Disclaimer: Oh yeah I totally own One Piece, like I also own Harry Potter, Bleach and Chuck Norris. Maybe I'll also take over the Universe one day (Yes I was being sarcastic).
Summary: Sabo was saved by Dragon when the tenryuubito, Saint Jalmack, shot his boat. He, Ace, and Luffy went out to the sea together at age 17/14. What would happen to our beloved Straw Hats if they had a captain who had experienced Grand Line once already?
Warnings: slight OOCness, language, gay jokes, some violence.
Pairing: nothing permanent between main characters, start reviewing if you want something badly (but no LuNa).
A/N: The next chapter won't be up in at least two weeks, maybe even longer. Also, I went by the fact that Syrup Village is the only settlement in the island, even though in both anime and manga 'the other town' was mentioned about half a dozen times. Please just go with me on this one.
Posted: September 1st 2011 (stop reading this shit and go to school and study!)
The group had been slowly making their way through the seas towards Gecko Island. Nothing remarkable happened aside the fact that they ran out of meat… again. Luffy was really disappointed that they amazingly hadn't ran into any ships since leaving Shells Town.
"I'm booooored~" Luffy moaned. "At least on a proper ship I could train you guys or play a game, but there's no room here."
"Train?" Zoro and Nami echoed together.
"Yup. You guys haven't even cracked your true potential." Luffy grinned maniacally, promising a darkly sinister future for his nakama.
"You think so?" Zoro asked skeptically. As far as he knew he was quite strong.
Luffy grinned and nodded his head enthusiastically, looking like he was Jack the Ripper about to pounce on a whore.
"I'm going to teach all of you to use haki."
Sabo rolled his eyes.
"Before that you should actually explain what it is." He suggested.
"Ah, right it's…"
Before he could say anything more a sailboat bearing a pirate insignia pulled up next to them and three thugs climbed over.
"Hello gentlemen and lady. We'll be taking everything of value in exchange for your safe passage." One of the three said as they each pulled out short swords or daggers.
"When did they sneak up on us?" Nami asked in surprise.
"They've been following us for about an hour." Luffy answered, sounding bored again.
Sabo raised an eyebrow. Luffy's mood swings had been getting more severe since they left Grand Line. Was there a reason for that?
"Do you mind taking care of this, Zoro-san?" Sabo requested politely.
The three watched dispassionately as Zoro beat the crap out of all three with his fists, not even bothering to draw even a single blade.
Now they were sitting in a circle, completely covered in bruises, but all smiling in an attempt to soothe the mess they had tangled themselves in.
"Hehehe, who would've thought that you were the famous Pirate Hunter Zoro?" The spokesman said nervously. "Please forgive us!" They all exclaimed.
"Hey guys, look at this!" Nami exclaimed from the newcomers' boat.
She showed her companions a treasure chest filled with money and jewels.
"Wow. I wasn't expecting that." Luffy said, surprised that such a small boat would hold such treasure.
"Maybe Zoro-san can get better swords now?" Sabo mused out loud.
"What's wrong with my swords?" Zoro asked, slightly insulted.
"With that white one- nothing. But the other two are far too ordinary. They'll do for some time, but with the battles that are sure to come you need something with more quality. Trust me, having your weapon fail you in a crucial moment is not… pleasant."
It was then Sabo noticed the Jolly Roger.
"Ne, Luffy, doesn't that ring any bells?" He asked his younger brother.
Luffy looked at the flag.
"A skull with a big red nose. Why does that seem familiar?"
Luffy's sharp ears picked up a whisper from the three nameless pirate thugs.
"Captain Buggy will kill us if he finds out we lost our boat and treasure to a bunch of no-names."
"Buggy?" Luffy asked and the three flinched at being caught.
"Hmm? Who's Buggy?" Zoro asked from his lounging position.
"Whaat? You don't know Buggy the Clown?" Thug number 2 exclaimed in surprise.
"Never heard of him." Zoro replied nonchalantly.
Thug number 1 made a dramatic face and started explaining. "He's the captain of our crew. He's got the power of a Devil's Fruit and he's a very fearsome man."
"Is he somewhere near this area?" Luffy asked, getting excited again.
The three nodded mutely.
"Awesome. Let's go meet him. Nami, we're giving the treasure chest back."
"Whaaat?" Nami exclaimed, not happy at all. "But captain…" She started protesting.
"Sorry, but taking it away would make Buggy mad at us. I don't want that." Luffy shook his head.
"Your captain understands how dangerous our captain is." Thug number 1 said, emboldened by Luffy's words.
"No, that's not it." Luffy shook his head. "Buggy's just a friend of a friend. Now, let's go meet him."
They had finally docked at a seemingly abandoned town. Suddenly a loud crash was heard.
"I wonder what made that loud explosion." Sabo mused out loud.
"That's our Captain Buggy's Buggy Bomb." One of the thugs replied nervously.
"Buggy Bomb?" Zoro smirked. This actually might not be a complete snorefest.
The group made their way towards where the thugs said the Buggy Crew to be. Buggy's underlings were carrying the treasure chest, much to Nami's displeasure (though she did manage to nick something or other here and there).
"This town seems really deserted." Luffy wondered out loud as they made their way through the empty streets.
"Of course." Thug number 1 exclaimed, as it should've been obvious. "Captain Buggy's made everyone terrified of him, right? Everybody from this town's evacuated."
Luffy frowned. Not really liking what he heard. "Why would he need to do that?"
The thugs looked at Luffy like he was an idiot, but wisely didn't say anything.
They arrived at where Buggy was lodging and partying. He was in a generally good mood and chugging grog with his underling. He noticed the newcomers a moment later.
"Where've you been you flashy louts? What's in the chest?" He bellowed.
The thugs placed the chest in front of him and opened it. Buggy's eyes bugged out at the sight of all the treasure.
"Whohooo! You boys are definitely forgiven. Come, have a drink in celebration!" He cheered happily.
"U-uh, captain, we sort of ran into people who wanted to meet you." Thug number 1 said carefully. The captain was in a good mood right now, but he was known to have a 180 at any given moment.
Buggy turned to look at the group of young people he hadn't noticed a moment ago.
"Who are you kids?" He asked in a slightly rude tone.
"Just a bunch of pirates." Luffy answered with a grin. He had decided to ignore the state of the town for the time being.
"You brats? Pirates?" Buggy snorted.
Luffy pouted. "Why not? You were even younger when you apprenticed at Oro Jackson, weren't you?"
The name rang a bell in both Nami and Zoro's minds, but they could not remember where they had heard it before. Buggy turned to look at the young pirates with a bit more interest. Come to think of it: that straw hat looked awfully familiar.
"Hmm? Not many people are aware of that. How did you know that?"
"Shanks told me about you. He sends his regards, by the way."
Buggy was so surprised he fell off his seat.
"That flashy idiot! Where do you know that shitty man?" He raged.
Sabo frowned and Luffy pouted.
"That's rude, y'know. Shanks always spoke about you with fondness." Luffy said.
That did not improve Buggy's mood at all. Actually it threw him into a tirade about the story why he hated Shanks with passion. Luffy's reaction was quite predictable.
"So, Shanks saved your life." He stated.
"No, you moron! He destroyed my dream and delayed my plans by ten years!" Buggy raged.
"It's unlikely you would've been able to get your underwater treasure by swimming anyway." Nami spoke up for the first time.
"Bwuh?" Buggy sputtered.
"The treasure would've likely been so deep you not only would've ran out of breath a long time ago, but the pressure would've squished your body. You'd have been more likely to find your treasure with a submarine." She stated matter-of-factly.
If it had been nighttime you would've heard the crickets chirping a moment before Buggy cried out in denial and holy anger. He whipped out six throwing daggers, three on either hand between each finger, and separated his upper body from his lower half. With an enraged scream he flew at Nami.
Before he could make it to the ginger navigator however a big cloud of dust appeared out of nowhere.
"I had no harmful intention towards you, Buggy." One could hear the cheerful straw hat wearing boy say through the cloud. However, at that moment he didn't sound the least bit cheerful. Honestly his voice could be described as 'demonic'.
"However, if you intend to harm any of my nakama you'd better be willing to accept the consequences."
The dust had begun to settle and the silhouettes were becoming more visible. Buggy's top half was face-first in the ground with Luffy sitting on his back. Luffy's hand was strewn through Buggy's hair as if to hold it in its subdued position.
"Bwat" Buggy's muffled voice said moments before his hands dislocated from his arms and made to attack Luffy.
That wasn't nearly as effective as he would've hoped as Luffy had, aside from his monstrous strength, unbelievable speed. Luffy swatted Buggy's dagger-wielding hands away with quick well-placed kicks.
"Get offa me wou bwat!" Buggy whined and dislocated every part he could.
That meant only his head got taken prisoner.
For a moment Luffy and Buggy stared at one another.
"How can you be so weak, anyway? You and Shanks started off the same and now you terrorize small towns in East Blue while he's one of the Yonkou."
Buggy's eyebrow twitched.
"ARE YOU TRYING TO PISS ME OFF?" He screamed, eyeballs white from fury.
Luffy sighed and shrugged.
"I was really hoping for more. Instead I find this pitiful weakling terrorizing a village to make himself feel better about his tiny penis size."
Everyone, including Luffy's own crew, sweatdropped at Luffy's random comment.
"Nami-chan, it looks like you'll be getting that treasure chest after all."
The fight between Buggy and Luffy couldn't be called much of a fight at all. The gist of it was Luffy punching Buggy flying for miles. And that was it.
"Well, this was a total waste of time." Sabo commented nonchalantly.
"Really, I was hoping for a fight." Zoro said, also quite bored.
"What are you two talking about? This is awesome!" Nami on the other hand was in Nirvana as she cuddled the treasure chest. Suddenly another thought occurred to her.
"You!" She barked and pointed towards a random pirate from Buggy's crew. "Where's the rest of the treasure? And the Grand Line map? If you don't get them for me- er us- my captain will beat you up! Right captain?" Nami finished evilly and shot the last part towards Luffy who had already sat down and stuffed his face with food from Buggy's banquet.
"Yeah. Sure." Luffy replied and gave Nami thumbs up, probably not even noticing what he was agreeing to.
Nevertheless it was enough to intimidate the shit out of Buggy's crew and they immediately scurried off to comply with Nami's 'request'.
Some time later the group left Orange Town and headed back to port.
Finally the group arrived at Gecko Island. It was a tiny island that was only big enough to support one village. And that one village was Syrup Village. Luffy could barely sit still from excitement. Sabo had explained that an old friend of theirs was a first-rate sharpshooter and that his son was living on this island and that Luffy was hoping he could recruit him as their own sharpshooter.
"But don't say anything; I want to test him first." Luffy said and made shushing sound while bouncing around, too eager to get to land.
Luffy didn't pay much attention to the conversation his travel-mates were having. He was sitting on the very top of the boat and practically sparkling with excitement.
"Should we be worried about him?" Nami asked out loud.
"That's the kind of guy he is, miss navigator. Believe it or not this is him being completely serious." Sabo explained.
Nami and Zoro raised an eyebrow.
"You don't need to be alarmed though; he's very devoted to his friends regardless how he is usually behaving. The only time he actually 'acts' serious, in the traditional sense of the word, is when an enemy really angers him. Trust me, that is something you don't want to see, sadly it's probably inevitable."
At that moment the boat pulled up on the sandy shore. Luffy jumped off.
"Let's go find something to eat, then see what's there to see here."
Should have figured Nami and Zoro both thought as they climbed off the boat.
"It feels pretty damn nice to stand on solid ground again." Zoro said and stretched.
"That's because you were asleep the entire way. We made another stop at an island about a day ago." Nami scolded the swordsman lightly.
"By the way, I just noticed a moment ago…" Zoro said and gained his companions attention. "What are those kids doing over there?"
He pointed towards land where four young kids had been hiding.
"Wahh! We've been found!" Three younger kids freaked out immediately.
"Stop being such scaredy cats!" The fourth, older one, scolded the younger boys.
"Are you guys travelers?" The older kid asked the four companions.
"We're pirates." Luffy replied bluntly, making Nami smack her forehead.
At that the kids ran away screaming, leaving the older boy alone. The lone young man stood up and crossed his arms.
"Fellow pirates, huh? Listen here strangers, I am the great pirate fleet leader "Captain Usopp". This village is under my command and if you try to attack it me and my 80 million men will not forgive you!"
Luffy cocked his head, really confused.
"Where are your men? There's barely 1000 people on this island, none who are fighter material… No wait, there is one."
Nami and Sabo shook their heads at her captain's selective naivety.
"You're lying, right?" She asked the boy.
"Aah! Caught!" Usopp grabbed his head and freaked out.
"And you said it yourself."
Usopp completely lost his cool head and wailed at himself for bad planning. Or something like that. Nevertheless Luffy was laughing his butt off. Usopp apparently didn't like being laughed at like that. He stopped berating himself in favor of being angry at the young pirate captain.
"Don't underestimate me. I'm a man with high self-esteem."
Luffy stopped laughing and looked the young man in the eyes. Then took a few steps towards the teen. Usopp was about to reach for his slingshot when the straw-hat wearing young man disappeared only to reappear in front of him fraction of a second later. Usopp 'eep'ed in surprise and the strange youth put his hand in the middle of Usopp's face to cover his nose.
"Shishishishi. Aside from the nose and black hair you really are a spitting image of Yasopp." Luffy giggled. "You're his son Usopp, right?"
"You know my dad?" Usopp exclaimed in surprise.
"Sure, he's an old friend of mine. Say Usopp, is there a place to eat around here?"
A while later, after Usopp was convinced the pirates had no interest in pillaging the village, he took the group to the local food joint called 'Meshi'.
"So… you're in town looking for companions and a ship?" Usopp asked as they were eating.
"Mhmm." Luffy nodded as he tore into his meat.
"There's only one ship-owner in the entire village. It's not a very large ship but it's not that small either. The owner of the ship belongs to a wealthy family and lives in that mansion."
"Is that so?" Sabo said, not too enthusiastic, considering how picky Luffy had been so far.
"Well, we say she's the owner but really she's just a weak frail girl. Her parents died about a year ago from sickness and left her everything." Usopp sighed. "Not all the money in the world could save you from sorrow, I guess."
There was a moment of silence.
"Let's forget about searching for a ship in this village and look elsewhere." Nami sighed and shook her head.
"That's fine, but we're absolutely in no hurry. For one thing I want more meat in our supply." Luffy agreed with his navigator, but not for the same reasons.
"By the way, you mentioned earlier that you were looking for companions." Usopp gained Luffy's attention.
"Mhmm? Is there someone here that wants to be our companion?" Luffy asked with a wide grin.
"Let me be the captain, and I'll join you!" Usopp exclaimed dramatically.
"Never mind." Nami and Zoro said while letting their heads fall limp on their chests in a show of disappointment. Sabo was impassive but Luffy started laughing quite uproariously.
"Alright!" He said much to the surprise of everyone. "If you can beat me in a one-on-one."
The shock wore off immediately and the group shook their heads with smirks. That sounded more like their captain.
"One-on-one?" Usopp asked, surprised.
"Well, of course! Traditionally the captain should be one of the strongest, if not the strongest, fighters in a pirate crew. Following someone one could beat too easily would bo way too embarrassing."
"Never mind." Usopp let his head fall on his chest as a sign of giving up.
"AH! I just remembered I need to be somewhere. Well then I guess I'll see you later!" Usopp then hightailed out of the tavern.
"Didn't you want that guy as our sharpshooter?" Zoro asked, a bit skeptical.
Luffy shrugged nonchalantly.
"Like I said, we're not in any hurry."
Luffy continued with his meal like he didn't have a worry in the world, which he probably didn't at that moment. Zoro and Nami ordered a pint each and had a friendly competition of who could finish theirs first. The loser had to take up crow's nest duty first once they got their ship. Zoro won by a fraction. Though he was damn impressed by the ginger navigator's ability to keep up with him.
"Ne, Zoro, I challenge you to drink the captain under the table tonight." Nami said evilly in a form of revenge. Apparently she didn't like losing bets very much.
"Ne, cap'n, how about a drinking contest with me tonight?" Zoro asked, his pride not allowing him to turn down such a challenge.
"Sure!" Luffy agreed cheerfully and proceeded to finish his meat. Sabo had a hard time maintaining his pokerface.
Suddenly the door burst open and three young boys stormed in.
"USOPP PIRATE GROUP IS HERE!" They shouted together.
Nami leaned on her seat to look towards the ruckus. "Who are they?" She wondered.
"No idea." Luffy responded and lifted his mug.
"They look like the three scaredy-cats from when we arrived." Sabo said calmly.
"Oh, you're right!" Luffy exclaimed with a nod and started downing his drink.
Suddenly the boys seemed to freak a bit and rushed to their table.
"Y-you pirates! What have you done with Captain Usopp?" The middle boy wearing an odd green hat shouted.
"Give him back!" The other two boys backed their friend.
It was at that moment that Luffy slammed his empty mug on the table and exclaimed out loud happily. "Maaan, that was some good meat!"
The three young boys huddled together in fright and shock.
"Meat?"
"D-don't tell me captain was…!"
"What did you do to him?"
It was then Zoro gained an extra evil look.
"Your captain was just… delicious." He said with an insane glint in his eyes.
The three boys cried out and called Nami a hag at the same time for some reason. Nami, who had been amused up until now, lost all sense of humor and almost seemed to actually turn into a hag as she clobbered the poor kids for calling her that.
"Stop telling them such weird things!" She turned back to Zoro, who was busy laughing his ass off along with Luffy and Sabo.
Sabo got off his seat to help the traumatized kids off the floor and explained how they were just joking.
"So captain said he needs to be somewhere and left by himself?" They echoed Sabo's explanation.
"Oh, then he went to the mansion." The green hat wearing boy, Piiman, exclaimed.
"Where the sick girl lives?" Nami asked, surprised.
"Why does he go there?" Luffy wondered, surprised as well.
"To tell lies!" Ninjin, the boy with a black hoodie and hair that hid his eyes, replied.
The pirates sweatdropped. The way the boys acted that seemed like actually a decent thing to do. Then the boys explained how Usopp went to the mansion to tell the girl tall tales to cheer her up.
"Wow, what a nice guy!" Luffy exclaimed. "How's his sharpshooting skills?" He asked, seemingly randomly.
The boys looked surprised.
"How did you know captain was good with a slingshot?" The bespectacled boy, Tamanegi, asked.
"Slingshot?" The pirates echoed in surprise.
"Yes, captain can shoot pachinko balls like they were bullets!" Piiman exclaimed with stars in his eyes.
"Really? That's not something you hear every day." Sabo mused, mildly impressed.
"Let's check that out later." Luffy agreed with his brother. "By the way, you said the mansion owner feels better after hearing Usopp's lies."
The three boys nodded.
"Alrighty. Let's go ask her for a ship." Luffy decided, but Nami didn't like that idea.
"No! Didn't you just say you'd give it up!" She protested.
"There's no harm in asking, Nami-chan. It's not like I'm going to steal it."
"He does have a point." Zoro agreed.
Nami only massaged her temples.
"Fine, but not today. I want a nice soft bed to sleep in tonight." She said finally.
"Why can't we do that and still ask her today?" Luffy asked, confused.
"Just in case people react badly and want to drive us out of town."
Luffy accepted the explanation with a grin. Sabo however didn't see why people would react so aggressively even if they were turned down by the mansion's owner. He shrugged and decided to indulge her this time. As Luffy said: they were not in any hurry.
After they were all full they went to rent rooms in an inn. It was a small establishment and didn't look like it saw much business. They rented two rooms, one for the men and another for Nami alone. Personally Luffy didn't see why one of them couldn't share a room with Nami, but he's come to accept that men and women don't usually like sharing rooms. Though, he still couldn't see why.
Some time later they split up. Luffy left to find Usopp, Nami and Sabo went to find excessive amount of alcohol for the evening's drinking competition and Zoro snoozed in the inn.
Luffy found Usopp easily since he had the second strongest spirit among the entire island, if you didn't include Luffy's own companions. Luffy had been wondering about the other warrior-level person living in Syrup Village, but right now he had more pressing urges.
"Yo!" He greeted the young sharpshooter loudly.
Usopp yelped, jumped in surprise and lost his aim, shooting a small ball of paint into the sky instead of the painted target.
The budding sniper twirled around and came face-to-face with the straw hat wearing pirate captain.
"When did you sneak up on me!" Usopp inquired loudly while massaging his palpitating heart.
"Just now. I haven't even had the chance to see if your sniping skills are up to par with your old man's."
Usopp blushed, feeling slightly embarrassed by Luffy's upbeat attitude.
"To be honest I wouldn't know. I haven't seen him in over ten years." He admitted shyly.
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot. This is for you. It's from your dad." Luffy aloofly threw a flintlock pistol at Usopp who caught it clumsily.
"My dad?" Usopp echoed, disbelieving.
"Yup. I promised him I'd deliver that gift regardless whether you joined my crew or not!" Luffy grinned while rocking himself back and forth in a childish fashion.
Usopp had been distracted by the pistol, admiring it like it was the most precious gem, so he almost missed what Luffy said afterwards.
"Ha? What did you say?"
Luffy blinked for a few times before it finally hit home. Then he clamped both hands to his mouth.
"Whoops. I didn't mean to say that out loud. Please forget it." The look on Luffy's face gave Usopp the impression he meant it literally.
"Uh…"
Awkward silence ensued. Luffy barely noticed though.
"So…" Usopp tried to fill the silence. "Y-you wanted me as a nakama?"
Luffy pouted.
"You were supposed to forget it." Spontaneously the smile was back a moment later. "Ah, well, I guess you can't. Yeah, I may be here to see if I want you in my crew. Your dad really loved telling tales about you. I swear my ears were ready to fall off. So I asked if he would shut up if I made you my nakama." Luffy took a pause to laugh. "He didn't, but he did give me that pistol to give to you. I got to say, though. I pretty much like what I've seen so far. So show me some sniping too."
Usopp wasn't quite sure how to handle the exuberant teen. So he nervously opted to do as asked and show his skill with a slingshot. He hit the mark bulls-eye.
"Nice. Now hit that!" Luffy requested cheerfully, pointing to a mark much farther away, and a lot more difficult to hit.
"You want me to hit that tree there?" Usopp asked, not really worried. He could do it.
"No." Luffy snorted. "I want you to hit that hole in the tree."
Usopp looked at the tree again. The hole looked barely big enough.
"Are you serious?" He exclaimed, his eyes wide.
"Yasopp could shoot the antennae off an ant halfway across town."
Oh yeah, that was helping Usopp's nerves. Gulping he steadied his slingshot and released the pellet. It slightly nicked the edge of the hole, but otherwise hit home. A loud screeching was heard and a pissed off, bleached white squirrel popped out of the hole. Luffy held his stomach from laughing.
"Oh, poor squirrel! I wouldn't want to wake up getting paint all over me. Nice shooting though, Usopp."
"Of course! I'm just that good!" Usopp bragged though he had honestly expected to miss.
Luffy giggled. Usopp and Luffy ended up talking until sunset. They traded stories about mostly Yasopp and the tales that Usopp told Kaya to cheer her from her gloom. Luffy found the ones especially amusing that were accidentally true, like one with Sky Island and the goldfish turd islands. He didn't tell Usopp they were true though.
Around the time of sunset Luffy went to the inn. Sabo and Nami were in the boys' room, enjoying a drink and some snacks.
"Hey, cap'n. Where've you been?" Nami asked. She seemed to be in high spirits.
"I went to talk with Usopp. He's not half-bad of a sniper. What did you do?" Luffy replied.
"Nothing much. This sleepy village doesn't have anything interesting. Though we did get the grog for tonight." Nami pointed towards about a dozen kegs in the room.
"Really? What's going to happen tonight?" Luffy asked.
Sabo and Nami turned towards the young captain.
"You are supposed to have a drinking competition with Zoro." Nami deadpanned.
"Really?" Luffy asked, surprised.
Sabo rolled his eyed. "Luffy doesn't always notice his surroundings when he's eating." He explained.
Nami accepted the fact with a shrug.
"Well, I challenged our swordsman to challenge you for a drinking competition, so he challenged you and you accepted." Nami said with an evil grin.
"But you know the outcome already." Luffy pointed out, confused.
"Yes, exactly." There was a sinister glint in the navigator's eyes. "Zoro's going down!" She cackled.
"Speaking of Zoro, where is he?" Luffy asked after noticing the marimo missing.
"He went for a walk shortly before we returned to the room, we ran into him in the middle of the village. Though, he should be getting back just about now." Nami explained.
It was an hour later when Zoro finally came into the room.
"Yo, Zoro! Where have you been?" Luffy shouted cheerfully.
"For a walk." The swordsman grumbled.
"Zooroo got loost~" Nami mocked slyly.
By the pissed off look she received she was spot on.
"Bet you can't beat the captain in drinking." She goaded.
"What're the stakes?" Zoro replied confidently.
"Hmm… How about… the loser has to take the other one's every single crow's nest duty for a year."
"Deal."
Luffy opened his mouth, but Sabo placed his hand on his shoulder to keep him from saying anything.
The next morning Zoro wore an icepack on his head; his captain's cheerful laughing not making him feel any better either. The biggest blow to his ego however was the ginger's gloating look.
Luffy, Sabo and Nami went to the mansion while Zoro opted to stay at the inn to sleep off his hangover somewhat.
"So… this is the gate." Luffy stated the obvious.
"So… now what?" Nami asked, still not wanting to bother the ailing rich girl.
She turned her head to look at her captain only to realize he wasn't there.
"Let's just go in." Luffy said- from on top of the gate. Nami sweatdropped.
"He's pretty sure about himself, isn't he?" Nami whispered to Sabo.
"Luffy life policy is to live his life without regrets." Sabo answered with a chuckle.
Nami sighed in an irritated fashion and rubbed her temples. "I guess if I can't stop him I'll just have to follow him."
Sabo, being the gentlemanly pirate he is, helped Nami climb faster and the two ran to catch up with Luffy.
"Hello!" Luffy shouted cheerfully as he spotted Usopp telling a blonde a story through a window.
"W-what are you doing here?" Usopp shouted in surprise, not having expected to see the young captain to show up in Kaya's yard.
"Askin' for a favor." Luffy replied cheerfully. He turned his head towards Kaya. "Hey there! You must be the Princess of this estate."
Kaya blushed slightly at Luffy's choice of words which made Usopp's eyebrow twitch with annoyance.
"I-I'm not really a princess." She stammered slightly embarrassed but pleased nonetheless. "You wanted a favor?"
"Yup. You see, my crew and I are in a need of a ship." Luffy sent a wide grin at Kaya.
"YOU THERE! What are you doing here?" Another voice interrupted their conversation. The owner of the voice was a man that looked to be in his 30s, and he did not look happy.
"Ugh, the butler…" Usopp whispered with a look of severe dislike.
"Kurahadol!" Kaya exclaimed.
Luffy and Sabo tensed momentarily. They both had sensed there was a non-civilian type in the village, but both had assumed it was either someone retired or on vacation. But this person was a man in his prime and working as a butler. Maybe he was also a bodyguard? It wasn't that much of a stretch of imagination. The brothers shared a look and shrugged it off for now.
"You are trespassing here!" He barked, ill-tempered and confident. Oh yeah, definitely part of the security.
"Kurahadol, these people-" Kaya started.
"You don't need to tell me now. I'll listen later." He said boldly.
Luffy raised an eyebrow and another thought about the man's identity occurred to him.
"Please vacate the premises immediately. Or do you have something to say?"
"Are you her fiancé?" Luffy asked bluntly.
The reactions varied: Usopp fell over in shock, Kaya spluttered and went red at the very idea, Nami had no idea how her captain came up with that idea and wanted to slap her forehead, but Sabo found his little brother's question plausible. Kurahadol turned into a statue for a moment before readjusting his glasses with his palm.
"What made you come up with such a ludicrous idea?" He demanded. Not asked, demanded.
"Just your general behavior towards your master. A servant isn't allowed to speak out of terms like that unless under special circumstances." Sabo explained, remembering his childhood and how his parents treated their servants.
"Ah no! He's just looking after me!" Kaya claimed, trying to avoid even more embarrassment.
"You're far too lenient, Princess. Not everyone have your best interest at heart." Luffy said with his brows furrowed. This girl was really soft-hearted and also quite naïve. The wakeup-call would hurt like a bitch when or if it comes.
The light glinted off Kurahadol's glasses ominously. He turned his gaze towards Usopp.
"You're Usopp, are you not?" He stated. "I've heard some rumors about you. The villagers talk."
"Ho? You can call me Captain Usopp. Everyone does." Usopp said with a false cocky smile.
"I've heard rumors about your father as well." Kurahadol said cruelly. "You are just the son of a low class pirate."
Kurahadol's goal was to goad Usopp and he seemed to succeed quite well, but he didn't foresee the other male teens to burst out laughing.
"Yasopp a low class pirate?" Luffy giggled.
"Maybe in another reality." Sabo said as he tried to catch his breath again.
"Ne, guys, if the sniper of one of the Yonkou is a low class pirate, then what's an elite pirate?" Luffy asked through tears.
"Speaking of pirates. We need a ship, Princess, but you never gave us an answer before."
Nami sweatdropped slightly at her captain's strange thinking patterns. Though, pirates and ships are pretty intimately involved.
"Absolutely not!" Kurahadol barked.
"Oh sorry. I was under the impression the ship belonged to Princess." Luffy said an honest apology.
"It does belong to her but-" Kurahadol started but he was interrupted by a pissed off Luffy.
"Then why's you answer instead?"
Kurahadol opened his mouth to answer but Luffy made a sharp shushing sound to silence him. He glared at the potential pirate captain as he turned back towards Kaya.
"So what do you say?"
Kaya looked uncertainly towards Kurahadol and bit her lip for awhile.
"I-I'm sorry, but I don't even know you…"
Luffy turned his Puppy Eyes of Doom at the ailing girl.
"You won't? Are you sure? Are you certain you won't change your mind?" He pouted.
Kaya blushed at the absolutely adorable look the young pirate sported.
"Sorry." She apologized sincerely.
Luffy shrugged nonchalantly.
"Ah well, happens. Let's see how Zoro is doing. Nice meetin' ya, Princess!"
The trio went on their way.
"Want to come too, Usopp?" Luffy shouted back before they made it to the gate.
"Yeah, poking people who have hangovers with sticks is always fun!" Nami added as well.
Are you trying to kill him? Sabo thought at Nami's comment.
Usopp did leave with them, but he didn't go the see how Zoro's hangover was, instead he said he wanted to be alone for a moment. The gang decided to let Usopp do as he pleased. Right now they were enjoying a grumbling swordsman. Usually Zoro didn't have hangovers; however his competitive streak made him drink nearly up to alcohol poisoning the night before. So here he was: enjoying his mortality.
"By the way, Luffy, did you notice the other non-civilian type appear today?" Sabo asked while Zoro was nursing his water.
"Hmm?" Luffy blinked and concentrated on his kenbunshoku haki.
"Hey, you're right! Though, he's not that strong." Luffy replied.
"What're you, psychics?" Zoro grumbled, his mood understandably sour.
"In a manner of speaking." Sabo said mysteriously.
"Nope, this is haki." Luffy said and rolled his eyes.
"I remember you said that's something you'll teach us." Nami said as she remembered the young captain mention something about it a few days ago.
"What is haki anyway?" Zoro asked.
Luffy got more comfortable before starting his explanation.
"Haki in the literal sense means ambition. Every human being can potentially learn to use the two main branches of haki, however most people lack the drive needed to unlock it. I'm quite positive both of you are capable of equipping haki with some prodding. So far it's simple, right?"
Nami and Zoro nodded.
"The two main branches are called kenbunshoku and busoshoku haki. The one Sabo and I were just talking about, the one you had us dubbed 'psychic', is the former. Kenbunshoku, or the 'color of observation', is sort of a sixth sense that tells you where your opponent is when you can't see them, how many there are, and even what they're planning on physically doing next."
Zoro immediately remembered Luffy's blindfolded fight against Morgan.
"Kenbunshoku haki is sort of 'hearing' a person's very spirit." At that Luffy shuddered. "Hearing the 'voice' 'disappear' when a person dies is one of the most morbid things one could experience though."
"What did you mean by non-civilian type you mentioned earlier?" Zoro asked.
"Kenbunshoku haki can also be used to determine a person's potential strength in battle. That butler-guy for instance, he's someone who has probably taken someone's life with marvelous success." Sabo said, coming out sounding a bit darker than he had planned. Nami felt a shudder run down her spine. "Also the more skill you have the wider and more accurate your range is."
"Usually you need hard training or severe mental shock or stress to awaken any sort of haki, however I've heard of a case when a person is actually born with it active." Luffy and Sabo took off their respective headwear. "May she rest in peace." Then they both put their hats back and went on like nothing happened.
"The other one, busoshoku haki- or the 'color of armaments', is sort of like wearing an invisible armor. However that armor doesn't weight anything and it doesn't constrict your movements in the slightest. If anything it actually gives you more speed if controlled skillfully." Luffy explained while Sabo stood up and took out his bo staff.
He swung it at Luffy hard, but it bounced back slightly before it could make contact. "Of course that 'armor' could be used as weapon as well if you augment your offensive attacks with it. If Sabo had used haki against me it would've penetrated my own and that would've hurt!"
Nami and Zoro could feel the resonation the harsh blow created in the air. Sabo had not hit his brother lightly in the least.
Sabo flicked Luffy's forehead.
"Ow!" Luffy exclaimed and glared at his brother who only laughed.
"Another thing it's useful for is that it penetrates any advantage a Devil's Fruit gives a person. For example Luffy, being a rubber man, is almost immune to blunt damage."
The two 'students' chuckled while Luffy only pouted and kept rubbing his forehead.
"Those are the two main branches of haki the every person has, even if they live and die without once awaking it. There is a third variation of haki, however that is something only a select few are born with." Sabo said once Nami and Zoro had settled.
"The third type is called haoshoku haki, or the 'king's disposition'. It is something only about one out of a million could potentially use. Luffy is one of them… and so is Ace…" Sabo pouted.
Luffy patted his brother's hand consolingly.
"There, there, Sabo. You're plenty strong even without it."
Sabo ruffled Luffy's hair, making his straw hat fall off. Luffy let out an angry protest and pulled it back on.
"Haoshoku haki's function is to literally overpower your opponent's will with your own. It can be used to tame simple-minded beasts instantly and knock people with inferior wills unconscious. There are people whose wills are strong enough to attain immunity, though." Luffy explained the last part.
"That's what you did to that bastard son of Morgan's." Zoro realized.
"Yep." Luffy nodded and let a burst of his haki loose in the room. Zoro felt a strong chill go down his, but Nami grasped her chest and started panting while breaking into cold sweat.
"Oh, sorry, Nami-chan. I haven't completely mastered my control, but at least I know enough not to knock anyone out by accident." Luffy apologized sheepishly.
"What the hell did you do that for?" Nami asked, actually screamed, once her breathing was back in control.
"Sorry, sorry. I just wanted to give a demonstration. Should've done it a bit lighter though. Measuring quantities is also something I can't control perfectly yet, but it's better than my aim."
Nami stole Zoro's water in hopes to wash away the lingering shivers. Zoro was too distracted to protest.
"Do you think I may have that?" He asked in hope.
The brothers shrugged.
"The possibilities are one in a million, though the world's strongest are more likely to have it. There's a reason why it's called 'king's disposition'. Of course even if you don't have it, it doesn't mean you have any less potential." Sabo explained.
"How many do you know of, besides Luffy and your other brother, who have it?" Nami asked and Zoro finally noticed his water bottle missing.
"Well, there's Whitebeard and Shanks- two of the Yonkou. I'm not sure about the other two. Then there's the old pirate king, Roger, and his first mate Rayleigh. Uh- I think that's all." Sabo replied while scratching his chin in thought.
"You forgot Hancock!" Luffy piqued in cheerfully.
Sabo bit his knuckle to keep from laughing out loud. "Yes, there's also the empress of the all-female Kuja warriors. She's quite notorious for hating all things male." Zoro and Nami cocked their head in confusion, not understanding what's so funny. Luffy was highly surprised.
"Really? Hancock's always been nice to me."
Sabo coughed into his hand in an attempt to keep himself from cackling.
"You'll understand if you ever run into them. That poor woman." He giggled while Luffy whined in confusion.
"Everyone!"
Someone screamed outside. The quartet turned to look out the window. Usopp was running down the street screaming his lungs out.
"Pirates are coming to attack tomorrow! Run for your lives!"
The group watched as people started coming out of their houses armed with spatulas, skillets and broomsticks. They started arguing with Usopp who tried to convince people that there were honest-to-god pirates planning on attacking tomorrow morning. Finally the villagers chased to aspiring sniper away, none too gently too.
"He seemed pretty convinced there will be pirates attacking tomorrow morning." Sabo commented.
"Don't worry your heads over it, dear guests."
The group looked down their window to see the kindly landlady.
"He's been doing this for years. He runs around the town each morning without fail, screaming his head off about pirates attacking." The chubby lady chuckled. "Although, he does usually do that in the morning instead of the evening." She tutted and went back to her sweeping.
Luffy sucked his lips in thought.
"Usopp genuinely did seem to believe there is going to be tomorrow morning." Sabo spoke what Luffy was thinking.
"What makes you think that?" Nami asked.
"I don't know what he's thinking, but he felt really scared." He replied.
"Anyway, let's go see what's going on."
The group left the inn in a leisurely stroll, following where Luffy and Sabo claimed Usopp to be. They found him laughing loudly at his three friends.
"Hahahahaha, I just said it because I hate that butler." He laughed uproariously, though if you listened closely you could detect it being without any humor.
The three boys didn't look amused much.
"I don't like the captain doing that." Ninjin said.
"Me neither." Piiman nodded.
"Even though that butler is a jerk, captain shouldn't make up stories to hurt anyone." Tamanegi added.
The three boys left to have dinner, passing the four pirates with a nod of greeting.
"Let's take a look at that wound of yours." Sabo nodded towards the arm Usopp had been hiding behind his back and pulled out a firs aide kit from his top hat.
They patched him up and put a bit more distance between the village and themselves.
"So, wanna tell us what's really going on?" Luffy asked.
Usopp sighed and stared at his toes.
"Kurahadol is- was- really the captain of Black Cat Pirates, Captain Kuro. He wanted to quit being a pirate without the marines after his tail, so he made an elaborate plan where a fake was executed in his stead. He's planning on having Kaya hypnotized to write a will leaving everything to him. And then… kill her. Because I'm a regular liar no one will believe me."
Usopp gripped his trousers tightly and shook all over with emotion.
"Everyone thinks tomorrow will be a peaceful day…" Usopp stopped shaking and he jumped to his feet in determination. "So I will make sure my truth will actually become a lie!"
Luffy grinned.
"Admirable determination. But… can you really fight them alone?" Sabo asked.
Usopp jumped. "You're saying I'm scared of them? I'm not scared! Even though they got more people!" He screamed with tears in his eyes. His knees were shaking.
Luffy's grin widened.
Usopp started beating his quaking knees in a futile attempt to still them. "Stop staring like that! Of course I'm scared! What normal person wouldn't be?"
Luffy's grin widened to an almost impossible width.
"Which is why we'll fight alongside with you tomorrow." He declared. "Because that's what nakama are for."
Usopp looked at Luffy with wide eyes. "Nakama? But I'm not even part of your crew."
The grin on Luffy's face looked like it could literally split his face in half.
"Say that again tomorrow after the battle."
Sabo and Zoro grinned. After all, the bonds forged with blood were often the strongest.
Being as the island was on a cliff-like setting there were two possibilities where the pirates could attack from, and Luffy and Sabo located them and picked the more obvious route, even though Usopp believed it to be the other. The slopes on either side of the island were the only way in because the steep cliffs that otherwise surrounded the isle, so Usopp naturally believed it to be the slope closer to the village. The brothers however claimed that the pirates docked near the other one. So to ease Usopp's mind they poured oil all over the first slope making crossing it even more difficult than climbing the cliff.
"By the way, how come you didn't know before that there were pirates nearby?" Nami asked the obvious question in Zoro's head.
"They were waiting on their ship too far away." Luffy replied.
"There's a limit how far you can sense. The farther and more accurately you want the more concentration you need." Sabo added.
"Could you have sensed them if you had concentrated harder?" Usopp asked (he had been filled in about haki by Nami, just to kill time).
The brothers shrugged. "Possibly. Depending how much our distance is." Sabo said.
"My immediate sensing range is about half a kilometer. If I concentrate I can stretch out nearly to ten. Sabo can sense even farther." Luffy added.
"It is possible to have that haki fail in battle though, if you get flustered enough to lose your concentration." Sabo informed.
"Speaking of battle, we have to be really strong to hold our ground with an entire crew of pirates. So, what are your skills?" Usopp asked suddenly.
"I cut." Zoro.
"I stretch." Luffy.
"I steal." Nami.
"I pound." Sabo.
"I hide." Usopp.
"YOU FIGHT TOO!" Zoro and Nami yelled ill-tempered.
"Actually, hiding is not bad idea with how his skills are at this point." Luffy placated his nakama.
Zoro and Nami looked at heir captain as if he lost his marbles.
"What my brother is trying to say is that snipers, as good as they are in ranged combat, are generally very weak in hand-to-hand." Sabo took up explaining.
"Especially Usopp right now as he is." Luffy added bluntly, making Usopp hung his head in embarrassment. "I'm definitely going to have to teach him what to do if cornered, but right now it would be way better for all of us if he were to hide someplace safe to take out the enemy. So right now the question remains…" The brim of Luffy's hat cast a shadow over his eyes ominously, making Usopp feel shivers. "… Are you willing to do what needs to be done?"
"What do you mean?" Usopp asked, even though he had a feeling he knew where this was going.
"Are you willing to take a life in order to save a life?"
The shivers turned chilling, making Usopp's blood run cold.
"I d-don't necessarily need to. Right? I can just stun them." He said, his voice shaking.
The group didn't say anything for a while, just stood quietly, the only sound that could be hear were the waves of the sea and the wind in the treetops.
"Yes, you can just do that." Luffy started, his voice grave. "But then they will keep getting up, and up, until they have reached their goal."
Usopp's fists twitched.
"You'll probably be dead, as they'll probably find your hiding place."
Now they clenched.
"That is if you're lucky. Some men reeaally like torturing their victims."
Cold sweat broke on Usopp's face.
"Then they'll storm the village, burning down all the houses."
Cold sweat spread all over his body now.
"Finally, they'll reach the mansion."
Usopp squeezed his eyes shut.
"They'll go inside her bedroom, where's she's still sleeping, or already awake from all the noise coming from the village."
Usopp started shaking. "Shut up…" He whispered weakly.
"I wonder what methods they'll use to get her to sign the will…?"
"Shut up!" Usopp grounded, this time more loudly.
"I personally doubt they'll kill her after she's done. Men oftentimes get lonely out on the sea, so they'll probably…"
"Shut up! Shut up!"
"…rip open her white nightgown and proceed to…"
"SHUT UP!"
Usopp threw a wild punch at Luffy. The fist connected with his jaw and the force made him fall over. Usopp grabbed the fallen captain by his red shirt.
"Those scumbags will NEVER lay even ONE FINGER on her! I won't let them! If I have to I will… I will… I will kill them all!" He screamed madly, tears streaming down his face.
Luffy smirked and got on his feet again.
"Yes. That's the determination that will save her. But don't forget that we're here as well. We will stand by you to protect what you hold dear." Luffy nodded. "Now let's go to the other slope."
The group turned to walk but then Luffy stopped suddenly.
"Oh, and…" He turned towards Usopp and punched him in the jaw, making the young sharpshooter fly a couple of meters away with a yelp of pain and surprise. "… Now we're even."
The most surprised person of the group was Sabo. He had never in a million years thought he'd see Luffy mimic Garp's Fist of Love. It seems like he already saw his nakama as family.
Zoro, Sabo and Luffy watched patiently as the ship with a black cat figurehead pulled up right in front of the slope. Nami and Usopp had hidden somewhere nearby. Usopp was armed with his usual slingshot and also the flintlock pistol he recently inherited.
"Hey, that ship's kind of cute." Luffy said as the enemy captain's voice faintly carried over giving his motivational speech.
"You like it?" Sabo asked.
"I've always kind of liked felines. They're delicious!"
Zoro sweatdropped. Luffy apparently is content to eat every kind of meat as long as it isn't straight out cannibalism.
"Hmm?" Suddenly Sabo sat up straight and turned towards the village.
"Something wrong?" Zoro asked.
"There's a person with a heavy injury in Kaya's mansion." Sabo replied.
"That girl?" Zoro shouted with a start.
"No, it's someone else. But he's barely hanging in there. It's probably the work of that butler."
"Go help him. We've got things under control here." Luffy said without a hint of worry.
Sabo nodded and disappeared towards the village.
Luffy jumped up from the ground and walked into the middle of the slope, directly on the pirates' path. Zoro followed his captain's lead.
Sabo arrived by the mansion stealthily by the time the sky had already taken a blue color. He spied the butler sitting on the front steps of the mansion. He looked impatient. However Sabo wasn't interested in the bespectacled man. His interests laid in the injured middle-aged man inside the house. He snuck around the house, careful not to be noticed, entered through a window and hurried towards the passed out servant.
As he kneeled next to him he noticed the evil butler walking out of the estate towards the slope. Well, one less thing to worry about. Sabo turned his attention towards the lamb-like person. He gently turned him around after making sure there was no damage to his neck. He ripped the shredded front shirt completely off to assess the damage. The cuts were shallow enough to stop the majority of bleeding as the man lied face down, which is why he hadn't bled to death already. The wound had already started to clot, however now that there was no pressure Sabo had to hurry up with the bandaging.
As he was working the suffering man became conscious.
"Who…?" He rasped through pain.
"Sssh, don't try to speak, sir. You've lost quite a lot of blood, so any dizziness you may feel is to be expected after the searing pain subsides a bit. I recommend that you take it easy for now, Hitsuji-san*."
"The… village… miss Kaya…" The man rasped through pain.
"No need to worry, sir. My brother's got everything under control. Both the village and its princess are safe." Sabo placated.
Not a moment too soon after Sabo was finished bandaging the door opened and the blond mistress of the manor entered. She took in the sight of her bloody servant and screamed.
"Meri! What happened? Who did this to you?"
She turned to look at the swallowtail-wearing young man fearfully.
"Miss Kaya. You're really safe. Thank god." The servant, Meri, rasped.
"Really safe? What are you talking about?"
"Kurahadol!" Meri's eyes filled with tears of frustration.
Meri tearfully went on to explain how he was assaulted by Kurahadol, how he was really a pirate, and how no one believed poor Usopp as he tried to warn everybody.
"I-is everyone else in the mansion safe?"
"There's no one else in the mansion. They all left for vacation yesterday evening. Miss Kaya, everyone in this village is in danger of those pirates. If Kurahadol's goal is your treasure, then you should just give it to him. It's not worth risking everyone for."
Kaya nodded through her tears. "Yes, I will go and talk to Kurahadol now."
"Er, sorry to interrupt, but your plan is actually flawed." Sabo cut in before the girl could go on the suicide mission.
"From what Usopp told us, Kurahadol- or Kuro- would not let miss Kaya live in any scenario. If he had been just interested in the money he would've attacked the village three years ago as a pirate. He wants off the wanted list, so he faked his own capture and thus death. A friend of his is a hypnotist, and he's planning on having the young mistress write a will leaving everything to him in her demise. Just not to be suspicious the village needs to be pillaged as well." Sabo rained on their parade.
"What am I supposed to do? Everyone will…" Kaya cried.
"Don't worry, my brother and his crew are taking care of it as we speak." Sabo said with a kind smile.
"This is Captain Kuro and the Black Cats Pirates we're talking about. What can just a few kids do?" Mari cried, pessimistic.
"Just my brother alone is enough to beat them all blindfolded. Have faith."
Kaya stood up and started leaving the room.
"Where are you going, miss?" Sabo asked, but he had a feeling he already knew.
"I'm going to Kurahadol."
"Oh no, you're not! You're so weak you can barely stand. I'm afraid you'd just be in the way, madam."
"I can't just sit tight and do nothing! I'm going!"
Sabo and Kaya argued back and forth until Sabo finally gave in. He lifted the girl into his arms bridal style. She started protesting immediately.
"Stop complaining. You can barely stand by yourself. My brother and probably Usopp will be pissed at me as it is for allowing you to wander out. Just sit tight and let me carry you."
Kaya did as told with a blush. The young man's coat was unfastened and therefore she was tightly pressed against his bare chest. It's the first time she's been next to a male's bare skin that was not her immediate family. Naturally she was very embarrassed. Sabo didn't notice or expertly ignored it.
Luffy had taken care of the masses by swinging his leg and letting the force it created in the air blow the bulk away. Then captain Jango, who apparently was a hypnotist, hypnotized his underlings into thinking their wounds were healed and they had ten times the strength as before. Unfortunately ten times the strength on each individual still was not enough. Then two weird guys jumped off the ship and made to attack. Luffy declared himself bored and Zoro offered to take this round.
The Nyaban Brothers, as they were apparently called, bluffed about their strength, and thus managed to steal two of Zoro's swords. Luffy thought it was hilarious.
"If you want I'll take one off them off your hands." Luffy offered as the two Black Cats 'scratched' at Zoro.
"It would be embarrassing if I'd have to force my captain into fighting such weak foe." Zoro replied.
Luffy's smile widened into a grin at Zoro's answer.
"As you wish."
Suddenly a gunshot was heard and the skinny brother, Sham, fell over dead as a bullet pierced his brain. The husky brother, Buchi, momentarily overtaken by shock and grief was cut down by Zoro a moment later.
"What is going on here?" A dangerous voice asked suddenly.
Everyone turned towards the top of the slope where Captain Kuro stood.
"The sky has been bright for some time now. Why have you not acted according to plan?" He grounded ill-temperedly.
Kuro's eyes took in the dead Sham, the deathly injured Buchi, Jango and the beaten crew.
"Yo!" Luffy raised his hand in greeting.
Kuro looked at the two young enemy pirates dispassionately. He then turned to nervous-looking Jango.
"T-these kids are not ordinary." He tried to defend himself.
"Kurahadol!"
Everyone turned towards the feminine voice. Kaya had arrived in Sabo's arms. Somewhere near in the bushes Usopp flushed slightly in jealousy.
"Sabo! Why the hell did you bring her here?" Luffy yelled at his brother.
"Sorry, Lu, but she was very persistent. So then, I could've just let her walk by herself with her body as frail as it is or lend her a hand."
"You could've just knocked her out."
"I have no problem beating up women, but I can't in good grace raise a hand against a lady." Sabo scoffed. Of course by 'women' he meant 'female warriors'. "And unlike you I can't knock people unconscious just by glaring at them." He finished with an eyeroll.
Kuro and Kaya proceeded to converse. Kaya asked Kuro to leave everybody alone, but Kuro only confirmed what Sabo had explained. Kaya was reduced to tears.
"Jango! I will finish these kids. You will make Kaya write a will. After that, kill her." Kuro said darkly after their conversation had ended.
"Roger that." Jango replied and made a way towards Kaya.
The next thing he knew he was being held above ground by the neck by Luffy.
"Oh my. You didn't think I would actually let you harm her, did you?"
Luffy rammed Jango face first into the stone ground, effectively knocking him unconscious.
"Zoro." Luffy said to his first mate. "This guy would be kind of a challenge to a swordsman of your skill. You won't be bored to fight this one."
"Roger that." Zoro replied with a grin, copying Jango's earlier words on purpose.
Suddenly Luffy disappeared and reappeared next to his brother.
"Since you're going to kill us, why not start with our swordsman? We won't leave from this spot. That's a promise."
Kuro, in already an extremely bad mood with things going awry, didn't argue but readied his claws to attack Zoro immediately. The battle that ensued between the two blade wielders was quite even, but in the end Zoro's fire reigned supreme.
Just as Kuro lay defeated before an injured Zoro Jango finally came to. Not realizing his former captain was defeated he panicked at the sight of Kaya and sent his chakram flying at her. The chakram was intercepted by Usopp's bullet, making it veer out of course and harmlessly into the ground. A bit less dangerous pachinko was shot at Jango's already bruised head, knocking him out cold again.
"Come now, Lu, no need to be so depressed." Sabo attempted to cheer up his depressed brother helplessly.
After the battle was over the beaten crew made a hasty retreat with their ship. Luffy had been feeling gloomy since he realized he let the one ship he found cool away. The only plus side is Nami's little excursion on board. However, even she wasn't satisfied with the money she found since they let the ship get away.
"Is finding a ship really that difficult?" Usopp asked.
Usopp had freshly joined the Straw Hats after the fight with Kuro the day before. The gang had given him time to say his farewells to his friends and 'disband' his own kiddie pirate group.
When they finally arrived at the docks, where their boats were, they were pleasantly surprised by Kaya and her bandaged servant Meri. However the most magnificent sight was the caravel with a lamb figurehead. Kaya looked at the band of pirates before her with a kind smile.
"You have done so much for both the village and I. As a thank you I would like to give you this ship as a present."
Luffy's eyes and mouth were wide open with wonder.
"It's so adorable! Are you really giving it to us?" He asked with stars in his eyes.
"Yes, please accept it." Kaya replied courteously.
Meri went on to explain how the steering and other operatives worked on it, but only Nami and Sabo paid him attention, as Zoro didn't feel the need to know it himself and Luffy decided to more or less learn as they went.
"Such a beauty. It's even nicer than that kitty-ship. I especially love the figurehead." Luffy giggled to himself as he admired his new home.
"I've prepared anything you would need to set sail." Kaya said with a kind smile.
"Aww thanks. You're really being the awesomest Princess in all of East Blue." Luffy cheered and gave Kaya a one-armed, but powerful, bear-hug.
All of the pirates, sans Usopp, climbed aboard. The young sharpshooter stayed on coast to properly say goodbye to his (not so) secret crush. It all went well with blushing and shy giggling until Kaya asked Usopp how she could ever thank him enough for all he's done for her. That was when Luffy, ever the tactful one, shouted from aboard to lay one on him, as he would probably appreciate that form of gratitude the most. Since then the goodbye felt awkward as hell.
The other pirates and Meri stuffed their knuckles in their mouths to prevent laughing out loud. Luffy never knew he said anything embarrassing.
Thank you for reading.
* Hitsuji means sheep in Japanese.
Word count: 10, 572 (mother fu*a-ha-ha*ck that's long as hell) ONLY THE STORY ITSELF!
