ALL RIGHTS RESERVED TO ODA
It had been a quiet couple of days for the crew, especially Adrian, since they left Nami's village. Most of the crew found their own things to do as usual, but Adrian was regulated to lookout duty exclusively since he could not do much else while his arm was healing. It was doing much better and only needed to be in a sling now, but it would still be a couple more days before he could use it properly. Even during his free time, he would stay in the crows' nest partly because it was a colossal pain to climb up and down with one arm and partly because Luffy and Usopp's antics tended to make his arm ache. The rest of the crew would generally leave him alone save for the occasional visit from Luffy to check on his brother, and Sanji, who would bring him food and then yell at Adrian for making him half to cater to a man instead of the ladies. The one he wanted to visit was Nami… or Carina… he would not be picky. The two women, however, tended not to visit much. He figured it was because they were kept at bay by Sanji during the day and were too busy with each other at night while they were making up for the lost time. As he had to remind himself while thinking about what the two girls were doing together during the nights, Adrian tended to like the quieter moments to himself. The fact that the crew was not expecting much out of him right now was a plus because he could waste time. That was precisely what he did most of the time, too, whether it was reading some of the books Nami had lent him to catch up on some of the newer events in history or purposely taking longer showers and then blaming it on the fact it was harder to wash with one arm. All in all, it was a great 3 or 4 days for Adrian, or maybe 5 or 6; he was not sure how long it had been at this point.
…
He was awoken from another mid-day nap by a scream coming from the deck below him, and he instinctively tried to reach his left arm to his sword, which only welcomed the pain. He did not hear any fighting or see any ships, so he decided it must have been his imagination. He tried to go back to sleep but was quickly awakened by something pulling on the collar of his shirt. He immediately noticed that Luffy's outstretched arm was the cause of his current distress of hurtling towards the deck of the ship. When the smoke cleared, Luffy's face was met with the bottom of Adrian's foot as he yelled at his younger brother with sharp teeth. Luffy just got up smiling with a missing tooth as he pointed at some papers on the ground. Adrian picked the papers up with his good arm and decided before reading them that he should take stock in everyone's face to see if what he was about to read was good news or not. Luffy was still grinning from ear to ear, Zoro looked like he could not care less, and Sanji was sulking about something. Usopp, Nami, and Carina were all huddled in a corner and crying. Adrian just sighed and looked down at the papers. As he read, the rest of the crew eyed him with anticipation for what he would say.
"Oh… that's cool." He remarked as he gave the papers back to Luffy and began walking around towards the crows' nest. He did not make it all the way.
He was tackled by Usopp, Nami, and Carina, who shoved him to the ground while screaming at him to take it more seriously. Luffy just looked on laughing.
"It's ok; Adrian has never been one to want his name to be known." Luffy finished as he flipped the papers around. They turned out to be bounty posters.
The first thing immediately noticeable from the two posters was Luffy's stupid grin looking back at you from the first one. Under his image, the words "Monkey D. Luffy – Wanted Dead or Alive - $30,000,000".
Usopp pointed at the side of the wanted poster where the back of his head was and pointed out that he was famous too. Sanji immediately snapped out of his funk and charged at Usopp that it is not fair and it is only the back of his head, so he should not get too confident. Usopp and Sanji started arguing back and forth as they snatched Luffy's wanted poster out of his hand to use it as fuel for their side of the argument. That only left the other poster, which featured Adrian's face.
The poster featured Adrian making a much more "appropriate" scary pirate face. He had a grim expression on his face, and his eyes were slightly shadowed over. He had blood sprayed across his face that made it look like he had just murdered someone, but Adrian knew it was his blood. Along the side of his poster, you could make out Sanji's blonde hair, who was supporting Adrian when he had that picture taken. Luffy tried to point that out to Sanji, but he was too busy kicking Usopp for boasting about being on Luffy's poster.
Adrian's wanted poster read, "Adrian -Wanted Dead or Alive - $25,000,000". Luffy being the captain, granted him the benefit of the doubt of having the higher bounty, not that Adrian cared if he was less anyway. Nami and Carina had gotten caught up in watching the commotion and had forgotten they were still sitting on Adrian. Carina quickly got up and apologized, but Nami lingered. She found it odd he was not yelling for her to get off, and when she looked down at his face, he just had a solemn expression as he stared down at the ground. Before she got off him, she leaned over and whispered in his ear,
"We will talk about this later." She got off him and walked back to join Carina in sunbathing.
Adrian kept to himself the rest of the day, lost in thought about his wanted poster. He thought it was cool that he had one, but something kept bothering him. It had been a while since he had thought about his parents or his life at Mary Geoise, and hated to think about what they would do if they found out he was alive.
He was not left alone to his thoughts for long as he was soon joined by Nami, who had snuck away from a sleeping Carina. She stepped over him to get on his good side and then plopped down right beside him before shoving her head down on his chest and looking up at him while pouting. They sat like that for a while until Adrian finally gave in.
"What?" he asked.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"What do you mean?"
"You weren't acting yourself earlier, and you seemed especially down after looking at your poster. Now I know you are not as reckless as your little brother, but you don't strike me as the type to cower away from something like that, so the only thing I can think of is that you are scared your royal parents or whatever will figure out you're alive and come after you."
'Wow, she did hit it on the head,' Adrian thought. He should give her more credit.
"It's not just that they would come after me, they would kill you, they would kill Luffy, they would kill everyone here and not bat an eye so long as they knew they had won. Me getting away would be an insult to them, and they wouldn't stand for it." He replied.
He was met with a smack to the back of the head. He looked at her with annoyance but quickly changed his expression when he saw her face.
"Idiot…" she started as she looked up at him with both anger and a hint of sadness in her eyes… "We are pirates, remember, everyone is going to be coming after us, and they will be trying to kill us. So, your parents finding out doesn't concern me one bit." She softens her expression a bit and continues… "Besides, you aren't that same scared kid anymore..." she softly taps the back of her hand against his chest… "You're the strongest person I know… and… I know you will protect me!" She tries to quickly yell out as she looks away, trying to hide her blushing face. There was no reply for a while, and right as she was about to turn around, Adrian grabbed the back of her head and brought her in for a kiss that seemed to last forever.
"Thanks," Adrian said after finally pulling away from Nami's lips.
"If you want to thank me, then stop being so damn moody," She replied while rolling her eyes and trying not to show how much she enjoyed the kiss.
Adrian just laughed and agreed as he pulled her in closer before letting her go back to bed. Adrian watched the night sky for a little while longer before finally falling asleep himself.
Adrian surprised everyone the next morning by being the first into the kitchen for breakfast and did his best to have as much fun with his crew members as possible. Nami just enjoyed seeing his smiling face again.
He spent the rest of his day joining Luffy and Usopp in their teasing of Sanji and secretly sneaking towards the back of the ship while the blonde-haired cook was distracted to pay a visit to his navigator and her purple-haired friend. He would tell the crew that he would check to see how much longer to the next island so Luffy would stop asking but really, he just wanted to make out with Nami and Carina. They would have to do it in short bursts so as not to get caught, and one-time, Nami and Carina got a little too carried away, and Adrian had to step in front of them, so they had enough time to get their bikini tops back on and get themselves straightened out. This would continue for the next two days, including another close encounter where Carina had to distract Zoro so Adrian could get his pants back up and Nami could finish swallowing the gift he had just given her. Eventually, they did end up within view of the next island without any closer encounters.
Nami had started to explain to the crew that the next island they were arriving at was the last stop before the Grand Line. The island is called Loguetown, and it is known as the town of the Beginning and End because Gold Roger was both born and executed here. That statement prompted looks of amazement from Luffy, Zoro, and Adrian. Nami reacts in a shocked manner that none of them knew that as it is always brought up in the papers around the anniversary of his execution.
Luffy responded with the fact that he does not like to read.
Zoro just shrugs.
Adrian responds that he just never really cared enough to look it up.
Nami sweat drops and decides to give up.
Thankfully the Going Merry is not a well-known ship yet, so the crew had no problem finding a place to dock it. Nami pointed out that this town is full of marines trying to catch pirates before leaving for the Grand Line, and she suggests that they lay low and get their supplies and go. Unfortunately for her, Luffy wants to see the pedestal from which the Pirates' former King was executed. Before Luffy or anyone else could leave, however, Carina quickly stole the spotlight as she appeared at the edge of the ship with her bags completely packed. She bid the crew farewell, and after some crying from Sanji, she was gone. Adrian looked over and noticed the sad look in Nami's eyes, and he made a mental note to do something to cheer her up later.
Nami quickly snapped out of her funk and reminded everyone that they need to keep a low profile or else they may not be able to leave to go to the Grand Line. Luffy just grinned and said, "Of course," as he took off down the street. Sanji shrugged and said he would do some shopping for food and keep an eye on him. Nami just sighed and said thank you as the cook took off after their captain.
Adrian was getting ready to get some fresh air when he overheard Zoro asking Nami for some money. He had thought about doing the same thing so he could buy a new bow to replace his old broken one. However, he quickly changed his tune when he heard Nami tell Zoro that she will lend him 200,000 berries if he pays it back with 200% interest.
He was getting ready to walk off again when he felt the space where his bow should be and decided to swallow his pride as he made his way towards Nami and Zoro. He pulled up right beside Zoro and tried his best to put on the most pleasant voice he could when he asked if he could borrow some money as well. Zoro must have sensed danger because he immediately started walking in the opposite direction.
Adrian closed his eyes and braced for the 200% interest himself, but it never came; instead, he opened his eyes to see that Nami was smiling and handing over the money. Adrian cautiously took it and asked if he needed to pay anything back.
"Nooppeee…" She replied while still smiling… "You'll be paying me back later," she added as she used her finger to rub right across Adrian's penis through his pants. Adrian just smiled and agreed as he took off to catch up with Zoro.
Adrian had caught up to Zoro and was following him down the street. He asked the green-haired man where he was heading, and he replied to the sword shop, to which Adrian asked how he knew to get there, and Zoro replied that he felt he was going in the right direction, which made Adrian sweatdrop.
After some more walking, Zoro cocked his eyebrow at Adrian.
"I didn't hear any yelling from Nami about 200% interest back there…" He started… "What do you have to pay her?"
"Oh, she will make me pay her back somehow, I'm sure of it." Adrian quickly replied.
Zoro just grumbled under his breath that woman is a devil, and Adrian was only glad he did not investigate his comment too deeply.
He was happy the silence was soon interrupted by a commotion in the street ahead of them. As they approached, it appeared that a group of thugs was harassing a petite woman wearing glasses. Zoro had already had a hand on one of his swords, and Adrian instinctively started popping the knuckles in his right hand. His left arm still was not fully healed, but his right arm would be more than enough for these idiots. However, a glance at the woman's face showed no signs of fear, so Adrian held his hand out to stop Zoro.
"Watch," he said as Zoro took his hand off his sword.
The petite woman had a big sword strapped on her back that she used to take care of the thugs harassing her quickly. Adrian was about to admit how impressed he was by her before she tripped over her own feet and landed just in front of him. Adrian knelt to pick her glasses up and handed them back to the black-haired woman, who in turn immediately started both thanking him for the help and apologizing for the inconvenience of helping her.
Adrian did his best to calm the nervous woman, who now seemed like a far cry from the woman he just watched beat three guys who were three times her size. Her awkwardness was not helped because she immediately started blushing when she put her glasses back on and looked at Adrian's face for the first time. After battling through more words, she finally allowed Adrian to help her to her feet.
Once the woman was successfully back on her feet and dusted off, Adrian had a chance to take her appearance in completely. She had black chin-length hair and deep brown eyes sparkling behind her glasses. She wore a brown V-neck tee shirt and standard blue jeans. Her clothes were a little baggie, and Adrian wondered if she had problems with people's attention being focused on her body. However, she had a firm body, and Adrian could tell she did a lot to keep herself in shape; while not ripped by any means, she did have quite a muscular body. That did not mean she did not have more feminine qualities as well, though.
Her skin was smooth; she took great care when it came to her skin routine. While her hair was cut short, it was still well-groomed and styled in a way that would keep her bangs out of her face, and Adrian could smell the sweet fragrance of whatever shampoo she used from a couple of feet away. Despite her best efforts to hide her body, Adrian could still tell she was pretty busty for someone so small. While her breasts would pale in size compared to Nami's, they were so perfectly perky that they still gave the impression of her breasts being several times bigger than they were. Her jeans were tighter fitting than her shirt but not by much. They loosely hung around her slim waist, held up only by what Adrian could assume was a belt. The jeans hung loosely at her ankles, and the only slightly form-fitting area would be around her thighs. She did a great many squats because even with the pants being too big, her thighs filled them out nicely, and Adrian could only assume her ass was just as tight and perky as the rest of her body.
The woman introduced herself as Tashigi and thanked Adrian again, giving him a rather cute smile. When Zoro noticed her face, he seemed to get quickly flustered and immediately started walking down the street. Tashigi asked if she did something wrong, and Adrian promptly wrote it off as Zoro being nervous around pretty girls. Tashigi did her best to fight off the thoughts of being called pretty by a hot guy and fought an internal battle to keep a blush off her face. After calming herself down, she asked Adrian if she could do anything to repay the favor. Adrian quickly thought up to ask where the nearest weapons shop was, and the woman immediately started beaming. She said she could take them there, and Adrian agreed as he called out to Zoro, who was walking in the wrong direction.
After following Tashigi for a while, Adrian fell back to talk to Zoro.
"What's wrong? you've been acting weird since we ran into her…Don't tell me I was correct about you being scared of girls!" He asked.
"Nothing, she just reminds me of someone I used to know," Zoro replied.
Adrian just shrugged it off and continued to follow the girl.
Adrian made it a point to observe how Zoro acted around the girl to see if he could get any insight into what was going on with his crew member, but the swordsman just kept his face towards the ground as he followed far behind the woman. Since he was such a closed book, Adrian turned his attention to Tashigi. The way she walked so stiffly with her sword covering across her chest gave off the impression of prey walking through a wolf's den. Everything about her, from the way she walked and talked to her baggy clothes and general childlike mannerisms, screamed that she was pure and innocent. However, how she handled those thugs told Adrian there was something deeper in her that she was suppressing. He pushed the thought of testing his theory out of his mind when he noticed that she had stopped in front of the shop.
They followed her in, and Adrian immediately noticed the shop was covered from wall to wall with swords, which immediately made Zoro snap out of his funk. The shopkeeper eyed Tashigi closely as she followed the green-haired man who did not seem to mind her presence now. Adrian observed the shop keeper closely and wondered why he was so focused on Tashigi. He figured he was just some pervert and decided to look around the shop. He came upon a bin that seemed to contain the only non-sword items in the building. Nothing seemed particularly tremendous, and he was about to turn around when something sparkling behind the bin caught his eye.
He moved the bin slightly and reached down to pick the object up. It was wrapped in cloth, but he could tell it was a gun. He removed the material and noticed it was a revolver but not like the ones he had seen before. The shopkeeper was too distracted by Tashigi to notice what Adrian was up to, but he nearly had a heart attack when he glanced over and fell from his chair. It did not take long for Adrian to put two and two together.
He walked over to the counter, making sure he did not draw his two companions' attention, and pulled the shop keeper off the ground.
"Why are you hiding this gun?" Adrian asked.
"I don't know what you are talking about. Maybe another customer dropped it." Adrian was immediately suspicious of that answer.
Adrian points the gun at the owner, and he asks, "So you won't mind if I take it?"
"Of course, I do!" the shopkeeper whispered; he was trying not to draw attention.
"So, it is yours?" Adrian laughed as he raised it into the air. "Hey, Tashi…." The shop keeper quickly tried to shut him up.
"Ok! It's mine; I had it delivered from a back-channel dealer." He sighed.
"What is it?"
"An experimental revolver from the marines testing facilities in the Grand Line… They call it a Hand Cannon because, well, its shots are supposed to be as strong as a cannon." The man quickly explained.
"Could I buy it for 200,000 berries?" Adrian asked, and the older man quickly put up his hands.
"NO! It's easily worth ten times that!" The shopkeeper did a horrible job keeping his voice down that time, and Tashigi appeared beside Adrian, asking what was going on. The shop Keeper panicked and immediately yelled.
"SOLD!" He quickly took the money from Adrian as he begged Adrian with his eyes to hide the gun. Adrian picking up on the moment, promptly stuffed it into the top of his pants and slid his shirt over the handle of the weapon. Tashigi looked confused but shrugged off the strange encounter between the two men and as she left to rejoin Zoro.
Zoro had found a sword that Tashigi thought was amazing. The owner shoots them down immediately and says he cannot sell it because the blade is cursed. Adrian and Zoro both cock a brow up at the older man, and Zoro immediately does something reckless by throwing the sword into the air and sticking his arm out to test his luck. Of course, the blade misses his arm, and of course, the owner is so shocked he lets him have not only the cursed sword but also his most prized sword as well. Adrian would have made a joke if he did not have to catch Tashigi from the shock. She lingered in his arms for a few seconds longer than she needed to before yelling that she is fine and quickly rushing towards the counter to ask if her sword is finished yet.
The shop keeper had gotten tired of her presence because he threw her sword at her and said she and her marines had chased away all his clients. Zoro and Adrian were shocked to find out such a timid little woman was a marine. Tashigi huffs and sticks her tongue out at the older man before turning towards the two men and saying that it was fun, but she had to meet her boss now. She was getting ready to walk out the door when Adrian stopped her. He asked if she would be ok by herself and wanted to ask if he could accompany her just if she got attacked again.
Adrian knew she could handle herself against small fry like that, but he wanted to see what she knew about his sword. He whispered to Zoro that he tried to keep an eye on her and that he would catch up with them later, and the green-haired man seemed happy to get rid of the woman.
Tashigi herself knew she would be ok, but she was not about to turn down the first halfway decent looking guy who showed interest in her, so she happily agreed.
Adrian did his best to keep up with the black-haired woman, who seemed to be doing her best to keep distance between them even though she agreed to him coming. What Adrian could not see, however, was the absolute shade of red that overtaken the petite woman's face. She did not want him to see her like this, and she needed to buy some time until she could come up with something to say to the strange man who had a peculiar hold on her. She never met a man before that she cared much for because they either ultimately grossed her out or they were just brutal. This man, though, completely turned her stomach inside out every time she looked at him.
She avoided direct conversation with him until another set of thugs circled them. Adrian, who was already annoyed by getting the cold shoulder from Tashigi, did not give the thugs a second to even demand anything before they found his foot in their faces. Tashigi had finished off the two that Adrian could not reach, and she was about to compliment Adrian on how strong he was when she stopped and noticed that the man seemed distracted by something.
She was shocked when he started dashing towards her, and she closed her eyes, bracing for the impact. She opened them a second later to see the man was nowhere in sight. A noise behind her made her quickly turn around to see the tip of a blade pointed at where her head was. The blade was being held in the air by Adrian, who had his eyes set on the dark alley in front of him. He threw the blade back, and within seconds another thug came stumbling out with the blade lodged in his chest.
"Poison," Adrian said as he pointed at the last thug.
"They want to kill you, why?" he asked without any real compassion in his voice; after all, if they were trying to kill her, then they would try to kill him by the association as well.
"It is because of my boss. He captured their leader, and now they want revenge." She answers while still avoiding eye contact. She was embarrassed, but this time, she was saved by a man, something she hated.
"well, aren't you glad you brought me?" Adrian quickly changes his expression to lighten the mood. He did not know what was bothering the girl, but he knew he would not get anywhere with her if she kept being upset. Tashigi just huffed, turned, and started walking back down the street, leaving Adrian to follow her.
The internal battle between not wanting to rely on a man and her attraction to the said man that saved her must have distracted Tashigi because she immediately tripped over something and fell to the ground. Before she could even get back to her knees, Adrian had already caught up and was currently picking her glasses up off the floor.
"Please be careful," Adrian commanded as the woman put her glasses back on, and meekly thanked him.
As she made eye contact with him again, she had to do her best to keep the blush off her face and keep whatever weird thoughts that kept popping into her head out of her mind.
Adrian had been having fun with the girl's obvious crush on him, but at this moment, he decided not to push his luck too much and asked if she wanted to continue.
As they walked, Adrian asked if the thugs thought they would free their captain just because they attacked her. Before she could answer, he continued that even if they kept coming, they would smash all of them while he flexed his good arm. He was hoping he would get a laugh out of her, but the expression on her face was more of a solemn sadness. Adrian guessed that she must not like fighting but still wants to be a marine to help people even if it means hurting others, and Adrian could not help but sympathize with the battle that was raging inside her because of it. She must have noticed the look on his face because she quickly straightened up and started walking even faster.
Adrian had not noticed it before, but now that he took the time to take his eyes off of the girl, he saw that the sky was quickly darkening. He wondered if a storm was coming in. He thought about making a quick turn around to get back to the ship when he accidentally bumped into Tashigi. She had stopped about 50 yards from a very nondescript building. Adrian quickly deduced where they were as he tried his best to slowly back away as two marines shuffled out of the door. Adrian had wondered if Tashigi had recognized him from his wanted poster and tricked him with a fake aloof personality to get him to follow her.
The woman turned around to face the man, and Adrian instinctively began getting ready for a fight. He was surprised, however, to see her face being lit up by a huge warm smile. She thanked him for taking her this far but said that civilians were not allowed near the base. Adrian just sighed and quickly put his hand up to say no problem. However, he could not get the words out as the petite woman quickly lunged onto him to hug him.
"No one has ever really treated me fairly before… Thanks," She said as she continues to assault Adrian with the cutest, most innocent looking smile he has ever seen before.
"No, don't mention it. It was a great time for me, anyway." He was not lying either, he did have fun, but more importantly, he got useful information that he was not recognized yet despite the bounty. He also thought about how banged up he looked in his wanted poster and wondered if that had anything to do with it.
"I hope to see you again at…. Er…. What was your name?" Adrian thought for a second to give her a fake name but ultimately decided it should be fine since he would probably never see her again.
"Adrian."
"That sounds familiar…" Adrian tensed up… "But I think it is a super cute name." She finishes with another smile.
After another big bear hug, Adrian had managed to get the young woman to go back to her job, which freed him up to find his little brother and get the hell off the island.
He barely managed to walk six feet when he was bumped hard from behind by a woman wearing a cloak. Adrian would have protested to the act's rudeness if he were not immediately bumped again by a man wearing a cloak. He was about to curse them out when he noticed a very defining feature of the cloaked man that made Adrian pause. He saw a big red nose.
Sensing a huge opportunity to create a distraction for the marines in case the Straw Hats were found out, Adrian shout…
"HEY, IT'S BUGGY THE CLOWN!" The desired effect happened, and a bunch of marines started chasing after the two hooded figures. Tashigi led the charge, and Adrian could not help but figure out that his plan worked perfectly for once. Not wanting to waste one second of the time he just afforded his crew, Adrian started sprinting towards the town square.
Adrian was doing his best to stick to the back alleys as he made his way to the center of town. He did not want to create any unwanted attention for himself, and most of the alleys were deserted, so it was easy for him to move unseen. He was making significant progress until he turned one corner and immediately ran into someone. The man hit the ground but immediately jumped back up to his feet as he lost his cloak. It was apparent from the nose, but Adrian quickly recognized the man he had run into as Buggy. Buggy immediately recognized him too and made a lunge for the man who helped cause so much pain to him. He did not make it far as Adrian grabbed him by the nose and slammed him into the wall.
"I don't have time for you right now," Adrian yelled as he turned to start running again but quickly noticed the hooded woman standing right over a body. Adrian immediately regretted making the diversion as he met eyes with the woman lying bloody on the ground.
"Adrian! Run, they have Devil Fruit powers!" Tashigi tried to yell but was silenced by the other woman kicking her.
"So, you Straw Hats made it, huh?" Buggy yelled as he got back up to his feet.
Adrian could see the wheels in Tashigi's head-turning as she made the connection between his name and the Straw-Hat Pirates.
"You…so… you tricked me?" It was all she could manage with her injuries.
"Oh? Is it a pirate making friends with a marine? That's new." The woman chuckled as she prepared another kick.
The only thing her foot hit was the ground. The woman had to do a double-take as she looked behind her to see Adrian laying Tashigi comfortably on the ground.
Before either of the two pirates could react, Adrian had already laid a kick on both. Buggy gets sent flying through the same wall again, but the woman remained standing. Adrian cocked his eyebrow up at her as she continued to giggle.
Buggy pulled himself from the wreckage and put himself back together. He was thinking of taking another swing at Adrian but was stopped by the woman in the cloak. She whispered something to him, and Adrian could see the wheels in Buggy's head-turning. Eventually, the clown sighed and began to run off.
"Well, well, well, looks like there is someone for everyone. I did not think anyone would want the clown, but hey, I won't judge." Adrian's joke caused the woman to giggle.
"Hardly; I was just using that idiot to find someone."
"Oh? I would be shocked if that idiot didn't lead you in the completely wrong direction."
"I was starting to think that too, but here I am, standing in front of the person I was looking for." The woman exclaimed.
Adrian just cocked his head to the side and pointed at Tashigi.
"You were looking for her, huh? That is a cruel way to greet someone."
"No, you idiot, obviously I'm talking about you!" The woman yelled as she began to take her cloak off.
"Lady, I have no idea who you are... oh shit." Adrian began but could not finish his sentence as he got a better look at the woman.
She had raven black hair that reached down to the middle of her back and ended at her huge breasts that were only covered by an almost too small white bikini top and a pearl necklace. She wore pink Capri pants that hugged her hips tightly, and Adrian could see the sides of her black thong sticking out over the top of her pant line.
Adrian asked if they had met before, and the woman said that she was hurt that one of the first men to hit her did not remember her.
Adrian immediately looks over at Tashigi and quickly tells her that he has never hit a woman before. Tashigi just did her best to try to keep up with what was going on.
The woman said she had something that could speed up the process as she pulled a giant club off her back. Adrian saw the flat spikes, and he felt that he saw it from somewhere before. Then she pulled something else out from the cloak and put it on her head. It was a white cowboy hat, and as soon as Adrian saw it on her, he immediately knew who she was.
"Alvida?" Adrian could not help himself from blurting out.
Alvida could not help but laugh at the man's shocked face. Adrian sweatdropped that the woman seemed to think it was odd that he had a hard time recognizing her since she was fat the last time he saw her. Adrian was even more stunned when she held a hand up to her freckled face and said that only a few parts of her changed after eating a Devil Fruit. After noticing Adrian's confused look, Alvida threw her mace directly into the air, and it began falling towards her rapidly. Adrian watched as the mace slid right off of her body.
"I ate the Sube Sube no Mi. I am a slippery person." She stated as if it was not a big deal.
Despite the show of power, Adrian could not feel any hostility coming from the woman. He decided it was a better idea to see her goal than outright to provoke her. The woman winked at him while puckering her thick lips together as her crimson red lipstick glistened off of the streetlight.
"No one has ever laid hands on me like that before… and I kind of liked it. I wanted to see if you were worth my adoration, and then…" She did not get to finish before Tashigi cut her off.
"Stop! You better not say what I think you were about to say!"…She was blushing furiously… "What is even going on here!"
"Oh my… what a naughty little girl, what did you think I was going to say, I wonder?" The older raven-haired woman thought for a long second about teasing her, but all the thoughts she got in her head only made her blush instead. It was Adrian who broke the silence.
"What the hell do you want from me!" He yelled with sharp teeth.
"For you to join me, of course!" Alvida grinned.
Adrian tried his best to keep his laughter back as he explained to Alvida that her request was utterly impossible. She just cocked her head to the side as if she were surprised that Adrian would refuse.
"Well, why not?" She asks.
"Because I'm already a part of another crew, and I particularly don't feel like leaving," Adrian replied. Alvida just laughed.
"Why would someone stronger than their captain be willing to work under them." She boldly states.
"I just don't like the responsibility of being in charge." He calmy blurts out as Alvida just giggles.
"Well, that is a shame."
"why is that."
"I don't handle rejection very well."
"I see."
Alvida flings her sandals off and uses her momentum to slide across the ground towards Adrian. Adrian was initially shocked by her speed, but he quickly read her attack and easily dodged her mace as he slashes her across the stomach with his sword. He looks back and sees that the woman is entirely unharmed as even his sword was not effective against her Devil Fruit, which he found super annoying.
Alvida gloats that no one can touch her now that she has eaten the Sube Sube no Mi. She charges Adrian again, who dodges swiftly before cutting at her neck. The attack did not affect her. A couple of more strikes from Alvida missed their target, and all of Adrian's attacks were repelled by her Devil Fruit. Alvida tried to use trickery as she threw the mace at Adrian, who dodged it only to be met by Alvida, bringing a Dagger towards his gut. He avoided that attack as well, but Alvida was quickly on him as she grabbed her mace out of the air and swung it at his head. It only met the clean air. She looks up to see Adrian pointing the tip of his sword at her.
"My sword may not work on you, but your attacks can't reach me either."
"A stalemate then," Alvida responds as she drops her mace to the ground while holding her hands in the air.
"A pity you are even injured, and I still didn't stand a chance." She almost seemed like she was pouting. "Oh well."
Adrian's sweatdropped.
"What? Are you over it just like that? No bad blood? I was just trying to kill you." He responded.
"None, and thankfully you did not kill me, hahaha." Her laugh seemed genuine.
"Um, why not?" Adrian knew it could not be this easy.
"I was bored, and I just wanted to test you. See if you were man enough." She responded before finishing with a giggle, and Adrian could just feel the seduction coming from her words.
"I'm not joining your crew! Adrian yells back with sharp teeth. Alvida just giggled into her hand before stating that she had already given up on that. Adrian just sweatdropped again.
He was about to say something smart when he was interrupted by the feeling of a rain droplet hitting his forehead. He looked up into the sky to see that the dark clouds had now fully enveloped the island, and the wind had picked up dramatically.
"Hey, we should get going; it doesn't look too good out here. We wait any longer, and we won't be able to sail." Alvida stated.
"Finally, we agree on something, let me just grab…" Adrian turned to where Tashigi was but found the spot currently empty.
"Miss Marine left while we were fighting, probably to go get back up," Alvida answered his question before he could ask it.
"All the more reason for us to get out of here," Adrian responded.
He looked at the woman to make sure she was not planning a surprise attack, but all he managed to see was a few rain droplets hitting her smooth skin and sliding down between her huge breasts. They must have been the only thing that did not lose all the weight, Adrian thought because they were just as big as before. Maybe it was because the rest of her body was so skinny, but Adrian was surprised by how perky they were for their size. For that matter, he was surprised she could hold them up so quickly, they were not ridiculously big in general, but they were for her current body size. Easily double the size of Nami's, Adrian thought.
"See something you like?" Alvida asked as she started walking down the alley while Adrian followed.
"Well, you are showing them off."
"Want to get a better look?"
"Maybe another time."
"Shame"
"For you or me?"
"Both."
"Hahaha, I guess so." Adrian had to admit she was not the worst of company, and it was nice to be around a girl who was so open.
"So, you were with Buggy to find me, that must have sucked."
"Don't get me started."
"Well, am I living up to your expectations?"
"Oh, very much so." There was that familiar seductive tone.
"What will you do now?"
"I haven't thought that far ahead."
"Going back with Buggy?"
"Hell, no!" she yelled with sharp teeth, and Adrian just laughed.
"Here," Adrian had thrown the new white button-down shirt that he had just bought to Alvida.
"What's this for?"
"You are wearing a bra that covers 25% of your boobs and 10% of your entire top half. It's also raining, so unless you want to catch a cold, then wear it."
"How cute," she responds with a giggle as she put the shirt on. It was much too big for her body except for her boobs. They somehow found a way to be still sticking out of the shirt.
"Your welcome. We should be getting back towards the main street soon."
"I guess we will split up there then, huh?"
"I guess so," Adrian responded.
As soon as they reached the main street, a massive hailstorm of wind hit them at once. At first, they were able to keep their footing, but they soon lost it as the wind got more substantial, and they were quickly barreling down the street.
Adrian noticed that they were flying down the street in an almost controlled manner; the wind was purposely making them miss buildings and other debris. They were getting drenched by the water the wind was carrying, and Adrian had to fight to keep his eyes open. When he could open his eyes, he saw Alvida getting ready to get hit by an errant piece of debris, and he instinctively reached out and grabbed her by the arm and pulled her away. Both of them stared at each other for a second before they realized what he had done. Alvida asked how he could grab her, and Adrian had a hunch and decided to test it. He opened his mouth and let some of the water in. He could not believe it! It was seawater. Because she was drenched in her only natural weakness, her powers were not working. Adrian took the opportunity to bring Alvida in closer to him as he continued to be the one to bear the brunt of the impact from the debris in the air.
Alvida was touched by this gesture and made sure to do her best to help steer them away from the debris.
After some more twisting and turning, Adrian's back made contact with something solid, and he slides down to the ground. He continued to hold onto Alvida until he was sure they were not moving anymore.
"Heyyyyyy! Adrian is here; we can go now!"
Was that Luffy? Adrian thought. He opened his eyes to see his captain smiling at him while the rest of the crew did their best to get the ship ready to sail.
"What the fuck just happened?" Adrian said aloud.
Alvida was the first to notice the group of people quickly forming a circle around her and Adrian. She pulled herself off of the man and immediately hit the strange blonde man that was rushing at her with hearts in his eyes. She was already eyeing an escape route, but the ship had already been pushed far away from the port, thanks to the strong winds. She was stranded on a strange ship surrounded by strange people.
"Looks like you are stuck," Adrian replied while trying to hold back a smile. The rest of the crew looked on skeptically.
"So what?" she replied.
"Luffy looks like she will be joining us."
"That's ok with me! Hehehe!"
"We know nothing about this woman!" yelled Usopp.
"What I do not want…" Alvida tried to cut in, but it was too late; the crew had already made up their mind that she would be staying, except for Usopp, of course.
"LISTEN TO ME!" She tried to yell but was stopped by Adrian putting his hand on her shoulder and smiling.
"Looks like you are one of us for now at least!" She had to admit that she liked his smile and that it had a way of calming her down.
She just huffed and sighed before pointing at Nami.
"There must a woman's quarters on this ship. Take me to it!" She demanded as a crying Nami was dragged into the Merry by Alvida.
"Eh, that should be fine!" Adrian laughed as Luffy raced up to hug him.
"Woah, what's this about?"
"That idiot almost got himself killed by Buggy!" Zoro yelled.
Adrian listened as Luffy told him how Buggy almost executed him before he was saved by the same storm that pushed Adrian and Alvida towards the ship. He decided not to say to the crew how him letting Buggy go was what led to Luffy almost being executed, but he made a mental note that if he ever saw that clown again, he would make up for it. Zoro also brought up that they faced a strong marine who could turn himself into smoke and that he also saw that same woman with glasses from before, and Adrian was glad to hear that Tashigi was ok.
…
Later that night, Adrian had gotten onto the ship's deck to watch the waves go by, and he was expecting a quiet time before he heard the door open up behind him. Alvida stepped onto the ship and saw Adrian leaning over the edge. She came to within feet of him and stopped. She stood there, silent for a few minutes before finally…
"Thanks for saving me."
"huh?"
"Nothing." She turned to start walking back to the women's quarters when Adrian stopped her.
"You were looking for a place to go, right? I provided one. Now it's up to you to prove that I was right for vouching for you."
"Whatever, idiot." Alvida went back inside with a newfound smile on her face.
TO BE CONTINUED
Authors corner!
THANKS FOR READING! PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW!
I decided to stick with Alvida keeping her freckles even though I know she lost those too after eating the devil fruit. I just like Freckles, and not many One Piece girls have them.
Two new harem babes have been introduced. Alvida will be the one with the immediate impact for you guys. But keep an eye out for Tashigi in the future, though ;)
Also, let me know who your top 3 favorite girls from One Piece are!
Mine are …
Vivi
Nami
Hancock
With honorable mentions to Ulti and Yamato, who I just need to see more before an official ranking.
THANKS FOR READING AGAIN!