Chapter 11: Changes And Training
Okay so at this point I have no idea what's going on with my story or Misaki so here's a summary for me and you
Misaki's getting stronger with Zoro's help and the power of friendship
She acquaints herself with the Straw Hat pirates and likes all of them
Cara's still here and she's better than ever
Even though she's the youngest on the ship Misaki's treated like a babysitter for Luffy and Zoro when they go to new islands because she is a mature thottie
It's been about a month
"CONCENTRATE ON THE FUCKING DUMBBELL!"
"I WOULD IF YOU STOPPED SCREAMING!"
"YOU KNOW WHAT!? IF YOU DON'T WANT ME TO TRAIN YOU ANYMORE, THEN I CAN JUST WALK OUT! SEE IF I CARE, I HAVE BETTER THINGS TO DO!"
Cara, her legs tucked together, expressionlessly stared at the duo that was arguing fervently. Her hair was in a messy bun (which was comically bouncing up and down every time she laughed at Misaki and Zoro's clapbacks) and she was also wearing new clothes she had purchased with Misaki the day before.
'They're really similar, I see.' The white haired woman smiled calmly while munching on some food Sanji had made her.
Misaki was learning how to control her weapons, her actions, and her general body. With a dumbbell. The girl was just staring at a dumbell to learn to concentrate, which honestly didn't make any sense to her, and she didn't even try to take it seriously, or take Zoro seriously.
"Did you ever even have to do this?" Misaki snapped with heavy doubt laced in her voice.
"Yes. I wouldn't teach you foolish techniques."
"This technique is foolish," The girl deadpanned.
"I really wish that this crew had the brains to drop you off at an island that feeds thirteen year olds to penguins." Zoro threatened.
"I really wish that this crew had a more stable swordsman who could teach me more than just looking at a damn dumbbell," Misaki muttered under her breath, turning away from the fuming marimo. He heard what she had said and immediately popped an infinite amount of veins.
"YOU'RE SUCH A LITTLE SHIT, THINKING THAT YOU CAN DISRESPECT ME LIKE THAT-"
"YOU'VE SHOWN ME THAT YOU DON'T DESERVE RESPECT FROM ME, ANYWAY!" The navy blue haired girl turned back to Zoro, who just about looked like he was about to strangle his trainee.
You could hear them screaming miles away.
"How long have you been on this ship, Misaki?" Cara asked, and Misaki did a 180 to glance at her friend. "I think, for a week now?"
"You seem to get along with Zoro-kun really well." She replied sarcastically.
"Hey, it's not my fault that the only person who's capable of teaching me how to fight is a complete knucklehead." Misaki huffed.
"Hey!"
Although it was tough working with Zoro, it was obvious that he excelled at fighting and analyzing the weak and strong points of a person's power. He clearly knew how to distribute his energy and power during a fight, and whenever they would duel with wooden katana, he would never break a sweat and blocked all of Misaki's attacks without blinking. Misaki, on the other hand, was tripping on air, it seemed. During fights, she would be falling over Zoro's weapon and losing her grip on the swords she held.
However, there was merit to all the training she went through, sooner rather than later.
Misaki was taught how to control her sword in days. Zoro had told her that her powers most likely contributed to the quickness of the controlling, and when he's first said that, she didn't understand.
"Your power scares the swords. A sword has somewhat of an emotional side to itself, and when it's put in danger, it knows if it can attack or stay humbled, whichever is the best option in each scenario."
"How do you know that?"
Zoro's expression darkened.
"My teacher. He told me about it. He's been through so many swordsmen. Some who exhibit not enough fear, are easily overtaken by their katana, if it's strong enough. But others who exert more power and energy can dominate and control their sword." The green haired man finally answered.
Her swordsmanship was another step. Although she knew how to move with her katana (at this point, she could only use one, since mastering two would be a completely different story), she was still getting used to the weight being in her hands.
"It's not so light, once I keep holding onto it." She muttered.
"In a while, you'll be holding onto two at a time. Get used to it." Zoro said. "Try out my sword for a change." He dropped Sandai Kietsu into her hands. She felt her body jerking downwards due to the immense amount of weight she was gripping.
"H-Heavy…"
"Told you. And I have three of those."
Zoro told her that the girl would need years of training to be on par with half of him. She obviously believed him. Zoro could easily overtake her with little to none of his power, with or without his swords, and he was more dangerous with no weapons on his body or an inch of armor covering him, than she could ever be, even with her new powers.
Misaki wasn't looking forward to her rough years of fighting with a sword.
During breakfast time of a certain day on the Straw Hat's Sunny, Misaki had memorized the layout of the ship, Cara became close buddies with Luffy, Zoro, Nami, and her sharpshooting trainer, Usopp, and the two of them were becoming more comfortable on the ship as more time passed. The white haired woman loved drinking with the swordsman and joked around with Luffy and the sniper often. The younger girl helped Sanji with the dishes and meal prep whenever he could use it, but didn't try to approach Robin, due to her sudden distance towards Misaki. The ship wasn't nearing Sentorappu anytime soon, so this was a better time to enjoy and relax for Cara, while Misaki could find out new strengths and weaknesses about her power.
"Pass the blueberries, you hog!" Nami yelled from across the table as the straw hatted boy stuffed his cheeks with fruit. Today's breakfast was pancakes, waffles, and ooey, gooey syrup. The cook had also prepared powdered sugar and all kinds of jam.
"Thank you for the food," Misaki declared after she was finished.
"So, how's progress lately with your training, Misaki?" The orange haired woman asked, lacing her ginger locks through her fingers. "Zoro's not working you too hard, right?"
"No, I appreciate that he's taking his time to help me." Misaki responded, followed with an approving grunt from the swordsman who was stuffing his face with pancakes. "I've been working on my swordsmanship a lot, but it's not improving by much. Although I think I should also take a look at my water powers, too."
"Hmmm. I wonder if someone can help you with broadening your Devil Fruit powers. Maybe another Devil Fruit user?"
"I don't know. Since I can still swim, my Devil Fruit might be different, compared to others."
"Ahh, that's true."
"Well, then. I'll be off." Misaki waved goodbye to the Straw Hats and exited the kitchen. She climbed up the ladder to the crow's nest and plopped herself onto the center of the floor, partially waiting for Zoro to come and partially pondering a few things circulating her head at the moment.
'Maybe I should hurry to Sentorappu Island…'
'And risk getting myself killed or entrapped once again!?'
'Or maybe I should ask the Straw Hats for help…'
'They've already helped you so much. How could you bring yourself to ask for more?'
'What about Cara? Does she even want to go back to Sentorappu? I'm free, her brother is free, and she's never once mentioned anyone from the adult's sector that could be a possible friend to me during our conversations. What if she just wants to find Bruce?'
'Cara can make her own decisions, and if she doesn't want to help you, then that's okay. But what's more important is the current situation at Sentorappu. They've probably noticed that I was missing. What would they do?'
'Do? They wouldn't do anything, right? No, I can never be so sure. Keep everything as a possibility for now.'
'My Mizu Mizu no mi, though… It's such a mystery. Maybe it really is because of my powers which is why I'm able to swim… Or maybe it's my body?'
'Let's try to see what else I can do with the powers.'
Misaki stood up from where she was sitting and let a spherical blob surface from her hands to float on her finger tips. She released it into the air as she let her arms shoot up. The water kind of just hit the ceiling and splashed everywhere in the crow's nest.
'Useless…' Misaki thought. She held both her arms out from her sides and tried to attract the scattered water droplets in the room to avoid Zoro's confrontation when he entered a wet area.
The water sprung out from the wooden boards and the window panes. It was gathered to a large orb and traveled back into the girl's body fairly quickly.
'How can I attack with this, though? My body runs out of energy when I use just a little bit of the Mizu Mizu no mi's powers.'
Misaki then tried turning into water, but was displeased that her physical form was still molded into the water. 'What happens if I press harder?'
Concentrating, the young girl squeezed on whatever gut feeling she had, and suddenly felt sluggish. She looked into a reflection of one of the closed mirrors and realized that she was turning into actual water. Freely being able to travel around, of course, but still, water.
"Woah," Misaki felt strange in this liquid form. It was different from the bodily water form that she took whenever she avoided bullets or cuts during training battles with Zoro or Usopp. Could she turn back?
Misaki strained on the same gut feeling and instantly formed back to her normal liquid form, and then slowly reverted from transparent to full human once again.
"Strange." Misaki murmured. 'Is there anything that I can do?'
The navy blue haired girl made a gun hand out of her index, middle finger, and thumb. She pointed it at an open window and "shot."
A bit of water sprayed out pathetically, but it was enough to release a blob of water into the open area and send it straight into the back of Luffy's head, with the force to knock him down, probably out of surprise.
"What- Luffy!" The navy blue haired girl yelped in shock.
"Are we being ambushed!?" Nami called out after hearing Misaki's usually calm voice yell in panic.
Luffy stood right up and rubbed the part of his head where pain was inflicted. "Owww…" He looked down at his wet hand which he pulled down. "...Water…?"
"Sorry, Luffy!" Misaki called out from the open window she shot her water out of. "It was me!"
"Ahaha! No worries, Misaki! It's nothing, I didn't even feel anything!" Luffy waved his hand in dismission.
Misaki bent down and leaned against the wall. 'How do I control my water power? How… How?'
A few minutes after the whole water gun experiment, Zoro walked in through the door of the crow's nest.
"Yo." He waved his hand lazily. "I brought pineapple soda, and everyone drank besides you."
"Oh, thanks." She caught a thin can of soda in her hand.
"Also, you missed it, but Franky announced that he finished building everyone's rooms. He made one for you and Cara, too."
"What? Really?" Misaki stood up again. "How are the rooms?"
"I couldn't care less about stupid shit like that. I told him not to make one for me, since I sleep here all the time, anyway. The others are pretty excited, though. You should go check it out."
Misaki climbed down the ladder and jumped to the ground of the ship.
"Misaki, you came to my grand opening!" Franky cheered happily.
"Is that what you would call it?" Misaki asked. She enjoyed Franky's eccentric personality, but it clashed with her expressionlessness all the time.
Franky had done a great job with the renovations of the Sunny, even though no one had realized the drastic changes he'd been working on for days. Each of the rooms were spaces of isolation and privacy, and Nami appreciated the fact that she was given the biggest one. Franky, being the incredible shipwright he was, managed to increase the ship's size by a lot to adjust the rooms and how much extra space was needed to convert some parts of the area into hallways and spaces for entrances. Additionally, every bedroom had an exit to the open air of the Sunny. Franky didn't make himself a room because he could always sleep in the basement, where he already had living quarters set up for himself.
"I dunno if you noticed, Misaki, but you have a room, too!" Franky told the young girl enthusiastically. He pointed upwards, and Misaki looked towards the place he had directed her. "I actually attached your room to the mast of the crow's nest. It circles around it."
There was a room in the shape of a semicircular prism- a half donut, one might have said- that attached to the mast. The crow's nest was above that room, but the bedroom was large, height and diameter wise. There were windows and exits around the exterior, and a flimsy rope ladder that connected to the entrance of the bedroom to the crow's nest, along with a steel ladder that connected from the same entrance to the deck of the Sunny.
"It's a guest room!" Franky cheered. "I'll make some stairs leading to the bedroom, of course, but for now, this is going to be the super makeshift guest room."
"Unless you're thinking of joining the crew, which would be great, Misaki-san!" Brook added.
"Oh, no way, she's troubled us enough," Zoro said jokingly, which resulted in a punch from Nami.
"Don't be rude!" The orange haired woman hissed. "She's a nice girl, Zoro. You spend the most time with her, so you should know!"
"I know nothing about her being nice," The swordsman said as he rubbed his head.
"I'm the nicest human being in the world." Misaki huffed indignantly.
"You must be joking." The green haired man clicked his tongue and chuckled at their casual, but kinda-toxic banter. It was fun. It was weird to do it, thought Misaki. Saying things just out of the blue- things that wouldn't matter in a few hours. She was still adjusting.
"It's like a donut." Luffy deadpanned, boring holes into the room. "It's gonna fall off."
"It's not gonna fall off! Have faith in your super shipwright!" Franky refuted indignantly, and Misaki bowed to the blue haired cyborg.
"Thank you for the room, but it really wasn't necessary. I could have just continued to sleep in the crow's nest."
"Ahaha, what're you saying, Misaki!? I'll take it, then!" Cara slung her arm around the blue haired girl's neck, catching Misaki by surprise.
"Look at everyone else's rooms, first! You should check out the interior!" Franky suggested, and the thirteen year old didn't object. She was curious as to how so many rooms could possibly fit in such a small ship, granted the shipwright had installed more space.
Luffy's room was literally the best room anyone could ever ask for. It was placed right above Chopper's office, and it was unnecessarily large. The room was pretty empty, but it already looked like a dump due to the mess Luffy was making.
"I'm gonna buy the highest quality futon for the floor!" The captain yodelled.
"Should you really let him sleep on such a lowly thing as a futon when he's the captain?" Misaki asked Nami, who was standing near her when the former was viewing rooms.
"Eh, we let him do what he wants. Luffy doesn't care for extravagance, which is one thing that I like about him." The navigator grinned cheekily. "It saves a lot of money that way,"
Nami didn't waste any time in decorating her new massive room. From the previous city island, she had purchased a foldable, but still unnecessarily large, bed frame, and a poofy mattress. She wanted her bed in one corner, a desk on the other side of the wall, and pictures of her and the crew all over the room.
"How nice." Misaki said.
"Haha, I probably shouldn't be so spoiled as to having the largest room." Nami scratched the back of her head, partly guilty. "But I let Robin take the bed that we shared. Her room's also pretty big, too."
Usopp and Sanji had asked for standard, four wall rooms with two windows. They would purchase their beds later on, they said, but there was really nothing to look at for their plain bedrooms.
Chopper's room was the best, in Misaki's opinion, with a seemingly round interior, only the places where the corners should have been were curved inwards to make the bedroom seem circular so the excess right-angle space would provide as storage space the little reindeer was more than happy to share. The room, overall, wasn't so big, but it was enough for him to want to scatter soft throw pillows all over the floor.
Robin's room was the room that she'd shared with Nami before the renovations, and had stayed pretty much the same, so there wasn't much to look at, besides the fact that she changed the interior to look more like a library, with added shelves all over the place and plants along the floors and windowsills. Franky promised to add little sections where Robin could place the plants that were chilling on the floor, and Robin liked the idea of that, but basically, her walls were filled up to the brim with books and plants. Nami never liked to keep plants in their room because it brought bugs and dirt, so she would only let Robin garden in the gardening area, but the archaeologist was finally free to keep her greenery in the comfort of her own bedroom! Hooray!
Brook had also taken the original guy's room, so he had to clear out a bunch of hammocks and clean up the dirty space. The blue haired man promised his "skeletal bro" that he would line the musician's walls with fresh, smooth surfaces to replace the older wood. The musician also placed his piano, his violin, his guitar, and the rest of his instruments in his room so that when you entered, it looked like a band room without the chairs. Brook also hung up his own posters on the wall to boast that he was pretty much the only Straw Hat pirate who was advertised in a good way.
"How did you possibly do all this? The Sunny doesn't look all that different from the outside, but look at how much space you magically installed!" Misaki exclaimed in curiosity.
"I guess I'm just a SUPEEERRRR shipwright!" Franky cheered for himself and grinned after receiving the compliment.
"Franky already bought a lot of things to personalize the rooms from a previous island, too." Nami contemplated. "Well, time to get crackin' on the hard work!" The slender woman stretched out her fingers as she held a can of light orange paint hanging from her elbow.
"Does it normally take this long to reach an island?" Misaki asked, out of the blue. The orange haired woman pondered her question. "Well, since we just reached that city island, it might take another few days or so, at the normal rate."
"I see…" Misaki said.
"Also, since there are different routes different ships and log poses take, we might have skipped your island. Which might be the reason why it's not turning up."
"...That's…" The blue haired girl's stomach felt heavy when she heard that. She knew of this fact, but had completely forgotten about it until Nami mentioned it.
"But you might have just been traveling far- who knows, really?" The navigator shrugged her shoulders and let out a chuckle. "Now, help me decorate my big-ass room, will you!?"
Dragging the girl to Nami's new bedroom, the two chatted along the way.
After the ordeal with helping Nami move her colossal pile of clothes into the walk-in closet of her new room (Nami specifically asked for a walk-in closet along with the demand for the balcony and a few other things), arranging a few hundred photos of her with the Straw Hats having a jolly time onto the walls of her bedroom, and having her, Nami, and even Sanji help out with affixing the navigator's incredibly enormous bed to the corner, Misaki was finally free to go. Nami thanked her countless times and didn't know how to repay her kindness, since Misaki didn't have a debt like the rest of the Straw Hat pirates did, and the blue haired girl told her not to worry about it. Sanji also made a sly remark about how the bed was pretty big for one person as Misaki was leaving, and it got his ass beat.
The thirteen year old stared into the sea and wondered what she was going to do. She still had to find Bruce, or at least, figure out his status- meaning whether he was alive or not- and she still didn't know where Sentorappu Island was. There was nothing going for her at the moment besides her Devil Fruit, and even her powers weren't cooperating with her. Robin told her before that her Devil Fruit was a Logia type, which meant that she could summon, transform into, and control water. She didn't know how to summon water yet, but she did want to learn how to control it at the very least, so that she could use it as a weapon. Misaki was literally surrounded with water, and she felt pretty pathetic knowing that if the Sunny drowned, there was only so much she could do against it even though she wielded the power of the freaking Mizu Mizu no mi.
Misaki took off her shirt and was left in her black tank top. She threw the fabric she discarded to the deck of the Sunny and jumped into the water, hoping to find answers in the ocean itself.
"Yo, did I just see Misaki diving into the water?" Franky asked nearby as he screwed in some adjustments to Chopper's room. Chopper popped his head out from the window of his room and shrieked, "MISAKI, YOU'RE STILL MY PATIENT!"
Misaki felt the ocean like she felt air. There was no substance surrounding her, and she breathed freely.
In and out.
In and out.
Water was like second nature to her already, which she appreciated.
'Maybe I could call out to my friends, the sea creatures.' Misaki joked in her head.
Instantly, the water was illuminated.
"What the-" The navy blue haired girl yelped, and saw creepy looking fish surrounding her- they were all of the same species.
'Stomiidae? Wait, how did I even know?' Misaki wondered. The fish were pretty small, so they looked harmless, and they provided a sufficient amount of glow so that Misaki could see the floor of the sea, but man, were they ugly.
"Wow, look at all the treasure down here!" Misaki gasped. She picked up a pearl necklace that needed severe restoration, but was still probably worth a fortune. She scooped through the dirt and found buried treasure- gold coins and small diamonds that were crushed under the pressure of the water.
"Wait, if I'm at the bottom of the ocean, shouldn't I be dead right now, regardless of my powers?" The young girl thought out loud.
"No, your powers most likely support your ability to withstand the ocean's pressure. You aren't a regular human anymore." Misaki breathed out. "Aaand, I'm talking to myself,"
The Stomiidae fish surrounding her hugged her skin and caressed her fingertips. Any normal human being would probably find this disgusting, but Misaki kind of found a beauty to these types of fish and didn't mind their closeness. Actually, she found their acceptance towards the girl a bit shocking and pleasant. She slid her hands against the tops of some of the fish before swimming away, back up to the parts of the ocean with more natural light. She dropped her newfound treasures as she left the deep sea, as well, kind of feeling wrong by taking something that didn't belong to her, even though she'd done it a few days ago.
The thirteen year old felt something bubble warmly in the pit of her heart, and she made a face at the feeling. 'Strange,' She thought. 'I wonder what that was,'
She then wondered if she could maybe geyser herself out of the ocean like she'd done previously, but have the water more under her control than before. She waved her hands in front of her eyes as if she was about to cut through the ocean and make an opening for her geyser to spout, and in return, the sea granted her with an explosion of bubbles beneath her feet as she was still swimming upwards, which flew her all the way to the surface of the water, and then out, on an elevated table of seawater.
Misaki breathed out as her mission was carried out successfully. She rotated 360 degrees to try and track down the ship that she jumped out from, and found a little silhouette of a familiar vessel far away and in the fog of the afternoon. She flicked her wrist, and almost robotically, the strange table of water that had been carrying her basically drove her to where she needed to go. When Misaki finally reached the ship, she noticed a familiar reindeer frantically hooting and springing up and down at the sight of her.
"Misaki! You're back!" Chopper cried out, hanging by the railed edge of the Sunny. "I was worried for you!"
"Chopper, I'm fine already. You don't have to be so touchy with me- thanks to you, I'm all cured and healthy," Misaki responded with a skip in her tone.
"Whaaatt!? You dumbass, you don't have to say all that, idiot~!" The doctor replied happily, doing his strange dance that the girl had seen before.
Misaki tried to smile, but nothing came out naturally. She knew it was easy for the rest of the Straw Hats to do, but no matter what she did, she couldn't seem to smile. No laughter, no little grins, nothing.
Instead of smiling, then, the blue haired girl turned away from the Sunny and focused on honing the power of her Devil Fruit more. She took one hand and made a similar motion to when she first summoned her geyser, and another one before her formed, slightly lower than the one she was sitting on.
As clarified before, water didn't make her wet, which meant that she was able to stand up from the water without feeling soggy or heavy. The navy blue haired girl hopped to the other geyser and summoned a third, and then there were three random geysers in the sea that decelerated like stairs. Misaki knew that her powers weren't just limited to geysers and water tables, so she dismissed them into the ocean with another wave of her hand and stood on the surface of the sea. There were mini rolling waves caused by the Sunny, so it was still easy for her to walk on the water without tripping on catastrophic currents.
The young girl decided that from this point on, her water training would be done in sea.
A few weeks had already passed, and Misaki and Cara were familiarizing themselves with the ship and the fellow crew mates. Robin had stopped ignoring the blue haired girl, and in fact, the two were engaging in some heated discussions and debates about a few issues and controversies of the world and the history of the Grand Line.
Misaki also noted that the Straw Hat Pirates were more frequently attacked than she'd ever believed. Pirates, Marines, and even vacation ships would stop and shoot at the Sunny, just to get a chance to take the head of one of the crew. She didn't really blame them, either. Luffy's head was one for 500 million, which was enough to create a small country. The others were also set for high prices, albeit, Chopper's was laughable.
However, she also realized that the Straw Hat Pirates, when under attack, never killed. Never sunk a ship, and never really brought any major damage to any single person or thing.
Misaki was kind of in awe due to this, seeing as to how easy it would have been just to murder every single person on one ship, due to the Straw Hat Pirates and their immense strength.
"Why should we? It just wastes so much more energy we have to save for other assholes who come around and disturb my peace." Zoro shrugged. Misaki gave him a glare, knowing that he was referring to her. Well, she was satisfied with the answer, however, since this meant that Zoro didn't kill innocent people who were blinded by wealth.
Misaki was intrigued with each and every member aboard the ship.
Brook, because of his soothing violin every night that would help Cara's nightmares disappear and Misaki's insomnia vanish.
Usopp and Franky, for their constant building, inventing, and creating. Sanji and his fascinatingly amazing food that she'd only dreamt about. Chopper, for his cuteness and huggableness, along with his skills as the best doctor the navy blue haired girl had ever seen.
Luffy and his peculiar mannerisms, ironic to the fact that he was the captain of one of the most notorious pirate crews in the Grand Line.
Zoro, since he was her mentor and had many personalities around different people, Misaki had noticed.
Nami and Robin, because of their intelligence and their ability to work together surprisingly well. This only came as a shock to Misaki since she'd always thought that if there was only one other girl in any given setting, you were immediately rivals. That was what came to be when Misaki was in Sentorappu- most girls her age, when they first met her, saw her as a rival, since they were new to being a slave and didn't know to survive, you needed friends to keep you alive and, essentially, sane. But no more on that.
In particular, Franky piqued her interest, due to his ability to create improvements to ships in the speed of sound. He was working on a special project that he wouldn't let anyone but Usopp know about, since he needed the long nosed man's help. But Usopp couldn't help but gush about the new "project," barely keeping the secret an actual secret. Misaki was really looking forward to the installment Franky would be finishing up in a few days, and the others were, as well, judging from their giddy faces. Usopp was attacked daily for spoilers.
Well, more on that later.
One particular day, Misaki was working on her magic when the Sunny experienced a sudden jolt by some miniscule attack, no doubt. Luffy and Zoro had already taken down the pirate ship by the time she had seen a glimpse of its Jolly Roger. The flag was just a black one with a white skull on it, the generic Jolly Roger that you would see on a cartoon show.
"That's strange…" Nami muttered.
"What?" Misaki asked. "What do you mean?"
"Usually, they put up more of a fight. So that could only mean that they're rookies." Nami answered quickly. "But for a rookie pirate ship to get this far… is just a little odd."
Misaki pondered on what Nami had said after she left to get something citrusy to eat, pacing back and forth at the comment that she had made. It was clear that they were, indeed, rookies, but exactly how were they this far into the Grand Line?
But the Straw Hats weren't too worried about it, so Misaki chose not to stress out about it, either. She went into the library to find something to read.
During her time spent with the Straw Hat Pirates, Misaki would usually either be doing any of the following: cooking with Sanji, training with Zoro, talking with either Cara, Nami, Robin, or Chopper, or sleeping.
She slept a lot.
"Misaki's been really tired, recently." Zoro nudged Cara one day, as the two gazed at Misaki, who was sleeping peacefully on the benches of the crow's nest.
"Oh. She's probably making up all the time she missed as a slave. We only got three hours of sleep at night, at the most. It became routine for us to doze off during work, but Misaki was always alert and all. I guess she's more or less wearing that habit off." Cara explained nonchalantly. Zoro only stared at the white haired woman in shock.
"...What? You already know that we were enslaved. I thought you'd be chill about it."
"Yeah, I mean, I guess. But I didn't know you would open up so willingly. About something like that, I mean." The marimo said.
"Well, she'll be fine." Cara cleared her throat, changing the subject.
"Maybe it's the Devil Fruit that's making her sleep more, since it forces her to use a lot of her energy." Zoro suggested.
"Oh, really? Is that how Devil Fruits work?" Cara placed her hands behind her head.
"Not that I know of. Misaki's the first person I know who's swallowed a Devil Fruit and could still swim." He answered.
Zoro inhaled softly, and then there was a brief silence.
"She's been through a lot, you know." Cara blurted out suddenly. "She's suffered more than any other slave I know. She didn't die, which would have been a lot easier than just staying alive in Sentorappu and suffering everyone else's deaths and torture."
"I understand." Zoro said. "She told me."
"She may appear strong, but she's still only thirteen years old. No one in your crew is that young, and none of you ever went through the hardships she went through." Cara began raising her voice, but when it became apparent, she stopped herself and took a deep breath. Afterwards, she straightened her posture and turned away to leave the crow's nest. "I'm... I'm sorry. I don't... Anyway. Just… Please don't hurt her any more than she's already been. And even though it may be hard, please let us stay until we find Bruce."
"Yeah. Ero Cook probably won't let go of Misaki, anyway." The green haired man rolled his eyes.
"We've burdened you enough, but it's true that your ship is a great place to be in. Everyone here is so kind. It feels like a dream." The former slave faced the swordsman again. "I'd personally love to stay here with Bruce and Misaki, but it'd be rude. When we find my brother, it would be awesome if you guys could just let us off at a nice island or something like that."
"Hold on." Zoro put a hand up. "Didn't you guys plan to go to Sentorappu Island again? To, like, release all the slaves there?"
Cara winced.
Zoro's left eye twitched.
"O-Of course. I completely forgot." The woman laughed. "Yeah. Sentorappu... Uhhm, if you don't mind, I'm going to leave. I have a sharpshooting lesson with Long Nose!" She waved nervously and jumped off an open window of the crow's nest.
"How far do you think we drifted away from Sentorappu?"
Cara flinched when Misaki spoke up. The two of them were sitting on the railing of the Sunny, near the grass deck of the ship, drinking pineapple colas made by Sanji.
"Ahh... Who knows, Misaki? But think about it- we were blasted off to different islands, but we managed to find each other really quickly." Cara answered, and at the same time, didn't give her an exact response to her real question.
"Mmm." Misaki hummed, chewing on her straw. "We're gonna find Bruce, no matter what. Then, we'll go back to Sentorappu and free the other kids and adults."
"...Right." Cara chimed in hesitantly.
"Maybe we'll even be able to get out alive, right?" The younger girl turned to Cara, who only smiled sincerely.
"Cheer up, Misaki. What really matters is that we're alive and healthy, right?"
"...I guess so…"
"And we get to know forever that we survived that hell of a place. When the world gets rid of Celestial Dragons, once and for all, we can say that we fucked shit up." She held the blue haired girl's shoulder lovingly and soothingly. Cara was the person closest to Misaki throughout her entire life. She never gave up and never left her side. And she never failed to make Misaki feel comfortable and loved.
"Okay. I get it…" Misaki lightly brushed the hand off and took another sip of her soda. "What's our plan to find Bruce?"
"I dunno. The last thing didn't really work out. But if we keep traveling to different islands, we're bound to run into him. He couldn't have gone far, right?" Cara was hopeful. Misaki was just hoping that Bruce was alive.
"Yeah. He couldn't have gone far." At least the thirteen year old was good at hiding her expressions. She dropped the subject and walked with Cara to the donut-shaped room that they shared- using a big mattress and clean, pink sheets that Nami lent out to the two friends, they would sleep in the guest bedroom every night. Misaki made a mental note to decorate the guest room with nice things, using her new talent as a sunken treasure magnet, as thanks, before she left the Sunny. It was the least she could do, after all that these people had done for her and Cara.
The bedroom, even with minimal decorations and even more minimal pieces of furniture, was the best place Misaki had ever slept in. As soon as her head landed on the soft down pillows Nami had purchased at the mall, she couldn't think straight. She was in a land of clouds.
This was heaven- legitimate heaven- compared to the nights at Sentorappu.
Misaki's toes were frantically twitching with nervousness and anxiousness, impatient to rescue her dear friends and all the suffering slaves in that disgusting, cold basement.
Misaki was afraid of even using the blanket covers because it really felt odd and out of place, considering the fact that she spent almost an entire decade sleeping with just her ragged dress over her body, having to sit her legs on cold metal or the dirty ground.
Cara was also thoroughly enjoying the bed, as well. She was rolling around in the large-ass king-sized bed, giggling and waving her arms in the air.
"Isn't this awesome, Misaki!? We get to sleep here! I feel weird just thinking about it!"
"It's been weeks, Cara. Get used to it already. But don't get too used to it, obviously." Misaki reminded the older woman, who pouted. "We're going to have to get off the Sunny sooner or later."
"Mmph." was the only response given to the blue haired girl.
The two girls talked about insignificant things, rambling and drunkenly mumbling until they drifted into a deep, peaceful sleep.
I feel at home
But I don't at the same time
When will I be on my way to my home
Home sweet home?
Misaki, at this point, was losing hope that the Sunny would ever reach Sentorappu.
Thinking about it, the Straw Hat pirates probably used a different route venturing through islands not including Sentorappu Island, since she had been with them for around an entire month at this point and knew for sure that she hadn't drifted too far away from the slaveholding island.
But on the flip side, the blue haired girl was enjoying her new, free life with her friends. She'd learned so much about each Straw Hat pirate, and they learned a few casual things about herself, too. She enjoyed spending time with Robin and Chopper the most, if she had to pick, since they always emitted a calming aura and were never too hot headed or stupid. Her training regimen and kendo practice with Zoro was also going really well, and the latter got quite used to her hanging out with him (she was used by Nami as a helper to guide Zoro through all the islands so the others wouldn't have to go through the hassle of trying to locate him), and he graduated from treating her like an outsider to almost like a younger sister.
Well, at least, she felt like a younger sister, since Zoro wouldn't stop pestering her and would argue with her like the two of them spent a lifetime in the same house as siblings.
The only problematic person aboard the ship was Brook- although he couldn't really be considered a person, since he was just a skeleton… and dead. Misaki would frequently find her underwear that she bought from the first island going missing, and she knew it couldn't have been anyone else, as the violinist openly expressed his creepy devotion to panties.
She didn't confront him about the issue, though. She didn't know what would happen if she did.
When the Straw Hats docked on the island the villagers called Crystalized Land, When they docked on the shore of the island, Misaki finally understood why Crystalized Land was given its name.
The placed was covered with glittering salt crystals from the high sodium concentration in the water surrounding the island, but the quirk was that the crystals weren't the normal white shade, but vibrant swatches of purple or blue. All the people inhabiting the island would wear thick boots to keep their feet from being stabbed by the prickly crystals, although there were roads and farms with smooth ground. The place was a tourist attraction, but also great in economy and trade, since the people made most of their money exporting these rare crystals out to other islands.
"We should buy some of the crystals!" Nami exclaimed.
"For what purpose are they even used for?" Usopp questioned.
"I have no idea. I think it's just supposed to make things look fancier." The orange haired woman replied. "Oh, I'd love to wear it as jewelry! Look at how it sparkles when the sun hits it! It's like a diamond, Robin!" She pushed her fellow friend to admire the crystals on the pathway of the dock.
"Why would you wear it as jewelry? That'd be some painful jewelry," The green haired swordsman imagined the sharp edges of the crystals piercing Nami's neck.
"Gee, I didn't know that you stabbed yourself with your salt crystal necklaces," Nami murmured sarcastically.
"Then let's not waste our money with anything from this island," Zoro hopped off the ship and urged Misaki to follow. "We have to get sugar and more fuel for the Sunny, and we'll leave as soon as we buy."
"Luffy, Zoro, and I will go." Misaki said quickly.
"Can I come, too?" Cara asked.
"No. You should learn more about sharpshooting from Usopp." Misaki prompted, almost like a mother.
"Aw." Cara snapped.
"Okay, then you three can get all that we need. Meet us all here after you're finished!" The navigator agreed, "And don't forget to buy some jewelry~!" She added as Franky waved goodbye to the three who were leaving.
The blue haired girl waved back and then turned back around to face the direction of the central portion of the island.
"I wonder if there's any good booze here," Zoro sniffed. Misaki groaned internally. Pretty much every single island that she had been on with said swordsman, he would become a dog to any nearby pub and would also heckle Misaki until they went in to get a "few" drinks.
"No, let's not get booze, Zoro." Misaki warned him quickly.
"Come on, Ero Cook never lets me keep enough alcohol on the Sunny, so I gotta recharge when I'm off the ship." He complained. "That's just how I function!"
"Fine. Pay for your booze with your own money."
"I don't have any money." The swordsman answered.
"That's the point."
"Hahaha, Zoro, you're broke!" Luffy broke into a fit of giggles.
"Do you have any money, Luffy?" The thirteen year old asked the pirate captain. He gulped down his laughs and resorted to a goofy smile. "Touché…"
Misaki kept walking with a fast pace, causing the other two to fall behind. Eventually, Luffy and Zoro seemed to just be following her instead of walking beside her into the populated portion of the island, doing random shit behind her which was embarrassingly noticeable. Misaki would often stop to turn around and make sure that Zoro was still there because first of all, he was more silent than anything when he walked, and second, if you were on the Sunny, it wouldn't even take more than a week to figure out how lost this marimo could get.
"Oh, why don't you ask Franky to install a winery into the basement of the ship?" Misaki asked as she continued to walk, directing her speech towards Zoro.
"I would have, but I don't drink wine." The swordsman responded obliviously.
"Well, you can have beer instead of wine, then. It doesn't take up too much space so that Sanji won't get mad at you for having large amounts of alcohol at a time, and you could make it safer by adding binds and tying it down when there's too much movement in the ship."
"Still, I drink by the barrel." Zoro argued. "And that means there'll be no space in the basement. Besides, we're always running low on money, and Franky doesn't like beer, which means that he probably wouldn't appreciate my alcohol in his space."
"Then you could ask Franky to make a room for you, for your beer. Or, since you're receiving your own room, you can store some alcohol." Misaki suggested as Luffy chased down a fox in the background.
"I guess. But drinking authentically, from all different places and islands, is interesting, too." Zoro said. "You told me that you don't like alcohol, but when you're of age, you might be able to understand what it does to your soul."
"Does it enlighten you?" The navy blue haired girl questioned sarcastically.
"Kind of."
"You can get enlightened with Mallow Mars." Misaki deadpanned. "Mallow Mars chocolates are better."
"I dislike chocolate."
"What? No way. I object."
Zoro let out a bright guffaw. "You know, if you didn't always have that grumpy face, people would love your personality."
Misaki faltered to bring up a comeback because... hell, he was right. She always wore the same types of expressions. All types- expressionless, sarcastic, angry, sad- all besides happy or enthusiastic ones. Because she never smiled- never had a reason to- she just didn't know how to change her face... or her outlook of the world. Misaki guessed that was where she was supposed to start. But how was she going to do that when she was already scarred with the darkness surrounding her?
As the thirteen year old led the other two around the island's market, Luffy discovered the sugar at a small, wooden stand and the blue haired girl, having all the money, asked for a large bag of the sugar. The cost was a bit more expensive than what she'd expected, but she paid the price anyway. Luffy snatched the brown bag tied with twine, swiped his finger on the top of the opening, where there were a few granules of sugar there, and licked the sweetness off his hand.
"That's disgusting, Luffy." Misaki reprimanded the childish boy, and in return, the raven haired pirate grunted and ignored her statement.
"You're sounding more and more like Nami, you know that?"
"Do you think that they sell cola here?" Zoro looked around. "This entire island seems pretty basic and all."
"Hmm… We won't know until we go through all the stores." The girl answered quite optimistically.
"I guess, but my legs aren't up to it." The green haired man sighed. "...Unless…" He hesitated when he said "unless" in a sly way.
"...Fine, I'll get you some beer to drink." Misaki handed the man a few beris. "But we should go together."
"Hey, Luffy! Let's go get drinks at a bar!" He waved over Luffy excitedly, while the latter was ogling an old woman cook up some chicken kebabs on a grill.
"Cominggg!"
Misaki sighed as the two grown men happily galloped around, Zoro asking vendor owners for directions to the nearest bar.
She only followed them with a slow pace, admiring the small outdoor stands and each of their individuality. One store sold different kinds of fabrics, while another displayed an array of fresh fish, the scales of the seafood glistening in a similar way that the salt crystals all over the island did.
But while she was viewing the many stands, she fell to the floor because someone bumped into her.
"Oh, excuse me, I didn't see you as I was walking," The voice spoke politely, a voice that was all too familiar.
Edited May 31st, 2019
well you all know who it is-
IT'S JOHN CENAAAAAA
sorry that's such a 2012 joke
Thanks for reaading, and as always, please review!
