"WHAT?" I screamed, my lungs straining from the pitch I had just reached, "WHAAAAAT?"

"Mana. Mana! Calm down, alright?" Ratchet said putting his hands on my shoulders in an attempt to settle my anger down. Worthless attempt if you ask me.

"NO! NO! I will not calm down! Don't you DARE tell me to calm down! This is a freakin' outrage! Why the hell do they have to leave?"

"Mana! Mana, please! We have no say in this. It's all up to their superior. He makes all the rules. We don't have a say in it."

"I get that alright? I understand that, but… but…"

I began to simmer down, but not because anyone wanted me to. Oh no. It was because I needed to find the right way to express my upset. I needed to access the words to accurately tell what I found to be extremely disappointing.

And it took no time at all for me to process my emotions. To find the real culprit of my anger.

The blood within me started boiling again as I looked at the three devil fruit users sitting close to Ratchet's desk. They were who my real beef was with. My eyes narrowed at one in particular. I just couldn't believe he would go along with this…

"But why the Hell can't they say something?" I yelled while pointing an accusing finger at them. "Why can't they tell their boss that they don't want to go?"

"Mana…" Ratchet sighed and sat in his chair, his head shaking. "Have you even asked them if they want to stay?"

My heart wrenched in my chest. No. I hadn't asked them, but… but still! Why wouldn't they want to stay here with people that actually enjoy their company? Here they could actually be themselves instead of completely heartless killing machines. Here they could actually be happy! From what Kaku had told me, he'd never really seen Lucci smile like he was truly feeling happiness. What reason could there be that they would want to return to a life where no one liked them?

So I looked to them. I didn't utter one word, but they knew what I was asking.

None of them said a word to me. Jyabura looked to the floor. Lucci, I didn't expect anything from him. He didn't spark anger in me because honestly he didn't care what happened to him. Then there was Kaku who looked me straight in the eyes and I got my answer.

My heart tightened even more. Teeth grinded against one another.

"Why…" I asked holding back the tears. My nails dug into the palms of my hands as I clenched my fists. "Why…?"

Kaku stood up and held his hands out to me in a gesture to comfort me, "Mana, we can't just go against orders—"

"Shut up," I hissed, my head shaking. Slowly at first I backed up, making my way to the door. "I've… I need to work…!"

Turning fully towards the door I sprinted out heading to the deserted and moonlit ship yard. I needed to work… NOW!

And work I did. Plopping down into the dirt with a hand pushed carving blade in my grip and piece of wood for a ship between my legs, I went straight to stripping away layers of woods. It was the only way I could find to feel better. Tunnel vision made the task of forgetting everything except the task at hand much easier. All I could focus on was where the blade was going.

Though, as focused as I was on the wood, I allowed my mind to drift to a pirate song I had heard earlier that day. It helped a lot to have a beat to go with.

"… binkusu no sake wo, todoke ni yuku yo, umikase kimakase namimakase… shio no mukou de, yuuhi mo sawagu, sora nya wa wo kaku, tori no uta… sayonara mina—"

"Mana-chan, it's not safe to work out in the dark, you know."

Heart froze and my hands shoved the carving knife into wood in front of me. A gigantic splinter then embedded itself into my middle finger. Smooth move on my part.

"Ssssssss!" The air hissed through my teeth. "Damn it…!" I put the finger up to my lips and sucked on the wound a bit.

"Are you alright?" Kaku said coming over to my side and investigating what had just happened. "You didn't seriously injure yourself did you?"

Snapping my eyes over to him, I glared not daggers, but guillotine blades. I rammed my shoulder into his upper chest. He was caught of guard and ended up falling back onto the ground behind him.

"Mana-cha—"

"Don't call me that! And get away from me," I growled as I squeezed around the entry wound making the splinter come up enough to where I could grab it. "I don't need your help. I'm just fine on my own."

I went back to carving and did my best to block him out.

"Manami, listen to me," he pleaded. "I know that you're angry that we're leaving. I get that. I don't want to leave. None of us do, but we can't do anything about it." Something snapped suddenly. "Our director needs us ba—"

"SO WHAT?" I bellowed standing up abruptly. My eyes widened at my outburst. I swallowed the lump that formed deep in my throat. "And it's not just that that's made me so angry, Kaku!"

As he stood up, I held my ground. No matter how much I hated to admit it, he intimidated me. He was frightening in his own right.

"Then what was it that made you so angry, Mana? Let me know."

"I… It's…"

Averting my eyes, I looked to the ocean and stared at the waves. With the tone of voice he gave me, my entire attitude shrunk. I didn't know how to respond to that. Men that I dealt with never expressed any emotion other than rage when it came to stuff like this. Usually we just yelled until someone couldn't take it anymore.

"Mana."

Reluctantly I locked eyes with him only to see an expression of genuine sincerity. He somehow knew just what to do to rip my temper in tiny pieces, but that's all that I needed to get even more bent out of shape. Because I couldn't hate him and I knew he was right fueled my anger right back to where it was.

"Please, Mana. What is it that's made you so angry? Tell me. Help me understand."

My chest was set on fire, my face contorted, and my muscles tensed with rage.

Pushing him away as violently as I could, which wasn't very violent since I couldn't bring myself to hurt him in anyway, I screamed. A few tears of frustration trailed down my cheeks when I turned my back on him.

"Don't pull on my heart like that! Don't play it! Just… Just get away from me! I need to think…! And I can't do that if you're here! So leave me alone!"

I heard a sigh leave his mouth and the sound of his shirt following the motion of him nodding his head.

"Alright," he said in a low whisper. "But when you want to inform me on what's bothering you, come wake me up."

The sound of his shoes kicking up dust reached my ears and I went back to my position with the wood. Water streamed very lightly down my cheeks as I picked up my carving knife. I went back to taking off layers of the wood

As I heard the door to the main building close I did my best to return to my earlier demeanor.

"… sniff… sayonara… sniff… minato… tsumigi no… sniff… sato yo…"

Whoo~! I'm back! Don't know for how long, but CHA! Finally wrote another chapter! FINA-FREAKIN'-LLY~! Not as long as I would have liked it, but hey. It's good to be back, guys. Late night inspiration is a wonderful thing. As well as a bit of boredom mixed into that. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Leave me some feedback~!

Love all of you that have supported and encouraged me to get back on the horse!

-With much love,

Maru-chan