"Where arrrrrrre we?!" Luffy moaned out.
The Going Merry had only been departed from Cocoyashi a day and he was already adventure starved, having been complaining since he woke up the next day since departure that he was bored. "I don't get how this place can be so far away! If we're already in the Conomi Isle, and we're going to Conomi Town, shouldn't it be right there?!" Luffy cried, pointing absently about.
"You weren't nearly this impatient while chasing the fishmen," Johnny remarked while he, Usopp, Yosaku, and Sanji played cards.
"I guess I was nervous," Luffy admitted, though this really just made everyone else on deck think, That was you nervous?!
"We'll be there by afternoon," Nami told Luffy dryly from the helm, having pulled a seat up and reading a book while she easily maintained their course. Navigating the Conomi Isle was easier than navigating the back of her hand at this point; it was just expansive.
About a half hour later, the Going Merry was visited by a delivery coo depositing a newspaper before Nami. "Thank you!" she told the bird, and dropped a couple coins in his pouch before he went flying off. She unfurled the newspaper and began reading the front page.
"Wow, nice! I should get me a subscription to that newspaper," Usopp exclaimed.
"Well, I'm on your crew now so we've all got one," Nami said dryly, immediately engrossed in the front page. The article made her smile widen slowly but steadily. "Listen to this. 'Loguetown Navy moves after rumors of fishmen spread across the East'."
Luffy, Yosaku, and Johnny laughed loud and proud. "Little late to the draw, there," Yosaku joked.
"It's good they're actually doing something. Those fishmen could still be out there," Nami remarked. "The captain from Loguetown's supposed to be pretty tough. He's leading the charge."
"They're right," Sanji said as he returned to cards, referring to the guys. "We already took care of that crap. We're onto bigger and better things." Next to him, Usopp was frozen, shocked to find himself praying for the safety of Marines.
That same late morning, in a bed in a seemingly random room, Roronoa Zoro awoke, cold sweat across his entire body as he thought of Kuina. No, you dreamt of her, Zoro realized, and he squirmed himself into an upward sitting position, finding that his right hand was handcuffed to the bed. It wasn't just any bed; it was a hospital bed. That's when it became apparent to Zoro he was in a hospital, or rather, an infirmary.
He panicked, though, as he may have found his wound was patched up and tended to, but his swords were nowhere to be found at either side of his bed. He vaulted out of his bed as he thought of the Wado Ichimonji being lost and, weak as he was, dragged the infirmary bed after him with the handcuffs as he made toward the door out of the infirmary. Navy, Zoro thought by the looks of the infirmary. He opened the door weakly and stepped outside, unable to get the bed through by any angle or measure of force.
The commotion roused a nurse from a station down the hall to Zoro's right as he collapsed, and looked on, his arm propped up by the angle of the handcuffs. She cried out in fear at seeing Zoro up and about and ran off before he could even croak out a response. He sat there on his knees, his arm at an uncomfortable angle, as he panted. How long have I been out? With his free hand, he clutched his wound that he felt actively reopen.
He must have passed out again, but he had no recollection of it; the next thing he remembered was being roused by that same nurse and another woman at her side. The other woman was no nurse or medical professional at all. She wore a floral pattern shirt and blockish glasses, but there was something far beneath that to Zoro as he looked upon her.
So I wasn't dreaming! No words were able to pass his throat, and he felt himself quiver in place as he looked upon Kuina. The painful dreams of reliving her death had been present this last night. How many few nights really? he wondered.
"Easy, there, easy," the floral shirted woman said, placing a kind hand on Zoro's shoulder. "You're in Navy Base E5. You're safe now. We know who you are." Zoro's eyesight wavered as pain overtook him, luring him further into delirium.
"Leave us," the woman said to the nurse, and Zoro and the woman were left to themselves. It was quiet, but it wasn't exclusory. Zoro came back to as the door shut behind the nurse and he could comprehend his surroundings. She isn't Kuina . . . she just looks like Kuina, he realized, thought that brought no real greater feeling.
"You're safe at Navy Base E5, in Loguetown," the woman who looked exactly like Kuina said. "My name is Tashigi, Staff Sergeant and acting CO here today. We saw you drift onto our island here and brought you back to life. You were in a terrible way." She was sympathetic with every word.
"Well, thank you," Zoro replied stiffly, unable to take his eyes off of this Tashigi lass despite how painful it felt.
Tashigi sat and studied Zoro for a moment, gathering a seat over quietly to sit by Zoro's bedside. "Your wound . . . it was rather serious, but you'll be fine at this point. Are you feeling okay?" He simply nodded. "Good," Tashigi replied. "What happened? With all due respect, I've just heard you're an excellent fighter." She swallowed. "An excellent swordsman."
Zoro studied her silently for a moment, but quickly scoffed at that comment. "I rued the day this would happen," he grumbled, finally looking away from Tashigi. "I never set out to not get hurt. I just didn't expect it from such a weakling." Zoro gripped his hands into fists. The thoughts of his duel with Buggy returned and it became apparent to him: Buggy had no skill. He simply had an ability that made Zoro's obsolete. That isn't skill, Zoro thought bitterly. Still lost.
"A weakling did this?" Tashigi said sarcastically. "I doubt it. You've taken down 40 million beri bounties in the North. No. Tell me the truth, Roronoa." She leaned forward respectfully, and pulled a key from her pocket to stick inside Zoro's handcuffs. She unclasped the cuffs from Zoro's wrist first and let him regain full control of himself. He massaged his raw wrist, not taking his eyes off Tashigi.
"Please don't hate us for that," Tashigi said hesitantly. "You were hysterical. You brandished your swords at us."
"Where are my swords?" Zoro demanded brusquely. His chest heaved as he breathed immense amounts of air through his nose.
Tashigi nodded to the bed at his left. Zoro looked over and grabbed the sheets, throwing them back. Under the sheets had been Zoro's three swords, his two with black hilts and scabbards and whis Wado with white hilt and scabbard. His swords being right next to him calmed him quite well enough. He leaned his head back against the wall, sighing. Thought I lost it, he realized.
"Roronoa," Tashigi said respectfully. "Who did this to you? This is rather unusual. No need to be humble."
Zoro jutted his jaw out. "I was finally going after Buggy the Clown," Zoro told her with a deep sigh through his nose. "He beat me. But at least I'm the first person to know his Devil Fruit ability."
Tashigi's eyes went wide and she leaned forward. Her entire body began trembling. "What do you mean, Zoro?"
"He has no skill. I could have beaten him," Zoro declared with total confidence that translated as cockiness. "But . . . that Devil Fruit that's proven so useful is the Chop Chop Fruit. My swords were useless against him." Zoro scoffed at himself. "I was useless."
"Don't beat yourself up," Tashigi butt in, placing a hand comfortingly on Zoro's. He jerked his arm away at the touch. Tashigi was clearly offended, but played it off, smiling through the disdain she felt from Zoro, who now could no longer look at her once more. "Sorry. I'm just saying . . . Well, I summoned our commander back. He'll be returning as soon as our Transponder Snails can get ahold of him."
E5 Base, Zoro thought, recalling before too long who the captain here was. He leaned back. "That should do," he said truly but bitterly. "How long must I remain here?" Zoro asked Tashigi, already itching to get going - potentially even engaging against Zoro once more.
"Two days," Tashigi told him, "considering you woke up." She had grown tired of playing ball with Zoro's antagonism and stood, pushing her glasses up her nose. "That's also when the captain will return. You could very well sail with us against Buggy the Clown." She waited but Zoro gave no response. Tashigi then placed her hand on something at her hip - a sword hilt. "I'd be useless against him, too, it sounds like." Yet Zoro still didn't respond, so Tashigi finally left.
Zoro then felt uncomfortably aware that only he and his swords remained in the room. He wondered how long it would take for his wound to heal so he could leave this place. This damn place, he thought. Of course she's a swordswoman, too.
Staff Sergeant Tashigi made her way to her office a few floors up after leaving Zoro in the infirmary. After the back and forth between her and Zoro, slowly, the understanding of what it meant to be this close to capturing Buggy the Clown meant. The Navy had long gone after Buggy, and it had become the type of thing where they itched even for a bit of intel on him, namely his Devil Fruit. But now we have someone who can likely give us his location, too! It was too exciting to handle.
She was wild eyed and jumpy by the time she entered her office, shutting the door tight behind her and rushing to her desk. She pulled out her Den Den Mushi and dialed Captain Smoker post-haste. It was most urgent he report back to E5. If Buggy possessed the Chop Chop Fruit, a fruit allowing its user to gain immunity to blades among other powerful abilities, they would need Smoker's Plume Plume Fruit to come in and subdue Buggy's pieces.
The line connected easily with Smoker's warship, away at sea. The comms officer patched Tashigi in and ran through the underbelly to reach the deck. The captain stood at the bow of the ship, with a mass of Marines quite a few cautious steps behind him as he stared up at a great sea beast most of these Marines had no ideas about, having never been to the Grand Line. Mohmoo showed no fear as he stared back at them, mostly focusing on Smoker and his two massive cigars he was smoking.
"Captain!" the comms officer said, cautiously approaching Smoker's side as he kept his eyes on the sea cow, worried it would strike the warship and sink them at any moment. Smoker didn't reply, so the officer continued with, "Message from Sergeant Tashigi! The pirate hunter, Roronoa Zoro has washed up on Loguetown, injured. He has been admitted to our infirmary and given us some valuable intel."
Now Smoker changed his gaze to the comms officer, raising an eyebrow as smoke streamed out of his mouth. The officer continued. "Roronoa went up against Buggy the Clown, if he's to be believed."
"Is Tashigi still on the line?" Smoker then asked, uninterested in anything else.
"Yes, sir," the officer replied.
Smoker walked off toward the cabin to head to the comms room, and ordered the rest of the crew on deck, "Ready the ship! We're turning for home. Plans have changed." The orders would come as a relief to the unseasoned East Blue soldiers who had been intensely worried about fighting fishmen. Smoker navigated by himself to the Den Den Mushi waiting in the comms room. Smoker snatched the talk piece and sat at the officer's desk. "Tashigi. It's Smoker. Talk to me."
"Sir," she replied over the Transponder Snail. "Roronoa Zo-."
"I heard, he washed up and he was injured by Buggy," Smoker said impatiently. "Fill me in from there."
"Yes, sir," Tashigi responded dutifully. "He was babbling and mostly unconscious for a few days, but awoke today, sir. He informed me his injury came from Buggy after he had dueled him. It was a wash. Sir." She took a moment to let Smoker know there was game changing info there. "He has the Chop Chop Fruit."
Smoker sighed, leaning his head into his hand. Not good. "Okay. Good to know. We're already turning for home. Keep the place locked down and keep a tight lid on the information you just told me. Don't want anyone stealing our thunder."
"Of course, sir," Tashigi answered.
"And Tashigi?" Smoker said before she could hang up.
"Yes, Captain?"
"Don't let Zoro leave. We could still use him."
"One step ahead of you there, sir," Tashigi told him. Smoker grunted in response and hung up, the cue for Tashigi to hang up, too. Now that the report was over, anticipation swelled within her. This is it! The chance to prove myself! Tashigi thought. For her interim under Smoker in E5, she had accomplished little, elevating only once in her three years here from sergeant to staff sergeant. Bringing down the fiercest power left in the East could certainly do that. And then what will your career look like?
Mid-afternoon rolled around in a cloudless day and the Going Merry navigated to the edge of the Conomi Isle, reaching the tip of a half-moon shaped island that acted as a first or final stop out of the Conomi Isle. Across from it was an identical tip. The island split apart toward the crest, where Cocoyashi rested on its own little island, but the large mass was a gateway into the isle.
The Straw Hats learned this from Nami's maps of which she'd brought along for navigation. "Wow, if we had tried to do that without you, we'd have never gotten out of there," Luffy said in praise to Nami. Usopp and Sanji quickly agreed.
Their next destination was Conomi Town, just there ahead of them at the tip of the island. In reality, it was more of a city than a town. There were hundreds of dock spaces, the city sprawled across the hilly peninsula until the island fanned back out, and there was the large Navy Base 77 towering over the city, just barely smaller than the skyscraper that was Conomi's center of operations for all industries.
The Straw Hats docked the Going Merry, disembarking onto the bustling dock where not only were people shoring up, but mongers sold fish and wares, the homeless begged for change, and food cooked in the restaurants and food stalls lining the wharf. Luffy threw his arms wide in the air. "Wow! It's been years since I've been to a city this big!" he exclaimed, and turned to the other five. "Let's go try some of the local eats, huh?"
"We've got things to do first," Nami declared, and pointed up the street where the Navy Base was just visible over the tops of the buildings. "The Navy Base should have information on Buggy and maybe Zoro, too. Let's head there first. It looks like quite a walk."
In the time it had taken her to say that, Luffy had snuck off from the rest of them, seeing that none of them wanted to eat right away like he did. Yet they had not perceived it and looked all around the wharf, confused. "Luffy!" Sanji called. He shook his head as they all came up blank with where he had gone. "Well, I guess we'll meet up later."
"Let's head on," Johnny said, holding the hilt of his blade. Yosaku nodded and started heading off to the street leading through town.
"Sanji, while they do that, why don't we go restock the Merry? We could use more provisions," Usopp suggested, him, Nami, and Sanji trailing a few steps behind the swordsmen.
"Okay. Nami, want to come with us?" Sanji asked.
"No, I'm anxious to hear what the Navy Base will say to us," Nami said, motioning that she would head on with Yosaku and Johnny.
Sanji took out a wadded up piece of paper from his jacket pocket and pressed it against Usopp's chest. Nami's pace picked up and so did his as Usopp grabbed the paper. "Uh, yeah, Usopp, why don't you take care of that? I'll head with them to the Navy."
"Well, wait, I wanted to go to the Navy Base, too!" Usopp complained, but he stopped walking as the other four clumped together and made their way through the throng of people on the street. I'm the First Mate. Can they do that to me? he thought, ashamed somehow, but he went about finding the market here.
It was an immense experience, being in a city like this, though, and Usopp's disappointment at being left behind by the others disappeared as he struggled to navigate through town. A city, huh! This is insane, he thought, really missing the simplicity of Syrup Village at this time. Thinking about Syrup Village made him think of Kaya, and he missed her dearly as he had often since leaving.
Though this time, instead of just missing her, he imagined his life as a pirate on the Grand Line. There were all sorts of places he could not even imagine, and Kaya was waiting at home. Is this what my father felt like? Usopp wondered when he finally found the market four blocks down from a small cafe. Is . . . Kaya feeling what my mother felt? He wondered even exactly what his mother had felt.
So often, she had praised Yasopp. And all the while, being a rather young child, Usopp had listened and grown the lie that he spouted to the village day in and out because of the pride he had in his father, the pirate. And obviously an amount of pride remained in piracy running through his veins. Yet as he picked out the items from the list Sanji had written, with spices unique to large cities and gourmet ingredients only a big time market with imports could acquire, he felt vengeful toward his father. Sure, resentment had grown where love might have had Usopp even a glimpse of his father, but Luffy knew Yasopp's features better than he did.
Revenge was new, though. It made him extremely uncomfortable, sweating in the market as he outwardly appeared nonchalant, going aisle to aisle to acquire the items. He made it to the produce section last, feeling strangely despondent about Yasopp. And Luffy's off to meet his captain, Usopp thought eventually. So that means our reunion is truly inevitable. That was obvious, but today, in this big city, it really set in for Usopp.
And then he felt eyes on him as he grabbed a head of cabbage, and looked up, feeling like an enemy was near. His brow furrowed as he scanned the enormous produce section, and found a beautiful woman with immaculate skin staring right at him, grinning a strange grin. With Kaya in mind the whole time, Usopp was taken aback by the blatant attention. He had never been a favorite among girls, especially of his age bracket, except for Kaya. Sanji would go crazy over her! Usopp thought, unable to even move.
Though he still felt like an enemy was watching him, though he didn't know why. And aside from that, as he studied the beautiful woman more, something about her seemed familiar - but he didn't know why.
"Don't worry," Commodore Puding told "Iron Fist" Fullbody in his infirmary bed. "The medics say you're all healed up. Take the day to rest, and we'll begin pursuit of Buggy the Clown soon." He gripped Fullbody's hand, who stared back through tear-soaked eyes. "We will get revenge for your fallen comrades." He narrowed his eyes to punctuate his point,
"Yes, sir!" Fullbody said, saluting with his free hand. "What remains of Fullbody Squad follows you in glory!"
"Yes, sir!" the rest of the patients at Navy Base 77 saluted in agreement from their beds and gurneys. Puding saluted them all in return humbly and walked out beneath the officer's coat that was two sizes too big for him. What would read as puffed up and full of air to sensible folks was true confidence from Puding and even onto fools like Fullbody. Buggy the Clown . . . the terror of the East . . . this will surely garner me a promotion to Rear Admiral, and then! I will be able to reach the Grand Line, Puding thought as he made his way up the interior of Base 77 to his office on the top floor with the best view.
"Yes, we're here for information on Buggy the Clown!" said a voice impatiently at the receptionist's desk as Puding reached ground floor. He froze in his tracks behind the wall of the receptionist's desk, a vein in his neck bulging. It belonged to a woman, probably young. What on earth?! he thought. I was just about to chase the clown! Who is this?
Puding walked around the corner of the wall as the receptionist Marine answered, "Uh, well . . . about that . . ." He knew of Commodore's plans to chase after Buggy, and stalled fine enough. Not fine at all, really, Puding thought as he rounded the corner and stared at the folks at the front desk. Three men, two swordsmen who seemed somewhat familiar to Puding somehow, and the third dressed quite well. There was a young woman with them, who Puding immediately found intoxicating. It stopped him in his tracks.
"What's the big deal?" said the swordsman with the headband, slamming his hand on the front desk. It made the young Marine buck at his station. "We've said it three times now! We're after Buggy the Clown's bounty. Got any leads for us?"
"No, unfortunately," Puding said as he approached the four youngsters, clasping his hands together in what he thought seemed fatherly. "You four can't be bounty hunters, can you?" he asked in a sickeningly sweet voice, stepping right up close to Nami. "You're so . . . young." He said "young" with a jump in his voice that made the guys all snarl protectively behind Nami.
"We're actually quite capable," Nami replied cockily, though it was justified cockiness. Yosaku and Johnny hated it when they'd first met Nami, but this was the first time they felt staunchly behind it. "Don't worry about us. Just spare us any information you can give us, if you have it." Now, she placed the flirty eyes on, taking a sultry step toward Commodore Puding.
Sanji's blood boiled, as Puding looked her up and down, totally ignoring the other three guys. The only thing keeping him back from assaulting the commodore in his own base were Yosaku and Johnny's hands on either one of his shoulders. Puding went all red in the face as he said, "As much as I'd like to help you lot, I'm afraid . . . we have no information on Buggy the Clown right now."
Get out of here, Puding! This is dangerous territory, Puding suddenly thought to himself. Damn my own pumping heart! He wrung his hands together apologetically and turned on his heel, hunched over at the waist ever so slightly. "Have a lovely day, miss. Enjoy the fruits of your youth!" He giggled as he left, still wringing his hands jerkily.
"What about the bounty hunter, Roronoa Zoro? We also search for him!" Johnny called after the commodore.
"Forget it," Yosaku said with a huff, the first to turn on his heels. "This place was a bust." Nami walked off next, then Johnny. Sanji was last, glaring daggers in the back of Puding's head and imagining doing what he did to Axe-Hand to him.
The four made their way through town to meet with Usopp at the market, brainstorming on what to do next. Ultimately, their next strategy was just to get out of the Conomi Isle and search for leads elsewhere. "Don't speak too soon," Sanji said as they found Usopp in the market and walked toward him. "We've still got Luffy to take into account." He looked at Usopp, who was currently locked in eye contact with the ever approaching beautiful woman. "Usopp? You okay?" Sanji asked, as he hadn't acknowledged them. He tracked his eyes and saw the woman walking down the same aisle toward them.
His eyes nearly popped out of his head, and Nami noticed how he swooned and tried to put the swagger on for her. He even lit a cigarette for himself, swiping his hair to make sure it was perfectly placed. That's so annoying, Nami thought, thinking also about how debonair he had seemed in Orange Town. She remembered how he had done something similar with Nojiko, too. Just a lady's man, after all, Nami realized.
"Damn, Usopp! Good taste," Sanji told Usopp as he straightened his tie.
"Wait, what?" Usopp said. "I'm with someone already, remember?"
"Oh, yeah," Sanji said absently. "You're so loyal, man."
And suddenly, the beautiful woman seemed to not be looking directly at Usopp but right past him, and she totally ignored Sanji, too, who puffed his chest up and leaned on the produce stand, smiling at her. His smile cracked and disappeared as she walked out of the market. The five Straw Hats turned around and looked at her leave, each of them taken by her looks in some way.
"Well, you've almost got everything on the list, at least," Sanji said, swiping it from Usopp's hand and checking it. "Let's finish up and meet Luffy. We've got to figure out a new strategy."
"She's so familiar, no?" Usopp asked them all, still thinking about the woman - but not for her beauty. He hadn't been used to that attention from women, but after passing her and picking up her perfume, he thought even more how familiar she seemed.
"I dunno, never seen her before," Yosaku remarked.
"You'd remember," Johnny added.
Meanwhile, Luffy had wandered through town and found the most delicious smelling restaurant he could find. He wasn't the hugest fans of cities, and came to remember that fairly quickly as the novelty of it wore off. It was crowded and confusing to navigate, but maybe that was just this city. The food was delicious, as city food always was. Luffy ordered seven different meals before tapping out.
"Ah, that's much better. Now I can explore properly," he said as he left the restaurant, patting his belly and looking both ways down the street. He had something else he wanted to do while he was in town. He set off randomly down the street to his left, wondering if he would need to apologize to Nami since she was kind of an artist.
After asking some folks he passed by and getting directions more times over than he could count (even from the same person in one case, who finally cursed him out after apparently the twentieth time for asking directions even though the man hadn't moved in an hour). Luffy found the sailsmith easily enough, and it was a dusty little shop that seemed to be uninhabited by visitors often. The least dusty part was the desk where a short, middle aged man sat. He napped at the desk even as the bell above the door jingled with Luffy's entrance.
"Hiya, mister! Sorry to wake ya, but I'm on kind of a time crunch," Luffy said, slapping a billfold of beris on the table. The smack woke the older man, who grumbled and dribbled spit everywhere as he nearly spluttered out of his seat.
"You could have given me more of a warning, there, son!" the man yelled, gathering himself back together and scooting his chair back in. "What do you want?!"
"A Jolly Roger! I'll be leaving for the Grand Line soon and I need a proper emblem," Luffy said with a huge smile.
The sailsmith nearly fell out of his seat yet again, screaming even louder and shushing Luffy in one full incoherent babble. He came out of his chair now and stammered the entire way around the desk and flipped the open sign to closed. "I do contracts with the Navy, boy, you trying to jeopardize my business?!"
But he came back and sat at the chair, pulling a huge sketchbook out and letting it slam on the counter in between him and Luffy. He went back to leaning on his arm, almost as sleepy looking as he'd been when Luffy walked in. "I'm Yibi. Been a while since I did Jolly Rogers. What do ya want done?"