until Marco put an end to it.
Actually stopping to think about it you didn’t see any negatives in joining him in tormenting the rest of the crew during the party and you can use this as a way to get revenge for them not letting you go. And Haruta was the only one of the commanders to say that you should be allowed to join in if you wanted. Ace did too but you're still mad at him for making you fall off the side of the ship last week so he doesn’t count.
“Fine i have nothing better to do” you said with a click of your tongue and a roll of your eyes trying to sound and look as disinterested as possible in his offer.
If it was possible Harutas grin would have widened even more as he practically jumped at you and pulled you into a hug making you let out a squeak of surprise.
You didn’t exactly know what to do with his arms tightly wrapped around you so you just stood stiffly with your arms at your side. If Haruta noticed your stiff poster he didn’t acknowledge it in the slightest.
“Perfect! Now come on” Pulling away from the hug he suddenly grabs hold of your left arm and starts practically dragging you across the deck swerving in between the swarm of your family as he dragged you under the deck.
Both Izou and Blenheim sent the both of you a look as you speeded past but Haruta didn’t pay their stares any mind so you tried not to either, but the feeling of Izou’s gaze digging into your back made your skin crawl as you hunched your shoulders up. It's like he already knows what you two are going to do. It really wouldn't surprise you if he did know somehow.
Shanking the thought from your mind you focus back on where Haruta is dragging you. You were still getting the jist of where everything on the ship was and which halls lead to where but you knew that the hall he was dragging you down now led to the Commander's quarters.
“What are we doing here?” you ask as Haruta finally slows his pace and lets go of your arm.
Haruta didn’t answer right away as he looked around the hall making sure no one was coming before pulling a small plastic container with something pink inside it.
It took you a moment of looking at the container and reading the labels on it to realise that it was hot pink hair dye.
“We’re putting this in Thatch's shampoo” the same wicked grin that was on his face when you agreed to help him springs back as he speaks and you feel insanely grateful that you're helping him instead of being on the receiving end.
Haruta turns and starts walking to the end of the hall where the shared bathroom of the commanders sits.
“Wont he notice that it's pink?” you question following after him with quick steps.
“He uses a cherry blossom shampoo Izou got him. It's the exact same color as this so he wouldn't notice until it's too late at least” Haruta replies giddily as he opens the door so fast he almost makes himself trip and you have to cover your mouth with your hand so you don’t laugh.
Stepping in behind him you scan your eyes over the bathroom. It's a lot more normal than you were expecting. It looks exactly like the other communal bathrooms on the ship except it's a lot more organised.
Well half of it was neatly organized and the other side looks like a hurricane was there with all the clothes, towels, and bottles of who knows what scattered everywhere but where they are actually meant to be.
Haruta walks over to the organized side and starts to dig in a cabinet searching for Thatches shampoo.
“Sooo why Thatch?” you ask as you walk up behind him after closing the door so no one would hear or see you two in here.
“Huh?” Haruta says, sounding a little surprised by your question and he pauses his rummaging to look back at you.
“Why are we pranking Thatch and not someone else?” You're not complaining, quite the opposite. You're still miffed at him for what he said earlier today.
“Oh we aren't only pranking Thatch” Haruta said with a laugh as he turns back and finally finds Thatch's shampoo “I have a list of people who we’re gonna get” though you couldn’t see his face anymore you can just hear his grin as he pried the lid off the bottle.
That fact surprises you more than it should have and you feel a little embarrassed for not realising that sooner. Haruta has pranked everyone on the crew at least once including you despite your short time here so it should have been obvious that he was going to use this party as a chance to prank as many people as he can.
“Hold this while I put the hair dye in” Haruta said as he practically shoved it into your hands almost making you drop it on the ground but thankfully you get a good hold on it before you do.
It takes less time than you were expecting to get as much of the hair dye into the bottle as you both could without it overflowing
Haruta passes you the lid and you quickly screw it on before returning it to its place in the cabinet that you realised at that moment was mainly filled with Izous skin care supplies.
Haruta’s grin from earlier is still plastered on his face as he clapped his hand onto your shoulder “alright who do you think we should go for next? Izou or Vista?”
“You want me to pick?” you ask caught off guard by his sudden question.
“Yeah I really can’t decide which one of them should be our next victim” he replies with a small laugh as he drops his hand from your shoulder.
You weren't used to people asking for your opinion so it took you a long moment to reply.
“I think…”