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Chapter 14 – Lies and pirates

I smiled and tuned out Luffy's rambling, knowing that we were no where near ready to sail on the treacherous seas. A part of me wondered, what will tomorrow bring? I hoped something fun and exciting.

We had been traveling for a while now and I was writing in the book I bound not long before we left Fuusha Village. Inside I wrote every adventure we had been on and what whispers have told me of the past. The stories I wrote were only the ones I thought needed to be told. Nami was steering the boats and was wearing a deep thinking face which had me just itching to ask her if she was alright.

"We need to plan things more," she finally said and I stopped writing wondering what she was talking about.

"What do you mean?" Luffy asked as he sat on the bow of the ship.

Even Zoro opened his eyes and looked at her.

"Are we entering the Grand Line like this?" Nami asked irritatedly.

"Yeah, you're right! That cabbage guy gave us a lot of fruit, but without any meat we won't have the strength to fight!" Luffy answered.

I rolled my eyes at Luffy's one track mind.

"I'm not talking about our food supply!"

"And we don't have any sake either!" Zoro added while lying stretched out on the boat.

Sighing deeply, I said "Guys, Nami isn't talking about our food and drink supplies!"

Nami nodded to me and continued, "The Grand Line is the most dangerous place in the world. And it's swarming with all kinds of pirates, all trying to get the One Piece. Between our lack of manpower and our ship's outfitting, I can't imagine we'll ever pull this off safely."

Luffy crossed his arms and looked at her, "So, what are we going to do?"

Nami checked her map and answered, "We're going to prepare first, and then plan the journeys ahead! There should be a village to the north, we should go there first. Best case scenario is we get a good, sturdy ship."

Luffy, in response, just shouted; "And I'm gonna eat some meat!"

And to that statement I sighed: no matter what, meat comes first, at least to Luffy.

Nami muttered something under her breath and changed directions to north, leading us to the island she spoke of. A few hours later we arrived at the island and landed.

"Wow, so there really is an island here!" Luffy said in Awe while I was bringing the boat ashore.

"Of course there is, we just followed the map. What did you expect? " Nami stated, to which I replied:

"They couldn't follow a map even if their lives depend on it."

Luffy ignored me as did Zoro, but Nami looked at me in disbelief.

"Why did you think we need a navigator?" I asked her and she didn't reply, too stunned to answer.

My opinion was that she didn't believe me, but having spent the last few days with us, she must have noticed that they were completely hopeless when it came to directions.

"Is there a village here?" Luffy asked, waking her from stupor. She shook her head, looked at the map again and answered, "Yes, looks like there's a small village."

Nami rolled up her map and pointed up the slope, "If we follow that road, it will lead us to the village."

Zoro and Luffy jumped off of the boat.

"Whew, feels good to stand on solid ground again." Zoro said while stretching.

"You spent that whole time sleeping," Luffy grumbled.

To him, it's was sacrilege to sleep while there was an adventure going on.

I learned that the hard way.

But Zoro continued, ignoring Luffy's pout, "By the way, I've been kind of wondering... Who are they?"

"Ahhhhh, we've been found!" shouted the three small boys who, in my opinion, looked like vegetables, before running away.

The boy who stayed shook like a leaf, but still shouted after them, "Hey, wait! Don't just run away!"

Then he turned back to us and stood up, puffed his chest out and proudly stated, "I am Usopp, head of a giant pirate fleet and ruler of this village! My people and servants heap praises upon their captain's name, the great captain Usopp!"

I held in my snickers, I recognize a lie when I hear it and Usopp reminded me of a Pinocchio story. I thought his nose couldn't get any longer. The rest of the guys looked at him. Zoro just spared me a glance once he noticed my shoulders shaking from suppressing the laughter, but I really couldn't help myself.

Usopp had curly black hair, a bit long and hidden under a light brown bandana. His skin was tan and he was dressed in dark brown overalls with a bag slung over his shoulder.

Though he noticed my observations and suppressing snickers, he continued with his tale, "If you're thinking of attacking the town, think again! My eighty million followers cannot be stopped!"

At that statement, Nami just raised her eyebrow and calmly said, "You're lying."

"Ah! I've been caught!" he shouted and grabbed his head in panic.

Nami sweat-dropped and said, "See, you even said it yourself."

"Oh no, did I just said that? Bad planning, bad planning!" he said panicking.

I couldn't stop the laughter anymore and was now leaning on Zoro and laughing.

"Shi shi shi shi! You're so funny!" Luffy joined in and pointed at him.

"Hey, don't underestimate me! I am a man with much honor! They call me The Honorable Usopp!" he said in anger and puffed his chest out even more.

And to that statement: we all recognized the lie. Well, maybe not Luffy, and called him a liar.

At that point, Luffy's stomach grumbled and he said that he wanted meat. I had calmed down by then and took my bag from the boat. I had stored all the money we had inside it, and wasn't going to leave it out in the open for someone to take.

"Usopp, if you're done bull-shitting could you tell us if there's a restaurant in the village?" I asked, making him looked at us dumbly.

"You're not here to plunder and steal?" he asked suspiciously.

Luffy laughed at that and said no.

"Were just here for provisions," I added and he nodded, proclaiming that he knew that and led us up the slope to the village.

Nami and I just shared a look and rolled our eyes. It wasn't long after that that we were sitting in a small restaurant, eating and talking. Luffy and Usopp were mostly talking and I tuned them out, calculating in my mind how much we could spare for a ship and supplies before we ran out of money.

With my gift it's easy to find buried treasures and I have supported us like that back home in Fuusha village when money ran out. You'd be surprised what all is buried and can find with a gift like mine. A shout from Usopp startled me out of thinking.

"What? So you're looking for nakama and a ship?"

"Yup, that's right," Luffy answered while he was chewing on a big piece of meat.

I tried really hard, but I couldn't teach him any manners. At least Ace was eating normally if you count out the sudden narcolepsy that hit him randomly.

"Wow, what a great adventure! Well, we don't have any big warships or anything here, but if there's a ship, I know the one place that'll have it," Usopp commented wistfully.

Nami asked, "The one place?"

"There's one huge mansion in town. The folks there are way richer than everyone else. I know the owner of that house," he continued and his expression turned serious. "The owner, if you can call her that, is just a young girl. She's sick and weak... and bedridden..."

"Eh... How come a girl like that owns a mansion?" Nami asked interested in the story he was telling when Luffy interrupted with a shout.

"Hey obasan! More meat!"

"And sake!" added Zoro.

Usopp, meanwhile, got angry, thinking that they weren't listening to him and shouted at them, "Are you even listening?"

He then took a deep breath and continued, "Sadly, about a year ago, she lost both parents to sickness. All she had left was a massive fortune, a huge mansion and an army of servants. Even with all the money and luxuries in the world, you'll never find a more tragic situation."

Nami got a thoughtful expression on her face and I saw traces of pain in her eyes that made me wonder but I held my tongue. A past is a past and if she is not willing to share it then who am I to pry.

"Forget it!" she said and hanged her head down, "Let's give up on finding a ship here. We can try a different town."

"Yeah, there's no rush! Plus, I just ate! Let's buy some more food and then go," said Luffy with a grin and patted his stomach.

Usopp got an eager look on his face and leaned forward, "By the way, you said you were looking for crewmates?"

"Yeah, know anyone?" asked Luffy in return.

"Let me be the captain and I'll join you!" he answered and pointed at himself.

We all sighed and lowered our heads, saying, "Never-mind."

"Hey, at least consider it!" he said outraged at our lackluster response.

While he was pouting he noticed the clock on the wall and stood up.

I looked at him curiously and asked, "Is there something wrong?"

"N… no, it's that time again," he replied, saying the last part quietly.

Before I could ask what he meant, he loudly proclaimed that he had something very important things to do and that we would see him later.

And before any of us could say anything, he was already running. For a skinny guy, he sure can run. We looked at each other and shrugged. It doesn't matter what he does. And besides, we had provisions to buy, not to mention that we needed to plan where to go next.

We were drinking tea and just finished planning where to go, meaning Nami and I looked at the map and decided where could we buy a ship and Luffy nodded, acting important; Zoro listened but stayed out of the conversation and drank sake, when the three boys who were with Usopp barged in. They were carrying wooden swords and wore determined expressions on their faces, "The Usopp Pirates have arrived!"

"Eh?" said Luffy in surprise. Nami looked at them but did not recognize them, "Who're they?"

"I don't know," Luffy answered and took a sip of tea.

"They're the boys we chased from the beach," I answered and when they looked at me blankly, "The boys that were with Usopp."

"Ah, they're those kids," said Nami and Luffy hugged me, saying, "My sister's so smart!"

"Get off!" I growled, trying to save myself from suffocating. I like Luffy's hugs, but he really doesn't know his own strength.

Meanwhile, the one who looked like a carrot said, "Wait... The captain isn't here..."

"M-maybe... Maybe they got him..." the onion lookalike said.

"H... hey pirates!"

"What have you done with our Captain Usopp?"

"Give the captain back!" all three shouted in the end.

I looked at my nakama for what to answer when I noticed the glint in Luffy's eyes. It reminded me of times when he played a pranks on people back in fuusha village, and I couldn't help but smirk and lean back to watch the show.

Luffy leaned back and patted his stomach, "Whew…That meat was delicious!"

"Wha... M... meat? You mean... the captain..." they stammered and Zoro looked at the already frightened boys with a dark, creepy stare.

"If it's your captain you want..." he said with a deep voice.

"Wh... what? What'd you do?" one of them asked with voice shaking. Nami and I looked at each other and shared a grin.

"We just... Ate him!" Zoro finished with a louder voice and the boys looked at Nami and it seemed like their eyes would pop out and shouted, "GYAAAAAAAA, ONIBABA!"

"Why are you looking at me?" she shouted at them, which caused them to pass out on the floor, she then turned to Zoro and screamed, "You say the stupidest things!"

Meanwhile, we laughed at the vegetable brigade and at Nami. The restaurant owner laughed with us as she did hear what happened and explain it to the boys. She then introduced the boys, and I couldn't help but think that they parents named them well. The boy with a black hat that had had a skull on it was called Ninjin, which means carrot, the one with the glasses was Tamanegi, which means onion, and the boy with green hair which reminded me of green peppers was Piiman, which means pepper.

The boys pouted at first when they were told that we played a joke on them and when they asked where Usopp was, I answered that he just said that it was time before leaving.

"It's time?" Piiman asked, looking at us. Zoro confirmed, "Yeah... he said that and then he left."

"Oh yeah, it must have been time to go to the mansion," he answered and looked at the other two boys for confirmation.

"Is that the mansion with the bedridden girl?" Nami asked, remembering what Usopp told us before he left.

"Yup."

"What's he gonna do?" Luffy asked and I couldn't help but wonder as well.

To our surprise Ninjin answered, "Lie!"

"Isn't that bad?" Luffy asked and looked at me, he remembered that the last time he lied to me I cut off his meat supply.

"It's not bad! It's great! Right?" Ninjin said and looked at Tamanegi, to which he happily nodded.

"Eh?" Luffy said, looking doubtfully.

"You three better explain before Luffy's brain freezes," I said and looked at them, "Why is Usopps lying great?"

They then rushed into an explanation where each spoke over each other and made no sense to us, forcing me to banged my hand on the table to shut them up.

"Thank you. One at a time, please!" I said using my best strict voice. They looked sheepishly but Piiman explained everything: how Usopp was going to see Kaya, which was the name of the young girl who lived in the mansion, and how he told her lies of what he had achieved and about the adventures he had been on.

Nami summed it up, "So for over a year he's been going to her house to make up stories to make her feel better."

"Yup, I like his lies," Piiman said.

"I like the captain's nosiness," continued Ninjin and Tamanegi ended with, "I like his cowardice!"

"What kind of strong points are those?" said Zoro and I asked, "So maybe this Kaya feels better already?"

"Oh yeah, a lot better, thanks to the captain," replied one of veggie-squad.

Luffy had stars in his eyes, which I could only translate as trouble as he shouted, "All right then! Let's go to the mansion and ask for a ship!"

"No! Didn't you just say you'd give up on getting it here?" Nami asked, sounding irritated, but Luffy just ignored her and stood up.

He was already heading outside with Zoro and the boys when Nami shouted after them, saying that she was not paying their bill.

"Don't worry Nami, I'll take care of that," I said and went to the old lady and asked her for the bill. I even paid Nami's share, to which she complained because she didn't want to owe us anything.

When I paid the bill, I ran outside to catch up with the rest of the crew to my surprise, Nami was waiting for me.

"Thanks for waiting."

"No problem, I suppose you're a better company then them," she responded with a smirk.

I smiled back and we hastened to catch up with the rest of them. We caught them when they were about half a way to the mansion up the hill.

Syrup Village was small and idyllic and it reminded me a bit of home. The People were friendly, even to us strangers, much to my surprise. When I looked at my companions: Zoro had a bit of a bored expression on his face, Nami had a slightly wistful expression but when she noticed me looking she quickly schooled it. Luffy was no surprise, he had a grin on his face and was almost skipping up a hill.

It wasn't long until we were at the fenced gate that protected the mansion from intruders and Luffy rattled the door and asked loudly, "Good afternoon! Lend us a ship, please!"

When there was no answer, which you shouldn't expect after a minute, he proclaimed, "Let's just go in…"

"Luffy! Get down there!" I said and tugged on his short trousers.

He just shook it off and continued on his way.

"Does the word "greeting" mean anything to you?" asked Piiman as he watched us.

I followed him, grumbling all the way. It was better to just follow him, or else he gets in too much trouble.

"Sigh... He's unstoppable," said Nami while face-palming and Zoro just nodded, "Since we can't stop him, we better follow him."

Before the boys and Nami climbed over the fence I had already berated Luffy, and when he didn't listen to me I got him in choke hold position and make him apologize.

"So, where's the lady?" asked Luffy while he adjusted his hat. It had fallen from his head before.

I sighed and closed my eyes for a moment to find Usopp's signature and pointed to the right, "There they are."

We soon saw them and the boys, who followed Usopp around shouted, "CAAAPTAIN!"

As he was in the middle of story telling he continued, "Yes, Capta... Gah! Why are you all here?"

"This guy told us to bring him here..." Piiman said, pointing at Luffy.

Usopp was still in shock from our unexpected arrival and was gaping like a goldfish.

"Who is that?" asked Kaya, leaning from the window and looking at us curiously. She was a pale girl with golden-blond hair and onyx colored eyes.

"Oh! So you're the lady!" Luffy said excitedly, looking back and forth from Usopp to Kaya.

Usopp quickly gathered his wits and flung an arm around Luffy's shoulders and said, "These guys here have heard the rumors and traveled the long and tiring road to reach me. They're new members of the Usopp Pirate Crew!"

"Yeah! Wait, I mean no!" Luffy at first nodded, but when he realized what he said he quickly pushed Usopp away and denied it.

"Actually we are here because we have a request to make," I said before Luffy had us in another mess.

"A request? Of me?" asked Kaya a stunned expression on her face.

Luffy nodded eagerly and said, "Yeah! We need a big ship-"

But before he could continue a shout interrupted him, "What are you doing here? You can't simply barge into the mansion like this!"

When I turned around to see who made the shout I saw a man dressed in black with glasses on his nose. He quickly readjusted them with his palm and that stroke me as odd. I have seen many people with glasses but I have never seen anyone fixing them up like this. I had a bad feeling about that man.

Usopp made a face and said, "Urg! The butler."

"Klahadore..." said Kaya and Luffy looked from one person to another and then finally asked, "Who's he?"

His question would remain unanswered as Kaya continued, "Listen Klahadore, these people are..."

But before could she continue the butler interrupted her, "I do not care! If there is a reason, I will hear it afterwards! Now, please leave, all of you. Or is there something you want to say?"

Luffy was quick to respond, "Yeah, I want a ship."

"No," was the quick answer and Luffy went to pout with his head down and Zoro patted his back in comfort. Klahadore, as we learned his name was, was looked at Usopp and said, "You there. You're Usopp-san... I've heard the rumors about you. You have quite a reputation in town."

"Oh... why, thank you," Usopp answered, quite proudly I might add, "You may call me Captain Usopp, if you wish, as a means to show your respect."

"The guards tell me they catch sight of you around here every once in a while. Is there a reason for that?" butler asked and he fixed his glasses again.

Usopp was now sweating a bit out of nervousness and answered, "Ah, yes...! Well, you see... I saw this legendary mole burrow under the mansion! So I went searching..."

Before he could continue, Klahadore cut through his speech with a sharp but, at least to me, unpleasant laughter, "Haha... I see that you certainly do like to flap your tongue."

"What?" Usopp asked in shock as I murmured, "I really don't like this guy."

Zoro caught my murmur and looked at me puzzled.

"I have heard about your father, as well. You're only the son of a filthy pirate. I wouldn't put anything past you. Do not come near the mistress any more!"

"His dad was a pirate?" asked Luffy and my mind just went blank for a moment, did he just say filthy pirate?

"...did you say "filthy"...?" asked Usopp the same thing as I was thinking.

I started to tremble and it took all my power to stop myself from beating him into a pulp. Luffy then noticed my anger and put a hand on my shoulder and looked at me. I took a deep breath and nodded to unspoken question of if I was alright.

"You and the mistress live in different worlds. Is it money you want? How much?" the butler then asked and Kaya banged her hands on the window sill and shouted at Klahadore.

"That's enough, Klahadore! Apologize to Usopp-san!"

"Whatever would I apologize to this uncivilized brute for, Mistress? I am simply stating the truth!" he said and the he turned back to Usopp and continued, "I feel sorry for you... You hate him, don't you? The foolish, treasure-mad father who left his family and the village behind."

"Klahadore!" Kaya again shouted in reprimand, but he was clearly not listening to her and by then Usopp's patience reached his limit and he shouted back, "Don't you dare say another word about my father!"

"Why do you get so worked up about this? You're not very smart, are you? I expected you would make up another of your special little lie... Such as, my father was actually a traveling salesman... Or, we're not really related..." added Klahadore coldly.

At that, I wanted to hit him. It was way to close to home for me. My father was a pirate as well, and I did not know him very well, nor was he there when I was young. Luffy held now my hand to stop me from doing anything foolish. He knew how I felt and his expression was stormy like mine, and when I looked at Zoro I found a matching expression.

"SHUT UP!" shouted Usopp and knocked him on the ground with a punch, and to my satisfaction he was bleeding.

Luffy, Nami and Zoro had grim faces and the boys were shocked by Usopp's actions.

"Uh... Grh! S... See that? So quick to violence! Like father, like son...!" said the downed man clutching his nose as blood freely ran through his fingers.

But Usopp wasn't done yet, "Be quiet! I'm proud that my dad was a pirate! I'm proud that he was a brave warrior of the sea! Just like you say, I am a liar, but I am proud of having pirate blood in me! I am the son of a pirate!"

When he finished shouting all of that, he was a bit out of breath and his face was flushed and I couldn't help but feel pride at his words. As much as I wanted to do a number on the pretentious butler I knew that this was a fight that Usopp had to fight himself.

Luffy meanwhile muttered, "Oh yeah! Him... Now I remember..."

I looked at him and he shook his head indicating that he would explain it later.

"A pirate... A 'brave warrior of the sea'? What a bizarre expression..." Klahadore started to speak again in his condescending voice, corrected his glasses as the bleeding stopped, "And yet... you cannot deny that you are the product of his savage blood. Never thinking about anyone else. Whenever you're upset, you just use your strength to hit others!"

By now he has picked himself from the ground and dusted dirt off of his clothes, "And on top of all that, getting acquainted with the mistress for monetary gain!"

"What did you say? I…" Usopp looked at him wide-eyed and before he could continue, Klahadore cut him off, "Enough with your explanation! After all you're pirate's son. That's all I need to know!"

"Don't you dare insult my father!" Usopp shouted and grabbed the butler by his coat and tried to strike him again when Kaya shouted from her window, "Stop it, Usopp-san! Please, no more violence! Klahadore isn't a bad person! He's only overdoing it, because he's thinking of me!"

"Leave..." said Klahadore and slapped Usopp's hand away, "This is NOT a place for a savage like you! Never come here again!"

Usopp scrunched his face in anger and looked darkly at him and answered, "Yeah, I got it. You don't have to tell me. I'm leaving on my own. And I am not coming back!"

With that he left the mansion compound. The three boys looked at the retreating form and one of them sadly said, "Captain…"

"Usopp-san..." Kaya tearfully added and clenched her hand looking at him.

"You stupid jerk! The captain's not that kind of guy!"

"Yeah! Moron!"

"Jerkface!" shouted the boys and tried to attack Klahadore but Nami held them back. Even Luffy let go of my hand and shouted, "Loser!"

And when he tried to join the boys Zoro restrained him, saying, "Why are you getting involved in this?"

"All of you get out of here!" shouted the butler and Nami started to drag the boys outside. Zoro joined her and I was about to join her when I turned around and gave him one last chilling glare and said, "You be careful what you say Klahadore, next time there won't be anyone holding me back."

That said I left with my words lingering in the air.

That is it for this chapter. It has been beta'd by Fuyutaro son to whom I owe a big thank you :)

Thank you again for reviews!

Ja ne