Man, I can't believe how understanding you guys were with my break! It means so much to me, truly thank you all!

As for the reason why this chapter is a few days late...

So to add onto my mess of projects, tests and presentations, my uncle, who was like my second father and was also mentioned in the beginning of this story, passed away. I was in Minnesota all last weekend and part of this week, and I'm still going through a lot of stuff right now trying to help my mom get through this (he was her brother). So if I (for some reason) miss another deadline, I can almost guarantee it's because of that.

I'm really sorry ahead of time.

Moving on, as I mentioned in my end-note for the last chapter, I went back through my other chapters and fixed/modified a few things. I thought I'd let you guys know which chapters changed and which didn't, in case you wanted to go back and read the new stuff!

Prologue: Heavily changed; only the idea of it is really the same, give or take a few lines that I kept.

Chapter 1: Content modified; added in more details and changed some of the formatting.

Chapter 2: Content modified; added in more details and changed some of the formatting.

Chapter 3: Modified; added a few minor things and changed some of the formatting.

Chapter 4: Modified; added a few minor things and changed some of the formatting.

Chapter 5: Modified; added a few minor things and changed some of the formatting.

Chapter 6: modified; added a few minor things, changed some of the formatting, and added in the ending I originally planned to go to (but ran low on time)

If you don't wanna go back and re-read everything, that's fine! Oh, but I recommend at least going back and reading the new 'ending' to chapter 6; you'll be confused at the beginning of this chapter otherwise.

Bu~t if you're new to this story, then ignore this. My work's ALWAYS been like this. *laughs nervously*

AND GUYS

GUYS

MY BABY SEESTER DREW US FOR THE STORY~! I'M SO HAPPY! QAQ

RIGHT NOW, SHE'S ONLY FINISHED ME, BUT IT YA WANNA SEE THEM, I'M GOING TO BE LEAVING THE LINKS ON MY PROFILE!

Again, thank you all so much for understanding my kinda-hiatus~!

Thanks to xForeverGamerx for adding this story to their alerts!

More thanks to Nightwatching, Blahblahcat and Blue..Soldier.4710 (Sorry, I had to add another period to your name cause Fanfiction thought it was a website!) for adding this story to their favs!

EXTRA SPECIAL THANKS TO ChibiSpitfire FOR ALL THE LOVE AND SUPPORT THROUGH THIS TOUGH TIME~! I LOVE YA, BBY~!

Here's the new chapter for all you lovely people~


QuirkyFox: Thank you for understanding! And I am having fun writing each week, but my professors all decided to assign projects last week and ruin my free time, and what little time was left was spent getting physically and mentally prepared for the funeral. Unfortunately, that's life!


Disclaimer: Y'know, if I had a dime for every time I'm gonna have to say this, I'll get enough money to own One Piece one day... Right? Oh, but I don't think I could buy Lori... Unless I bribe her with food... Hmm...


Intro Theme: Fight Together by Namie Amuro

Sometimes, I wish I had a better memory.

Not only would I be able to avoid that awkward situation where I almost never remember someone's name, but I would remember the more important things in life.

For example, like remembering that a certain marimo gets stabbed in the back.

"Zoro!" I called again, watching in horror as blood continued to seep into his haramaki. He winced, his face growing pale. He slammed his free hand against the cannon so he wouldn't fall over, glancing at the knife imbedded in his side. "T-The hell is this…?" He wondered, his words becoming a bit slurred.

He turned and what I saw next made me gag. In the manga, the part where Buggy had been separated had just been a black void. But as I stared at the hand clutching the knife, I could clearly see the veins and muscles still working inside of it. Adding onto the disturbing fact that there was a freaking ghost hand stabbing Zoro in the back, I nearly threw up.

Luffy, however, was as unfazed as usual. He stared at the hand in wonder, asking, "What's with that hand?"

The hand started moving and knife was yanked out of the wound. Zoro winced in pain, doubling over as the bleeding got worse. The hand floated back over to where Buggy was standing, his body parts fusing back together. He smirked at us, amused by the confusion.

"Bara Bara no Mi," He declared proudly, his smirk growing wider, "That's the name of the Devil's Fruit I ate. I can't be killed by a sword! I'm a Splitting Man!" He threw his head back and laughed, snorting a couple of times. Nami stared at him in shock, speaking so softly I couldn't hear her.

Luffy, again, seemed unfazed by the turn of events. If anything, he was apathetic to the whole situation.

"Splitting man?" He asked, tilting his head a bit, "What is he, a monster?"

"…But aren't you a Rubber Man?" Lori questioned, looking at him, "You're logic doesn't make any sense."

I forced out a laugh, trying to shake off some of the uneasiness. My stomach was still churning from watching Zoro get stabbed and bleed as heavily as he was. Buggy stopped laughing, his smirk still stretched across his face.

"Although it's not critical, the wound is still pretty serious," He commented as Zoro glared at him, "This fight is over." Buggy's crew went wild as he towered over the bleeding swordsman, his body now fully reassembled.

"How the hell is that not a critical hit?!" I yelled, confused, "If anything it was super effective! Zoro's lucky he didn't get K.O.'ed!"

Lori glared at me, "Haru, this isn't the time for Pokémon references!"

I pretended to look shocked and turned to her, "It's always the time for a good Pokémon joke! Who would I be if I didn't make them?!"

I was a Pokémon geek to the core, having bought all the games since they started coming out. I could get a bit obsessive over it, considering I had a collection of over ten thousand cards back in our world. I knew the whole original theme by heart, as did Lori. But unlike her, in each game I got, I would try to get every single Pokémon in the game. And by every Pokémon, I mean every Pokémon. I would get a Bulbasaur, then an Ivysaur and so on. It was a good time killer for me, considering I would complete the games so fast I had nothing better to do anyway.

I gave up my act and started snickering, but Lori ignored me. Buggy's crew cheered even louder, chanting his name. Zoro winced in pain, nearly collapsed on the ground, "T-This isn't looking good…"

I sobered up when I noticed how much pain Zoro was in. Lori was right; this wasn't the time to be cracking jokes. We had to get out of here, and we had to do it fast. The more blood Zoro lost, the worse our situation became.

Luffy sucked in a deep breath and yelled, "Attacking from behind is cowardly, Big Red Nose!"

Everyone fell silent.

I gaped at Luffy, shocked with the volume he'd yelled at. He was fuming angrily, gripping the cage bars so tightly his knuckles were nearly white. I could understand his anger, but doesn't he remember what happened the last time I called Buggy that?!

"Who…" Buggy growled, his whole crew backing away in fear, "Who has a big red nose?!" Buggy whirled around and launched his hand at Luffy, the knife glinting ominously in the sunlight. My eyes widened and I tried to somehow get in the way, but by the time I'd reacted, Luffy had already been knocked back.

"Luffy!" I screamed, rushing over to where he'd fallen. I felt as though my heart had stopped, and my hands were shaking more than I thought was possible. I could feel the blood draining from my face as I got over to him. I let out a shaky sigh of relief when I saw Luffy had caught the knife in his teeth. I nearly collapsed on the cage floor in relief, but I gave him a shaky smile instead. Luffy smiled back, still clenching the blade in his teeth.

"Y-You scared the crap outta me, ya idiot!" I huffed, slugging his shoulder. He laughed, but it was more forced usual, "Shorry, Haru." He somehow could talk around the knife without cutting himself. I frowned as he glared at Buggy, growling out, "Thish fight ish mine."

I shivered a bit, feeling the malice in his words. I didn't think Luffy had it in him to be so cold, but I guess I was wrong.

Wait.

What'd he say?

Was he… Was he apologizing for taking the fight…?

I realized that he remembered the declaration I'd made on the way here; how I wanted to be the one to kick Buggy's ass. I was surprised; I didn't think he had a reason to apologize for that. I shook my head, smiling at him and telling him as much, "No biggie. Just gimme the next one, alright?"

He nodded, his eyes still trained on Buggy. He took a deep breath and declared, "I'm gonna kick your ass, Buggy!" He flexed his jaw and bit down harder, the knife's blade shattering like glass under the pressure. A few of the splinters nicked Luffy's lips, but he didn't seem to care. He spat out the blade in his mouth as Buggy and his crew burst out laughing.

"You? Kick my ass?" Buggy asked, nearly in hysterics, "You're dreaming! All five of you are going to die today!" He smirked, looking between us all, "Now, how should I finish you guys off?" His crew continued to laugh and I clenched my teeth. I started looking for a weak point in the cage. When I couldn't find any, I shook the door, hoping it would come loose. Unsurprisingly, it didn't work.

"I thought I told you: you're not gonna be able to bust outta solid concrete like that," Lori commented, watching me try to pry the bars apart, "We aren't strong enough."

"Well, do ya have any better ideas?" I snapped, glaring back at her, "We gotta get outta here, or we're screwed!" Lori didn't a chance to respond. Luffy burst out laughing as she opened her mouth, an angry look still on his face. I stared at him, still hanging off the bars as I asked, "Uh… Luffy…?"

"We're not gonna die!" He declared, not looking at me. I relaxed a bit as the laughter quieted down, Buggy and his crew staring at Luffy in confusion. Luffy smirked and looked at Zoro, "Zoro, run!"

Everyone but Lori and I froze in shock at that. They stared at Luffy, completely baffled.

"You're telling the guy who came to save you to leave?!" Nami yelled, not getting the hint, "What about you?!" Zoro started to protest, but he caught the smile Luffy threw his way. He smirked, understanding what Luffy had planned. He slowly pushed himself up, grunting, "Roger."

Nami balked in shock as Zoro took off running, heading straight for the cannon. Buggy glared at him, drawing back his hand from Luffy and yelling, "You can't escape from me!"

He prepared to throw his other hand, but Zoro cut through his torso with ease. Being the idiot that he was, Buggy didn't realize this was a distraction. He threw his head back and laughed as Zoro kept running.

"Idiot! Your three-sword style won't work on me!" He gloated. But he was gloating to no one. He finally realized Zoro had kept running and glared, "Hey, listen when I'm talking to you!"

Zoro ignored him and stopped at the cannon, crouching low and leaning the barrel on his shoulder. Nami's eyes widened in realization and she ran over to us, not wanting to get caught in the crossfire. Buggy and his crew of idiots could only stare in horror as Zoro grunted and threw the cannon over the base. The cannon tipped slowly and fell over, now pointing back at the crew. Buggy screamed in fear, his eyes bugging out. His crew panicked with him as Zoro slumped against the cannon, wincing and panting from the pain.

"What?! We're gonna die!" Buggy announced, staring down the barrel as we had been earlier. I sighed in relief, slumping against the cage bars. Luffy laughed as Zoro glared at Nami and grunted, "Light it!"

Nami snapped out of her shock, looking at him, "E-Eh?"

"Hurry!"

"O-Okay!"

Nami pulled the matches from her pocket and Buggy continued flipping out, waving his hand to try and stop her, "W-Wait! The Buggy Bomb is still in there!" Nami ignored his pleas and struck the match, it lighting on the first try. I smirked as she re-lit the burnt fuse, sparks jumping off the end. I laughed with Luffy, not over the fact that they were probably gonna die, but because karma was being such a bitch. Zoro and Nami turned away just as the fuse disappeared into the cannon.

There was a pause before the cannon went off with another concussive 'BOOM!'

I winced at the sound and covered one of my ears, coughing from all the smoke that'd blown out of the cannon. My eyes watered a bit and I tried to wave some of the smoke away, hearing Nami and Lori coughing as well. I saw a shape coming towards the cage and tensed to fight, but relaxed when the shape turned out to be a pale Zoro. He glanced at us before hauling the cage over his shoulder. He winced in pain and his knees buckled a bit, but he kept a firm grip.

But for those of us inside the cage weren't as graceful. We slid to the side he was holding, falling over each other as we slid. I planted my foot on Luffy's face, one hand on my hat on my head and the other grabbing the cage bars in front of me as I tried to stay standing. Luffy groaned, trying to move my foot, "Geroff!" I was going to apologize, but as soon as I moved my foot, I wobbled and accidently stepped back onto Lori's hand.

"Hey, watch it, fat-ass!" She yelled, tugging her hand out from under my foot. She glared at me and kicked me in the back of my knee, causing me to buckle and fall back on them all. The back of my head collided with Luffy's face and we both groaned in pain, clutching our respective aching parts. Even with my hat there to kinda cushion the blow, it still freaking hurt!

I glared at Lori, pained tears welling in my eyes, "It was an accident, you jerk!"

"I don't care, that hurt like a bitch!" She growled, cradling her red hand. I lunged to try and strangle her, but Zoro started running before I could reach her. He jostled us all, sending us sprawling in the cage yet again. I yelped and clung to the cage bars behind me, trying not to slip on the bars under me.

Luffy laughed, an imprint of my shoe on his cheek and a red mark on his forehead as he cheered, "Go, Zoro~!" I laughed and punched a hand in the air, adding on, "Yeah, you got it, bro!" Zoro grunted in effort, moving as fast as he could with a concrete cage and three passengers on his back. I was surprised he didn't develop back problems later. But then again, with how much he could normally bench, I dismissed the thought.

Lori was pushing Luffy away with her foot, clinging to the other side of the cage. Her foot, funny enough, was right in the middle of his face. She glared, finally shoving Luffy away as she yelled, "You guys aren't helping!"

"Well, what else are we supposed to do?" I asked. I slipped a bit as Zoro started running down some stairs. I hit my ankle against a bar and cursed. I caught myself before I fell too far and regained my balance, my ankle throbbing painfully. I was having a hard time balancing on the bars, but at least I was doing better than Luffy. He didn't even bother trying to brace himself against the bars; he was just smacking against the cage freely.

But apparently, that wasn't what he was concerned about.

He whined and rubbed the cheek Lori had kicked, "Why do you guys keep kicking my face?!"

Lori snapped her glare over to him, "Shut up, you!" Luffy ignored her, continuing to whine and rub his aching face. I laughed, pressing myself against the cage bars to keep myself as steady as possible. I was reaching around the bar to my head, trying to keep my hat on.

Zoro finally snapped, "Would you all shut up?!"

"That's what I've been saying!" Lori snapped back.

He glared at her as best he could, "You're not helping either, woman!"

"…Touché."

I was laughing so hard that tears were welling up in my eyes. My laughs weren't even coming out anymore; it was as though I was laughing on mute. Luffy laughed with me, finally anchoring himself to the bars below him so he'd stop bouncing around. Zoro huffed as he reached the bottom of the stairs, wincing when he strained his side. He ignored the pain and kept running, his breaths coming out in labored gasps.

I wiped my eyes, taking deep breaths to calm down. I looked over Lori's shoulder towards the hideout. Somehow, no one had noticed us leave. We'd even left a trail of blood to follow, curtesy of our bleeding marimo. Although right now, they had more important things to worry.

Like not getting blasted by the incredibly over-powered cannonball.

I remembered the looks of fear on their faces and smirked to myself. They were absolutely priceless. While normally, I'd hate instilling damage like that on people, they deserved every bit of bad karma that came at them.

The blood trail we left was growing thicker the farther we went. Zoro slowed down as well, his pants labored and heavy. He was almost dragging his feet by the time he set us down. He doubled over, clutching his side and wincing. I grew worried at the amount of blood on his haramaki and said, "Zoro, we're far enough… You can stop…"

He shook his head, dragging the cage behind him down the street. I let go of the cage bars and relaxed on the ground of the cage, still watching him carefully. I saw the 'Pet Food' sign ahead and relaxed a bit. If things continued following the plot like they had been, he'd be stopping in a little while anyway.

I shifted my sitting position and my ocarina in my pocket clicked against the floor of the cage. I paled in realization and quickly pulled it out of my pocket, worried I'd broken it during the escape. Somehow, the ocarina was unscathed, the glaze glinting in the sunlight. I sighed in relief, holding it against my chest.

The cage grinded to a halt, stopping just in front of the pet store like it did in the manga. Zoro was gasping for air, his hands on his knees as he struggled to catch his breath. I was going to ask him if he was okay when he suddenly collapsed on the ground next to the cage.

"Zoro!" I called, getting as close to him as I could. I reached through the bars and rolled him over, checking his wound as best I could. It was still bleeding profusely, since he'd been exerting himself way too hard for the condition he was in. I looked for something to use as a rag, but remembered that my bag was left back at the camp. I cursed and was about to take my off shirt to improvise when Zoro groaned in pain.

"I-I'm fine…" He grumbled, opening one eye to glance at me, "I just need some sleep…"

"That's bullshit!" I yelled, glaring at him, "You are literally bleeding your guts out, and all you 'need' is sleep?!"

He ignored me, his eye drifting closed again. I let out a heavy sigh, letting go of my shirt so it covered my stomach again, "Fine, but if you die of blood loss, I have every right to say 'I told ya so'." He smirked at that, chuckling under his breath. I let a small smile spread on my face, ignoring how frustrated I was with him at the moment.

"Haru, his blood loss means his power level's rising," Lori commented, smirking at the nearly unconscious man, "Don't you remember?" I laughed, leaning back against the cage bars and shaking my head, "Of course, how could I forget?"

Zoro frowned and opened his eyes, looking between us. We stared back as he asked, "Who are you guys?"

I sighed, smirking lightly, "You don't remember us saying we're your new nakama? Man, and I thought my memory was bad."

"Just go to sleep," Lori added, waving her hand at him. He glared at her and was about to get up when Luffy said, "Zoro, these are our new nakama! They were on that bird I shot at!" Zoro looked between us again, doubtful. I smiled and waved.

"My name's Haruhi. The girl with the sour face over there," I pointed to Lori, who was now scowling at me, "is my sister, Johanna."

Zoro glanced at Lori and she waved, her face impassive. He was still frowning as he asked, "How the hell were you both on that bird?"

"That bird was me," I said, raising my hand. Zoro's eyes widened as I continued, "And before you ask, yes: I ate a Devil's Fruit. Just like Luffy and Buggy did." He looked as though he wanted to ask something else when a bark cut him off. We all looked over to the store's porch and saw a dog sitting on it. It stared back at us, unmoving. The closer I looked, though, the more it looked as though he was glaring at us. Zoro frowned and grumbled, "The hell's with this dog?"

"Dog?" Luffy said, perking up and grinning. I remembered what was going to happen, but reacted too late. Luffy started rocking the cage and we slowly made our way over to the dog. I slipped and fell on my face, smacking my nose against one of the bars.

We stopped just as quickly as we started. I sat up and glared at Luffy, clutching my aching nose. He didn't notice me, staring at the dog in fascination. I smacked in the back of his head, earning a pained yelp in response.

"You idiot!" I snapped, my voice a bit nasally, "Warn someone before ya do that!" He whined and looked at me with a pout, cradling the lump on the back of his head.

"That hurt~!"

"So does my nose! You don't see me whining about it!"

He pouted at me and I sighed, pulling my hand away to check for blood. Thankfully, there was none. I hated getting nosebleeds. I'd only ever had two in my life, but both times were enough to make me hate them.

I carefully scrunched up my nose, testing for how much pain I was in. It was only a twinge now, although I bet the bridge of my nose was still a little red. I glared at Luffy, who was now making faces at the unmoving dog. Zoro had moved to lean against one of the pillars, wincing and pressing a hand against his wound. Lori was relaxed in the back of the cage, keeping as far away from us as possible.

"It's not doing anything!" Luffy declared, pulling his cheeks much wider than a normal human would, "Do you think he's dead?"

Zoro shrugged, regretting it when he winced a bit, "Who cares."

Luffy stared at the dog, letting go of his cheeks. They snapped back into place, not even a red mark from where he'd pinched himself. He reached out, pointing a finger at the dog. I smirked and chided, "I wouldn't do that, Luffy."

He ignored me, continuing to reach towards the dog. He poked it right between its eyes and I waited for the inevitable. The dog glared at him, much to his surprise. It let out a soft growl before biting him on the face. Luffy screamed in fear, grabbing the dog and trying to pull him off. Lori and I started laughing as he cried comical tears. Zoro let a sweat drop roll down the back of his head, staring at the idiot that was our captain.

"Yeah, I was bit in the face by a dog, too!" Lori choked out, snickering at Luffy's pain, "Hurts, don't it?" I continued laughing with her as he continued trying to pull the dog off, his face stretching in the process. He whined and begged, "Hey, help me~!"

"Hey, I warned ya!" I said between laughs, "This is all on you!" He whined and yelped as the dog bit down harder, growling loudly. He pulled on the dogs jaws, trying to pry them open. The dog was determined, though, and held on tightly. If anything, his jaws clenched harder.

Finally, I took pity on the poor boy and grabbed the dog, pulling it away from him, "Alright, he learned his lesson, little guy! Let him go!" The dog growled and held fast, like I thought he would. I rolled my eyes and reached for his muzzle, gently tickling his nose. He wrinkled it, torn between instinctively letting go and keeping a grip. I continued tickling and finally, the dog relinquished his grip on my captain.

Luffy's cheek snapped back to him and he fell back, groaning in pain. I smiled and set the growling dog down so he wouldn't get the chance to bite me. The dog looked at me curiously, sniffing my hand. I stayed still, letting him. Luffy sat up, rubbing his cheek with a wince.

"If you could've helped me earlier, why didn't you?" He whined, moving his hand to reveal comical teeth marks. I snickered, pulling my hand away from the dog, "I warned you and you didn't listen to me. You needed to learn your lesson somehow."

He pouted and I smiled back. The dog perked up at the sounds of footsteps and looked. I followed his gaze and saw Nami walking towards us, mine and Lori's bags over her shoulder. I laughed in relief and crawled through the cage to get closer to her, gripping the bars, "Our bags!"

She placed the bags in front of me and I carefully maneuvered them through the bars, handing Lori's bag to her. I checked through my bag to find everything in order, my headphones and iPod sitting on the top of my pile of clothes. I sighed in relief and pulled them out, hanging my headphones around my neck and sliding my iPod in my pocket. I closed up the bag and pulled it on, tightening the straps with a happy hum. I beamed at Nami, "Thanks!"

She nodded and looked at Luffy, tensing a bit. He tilted his head in response. She scoffed, reaching in her pocket as she grumbled, "I guess I'll give this to you… After all, you did save me earlier…" She pulled a concrete key out of her skirt's pocket, dropping it on the ground in front of him.

Luffy recognized the item and his eyes lit up. "The key to the cage!" He exclaimed, beaming up at her, "Did you go get it just for me?"

"What are we, chopped liver?" I pouted, crossing my arms. He ignored me, still beaming at Nami as she replied, "Don't misunderstand me. I don't wanna owe you for anything, that's all."

Zoro smirked, sitting up a bit more. Luffy laughed and reached for the key, "Thanks! We're saved now-"

Before Luffy could even brush the key, the dog grabbed it with his teeth. We all stared at him in shock and he stared back, apathetic. He tilted his head back and let the key fall back, swallowing it whole. All of our jaws dropped in shock, staring at the lump that slowly made its way down the dogs' throat.

…Well, shit.

Ending Theme: Demons by Imagine Dragons


No themes this time!


Blegh. These past couple weeks have sucked, to say the least. My dog is also sick now, to add onto this mess.

Something or someone must hate me right now.

On another (read: happier) note, I have a couple of questions for y'all; One) if I had to ship Lori with anyone, who would it be and why? Just curious. 'Cause I'm thinking of dropping hints of one ship in here and was wondering if y'all were on the same page with me.

L: What ship.

Uh... Nothing, nothing at all. It's all hypothetical, I promise! *laughs nervously*

L: *glares*

A-Anyway, before I die, the other question; do you guys like the idea of the theme songs?

If ya wanna leave your thoughts, feel free to leave them in a PM or in a review~!

Love you all~

Haruhi