"Merii, stop apologising," Kaya said, but her words did nothing to quail the wails that were issuing from her manager's mouth as he was carried away on a stretcher.
"I f-failed to pro-protect Miss Kaya!!" He blubbered, "And the d-d-danger was right in front of m-my face!! What would her p-parents s-say?! Forgive me!!!"
"No one could have seen through that madman," Usopp tried to say consolingly, but was pulled down by Merii who sobbed,
"But you did! You s-saved her! Thank you, thank you--" Then he yanked Usopp's ear down to his mouth and sobbed, "Only you saw through Captain Krow-- I'm sorry!"
Before he could react the manager was pulled into the ambulance by parademics who were looking rather disgruntled at how much noise their wounded patient was making. Usopp watched speechlessly as the ambulance doors shut, thinning out Merii's final wail, before taking off.
Kaya let out a soft sigh, bringing Usopp's attention to her as she shook her head.
"All this over a will," She muttered, and Usopp cocked an eyebrow. "You know the land tycoon Theodore Flint, right? He left some land to Krow, but he changed the will last minute and left the land to his son before he died. His son had the will, and Krow found out where he was, and then..."
Usopp blinked. "I didn't even know Theodore Flint had a son... poor guy was murdered?"
"In a motel room. He had the new will in his hands."
"How do you know that? The fact that Flint had another will was in the papers, but it was never found, right? That's why people deemed it as a rumour?"
"It's not a rumour," Kaya said grimly, "Krow handed me some witness papers but he must have gotten confused someplace. He gave me the new will instead. That's why he was after me... he wanted to destroy the evidence..."
"Oh. Then it's not really about the will, is it?" Usopp mused, and Kaya looked at him confusedly.
"What do you mean?"
"That man's a perfectionist, Kaya... He's obsessed with flawless execution. He'd kill for perfection..."
Suddenly, Usopp's cellphone rang shrilly from his pocket; he fished it out.
"Hello?"
"Usopp!" Nami's voice exclaimed; Usopp was struck by how enthusiastic she sounded.
"Nami! Are you okay?! I thought you were sick."
"Not anymore." She said confidently, and Usopp blinked in surprise. Did something happen? Correctly interpreting his silence, Nami said briefly, "Long story. Listen, I think we need a conference - big time. Care to drop by GLU tonight?"
"Er, sure..." He looked at himself, still soaked from the rain, the back of his pants drenched in mud. His wounds were not nearly as bad as he'd thought they'd be, and the paramedics had already tended to some of the more severe ones. But where his blood had spilled on his clothes was a rusty stain. In short, he looked a mess. "...I might take a while..."
"Same here. It doesn't matter, just get your ass here at some point today."
As Usopp asked curiously, "Will you tell me this long story when I see you?" Kaya looked at Usopp's cracked glasses sliding down his too long nose, his too long face, his small round eyes and messy ponytail. She smiled, murmuring, "I think imperfection is perfection."
"It might bore you. See ya." Nami hung up. Usopp slid the phone back into his pocket, looking at Kaya as he asked,
"Did you say something?"
She smiled. "Not really."
"I guess I'll get going then," Usopp began, when she reached out and held him back.
"Won't you stay for a little bit?" She said timidly.
"Er, well--" Usopp said, a little startled and embarrassedly pleased at her request, "it's not like I mind but-- well, I'm filthy."
"I'm sure you can clean yourself up here," She said quickly, her cheeks flushing pink. He blinked, then a loud growl sounded from somewhere around his stomach. He blushed, laughing as he admitted,
"Well, I am hungry."
She tugged at his arm with a small laugh that caught his attention immediately; he found the corners of his own mouth lifting on their own accord as she held him to her with surprising strength, leading him back to her house. "Right this way, Usopp-san."
He found himself thinking that there was no justice in her claims that everything courageous and great in her could be attributed to himself. He'd only prodded, but what really shone was her own choices. She caught him studying her in deep concentration.
"What is it?" She asked, determined not to blush - she'd done that too many times already, it couldn't be healthy! He had no qualms in flushing himself, however, as he gave a half shrug and a smile.
"Just thinking how I lucky I am."
She couldn't stop herself heating up after that.
"Kale!"
At the sound of his name, he awoke. Taking over conciousness from a rather disgruntled Luffy, he turned around and squinted. Through the light haze of drizzle Rendel could be seen splashing across puddles to meet him. He grinned widely with just a hint of relief, albeit a little tiredly.
"You're all right."
"Of course I am," She huffed, "I think the person to worry about is you."
He rolled his eyes. "Your body is younger than mine."
"Yes, but my mentality reigns over yours. What kind of moron goes and nearly gets himself killed after being promoted to Gold Angel status?! Seriously, that is beyond just lacking."
There was a small pause as Kale's eye twitched; then with a roll of his eyes and a sigh, he shrugged. "Fine. Have it your way." There was something more than just annoyance in his tone when he said that. He started to walk through the light drizzle, when Rendel abruptly grabbed at his arm.
"What is it??" He said irritably, spinning around, when he saw her looking straight at him with her silver eyes, her expression genuinely apologetic.
"I'm sorry." She said, and Kale was surprised to find her voice brimming with hesitant honesty, "I know you were just concerned. So was I, okay? After I saw you take that beating--"
"--it didn't hurt a bit, it was nothing--"
"Shut up for a second, Kale. Look, after you took all those blows for me, I still made a stupid insult as soon as I saw you... I can't seem to stop talking back at times, it's a stupid habit." A pause, and she repeated sincerely, "I'm sorry."
"...It doesn't matter." Rendel blinked, surprised to see Kale looking somewhat uncomfortable. He prised her hand off his arm, and there was a short silence. The drizzle was thinning out by the time he finally remarked, "I could use a drink."
"...So could I."
A few minutes later, they were seated on benches in front of Eighty-Twelve, sipping soft drinks and munching candy bars in more silence.
"I'm--"
"I want--"
They glanced at each other in surprise as their voices broke the silence in unison. Rendel gestured for him to speak first, and he swallowed.
"I just... wanted to say I'm sorry, too."
She frowned. "For what?"
"For... not protecting you in time. Your wings--" She waved his words away, rolling her eyes.
"Don't fret about them. I'll probably be able to do something about it when we're back Upstairs."
"But it hurt, didn't it?" He said softly, and she paused before nodding slowly.
"Anything that evil near me hurts." She muttered, and Kale sighed.
"Those jerks... or should I say, that jerk. That mother-#$ing--" He stopped suddenly, wincing, and Rendel couldn't help a snort of laughter escaping her. He shot her a dirty look, and he flinched suddenly again. This time a laugh burst out of her mouth, and for a while she couldn't stop.
"I've been telling you for ages to wash your mouth out, and it looks like you can't even think of unholy words now you've been promoted! Serves you right!"
He seemed to be struggling between yelling at her and keeping silent as her giggles started to subside. Deciding to drop it and continue what he'd been saying, he continued with great patience, "Valkrief. He's not going to be happy when his Demons failed him."
For once ignoring Kale's nickname for Valandi Kriquelleif, Rendel's smile slid off her face as this thought registered. After a moment, she said broodingly, "I don't think he's going to stay still on this one."
"Neither do I," Kale groaned, "Yeesh... the guys under my care already have a lot to do without him going berserk on the world. Knowing him, he'll go berserk on us."
"I'm sure God'll let us know what to do," Rendel said reassuringly, "we just need to wait and see."
They crunched more chocolate for a while, before Kale asked, "What was it you were going to tell me?"
"Oh, that." Kale could have sworn Rendel looked embarrassed, but the look brushed off as quickly as it had come. "I wanted to thank you. For protecting me." He looked at her incredulously, but when he opened his mouth she smacked it painfully shut. She glared daggers at him. "Don't you dare go on some stupid rant, saying you couldn't stop them ripping my wings off! It wasn't your fault, you moron. You tried."
He didn't say anything as he rubbed his chin where she had thwacked him, though he was pouting. She looked intently at him for the longest of moments, then seemed to tighten her resolve. Leaning over and closing her eyes, she kissed him gently on the cheek. He stared at her as she pulled away, raising a knuckle to rub at his cheek... then made a face.
"You imprinted chocolate onto my face, you dumbass."
"Sorry." She snapped shortly.
They were looking away from each other, and failed to notice that they were both bright red.
"Sanji-kun, what time is it?"
Wiping rainwater from his eyes now that they were safely in the GrandLine University's foyer, he flicked the face of his wristwatch upwards and reported, "It's a little past three."
"Already?! Geez..."
"Are you hungry?" Sanji chirped, "If you want, I'll whip up something for you in a flash, no problem!"
"Mmm." She said non-commitically, deep in thought. Today's Friday... I'd usually be in the lecture hall by now, but no way in hell do I feel like listening now... Vivi's going to be in there now though...
"Nami-san?" Sanji prompted nervously, and she glanced at him.
"What?"
"Are you not hungry?"
"I'm starving." She replied, sighing, "but I'd like to do something first."
"What is it? Is it something I can help you with?" He asked eagerly, and she studied him for a moment. I'd prefer Vivi's help, but she won't be back until six... and I want to do this now.
"Hmm... I guess I have no choice. Sanji-kun, will you do me a big favour?"
"Anything!" He sang joyously.
A few minutes later, the two were in Nami's dormitory, with Sanji looking around a little nervously and Nami rummaging about looking for something. "Grrrgh, I should have known trashing the room would result in this sort of situation," She growled to herself as she threw various pieces of stationery, books and paper into the air behind her. Sanji set about nimbly catching the items, like Vivi's stapler, Nami's graphic calculator and psychology textbooks, trying to figure out exactly what she wanted.
After several more minutes of Sanji swiftly swiping and setting onto the bed a mountain of objects that seemed to comprise of half the contents of the room, he finally asked her, "What are you looking for?"
"Something," She muttered, her eyes sweeping over the room vaguely before suddenly doubling back onto something on the bed. She let out a shriek that startled Sanji out of his wits before she zoomed forward and grabbed something off the bed, before shoving a black lacy bra under his nose. Amazingly enough, she not only managed to stash it out of sight quick as lightning, but she also did it without her eyes ever leaving Sanji's face nor her feet leaving her firmly planted stand on the ground.
"You could have said something!!" She snarled viciously, her eyes blazing and her teeth gnashed. Sanji tried not to react to the undergarment as much as to her fiery anger, but he couldn't help but flush as he stammered quite honestly,
"I didn't notice your-- uhm, the-- that, and I--I don't think it's such a terrible-- er, thing, to display in public?" There was a moment of silence before Sanji blurted out, "I didn't mean that at all!! I meant that-- EEEK!" He let out a rather girly shriek as Nami suddenly brandished a pair of extremely sharp looking and shiny scissors before his very eyes, her eyes gleaming from its reflected light.
"I'm sorry!!" He wailed, "I'm so sorry!! Forgive me, Na--"
"SHUT UP!!" She hollered, and she made a sudden movement with her scissors-clutched fist, and unintentionally threatening to stick it up his left nostril by doing so; he let out a cry of horror as he leapt away from her instinctively. This reaction was immediately followed by a loud THUNK as Nami proceeded to thwack his skull with her scissor-free fist.
"Open your eyes, you dummy, I've forgotten about the bra." Sanji's eyes flew open when their screwed up state to see the clear plastic handles of the scissors being offered to be in a pacifying manner. He took the scissors with a half sheepish and half curious look; she did not explain herself but simply spun around, stalked into the bathroom and out of sight.
She did not take long, however; before he had even started guessing what he was doing with a pair of scissors, she reappeared with a towel thrown over her shoulders. He watched her deftly tug the clips out of her hair and set them on the cluttered desk before throwing a newspaper onto a clear area of the floor. Then she chucked at him a comb that he struggled to get hold of with the wrong hand, and ended up juggling the comb and scissors while she dragged a chair over to the newspaper and sat down in it. "Come here, Sanji-kun."
He approached her from the back, the comb and the scissors securely held in one hand each now. Realisation dawned on him as he found himself face to face wth his own reflection; Nami had dragged the chair facing a half-length mirror next to the desk.
"Nami-san... You really want to go back now, don't you?"
Rather than reply directly, Nami's reflection answered off-handedly, "You know how long I need it, right?"
His reflection nodded back slowly. She felt his fingers thread through her hair gently, his eyes trained on her tangerine head with sheer concentration; then she felt the comb brush lightly against her scalp. She nearly jumped when she felt a warm knuckle press against the back of her neck. It's just Sanji-kun, She thought irritably, but as her eyes trailed up to Sanji's reflection, she could see -- and sense -- his immense tenderness. She closed her eyes, trying to concentrate on keeping still and doing her best to ignore the voice in her head that was swooning almost as badly as Sanji did at times.
She felt the comb run through a lock of hair several times before finally, the sound of blades coming apart met her ears. Into the silence, a sharp snipping sound cut through, and the first furl of orange floated gently to the newspaper.
Sanji chanced a look towards the mirror. Her reflection did not look back at him, but he thought he caught a refreshed smile.
The cluster of leathery wings and claws visibly shrinks under the sudden, fiery wind that sweeps through the throng. A deadly, soft voice questions, "Pray tell what you are all doing here."
A flitter of exchanged glances, a terrified whimper quickly stifled. The voice hardens gradually as it asks, "Answer me when I ask you something. What gives you the right to reside in my presence?"
The rise of colourful screeching and pleading is immediately silenced with a fierce howl of anger that seems to come from the very centre of the room. Before the white and bulging eyes swiveling towards the wretched cry that rips from one of the demon's throats, a monstrous figure of dark ink bursts from the ground to seize the screaming demon and plunges it back down below the ground with it. Without a glance back, all demons rise and flee as one, terrified as they fly towards and disappear in the shadows that stretch across the expanse of the banished dimension.
All the demons, except one.
One demon steps forward, trembling, fearful and cautious. Icy disdain illuminates Valandi Kriquelleif's piercing gaze upon this single demon, and in a rush of darkness it is almost as if the demon has been swallowed up by Valandi Kriquelleif's shadow.
But the demon is not, and the demon raises its claws, its white eyes threatening to part company from their sockets. The demon shakes uncontrollably as if offers a small black marble towards the luminous glare from the darkness.
A scream tears through the entire dimension, but it is not one of horror or anguish. It is one of excitement, of triumph.
Valandi Kriquelleif grasps the marble, and a wide leer splits his face, his face flushing deeply in exhillaration.
Yes!! I can finally get away from these accursed quarters!!
The marble levitates from Kriquelleif's grip and loses its solid quality. It looks liquid as ebony and blood-red swirl sluggishly in a barely controlled sphere. It begins to swell and expand as the Fallen Angel begins to howl with high-pitched laughter, the crimson in the sphere reflecting in his eyes and causing them to gleam.
Author's Note: I wonder if anyone is still reading this? I suppose it's really about time I finished this thing, and I guess it's pretty close to its end anyway. This was a short chapter, mainly because I couldn't find that much to write about resolution to be frank. Zoro and Tashigi's bit should take up a majority of the next chapter, though perhaps it may not. I can't wait to get this done, it's killing my conscience. Everyone should thank my sister for reminding me I actually wrote this fic in the first place. Ahck! I'm a lazy bum.
Alright, I read dragonadare's review, as I'm sure one or two of you (literally) may know from my rather energetic response in my biography. I took it down because it suddenly occurred to me dragonadare doesn't really care, so neither should I.
But I hope this does bring light to some of you that this really isn't a serious piece of literature, so mistakes should be easy to spot, and so don't hesitate to tell me off if I have done something stupid. Go ahead and tell me. I know I'm not perfect, but I'll give glaring mistakes a good tweak.
Enough senseless babbling from me. Hope I finish this before One Piece ends or something, eek.