Chapter three: a pleasant day in the market place with a twenty percent chance of dying forecasted

She spent two weeks living with Luffy in the mountains. He had built his own shelter but said he used to live with Dadan and before that in the village. She didn't know who Dadan was at first but when she found out she was sorely tempted to exterminate her, when she heard the two words mountain bandits. She only held back because of how much she meant to the boy who saved her.

It wasn't a good idea to kill the mother figure of your savior after all, bad karma and all that. Not to mention that it was the height of bad manners. Though she still had a hard time grasping that maybe not all pirates were bad. At least according to Luffy who could go on endlessly about his brother Ace and Shanks. Though they had to be different people than the famous red haired Shanks and that super rookie Ace.

She and Luffy went down to Fuusha town to sell the leather goods she had made from the animal hides. She had learned a few tricks from watching her father work the leather. When she was a little girl with nothing better to do. Though it wasn't much as she had never been apprenticed to him being too young back then and then determined to be a marine after the raid. But it would give her some start up cash to get started on her plans. If she was lucky she could get a small boat and then capture a pirate with a small bounty. And then use that money to hire the help she would need.

She was also considering asking Luffy to come along as he was really strong and had his heart in the right place. He was invulnerable to bullets and his punch was really strong as well for his age. She had sparred with him every now and then but mostly she had gone off by herself at night to train the techniques described in the training manual.

Today She was going to haggle with the local merchants while Luffy wandered about until she was done so they could go fishing together. " Hello Hoshino san how are you today "

" Oh hello dear I'm fine but have you heard, the marines came by looking for someone." she said switching into gossip mode

Miria's blood went cold they couldn't have been searching for her could they. "Who were they looking for" asked Miria as steadily as she could whilst surreptitiously casting a glance at the harbor

''Don't know only heard about it second hand but apparently it was some woman who stole something from them. '' said Hoshino

Miria got really nervous now there couldn't be that many female thieves the corrupt marines would actually bother to look for right. She couldn't just cut her losses and run just yet either. She wasn't spotted yet so her best bet was to simply walk away without causing a ruckus. She calmly but quickly went through the negotiations not bothering to get the best deals and losing some money because of it but she didn't care. The sooner she got back up the mountains and farther away from the marines the better she would feel. She had looked at the identification number on the ships side and it belonged to her old base meaning she was dead if some crew member spotted her.

She got away as fast as possible barely waiting to get her money before leaving. As she made her way out of town. Luffy yelled " Hey where are you going ! I thought we were going fishing after you were done ?"'

" Change of plans I feel more like hunting right now then sitting in that boat all day " Miria quickly fibbed to avoid an argument in the middle of the street and drawing the notice of the marines. So far they hadn't looked twice her way but that could also be an act. She hoped they wouldn't recognize her out of uniform. She had borrowed some spares from Makino who was decidedly more feminine than she was and that was paying dividends right now. No one who knew her would envision her walking around in a short skirt a light blue blouse and a beret ensemble that gave off a overall look of cuteness rather than the tough and serious look she would usually go for.

Luffy gave her a weird look but didn't say anything further. She knew she was going to have to explain things once they got back to Luffy's hut. She would need his help desperately if she was going to make it out of this alive. There was no way she was going anywhere near that town anytime soon. She was just going to hole up in that little hut until the marines went away and looked elsewhere. She could ask Luffy to find out when they would leave but he would ask questions then if she was hiding from the government. He may be overly accepting of bandits and other pirates but she doubted that even he would accept a fugitive with the marines on his doorstep without a proper explanation.

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They arrived at his hut and Miria went straight inside and grabbed the sake bottle she kept there for herself under her bed. She had some reservations at first about sleeping in the same house let alone a hut with a boy she hardly knew, but he had been a perfect gentleman so far. His only flaw was that he kept leaving his stuff all over the place and she would have to nag at him to clean up after himself.

Overall it was a ideal situation for her, most people didn't see her face much and so wouldn't remember it when asked or given a description. She could disappear without notice as no one really knew her yet anyway, only Luffy and Makino knew her. She had done a meet and greet with the mayor but that was it. Makino accepted from the beginning that she would leave soon and Luffy though he might miss her accepted that as well. No surprise there seeing as it was his ambition to leave as soon as he turned seventeen according to Makino. Until then she had no problems living together with him and sharing the chores with him.

She never had to worry about him peeking or doing something weird to her. He mostly treated her like a male friend just one of the guys with some privacy issues. Though he seemed to lack every kind of table manners imaginable he did still knock before entering her room. Heck he even built her a separate room without any prompting from her. Although she would appreciate the occasional glance her way after roughing it in the jungle for the last two weeks.

" So what was up with you running from the marines just now" asked Luffy slosing the door behind him

Natasha sighed " Well first off I should tell you I lied about where I came from. I wasn't a merchant on a ship attacked by pirates"

" Okay, what really happened then" said Luffy eagerly accepting she wasn't a helpless girl both because he wanted to believe it and because he had seen her kill quite a few ferocious animals by herself.

" My hometown got attacked by pirates when I was eleven so I grew up hating pirates and I wanted to make a difference. So I joined the marines when I turned eighteen but the marine base where I was stationed at was corrupt"

" Whadda ya mean" asked Luffy though he accepted that the marines weren't saints as they took orders from the world nobles to shoot Sabo out of the water. He didn't expect them to be evil, without the nobles telling them to be. Not after all the honorable stories he heard from his gramps.

" They weren't arresting pirates to stop them from harassing civilians. They were arresting them so they could squeeze bribe money out of them. Whenever they caught someone they let him go if he could pay the necessary amount." explained Miria saving the worst for last. If he didn't believe her then it was best to start off with something light and non damaging to her. In case he started asking other people around town for their opinions.

Luffy had flash backs to what shanks had told him when he was seven and this only confirmed it. The marines were corrupt and the world nobles were evil which was proven by Sabo. He really disliked the world order and just wanted to be free of it all even more than before and the only way to do that was to become the pirate king.

" I see, what did you do " prompted Luffy curious to see how she responded to the unfairness in the world.

" Well I wanted to go ream out my captain but I couldn't do that because they were watching me all the time. To see if I could be included in their little scam or had to be eliminated. So I planned my escape and my going away present. " said Miria with a gleam in her eyes proud of her work and happy that he was seemingly taking this so well.

"What kind of present " asked Luffy getting drawn into the story

" Well I knew I could never leave the marines now that I knew their secret without a bounty so I faked my own death. I also stole a devil fruit and crucial evidence from the captains office. If I can somehow get this to a high ranking marine officer. I can get captain Nezumi arrested or barring that I can put a stop to his side deals myself"

"What kind of evidence" asked Luffy scratching his head unsure of himself. He wasn't too interested in this investigative stuff. It was one of the reason why he never wanted to be a marine he preferred to just go up to the bad guy and bash his head in than go around collecting receipts and seeing if it all added up.

" It shows his connections to several slave traders who are getting off scot free by bribing him. among others are letters showing their agreement on the price of covering up their attacks. such as them attacking a village or ship and selling off the people in it as slaves. " said Miria carefully and clearly. He had passed her test and seemed open to the idea but she had to make clear that she wasn't just hurling wild accusations. That she did in fact have hard evidence to back up her claim.

" What that bastard I'll kill him " raged Luffy his eyes burning with fury, his mouth turned to shark teeth and his veins on his head pulsed while his muscled bulged like they were itching to pound something into dust for a second.

Miria was really pleased with this response you couldn't fake that much rage easily without it seeming like an badly scripted act. And the kid was definitely no actor so he really cared about this and was likely to help her. She thanked her lucky stars again that she didn't end up being saved by a spineless greedy fisherman who would have sold her out to the marines. The stings of his disappointment due to her seemingly lack of courage were all worth It now. She had someone she could trust and that was worth more than some hurt feelings.

After a while Luffy calmed down enough to ask " Hey how did you fake your death anyway. If you ransacked this captains office they must have been in hot pursuit"

Miria smirked this was going to be so worth it " They were, I got a fully manned battleship on my tail, while I was in a ordinary dinghy." she said while reclining back into her seat and fully enjoying the moment.

" Whatta how did you get away in that " asked luffy incredulously he believed some pretty outrageous tales without batting an eyelash at it but outrunning a battleship in a dinghy seemed unbelievable even to him.

Miria smiled even wider " Simple, I rowed into a giant whirlpool" and left it at that

Luffy was struck speechless his mouth was gaping wide open. He had done some stupid things, but willingly rowing into a whirlpool was a bit much even for him. ( cough hypocrite cough)

" Seriously" asked luffy with his mouth on the ground literally thanks to his gomu gomu powers.

" Yep that was why I was cruising along the seas in a barrel " said Miria matter of factly while barely containing her laughter at his expression.

" Yeah I guess that makes sense. So what you gonna do about those slave traders. I know a high ranking marine but he only stops by here every once in a while so there's no telling how long it will be before he shows up." said Luffy snapping back to the main problem to distract Miria while he got over the shock of the escape.

Miria was amazed that he recovered from her most daring escape just like that. But she shrugged it off in favor of more important things " Which high ranking officer " she hoped it was at least commodore level to have the clout to do something about the corruption. But got knocked off her feet when he answered calmly "My gramps vice admiral Garp"

she was absolutely floored the hero of the marines. The one who had captured the pirate king himself! He could move mountains with just a den den mushi call. Every aspiring marine looked up to him, the man was a legend. She knew that even that corrupt captain would fall over himself to please him right up to the point where Garp would slap the cuffs on him. " Seriously" she asked

"Yeah why " he said nonplussed back in his comfort zone again where he was doing the shocking.

Clearly this brat didn't know how big of a legend his grandfather was or maybe he was just used to it. But most likely he didn't care as he seemed to idolize pirates more than marines. " Don't you realize how big of a legend your grandfather is. Every rookie marine hopes to someday do a tenth of the things he's done"

" I don't care I don't wanna be a stupid marine, I am going to be the pirate king" he yelled

And there it was, the question answered she had been dreading to ask ever since she found out he was friends with bandits and idolized his pirate friends. She would have mercilessly cut him down not a few weeks ago if it meant a promotion. But she had come to realize that not all marines were good and this boy even if he was going to be a pirate would probably be a good one but she had to ask" What do you think being the pirate king even means ?"'

He answered without any hesitation " The guy with the most freedom in the world is the pirate king"

" Freedom ? … you can be free without being a pirate" she said not understanding this seemingly childish notion. Maybe this kid had just romanticized being a pirate and could be reformed back into a respectable citizen with a bit of hard truth.

" No you can't, marines have to follow all kinds of stupid rules and are slaves to the world nobles. And the world nobles oppress everyone and kill you for no reason. Being a civilian is better but they are still left at the mercy of pirates and marines alike. But a pirate doesn't have to listen to anyone not the world nobles, the marines or other pirates they are the most free of all." Luffy passionately explained

Miria had to smile at that answer it was true and she knew it. Although she didn't know much about the world nobles but she did know they ruled over everyone and that the marines weren't as propaganda made them out to be. So maybe pirates weren't all bad either although she would never forget or forgive those who raided her town and killed her parents. She could however accept the adventure seeking type of pirate and she would be fine if this boy became one. But she wondered if he accepted that not all pirates were freedom loving adventurers.

" What would you do about other pirates who enslaved other people'"

" My idol once told me that some people can't just be beaten up and then hope the problem goes away. They have to be killed to solve it. And pirates who kill civilians are those people and slave traders are the lowest of the low. " answered Luffy with conviction

Miria smiled again maybe she could alter her plan a bit and become a pirate with this guy instead of a bounty hunter. They agreed on most things even though she didn't quite see the appeal of a pirate's life. She might be willing to stick by Luffy until he either made pirate king or became a lowlife himself. And maybe one day she would tell him her real name and take him to visit Collinsport her hometown.

By that time no one would recognize her anymore as Natasha and reputation was becoming less important to her by the day. she had just wanted to stop bad guys as a little kid. her obsession of joining the marines was only an attempt to fulfill that dream. if she could do the same as a pirate then who cares what the close minded people of the world thought. The only ones she cared about thought her dead already anyway.

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Miria holed up in the hut for the next week while Luffy gathered information. He had strict orders to just bother Makino and no one else though. Luffy was too impulsive and clumsy to allow him near anyone else without causing a scene. Makino was used to him and would write off him being pushy about the subject as his normal behavior. He came back with some good news though apparently they weren't looking for a brown haired girl but a orange haired one. Miria didn't know to curse or thank this mystery thief for bringing the marines to her doorstep or for distracting them.

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Two days later

She called Luffy to a clearing after the marines were gone.

" Luffy we have no idea how long it is going to take before your grandfather shows up and I want to put a stop to those slave traders as soon as possible so we are going to train to get strong enough to take them on"

" How are we going to do that " asked Luffy enthusiastic about getting stronger.

"One of the things I stole from my captain's office is this training manual for higher ranked marines with their special techniques in it and how to learn them." Miria said while holding the book casually to her side but still clearly displaying it.

" What kind of techniques" he asked while bouncing up and down like a over eager dog wanting to play.

" Well according to this book: you can move in the blink of an eye, walk on air and cut things with a kick of your leg and more. "

" Really what is the book called" asked luffy

" Hmm let's see, ah… it's called 'Rokushiki for beginners'. It's a handwritten book given to my captain Nezumi by some guy called Spandam."

" Who is that "

" No idea, probably some other corrupt guy higher up the food chain who wanted to move his henchmen up the ladder with this book" said Miria

"I guess so. But let's get started already okay" said Luffy impatiently already itching to try and kick something in half.

" Sure, first of is Soru it is the basis for all the other techniques where you kick the floor ten times in rapid succession to gain a burst of speed."

" Weird I don't get it" said Luffy who tried and looked like he was treading water on land.

" Just keep doing it " said Miria not getting it either even after trying it for the last two weeks, all she got was a slightly faster dash out of it. Whoever wrote the damn book wasn't a great writer as the instructions and examples were vague at best and confusing and contradictory at worst. She was already wondering if instead of a plan to move her former captain up the ladder. If someone had purposefully sabotaged him to keep him from doing more wrong or because he was part of a rival corrupt group. Whether that meant the enemy of her enemy was good or not or even her friend was still up for debate.

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The two spent six weeks getting the gist of Soru although they were by no means master of the technique it was enough to cross open areas without getting spotted by small time crooks. Miria would have preferred to learn more techniques but was anxious to get going to stop the slave operation. Every day she delayed the more time the slave traders had to move their operations. Although her ride on the whirlpool express should have convinced Nezumi that she wasn't a threat anymore. She wasn't willing to see him take precautions regardless on the premise that she might have send the evidence by mail to someone.

They took Luffy's small dinghy to go to Rakyat island where the slaves were being kept according to captain Nezumi notes. It was quite a long way from Dawn island where they were but they couldn't delay in hoping to find a better ship. They could always steal a ship from the slavers to transport the slaves back home.

Luffy said his goodbyes to his friends and said he was going on a fishing expedition. It wasn't a complete lie as he was taking all his fishing gear and he would undoubtedly fish for most of his meals. Heck even If she had a marine battleship under her command she would still order him to catch his own meals. That kid could eat more than five hundred men combined. If he was ever left alone in the pantry of the ship, they would be out of food in under an hour. She might one day even send him on a infiltration mission to sabotage some enemies' food supply. Forget rats and other diseases just throw Luffy in there and it would be down to crumbs in under an hour guaranteed.

It did however help that no one would think it odd that he might show up empty handed or why he thought it worthwhile to go deep sea fishing with such a small boat. Simply because he would eat any big fish seconds after he caught it, raw if he had to.

They set off alternating between rowing duty. It wasn't that there wasn't enough room for them to row together but it was just more effective if they rowed in turn. No one could keep up the same strain of labor even small ones indefinitely without rest and rowing together didn't make them that much faster. So Luffy rowed during the day and she would row during the night. This was mostly so she could adjust their course using the guidance of the stars after Luffy steered them in the slightly wrong way. This resulted in a snake like course slithering its way to Rakyat island. She would have preferred to go straight but that meant she had to stay up all the time and some meandering was acceptable as even with the delays of course adjustments it still shaved days of their travel time as Luffy was highly energetic and rowed longer and with more vigor than she could.