So this past week was insane. There was the unexpected passing of my grandma, booking flights and getting work off for the funeral, my birthday, Valentine's Day, and all of that. So here I am in Utah, and ya'll better be grateful I'm posting this on time! :3
Thanks to: Shiningheart of Thunderclan, Juliedoo, TheRealEvanSG, and Skitzykat101 for the reviews! Much love to all! (And Happy Late Valentine's Day!)
Chapter 8
"Hey, how long are you gonna cry for?" asked Luffy irritably. "Cheer up already."
"B-but I'm so touched!" wailed Yosaku, tears still pouring down his face. "It was truly a beautiful goodbye, cook-aniki, Hazel-aneki!"
I made a face at the ridiculous attachment on my name, especially since I was only thirteen, and he was eighteen. "Even I stopped crying an hour ago," I pointed out in annoyance.
Sanji rolled his eyes. "You're keeping a check on our boats direction, right?" he asked to be sure, and Yosaku nodded as he blubbered on.
"Ahhh! I wanna bring back Nami so we can go to the Grand Line already!" Luffy exclaimed, stretching out.
"You're awfully happy," commented Sanji, smoking a cigarette. "But even with Nami, don't you still only have six people?"
"Are we seriously going to the Grand Line with only six people?" I asked, amazed.
Sanji scowled. "You'll regret it if you underestimate the seas, you hear?" he threatened the rubber teen.
Luffy grinned, totally misinterpreting Sanji's warning. "If it's more crewmembers I need, I can do that in the Grand Line too!" he pointed out. "After all, it's supposed to be a paradise!"
"Paradise?" asked Sanji incredulously, pausing in the middle of smoking his cigarette. "Don't you mean a Pirate's Graveyard?"
"Before I left the restaurant, the old man told me that some people call the Grand Line a paradise!" Luffy said, laughing.
"The Geezer said that…?" I said, surprised.
"Well, as long as Nami will be there, I won't even mind if it's just the two of us alone…" giggled Sanji with a perverted smile.
I smacked him upside the head with my tail, and he spluttered. "Gross, Sanji-nii," I deadpanned.
"You're all being too naïve!" shouted Yosaku, his tears now long gone. "You really know too little about the Grand Line! Not to mention our destination as well! If Zoro-aniki had some basic knowledge, then he'd have come back along with me! And he'd definitely would've realized how terrifying the man at the place Nami-aneki went to is!" He smacked a hand against his knee, as if to make a point.
We all ignored him.
"So, should we eat?" asked Sanji, standing.
"Heck yeah!" cheered Luffy. I smiled and nodded.
"THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT!" wailed Yosaku. "There's something about the place we're going to that you have to know about!"
"What is it, then?" I asked impatiently.
"The reason why the Grand Line is called 'Pirate's Graveyard' is because of the three great powers that rule over it! And one of them," Yosaku said, holding up a finger, "is the Ouka Shichibukai."
"Shichibukai?" asked Luffy in confusion.
"Simply put, they're seven pirates that are officially authorized by the World Government."
"What?" Sanji asked, baffled. "Why would the Government permit pirates?"
"As long as the Shichibukai give a portion of their loot, obtained from pillaging uncivilized lands, to the World Government, their pirating activities are officially sanctioned. Other pirates might look down on them by calling them 'Government Dogs' or whatnot, but they're extremely strong!" explained Yosaku with gritted teeth. "In fact, Hawk-Eyes Mihawk, the guy who defeated Zoro-Aniki, is one of the Ouka Shichibukai!"
Luffy's jaw dropped as his eyes bugged out. "Whoa! There's seven of these guys?!" he exclaimed in amazement, rather than the fear that he was supposed to be displaying. He clapped his hands together. "Those shichibukai are amazing!"
I gawked at my new captain. He looked like he actually wanted to fight them, the moron!
Yosaku hung his head. "The problem is with another one of the Shichibuaki. The leader of the Fishman Pirates, Jinbei!"
"Fishman?" Luffy asked, his amazed expression brightening even more. I swear, if he got any more excited, he'd be sparkling. "Never met one before!"
"Fishmen, huh?" asked Sanji, a perverted blush forming on his face. "Isn't Fishman Island a very famous travel destination in the Grand Line? I've heard that the most beautiful mermaids live there!"
I sighed. Of course… "So what's so bad about Jinbei?" I asked, and Yosaku clasped his hands together.
"In return for joining the Shichibukai," he said seriously, "Jinbei let a terrifying monster loose in East Blue." I noticed Luffy pulling out a pad of paper and a marker. He scribbled for a minute, before holding up the ugliest picture of a fish I had ever seen.
"Like this?" he asked, and both Sanji and I burst into laughter.
"That's one ugly fish, hahaha!"
"Could almost give a kid nightmares!"
"IS IT PHYSICALLY IMPOSSIBLE FOR YOU TO PAY ATTENTION?!" shrieked Yosaku furiously. He scowled and sat back against the mast of our little ship.
"Whatever," he growled. "I'll just skip the complicated history lecture for now. The place we're headed to is Arlong Park! It's an area ruled by Arlong, a Fishman pirate that once fought alongside Jinbei, a member of the Shichibukai! In terms of individual strength, he's far stronger than even Don Krieg!"
"But Don Krieg couldn't even survive the Grand Line! And Luffy was only hurt by him because he used spears and bombs," Sanji pointed out. "He wasn't even that strong at all in a fair fight." I blinked in surprise. I hadn't heard that part of the fight before. I shrugged it off, and turned to more important matters.
"But you came back to the Baratie before catching up with her, right?" I asked. "So how do you know for sure where Nami was headed to?"
"That's right!" Sanji agreed immediately. "Isn't it possible that her destination happened to be in the same direction?"
"Me and Johnny have a strong feeling about this," Yosaku said gravely. "Based on what happened earlier, Nami-aneki was definitely staring intently at Arlong's wanted poster. And right after we said Arlong's crew was wreaking havoc again, she took off with the treasure. It's too much to be a coincidence."
"What about this?" Luffy asked, holding up his pad of paper.
I giggled as Sanji made a face. "All you did was draw your previous fish standing upright," he told the teen. Then he clasped his hands dreamily. "Ahh~! But I wonder just what Nami has to do with those Fishmen? Could it be that she's a mermaid? That would explain her beauty…"
"Like this?" Luffy asked, adding hair to the ugly picture and writing Nami's name at the top.
"YOU'RE DEAD MEAT!" roared Sanji as I burst out laughing.
"DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT I'M TRYING TO SAY HERE?!" shouted Yosaku.
"Yeah, there's a strong Fishman dude, got it," replied Luffy, bored.
"NO, YOU DON'T! YOU CAN'T IMAGINE JUST HOW POWERFUL HE IS!"
"Well, I'll see when we get there," said Luffy.
"Yeah, that's right. Don't sweat it, Yosaku," Sanji said, taking a drag on his cigarette.
"I'm hungry," I told Sanji.
"GEEZ! TALKING TO YOU THREE IS JUST USELESS!"
Sanji stood with a grin. "In any case, let's eat then. Hazel-chan's hungry." He stretched. "What do you want?"
"MEAT ON A BONE!"
"STIR-FRIED BEAN SPROUTS!"
"Grilled veggies, please!" I cheered enthusiastically.
"Alright, just leave it to me!" Sanji announced, rolling up the cuffs of his suit and dress shirt.
"Ahh, sure is nice having a cook around!" sighed Luffy with a happy smile as he relaxed against the side of the boat. Sanji kicked at his side in passing as he moved to the kitchen.
"I wish I could hurry up and cook for Nami and Hazel-chan instead of you doofuses," Sanji growled in reply.
"Stir-fried bean sprouts! Big helping!"
"AAAAAAAAAAGGHHHHHH!" screamed Yosaku, spraying bits of bean sprouts everywhere.
"What's that?" asked Luffy through a mouthful of meat.
"Waaaa…It's cute!" I exclaimed, staring up at it.
"It's huge," Sanji corrected, barely glancing at me.
"IT'S A SEA MONSTERRRR!" shrieked Yosaku fearfully.
A giant sea cow peered down at us, wrinkling its pierced nose in confusion. Water dripped as it blew hot air down at us, and Luffy gawked in amazement.
"A cow! It's sooo big!"
"A cow?" Sanji asked, frowning upwards. "And it swims? Isn't that just a hippo?"
"No, it's definitely a horse with those markings," I corrected Sanji.
"You mean a cow," Sanji corrected again, sighing.
According to Sanji, I was unable to call an animal by its proper name. I didn't believe him. I mean, I knew what a horse was, and I knew what a cow was, and I knew the differences between them. And every other animal out there.
"What's a creature like this doing in East Blue?! It's inconceivable!" Yosaku continued to shriek.
I tilted my head as it leaned down to the boat, eyeing the table. "I think it's hungry."
"It must want the food!" Yosaku yelled, pointing a finger at our table.
"What?" asked Luffy, now paying attention at the mention of someone else trying to eat his food.
"Hurry up and just give him the food before he overturns our ship!" Yosaku continued. I smacked him with my hand.
"Stop overreacting! You're not helping anything!" I told him. "Luffy and Sanji-nii will take care of it!"
"You have too much faith -!"
"GOMU GOMU NO PISTOL!"
Yosaku's protests were cut off as Luffy punched the sea monster with tremendous force, sending the cow flying into with a crash. Yosaku's jaw dropped, and I grinned triumphantly.
"See? I told you!" I chirped, settling back into my seat.
Luffy's arm snapped back into place, and he pointed angrily at the sea cow. "DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH MY FOOD!" he roared, and I laughed.
"You did it, Luffy-aniki! That was amazing!" Yosaku shouted.
I rolled my eyes, resting my chin in my hand as I propped my elbow up on the table. "You have no faith," I declared, but Yosaku didn't hear, because the sea cow got up again with a roar.
"Aaaggghh! It looks like you just made it angrier!"
"I'll sock him one more time then!" Luffy readied another punch, when Sanji jumped in.
"YOU DUMBASSES!" he bellowed, kicking both of the young men on the head at the same time with a double axe kick. "DON'T JUST BEAT UP SOMETHING FOR BEING HUNGRY!"
I watched in amusement as Sanji continued, "I'm sure it's injured somewhere so it can't find food on its own. Isn't that right…?"
Sanji held out a plate of food, and the Sea Cow opened its mouth wide, sharpened teeth bared for all to see…
…Before Sanji dealt it a tremendously strong kick to its jaw. "DIE!" The Sea Cow went flying again, crash-landing in the waves. My jaw dropped.
"WHAT WAS THAT?!" I screeched with Yosaku.
"That thing was about to take a bite out of me too," Sanji explained calmly. I puffed out my cheeks. That didn't excuse him from completely contradicting himself!
"MOOOOOOOOO!" bellowed the cow, now beyond angry. He jumped up, above the waves.
I paled. "It's coming to sink the ship!" I screamed.
"Then I'll -!" began Luffy, rearing back for a punch, but Sanji held up a hand.
"Move over. I'll deal with him myself." Sanji took a running leap, twisted, and shouted, "Collier…SHOOT!" before dishing out a mighty kick. "Damn hippo," he growled as he landed back onto the ship.
"Whoa!" Luffy said in amazement, both of us watching with wide eyes as the cow collapsed, unconscious.
Then Luffy dove for the table. "Alright, let's eat!"
Sanji pulled a chair out for me, and I sat down with a shake of my head. "That was exciting," I commented idly.
"A nice little exercise," agreed Sanji, sitting down as well.
"These people are insane," Yosaku mumbled to himself with incredulity.
"Yosaku, gimmie some tea!" demanded Luffy.
"Me too!" I added, smiling.
Yosaku sighed, and joined us at the table. "Comin' right up…"
"I can see Arlong Park!" Luffy started to cheer, and I joined in. I was sitting on top of the sea cow's head, and I patted him.
"Keep going, okay? Don't get tired!" I told him, and he 'moo-ed' in reply. I grinned. "That's the spirit!"
"If he doesn't, I'll cook him," said Sanji, lighting himself a cigarette.
The cow paled.
I patted his head again. "Don't worry! As long as you reach the island, you're fine!"
"Why are you being so nice to a sea cow?" demanded Yosaku, leaning against the railing of the ship. "For all you know, he could turn around and eat you!"
I laughed loudly. "As if! Sanji would just beat the living hell out of it before cutting it into serving-size portions after I was done with it!"
All of a sudden, the sea cow veered right.
"Hey! You're swimming the wrong way! Turn to the left!" ordered Sanji, marching forward.
"It's this building!" shouted Luffy, pointing at the tall building that loomed up on our left. It was tall, with several roof-like platforms, and it said Arlong Park on the front. There was also a flag with the pirate's symbol fluttering at the top.
"We're gonna crash into the shore!" shrieked Yosaku.
"Hazel! Get back here!" shouted Sanji desperately.
"Right!" I tried to jump back, but before I could, we hit the shore.
BOOM!
I stared up at the blue sky, the wind ruffling my hair as I soared through the air.
Then, reality set in.
'OHMYGAWDI'MGONNADIE!'
I shrieked when I caught sight of the ground far below me, and I squeezed my eyes shut when my body began to plummet back to earth. Vaguely, I heard the sound of screaming and shouting behind me, but I was too frightened to open my eyes again. I braced myself for impact, and curled up into a small ball.
The next thing I knew, I was crashing through branches and leaves before I landed roughly on the ground. I opened my eyes, moaning as my back and ribs throbbed. Damn, that was painful…! However, I shook my head, forcing myself to sit up as I looked around the woods.
I sighed a little in relief. At least I was alive.
I slowly staggered up, and I heard shouting over to my left.
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"
I guessed that was a good place to start looking for the others.
I blinked at the scene before me. The entire clearing was completely destroyed. Trees were knocked over, rocks were dragged out of the dirt, and our ship was in a million pieces, scattered all over the clearing.
And, in the center of it all stood Luffy, laughing like a goddamn maniac.
The yelling was coming from a familiar figure, and I smiled a little at the sight of Zoro sitting half-buried in the rubble, completely fine and healthy…almost. He still had long white bandages running across his chest, and he was bleeding from the forehead as Luffy carelessly wiped the dust off his vest. Sanji, after cursing at our new captain, pulled Yosaku up from underneath the rubble of our decimated ship before roughly shaking the bounty hunter back to consciousness.
"What do you mean? We've obviously come to get Nami back," Luffy said brightly, blissfully oblivious to what Zoro was really demanding. "Have you found her yet? And where's Usopp and Johnny?"
Zoro leapt to his feet, all anger draining from his face. "Usopp?! Oh, crap! Now's not the time to be wasting time!"
"Hm? What's wrong?" asked Luffy, not budging an inch as Zoro began to run towards Arlong Park.
"That idiot got himself caught by Arlong!" explained the green-haired teen frantically, glancing back for just a moment. "If we don't hurry up, he'll be kil -!"
"HE WAS ALREADY KILLED!"
The new voice made us all pause, and we looked at the familiar figure that was appearing at the opposite edge of the clearing from me. "It's too late," he croaked, tears dripping down from underneath a pair of sunglasses.
"Johnny?" asked the Zoro in confusion, a look of dread crossing over his face, and Johnny sniveled, before sucking in a deep breath.
"USOPP-ANIKI WAS MURDERED BY NAMI-ANEKI!" he cried.
"SAY IT ONE MORE TIME, AND I SWEAR I'LL KICK YOUR ASS!" roared Luffy angrily, seizing Johnny by the front of his shirt.
I watched the proceeding events with a detached feeling of shock from the edge of the woods, as if my brain couldn't fully comprehend the meaning of my new crewmate being dead.
"Luffy, stop! It's not as if Johnny's the one at fault here!" Yosaku begged, pulling on Luffy's red vest in a vain attempt to stop the teen.
"Well, he's making up bullshit!" snapped Luffy in reply. "There's no way that Nami would kill Usopp! WE'RE NAKAMA!"
Wow, Luffy seemed beyond pissed at the very idea of betrayal. The last time I saw him so angry was when he was yelling at Sanji for thinking he could repay his debt to Zeff by dying.
But it said a lot about his character as well. Unquestionably loyal, and complete faith in his friends. It was almost admirable.
"It's fine if you don't want to believe it! But I saw it with my very own eyes -!" Johnny argued back, still weeping, and Luffy roughly shook him by the front of the bounty hunter's shirt. Geez, did Johnny and Yosaku suffer from some sort of over-emotional syndrome? Because it definitely explained why they cried all the time.
I dismissed my thoughts with a shake of my head and a sigh. I moved to step forward and interrupt the extremely one-sided fight, when someone else made an appearance.
It was the redhead from the restaurant.
"Nami…" said Zoro in numbed disbelief. I took the time to study her. I had gotten a glimpse of her back at the restaurant, but now, I saw Arlong's crest tattooed on her shoulder, and the tense way she grasped a long, blue staff. I also saw the venomous, dark look in her eyes as she glared at my new captain. She almost looked different, with that dark, dark expression on her face. Last I had seen here, she was laughing at Luffy accidentally drinking a booger, and happy.
"Just who did you call nakama, Luffy?" Nami asked mockingly, her pretty face marred by her ugly sneer. "What did you come to this island for?"
Luffy straightened and let go of Johnny's shirt. He picked up his hat from where it had fallen off, and he placed it back onto his head. "What're you talking about?" he asked in confusion. "Aren't we nakama? We've come for you, of course!"
Nami scowled and crossed her arms. "Well, you're nothing but a nuisance," she snapped back in annoyance.
Her gaze then grew cold. "And 'nakama'? Don't make me laugh." She scoffed and narrowed her eyes at Luffy. "It was nothing but a stupid little cooperation."
Luffy's eyes widened, and for a moment, he actually looked a little hurt before it quickly vanished. It was so fast, I thought I had imagined it at first.
"NAMI-SAN! IT'S ME! Do you remember me?! Let's set sail together!" swooned Sanji in a completely distracting moment of idiocy. I briefly wondered if it was genetic, some part of his brain wired to be a completely creepy, stupid pervert.
"Shut up! Can't you see you're making things more complicated by butting in?!" griped Zoro, a vein puling in his forehead. Clearly he understood the situation we were in.
"What was that?!" growled Sanji, switching moods immediately. "Don't you know love is always a hurricane?!"
"Sanji-nii, stop it," I sighed, stepping away from the woods and pushing him and the swordsman apart. In the meantime, Johnny yelled at Nami, something about witches, treasure, and Arlong.
Sanji gasped. "Hazel-chan! You're alive!" I felt a whoosh of air leave my lungs as Sanji seized me in a tight hug, and winced as my sore ribs were jostled.
I jabbed my tail weakly into his face. "Can't…breathe…" I wheezed. Not to mention my back hurt like a goddamn sea king sat on it.
I turned my attention back to Nami as Sanji released me (ignoring Zoro as he stared at my tail), and she smirked. "So what?" she asked Johnny. "Would you like to try and avenge him?"
I swallowed, abruptly reminded of a new crewmate's death. This was horrible.
"Let me tell you one thing," she said, waving a hand carelessly. "After the idiotic stunt Zoro pulled, Arlong wants Roronoa Zoro and all of his companions dead. No matter how monstrously strong you all may be, you're no match for the real monster."
"I couldn't care less about that," Zoro stated neutrally, his expression hard. "Where's Usopp?"
"At the bottom of the ocean," Nami replied cockily.
Zoro growled, and reached for the single sword strapped to his waist. "That's it, I've had enough of you!" he declared angrily. He began to rush forward,, his gaze fixed solely on Nami. However, I watched as his eyes darted to left, and he ducked hastily as Sanji swung a hi-speed kick at his head.
"And I've had enough of you!" announced Sanji.
With a heavy sigh, I massaged the bridge of my nose. Was I surrounded by idiots? Did I do something in a past life to be surrounded by idiots?!
"Does a swordsman harm ladies as well, Roronoa Zoro?" mocked Sanji as they began to face each other.
Zoro glared. "What the hell did you say?! Don't butt in when you don't know the first thing about anything!"
Sanji chortled. "Heh. Aren't you quite irritable after your shameful loss."
"What?! Watch your mouth, asshole," threatened Zoro dangerously, obviously stung by Sanji's comment. "Or your head'll go flying."
"I'd like to see you try, cripple," challenged Sanji, referring to the long bandages on Zoro's torso. And I watched as vein visibly pulsed in Zoro's forehead as they glared at each other.
"This isn't the time to be bickering, morons!" I shouted, shouldering myself between them, seizing their shirts, and bashing their heads together. And damn, didn't that feel good. I should do it more often; it's pretty therapeutic. I glowered at the two as they sank to the ground, gripping their heads in pain, but I cringed back a little when Zoro shot me a threatening glare in reply.
"This is an emergency!" Yosaku hastily cut in before Zoro could do something to maim me.
"Hazel!" Sanji exclaimed, pushing himself onto his hand and knees. "You can't treat your older brother like that!"
"If you're acting like an idiot, then I'll treat you like an idiot!" I retorted defiantly, poking him in the chest with my tail.
"NOT YOU TOO!" Yosaku shrieked, pulling at his hair.
"That's right," said Nami with a smirk and stopping our argument in its tracks. "If you're going to fight, why don't you do it somewhere other than this island? I'd rather not have outsiders stick their noses in this island's affairs anymore!" I scowled at Nami, because she was definitely not helping the situation! "Don't you get it?! I only stuck around with you for money! And now that you don't even have a single beli, I couldn't care less about you!"
Honestly, I didn't really understand what was going on; we had only arrived, like, five minutes ago, and what she was saying didn't really make much sense to me.
"If it's about the ship, I'll give it back." I frowned in confusion. What kind of deserter would say something like that to her former crew? It didn't make any sense to me. If it were me, at least, I would've attacked and probably attempted to kill them all, or try to run as far away from them as I could. "Now get off this island! You're an eyesore!"
There was a moment's pause, before she added softly, "Farewell."
"Nami," Luffy breathed, staring at her like he just had an epiphany, and not a good one.
He tilted backwards, and hit the ground with a jarring thud.
"Ahh! Luffy-aniki!"
"What's wrong, Luffy-aniki?!"
"Ahh…I'm gonna sleep," Luffy mumbled before closing his eyes.
'Wait…WHAT?!'
"SLEEP?!" roared Sanji, Yosaku, and Johnny in surprise and shock. I gawked dumbly at my new captain, and Zoro shook his head in irritation, as if he'd already expected something like this to happen. "In this emergency?! And in the middle of the road?!"
And with a captain like Luffy, he probably would.
"I don't feel like leaving this island just yet," said Luffy, yawning. "And I don't really care what's going on with this island either. And I'm sleepy. So I'm sleeping."
And with his own unique brand of logic, he fell asleep.
We all gaped in disbelief while Zoro smacked the palm of his hand to his forehead.
"FINE, DO WHATEVER THE HELL YOU WANT!" Nami shrieked suddenly, taking me completely by surprise. I jumped, my tail bristling as she screamed, "YOU CAN DIE FOR ALL I CARE!"
And with that final statement ringing in the air, she left.
"You're all out of your minds!" shouted Yosaku after Nami was long gone. "It's like that insane witch just said! Usopp-aniki's been killed, and Arlong's out to get to us! Just what reason do you have for staying on this island any longer?! I, for one, believe in what Johnny said he saw!"
"I don't," I said abruptly, and everyone stopped to gape at me.
"But I saw it!" Johnny pointed out angrily.
"But what Nami's been saying doesn't make sense," I said, chewing on my lip with a frown as the gears in my head churned. "It's like she's desperate for us to leave before we get killed, which doesn't make sense if she really killed Usopp. Why care for the rest of the crew when you've already killed one member?"
"Hazel-chan, you're so smaaaarrrt!" crooned Sanji, grinning proudly and sweeping me up into an affectionate hug. I grinned in reply.
"Maybe she's just an insane witch!" retorted Johnny angrily. He then threw up his hands. "Whatever! It's only been a short while, but I'm afraid this is where we must part! We have no desire to be hunted down and killed by Arlong!"
"Fine," said Zoro, a neutral expression on his face.
Omake
"Why do we have to teach her this?" one of the cooks complained to Zeff. "Why can't that blond asshole do it? Or even better, you do it?"
I was sitting in the kitchen with all the other chefs of the Baratie scattered about on stools and countertops, and Sanji just watched the proceedings with crossed arms and a cigarette smoldering in his mouth.
I turned my attention to Zeff. "Because," Zeff grunted, looking mildly embarrassed as he tugged on the collar of his uniform. "I have business to attend to, like financing and accounting for this whole damn operation. And don't worry, the 'blond asshole,' as you put it, is going to help you out."
I raised an eyebrow in confusion as I turned to Sanji, who carefully avoided my gaze. What the hell were they talking about?
"Geezer," I finally cut in, snagging the attention of every occupant in the room. "What the hell are you all talking about? Teach me what?"
The cooks all coughed and shuffled, and Zeff flushed even more. This was the most uncomfortable I had ever seen him. "Those bastards will tell you," he said awkwardly, before making a hasty retreat.
We all gaped at the swinging kitchen doors, and I jumped when the cooks roared as one, "YOU BASTARD!"
"Hey, you guys, it might not even be that bad!" Carne said with a leery grin, and I felt myself growing nervous as all the cooks paused, before turning delighted grins towards me.
I gulped. "What?"
"Hazel-chan, I think it's time you learned 'the talk,'" Soufflé explained with a leer. "Right boys?"
"Right!" Gnocchi stepped forward with a devilish grin that had me growing more and more nervous. "So, Hazel, when a man and a woman love each other very much…and not even love, but just wanna have a good time…"
Half an hour later, it felt like all the blood vessels in my face had exploded at the…er, graphic descriptions the cooks had given me. Even Sanji was particularly enthusiastic about describing what happened to females during…that.
"And that's where babies and prostitutes come from," Patty finished cheerfully.
"Well? What'd you think, brat? Surprised, huh?" asked Romaine with a snigger.
"U-uh…t-that's one way to put it, I guess," I gulped, trying to come to terms with the mind-rape I had just been given, as well as my lost, eleven-year-old innocence. "I-I need some time to myself…"
And with that, I beat a hasty retreat to my room, the laughter of the cooks following me through the door.
Owari
So that's the end of that chapter! Hazel's pretty smart and observant for her age, but her hotheadedness, stubbornness, and general mind-boggling situations tends to make her seem like she's…not. And I couldn't stop grinning while I wrote this last little section. I'd been planning it for months, and I keep seeing Hazel's expression afterwards. Imagine, a little brunette that looks like her brain just exploded, face totally on fire. And it doesn't help that the cooks at the Baratie are probably all really crude and whatnot. They'd just ruin the talk for her.
Also, another point on Hazel; she knows the differences between animals, but she's physically incapable of calling it by it's proper name. If she sees a cat, she'll call it a dog or something, despite knowing that it's a cat. If she sees an octopus, she'll call it a squid, etc. I don't know how she ended up with this particular trait, but it happened, and it was funny/quirky enough for me to not give it up.
Anyways, review please! Give criticism, point out mistakes, and all that jazz! And thanks so much!
Posted and Edited: 2/16/14, 3:52PM
