In the few days after the three gang leaders got taken down, the punishment for the members who were still alive was decided. The ones who did petty and small crimes would at most be imprisoned for a period of time and the ones who had committed major crimes would be exiled from the island on a raft with no food and water.
Tom and Jerry who were now regarded as heroes by the locals did not need to hide their ship, so they steered it over to the docks, which was seeing its first use in a while.
Tyke was now heading over there to invite Tom and Jerry to a banquet that was about to be thrown in a few hours.
Regarding the pirates, he still had mixed feelings as he was thankful that they helped him take out the trash, but they also took away all the money the trash had stolen.
Reaching the docks, Tyke went to the flying mammy and saw a lot of kids running around on the deck, including Jerry. As he looked around, he saw Tom lying down on a beach chair, with his eyes closed.
"What are you doing?"
"Well, nothing much."
Seeing Tyke just stand around, Tom asked what he wanted, to which Tyke replied,
"Well, with everything settling down, we decided to throw a banquet and you two are invited."
"Hmm, alright. We won't miss out on free food and drinks."
"...."
"...Is there something else?"
"..No."
Seeing Tyke leave with a thoughtful look on his face, Tom looked at the kids who were running around on board. Throwing a glance at Jerry, who had joined them he sighed and decided to continue his nap.
**********
Tyke's grandfather was feeling very happy, as the threat for not only the island but also his boy had disappeared. The only thing left now would be to tell his bone headed grandson to go follow his dreams.
As he was helping with the preparations, he saw his grandson return. Looking at him with a smile the mayor said,
"Well, how did it go?"
"Hmm, they said they would come."
"Hoho, that's certainly nice."
"...."
Tyke grew quiet soon after and went to see if he could help somewhere. Sighing as he saw his grandson leave, the mayor called out to him.
"Tyke, do you have something on your mind?"
"...Not really."
Knowing he wouldn't get anymore out of him, the mayor said,
"Come, follow me."
Seeing his grandfather walk away, it seemed he just expected Tyke to follow. Grunting, Tyke followed him as his grandfather led him to his father's grave.
Tyke had not visited it a lot since he would mostly get sad whenever he did. Unlike him, it seemed his grandfather had visited often as the grave was kept clean. As he was wondering why he had been brought to this place, his grandfather started talking,
"Did you know that your father always wanted to go out into the seas? He even ended up going to a few of the nearby islands"
"...."
"Hoho, I remember him talking about it a lot when he was younger. But then he met your mother and had you, and after she passed away he decided to let go of what he wanted and just stay, for you."
"...What's your point?"
"Whenever he talked about the world outside the island, I could see your face light up with a gleam in your eyes."
"...."
Looking at his grandson who grew silent, he decided to push him a bit more.
"..Those pirates, they don't look so bad. There are also only two of them so they won't reject someone like you joining them."
Tyke got surprised at what his grandfather was impying and asked,
"Are you serious?"
"Yes."
Looking at his grandfather who was suggesting him to become a pirate, Tyke said,
"They're pirates, leaving aside the fact that they helped us get rid of the gangs, they still ended up looting the money that was stolen from everyone."
"Hoho, did you know that I found a big sack of money in front of our house?"
"What?"
Seeing Tyke's dumbfounded expression, the mayor said with a smile,
"Well, how many have that kind of money lying around?"
"..That's absurd."
"Hoho, all I want to say is, give it some thought. There's not gonna be much for you to do here anyway."
Seeing his grandfather walk away, Tyke looked back at his father's grave and decided to sit down and talk with him after a long time.
**********
As Tom and Jerry made their way to the banquet, they got a big cheer from anyone they passed. They soon reached and stacked their plates full with food and started gorging on it. It was then that they heard someone talking to them from the side,
"You two have become quite the celebrities."
They looked to the side to see someone who was fully wrapped up in bandages. The only thing that you could see other than bandages was the pink hair that was seeping out of the wrapping from his head. Looking at that, Jerry asked,
"Are you a mummy? It's my first time seeing one."
"No! It's me! The one you guys trampled on with your stampede!"
"Oh.."
Seeing them just go back to eating, the former gang member had veins popping from his head. As he was about to say something, he was interrupted by the mayor who started talking to Tom and Jerry.
"Hoho, are you enjoying yourselves?"
"Well everything's great, except for this guy. He's pretty annoying."
When the pink haired man heard that, he complained,
"I didn't even do anything to annoy you yet!"
"Why's he here anyway? Shouldn't he be locked up?"
Looking at the bandaged man after he heard the question, the mayor answered Tom,
"Well, he had just joined and didn't get to do anything. And I feel like he has paid enough for what he's done."
"Well, suit yourself."
The banquet went on deep into the night. After it had ended, Tom and Jerry returned to their ship where Tom told Jerry,
"We're gonna set off soon. We can't stay here forever."
"Ah okay, I've had enough fun. Where are we gonna go next?"
"Well, if most islands in this part of the world are the same then it's better to just set sail to the Grand line."
"Oohh do we need a map then.?"
"Hmm, well we'll see tomorrow. Go to sleep now, it's past your bedtime."
"Okay, make me some hot chocolate first. It helps me sleep better."
Looking at his first mate who was more bossy than him, Tom sighed and went to the kitchen.
**********
The next day, the two pirates woke up and had their breakfast before they went to see if they could find a map that would let them get to the Grand line.
Whilst they were searching, they were approached by Tyke who had a brooding look on his face. Jerry greeted him when he saw him,
"Oh hey Tyke-san! I didn't see you at all yesterday, did you even come to the banquet?"
"Yes, I did."
"Oh, well I guess we just didn't run into each other."
Nodding his head, Tyke looked at Tom and asked,
"Are you thinking of setting sail?"
"Yeah, we'll probably be out of here soon."
"Is that so?"
Looking at Tyke, who was standing around, contemplating something, Tom asked,
"What is it? Do you have something to say?"
"Are you recruiting?"
Tom was surprised at the question as Jerry was excitedly asking if they were gonna get a new crewmate. Throwing a glare ro quieten down Jerry, Tom asked Tyke,
"You want to become a pirate?"
"Hmm well, I would like to join your crew."
Tom grinned at what Tyke said and decided to change locations, which ended up being their ship. They sat opposite each other, with Tom and Jerry on one side and Tyke on the other with a table separating both sides. Pushing up his glasses, Tom started speaking,
"Ahem, alright then let's start. First of all, tell me a little about yourself."
"I am Tyke."
"...."
"...."
"..Well alright, let's move on. What can you bring to this crew if we let you join?"
"I'm not bad at fighting and I learned a lot about navigation from my father when I was younger."
Hearing that, Tom made a happy expression as Jerry said,
"Oohh, a navigator. We don't have one Tom-san."
"Indeed… let me ask you one final question then. Why do you want to join us and become a pirate?"
"I just.. want to go out there and see the world."
Tyke saw Tom and Jerry's eyes shining after he said that, which dimmed down after what he said next,
"As for joining your crew, you guys call yourselves pirates but you're too different from the normal ones."
"Different? How so?"
"You are kind and nice."
"Uh-oh."
Tyke wondered why Jerry would be worried at what he said but he soon found out when he heard Tom start talking after a moment of silence.
"D-did you just call me a nice guy? I am a respectable pirate! How dare you!? Get out!"
Tyke saw Tom stamp something on some papers and throw them in his face before shooing him away. Bewildered about what just happened, Tyke went outside in a daze.
As he was thinking of what to do now, Tyke was approached by Jerry who was smiling.
"We're setting off tomorrow, Tyke-san. Make sure to bring everything you need."
"..Didn't he tell me to get out?"
"Eh that? Nihihi, Tom-san is just a tsundere. Here, take a look."
Tyke looked at the paper, which was handed to him and recognized it as the one Tom threw in his face. Taking a closer look, it seemed like some sort of an application form with a logo on top, which had a smiling skull wearing a captain's hat with whiskers under it instead of bones.
Recognizing it as their pirate flag, Tyke kept reading and found mostly negative criticism of himself which included too stoic, doesn't respect his superiors, looks stupid. He was about to tear it apart when he a big stamp below in green, which stated accepted.
"Alright then, I'll see you tomorrow."
"...."
As Jerry left after saying that, Tyke just let out a big sigh and decided to go home first.
**********
When Jerry returned, he saw there was one more person who was taking the interview. Initially surprised, he took his seat as Tom started asking the questions.
"Alright then, who are you?"
"Are you serious?! How many people with pink hair are on this island?!"
When he heard that, Tom widened his eyes, looking as if he was on the verge on something and said,
"Hmm! You are.."
"That's right.."
Tom looked at the face which was pretty ordinary with the only unique feature being the pink hair. Weird hair colors were something he was used to but he had to admit that he had seen pink hair recently.
"Are you that wannabe thug?"
"That's right."
"Oh, not gonna refute me on that now?"
"Why would I? I only joined them to break them from the inside."
"Please elaborate."
As Jerry joined in and asked, the pink haired guy cleared his throat and started speaking.
"Well, where do I start? Let me go back to when I was born. It was a rainy night with thunder striking everywhere. In such heavy weather it was hard to even go outside the house, so my father rolled up his sleeves to do the delivery himself. Of course, he got slapped by my mother and had to go get a doctor...."
"It was when I was about five years old that I experienced pain, not the physical one but mentally, it was because I lost my father. Now left as an orphan as I already lost my mother a few months after I was born I had to provide for myself. Haha, whenever I think back to those times...."
"So when I finally turned twelve, no I think it was thirteen that I experienced the true world. I did not know what was happening but when I woke up I had pitched up a tent in my pants...."
"It was when I turned seventeen, which was a few months back, that I realized I could do so much more with my life. I then swiftly decided to join one of the gangs and started to mess with them. I started with easy ones like training birds to poop on their heads and digging ditches and luring them there. Of course my crown jewel would have to go to...."
As they heard the guy ramble on, Jerry had already fallen asleep and Tom's eyes were getting dangerously red. Not able to handle it anymore, he slammed the table and growled at the pink haired man,
"Keep it ten words or less. Any more and I'll cut your tongue."
Gulping at the table, which had broken into pieces the pink haired man answered,
"I caused them to have a lot of misfortunate accidents."
It was ten words, perfect. Inwardly praising himself, he looked at Tom, who soon asked him another question,
"So, why do they call you a pervert then?"
Paling at that as he remembered what happened to him a few days back, he decided to tell the truth, which was that he had peeked at the ladies in the town and that he didn't do it anymore, as he got scarred in one of those activities.
"Hmm, well I don't know about letting a pervert join my crew."
"No! Please let me come with you! I can't live on this island anymore! The looks I get and the treatment I receive is so bad!"
While the pink haired guy grabbed Tom's legs and started crying, Jerry said,
"Well Tom-san, the more the merrier right."
Looking at Jerry and then the pink haired man, Tom asked,
"Can I trust that you stopped being a pervert?"
"Yes!"
Letting out a sigh, Tom agreed and told him to be there early tomorrow the next day. Saying that Tom wouldn't regret his decision, the pink haired man ran out. Tom realized too late that he forgot to ask his name.
'Oh well, I'll just ask him tomorrow.'
***********
Early the next morning, Tom and Jerry were finishing their final checks when Tyke arrived and started helping them right away. The pink haired man arrived soon which caused Tyke to wonder what he was doing here.
When Jerry explained that he too had joined, Tyke felt surprised but accepted knowing that he wasn't too bad of a guy. Tom soon approached the newcomer and asked,
"Oi, what's your name?"
"Eh, you don't know?"
"You never told me and I forgot to ask yesterday."
"Well, you're right. Ahem, my name is Yuuki."
"Alright then Yuuki, start pulling in our anchor."
"Aye captain!"
Seeing him salute before going Tom felt good knowing at least someone would be doing that as Jerry would probably tell him to do it himself.
As they were about to unfurl the sails, Tom noticed someone was calling for them from the docks. When they went to take a look, they noticed that the entire town had come to send them off. Seeing the mayor waving at him, Tyke jumped down.
"Hoho, so you've decided?"
"..Yes."
"Alright then, stay safe out there okay?"
"I will try."
"Hoho. Take this with you as well. It's not as much as they gave away but it should still help you."
Looking at the bag, Tyke then looked at his grandfather and nodded before jumping back onto the ship. When he got back, he noticed Tom and Jerry were busy striking cool poses for everyone to see.
Sighing at them, he found Yuuki who was hiding, probably scared of all the old women he had offended. Dragging him along, Tyke went and unfurled the sails.
**********
After the island had gone out of sight, the four pirates sat down in the middle and Tom started the meeting with a serious expression on his face.
"Alright everyone, where are we going next? I think we should just go to the Grand line cause most islands in this part of the world are pretty much the same."
"Sure." (Tyke)
"I'm hungry." (Jerry)
"Stay on topic, Jerry." (Tom)
"Tch." (Jerry)
"I have a question. Why the Grand line?" (Yuuki)
"I think it'll be interesting." (Tom)
"I don't really care where we're going, it just has to be a new place." (Tyke)
"Hopefully we decide before I starve to death." (Jerry)
"You brat! How much will you eat!? You already ate so much just before we left!" (Tom)
"That was just a snack. I'm still hungry." (Jerry)
"If you keep eating like that, the rest of us won't have anything left!" (Tom)
"...." (Tyke)
Seeing Tom and Jerry start quarreling with each other, Tyke just watched with his arms folded. Yuuki looked at the scene before awkwardly callin out to them and said,
"Well, if you just want to go to an interesting place, I know of one. I heard the gang leaders talk about it before." (Yuuki)
"Alright, you have our attention." (Jerry)
"Apparently it's a floating restaurant." (Yuuki)
"A floating restaurant?" (Tom)
"Is the food good?" (Jerry)
"Is that the only thing on your mind?" (Tom)
Deciding to ignore the two, Tyke asked,
"Where is it?" (Tyke)
"I think it was in the.. Sambas region?" (Yuuki)
"Hmm, that's close to the Grand line I think. We can definitely stop there if everyone wants to." (Tyke)
"Oh wow, getting an actual navigator was great Tom-san! He didn't even need to see a map!" (Jerry)
"Of course my foresight knows no bounds. Alright Tyke, steer us there." (Tom)
Nodding at Tom, Tyke checked his compass before taking the wheel and changed their bearings to the floating restaurant, Baratie.
**********
Author's note : Yuuki means courage in japanese. That's gonna be the end of vol 1. I wonder who they're gonna run into when they go to Baratie.