Ch.2: My Sister, the Pirate
Disclaimer- I don't own One Piece…Emily, Haru, Misao, and the guard are a different story, though.
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Emily opened her eyes when the sun had just finished rising. She gasped when she noticed the blanket and pillow that she had, definitely not the ones she went to bed with. The room looked the same as it did yesterday except all the books from Robin's bed were gone. She jumped out of her bed and quickly changed into a set of clothes from her bag.
Emily looked into a nearby mirror at herself and sighed. Her clothes were getting worn and she noticed a tear appearing in the knee of her pants, her shirt didn't have any holes in it, but she'd worn that same shirt since she was ten years old and it still fit. Even with the ribbon in her hair, she looked…almost the opposite of how normal girls her age looked. Emily wiped a tear away and stepped out of the bedroom.
She walked around the inside of the ship, hoping to see Zoro…or anyone else for that matter, but she couldn't find anyone. She finally stepped into the kitchen and saw Sanji standing over the stove.
He turned around and smiled through his cigarette at Emily, "You're awake. Are you hungry?" The rumbling from Emily's stomach answered the question for her. Sanji let out a chuckle and put some food onto a plate and placed it onto the table.
Sanji pulled out a chair and motioned for Emily to sit.
She stared at the food that was on the plate: oatmeal, something she hadn't eaten since she was in the circus. She took the clean spoon that lay next to her plate, took out a scoop of the oatmeal, then slowly put it in her mouth. She wanted to be able to quickly take the spoon from her mouth if it was poisoned or didn't taste good.
To her surprise, the food tasted like it did the night before: delicious and unpoisoned. The rest of the scoops were taken more quickly until the rest of the food was gone. "Where's Master Zoro?" Emily asked the cook.
Sanji shrugged, "He said that he was going out for a walk, but didn't say where. Put your plate and spoon in the sink. I'll get to them later." Sanji turned his heel and walked off to the deck.
Emily looked at the sink at the other side of the kitchen. It was piled high with already dirty dishes, mostly from Luffy since he did eat like a ravenous wolf. Water was also in the sink with soap and rags mixed inside. Emily walked to the sink and started scrubbing the pile of dishes. She didn't mind scrubbing them. Her years of slavery had taught her to do anything that had to be done, no matter what it was.
She finished cleaning the pile of dishes in 10 minutes and took another 15 to clean the partially dirty kitchen, dirtied two rags, and put all the dishes in the cupboards. Every few seconds, she turned her head to see if her master was standing behind her, watching her every move and ready to strike with his whip if she messed up on anything. After she finished, Emily walked onto to the deck and sat behind Nami's orange trees, hiding herself from anybody until Zoro came back. She looked off into the distance and saw him walking up to the ship. Emily didn't move from her spot behind the trees.
She hid behind the orange trees even after Zoro had walked back onto the ship.
He had almost missed Emily hiding behind the trees because of her hair and clothes, but he noticed her because of her pale face, definitely not the color of the orange trees. Zoro stopped in front of Emily and knelt down so he could look straight at her face.
Emily was silent. She really didn't know what to say for fear that she might say the wrong thing and get punished.
"I found out where your sister lives. Are you ready to see her?" Zoro asked calmly.
Without smiling, Emily nodded her head and stood up on her feet.
Zoro walked off the Going Merry and through the town of Yokuna, Emily being 5 ft. behind him the entire time. Zoro stopped in front of a mansion just slightly smaller than Kaya's. Quickly, Zoro grabbed Emily, put her in front of the door, and rang the doorbell. He leaned towards her ear and whispered, "I'll see you on the ship at 4:00." Before walking away, leaving the small girl alone.
Emily waited in front of the house for someone to open the door and bring her to Misao. Before she could ring the bell herself, the door opened and a well dressed man stood in the doorway with a frown on his face.
"Yes?" He asked Emily.
Before Emily had the chance to say anything, a figure her size flung itself onto Emily and squeezed. Emily looked at the figure and hugged it back giggling, "Hi Misao."
Emily took a good look at Misao once the girls stopped hugging. In just 2 days, Misao was looking like a normal kid. Her clothes were clean and new, her shoes had no holes in them, her entire body was clean, and she even had some pretty hair accessories.
Haru walked up and looked almost as pretty as Misao. Emily couldn't help but feel jealous for both of them. Both of them were pretty, but in her opinion, Emily wasn't even cute.
Haru and Misao happily led Emily into the mansion to meet their parents up close and see the most recent drawings that Misao did. Although the drawings were of simple trees and flowers, they looked so real that Emily had the urge to stick out her hand and touch one of the drawings to see if they were real. She felt so happy for her sister. She was getting closer to her dream.
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Nami walked through the busy streets, casually walking and quickly sticking her hands into other people's pockets, and stealing their wallets. She did everything so quickly that nobody even knew she was pick-pocketing. When she got away from all the people, she stuck her hand into the bag tied around her waist and pulled out a purple wallet.
Nami smiled and the amount of money inside the wallet, "900,000 berries. Not bad."
"You never change, do you?" A voice from behind her asked.
Nami shoved the wallet back into her bag, turned around, and saw Zoro. "Of course not! I am a master thief and I can't let my skills go to waste!" Nami answered proudly. There was no way that she was ever going to stop thieving.
Zoro shrugged his shoulders and kept walking.
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"You're leaving?" Misao cried, "When?"
"In a few hours. Master Zoro told em that I have to go back to the Going Merry at 4:00." Emily answered.
"But…that's only 4 hours away." Misao cried.
"I know." Emily softly answered.
"Can you at least go with us for a final trip through town?" Haru asked.
Emily, though very surprised, nodded her head.
"Then let's go!" Misao cried, grabbing both her sister's hands and leading them through Yokuna.
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Usopp was busy standing in front of a shelf of spices and hot food at the time that the three girls left for their trip through Yokuna. He put his wrist under his chin to show that he was in deep thought. Hmmm…I need a need a new attack…something that can spread something hot all over something and have it stick. He stopped and picked up a bottle labeled "Mad Dog Hot Sauce".
Hmmm…"Mad Dog Hot Sauce, the hottest hot sauce in the world. WARNING: Use only one drop at a time to avoid serious, burning pain. Do not use juice to calm the pain or it will get worse." I'll get this. Now all I need is something liquidy to spread sauce. Usopp thought.
"I'll take a green apple." A voice from a nearby fruit stand announced.
Usopp turned towards the stand and saw Emily holding a large green apple. The two girls with her were holding an orange and a peach. A blonde girl handed the man at the stand a few berries. The girls then bit into their fruits. The girl with the peach had her fingers almost completely covered in peach juice after her first bite.
The blonde girl wrinkled her nose, "Geez, Misao. You think you can get any messier?"
Misao shrugged, "I can't help it, Haru. I love peaches and peaches are messy."
"She's got a point, Haru. She does love peaches and you can't eat a peach without getting covered in the sticky juice." Emily said, biting into her green apple.
Haru shrugged her shoulders and led Emily and Misao into a nearby bookstore.
"Peaches! I can use peaches add the Mad Dog Hot Sauce for a new bomb." Usopp said softly before buying the sauce and at least 10 peaches at a nearby fruit stand.
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The bookstore that Haru, Misao, and Emily went into was extremely dusty and had a strange smell that filled the entire room. The old man behind the counter looked at the girls and grunted, "What do you want?"
"We wanna look around." Haru answered. The old man stared at her, "The books here aren't for children. Why don't you go to a different store?"
The girls ignored him and started looking through the books on the shelves.
Every few seconds or minutes, the girls would look at different books, the old man watching them like a hawk. It didn't matter to them anyway; the books were all too dusty to even read the words. They were about to leave when Misao noticed a small box covered in a full inch of dust. She blew the dust off and opened it up. Inside the box lay an empty book, 4 pens, and 2 bottles of ink.
Misao closed the box and put it on the counter in front of the man, "I wanna buy this. Ikura desu ka?"
The man shoved the box to Misao and muttered, "Just take it. It's on me, just don't come back unless you have some real business here."
Misao nodded and carried the box outside, her sisters following her.
"I wonder what was wrong with him." Haru said loud. Misao and Emily shrugged.
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Sanji moved from the deck of the Going Merry into the direction of the kitchen. "Might as well get started on the dishes before I have to cook again." Sanji muttered. He paused when he got to his destination. The piled dishes were cleaned and put away and the entire kitchen was scrubbed clean, the complete opposite of how it looked that morning. "Emily." Sanji muttered, knowing that Emily was the last person in the kitchen.
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Emily, Haru, and Misao sat underneath a tree in a nearby park. "Hey Emily?" Misao asked her sister.
"Yeah?" Emily asked, not turning her head to look at Misao.
"What are your goals in your life?" Misao asked.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, you're already a pirate. So what next?"
"I wanna be free."
"And?"
"And…meet the pirate that saved me."
"And after that?"
"I…wanna be…the greatest musician or flutist in the entire world."
"Which one do you want first?"
"To be free. Freedom is rare and I wanna get it first."
Now it was Haru's turn to talk to Emily.
"Emily?"
"Yes?"
"I know that we aren't related and we both have Misao as a sister, so would you mind…if we became sisters too?"
"Sure, why not? I could always use more sisters and maybe a brother, too."
"Thanks, Sis."
"You're welcome, Sis."
The girls giggled and put their hands on each other's shoulders.
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From the other side of the park, giggling from a bunch of little kids and one big one were heard. "You can't catch me!" A small girl about the age of 4 called out, running away from the big one.
"Oh yeah?" Luffy called to the little girl, "Gomu Gomu no Tag!" His hands stretched out and tagged both the little girl and a little boy, "You're both it."
"That's not fair!" The boy yelled.
"Yeah. You can't use your powers!" The little girl yelled.
Luffy stuck out his tongue and ran off.
"Get him!" The little boy yelled. Both the boy and girl ran after Luffy and grabbed both his arms and held on tight. "We got ya! Now you're it!" Both of them yelled before letting go of the rubber boy and running off.
Emily, Misao, and Haru walked from their spot under the tree to the group of kids to see what all the noise was about. "Who's that straw hat boy?" Haru asked her sisters.
"That's the captain of the Going Merry." Emily answered.
"Really? He seems more like a kid than a captain." Misao exclaimed.
"Yes, it may be hard to believe, but he only acts like a kid when the crew isn't in danger." Chopper answered from the shade of a nearby tree. Robin was sitting next to Chopper, reading a book.
"Hey, Emily!" Luffy called form his spot. Ignoring the little kids running around, Luffy ran up to Emily and tagged her shoulder, "You're it."
Emily didn't move and looked confused. "What's the matter? Don't you wanna play?" Luffy asked.
Emily turned her face to the ground and muttered a response.
"What did you say?" Luffy asked.
Emily lifted her head, "I don't know how to play…" Emily muttered.
Luffy laughed and gave her the easy instructions on how to play the simple game of "tag". The second he finished, Emily reached up and touched his arm and said timidly, "You're it."
Luffy grabbed Emily's hand and cheerfully called out, "Come on Emily! Let's play!"
"Can Haru and Misao play, too?" Emily asked.
Luffy nodded his head. The three sisters held onto each other's hands and were drug to the much smaller children.
Even through all the running and playing around, Emily refused to smile. Even though Zoro wasn't around, she was scared of being beaten for laughing or smiling around her crewmates.
Robin and Chopper smiled at her and even laughed a few times, but Emily didn't return the joy.
Eventually, the 3 sisters got tired and decided to stop running around and tagging the other kids. Misao picked up her box that sat next to Robin and followed her sisters in another walk through town.
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Zoro was only a quarter of a mile away from the ship when the guard from the platform, the very man that knocked Emily out after the four boys stole her hair ribbon, ran up holding a medium sized black bag. "What do you want?" Zoro asked annoyingly.
Breathlessly, the guard handed Zoro the black bag, "I forgot…to give…this…to…you. Inside…is…something you should use…if the girl…disobeys you…"
"What is it?" Zoro asked the guard.
The guard caught his breath and answered, "I don't know. But her last master said to use it if she disobeyed you. He said that using this will help her learn her lesson." The guard then ran off.
Zoro looked at the bag and shrugged his shoulders. It probably wasn't anything bad inside, so he just carried it off to his room without looking in the bag.
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The 3 sisters walked down the streets, chatting and giggling the time away when Emily stopped, "Wait, what time is it?"
"Uhhh…" Haru looked down at her watch, "20 minutes to 4."
Emily gasped, "I have to get back to the ship!" The 3 sisters started walking at a quicker pace to the ports, to the Going Merry.
"Which ship is yours?" Misao asked Emily.
Emily pointed at the ship with a straw hat pirate sail, "That one. That's the Going Merry."
"Wow…it's huge." Haru gasped.
"Hey, Emily. I want you to have these." Misao said, putting her box in Emily's hands.
"Your diary? But…" Emily started.
"I want you to write everything that you see and everything that happens, so that if we ever see each other again…I can read your book and know about it." Misao interrupted.
Emily nodded her head and hugged Misao.
"Hey, Sis? Can I hear you play your flute one more time before you leave?" Haru asked Emily.
Emily nodded, ran into her room, grabbed her flute case, and ran back outside. Emily quickly put her flute together and looked at her sisters, "Which song do you wanna hear?"
After 10 seconds of thinking, Misao cried out, "Play the song that always pissed Master Samuel off."
Emily nodded and played the same upbeat song that she played after dinner the night before. The 3 sisters had remembered when one of their last masters had heard that song and punished them for it.
FLASHBACK
Eleven-year-old Emily and Misao and twelve-year-old Haru were locked up in the cold, damp cellar of Master Samuel's house wearing only one set of thin clothes and no coat. All three of them knew why they were in there, but Emily was the only one who truly deserved the punishment and she knew it. Earlier that day, the girls were alone in the barn.
Emily wanted to play the tune that her master hated even though she never knew why and wanted Misao to hear her lyrics to the tune. Haru followed them.
Emily pulled out a piece of paper with the lyrics written by herself on it. She softly sang the song to Misao and Haru and they paled. The lyrics were saying cruel things about their cruel master. "Sing them while I play. It sounds better that way, Misao. And Haru, you should use your dancing skills to keep the beat." Emily explained.
"Emily! We could get caught!" Misao cried, grabbing her sister's arm.
"Oh, come on. The barn is empty and it's soundproof. Only we'll know." Emily convinced. The 2 girls agreed.
Emily played, Haru danced, and Misao sang, but none were aware that the ten-year-old son of the master had hidden in an empty horse stall. He quickly jumped out a window, ran to the house, and told his father about the barn.
Seconds later a large, red-faced man and a seventeen-year-old boy stomped towards the barn.
From the window they heard the happy and insulting song from the three slaves. The door flew open and the girls stopped.
Emily hid her flute behind her back, Misao hid the lyrics in her bag along her waist, and Haru moved her feet close together to keep her straight.
The boy closed all the doors and windows while the master walked up to each girl and slapped them. Hard. He grabbed Emily's flute and broke it in half, punched Misao in the throat, and slammed his feet onto Haru's. He went back to Misao, "Give me the words." Misao didn't move.
Master Samuel ripped the bag from Misao and dumped its contents on the barn floor. Seeds, skipping stones, homemade paints, and the written lyrics fell to the ground.
Immediately, the master grabbed they lyrics and read them. His face grew redder and got the reddest when he saw a green "E" in the corner of the papers. He knew what the "E" meant: "E" for Emily.
"Take these two to the cellar and lock the door," He demanded his son, pointing at Haru and Misao, "I'll deal with this one." He pointed at Emily.
His son nodded and drug Misao and Haru to the cellar.
Master Samuel reached into a black bag and pulled out Emily's worst enemy and used it before throwing her into the cellar with Haru and Misao and burning Emily's lyrics.
Emily wasn't upset about the flute being broken. It was only a wooden one that the carpenter made for her.
END FLASHBACK
The song ended and her sisters clapped.
The Straw Hat Pirates stood on the deck and waited for Emily.
Emily put her flute back in her case and smiled at her sisters.
"Emily, it's time to leave!" Zoro called from the deck.
Emily nodded at him and looked at her sisters, "I have to leave now."
"Remember to write." Misao said.
"I will." Emily answered.
The three sisters embraced one final time and cried out a final "I'll miss you" before letting go and the two elder sisters watching the youngest sister walk onto the ship.
The anchor was pulled into the ship and the ship started sailing away.
Haru and Misao stood on the port, waving and exchanging good-byes with Emily, who stood on the edge of the ship doing the same thing back. They stayed in that position even after the Going Merry and Yokuna could no longer be seen.
Eventually Emily put her arm down and laid it against the edge, but kept looking at the now gone Yokuna and her sisters. She kept staring until Luffy and Zoro came up to take her mind off of being separated from Haru and Misao.
Zoro put his hand on her shoulder and Emily slowly turned her head in his direction.
"Is something wrong, Master Zoro?" Emily asked softly.
"Emily, why did you want to become a pirate?" Zoro asked the upset little girl looking at him.
Emily took a deep breath and answered, "When I was a month old, a pirate saved me. He let me travel with him on his ship for a while before giving me up to an orphanage when I was about 6 months old."
"Sounds like a nice guy. What was his name?" Zoro asked.
Emily turned her head to the floor, "I can't remember. The woman at the orphanage told me his name multiple times, but all I can remember is that he had red hair and his name started with an S."
"Shanks?" Luffy asked, hoping to be helpful.
Emily lifted her head up quickly and jumped into Luffy's direction, "That's it! That was his name!"
Luffy stared off into the sky for a second, "Hmmm…I wonder why he never mentioned saving and traveling with another kid."
"I don't know. Probably because if people found out, he'd seem like a wimp, so he gave me up." Emily answered. She walked away form the two men, depressed. For every step she took towards the direction of her room, a conversation repeated in her head like a broken record.
"We won't leave her. We can't!"
"We have to leave her and continue traveling."
"Why do we have to leave her?"
"She hasn't had an actual snack or full meal in her stomach in almost 2 months."
"What about the fruits we caught in the forest and the meat that I got last week?"
"We have to split all that food up with everyone in the group. She only got a small hand full of the food. She can't keep going on like this."
"What do you mean?"
"Her body looks like a skeleton and going through so much pain for a normal 9 year old."
"Not to mention that she's extremely weak and dying. The starvation is practically eating her alive and she can't even sit up on her own. If we don't leave her here, Emily is going to be dead within a few days. Do you want that to happen?"
"…no. I don't want her to die. Fine, we'll leave her if she's saved."
Emily leaned against the wall, tears pouring out of her eyes like streams. She wanted to get the conversation out of her head and forget that she had been awake when it happened. She turned her head towards the wall so that nobody would see her crying. She promised herself that she wouldn't cry after Misao was brought into Haru's family and didn't want any of the crew members to see her break her promise.
FLASHBACK
"Emily, we're going to have to leave you here." A soft voice said to the weak little body in its arms.
Weak blue-green eyes looked up at the figure. She wanted to argue with the figure, but she didn't have the strength to do so. She didn't even argue when the figure put her in the arms of another, kissed her forehead, and left. That's when she started promising herself things.
END FLASHBACK
The tears wouldn't stop pouring no matter how many times Emily wiped the tears off her face and tried to hold them back. She had to try to force herself to stop crying. When she was with all her previous masters, she wasn't allowed to cry unless she wanted to be beaten by her worst enemy.
She felt a hand on her shoulder, but refused to turn her head for fear that it would be Zoro and that he'd beat her for crying.
"Are you okay?" A woman's voice asked.
Slowly, Emily turned her head and nodded and Robin. She wiped her tears away again and they didn't come back. "P-please don't tell Master Zoro that I've been crying." Emily pleaded.
Robin nodded.
"Thank you." Emily whispered, walking to her room.
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Five days had passed since the Going Merry had left Yokuna and Robin had caught Emily crying and like she promised, Robin didn't tell Zoro about Emily crying. The sea had been calm and everyone went about doing their own work. Like Luffy, Emily had already claimed a favorite spot on the Going Merry: behind Nami's orange trees.
Every day, she'd sit behind the trees holding her flute case, some pictures, and the diary that Misao had given her. Emily loved her spot, mostly because it was so peaceful…unless you'd count the number of times that Luffy tried to sneak an orange from the tree when she tried to relax. His rubber hands were always hit by Nami's rod or Sanji's legs and the attack was always followed by yelling.
On the 5th day all Emily wanted to do was relax, unless she had some chores to do, so she brought out another box slightly larger than her flute case. She moved to her spot behind the trees, took the item out of its box, and put it together. She was busy writing in the diary that Misao had given her when she heard the footsteps of the captain getting closer to the trees. She moved her pen to her left hand, grabbed the item, and threw it behind her.
Before he could touch an orange, Luffy saw something blue-green fly at him from behind the orange trees, hit him on his arms, and fly back to its original spot. "What the?" he asked and walked towards the back of the trees.
Zoro, who was awake and not far away, was laughing.
Luffy looked at his "attacker" only to find Emily reading her written entry and holding the blue-green item that attacked him: a boomerang.
"You got him, Emily." Zoro laughed from his spot, making Emily blush.
Luffy looked at Zoro in surprise, "Zoro? You told her to do this?"
Still laughing, Zoro answered, "No, I didn't."
Luffy turned his gaze at Emily.
Emily sighed, "Sorry Mr. Luffy, but I had to stop you from taking some of Miss Nami's oranges."
Luffy pointed at her boomerang and asked, "Where did you get that thing?"
"From the circus." Emily answered, "It was a gift when I was 8, after I mastered the flute."
"Thanks for protecting my trees. That boomerang looks extremely valuable." Nami said, walking behind her after punching Luffy in the back of the head.
"I don't care how much it is worth. I treasure it as much as I do my hair ribbon and wouldn't give any of them up." Emily answered.
Nami offered one of the oranges from the trees to Emily, but the younger girl turned her down, not to be polite or afraid that she'd be beaten, but because she didn't like oranges very much. She'd eat oranges if it meant to survive, but otherwise, she'd stick to green apples.
From behind Nami, Usopp was sitting on the deck, a bag full of large peaches sitting next to him. He'd grab a peach, fish out the pit with a knife or his own fingers, squish the peaches in his hands to make the juice fall into a small container, and tossed the rest into a separate container. By the time he was done, there was at least 2 liters full of peach juice and a small mountain of the skins.
The sweet, peachy smell went in the direction of Luffy and the rubber boy started running towards the pile of peach skins and started eating them quickly, sometimes without even chewing, and finished them in 1 minute flat.
Usopp didn't seem to mind Luffy doing that. He needed to get rid of the skins somehow. Usopp dumped a quarter of the bottle of the Mad Dog Hot Sauce into the peach juice and stirred. The juice now became a blood red color.
Quickly, Usopp moved the juice into thin little balls and sealed them quickly. Those two liters of Mad Dog Peach Juice made exactly 53 new bullets for his slingshot.
Chopper was sitting next to him and carefully putting the balls in a small red bag while Usopp washed the hot and sticky peach juice off his hands, making sure that he didn't stick any fingers in his mouth until all the juice was gone.
From inside the ship, Sanji was busy inside the kitchen, making snacks for the girls no doubt, and humming a merry tune. Robin was in the same room re-reading a book she had read a billion times. Usopp, Luffy, and Chopper were staring in amazement at the new bullets Usopp had made (even though Luffy was just excited about all the skins he got). Nami was standing by the bow, watching the direction of her compass with a smile. Zoro was leaning against the crow's nest sleeping.
Emily looked at the crew on top of the ship, how peaceful, happy, and excited they were to have her on the ship. She turned to her book to continue writing, wondering how much longer these feelings would go on.
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A/N: Okay, that's what I got. Mad Dog Hot Sauce is a real hot sauce if you didn't know. I think it's supposed to be the hottest hot sauce in the world or something like that and it's very hot. I thought it might be fun to add something from this time in here. R/R if ya want, but don't flame me if the story sucks.