A shrill scream broke the silence, half the customers jumping in their skin at the unpleasant sound. Suzie one of the cooks stormed out of the kitchen to the head chef.
"Aline Bisset, what the hell have you done," she snapped, crossing her arms. "Every single day, you bully one customer or the other."
Aline rolled her eyes, standing over the cook. "Shut up you stupid cow, do you really think I'd call a bunch of idiots, customers."
"What do you mean by that you flat chested bimbo?" She pointed at the pirates beneath her feet. "These people are paying customer. They pay your salary."
"These idiots are pirates who not only insulted our food, but also broke the expensive table."
Suzie gasped, the latter statement seeming more important than the former. "You mean that table that we all donated our money to get."
"Yes Suzie that one."
A few seconds later, Suzie kicked the pirate continuously, her anger over the table deeper than it looked. "How dare you break my- our hard earned money you stupid pirate."
"Girls." Vivienne Bisset, a middle aged woman in a white apron over a black puffy dress walked towards them from the kitchen, her blonde hair falling out of her white bonnet hat, the blonde lacking in brightness probably due to her age. "You are causing a ruckus, Aline if you're that angry, take it outside."
She moved towards the pirates, her existence as the voice of reason breaking apart as she picked two of them by their collars and threw them out the door. "Suzie, take the last one out."
Suzie did as she ordered her, dragging the last one by the leg and purposely letting his neck get caught on the door. The pirate gagged, clawing at his neck to no avail. When she concluded that she had been wicked enough, she threw him out of the restaurant, landing on one of them that tried to get up.
"This restaurant is crazy," Shinzo said. "Are you sure about this, Paolo?"
"Of course, I'm always sure about my decisions," Paolo said smiling. "She'd make a fantastic crew member."
Shinzo sighed, leaning back in his seat. "Do what you want?"
The waitress arrived, dropping a tray of their ordered food on the table.
"Did your head cook make this?" Paolo asked as she dropped cutlery beside their trays.
She nodded. "She does majority of the cooking since we don't have a lot of cooking staff."
"I see," he mumbled, scooping rice and curry with his spoon and taking a large bite. Paolo's taste buds danced, not a slow boring waltz, but a jig that lasted for days. The jig didn't fizzle, urging him to eat more of the amazing food. "This is so good."
Shinzo agreed with him, the food way better than he expected. For a bland meal like rice and curry, it packed the punch of an elite meal.
The two boys ate heartily, disappointment making their acquaintance when the food moved from the plain of existence into their stomachs.
"I want more," Paolo protested.
Money taking precedence over his longing for the high quality food, Shinzo shook his head in persistent denial. "No, absolutely not."
"You're so stingy."
"I'd rather die of hunger than die poor," Shinzo stated, the statement in question clearly exposing his greed.
Paolo sighed, rising to his feet. "Let's go meet Aline."
"She left a while ago when we were eating," Shinzo stated, drinking his water.
"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Paolo snapped, rushing out of the restaurant.
Shinzo didn't stand up, cleaning his lips with his serviette,
Paolo stormed back, the whole restaurant turning to face the ruckus. Luckily for the disgruntled boy, his skin tone made it difficult to perceive his embarrassment.
"Show me where she went."
.....
The door to one of the restaurants near Bisset's Kitchen burst open, a man in rags getting kicked out. A chef in the classical chef's uniform glared at the man. "No money, no entry."
The man crawled on the ground, the heaviness of his stomach too much to keep him standing. Tears prickled at the tips of his eyes, sobs of defeated hunger escaping his chapped lips.
Aline who had seen the whole scene walked past the man, storming into the restaurant. Her sudden entrance startled the waiters, but she ignored them, pushing past them to the kitchen.
"Get me some rice and vegetables, I'll pay you back for the ingredients," Aline said, acting like she owned the place.
The head cook, already used to her doing this, pointed at the store room. "Never mind money, make me your best dish later."
Aline's reply echoed from the open store room. "All my dishes are my best dishes."
Most of the cooks slowed down, the rhythmic chopping of her knife on the vegetables enchanting. The careful way she handled the ingredients, delicately mixing the curry in the pot.
After a few minutes, she dipped the prepared rice into the curry, the rice acting like a castle on top of a moat.
She thanked the cooks, strolling out of the restaurant with the plate and spoon in hand. At the same time, Paolo and Shinzo arrived near the restaurant, spotting Aline coming out of it.
Shinzo tried to reach out to her, but Aline dropping the plate of food in front of the hunger ridden man at the entrance stopped him in his tracks.
"Eat."
The man forced his head to look at her. "I-I can't pay."
"Dying hungry is worse than dying poor, eat."
The man picked up the plate, stuffing his face with the salty goodness. Tears flowed freely down his cheek, food tasting better than it did his whole life. Overridden by emotion, he stopped his eating and cleaned the rapid flow of tears. "This is good…so good."
Aline smiled warmly, her gray eyes brimming with compassion. "That's it, eat up."
Paolo smiled, grabbing Shinzo's shoulders. "Isn't she great?"
Shinzo rolled his eyes. "She has too much of a gap between her personalities, I repeat are you sure about this."
"If I can get the most arrogant person I've ever met as my vice-captain, then I can get a cook with a split personality."
It took Shinzo five minutes too late to realize the jab at his person, his insults blurring out as Paolo moved forward to meet Aline.
Aline lifted a brow at his entrance. "Can I help you?"
He stretched out his hand, smiling. "Hello, I'm Paolo G. Rigards, a to be adventurer and I…"
"If it's to recruit me, I refuse."
He smiled, the response very much expected. Unfortunately for her, he knew one of her weaknesses.
"Shinzo!"
The irritated martial artists headed forward, a frown on his lips. "What?"
At the sight of Shinzo, Aline's eyes softened to a very great degree. The significant change in her demeanor brought hope to Paolo, happy that his vice-captain's beauty was useful for something.
"I was just telling Aline to join our crew, wouldn't she make a great crew member."
Shinzo, like he did with everyone he met, examined her to make sure her existence was worth his time before scoffing. "What's so great about a female gorilla? Plus, someone who believes dying hungry is worse than dying poor clearly needs to get their priorities straight.
Aline clenched her fists, the previous gleam in her eyes being replaced with a fiery spark that promised an explosion, but held it in,
Paolo held himself back from hitting Shinzo, smiling back at Aline. "Anyways, I have to get you in my crew. You're not only strong and a good cook, but you're dedicated to. You're perfect for my crew."
"I said no, I've got a debt to pay and I'm not going to be able to do it on the ocean."
"Did you get in trouble with loan sharks?" Shinzo questioned. "If so, we could beat them up for you."
She scoffed. "If I got into an issue with loan sharks, I would beat them up myself."
"See, you're literally perfect for our crew," Paolo said.
"You're annoyingly persistent, what is your goal anyways?" Aline snapped.
"I want to become the greatest adventurer, so I'm gathering crew members to help me out. But first, I need at least five of us to go for the adventurer's exam."
"Well I unfortunately won't be one of those five, I suggest you give up on me," she said and not even giving Paolo a chance to talk, she walked away.
"Well that went well," Shinzo mumbled.
Paolo turned to glare at him, confusing the martial artist. "You had one job, one, but you had to open your mouth huh."
"What are you…"
Paolo sighed. "Next time we are recruiting someone, I want you to shut up." He then walked away, leaving Shinzo to drown in his confusion
.....
Captain Kirk, the captain of the Crossbow Pirates frowned down at his three beat up men, their report just not adding up. "You mean to tell me some girl did this to you."
"Yes captain," one of them mumbled, removing his beanie.
He propped his chin in his hand, glaring down at them. "And you idiots actually came back to tell me how you disgraced our crew, one of the strongest in the East Sea."
Flames surrounded Kirk's chair, the heat causing the three to pull back.
"C-captain we're really -"
"Save it," snapped the angry pirate, standing up abruptly. His men jumped, but he ignored them turning to the two men behind his seat. "Bam, Shirks."
His vice- captain and swordsman bowed. "Yes captain."
He pulled off his black jacket from a rack nearby. "We're going to teach that stupid girl and her restaurant a lesson for messing with our crew