A.N: Sorry it took so long, but like I said earlier, my autumn break ended, so don´t blame me, blame my school. :D
Episode 14
"Yaawn…" Sabo yawned, walking to the kitchen.
"Good morning", he heard Sanji say from kitchen. He raised his head and saw the cook already making breakfast.
"Good morning. I still don´t get how can you always be the first one awake", Sabo said.
"I´m just used to waking up early", Sanji said with a small laugh.
"Good morning Sabo-san", Sabo froze; he knew that voice. He turned his head towards the kitchen table where Robin was drinking coffee.
"Why it had to be her of all the people that is here?" Sabo thought.
"`Morning…" he managed to mumble, looking away, making Robin smile knowingly.
XXXXX
"Rock, paper, scissors!" Luffy and Camie said in unison. They had gotten bored after the breakfast and now they were playing `rock paper scissors´.
"Man, I lost again!" Luffy complained, cursing the fact that he had chosen `stone´.
"Helloo!" Miksu cheered through the speaker.
"Not again", Zoro mumbled. He was tired of Miksu´s challenges.
"Ready for a new challenge?" Miksu asked.
"Yeah!" Luffy yelled, happy that something would actually happen soon. A couple of `sure´ and `whatever´ and nods came too.
"Alright, we start with picking up pairs for everyone." Miksu started.
"Can we pick them?" Nojiko asked.
"No"
"I knew this", Nami said, annoyed.
"What are you complaining about? I let you guys pick up your pairs in the first challenge didn´t I?" Miksu asked, getting no answer. She had a point.
"Okay, the first pair is Robin and Coby."
"Where the hell did that come from?" Zoro asked with a laugh. Robin smirked, glancing at Coby´s direction. He seemed a little bit nervous.
"And the second is Tashigi and Ace", everyone could hear Miksu´s smirk when she said this.
"WHAT!" Tashigi screamed.
"Before you ask; no, you can´t change your partner." Miksu told.
"You have a bad luck Ace", Zoro said, only to be responded by silence.
"Ace?" he asked, turning to look at Ace. He nearly fell over as he saw the said pirate sleeping on the floor.
"Hey Robin, why don´t you wake Ace up?" Nami said with a wink. Robin immediately got the point and crossed her arms. Two hands appeared on the both sides of Ace and Robin started to tickle him with them. A couple of seconds later Ace shot up, yelling: "What the hell!"
Everyone laughed and Zoro said: "What´s the matter Ace, can´t take a little tickling?"
The others laughed even more, making Ace frown. Robin didn´t laugh, instead, she smirked. She removed her hands from next to Ace next to Zoro and started tickling. The others noticed this and fell silent, waiting for the moment Zoro would lose his cool. Five minutes later he finally broke in to laugher.
"Well at least he lasted longer than you did", Sabo told to Ace.
"Can I continue now?" Miksu asked.
"Go ahead", Sanji said.
"Okay, so, like I said earlier, Tashigi and Ace are partners. And Zoro and Kidd are a pair too." Miksu told, making Zoro and Kidd glare at each other.
"At least one person is dead when this challenge is over", Tashigi thought. She knew Zoro and had heard stories about Kidd; they were both rude and short tempered. Teaming them up was a good way to spill blood.
"Bonney and Sanji" at this point Sanji got hearts in his eyes and Nojiko slapped her forehead.
"Looks like he´s not going to take my advice", she thought. Bonney watched Sanji in disgust and snapped: "Touch me and you´ll die!"
"Camie and Franky", Miksu continued to list.
"Nami and Marco", Miksu said, making Nami groan in annoyance.
"Stay strong little sis, stay strong." Nojiko told, trying to hide her smirk. If this went well, Marco would soon be bothering Nami instead of her. Of course she would feel bad for her sister, but hey, better Nami than her.
"I´ll try big sis, I´ll try." Nami said back. She knew what Nojiko was thinking; to her it was pretty obvious.
"Well I don´t let Mr. Pineapple bother me", Nami thought. A vein popped on Marco´s head.
"Are you making fun of me?" he asked.
"You just noticed?" the two sisters asked together, smirking.
"And the next idiotic pair; Usopp and Luffy", Miksu told.
"Yahoo!" Usopp and Luffy yelled, linking their arms together.
"Wait a minute, what do you mean by idiotic?" Usopp asked.
"Yeah, what?" Luffy asked too, agreeing with his friend. The others sweat dropped.
"That´s exactly what she meant", they thought.
"…never mind. Anyway, the next pair is Vivi and Law." Miksu said. Law smirked, thinking that it could be worse. Vivi didn´t usually judge people, but someone with the name of Surgeon of Death did sent chills down her spine.
"Well he can´t be that bad", she told to herself.
"So this means that I´m with him?" Nojiko asked, pointing at Sabo.
"Yep"
"Well it could be worse", she mumbled. Sabo looked at her and asked: "And what´s wrong with being my partner?"
"What do you think, pervert?" Nami asked for her sister.
"What the heck makes me a pervert!" Sabo yelled.
"You let Sanji watch when we chanced, so you´re a pervert." Nojiko replied.
"But you didn´t even let him see anything! And I wasn´t the one who stayed!" Sabo yelled again.
"Both of you shut up or I´ll team Nojiko up with Marco and Sabo with Robin!" Miksu yelled, silencing them both immediately.
"Why´s Sabo scared of Robin?" Luffy asked from Usopp, who just shrugged.
"Could you tell us the challenge now, please?" Vivi asked.
"Sure", Miksu said. Everyone could hear the smirk in her voice.
"I have a bad feeling about this", Tashigi mumbled.
"I will give each pair a four meters long rope. The ends of the rope are both in different belts and the pair will use them. In other words they´re linked to each other 24/7."
"WHAT!"
"That´s your challenge. You can take the belt off only when you go to the bathroom and right after that you need to put the belt back on." Miksu told.
"You´re sick", Nami commented.
"And there we have the biggest pervert", mumbled Sabo.
"There´s no way I´m gonna do that", Zoro growled.
"Yes you do or else", Miksu threatened. Zoro raised an eyebrow, asking: "Or else what?"
"Or else I´ll lock you in to a small room with Tashigi for a whole day", Miksu said simply.
"What!" Zoro yelled.
"Don´t pull me in to this!" Tashigi shouted angrily.
"So Zoro, are you in this?" Miksu asked with a smirk, even though no one was able to see it.
"…fine", Zoro mumbled angrily.
"Good, now go to get the box where the belts are from outside." Miksu ordered.
"Why me?" Zoro grunted.
"Zoro"
Zoro sighed, mumbling: "I´m going already, bitch."
"Don´t get lost!" Nami yelled after him. Zoro glared at her and went outside.
"What have I ever done to deserve this?" Coby mumbled. Unfortunately for him, Robin heard it.
"Is there something the matter with being my partner?" she asked, her usually kind but a little freaky smile turning in to a sadistic smirk. Coby gulped, he might just have angered a pirate woman with 80 million bounty, so what should he do?
"Don´t pick on him, he just doesn´t have any experience in women." Marco said with a laugh. Coby would have said something, but he couldn´t think of anything. And Marco was right; he didn´t have any experience. But he didn´t mind that, either.
"I got the box", Zoro said when he got back.
"How do you decide the winner this time?" Sanji asked.
"This time there won´t be one", Miksu told.
"WHAT!"
"Geez, no need to yell. And I promise that you will all have a surprise after this if this goes well." Miksu told.
"A surprise! Really!" Luffy yelled, his eyes sparkling.
"Don´t let her fool you Luffy", Usopp said.
"I´m not fooling anyone, you stupid Pinocchio." Miksu said.
"What the hell makes me a Pinocchio!" Usopp yelled.
"You have a long nose, you lie a lot, you´re-"
"Okay okay, I got your point!" Usopp yelled, interrupting Miksu´s listing.
"Good. Now put the belts on! See ya!" and with that she turned off the speaker.
"I don´t think that we have a much choice", Zoro said, opening the box. He took out one pair of belts and put it on.
"I´m gonna kill that bitch when I get out of here", Kidd mumbled, walking over to Zoro. He took the belt from his partner and put it on.
"Oi Luffy, catch!" Zoro yelled to his captain and threw the box at him. Luffy caught it easily.
"Yosh! Oi Usopp! Let´s get ours!" Luffy yelled. Usopp nodded and they took their belts and put them on. The others went to get their own, too.
"What have I ever done to deserve this?" Nami mumbled, putting her belt on.
"What are you complaining about? This could be worse", Marco said.
"Name even a one person in here who is worse than you", Nami said. Marco smiled; the orange haired girl was as tempered as her sister, or maybe even worse.
"How about that pervert over there?" he asked as a whisper, pointing at Sabo who was already wearing his belt. Next to him stood very annoyed looking Nojiko.
"…you´re worse than him", Nami whispered back. Marco chuckled and put his belt on, asking: "But only a little bit, right?"
Nami didn´t answer. Instead she started to walk away, which caused the rope between them tighten. Marco rolled his eyes and followed Nami.
XXXXX
Three hours later everyone were eating lunch. It had been quicker for Sanji and Sabo to prepare it this time, since now they had had Nojiko and Bonney helping them.
"Did that bitch mention how long we need to be like this?" Zoro asked all of sudden.
"Now that you asked, I´m pretty sure that she didn´t." Nojiko said. Nami slapped her forehead.
"That bitch", she mumbled.
"And I´m sure that even though she´s always listening us she won´t tell us it now", Tashigi said. And she was right; Miksu was definitely not going to tell them. She wanted to have fun, in other words she wanted to see them suffer.
"Well the marine bitch sure is right this time", Bonney agreed.
"Stop calling me that!" Tashigi yelled. Before Bonney could reply, Sanji put a hand on her shoulder.
"Now now ladies, no need to fight." he said.
"Don´t you order me around!" Bonney yelled. She was about to throw Sanji´s food at his face, but Sanji stopped her by grabbing her arm. Bonney tried to jerk her arm back, but Sanji didn´t let go. The other straw hats were shocked; this was the first time Sanji was doing something like that.
"What the hell are you doing!" Bonney yelled to her partner.
"Wasting food is the worst thing a woman can do", Sanji said, letting go of Bonney´s arm "remember that."
After that Bonney didn´t dare to say even a one word. She had thought that Sanji was just a hopeless flirt, but now she understood he was also something else. She didn´t really get what, but she was going to find out.
Luckily the lunch soon returned to normal, or as normal as it could when there were ropes connecting the peoples to their pairs.
XXXXX
After the lunch Bonney was washing the dishes with Sanji. She didn´t need to talk with Sanji so she was fine. It would be pretty embarrassing to say something after what happened at the dinner, at least for her.
"I don´t get him! `Wasting food is the worst thing a woman can do´? What the hell was that supposed to mean!" she thought angrily. She took the knife Sanji passed to her and started to dry it.
"Stupid, lovesick cook! I pet he´s never even- Ouch!" Bonney yelled as she accidentally stabbed herself with the knife she was drying. Sanji looked up from the dishes to her.
"Great, just great…" Bonney mumbled, holding her hand.
"Are you alright?" Sanji asked, looking at Bonney´s bleeding hand.
"What does it look like, idiot!" Bonney snapped at him. She knew that she didn´t need to be that rude, but she couldn´t help it. Sanji ignored her yell and said: "Let me take a look at it."
Bonney let out an annoyed sigh, but let Sanji look at her hand anyway. He took her hand and looked at the wound for a moment.
"Hmm… it´s not deep, but I think it really should be bandaged." he said. He wasn´t a doctor, but even an idiot could tell these things.
"We can finish the dishes", Robin said, coming to the kitchen with Coby behind her. Sanji nodded and let annoyed Bonney out of the kitchen.
XXXXX
Usopp, Luffy, Camie and Franky were playing card. Luffy would have wanted to play tag, but in this situation it would have been too hard, so he had agreed to a card game.
"I won!" Camie yelled, making the others frown.
"You´re cheating, aren´t you?" Luffy asked.
"No I´m not", Camie said.
"Yes you are", Luffy said back.
"No I´m not", Camie told, a little bit hurt.
"Yes you are", Luffy said again.
"Could you two stop? You act like little kids!" Nami yelled from the sofa. Camie and Luffy ignored her and continued arguing. Franky and Usopp sighed.
"Wanna start another game?" Usopp asked. Franky nodded and said: "Sure"
XXXXX
Vivi shook her head. Kidd and Zoro had started a fight outside, and Law had wanted to come and watch. She would have disagreed, but she knew that it wouldn´t have stopped him anyway. So now they were sitting next to each other, watching Zoro and Kidd fight.
"Are you bored, Ms. Vivi?" Law asked, looking at Vivi.
"Eh? No, not really." Vivi replied. Law smirked; it was obvious that she was lying. And she didn´t seem the type of person who liked fighting or violence.
"It´s understandable that you find it boring, their fighting styles are too different. It´s not that fun to watch", Law told, never taking his eyes off of the fighting pair.
"Agues so", Vivi said.
XXXXX
"I can´t believe this", Tashigi groaned. Ace had fallen asleep in the middle of his sentence in the corner of the living room, and now she had to sit there with him and wait for him to wake up.
"This is just my luck", she mumbled.
"Did Ace fell asleep again?" Tashigi turned her head towards the voice and saw Sabo and Nojiko.
"Yeah, unfortunately." Tashigi replied.
"Why don´t you wake him up?" Nojiko asked.
"And how would I do that?" Tashigi asked. She had already slapped Ace´s face, kicked him on the side and tried to get him up by dragging him with the rope. Nothing had worked.
"I´ll be right back", Nojiko said and walked away, dragging Sabo behind her. Just a little later she came back with a pillow.
"What are you going to do with that?" Tashigi asked. If kicking and slapping Ace didn´t wake him up, then hitting him with a pillow wouldn´t either. Nojiko broke the pillow by dripping it apart and the feathers from it fell on Ace. Tashigi raised an eyebrow.
"I know what you´re going to do and let me tell you; it´s not a good idea." Sabo said. Nojiko turned to face him and asked: "And why not? It worked earlier, too."
"That´s not what I meant", Sabo said, looking at Ace´s face with a smirk. Nojiko raised an eyebrow.
"Whatever, I´m still going to do it." she said and took two feathers, one to both of her hands. She bent down next to Ace and was about to tickle him with the feathers, but then Ace suddenly opened his eyes and jumped up. He took the feathers from Nojiko and tackled her on to the ground.
"It was obvious that he wasn´t sleeping anymore since he wasn´t snoring", Sabo said with a smirk, helping Nojiko up.
"You could have warned me", Nojiko said angrily.
"Actually, I did. You just didn´t believe me", Sabo told. Nojiko rolled her eyes, standing up.
"What the hell is wrong with you, falling asleep like that!" Tashigi yelled to the still sleepy pirate.
"Stop yelling at him, he´s not even listening." Sabo said. Tashigi glared at him and dragged Ace away with her.
XXXXX
At dinner everyone was, more or less, in a bad mood. Zoro and Kidd glared at each other every another second, Camie and Luffy were still arguing, making Usopp and Franky annoyed. Bonney still didn´t find anything to say to Sanji and, surprisingly enough, he wasn´t flirting with her either.
"Looks like he´s taking my advice", Nojiko thought. Vivi and Law were silent, listening to other´s arguing. Sometimes Vivi tried to stop them, but, as you may guess, it didn´t work. Robin and Coby were both silent, too. Tashigi was trying to ignore how Ace complained to Sabo about her. Seriously, how could he be so childish? Robin in the other hand never spoke much, and Coby… well, agues it doesn´t need to be told. Everyone knows it anyway.
"They sure are noisy", Marco commented, looking at Nami from the corner of his eye. She looked extremely annoyed, like she would snap at any second.
"Would you guys just", she mumbled, clenching her fists "SHUT UP FOR A ONE SECOND!"
Everyone fell silent immediately; that was an unexpected outburst.
"Thank you", Nami said and continued eating. The one who was most shocked was Marco. He hadn´t actually been scared of Nami´s yell, but the fact that it made everyone else be quiet made him pretty nervous.
"Looks like I need to be more careful around her", Marco thought. He hoped that Nojiko wasn´t as dangerous as her sister could be.
XXXXX
"You´re kidding, right?" Nami asked.
"Nope, you need to sleep with your partners, too." Miksu told. It was already late and everyone were starting to get to bed, but there was one thing they hadn´t realized; they´d need to sleep in the same bed with their partners.
"You better not try anything!" Bonney, Nojiko and Nami yelled to their partners, who sweat dropped.
"Don´t worry I won´t, I´m not a pedophile." Marco told with a smirk. Nami´s face went deep red.
"You think I´m a kid or something!" she yelled.
"From your looks: not at all. From your attitude: hell yeah." Marco replied. Nami´s face went even redder and she started to yell at Marco.
"I repeat: you better not try anything." Bonney told to Sanji, walking to the bedroom.
"I won´t, I´m a gentleman." Sanji told.
"Yea right", Bonney said, rolling her eyes. Then they started to argue about it.
"You better not try anything", Nojiko said to Sabo again as they entered the bedroom.
"Didn´t you already say that?" Sabo asked, even thought he knew the answer already. Nojiko glared at him, and he held his hands in front of him for defense.
"Okay okay, I won´t." he said.
Ten minutes later everyone had gone to sleep, some of the women keeping some kind of weapons in their hands, just in case. Luckily the night went peacefully.
A.N: Was it good? Just for you to know, that challenge wasn´t my idea. It was used in BB here in Finland at the first time we had it. I like it so I decided to use it. But tell me, did I choose them good pairs?