Chapter Text
It was a moonless, rainy night as four men, a young boy, and one suspiciously tiger-shaped cat gathered around the table in the captain's quarters of a pirate ship. Captain Majima hadn't planned on sailing through the night, but their final tournament in the Pirate Colosseum of Madlantis had dragged on. By the time they finished their post-battle ship inspection, patched up the damage, collected their reward, and finally set sail, night had already fallen over the waters outside the pirate haven.
The weather had turned foul as they made their way toward Honolulu, and Goromaru swayed under the howling wind. Rain drummed against the ship’s hull so loudly that Captain Majima had to raise his voice to be heard.
“The yaku are the most important thing,” he said, his rings glinting in the lamplight as he hovered a hand protectively over the mahjong board they were all huddled around. “Doesn’t matter if ya got all yer tiles paired up nice and pretty—if ya ain’t got a yaku, ya ain’t got shit.”
“It’s best to start with the basic ones,” Saejima chimed in. “Then ya can build from there.”
“So it’s like hands in poker?” Jason asked, resting his chin on his hand, his eyes fixed on the board.
“Kinda like that,” Majima replied with a grin. “Except there’s about three times as many.”
“How are we supposed to remember all that?” Masaru muttered.
“It takes a bit of time, but you'll get the hang of it,” Saejima assured him. “Some yaku are tile combinations, but others are things like winnin’ on the first draw or the last discard.” He let out a bark of laughter, then turned to Majima. “Remember that one time at Orchid Palace when ya—?” Saejima cut himself off, shaking his head. “‘Course, ya don't. Sorry, kyodai... Captain. It’s late.” He rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand, offering Majima an apologetic grin.
Majima smirked. “It’s fine. Come on, tell the story, Saejima. Wanna hear more of those. Might shake somethin’ loose in the old noggin’.”
Saejima blinked, then his lips stretched into a smile. “Alright. You and I used to play mahjong at this place in Kamurocho called the Orchid Palace. It’s been there forever. After spendin’ twenty-five years in the jo...” He paused, his gaze shifting to Noah. “In Johannesburg,” he finished after a brief silence.
“Nice save,” Majima murmured, stifling a grin.
Since he couldn’t remember anything about his past, Saejima had given him a crash course on their history together the other night. Majima was the only person in the room who knew Saejima had done a long stint in prison. Jason, Noah, and Masaru were now eyeing Saejima curiously.
“Whoa, that’s a long time to be away,” Noah said. “Did you get homesick a lot?”
“Johannesburg?” Jason said, furrowing his brow. “I told you just the other day that’s the farthest I’ve ever sailed. You never mentioned you were there… and for twenty-five years?”
“Let’s leave that story for another time,” Majima interjected. “Go on, Saejima. You were sayin’ something about the Orchid Palace?”
“Right, yeah,” Saejima continued, clearing his throat. “I always loved mahjong, and after so many years away, I was itchin’ to play. I asked my bro to come with me, and he says, ‘Sure, but I gotta tell ya, the rules have changed since ya went away.’ ‘Oh yeah? What’s that about?’ I ask. And he tells me the World Mahjong Organization decided there weren’t enough yaku, so they came up with a bunch of new ones. ‘Like what?’ I ask. And he starts listing them off: the Dosu, the Gorogorogoro, and the Hannyaman. I should have known something was up just from those names, but then he goes on explainin’ them, and the rules kinda make sense to me. The next time we go to Orchid Palace, I go out with Gorogorogoro. I’m real proud of myself, ‘cause accordin’ to my kyodai, it’s a high-scorin’ hand. I sit there grinnin’ like an idiot, and one of my opponents says, ‘What’re ya talkin’ about? That’s just a regular-ass Chiitoitsu.’ I tell him, ‘No, look again—it’s all pairs of fives and sixes, plus a pair of white dragons. It’s the Gorogorogoro.’ The other players look at me like I’m barkin’ mad. I glance at Majima, and the bastard’s barely holdin’ it together, laughin’ so hard he almost pissed himself.” Saejima shook his head with a wry chuckle. “He was pullin’ my leg the whole damn time. Should’ve done some fact-checkin’ before we played, but he’s my sworn brother, and I trusted him with my life. And my tiles.”
Noah shook his head as the others burst into laughter. “Captain, that’s not a very nice thing to do,” he said, his tone serious, though his eyes gleamed with amusement.
Majima chuckled, patting Saejima’s shoulder. “Can’t argue with that. Sounds like that other me, the one with all the memories, is a bit of an asshole.”
“That’s one way to put it,” Saejima replied with a quiet huff of laughter. After a moment, Majima thought he heard him murmur, “I miss him though”, but with the rain pattering against the windows, he wasn’t entirely sure and decided not to press.
“What are these?” Noah asked, pointing at the rows of tiles Majima had placed next to the board.
“These are the honor tiles,” Majima explained. “These here are called kazehai. They represent winds: East, South, West, and North. And these are the dragons—”
Before he could finish, the door to the captain’s quarters burst open. Nishida stumbled in, his clothes drenched and rainwater streaming down the yellow hard hat perched on his head, tracing thin rivulets down his face.
“Captain… Saejima-no-ojiki,” he panted, bending over with his hands on his knees. “You have to come outside.”
“Ya look like ya saw a ghost, Nishida,” Majima said, rising to his feet. “Take a breath. Are we under attack or somethin’? Don’t tell me it’s that damn squid again.”
“N-no, nothing like that,” Nishida stammered. He gulped down a breath, then continued. “A merchant ship approached us. We couldn’t hear much over the storm, so we let their captain come on board. He said they took on a passenger who paid them to track us down. They’ve been chasing us for two days straight and almost caught up in Madlantis, but we left just before they arrived. The passenger fell ill and couldn’t climb the ladder on his own, so Minami and the others are lowering the lifeboat for him now. He’s—” Nishida stopped abruptly, the silence broken only by the creaking of wood and the drumming of rain against the ship.
“He’s what?” Majima asked.
Nishida cast a nervous glance over Majima’s shoulder before replying, “He’s… someone you knew back in Japan. A friend.”
Majima turned just in time to see Saejima’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise.
“Can’t be,” Saejima murmured as he quickly brushed past Majima toward the door.
Majima followed close behind with the others trailing after him. The group spilled out of the captain’s quarters onto the rain-swept deck. The storm still raged around them, though patches of starry black sky peeked through the heavy iron clouds above. They made their way toward Clark, who was operating the davit that was hoisting the lifeboat up to deck level.
“Someone picked one hell of a night to join us,” Clark grumbled when they approached.
The lifeboat came into view, carrying two figures: Minami and a man seated further back. As they stood to climb out, the man staggered. Minami ducked under the stranger’s arm, allowing him to drape it over his shoulders for support and helping him step over the side onto the deck. Once aboard, the stranger raised his head, his gaze sweeping over the small crowd gathered in front of him before locking onto the captain.
Majima couldn’t explain why, but his heart quickened as he met the newcomer’s gaze. He didn’t recall ever meeting the man. The stranger was drenched; water streamed from his gray hair, and his soaked clothes clung to his thin frame. His pale face was gaunt yet striking, with a defined jawline and sharp cheekbones beneath large, dark eyes that fixed on Majima, unblinking.
“Majima-no-nii-san…?” the stranger croaked.
Majima furrowed his brow. “Who the hell are you?”
The stranger’s eyes widened slightly, then a faint smile tugged at his lips. “I knew it would suit you,” he murmured.
He slipped from Minami’s grip and collapsed onto the deck.