She stopped almost instantly and huffed, simply dropping low to the ground so that Killers attack and counter attack both missed. "Any why not big brother?" He shook his head and she sighed, understanding that he wasn't going to respond any farther than that. "I like you captain's taste though," She smiled once more before flipping behind Killer. "Very exquisite." Kate's smile grew even wider. "And the crew- from what I have seen, they've got a punk-rock theme going on, right?" Kate was quiet for a few blissful moments before asking "He's a whips and chains kind of guy right?"

For once Killer faltered for real, her question catching him off-guard. He dropped down to one knee, not trusting his legs to fully support him after what just came from his sisters lips. He looked up staring at his sister through the holes of his mask. Had he heard right? Did his baby sister just ask if his captain was a whips and chains kind of guy? And what the hell did Kate know about whips, chains and men- no scratch that- Killer did not wish to know the answer to that. The watching crew wondered if the small yet fearless blonde had somehow managed to take Killer down. Maybe she had a devil fruit power. What else would explain what Killer was doing kneeling on the ground as if physically wounded?

"Killer?" She questioningly asked as she cautiously approached him. "Big brother, did- I didn't hurt you did I?" She examined her borrowed weapon. There was some blood on it from nicks and scratches, but none of them had been worthy of the honor of taking her near invincible older brother down.

"No, don't be ridiculous." He muttered pushing himself to his feet.

"Does this mean that we're done?" Kate asked, trying her hardest to not look disappointed. They had only gone at it for real, for less than thirty minutes.

He nodded and then announced, "I'm going to show you around."

She nodded as he turned around to begin to show Kate around, only for a heavy weight to land on his back, arms to wrap around his neck and legs around his waist. "Am I still too old for a piggyback ride?" She almost whimpered quietly into his ear.

At that Killer realized just how wrapped around Kate's finger he was. He frowned at the idea, however it was only Kate, meaning he could live with it. If anyone else whimpered for a piggyback ride before (or after) jumping on his back, he'd have killed them on the spot. "Maybe tomorrow."

The arms around his neck, tightened into a hug as the words "I love you Killer." were mumbled into his ear. She rested her chin on the top of his shoulder bone.

"I know." With that he continued walking, down into the ship. He showed her every important place she should be aware of until they reached the next island. She wound up falling asleep somewhere between the artillery room and his room.

Sometimes it was good to be the second highest seat of power-especially when your little sister was staying. There was no way in hell Killer would allow or force Kate to spend her numbered nights in the barracks of the ship with the rest of the Kidd pirates. Hell would have to freeze over, and even then it was unlikely that Kate would be sharing living quarters with anyone else besides himself.

He ripped back the covers of his made bed, carefully lay her down on his bed, covered her up before he leaned down to kiss her on the forehead only to remember his mask- as if he could forget. So Killer settled on tenderly running his hand back through her now short hair before he turned and walked out. After all it was only noon and there was work to be done.

Unfortunately word had gotten around about the blonde girl and the way she had greeted and acted so familiar with Killer and the crewmates had their hunches about who she was. The smart crewmembers stayed silent, not wanting to face Killers wrath when he caught wind of what was being said. Not that they cautioned the other members against anything, they just discussed how Killer would react, guessing whether or not heads would roll. They even began putting money on it like the not so smart Kidd Pirates.

Kidd ran a hand up his face, getting rid of any remaining traces of sleep before he stepped out of his quarters and going to check their course. The rays of dawn had cracked across the sky, the top arch of the golden, not yet blinding, sun peeked over the horizon. The black night sky was fleeling the light, and all was silent other than the sound of the crashing waves. Sluggishly he climbed up to the quarterdeck, only to stop short.

In his throne like chair that rested before the metal wheel, was a blonde. A small, petite slightly snoring blonde. Red eyes narrowed at the sight. She was sleeping so peacefully on his throne, as if she owned it, as if it were hers. Both legs spilled over one of its arms, her torso and upper body fit almost perfectly in just the seat, and the other arm was being used as a pillow or headrest. A single pale arm dangled off the side, back of her hand resting on the deck- it was a surprise her arm was long enough to reach, Kidd mentally scoffed- the other rested on her stomach. Kidd let out a dark chuckle, she was blissfully unaware of the danger that loomed over her.

An angry snarl then slipped out of Kidd's mouth before he reached forwards and buried his large calloused hand in her short, soft hair. Her blue eyes popped open with a satisfying amount of surprise as he clenched his hand into a fist, dark nails gratifyingly scraped against her scalp. The girl then let out a satisfying noise of pain, her hands scrambling to try and remove his hand from her hair as he pulled her off his throne and threw her off the quarter deck before collapsing into the now warm seat himself.

It was his, and she had no god-damned right to be in it.

Damn that man had nails! Sharp ones too! What kind of man didn't have bitten, in horrible condition fingernails?! Kate wondered, though not aloud.

From the lower deck, Kate sat up, frowning at the strands of hellfire red hair that were visible form her vantage point, as she massaged her aching scalp- the one thing Killer hadn't hurt. Her muscles were sore from that 'fight' with him yesterday. It had been forever since she had such a good work out, since she had to try so hard to not get hit. Too tired and too achy, Kate simply lay back down in the place on the deck she had none too gracefully landed. Kate just rolled over and closed her eyes.

Was he mad at her because she sometimes sleepwalked? If so, that wasn't fair. As Kate thought this, she was already well on her way back to that dream she had been having.

Kidd watched the sunrise at an agonizingly slow speed, with his ankle on his knee, chin on his fist, elbow on one of the arms of his throne, thinking as he did so. How that little wench was related to his first mate, Kidd would never know. This was the second day and she was already starting off bad. He only had a week , seven days, to put up with her and then she'd be gone. For Killer, he could try and not kill the girl, but he never promised a damn thing to anyone. Kidd considered warning Killer that his sister might not make it through the week, but he figured that he already knew.

Kidd stood to go find something else to do, something more entertaining. Their course was fine, he'd of course check it later, but for now he was bored and had better things to do. He walked down the stairs, as if he had all the time in the world. Only to stop a few feet away. There she was on the deck, in his way, yet again sleeping soundly, only this time, a small smile played across her lips. Kidd scowled down at her peaceful figure. Of course he could always walk around her, the deck was more than large enough for him to do so, or he could simply step over her- but why should he have to? She shouldn't be in his way to begin with.

Kidd could kill her, right now and he wouldn't even need the pistol or the dagger he had on him. He wouldn't even have to bother with his devil fruit power either. He would simply bring his boot clad foot down on her chest, cracking her ribs, possibly puncturing her lungs. Or he could do the same thing to her head, crush her skull beneath his foot- either way, it would be the end of her.

Killer woke up with the other half of his bed empty and cold. He jerked into a sitting position and checked the ground on the other side of the bed before he allowed his mind to wander where Kate was, or the trouble she had managed to get herself into. Killer calmly searched his room, but his little sister didn't turn up, so the next possibility was- well anything. But he was going to ask Kidd if he had seen her before he looked anywhere else. He went down the dimly lit hallway, up the stairs and then onto the deck only to see Kate laying there, Kidd looming over her. Killer could see the wheels turning behind his eyes, contemplating what he should do to remove her from his path.

At this rate Kate wasn't going to live to see Wednesday, let alone the end of the week.

Killer sighed heavily. She was only sleeping, he couldn't wait to see the kind of trouble she'd get into when she was actually awake, and conscious of her actions. "Kidd." He said, approaching his captain, bringing his focus up from the girl and to him.

"I told you she's your fucking responsibility." Kidd growled at his first mate. "If she gets in my way one more time. . ." Kidd stepped over her, letting the threat speak for itself. Killer knew very well the things Kidd could and would do to Kate if he wished, or she pissed him off enough.

Killer sighed heavily yet again and picked up Kate's' limp body. As if sensing that she was in safe arms, she curled into his chest and snuggled into him. It was either that or he was producing enough body heat that she could feel it through both their clothes and her unconscious state, and just wanted to get closer to it. Once in his room, after he had laid her down again, Killer woke her up.

"Two more hours." She grumbled in a hardly audible voice. Five to thirty minutes was the amount of time normal people requested before having to be officially awake and starting the day- but that was normal people, and this was Kate, she wasn't people, just Kate.

"Now." He persisted. Killer considered pushing her off of his bed, but figured he'd be nice to her.

Even then, the speed in which his baby sister took to fully wake up was amazing. First she stretched and slowly her eyes fluttered open before she propped herself up on her elbows, looking annoyed as she rubbed her head. Killer had half the mind to ask whether it was a headache or something else that was bothering her. But even though he needed to keep an eye on Kate, he wasn't a doting, over protective brother, she could take care of herself- he had made sure of it. "What oniichan?" She stretched yet again, drawing the word oniichan out with her yawn.

"I told you to stay away from Kidd." He had been serious. Kate had the ability to easily get on Kidd's nerves, and Kidd wouldn't hesitate to kill her or at least harm her in some way shape or form.

"Actually, you said to not go anywhere near him if I value my life." Kate corrected him.

"Even if you don't value your life, I do. Meaning I don't want you waving it around in Kidd's face, tempting him and fate. Because neither of them are forces to be reckoned with." Killer said. Sometimes Kate was such a stubborn pain in the ass.

"But I still need that information on your captain. So far all I know is that he's a loud moron who throws people off of his things." She frowned and Killer decided not to ask. God only knew the answer was predictable, but something he wished not to hear.

"Get it at a later date. Just stay out of his way."

"And if he gets in mine?" She asked.

"Don't be stupid." That covered a lot of ground with Kate. It included, but was not limited to, acting rather childish, being prideful, engaging in an argument that would most likely get heated, especially if it was with Kidd, and acting fearless.

"When am I ever stupid? My actions may not be fully planned out and I may tend to say what I think, as I think it, but I don't see the stupidity of those things."

"Don't do anything dangerous." Killer added. Stupid and dangerous went hand in hand, they were best friends. However Kidd was even better friends with dangerous.

"That's not fair big brother. We're on a pirate ship."

Killer got up- done with playing Kate's game. He had things to do, work to get done. He was aware of the footsteps following him. Everywhere he went, those footsteps followed him and they did so for the next few hours. On the deck Killer turned around to face Kate, who stopped suddenly and wordlessly. She cocked her head to the side after following his pointed finger to the crow's-nest.

"What about it?"

"Look out duty." He explained. He was tired of her silently following him. While it was true that while she did this she was staying out of trouble and anyone else's- namely Kidd's- way. However, she was beginning to annoy him. Plus there was only so much trouble a person could get into up in the crow's-nest, only so many peoples way she could get in up there.

"What?" She gasped with obviously feigned shock before she breathlessly asked "You make your guests work?"

"Guest, don't make me laugh. You're an unwelcome trespasser." Killer none too gently broke it to her, but it wasn't something she didn't already know somewhere within the confines of Kate's mind. "We both know that it's due to sheer luck and a big miracle that you're still alive." Though it was far too soon to release their breaths, this was only her first official, full day on the ship.

"Well if that's what I am. . ." Kate grumbled.

"Kate." Killer sternly warned, not playing into her hands, not starting this game with her. He wasn't currently in the mood to do so. She let out a heavy sigh, deflating as she released the breath, silently signaling that she had momentarily raised the white flag.

"Just look for anything such as marines, other pirates or drowning idiots' right?"

"Precisely." He curtly said before walking away. Or maybe she hadn't.

Kate sighed, she should've known that he wouldn't react to that last one.. Killer just didn't do jokes, especially not stupid, silly ones while he was sober. A drunken Killer. . .still didn't like her lame jokes even then. "Aye-aye captain." She muttered saluting him before climbing nimbly up to the crow's-nest and relieving the sleeping pirate from his duty.

Somehow Kate knew that if Killer knew that the pirate was sleeping, he'd be in trouble. Meaning that it wasn't acceptable for her to sleep either. Her brother had expectations for her and Kate intended to live up to them. He wasn't the type to yell at you for failure, or disappointing him. Depending on what it was he'd either go about daily life as if nothing had happened, but you still knew he wasn't happy- god that ate Kate up each and every time he did that to her. He'd either do that or if it had been during training, he'd make her work at it until she couldn't move or until she succeeded, whichever came first.

For a while Kate watched the vast ocean for any signs of life, but after five minutes she got bored and lay back. She cloud watched, finding pictures such as a fluffy white boat- quite ironic considering the cursed, depressing thing she was on. She saw other things such as an alligator eating a rabbit, a smiley face with a very deformed mouth, a birthday hat, an explosion mushroom cloud and other dissipating oddities that could only be seen if one was bored enough, or was trying really, really, REALLY hard to find an entertaining picture in the fluffy white masses of white. But eventually, after several fleeting glances over the sides of the crow's nest, between each interesting cloud Kate found, she became uninterested, such brainless activities weren't suited for Kate, but she had a job to do.

However, after looking around her aquamarine colored eyes locked on a head of bright 'caution I might have a temper' red.

Before she could think of hesitating, or letting that small voice in the back of her head that oddly enough resembled Killer and the way he thought, talked and reasoned with her , could begin to talk and begin a mental argument with herself, Kate climbed to stand on the three or so inch thick rim of the crow's-nest. Her feet were angled so that more of them touched the swaying with the ship wood and therefore she was able to keep her balance- god only knew that the fall would be comparable to being thrown after a rude awakening by an asshole- unpleasant was the word to describe both.

She wet her lips with anticipation that rose up, higher and higher in her chest. Before she bent her knees and front flipped into the empty air, not adding any fancy flips or spins as the blue sky somersaulted around her. The weightlessness of such a high jump thrilled her, intoxicated her, it was addicting. It was these moments, those few precious ones while you were airborne that were the reason Kate loved acrobatics.

Coming down from her high, Kate landed on the rail of the quarterdeck with a jolt- back to reality. Her hands gripped the rail in her now perch like position from atop the railing.

Her target was in sight, blissfully unaware of her.

But if he were anything like Killer, a simple BOO! while someone touched them, wasn't going to startle him, just annoy him and possibly convince him to end her life sooner than the fates wanted to take it.

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A/N: You can thank the longer chapters to M. mellow. Who was just being whiney about the short chapters. But I listened and lengthened them.

Also thank you for all of your wonderful reviews! I love you all.

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