BitterSweet Encounters

The sound of Kaito's saddles slapping the cobblestone streets echoed through the air as he made his way down the busy streets, he was able to block out most of the noise as he searched for a place that had the sweet smell of baked goods. His stomach growls loud enough to be heard over the crowd making some stop and stare.

Melany strolled silently down the street, ignoring the bustling crowds and instead thinking to herself. 

This new assignment, talk about boring. she sighed internally, Patrolling the village? God, is there any lazier way to get rid of me. She shoved her hands in the pockets of her required marine coat. It had been issued new, with long white hanging sleeves and the bottom reaching her ankles. But, she had made a few slight alterations. She had sliced off the sleeves, making it a long vest-like coat. Though she kept her long black-heeled boots. 

As she stalked through the crowd her boots made a quiet clicking noise against the stone. She noticed a tan man with blue hair walking around too, but Melany shrugged it off, uncaring. She wore a scowl on her face, keeping her silky black hair tied back in a ponytail and her blue eyes turned to the ground. Though she didn't miss anything, seeing everything in her peripheral vision. She looked as though she wasn't paying attention, but of course, she was.

Kiato has stopped to light a cigarette and as he shook it from his pack and put it to his lips to light it, he suddenly hears a girlish scream. "You idiotic girl! I ordered sake not wine!" The sound of a few glasses hitting the ground and shattering. It seems a servery drunken man had just flipped his table and was able to hit a young waitress. But his punch never connected, at lest onto with the original target.

Right as it was about to connect suddenly Kaito was there, standing in between them holding the now stunned mans fist his eyes closed as he smiled at the man. "Now sir, I'm sure it was just a simple mistake...I myself would have easily made the same mistake if I had to work on such a busy day like today..."

Its true the place of business was packed to the very last table with a line starting out the door. "Why you little!" The man yells as he takes a swing at Kaito with his other fist.

Melany's head snapped up when she heard a scream, and immediately she was on the scene. More out of instinct than duty, and she kept an emotionless demeanor. A drunk man was threatening a waitress who'd made a small mistake. Melany rolled her eyes, typical man. 

Before she could react, the blue haired man stopped the drunk. This time Melany could see him clearer, and he seemed to have white eyes. Perhaps he's blind? 


When the drunk pulled his arm back and shouted angrily at the blue haired man, Melany calmly stepped forward. She glared the drunk in the eyes, raising her arm and catching the man's punch. 

"Now that's not very nice." she said, tilting her head slightly. The drunk paused, his expression becoming dull and absent. Being drunk, he was already susceptible to beauty and perversion. It wasn't too difficult to stop him. 

"I'm afraid you'll have to come with me." she added, taking the drunk's other arm and deftly tying them behind his back before he knew what was happening. 

"Thank you for your service." Melany said to the blue haired man, forcing the drunk to start walking. 

This guy looks familiar. she thought as she observed the blind man, furrowing her eyebrows in frustration. He's a target. she remembered suddenly. With a sly grin she continued walking. This'll be fun.

Kaito had braced himself for an attack, that never came. For a moment he was confused until he heard another women voice. It sounded cold and emotionless to Kaito, making him rather sad for the women.

But before he could thank her she and the drunken man we gone. "Must of been one of the Islands Marines..." He thought as he said good by to the waitress before heading on his way. Katio had been on the Island before during his training when he was young so it wasn't hard to find a sweets shop.

So after sitting down at a table outside and ordering 20 of the biggest sweetest thing on the menu, much to the shock of the whole shop, he finally pulled out his lighter and after lighting it took a long drag from it before letting it out slowly with a sigh. Katio has been asked to come to the Island for a training demonstration and smirks at the thought of that marine women being there.

"Here." Melany growled, shoving the drunken man towards one of the petty officers. "Take care of him, lock him up for let's say a week." The marine looked at her, terrified of this beautiful, dark woman. 

"Y-yes Lieutenant Melany!" he scrambled to say, "Right away!" Melany rolled her eyes, already walking away when he saluted her. 

She went to her room to think, jumping lightly on the bed and laying her head on the pillow. I just got that target yesterday...I wonder where this guy works. I don't think I've seen him before. Honestly, the man intrigued her. He was blind, yet somehow managed to hear and stop the drunk from hitting the girl. It was rather amazing, He'll be a lot trickier than I initially thought. He's smart. I won't be able to sneak up on him, his blindness simply heightens his hearing. I'll have to plan this one out. Perhaps a long range attack? 

Kaito sat the last dish down and patted his stomach before pay his bill, leaving behind the shocked workers who looked from the blind man to the huge stack of plate that made the table tip over. "Ah well...time to get this "Demonstration" done..." He says making his way to the marine base as he lights another smoke.

Meanwhile at the base some female marines walked by Melany's room "Hey did you hear? There's a Captain coming today!" One says to the other "Yeah I hear their really strong! Some say that their like a demon in battle! I hear they plan on having a training demonstration!" The other one says.

Melany opened one eye when the girls walked by her room. They were blabbing about some new Captain, probably the one doing the demonstration today. She chose to ignore them, they were just gossiping. They probably thought he was going to be some hunk of guy whom they could swoon over. 

She squeezed her eyes shut again, trying ignore them. May as well take a power nap before the meeting. As if I have to go anyways. She mentally rolled her eyes, wishing it wasn't required. Melany slowly drifted off to sleep, her metal hand resting next to her side and the other placed behind her head. 

Melany woke up a few minutes later-wide awake-, glancing at the clock. Guess it's time to go. she complained silently, pushing off the bed. She slipped out the door, walking quietly down the hall towards the seminar room. 

When she entered, a few heads turned to stare. Whispers ran through the crowd about the terrifying, yet beautiful woman. She ignored them, instead taking her place in the front row. These things are so stupid. 


Sitting cross legged on the bench, she folded her arms and waited impatiently. Her top leg swung back and forth as a way to pass the time, and she found herself imagining killing the target.

Kaito was late, late and lost, he had forgotten that they had built a new base after he had last been here. He walked around taping his cane to the ground and clicking his tongue on his teeth to sense his surroundings. Soon he found a rather large door "Is this it?" He says pushing open the large door with ease even thought they groaned loud from disuse and the large amount of rust.

He stood in at the back of the room making his strange clicking sound softly sensing the all the rooms eyes turn to him from his noisy entrance. "Ah...Found it" He says blowing out a puff of smoke.

Melany glanced up when the man entered the room, his cane tapping the floor. He was smoking, and he had made an odd clicking sound with his mouth. Melany smirked, leaning back in the chair. 

Well this'll be interesting. He's a marine, that's why he intervened at the restaurant. No morally correct Marine would leave without stopping it. I mean I would have had to out of duty. 


She laughed slightly, her metal hand twitching. It itched for the hunt, the kill. A sudden caw sounded from outside the room, and a window swung open. A small raven with white markings around its eyes flew in with the wind, and landed lightly on Melany's shoulder. 


"Hey Sari." she said softly in greeting, scratching the bird's head.  

Kaito made his way up to the front of the room stopping only once at hearing a bird. Once at the front he talked to some officers quiet before turning to the crowd "Good afternoon everyone, for those of you who don't know, I am Commander Kaito Saiyuka...and I am here to train you to become...stronger I guess it would be the word...Any questions?"

"Yeah I got one!" Said a voice from the back, everyone turned to see (well almost everyone) a rather tall muscular man standing up at the back of the room. "This has to be some sort of joke right?! You a Commander Ha! Commander my ass!"

Kaito just smiled his eyes closed as the man moved closer to the front. ""It seems we have a volunteer already! unfortunately I has none a gold star to give you..." He says jokingly earning a few laughs from the crowd. Causing the man to take a swing at him. Suddenly Kaito was behind the newly confused man and taped he's head with the cane. "You really need to work on that footwork of yours..."

Melany watched the blind man, Kaito as she'd just learned, as he easily dodged the man's attack. Hm. He can't have Haki this far from the Grand Line...it must be his heightened senses. He's probably built a system for himself to sense people's locations, this'll be harder than I thought. She smirked slightly, Sari perched on her shoulder. 

She was about to raise her hand to ask a question, but then remembered the man was blind. "Excuse me, Commander Kaito." she called, standing up. Many in the crowd sunk into their seats, whispering to each other. 

"What could she have to say to the Commander?" a few of the girl's muttered amongst themselves. Some of the guys in the room raised an eyebrow in question, wondering what had peaked Melany's interested in Kaito, wanting to know so they could attempt to swoon her later. 

"But how is it that you knew where he was? I think that could be an interesting talent to share, especially in some situations where we can't see. Such as a blackout, or blindfolds. An ability like that could be very...useful to us." Very forward, not usually my style. Melany sighed internally.

Kaito had stopped so suddenly he had to bend backwards to avoid being hit by the anger fueled man before tripping him with his cane. All the while he had his head turned to Melany and with a smile opened his eyes for the first time since entering the room. "Ah an excellent question!"

He says before finally sending the man back to his seat. "Vibrations...is how even the most stealthy of enemies can give them self's away. From just taking a step to simply breathing can cause vibrations in the air, and the ground."

He says tapping his cane to the floor before smiling widely. "This is how I was able to in a sense see where our angry friend was. He explained before tossing a black cloth into her lap "Ill show you.."

He gave her a small smirk "But you are going to have to trust me.." In the crowd many women and men were silently crying from this scene.

Melany smirked, picking up the cloth. She carefully placed it over her eyes and tied it behind her head, first pulling her hair out of the pony tail. She brushed her hair behind her ear before standing up and walking to the platform. 

"Alright." she said softly with a sly grin. Well this'll be an easy way to learn how he functions. I'll have to find a way to get around it. Sensing vibrations is a rather intriguing talent, probably nearly impossible to get around. I wonder if he can sense bullets

After making sure that the blindfold was tight enough so not even a speck of light was seen by Melany "Cant see a thing now yes? Good Welcome to my world, a world of complete darkness." He explains to the crowd that so many species of creatures have become too dependent on there eyesight favoring it over their other senses

"It is because of this that once we lose that sense we often become helpless, I am here today to try and make it so you wont become completely helpless. Now the most basic part of this is, sound and the ability to listen closely to your surroundings." He turned to face Melany.

" Now Miss I am going to attack you, and I want you to listen and try to block me alright?" Suddenly the room became deadly silent that you could hear a pin drop Kaito's footsteps disappeared and everything was still.

Melany nodded, readying herself for Kaito's attack. She could already hear better, her other senses heightening. She stood quietly, her eyes closed as well, so she wasn't tempted to try and see. She heard small things from the crowd, whispers. Just annoyances really, Melany ignored them. 

She held herself still, waiting cautiously for Kaito's attack. She heard movement to her left, instinctively turning to face it. Then again to the right. A bird cawed, and Melany turned to face Sari, raising a finger to her lips. Hush up girl. 


Sensing something behind her, she turned swiftly, lifting her leg up in a bent position. Kaito's fist connected with her raised leg, and she smirked. 

"How'd I do Mister Commander." she asked, trying to keep herself from laughing. Guess it won't be so hard after all. 

Kaito smirks, "Good very Good...But not good enough" He says before she suddenly feels the cold blade of icy steel on her neck and his fist grabs her leg. All he would have to do was pull her forward and she would be dead her neck sliced open upon his katana's blade. "You got cocky...a rookies mistake."

He let go of her leg and put away his sword. He then reached up and takes back his blindfold "Keep it up and you might actually get it right one day...Miss Lieutenant..." He says with a smile, before turning towards the crowd "Well It seems it is lunchtime! You are Dismissed!" He says before taking and lighting another smoke as everyone files out of the room.

Melany returned to an emotionless and cold demeanor, a slight frown on her face. Her metal hand twitched again, wishing to put a bullet in the Commander's head. 

"I never told you I was a Lieutenant." she scowled at the man, liking him less and less each second, "How did you know." she demanded as Sari fluttered down on top of her shoulder, cawing. She knew Sari wanted to attack as well, but she didn't. Melany shoved a hand in her pocket, standing in a rather relaxed yet ready position.

Kaito blow some smoke into the air it making the shapes of O's his back to her "I have my ways, Miss Lieutenant..." Soon they were the only ones left in the room. "Tell me something....Do you like being a Lieutenant here on this Island?" He asked randomly turning to face her.

"What a strange question." Melany remarked rudely, placing her hand on her hip and frowning, "I have no obligation to answer that question Mister Commander." With that, she turned around in one fluid motion and stalked out of the room. Just before she walked out the door, she stopped and turned her head slightly back/

"You're a very intriguing man, you should come visit me some time." she offered sweetly, wishing he could see her wink. Now if he comes to my room....she resisted cracking her knuckles.

Kaito listened to the women's boots click down the hall before chuckling softly, that must have been the first time a women had tried to hit on him in a long time. But something about that woman was off putting to Kaito...and she seemed to not like him very much. But he pushed that out of his mind for now..It was time to feed the Beast.


Kaito was really starting to hate this place, he just wanted to find some food and now he was lost starving and down to his last cigarette so finally for walking for over two hours he finally found a door of some kind and decides to stop and ask for some help. Knowing his luck it would just be a broom closet.

But sighing he knocked anyways "Hello? Anyone home? I'm Sorry to bother you, but it seems I have gotten myself lost" He laughs "Would you be so kind as to help me find my way to the Lunchroom" He says before waiting hoping that there was another person on the other side.

Melany was lying on her bed when the knock came, and with it, a man's voice. It was clearly Commander Kaito, and Melany rolled her eyes. So the blind man's lost huh? Knew he wasn't as good as everyone thought. 


She stood, walking to the door from her queen-sized bed. Opening the door, she looked Kaito up and down. "Sure Mister Commander." she laughed, "It seems you found me alright. The lunchroom's this way, follow me." Melany began strolling swiftly down the hall, her heels hitting the ground softly. 

"So Mister Commander, if you know I'm a Lieutenant, does that mean you know my name too?"

Kaito quickly fell in step with Melany fallowing the soft clicking of her heels mostly and stared on ahead as he answered her. "I do yes, but as you yourself have not told me it I assumed you did not wish for me to know."

He says as he taps his cane on the ground in front of him "So until told otherwise you are Miss Lieutenant to me..." He says as if it made perfect sense.

"It's a thing of respect and timing Mister Commander." Melany said coldly, "I did not tell you my name because I saw no reason for you to know, but since you do know my name it's best to use it." She wore a frown upon her face, and she glared ahead of her.

Sari cawed, flying out of her open door. She landed lightly on Kaitio's shoulder, subconsciously digging her talons into his shoulder. "Caw!"

"Sari, that's rude." Melany called back emotionlessly, holding her arm out straight to the side. Sari caws again, taking off of Kaito's shoulder and landing on her master's arm.

"Darling it's okay. He's nothing." She whispered to the metal bird, who sqwaked in response.

"The lunchroom is right this way." Melany said louder, stopping with a sly smile. For through the door was not, in fact the mess hall, but an abandoned section of the base.

Kaito walked into the room and listens closely, no sound of forks and knives scraping plates the loud yells of men as the ate and joked around. "This isn't the Dinning Hall...is it..?" Suddenly an Idea of why he was here popped in his head. "Ah now I get it...Why you've been acting like this towards me...why you invited me to your room out of the blue...why you brought me here to a place no one would come by.."