Why Pirates Hate Water

10. Musutafu

Izuku could speak mostly clearly again by the time they had reached the southernmost dock of the small pirate town of Musutafu. The entire town was mainly small shops and vendors lining the streets. All the houses were tucked away, closer to the edge of the forest separating them from other towns. Pirates would often stop here or settle down to retire. It was a nice seaside little town. The best part about Musutafu was the liveliness. Most towns were quiet and harsh, but not this one.

Musutafu was filled with music, and the middle of the town held a large open area where dozens of people would dance their hearts out. The town was painted in bright colors, done piece by piece. Between buildings, flowers and flags were strung of each and every captain that had passed through. Despite the usual pirating, literally, it was joyous.

This venture was no different. The crew put down the gangplank and were immediately greeted by sunshine and blue skies. The air was warm with a slight breeze from the sea. Izuku was the first to head down to the port, stopping at the bottom to take in a deep breath of the air.

"Alright, c'mon and keep halfie close." Katsuki barked at Izuku. Shoto followed behind, eyes wide in amazement. No one who wasn't a pirate had ever seen the town before.

Izuku looped his arm through Shoto's and began pulling him through the town.

(Think like the scene from Tangled)

Vendors stood left and right, trying to convince every passerby to buy from them or stop to chat. The vendors vary from a variety to foods and trinkets to clothes and potions.

Shoto can't help but feel lost at every turn as he follows Izuku and Katsuki closer to the center of town. The rest of the crew were wandering among the vendor stalls and buying miscalenous objects with their little money. Suddenly, Shoto is pulled into a shop.

The store smells of warm pretzels and sells a variety of things. It has a portion of the store for purely walls of books, and another part is clothes and cloth. The counter at the back has caffeine and pastries, and it overall feels calming. The store is comfortably warm, with a slight breeze as he's pulled towards the book section. It almost felt like a small, cozy library. Izuku led Shoto to a table before letting go of his arm, and the greenette headed up one of the moving ladders with the blonde at the bottom. Katsuki held the ladder still and would randomly ask to see books from high up shelves. Izuku himself was picking out a variety of books to look at in between his orders from Katsuki.

Izuku had picked out some of the best books the store had. The Tell Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe, Death by Todd May, and What We Owe To Each Other by T.M. Scanlon. Shoto was perplexed. He had been taught that pirates were no good thieving idiots, and here they were picking out some of philosophy and literatures greatest books. This was just the start, and he could tell.

"Don't you like to read?" Izuku asked rather quietly, clearly pointed at Shoto.

"I've never read much other than books about sailing and Shakespeare." Shoto said, despite his large bookshelf at home and his vast amount of knowledge, he had never read much.

"Start with this then." Katsuki said gruffly, shoving a copy of The Great Gatsby by Scott F Fitzgerald at Shoto's chest.

Shoto caught the book and only gave a slight nod before sitting down to begin reading it.

While Shoto read the book, he barely took notice of the small chatter and sound of books being stacked on the table he was sat at. It was an utterly amazing book.

"Ready to go?" Izuku asked, snapping Shoto out of his trance.

"Mhm." Shoto replied, standing up only to finally realize the stacks of books the other two were carrying.

Izuku seemed to quickly notice his confusion. "We got these for the rest of the trip, I picked out a few I thought you might like." Izuku said sheepishly.

"You aren't going to steal them, are you?" Shoto gently whispered.

"Of course not. This is a library. We return the books after we get the treasure." Katsuki said firmly. Izuku nodded in agreement.

"Oh." Is all that Shoto replied. He felt embarrassed by his lack of true pirate knowledge. He then noticed Izuku's pile of books was a bit too large for one person to be carrying. He grabbed the top half of the books off the pile and began walking side by side with the two back to the ship.

They had to go back to grab the rest of the supplies they would need, and then they would be off. The legendary treasure of Toshinori was just within reach.

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☆Oh my gosh, I actually finished early for once. There's a little more left until we get to the Finale, so stay tuned♡☆