A/N: Whew, I'm tired. I was like, passing out in my chair as I was writing this. I'm exhausted, which is weird because I didn't do anything all day...

Anyway, I probably won't update this story tomorrow, since I have to rehearse my lines for my play Tuesday... It's kind of nerve-racking. It's our school competition, and if we win, we go onto Zones, and if we win that, regionals, and after that, provincials.

But if you guys are interested, I started an account on another website for my original works! There's a link to the prologue of my story in my profile, and I would love it if you guys looked into it. This one's a supernatural type book, one of the first I ever finished. I wrote it about 3-4 years ago, and while I have edited it severely since then, after writing on this site, I want to rewrite the chapters all over again... there's more details in my profile, along with a summary. It's not the best summary, but I personally love my prologue dearly. It would mean the world to me if you guys did chose to look into it. Admittedly, I can't say that the story will be as adventurous as this one, but if you're all up for a good romance...

I don't think I say it enough when I reply to reviews, but honestly, you guys help me so much when it comes to encouragement and plot development. Shadowonthewall constantly makes me add twists (just kidding, I actually add them anyway XD) and many others have the tendency to make me think things through more thoroughly -even though I write here just to help get my ideas flowing from one point to the next. I can see the progress I've made in the two months I've been on this site. And for some of you, isn't it weird to think it's only been two months? I update nearly everyday though, so I guess it's only natural that it feels longer...

Oh! Here, while I'm going on, I should probably make a dedication to Death by Manga. *raises glass high into the air* cheers, Death, to great characters! Just you wait... this bartender will surprise you yet. XD

But everyone who reviews has the tendency to make me smile, whether I'm frustrated or angry -I can't be angry when I'm replying to your reviews. I just can't. So thank you. :)

Well, back to fanfiction :P I hope you all enjoy!


Chapter 12

"He knows my father?" Hikime looked up at me.

"It doesn't matter, this man's in jail for a reason," Hideki said spitefully. "Just leave him. Let's go."

"Seijo is coming," The bartender said. "He'll come for both me and their mother."

"What a baka pirate, walking right into a Marine base," Hideki snorted.

I chuckled, "Idiot pirates. I'll remember that."

"Aniki! You just called Robin-oneechan baka!" Hikime said.

"What –? I didn't mean us!"

"Quite the crew you've adopted there," The bartender said.

"Mm, I'm just lending a hand," I said. "You want out of there?"

"You can't be serious!" Hideki scowled.

"Hey! Let us out too!" Some of the other prisoners started shouting.

"No!" Don't let any of them out," Hideki said, gripping my arm. "They're dangerous."

"This man won't be a problem," I said, gesturing to the bartender. "He hates Marines. Not pirates and children."

"I do like eating children though," The bartender teased.

"You're not helping your case any," I smirked.

"Sorry."

"Where are the keys?" I asked.

"Can't you just pick the locks?" Hideki snorted.

"Not with these locks," I said, unwilling to even touch it. "It's made of Kairoseki."

"And you're a devil's fruit user," The bartender nodded. "Best option would probably be to get the keys."

"That's why I asked if you knew where they are," I chuckled.

"The guard has them," He said simply.

"The guard," Hideki repeated.

"Mm." He replied, glancing down at the kid. "He's a vine-man."

"A vine-man?

"A vine-man; he's a devil's fruit user too."

"And he is –"

"Probably in the grand hallway around the corner. He's blind though. Deaf, too."

"Some guard," Hideki snorted.

"But he's great at sensing presence. And those all arms make things difficult. Those kids are going to be endangered."

"Hmm," I said, looking down at the two of them. "Can you watch Hikime for me? Hideki can be used as a distraction while I get the keys."

"Oi!" Hideki began.

"I'm kidding," I told him. "I'll be the distraction. You'll be grabbing the keys."

"I want to go with you," Hikime said.

"Bartender-oniisan will be good, I promise," I said, looking up at him. He nodded. "Thank you… is that alright? I swear I'll come back," I turned my attention back to Hikime.

The small boy nodded.

"Be good," I said, running my hand through his hair.

"Mm," He nodded, stepping towards the bartender. "I'm Hikime."

"I'm Harumi," The bartender smiled, kneeling down to the same height. He looked up at me. "Go. I'll watch over him."

"Good luck!" All the prisoners called. I wondered if they were still hoping for me to let them out afterwards. Then again, we'd need a distraction for when we escaped the island… I'd think about it.

"How dangerous do you think the guard will be?"

"I'll worry about that," I glanced down at him as we walked away. "You just concentrate on getting those keys. I won't let you get harmed."


"Roronoa Zoro?" Lieutenant Jota towered over the rest of the men. They backed off quickly, giving the man space. "Is that you?"

"No," Zoro said, standing off to the man's right. "I'm Roronoa Zoro."

The Lieutenant squinted in the direction of the voice.

"Damn it –who forgot to grab the Lieutenant's glasses?" One of the Marines called out.

"Oh, yes, my glasses," The Lieutenant felt over his front pocket until he found what he was looking for. He pulled out glasses that looked too small for his head and placed them on his face. "So you're Roronoa Zoro."

"And you are?" Zoro sheathed one katana and yawned.

"Oh, my apologies," The Lieutenant bowed. "I am Lieutenant –"

"You don't have to explain anything to him!" Marines shouted at him.

"For a tough guy he's kind of soft in the head," Someone nearby muttered.

"Oh… Oh yes. Well, I'm going to take you down now," The Lieutenant said. "Men? My sword please."

"It's over here, sir," Two men dragged the sword that the brave Marine had used earlier before Zoro sent it flying through the air.

"What's it doing out here?" Lieutenant Jota frowned.

"We, uh, had it prepared beforehand," One of the two told him.

"Oh… I see. Thank you."

"Can we fight now?" Zoro asked, his patience wearing thin.

"Oh… yes, let's."


His stomach growled. "I'm hungry."

"I know, Luffy," Nami sighed, rolling over to face him on the bed. Luffy laid above the covers his hands tucked behind his head and his ankles crossed, frowning into the night.

"Oh… well, can we eat something?"

"Can it wait until morning?"

"Mmmmmmmmm," Luffy scratched his head thinking hard.

"Let me rephrase that," Nami began. "You're going to wait until morning."

"Eh?" He sounded offended. "That's not fair."

"Luffy."

"What?" He pouted.

"Just go to sleep."

"It's hard."

"I know. Just try."


"Where do you think Zoro and Robin are now?" Usopp asked suddenly, the five of them lying in their room in the dark.

"Lost," Franky and Chopper all murmured together. It was assumed that Brooke was sleeping, but no one actually knew. And after the scare earlier, not one cared to see for sure.

"Don't start this again, Usopp," Sanji growled from across the room.

"Sorry," Usopp rolled his eyes at the ceiling. "I was just wondering. It's weird with them and the ship."

"Mm," Chopper agreed.

"Zoro better not have led my ship into any rocks," Franky muttered.

"I hope he's taking good care of mini-go down below," Usopp said.

Silence.

"Where do you think Luffy is?"

"Kitchen," They murmured.

"He would, huh," Usopp agreed, rolling onto his side, his nose nearly touching the pillow. "He probably fell asleep outside the fridge."

"The inn's cook will be angry in the morning. Places like this don't have locks on their fridges," Sanji mumbled. "If his food hadn't been such shit today, perhaps I would have lent him a hand by stopping Luffy."

Silence.

"Skull joke!" Brooke suddenly called out. "Yohoho!"

They all sat up and looked at the skeleton.

"Must be some dream," Franky said, falling back into his pillow.

"I can't believe he does that in his sleep," Usopp muttered angrily. He yawned, "Well… Good night!"

"Night."

Silence.

"Usopp's… nose…" Brooke turned over.

"Damn it, Brooke!" Usopp leapt up from the bed. "I'm going to kill you!"

"Yohoho!" Brooke sat up suddenly in bed. "You can't kill something that's already dead!"

Franky, Chopper and Sanji all held their pillows to their ears.

It was going to be a long night.


"It keeps on getting darker, huh," Hideki murmured as we walked along. "There are fewer torches as we go."

"Since he's deaf and blind it makes him have the advantage," I said, walking slowly to let my eyes adjust as we went along. There were no cages in this section.

"I though that bartender said that it was right around the corner," He muttered.

"Mm," I said, dragging my hand along the wall, waiting for the end of the wall. We were almost in complete darkness when the wall ended finally. Just as I pulled my hand away, I brushed up against something soft. I squinted. A leaf. "Shit."

"What?" Hideki asked.

"Run back and grab a torch," I told him. "Hurry."

"Alright," He turned and started running, but he tripped. I didn't have to have a light source to know what he had tripped over. It was another vine.

One vine wrapped around my leg quickly, tightening and pulling it out from underneath me. I fell, face first, into the dirt, and he dragged me into the cavern. I dangled upside down in the air, surrounded by darkness.

"I thought you were going to make sure I didn't get hurt," Hideki groaned.

"Are you bleeding?" I asked.

"No."

"Then you're not hurt," I told him. I paused, thinking for a second. "Don't worry. I'll get us out of this."

I reached down into my belt and grabbed my dagger there. I hadn't used it in so long. Not since I tried to kill Crocodile. I swung up, grabbing my ankle and producing other arms to actually cut the vine. I didn't want to fall head first. I heard the man gasp as I was released and fell to the floor

I landed on the ground in a kneeling position, my hands going to the dirt ground. Quickly I jumped to the side, just in time, as a vine came shooting at me. It hit the ground and dirt sprayed everywhere.

"That's one strong vine," I murmured, looking up. I could see Hideki's dark figure hanging in the air. I followed the vine that held him to the source, a round ball hanging in the air from the ceiling in the center of the room. The vines seemed to be everywhere.

"What's wrong?" Hideki asked. "I thought you were going to get us out of this."

"Well, I'm out," I called up to him.

"What? So get me down!"

"I will, momentarily," I told him. "I just need to figure out how to beat this guy."

"Well, I'm in no hurry. I suppose I'll just hang around," He sneered.

"Oh, so you do have a sense of humor," I chuckled.

"Just get me out of this."


Blades were clashing at incredible speeds. All the Marines standing by could only watch, in horror and slight awe as the demon fought against their Lieutenant. Lieutenant Jota was large, but he moved quickly. Even while swinging the heavy sword, he managed to ward off and dodge the attacks made by Zoro. And Zoro, with his incredible strength and great katanas, could repel the old man's just as easily.

Still. Neither of them had scratched the other.

Zoro fell back, wiping taking a split second to wipe his forehead of sweat. He grinned deviously around the katana between his teeth, "You're not bad, old man."

"I could say the same for you," He grinned, lifting the big sword and letting it rest on his shoulder. "You were trained well. Had you not been a pirate, all of this would be extremely different."

Zoro shrugged, tightening his grip once more around the hilts of all three of his katana. He threw himself once more at the Lieutenant. Lieutenant Jota didn't raise his sword to defend himself against Zoro on purpose. Instead as Zoro was in midair he swung his sword like a baseball bat. Zoro quickly turned in the air with his swords raised to fend off the blade, and there was a moment where he was held in the air by the contact between the swords alone.

He pushed back with his two katana, the sound of the blades as they drew across each other echoed in the night. The force behind the swing though, sent Zoro go flying back. Jota stumbled back, falling onto his ass, while Zoro hit the wall surrounding the base and it came crashing down on him.

There was a moment of silence.

"Did Lieutenant Jota do it?" Someone asked finally. "Did he just beat Roronoa Zoro?"

"Look!" Another Marine shouted, pointing at the mass of rubble.

The pieces of wall rose into the air, and Zoro threw them aside, glaring at the Lieutenant. "That was annoying."

"Zoro's bleeding!" Someone exclaimed.

"Eh?" Zoro reached up and touched his cheek with the back of his hand. It was a small scratch. It wasn't anything big. He didn't understand what the fuss was.

"Blood," Lieutenant Jota murmured.

"Hmm?" Zoro scratched his neck as he came back to their clearing.

The Lieutenant licked his lips and raised his glasses high up on his nose as he looked down at Zoro.

"Blood. I'll drain you of it all."