Ummm let's see. I liked your comments, as always. I didn't know that about Shanks. Blackbeard did it? Thanks for telling me 'cause that was bugging me. XD Poor Shanks. First that and then he lost his arm. Must be hard, being Shanks. I'm glad that y'all seemed to like Brook's introduction. ^^ I tried to be creative. So what was Shanks going to do with the fruit he had? Sell it? Eat it himself? …O-O I think I'll stop asking questions. Oh, and I completely forgot about Brook in this chapter, so that promise is still in action but for the next chapter, okay? Sorry! ^^ _
Hina ordered two of her men to take Tashigi to safety. However soft she thought the Mugiwara pirates were, she knew the potential threat they held, and if for some twisted reason they wanted to keep on after the sergeant major, they shouldn't be able to find her easily. That had been her explanation, anyway. Tashigi understood. It wasn't a terrible plan. Too bad the men Hina trusted Tashigi's life to were Jango and Fullbody.
"Hina-chan is so beautiful," Fullbody mused, practically acting like Sanji. Tashigi sighed loudly, but this did nothing to quell their chatter about the captain.
"Let's buy her some more flowers!" Jango suggested, moving over to a roadside stand. "Perhaps she'll see the love in us more clearly this time!" Tashigi stared as they picked out a bouquet for Hina. Her life was in the hands of these two imbeciles who could only think of Hina? She knew for a fact that any of the Mugiwaras could barrel right through them. Not that her life was on the line or anything; they wouldn't kill her.
"These purple ones are exquisite!"
"Oh, but look at these pink ones; isn't pink a good color for her?"
"Oh, look, you can buy a little ribbon for the side with a heart on it!" Tashigi wondered if Hina really put trust in these two like Smoker did in her; a sort of relationship in which you could tease and respect all at once. If so, she just might be crazy. Besides, Jango and Fullbody just couldn't seem to get that their captain was way out of their league. She even seemed to flirt with Smoker often, which, frankly, was sort of disturbing.
"Hey," Tashigi interjected finally after the two marines had finished up their flower-shopping. "Can we please get to the safe haven that I'm supposed to be in? Because you two aren't doing a very good job of protecting me in the middle of the main street."
"You are safe!" Fullbody said, waving her off with one hand and holding Hina's bouquet in the other.
"I'll take care of anyone who wants to hurt you," Jango added, holding up one of his metal rings and nodding. "We're headed to Bell Cove. No one goes there anymore. I'd be surprised if anyone could find it."
"Why are you so insistent on getting away from them, anyway?" Fullbody asked. "I hate that blonde chef for his life, of course, but it's not like the idiots cause you any trouble." Tashigi felt a strange resentment towards him for calling the Mugiwaras idiots. She shook it off quickly and answered, "Well, I don't belong held up on a pirate ship for money. And I've already caused Smoker-kun a lot of trouble and covering-up to do. I'd like for him to not have to deal with any more of that." She watched the main street slowly fade out of sight behind them as they headed for Bell Cove.
:3
"Any sign of her yet, Usopp?"
"No…"
"Alright; keep looking!" Nami had taken charge of the operation and had currently just found Luffy. He was gorging on meat at a nearby stall, clearly freaking out the merchant at the counter.
"Luffy!" she yelled, grabbing him by the shoulder. "You've got to help out; Tashigi's run away and probably contacted the marines!" Luffy hummed through his large drumstick. "I tot she wantud to leave," he said.
"Well, she did, but if she does and contacts someone in the marines with a loose tongue, they could spread the rumor that we're kidnappers and have the whole navy looking for us near Bell Island! Plus, I might not get a reward from Smoker!" Nami looked a little concerned with the issue. Luffy shrugged. "I kinda like her," he said, swallowing the food in his mouth. "Maybe we should get her back. Maybe Smokey wants her on his ship like I wanna keep all you guys." He grinned.
"Oi, Luffy-bro!" Franky approached, carrying a large crate marked 'COLA'. "How come I haven't been able to find anyone? I got a whole bunch of cola!"
"We're looking for Tashigi," Nami said. "She escaped."
"Oh," Franky said. "So Zoro was right, eh? Maybe we couldn't trust her after all."
"Zoro said that?" Luffy asked, tilting his head to one side.
"It shouldn't be much of a surprise," Nami scoffed. "Zoro doesn't trust anyone. He didn't trust me or Robin, either. Maybe he's sexist. It might be girls in general. I don't know. Enough of this small talk! Everyone disband and look for her! In those shirts she can't be hard to miss…" she added under her breath.
"Uh, no problem," Franky said, casting a nervous glance over his shoulder. "I think we'll have to run, anyway…" Luffy turned to see what the problem was to find that a mob of marines were charging towards him. "Yes!" he said, pumping his fists. "Time to have some fun!"
-^U^
Zoro scratched his head as he stared up at a cliff looming over top of him. He was standing before a small inlet under the shade of the cliff. How he had gotten here was a mystery to him. He had just spotted some marines with a black-haired girl, assumed it was Tashigi, and tried to follow outside of the range of people. Somehow, he had ended up losing the three people and had found himself… here. Wherever 'here' was. He turned around a few times, forgetting from which way he had come. Each side looked the same. Maybe if he tried just one way… He was about to head for what he thought was the way out when he heard voices from behind him. He quickly ducked behind a boulder near the cliff side and waited. Slowly, three figures emerged from presumably the same path he had taken. He could hear their voices clearly.
"Here we are, Sergeant Major."
"This is Bell Cove. The Mugiwaras couldn't find you here." Sergeant Major? That was Tashigi's title. The coward had gone to get marine security? How cute and amateurish. Zoro peered at them from his hiding place to get a good look at them. Oh; he knew these two clowns. Did Tashigi think she was protected? Fat chance. Zoro didn't see why the other Mugiwaras wanted her back, but he had been outnumbered in the vote, and if Luffy wanted her back, he'd get her.
"Wow," Tashigi was saying, looking around at the cliff walls that made up the cove. "This is sort of nice. I guess you're right; anyone could think it wasn't here." She sat down in the sand and Zoro saw his chance. While Fullbody set down a bouquet of flowers (Zoro didn't want to know what that was about), he crept out from his hiding spot and drew one of his swords. The sound made Jango and Fullbody's heads snap around. Tashigi glared and said, "I should've known you'd find your way here. Only someone who's ridiculously lost could find this place."
"Yeah, well," Zoro said, smirking. "I've come to take you back." Hina's marines stood before him.
"Nuh-uh," said Jango. "You'll have to go through us, first! Hina-san's orders!"
"Isn't that sweet," Zoro said. He waited for Fullbody to attack, sidestepped, and used the flat side of his sword to knock him in the back of the head, sending him flying into the cliff side face-first. Jango drew one of his rings out and dangled it before him. "You will fall into a deep sleep, pirate! One…two…" Zoro threw an arm across his eyes to cover them before Jango could finish. How was he supposed to fight if he had to use one arm to shield his eyes? Then he got an idea. He removed his bandana from his arm and, placing his current sword in his mouth, tied it over his eyes like a blindfold. He heard Jango laugh.
"I wouldn't be so smug," Zoro said. "I've always said I could beat losers like you blindfolded." He spat his sword back into his hand and charged Jango. He felt his blade connect crudely with one of the rings and reared back again, changing his footing. This time, he heard the weapon slice through the air over his head as he ducked to avoid it. With one easy swish, he barreled the katana into the side of Jango's face, sending him right after Fullbody into the wall and then onto the ground. He pulled the blindfold down, sheathed his sword, and looked over at Tashigi. "You're a pain, you know that?" he said. "Come on. It's time to give up." Tashigi was persistent. She got to her feet and held Shigure in front of her. "It's not over yet!" she declared. Zoro sighed. "I'm tired," he said. "I missed my usual two hours of sleep this morning because of all the commotion you caused. Come on, let's go." With that, he picked her up and swung her over his shoulder for the second time that week.
"Let me go!" Tashigi yelled. Zoro looked up at the sky, ignoring her. Finally, Tashigi gave up and resided to being carried.
"Why is it so important that I remain your prisoner?" she asked tiredly, leaning her chin into her hand.
"Beats me," Zoro answered. "I guess it has something to do with Nami being greedy, or Luffy's belief that nakama don't like to be separated. Of course, then there's always Sanji's attraction to you, but he's just like that anyway. It's not like I want you on board any more than you want me. I'm only doing what Luffy wants me to do." A moment passed before Tashigi spoke up again, bravely.
"Does Luffy tell you not to fight with me?" Zoro snorted. "No," he admitted. "He doesn't care, as long as you're alright with it."
"Then why won't you?" Tashigi asked. After a brief silence, he lowered her to the ground, pushing her in front of him to keep an eye on her. She sheathed Shigure. They walked in silence for a few minutes. Zoro then sighed and looked up again at the sky. "You're like a reminder," he said. "You remind me of someone I held very dear to me."
"Ew," Tashigi commented. Zoro rolled his eyes. "Do you want to know or not?"
"Oh, yeah, I do," she said. "Go on." He looked down to Wadou Ichimonji and fingered the hilt. "Wadou was her sword," he said. "She was a little older than me. I came to her father's dojo claiming to be better than anyone there. He sent out Kuina to battle me." He looked down at the ground. "She beat me. She beat me bad, so many times. I trained harder than anyone else in the dojo to try and defeat her. Then, one night, we had a duel with real swords. Though she won, Kuina just teared up and started crying about being a woman and how she'd eventually be beaten by me because I'd grow to be stronger. I made her promise me that one day, one of us would be the greatest swordsman that ever lived."
"That's sort of sweet," Tashigi said.
"Yeah. But she died the next day, tripping down a flight of stairs. It was a horrible way for her to die. She was stronger than that."
"Oh," said Tashigi. "I'm sorry." For a moment, Zoro said nothing. Then he looked back to her face. "The weirdest part," he went on, stopping for a moment, "Is that you remind me so much of her in so many ways." Tashigi could see her reflection in his eyes as he examined her. "Kuina had the same bluish hair," he said, poking her lightly in the head. "She had the same gentle face, though you've put yours to worse use." Meticulously, Zoro reached out and slowly removed her glasses with both hands. "You've got the same eyes, too," he said. "Really big and brown." Tashigi felt heat rise on her cheeks as Zoro cupped her chin in his hand and moved her head to see her profile before slipping her glasses back on.
"I'm, um, sorry if it's a problem to have me around you," she said. Zoro's expression was troubled for a moment. Then he nodded shortly and they continued.
"Get back here, Mugiwara!" Luffy giggled and turned to face Hina. "It's not fair to hit girls," he pointed out. This is when Robin stepped in, flourishing three additional arms from her single right one. "I'll take this one for you, Captain," she said, smirking. "You guys get back to the ship." Hina narrowed her eyes. "Really?" she said, crossing her arms. "Hina is impressed, but will accept your challenge, Nico Robin."
End Chapter 4 ^^ It was shorter this time, I know…
