I lay in bed, staring at an unfamiliar setting. This was not my room. This was not my bed. Ugh, where the hell am I?
I sat up and yawned. It took me a while to figure out the reason. I have been thrown into the anime world. This time is One Piece world.
"Oh, you're finally awake!"
I turned and was met by a pair of eyes looking straight at me, less than a foot away. I screamed and backed off into the inconveniently placed wall. I cursed silently as I rubbing my bumped head.
"A-are you okay? Sorry I didn't mean to scare you."
I looked back at Shanks, who was now scratching his cheek as he laughed nervously. I pouted and start to pinched his cheeks with my now small hands. Hard.
"Owowowowow, it hurts! Okay, okay, I'm sorry!" he screamed. Satisfied, I let go and jumped off the bed. I hissed as the cold floor touched my bare feet. I started to walk around, you know, to get used to the temperature, and finally left the room. I heard footsteps trailing behind me; I turned and looked up. It was Shanks. I guess I should thank him for saving me.
"Umm, Shanks-san?" he hummed and crouched down so we were eye to eye. "T-thank you. . . for saving me. . ." I blushed and looked down. The red-haired pirate chuckled in amusement and ruffled my hair. I felt my face getting hotter. Man this is embarrassing!Not to mention I was a huge Shanks fan. It's not that I liked him, I just respected him.
"Come on, I want to introduce you to someone. He's two years older than you, I think. . . How old are you anyway, ojou-chan?" crap. I knew it he would ask that. Shiiiiiitt...
"I-I'm five." Shit, my voice changed too! My hair still bore the same length, despite my smaller body and higher voice. But by the way my bangs hung over my eyes, I was seriously debating cutting it.
"I was right! Well, let's go then." Shanks smiled and held his hand down for me hold. I took it and started walking in a direction unbeknownst to me. Or was it?
We walked slowly, some people greeting Shanks. Sometimes they smiled and greeted me, but I cowered behind Shanks, still holding his hand. Shanks only laughed and ruffled my hair. Again. I pouted and pinched his hand because my hair become tangled because of him. He just grinned. I made him hiss by pinching him. It became a routine.
Then we stopped at a bar, I what I thought looked like a bar. I had never gone to a bar before, and never will, so I wouldn't know. The bar was full of men with scary looking appearances. Shanks greeted them and they greeted back with smiles; I guessed they were part of Shanks' crew, or at least kind people. I didn't know. We kept walking until arriving in front of a long counter thing with several tall stools.
And guess what? On one of the stools was the main character of One Piece, looking at me with his all-too familiar D-sized grin.
Yup. The soon-to-be infamous Monkey D. Luffy. . .
Luffy had a strange way of greeting me. He jumped down from the stool and landed in front of me. I swear, his soul-invading stares were creepy, making me feel uncomfortable. He just kept on staring, as if he was looking for something. Apparently he found it, because he started grinning again. Luffy pointed to himself with his thumb.
"I'm Luffy! What's your name?" he asked. Damn, what name I should use? I panicked, thinking quickly. I think I'll change my last name, because my last name is a weird one. My middle name was fine, but Luffy had a one-letter name, so I decided to copy him and use the first letter of my name. I smirked. And, of course, never forget to turn the last and first name!
"I'm Ryuuen A. Erica. Nice to meet you, Lu'-chan!" I smiled at him. He grinned and sat back down on the tall stool. Because I was afraid of falling and making a fool of myself, I watched him and Shanks argue (or Luffy argue, because Shanks was only laughing) from down on the ground. Man, my neck's starting to hurt. Stupid tall people.
"Ara, Shanks! You're back!" I turned and spotted a young woman with dark green hair and a bandana across her head. Makino...
"Oh hello there ojou-chan. Are you the one that Shanks rescued?" she asked, smiling kindly. I nodded and squeezed Shanks' hand in my own, which, unbeknownst by both of us, were still interlocked. Makino giggled and crouched down to ruffle my head.
"Are you shy, Eri-chan? That's so cute. Oh, I'm Makino. Nice to meet you," she said, still smiling. I smiled back at her before looking back at Shanks and Luffy.
"I told you I'm going to be the Pirate King!" bragged Luffy. "Just wait and see,you bastard!" I sweatdropped. Oi, oi, Luffy. It's not good to talk like that to an adult, especially when you're still a little kid. I averted my gaze back to Shanks, who was laughing at Luffy for some reason, along with all his present crew.
The two of them kept arguing for what seemed to me to be ten minutes or so. Bored, I walked around the bar. Eventually I met a man with curly blond hair. He grinned at me and introduced himself. "I'm Yasopp. You feel better now, 'jou-chan?" I nodded and touched my head, which was still bandaged.
"Yeah, thank you for asking. It's better than the first time I woke up," I quickly explained. "I'm Erica, by the way. Nice to meet ya!" He laughed and patted my head. "You know, I have a son named Usopp. He has a long nose and black curly hair; he got it from his mother." Oh yeah, Yasopp was Usopp's dad. I had almost forgotten about that. . .
"So you left him to sail across the world?" I asked. He nodded and smiled. "Yeah. I miss him though. Maybe it's because you kids are here and my son's about Luffy's age. It's nostalgic!" Yasopp laughed and patted my head again. I nodded politely and turned to see if those lousy guys had already stopped arguing.
They had! Thank God, because I didn't like loud voices, including and especially crying loud people. I slowly walked over to Luffy and Shanks. Shanks looked at me and waved me over. I walked a little faster but suddenly I tripped and fell. And my face fell first, thank God I didn't wear glasses. Everyone looked shocked, especially Shanks.
I sat up slowly but my head was throbbing and I felt something was flowing across the right side of my face. Shit, don't tell me the injury opened!
"Erica!" Shanks quickly ran toward me and held me up. I examined his expression and came to the conclusion that it was stupid. It still surprised me, though. Shanks' expression was full of guilt and worry, the same as my mom's expression whenever I happened to get hurt. It had been a long time since someone was worried about me like that. . .
"Makino, bring me a medical kit," ordered Shanks. Makino nodded and quickly took the medical kit. She ran and gave it to Shanks. He muttered his thanks and opened the bandage with a scissor slowly. After the bandage was off from my head, Shanks opened the medical kit and took out an alcohol wipe. I found it strange that my pain tolerance was so low as I hissed from the stinging the alcohol. It was weird; I never hissed in pain at home.
After a while (which felt like forever because Shanks made it as slow and gentle as possible. . .), finally the injury had been bandaged (again). Everyone sighed in relief. Shanks did, actually, look almost like a zombie. His eyes were red and his expression was really serious. The pirate then switched to relieved and sighed. I giggled as I remembered his expression from before.
"Geshishishi, Shanks-san looked really stupid. . ." I teased him. He glared at me as I turn my head to other side and giggled. Shanks' slightly traitorous crew laughed.
"Maa maa, Shanks-san," I said, trying to lighten up his mood. "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine! This little injury will probably heal in a few days!" I grinned at him. He just sighed and patted my head for the fifty gazillionth time.
"You make me worried, you know," he muttered softly as he ruffled his own red locks. I giggled and give him another grin. "Don't worry Shanks-san, I'll be fine," I said. I took a drink of my warm chocolate milk given to me by Makino when Shanks 'operated' on me.
"By the way Makino," Shanks said to Makino. "I know this is a lot to ask, but could she stay with you? A pirate ship isn't a place to raise children, plus it's dangerous. I could give you money to help her." Shanks picked me up and put me on his lap. I sipped slowly at the milk as he started ruffling my head. I enjoyed his big and gentle hand on my head.
I was actually starting to get sleepy and soon I slumped back on his chest. I yawned and put the cup on the counter. I could hear a chuckle and a giggle and feel a hand ruffling my locks. Even though I was sleepy, I still wanted to hear their conversation so I tried my best to not fall asleep.
"It's fine. I would love to take care of a girl and have one around. I don't need money; here I'll lead the way," Makino replied. I felt myself being turned and my face was in front of Shanks' chest, his strong arms around me to hold me from falling. I rested my head on his chest and closed my eyes. Then Shanks carried me to a room, Makino trailing behind.
A few moments later, a soft thing and a pillow was under my back and head. I felt a hand ruffling my head. I couldn't help but smile with my closed eyes. I actually loved being petted or ruffled, especially on my head. Too bad there isn't any tradition like that in my home country. . .
I started to pray before I slept; it was my routine before sleep. I hoped I would stay in this world a little longer so I could look after Luffy until he became the Pirate King. And because both of his brothers will die (except Sabo) in the future, he will need someone other than his nakama to look after him.
Right?
A/N: not much to say. Please Read & Review!
Disclaimer: ya' think I owned One Piece? Fuck no dude!
EDIT: by SugoiAuthorToBe.
ThiefofStealth
