Tashigi is still fuming mad after her conversation with that upstart D. Empire knight! Who does he think he is? Calling her weak! Well, she might not be as strong as he is but she has strength! She is not a helpless Damsel in Distress!
"Hmp! I'll show him someday! Once I see him again, I will make sure that he will eat his words!"
"Who exactly are you going to feed his own words?"
"Kyahh!" Tashigi was so surprised she fell to the ground while looking at the gruff voiced man that startled her.
"Smoker-san! Please don't startle me like that!" Smoker just stared at her like she just said the most annoying words on Earth.
"It is not my problem you are out of your thoughts. Had I been an enemy, you would be dead right there and then." He said and Tashigi's mind went back to what that green-haired knight had said.
She is weak. And here is her superior, almost agreeing to what that stupid knight said.
"Hmp!" She held no argument because what he said is true. In this line of work, enemies are swarming everywhere and he have to stay alert all the time. So, she stood up like a fighter should be.
"So, what are you doing here, Smoker-san? Aren't you going to the harbor?" Scouting the entire East Coast will take some time considering it's area. It is so huge, it looks like 2 cities are combined.
"I already did. Those mercenaries had set sail! Damn, is the governance here that lousy?"
"But, Smoker-san, if they did not commit a visible crime to the Empire itself, then no one can arrest them, not unless the neighboring countries give a warrant to this empire, then maybe they can arrest them."
"Who cares about that!" Tashigi just sighed at her commander's lack of perception in her point.
"The troops that was left in the Shimotsuki Mountains reported about the Dragon Hunter. He is no longer in there. They found out that the previous den of dragons has bloods around. Seems like there was a battle there. No sign of Dragon Hunter. There are no description of his appearance whatsoever." Tashigi was taken aback by this. So that Dragon Hunter killed Dragons that lived in the Shimotsuki Mountains.
"That's horrible! And unforgivable!" She was hoping that the rumors about the imprisonment of the Dragon Hunter is true. If there is an evil creature lurking out there and hunting creatures which is on the verge of extinction, then they must be captured no matter what!
"There are also suspicious people gathering around. Let's be careful. After this, we will go to the HQ."
She nodded to her superior and went on surveying the area.
-XxxX-
It seems that the Straw Hats had a better hobby than to argue at each other, or apprehend their idiotic prince – and that is blinking.
They lost count how many times they blinked.
Silence was so eerie that they are afraid of breaking it. Finally, Nami decided that it is best that she break the silence.
"Uh, Luffy, setting sail? As in, in the vast oceans here in Grand Line?" As she asked that, she silently prayed to any deity available there that Luffy is just kidding.
"Yes! Won't it be exciting? Shishishi!" She was very afraid of that response.
"B-but, why so sudden? Don't you think you are being – uh, excited for this adventure?" Usopp struggled how to formulate the sentence, to avoid giving the idiotic prince too much idea. Unfortunately, he already have one.
"I am sooo excited! Aren't you? Plus, we can see more islands if we set sail. And we have to catch up to those mercenary assassins and beat them up!"
Almost everyone sweat dropped at him.
"Oi, idiotic prince! That idea is dangerous. We don't know anything about them. Going after them is very dangerous. I don't want you to be putting the lives of Nami~swan, and Robin~chwan with this voyage!" Sanji spoke of the truth and Luffy did not think of that far. He thought for a moment, which is only about two seconds before speaking again.
"Hmm, Nami is a good navigator, and she is strong. Robin is an assassin, she is fine. Plus, I did not say that we would immediately go after those assassins. We have to make a stop to Fishman Island."
"Fishman Island?!" Almost everyone shouted at Luffy except Zoro, Robin and Franky.
"Yep! Weak-hoshi would be there and I promised her that I would visit. Shishishi."
"Weak-hoshi? Who's that?" Nami asked suspiciously as he now know that friends of Luffy is either weird or dangerous or both at the same time. Luffy seems to be thinking about the food that Fishman Island would offer. So, Robin took the initiative to answer Nami.
"Luffy is talking about the mermaid princess of the Fishman Island. They have been friends for years now."
"Mermaid princess? S-so, i-is she b*nosebleed* b-beautiful?"
"Sanji! Stop imagining the mermaid princess!"Chopper shouted but it is too late since Sanji is on the bliss of his imagination.
"~Ah~ Mermaids~~~ They are the most beautiful creatures in the sea. ~~ A sailor's dream~~ Paradise~~ *nosebleed*"
"What an idiot! " Zoro muttered but Sanji was in a bliss to even care. Chopper is having a bad time keeping him from losing too much blood.
"Hmm, I thought that island is off limits to humans?" Usopp wondered. It is known that Mer-folks are neutral. Even in ancient times, they did not side from any of the opposing sides during a war but they are accommodating to the very fortunate guests to visit the island. But in the past decades, there has been changes. Mer-folks seems to have revoked visiting rights to creatures of the land.
There are not much human to visit the palace anymore since the rumors started spreading about disappearing people who went to visit the island.
"That is what the rumors have said. They also mentioned that people who went to the depths of ocean where the Fishman Island is located, had been dismembered. Some mentioned about the Ghost ship that travels there and eat souls of everyone aboard the ship. I wonder if we would get our souls eaten?"
As she was saying this, Nami, Usopp and even the busy Chopper started to shiver.
"G-ghost s-ship?" Usopp asked and Robin smiled and nodded.
"E-eat our s-souls?" Chopper had jumped away from Robin as he asked that. He looked from left to right as if he was checking if there are ghosts listening to their conversation and would suddenly decide to eat them.
"But of course! I wonder how would they do that? Maybe they would possessed our body to get our souls separated? Or - "
"S-stop! Don't say anymore!" Nami is seriously on the verge of crying. She turned to Luffy who was now munching a chunk of meat.
"Luffy! We will not go there! Do you understand me? We will not go there!" She yanked his collar and shook him to emphasize her point.
"B-but, Nami! We have another passage! We can just go to the Florian Triangle to get there! Right, Robin?"
"Of course." She smiled and sipped her tea. Nami looked suspiciously at the two. Though Luffy seems to be sincere.
"Florian Triangle?"
"Yep! It is VIP!" Luffy beamed and he started to chunk his meat. Nami seems to be convinced and mostly relieved that it is VIP. Chopper and Usopp is happy that they can go and have a safer passage.
"Fine! So when do we set sail?"
Everyone looked at Franky as he is the shipwright.
"In two or three days. The ship is almost done. And it is gonna be SUUUPERR." Everyone nodded. They don't have further questions so they decided to take another look at town and see what they could get supplies for the ship. Nami has all the treasure they got as a reward from working as mercenaries on their way here in East Coast, so she gave each allowances.
Sanji, who recovered instantly after hearing that Nami is calling for him, will get Foods. Chopper will shop for medical supplies. Usopp and Franky left to check the ship. The only ones left there is Zoro, Luffy and Robin.
"Luffy, when you said VIP, did you mean that - ?"
"Yep! I mean it as a Very Intimidating Passage! Shishishi! Isn't it exciting?"
"If you say so." Robin casually replied. Well, she is used to his attitude Zoro on the other hand chuckled as he muttered:
"They really got it wrong…"
-XXX-
How many cuss words did Ace muttered? He lost count. He does not know how to formulate a plan to escape this! How is he going to get away from these three when they are in the middle of an awkward situation, not to mention he is part of that situation?
The weather is not getting better. In fact it is getting worse, and they have no choice but to stay in the inn where they can have a good shelter. That is a good thing, they have shelter and all, but the problem is the inn they stumbled on happened to have only two available bedrooms.
"You sure there are no rooms available aside from the two you mentioned?" Marco asked the receptionist.
"I am afraid there are no more. The weather has kept the travelers in inns so almost all of the inns are full. You have the luck to get the two largest." And the blond sighed. It seems that they have to share.
As Marco brought the news first to Izou, she immediately have that mischievous grin on her face. Marco shivered.
"You and Ace can share the other one. Me and Thatch on the other." Marco noticed that she is kind of hesitant when she said that she would be sharing with Thatch. After all, even if the tension had somehow lessened, there are still some tension left. And it would be awkward for both of them.
"Are you sure? You and Ace can share while me and Thatch would - "
"No! You and Ace are sharing! You just have fun. Since we are stuck here, you can have him all by yourself." She suggested it with a wiggle of her eyebrows. Marco was afraid of this. He know that Izou is pinning Ace into Marco.
Before he could mutter anything, Izou went to where Thatch and Ace were sitting and brought the news.
As Izou talked to Thatch, Marco noticed how his sister put that mask on her face. She have that brave front and Thatch seems to be taking it all like normal. Well, as normal as he could be because as far as what Marco sees, he too, is putting a brave front.
He wondered how they could survive the night, or worse, nights to come.
Marco shook his head. He should stop worrying about it and start worrying his own problem. He should start asking how he would survive this night with Ace, just a hand's reach from him.
Ace on the other hand, seems to be worrying the same thing.
His attraction to Marco is making this situation bad. He was afraid that the tension has gone higher and any minute, it would break, and Ace didn't know if he could stop it. Or should he?
HE just sighed and went to Marco as the other two went upstairs already. Ace bet that Izou has something to do with this situation, following her advice the other night.
"So, we're gonna share, huh." Ace reprimanded himself to stay cool and not give away to Marco that his heart keep on pounding on his chest like a fast rhythm.
"Yeah. I hope you don't mind." Ace shrugged it. "It is getting late. We should rest for now. The weather might be good tomorrow." Ace nodded because he really can't formulate a good sentence to answer Marco.
He is afraid that if he say something it may sound idiotic. And he would rather avoid that.
They went upstairs. The room is fairly large. There is a queen sized bed, a side table and drawers that they could use to put their stuff.
First, they put their stuff on the drawers. Ace have not much so he was the first one to finish and he helped Marco arrange his stuff.
"Thanks." The blond muttered and for a second there, the voice seemed to ring to Ace's keen ears and send jolt down his spine.
He tried to fight it and continue to arrange their stuff. As he put Marco's blankets near his stuff, some sort of bottle fell and both he and Marco looked at the fallen bottle. Just seeing the clear liquid of oil, they immediately knew what it was for and Ace's heart started to rumble. Oh, shit.
Ace tried to speak but words can't get out of his mouth.
He looked up and he locked eyes with Marco. The tension grew intense. Those beautiful blue eyes sends shivers to Ace's spine and his heart is fluttering.
"Marco - " He really can't for the sentence and it is useless because as he watch those blue eyes, he can't think anymore. His mind went blank.
Hearing Ace call his name made Marco's intense feelings for the freckled youth to grow. Seeing that bottle of lube there, everything that he held back in those times that they traveled seemed to wash away and he just snapped then and there.
So he did the only thing that he's been wanting to do for those weeks.
He crossed the distance between him and Ace and connect his lips to the other…
AN:
CLIFFHANGER! HAHAHA.
THE CONTINUATION WOULD BE ON THE NEXT CHAPTER. IT WOULD BE RATED M…
SakiNamI : Thanks for liking the story. And this is the chapter…
Guest: Well, I am keeping Ace as a boy…
Monkey D. Conan : Wow, your comment is so long and thanks for that. The idea is great but I got confused. Anyway, sorry, I am keeping Ace as a boy here. Majority wins… But thanks for the idea, really. If you want Ace as a girl, try reading ASL Sisters. It is my new story.
katorreyhorse: Thanks for the comment. And I think you are right. It shows acceptance of being who you are.
kdh1997 : I get your point. Sometimes, it is harder to imagine Ace as a woman… Hahah. And this is the new chapter.