A good subordinate never questioned his superior.
Hawkins, however, had never claimed to be anything of the sort. Life was not so rigid that change was unanticipated, and the pirates knew that people and circumstances shifted like the waves of the sea. Even when his loyalty was sworn to a beast, a madman, like Kaido. Perhaps especiallyso.
The situation in Wano was something he could, to a degree, distance himself from. These people were not his people. Their suffering had been perpetuated long before he ever arrived in the country, and with that thought it was relatively easy to cast the atrocities he witnessed on a daily basis to the side and consider it 'not his problem.' For change to occur, one must take hold of their own destiny and take action themselves.
Even if he'd held the desire to see these people liberated from their troubles and woes—something he really held no strong emotional stock in—what was one man to do against arguably the most powerful Yonko in the world? Being a hero never got him or anyone he knew anywhere.
It wasn't as if he particularly enjoyed seeing the people suffer, it didn't bring him joy. The unfortunate truth was that the will of someone with greater power dictated it must be so. Hawkins was but one pirate, smart enough to ally with someone his superior to ensure survival. If that meant that Wano must burn, must decay and rot outside the gates of luxury where him and his beloved stayed, well...
Turning a blind eye was preferable. And safer. At least for him and those he gave a damn about.
And so he did.
You, on the other hand, never could let things like that go.
"Something should be done." You said once more that evening in your shared suite, preparing dinner as was your routine.
He sighed, patient yet frustrated. Hawkins had returned home a half-hour before, and now sat relaxed on the cushions along the opposite wall of the home the Emperor had provided in the Flower Capital. His careful eye watched the way your shoulder hunched and stayed that when as you spoke of your feelings. This was not the first time the two of you had had this conversation.
"I saw children today, playing amongst the flowers of the capital. Children from Okobore Town, I think They were dressed in rags. No doubt hungry." Your voice was firm and hard-set, clear anger bubbling beneath the facade of calm. "They had snuck into the city in carts and under boxes. They told the guards they simply wanted to pick some beautiful flowers for their mother's birthday."
Hawkins sat pensively silent, knowing what would come next. He was aware of the goings-on from that morning, but revealing this now would only serve to fan the flames of your ire and implicate himself.
Indignation raged like storms behind your wide eyes and furrowed brows as you turned your gaze to him. "The guards took them away towards the prison."
He knew you would not appreciate what he had to say, but he felt the need to say it anyway. "Orochi has forbade entrance into the flower patches without his prior consent-"
"The prison, Basil! They are children! They have done no wrong, caused no harm. Flowers for their mother! That was all they wanted!" Your hands rise along with the volume of your voice.
His gaze was steady even in the face of your rage. "It is still the law here, Y/N."
Your mouth pressed into a firm line. "Then what's Kaido doing about this? You know as well as I he's the one with real power here. What has he to say?"
"Nothing."
You scoff, anger getting the better of you as you turn back towards your preparations of dinner. He troops on, torn between maintaining his calm and guilt that you were forced to live in a place you so despised because of him. He would confront that later, but not now.
Besides, with you being as loud as you were, neighbors may be listening. He had to think carefully on his words.
"Kaido does not have time for such small things. His sights are set wider, as you well know. The day-to-day matters of the country are left in the hands of Orochi. His will is law. That cannot be changed."
Your silent fury is the only response he receives. It stretches for some time, until Hawkins rises from his seat on the cushions and steps behind you, wrapping his arms around you middle to draw your back into his chest. You go without resistance, though he can tell by the tension in your shoulders that the anger has not subsided.
Hawkins is careful to keep his voice low, so that only you can hear. "I know you do not like this place. I'm sorry. When I proposed the idea of becoming Kaido's subordinate, I knew there would be changes that some of us didn't like. I only regret that they are affecting you."
"I understand the need to survive, Basil." You say, your tone indicating that you too were choosing your words carefully. However, unlike him, whether anyone heard was not a concern of yours. "But look around. We do Kaido's bidding without question. We've been here for months, patrolling his streets and eliminating his threats. You no longer give the orders, they come to you from someone above you. Can you even still call yourself a captain?"
That was a bit of a low blow, he thought, but in some sense, you weren't incorrect. Not that he had to like it. He placed a gentle kiss to the top of your head, breathing in and out deeply to calm himself before he said something he regretted.
"We will do what we must to survive."
"This isn't survival. It's indentured servitude." You say with a shake of your head. Even still, he feels some of the fight leave your shoulders and your body relaxes just that little bit more into his. "Can't we take our crew and escape? Can't we just...leave Wano behind and continue on our journey? You're supposed to become the King of the Pirates, Basil. When did you lose sight of that?"
Your voice is rising again, and his anxiety grows with it. Hopefully no one is outside your home listening.
"I never have." A part of him tinged with guilt, trying his best to calm you down so you'll stop talking so loudly. "It's simply had to be pushed to the side for the moment."
"For how long?"
"I don't know, Y/N."
He lets go of you as you turn in place, now looking up to face him with those eyes full of determination and strength. You carefully reach up and press your small hand against his cheek in a tender gesture.
"I've about had it with Wano, and with you being forced to serve another."
"Defying a Yonko is paramount to suicide."
"When has danger ever stopped you? They told you that entering the Grand Line was suicide. They told you reaching the New World was impossible. They told us all these things and yet here we stand, in the most dangerous sea in the world. Alive."
He couldn't seem to muster up a contradictory retort on the matter, so you keep on it.
"You are the Captain of the Hawkins Pirates. You belong on the open seas, not on the streets of a country neither of us belong to. Gather your men and let us leave this place. Perhaps Kaido is too busy to notice a handful of his many subordinates are gone. If he's drunk enough, he won't know for awhile after. Please consider it, Basil."
He doesn't respond for a long moment, simply stands there holding you close to him, his mind a maelstrom of conflicting thoughts.
"Basil?"
"I will...consider it." The hesitation is clear as day, uncertainty of what was the correct course of action, but you knew he did everything in his power to keep his promises to you. His response seems to be enough for now, because you lift yourself and place a kiss to his lips.
"That's all I ask."
His conversation with you days prior was not on his mind when Hawkins was summoned before Kaido.
One would think after months of answering to the Yonko, you'd be desensitized to the sheer size of the man. However, Hawkins felt that familiar flutter of awestruck terror as he stepped into the throne room of sorts to the beastly hulk that was his superior.
He was watched like a particularly amusing bug as he approached closer, finally dropping into a half-crouch in deference to the giant man. His throat dry, and with feelings of insignificance weighing at his shoulders, Hawkins forced himself to lift his gaze to the eyes of the dragon. "Kaido. What do you require of me?"
What feels like an eternity of silence—though was realistically likely only a few seconds—greets the small pirate captain. His heart beats heavy behind his chest, doing all he can not to visibly cower under the power of his master.
"I don't think much of you rookies. Scurrying, barking little dogs that nip at the heels of real power, hoping for a taste of what the generation before possesses." He began, which truthfully did nothing to help Hawkins recognize what this summoning was intended to be about. "I've also been told by many of my trusted subordinates that you have been useful."
Hawkins debated whether a response was expected of him, couldn't come up with one, and so elected to stay silent instead.
Kaido continued on after inspecting the man still knelt before him. "Maybe you've managed to put your pride aside. I know you were a captain, and no captain likes to put away his title and answer to another man. Yet here you are."
"I swore my loyalty to you." Hawkins said, marveling at the way his voice sounded so confident. "I am a man of my word."
"So it seems." Kaido rumbles lowly, tilting his head and reaching down for his jug of sake. He drank several gulps from it and set it back down onto the floor, the impact causing the ground beneath Hawkins to tremor and quake briefly. The subtle reminder of power wasn't missed.
"Those who are useful to me and don't disappoint are the ones still alive. They're also rewarded." He continues on, leaning forward in his chair to look at Hawkins more closely. "A nice home in the capital is just the start. I'm sure you can look around and see what else lies ahead, should you continue your current course."
Hawkins nodded his understanding, but stilled as Kaido's frown deepened.
"I shouldn't have to remind you what failing to prove useful to me will warrant, either. But I'll do it anyway. Better to be sure I don't have a weasel who thinks he's clever rising up the ranks." He leaned back up in his chair and shifted so that his cheek now rested against his fist. With his other hand, he made a shooing gesture towards the door, and Hawkins rose to his feet.
"Go home to that woman of yours and think long and hard about the consequences of breaking your loyalty." Hawkins turned, and heard the deep, intimidating laughter of a man who knew he held all the power behind him. "I'm sure you'll come to see what the right choice is."
Fears swirled in Hawkins' head the entire time he traveled home upon his antlered steed. So much so, his attention was barely on the path before him. Several people quickly get out of his way when it becomes apparent he won't be adjusting his course to avoid them. He didn't even seem to notice this either.
The pirate suspected that his talk with you several nights prior had something to do with it. He couldn't recall any other instance in which Kaido would question his loyalty towards the Yonko. He'd have to speak with you about not voicing your differing opinions quite so loudly.
His mind replayed his entire audience with Kaido, picking apart each word that came from the Yonko's mouth, trying to analyze their exact meanings. Trying to infer threats from simply warnings. Hawkins couldn't quite tell if this were a mercy or only the beginning of the slow decline into extermination.
A flash of your passionate face breaks through the clouds of anxiety that plague him. No. He wouldn't allow any such thing to occur. You and his crew depended on him to keep them safe. He'd do more, offer more, to Kaido than before. He'd prove that he could be a valuable asset not to be disposed of so easily.
Spotting your home in the distance, some of the stress begins to thaw. The promise of holding you in his arms is cause enough to hasten his pace. His steed enters a trot for the last hundred meters distance, and he drops to the ground in front of the entrance.
He prepares for the scent of your delicious cooking as he opens the door and steps through the threshold, but it never comes. His brows descend down, concern beginning to trickle and cut through the relief he'd felt of arriving home.
A single light is on in the corner of the room, almost dim amidst the darkness of the night sky outside of it. You sit amongst the cushions, unmoving, a cup of what he presumes to be tea in your hands. You don't look up at him as he enters the home, head bowed.
"Y/N?" He ventures to say, hesitant for some reason as he approaches. Something nags at the back of his head, at the base of his spine. Something isn't right, but he can't immediately tell what.
Even as you speak, your gaze remains on the cup in your hands. "You spoke with Kaido." It wasn't a question, just a statement.
"Yes."
"I see."
Nothing else follows, and he steps closer to the point where he crouches in front of you, peering into your face. The dull glint of metal around your neck is what catches his attention first, however, and when he recognizes the horrifying contraption, the air from his lungs escapes him in a rush.
You don't even blink when he grasps the collar around your neck and pulls it closer to inspect. Identical to the ones the Celestial Dragons used for their own slaves, yours is comprised of thick seastone, heavy and foreboding in its purpose and meaning. The explosive device anchored along the side sits inert for now, deceptively inactive. Though Hawkins knows with a cold certainty that should the person in possession of your collar's remote feel the desire, the light in its corner would light up red and begin to beep upon activation.
Dread like he's never experienced descend upon him. His fingers still grip the collar, limply hanging there with such defeat and woe that he can't bring himself to speak.
Your eyes are empty and void when you speak.
"He said to tell you...these are the consequences." As hollow as your gaze, your voice is quiet but doesn't waver. You look at him without malice, but lacking the warmth that he'd come to adore in their depths. "I assume you know what that means."
It breaks his heart to see you in such a way, and it's only then that the bruise along the top and side of your face is purplish-black and splotchy comes into view. The dimness of the light in the room had shielded it until now, though as his eyes adjusted, the details were more easily distinguishable. Your lip is split, puffy and red. One hand reaches up to gently touch the damage that he had failed to protect you from. Another blow to his already fractured resolve.
"Y/N, I..." He can't finish whatever he'd intended to say, chest aching and raw. A lump sits at the back of his throat in a way that no amount of swallowing would alleviate. "I..."
Your tone is emotionless. "It wasn't appropriate for me to say the things I did before. I should not have put you in that position. I see that now. It won't happen again."
There is nothing for him to say. Perhaps the words had been yours, but he had been the one to put all of you in this position in the first place. He only shakes his head, fingers trailing gently along the bruising to your face. His touch is light as a feather, not wanting to harm but taking in all of the damage that he saw as his doing.
He should have never allowed this to happen. He should have never sworn loyalty to a man Like Kaido. He should have taken the risk. He should have, he should have...
There was no escape now. Anyone could hold the remote on your collar. And he was but one man.
"I will do whatever I can to have this removed." He says, though even you can tell that the certainty in his voice is fabricated. Nothing more than hope, rather than a promise. He can't promise anything. He lacks the power to ensure it is kept.
You say nothing, only look at him with that woeful, defeated gaze.
Hawkins swears in that moment that no matter what was asked of him, he'd go above and beyond to fulfill it. For you. Nothing else mattered now but preserving and protecting your life. If this was the consequence of his actions, so be it. He had learned his lesson.
A good subordinate never questioned his superior.
ns 18.68.41.141da2
