"Thanks a bunch," Lena says to me as I finish serve the last customer.
"You have nothing to thank me for," I tell her back.
"Yeah, I do," she remarks. Before I can stop her, she puts money in my pocket.
I frown at her action. "You know I can't accept this. It's your tip money."
She laughs while waving her hand in the air. "Stop playing noble. You deserve some of it for giving me the table with the pirates."
My eyes widen. Honestly, I'm not suppose to be astonished. Lena's an intelligent young woman but the fact that no one reacts violently to pirates being in our town sure leaves a lot of questions, especially since my parents were killed by pirates.
"Don't act surprise." The other woman shakes her head. "Our boss is the first one to observe them."
My head moves slightly side-to-side. "I just thought…" A hand touches my forehead.
"There'll be some fight." Lena breaks my thoughts. "You forget you stopped them?"
I snap in her direction. "What?"
"Seriously, your absent mindedness gets me every time." She laughs again and returns to her task of wiping mugs. Business has slowed down, except for the pirates who are still eating at their table.
"What do you mean I stopped them?" I need to know the answer to that question. Her answer will be the judge to whether I can continue staying on Whaler Island.
"Really, you don't know?" she asks me in return, acting all casually.
"No."
She pauses in her task and looks at me. Her brown eyes -I must say- are scary. I feel like there's more knowledge that she hides in them. "Really?"
"Lena."
She inhales a breath. "I don't what else to say."
"Lena." It's like she leaves me hanging on purpose.
"All right." She puts down the mug, her eyes quickly scanning the bar, before putting her elbows on the counter.
I lean against the counter, making sure my back is to the shady pirates.
"Well," she begins to tell her adventure. "Just when everyone is frozen, as if waiting for someone to pull out a sword or gun, your cup falls down on the counter, rolling. That dragging noise makes everybody look at you and then your cups drops to the ground and shatters."
She then shrugs her shoulders and raises her hands into the air. "And that's it."
"What?"
"One look at you," she points to me, "And they lost interest in a fight."
"No," I begin denying. "That's not the story."
"It is." She shrugs again and goes back to doing her job.
"I can't stop a fight." I don't know if I should be breathing easier because nothing abnormal doesn't happen or if I should feel offended.
"I mean look at me." I gesture to my body.
She laughs. Her laughter twinkles and get the eyes of the male patrons. "I know. You're so cute!"
"No I'm not!" I shout back.
"That's why we make a great working pair," she sings. "I'm beautiful and you're cute."
I look up to the ceiling and pinch the skin with my forefinger and thumb. I'm trying my best not to shout at her.
When she's no longer singing, I squint my eyes at her. "I'm telling you, my appearance didn't stop them from fighting."
"Keep telling yourself that," she says to me. "Besides, can you do me a favor?"
"What is it?"
"Can you take out the trash before you leave?"
She doesn't have to ask twice. The other waitress reports to work, Katy is her name. She is pretty and quick on her feet like Lena but she doesn't talk much.
I leave Lena to her work and start gathering the trash. Usually, Nome takes out the trash, demanding that it's demeaning and unsafe for us females to do it. However, the sun still hasn't set outside.
Besides, I can feel relieved that she and the others don't find out I'm different. There are times when scenes from my previous life flashes in my mind and reality becomes a blur. I like to think that I have blackouts, because those times I see a different world, I can still be in the midst of doing something and I won't be aware of it. But it's what I'm doing that frightens me? I learn long ago that in One Piece, impossible things can happen.
I lug a pile of trash in the back and throw the bag to the side of the wall. Nome won't be throwing much trash away tonight. I look at the sky to see peaks of yellow, orange and dark blue. I acknowledge the sun is about to set on Whaler Island. I sigh. The end of another day.
Soon the Straw Hats are going to depart from the island and make their way to the Grand Line. I recall standing at the docks, overlooking the blue waters. My eyes squinting to see beyond the horizon. The Grand Line is dangerous and chaotic with its unpredictable weathers and unknown wildlife. Whaler Island is considered to be the last island off the Calm Belt in the East End of the water. Hardly ships come to the island because of an unknown current that changes course around the island, taking any ships with it.
I wonder if the current is somehow connected to the Grand Line. But that means that the current somehow makes its way through the Calm Belt. I shake my head at the thought.
There's a crack of something sharp behind me. My eyebrows tug together. My hands clench into fists. And there's again, a sharp tug in my mind. Trouble has followed me behind the bar. Slowly, I raise a hand to my forehead to rub the ache away.
"Aren't you going to look at us girl?" The masculine voice is familiar. Sounds like….
I oblige, spinning to face them. Two men. The same as before in the bar.
"You don't want to mess with me," I tell them calmly while still rubbing my aching head.
They begin roaring, their bilious laughter echoing in the alley. They pay no heed to my warning.
Still laughing at me, I exhale. My hand drops to my sides and I make a move for the open doorway. Suddenly, one of them blocks me. The other one closes in from behind.
"Move," I say simply.
I feel the tall man behind me, looming over the crown of my head. His hot breath reeks of ale. "Give us you' money."
"No thanks."
A sharp blade points to my neck. I breathed in, looking unfazed.
It's about to happen, they're asking for it.
"Do you want to die?" The man in front of me asks. His ugly face contorts into a grin of malice.
"I don't mind. Besides, I already did," I answer them honestly. Death is painful but here I am.
"You bitch!" The sharp end of the blade digs deep into my neck. I wince and warm liquid seeps down my neck.
The pain in my head gets sharper. I'm moving forward, the blade is piercing deeper into my neck and then I hear, "Gum gum!"
The man in front of me is pulled by large hands backward. His facial expression shifts into horror as he taken away from me.
"What the…" The other man, I assume with the huge sword at his back, is about to say when there's a thump and then silence.
In front of me, the first man gets hit with several punches before he drops to the ground and then straw hat along with his companions are staring at me.
"Hey there," he calls out casually to me. He fixes the special hat on his head while grinning. "Are you okay?"
I nod my head. My eyes take in every member of Luffy's crew. The pretty Nami is watching the unconscious attacker on the ground. Sanji's looking at me with heart in his eyes and Usopp has his arms folded across his chest.
"I'm surprise you're not shocked at the stretching arms," the orange hair girl remarks.
"Staying here makes you use to seeing different things," I answer her.
"Really?" she asks. She doesn't believe me. Can't say I blame her. Whaler Island is a secluded island and it's rare that normal travelers find it. The island tends to draw more of the serious or bizarre kind of travelers like the marines or pirates.
"Yep."
"Well, Captain Usopp and his crew has saved you," pointy nose says with a dramatic air.
"Actually, straw hat next to you and the swordsman knocked out the men," I point out.
At the information, he deflates.
"Shishishishi," Luffy laughs. "She got you there."
My eyebrows tug together on my face. It's something I notice but I do not mention it until now. "Your swordsman."
"Behind you."
I whirl around to see dark eyes scrutinizing me. He hands me a cloth and motions to my neck. Instantly understanding his meaning I take the cloth and press the fabric against my cut. I flinch a little from the pain.
"You're brave," Luffy says.
"Let me guess? You were waiting for me to be a damsel in distress?"
"Not-" The pointy nose is going to say something
"Why yes," the blond shouts out.
I shake my head. "Sorry to burst your bubble but that's not me." Not when I know when things are going to happen. Again, I don't know how I know. It goes beyond sensing. There's a tug in my mind, like someone taking a hammer to a nail and then I know.
I can't say my ability is a devil's fruit like Luffy's ability to stretch like a rubber band. No, I can hope with time I will find out more about me.
The words "I like you" pulls me out of my thoughts. "That's it!"
"Oh no!" Nami says.
"He's going to say it," the swordsman mumbles from behind me.
"How about you join my crew?" the straw hat asks. A big grin appears on his face.
A small smile tugs on my lips. "I appreciate the offer but no thanks."
The chef's jaw drops along with pointy nose at my answer.
Nami moves her pretty head side-to-side. "Well, you heard her."
The captain frowns at me. He folds his hands across his chest as if trying to figure out why I reject him. This is definitely not a first. Nami too rejects his offer before he saves her. So my rejecting isn't shocking to him.
"Why not?" This question from him is unexpected. Usually, he grins and sort of accepts an answer.
"Because being with you means more trouble. I don't want that." I give the captain an honest answer while wiping the remanents of blood from my neck and shoving the cloth in my pocket.
"She gets to the point," the swordsman says behind me.
Luffy frowns even more like he's thinking and well, thinking is unlike him. "But you can live a life of an adventurer, make friends, sing and dance."
I'm shaking my head and then I press my thumb and forefinger against my closed eyelids. The pressure in my head begins to throb and I'm mentally begging to not have images flashing in my head. Nami, the smartest one out of the group, will notice.
As if she read my mind, I hear her comment. "She doesn't look good."
"Hey, you're okay, right?" The other voice sounds like Usopp and he's a next one who can be pretty smart too.
"Perhaps she needs a good meal," the chef replies.
I open my eyes and shake my hands in protest. "Nah, I'm fine. I just need to go home and rest."
"Makes sense. A waitress job is hard work," the orange head girl agrees.
"But it's boring," the straw hat remarks while he crosses his arms against his exposed chest.
"Don't say that!" the pirate female shouts. She hits him on the head.
"What's that for?" He rubs his head. The other pirates roll their eyes at him.
At that moment I can't help but smile at their reaction. Their journey hasn't truly begun yet and yet they still have a camaraderie between them. Wait until they learn teamwork.
"Yeah, I should really get going," I say. Then not forgetting my manners, I bow deeply to them. "Thank you."
"Huh?" The captain is lost.
I stand up and smile at each of them. "Thank you for saving my life."
Luffy starts to laugh. "Shishishi." He points at me. "That's why I like you."
His laughter is infectious.
"Thank you and bye." I move toward the door and walk inside Yover. Soon the place will become lively. Nome looks in my direction and there's a slant in his eyebrows. Without hesitating, he makes his way to me. "What are you still doing here?"
"I went to put the trash out in the back."
"You know you don't have to do that." Dislike for me doing what he doesn't want me to do flickers across his face. His dark eyes shift over my shoulder. "And who are they?"
Glancing behind me, I see Luffy and his crew follow me into the room. There's a big toothy grin on his face. I turn back and sigh. Really, someone should've notice his wanted ad by now.
"I just met them in the alley."
There's a serious expression that takes over Nome's face.
I exhale a breath. I'm not being careful. "They're good people," I quickly cover. I don't want to sound ungrateful for them saving me but I don't want to alarm Nome either.
"Oh, really?" He questions.
"Yes." I crane my neck over my shoulder, my eyes landing on the captain. "Do you need a place to stay for the night? My boss will give you a great deal."
He's nodding his head, the ever so gullible captain of the Straw Hat Pirates.
"Wait," the female pirate says.
"It will be nice to sleep in a bed," Usopp replies.
"Yeah," the other males agree with him.
I turn my attention to Nome. "You heard 'em. They want a room for the night."
Nome laughs. "Well, of course. Any friend of Rue's is a friend of ours."
My boss passes me and is about to put his arm around Luffy when the orange head girl darts in between us and begins using her feminine charms to her advantage. I take it as my cue to leave. I wave at Lena. She cheerily waves back at me. I walk through the main door, careful not to touch anyone.
It's on my twelfth step outside, I pause. The sensation in my head tingles. I fold my arms across my chest and inhale a breath. Without whirling on my feet, I call, "Okay, you can stop following me."
"Shishishi," Luffy's laughter hits my ears.
I turn to look at him while keeping my arms folded and my facial expression is blank.
Straw hat stops laughing. His toothy smile is still in place. "I really like you."
"I got that already," I respond back.
"You're funny."
"Thanks," I say a little bit sarcastically. I really want to leave him so I can go home.
"That's why you're going to join my crew."
I put a hand to my forehead. Closing my eyes, I'm mentally counting backward from ten to one. "That's not possible."
"Why?"
"Because I'm not interested."
"But you're going to have fun."
"I already have fun."
"You don't look like you do."
"That's because I take my job seriously."
"Then you don't have fun."
I'm done arguing with this captain. I pivot on my feet and walk ten steps forward. "Will you stop following me?" I call out.
"No," I hear.
"When will you stop following me?" I look to the sky that is darkening with every minute.
"When you join my crew."
A/N: Thank you for your wonderful support. :)
By the way, does anyone notice that Nome doesn't didn't mention anything about the cut on Rue's throat?
Please leave a review.