She sat in the tree with her tail wrapped around three of her feet and licked the fourth before rubbing her face. She repeated the process several times until she felt her face was sufficiently clean. Elle put her paw down and started cleaning her shoulder. She heard a thump! and opened one of her yellow eyes. The Little Shit finished placing the last of his treasure in his new hidey-hole and stepped out into the failing sunlight. He gave her a wary glance, but obviously didn't think much of the cat sitting before him.
The fool! Elle started to purr as she continued cleaning herself, keeping a careful eye on the Little Shit. She knew that she didn't look threatening and that anyone who saw her wouldn't recognize her as the Hell Cat. Looking at herself as she cleaned, Elle knew that her appearance was not very alarming. When in her full Cat-Form, Elle topped out at twelve pounds. Her legs were long and the same pretty white as the rest of her fur, her paws large and fluffy. Despite keeping her human hair short, Elle's fur was long and gave her a fluffy appearance, especially around her neck. She had little tufts of hair on the tips of her ears and stripes running across her body were only slightly darker than the rest of her fur. Oh, yes, Elle knew that she was a very cute little kitty.
That was why the exact model of her Devil Fruit was her most closely guarded secret. The Cat-Cat Fruit: Maine Coon Model was most certainly not the most impressive Devil Fruit. Elle knew that she could kick some serious ass when in her hybrid-forms. And her kitty-form was good for unnoticed prowling and spying. So Elle loved her Devil Fruit, even if she would never willingly admit that she was just a house cat. It was always better to have her enemies think that she was some fierce tiger or leopard or some other big cat.
It certainly made following her newly discovered baby brother easier when he didn't know she was there. Elle had been greatly amused when the Little Shit and his friend had decided they needed to kill the Twerp. She had bonded slightly with him a few days ago when they had talked about Shanks, but she still didn't like him. She decided to keep her mouth shut and wait for the boys to do it so that she could get Shanks' hat. But then those wannabe pirates had appeared.
They had ignored the white kitty sleeping by the tied up boy and took the Twerp away. Elle had stuck close to the Little Shit as he and his friend moved their so-called 'Pirate Fund'. That had been several hours ago. Elle finished cleaning herself and arched her back in a stretch. The Twerp was probably dead by now, so she was going to go collect the straw hat. The funny feeling in her chest and stomach were from that mouse she had eaten earlier. It had to be. There was no way she could be feeling guilty over sitting back and watching the Twerp be hauled off to his deat—
What do you mean, he's still alive? Elle stared down at the blond boy in shock before glancing at the Little Shit. The look on his face mirrored what Elle was feeling. "Are you really going to leave him to die?" she asked before she could stop herself.
The Little Shit looked down at her before he cursed and jumped out of the tree. The Little Shit landed and, along with the blond boy, they ran off. Elle echoed his curse before following the Little Shit out of the tree. She was back in her hybrid-form when her toes touched the grass. She started running, but in the opposite direction of the Little Shit and his friend. She found the tree where she had hidden her clothing and shoes in that morning and quickly put them on. When Elle was just in her underclothes, there was no doubt that not only was she female, but she was pregnant as well. And if she was going to go up against pirates—wannabe or not—she couldn't afford to have her weakness show.
As soon as her boots were on, Elle started running again. Due to her much longer legs, Elle ran faster than the Little Shit and his friend. So she reached the hut where the Twerp was being held not long after the Little Shit. She was breathing heavily, but forced her body to breath through her nose so that she didn't appear so winded. The Little Shit and Blondie were whaling on this purple-haired dude, but that wasn't what caught her attention.
The Twerp was by the door and he looked terrible. He was covered in wounds and blood, one eye almost swollen shut. He had been tortured for hours and he still had a dopey smile on his face. Elle couldn't keep the smile from her face. She still didn't like the Twerp, but she had to admit that the kid had balls. She stepped unnoticed into the hut and crouched down next to the Twerp. She softly touched his back and winked at him when he looked at her. Elle held her finger up to her mouth and motioned the Twerp to keep quiet. He nodded once before turning back to the fight.
In the next moment, Blondie came flying in their direction. He got up and started to go back into the fight, but Elle grabbed the back of his blue coat and pulled him behind the Twerp. Blondie gave her a confused stare, his hold on his lead pipe tightening. Before he could attack her, the Little Shit went soaring in their direction. Elle dodged in time that the Little Shit missed her and smacked into Blondie and the Twerp. The Little Shit cursed and went to stand back up, but his forehead ran into her claw. He fell back down and glared at Elle, growling at her to get out of his way.
"Now, now," she said sweetly. "It's my turn to play."
"This isn't some game, boy," Purple-Head said behind her, spitting blood out of his mouth. "If you were smart, you'd leave pirate business well-enough alone."
Elle stood up and faced Purple-Head with a bored expression on her face. She scratched the inside of her ear and tilted her head. "This is pirate business?" she asked, her tone light despite her cold gaze. "Seemed to me like you were just getting your ass whooped by a couple of little boys. You must be a shitty pirate."
Purple-Head growled and swung his sword at her. Elle leaned back slightly, easily dodging the weapon. "What would you know about pirates?" Purple-Head snapped.
Behind Purple-Head, Elle saw a beat-up blonde man pale as he watched her. That made a smile grow on Elle's face. She pointed at him and asked, "He seems to know, so why don't'cha ask him?"
Purple-Head snarled and swung his sword at Elle again, effectively killing her good mood. Elle caught the blade in her hand and pulled Purple-Head right into her waiting fist. He dropped like a rock, but the brute was still holding onto consciousness by a thread. Elle snarled down at him and kicked his stomach, severing that thread. Elle flicked her hand, showering Purple-Head in her blood as the mood in the hut became tense. Elle shot a cynical grin and wink at Purple-Head's minions before turning around. All three of the boys were giving her a wide-eyed stare, their mouths hanging open almost to the floor. Her grin became more genuine as she shuffled them out of the hut and off towards the forest. Elle told them to go get cleaned up and that she would find them in a bit.
As soon as the boys were out of sight, Elle went back to the hut and got up on the roof. She laid down and crossed her arms under her head. She enjoyed a nice sun bath for a bit before she heard men approaching the hut. Elle rolled over onto her stomach and crawled to the edge of the roof. She watched several men step up to the doorway, but the man in front caught her attention.
He was wearing a blue captain's coat, so Elle assumed that he was the Captain of this so-called pirate crew. Elle rolled off the roof and stepped into the doorway. All of the men who saw her appear fell back away from her, but didn't make a sound. Elle leaned against the door frame and crossed her arms over her chest as Mr. Captain shot Purple-Head.
"Aw, that's not very nice, Mr. Captain," Elle said with a mock-frown. "It's not Purple-Head's fault you have a lousy crew."
Mr. Captain turned around and scowled at Elle. "Are you the one who defeated him, boy?" he growled. Elle felt her cheek twitch at being called a boy, but decided to ignore it. For now.
"Oh, no," she answered him, forcing herself to smile. "I just delivered the final blows."
Mr. Captain raised his gun and fired. Elle tilted her head and easily dodged the bullet, her grin growing as she heard a moan of pain behind her. "A haki user," Mr. Captain murmured, before saying louder, "You're more than you appear. Who the hell are you, boy?"
"U-Uh, Captain," a voice said behind Mr. Captain. Oh, look. It was the beat-up blondie from before. "Th-that's the H-Hell C-C-Cat." And he did recognize Elle. She felt flattered.
"From that Red-Hair's crew?" Mr. Captain's eyes took a long look before widening. "What does Red-Hair want with me?"
Elle waved his words off and pushed herself off of the door frame. "Oh, I'm not here because of Shanks," she said, taking a couple steps closer to Mr. Captain. "The business I have with you is personal."
Mr. Captain started to ask when she wanted, but Elle cut him off by grabbing the front of his shirt. Before Mr. Captain could blink, she twisted her body and threw the large man into the ground. She landed on his chest and let go of his shirt, only to place both of her hands around his throat. Her smile was a dressed up snarl and Elle savored the look of fear in the man's face. She dug her claws into his throat just enough to draw blood.
"I will give you one warning," she crooned, her voice soft. "If you mess with my little brothers again, I will not hesitate to rip off your balls and shove them down your throat. Yah?"
Elle lightly smacked Mr. Captain's cheek twice before she stood up. She bowed at the men watching before walking away. She shoved her hands in her pockets and started whistling an old lullaby. Elle wasn't surprised when the Little Shit fell into step beside her. Her Perception Haki had alerted her to his presence earlier. That was why she had decided to make such a flashy threat. Elle doubted that any of those wannabe pirates had haki, but she had wanted their attention focused solely on her and not on the Little Shit.
The Little Shit glared up at her before looking back at the path before them. "You're kinda badass," he muttered, a small blush appearing on his freckled cheeks.
Elle grinned down at him, but didn't say anything. She didn't want him to take back the words as she all but floated with happiness. It was a mystery to her why the Little Shit's approval meant so much to her, but it did. Maybe it was because she saw so much of the Captain in him? Soon enough they reached the other boys. Blondie was clumsily attempting to bandage up the Twerp. Elle took pity on the boys and walked over to them. She hip-bumped Blondie out of the way and took over the first-aide. When she finished with all of the boys, she sat back and watched as the Little Shit yelled at the Twerp for not just giving up the location of their treasure.
When the Twerp had said his reason, Elle felt all of the animosity for him wither and die. The Twerp, Luffy, hadn't wanted to betray his friends. Because they were all he had. Elle felt sympathy for the boy when he said that he only had the Old Fart, so he was happy to get a brother. Before she knew it, Luffy was in her arms and Elle was rubbing her face against his head. Forget the Little Shit; Luffy definitely reminded her of the Captain. Don't worry, Luffy! Nee-Chan is here for you! She'd never betray you like the Little Shit!
"Is that why you said 'little brothers'?" Had Elle spoken out loud. "Yes, you did, dumbass! And, 'sides, why did you interfere? We didn't need your help!"
Elle stopped rubbing her face against Luffy's head and stared at the other boys. "You're a little shit, ya know that?" She grinned when the Little Shit glared at her and added, "If you call me 'Nee-San', maybe I'll be kind enough to impart some of my valuable pirate knowledge with you."
"Like hell I'd ev—"
"Whoa, you were a pirate?!" Blondie interrupted, shoving the Little Shit out of the way. "No way!"
Luffy grinned and shouted, "She is! Nee-Chan was a pirate on Shanks' ship!" Elle's face turned bright red and she ended up squeezing Luffy harder. She had no idea that being called his big sister would make her so happy.
"That's not important right now!" the Little Shit growled. The spoil-sport."Why should we call you something so stupid just to hear about your short life as a pirate?"
Elle stopped rubbing the top of Luffy's head again and gave the Little Shit a confused stare. "Short?" she asked. "I was a pirate for twelve years."
"Yeah, right!"
Elle scowled as Blondie added, "There's no way you were a pirate for twelve years. You're not much older than we are!"
Elle's scowl deepened into a glare. "I know I'm short, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm still six years older than you two!" she snapped.
The Little Shit glared right back and asked, "You're telling us you became a pirate when you were four?"
"Well, I was the Oro Jackson's cat for a few years," Elle started, then scowled again. "I was still on board a pirate ship as a member of the crew. Technically I was a pirate for twelve years!"
The Little Shit started arguing with Elle again, but she noticed little white flakes start falling from the sky. She started to ask why it was snowing in the middle of summer, but cut herself off with a sneeze. She hit her head on Luffy's head, but it was like hitting a plank of wood. Wait, when did Luffy become a deck—
I sneezed again and sat up. I started to rub the sleep from my eyes, but shivered violently instead. It was snowing softly and the temperature had dropped significantly since I had decided to take a sun-nap. My teeth started chattering and I hauled myself to my feet. I wrapped both my arms and my tail around my body and quickly ran into the Captain's Cabin. I had brought my bag back in there before I had taken my nap, right after I had changed clothes. A simple, white tee-shirt and a pair of short jean shorts, while excellent sunbathing wear, were not appropriate winter attire. I dug around in my bag for several minutes before I gave up and just pulled out the warmest clothing I had.
The shirt was a deep purple color with a deep, scooping neckline. There was a black ribbon that tied under my breasts, making the shirt flare out from my ribs down. More black ribbon crisscrossed from the first up my beasts to the neckline in the style of a corset. The sleeves were tight down past my wrists, ending in a point right bellow my middle knuckle. I hadn't packed any long pants, so I pulled out my longest skirt. It was black and flowed softly down to my knees, with the bottom having severe points and valleys. Before I put on my skirt, I pulled out my single garter-belt and put it on. I grabbed my warmest black stockings and put them on as well, clipping them to the belt.
That was about as warm as I was going to get, so I pulled my boots back on. I frowned at my reflection in the mirror and grabbed my brush. When my waist-length hair was brushed, I pulled it over my shoulders so that it fell in white waves around my face. I grabbed my black leather trench coat and quickly pulled it on. I buttoned it and pulled the hood up over my head. Pulling on a pair of black finger-less gloves, I opened the door and stepped back onto the deck. I shoved my hands in my pockets and fought another violent shudder. I didn't mind the snow, not really, so long as I was inside and warm. But this wasn't too bad. The snow made the air fresh and crisp even as it seared my lungs. I opened my mouth and stuck out my tongue to—
I ducked so fast that I lost my footing on the slippery deck and landed flat on my ass. I looked up, wide-eyed, at the snow smashed into the wall of the cabin. I slowly turned my head until my gaze landed on Sora. His arm was still extended from throwing the snowball and the look on his face could only be described as, oh, shit! I gave my eldest son a slow, wide grin as I scooped up my own handful of snow. I quickly packed it into a ball and pulled my arm to throw it at Sora, but I was knocked back into the snow before I could throw it. I brushed the snow from both my snowball and the one that hit me on my face and sat up with a scowl.
Eli and Sora were laughing their asses off and both of them gave Shanks a high-five. The jerk had let Sora distract me so that I wouldn't sense his attack until too late. Well, if he wanted to play dirty, I would play dirty. I decided to fall back on the best method: I summoned tears to my eyes and started rubbing my wet cheek. Shanks reacted the same way he had the thousands of times I had done this to him before: he paled and quickly ran to my side. Before the pirate could realize that I wasn't really hurt, I launched myself at him and shoved Shanks' face into the snow.
I started giggling before bursting into full-out laughter when I saw Yassop and Lucky Roo take the chance to pelt the twins with snowballs. My distraction cost me, as Shanks used the opportunity to roll over until I was the one pinned face-down in the snow. I heard Shanks start to laugh over my curses and felt his large chest rumble against my back. I growled and started wiggling, trying to worm my way out of his hold. Shanks' laughter abruptly stopped and his hand tightened on my hip. I kept moving and Shanks leaned farther into me.
His breath tickled my ear as he whispered, "Careful, there, Kitten."
I just turned my head and glared up at Shanks. I kept moving and then something unexpected happened. Shanks pressed his face into my neck, but not before I heard him let out a small groan. It was then that I felt something hard start to move against my ass. I froze and felt my entire face turn red. I turned slightly and met Shanks' heavy, dark stare. I moved my hips once and Shanks' eyelids lowered slightly as his hips pressed into mine. Shanks' gaze dropped down to my lips and I realized that I was licking the edge of my bottom lip.
Shanks opened his own mouth to say something, but a snowball hit him square on the nose. I was covered in snow too, but I couldn't stop my laughter from bubbling up at the look of shock on Shanks' face. He gave me a cheeky grin before he rolled off of me—just before another snowball came flying in our direction, hitting my nose. I sat up, narrowly missing another snowball. It seems that Yassop, Lucky, and the twins had joined forces against Shanks and I. I quickly made a snowball and tossed it up to Shanks, who in turn threw it and knocked the meat right out of Lucky's hand.
Shanks had quite the throwing arm, despite it not being his dominant hand. We developed a system with me making the snowballs and Shanks throwing them at anyone who dared oppose us. I was laughing so hard I was wheezing, my tears freezing before they could leave my eyes. I couldn't remember the last time I had had so much fun and knew it had been months since I had laughed so much. But our fun ended abruptly when Sora tackled Eli out of the path of Shanks' snowball and it ended up hitting Ben in the face.
The entire ship became silent as Ben slowly wiped the snow off of his face. He calmly threw his dampened cigarette away before pulling out and lighting a new one. Ben took a long drag before opening his eyes and giving us a cool stare. "If you're done playing around, I have some things we need to discuss," he said sedately.
I shrugged and dropped the pile of snow in my hand. Shanks reached down and I took his hand, allowing him to pull me to my feet. I grinned at the twins and ruffled their hair as I walked by them to follow Ben into the cabin. I stomped the snow off of my boots and quickly walked to the far end of the cabin. I situated myself in the corner farthest from the windows and door before turning to face the two men. Shanks and Ben seemed to be having a silent conversation, but that wasn't unusual. Shanks and Ben were often able to communicate through mere glances.
I cupped my hands over my ears, pushing them flat against my head, as Ben said, "We'll reach the island within the next hour or so."
I rubbed my ears vigorously before dropping my hands and pushing off my hood. "So what's the issue?" I asked, Shanks nodding in agreement.
Ben crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back against the desk. "Have you even planned out how you're going to find this guy?" he asked gruffly. I opened my mouth, but he just interrupted me with a scowl. "And bursting in, guns blazing, and hoping he doesn't flee is not an option."
I scowled back at the Vice-Captain and mirrored his stance. Shanks chuckled before saying, "Then what do you suggest, Ben?"
Ben's face softened slightly as he glanced at his captain. "This guy has been on the run from the Marines for over twenty years," he said slowly. "So chances are he'll bolt at the first sign of the Benineko. But he would have no reason to be suspicious of a family."
"What are you getting at, Ben?" I snapped. I took a step forwards and placed my hand on my hip. "Do you want Shanks and I to go there with the twins, acting like a family on vacation?"
"Essentially, yes." After Shanks and I just gave him wide-eyed, open-mouthed stares, Ben added, "Elle couldn't go as she is now, as she's easily recognizable as the Benineko. But if she were human, she could pass as just some woman you had as a lover, Captain."
Shanks ran his hand through his hair as he glanced at Elle. At his Vice-Captain's words, the Cat-Woman's face had paled to the same color as her hair and her ears had turned as far back as possible. She crossed her arms over her chest again, but Shanks still saw the tremors start in her hands, and her tail was swishing angrily behind her. Elle looked like she couldn't decide to be angry at, or absolutely terrified of, what Ben had just suggested.
When Elle had been younger, she had refused to be in her human form. The only way she bathed for the first two years he was with her was with a bucket and a wash cloth so that she wouldn't be forced into her human form. Eventually, she had gotten over her fear long enough for short showers and had then been able to progress to taking a bath. But ten years ago, Elle had barely endured Shanks around her when she was human, and didn't tolerate anyone else. Last night, Elle had taken a bath with her sons, so Shanks had assumed she had grown out of that fear. But seeing the terror on her face, Shanks knew that she hadn't.
Shanks crossed the room and brushed some of her soft hair out of Elle's face. He gently cupped the back of her neck and pulled her to his chest. Shanks pressed a kiss against her temple and murmured that it would be safest for her sons. Elle gave him a confused look and Shanks explained it to her. If they were to go to the island as a notorious pirate, his lover, and their children, the citizens would not look past the color of Eli's hair. They would assume that Elle was just some normal woman who had managed to catch his eye. No one would associate Elle as the Benineko, Hell Cat, or an other epithet, so they would not target her sons. Most importantly, Brutus would not target the twins. If any thing, they would be targeted because they were his sons. Some coward might target the boys if he was too weak or scared to take Shanks on himself. But if the twins could easily disarm Ben, they could handle a coward like that.
Shanks' words seemed to calm Elle and he could see her processing what he had said. Suddenly, her eyes got wide and she looked sharply up at Shanks. "You realized you're their father?" she whispered.
Shanks had come to terms with the thought last night, and seeing the twins in the full daylight had only confirmed it for him. But hearing Elle say it was like a sucker punch straight to the gut. Shanks had known that he had two sons, but he hadn't wanted to admit that Elle had kept them from him for ten years. On some deep level, Shanks had wanted to believe that he had been wrong and the children had been sired by some other red-headed bastard. Shanks loved kids and had felt a slight stinging in his chest that he had missed the majority of his sons' childhoods. That sting intensified to a deep burning and Shanks felt anger start to well deep inside of him.
But he let nothing of what he was feeling show on his face. Shanks could hear the men shouting outside that they could see the island and knew that they did not have time for this conversation. So he lightly kissed Elle's head again and murmured that they would talk about it later. Shanks then let go of her and walked out of the cabin. He easily dodged the two snowballs that the twins had thrown at him and gave them both a wide grin. He explained that they would be joining Shanks and their mother on her mission. Sora and Eli burst out in identical grins and asked if they could help take down the bad guys.
Shanks ruffled first Eli's, then Sora's hair and said, "Of course." He heard the door to the cabin open behind him and hastily added, "If it's okay with your mother, that is."
Shanks heard Elle snort behind him and the twins split to run around him. He heard them begging their mother if they could help take out the bad guy. Shanks glanced over his shoulder to see that Elle's eyes were wide and her mouth working to find some reply. Her yellow eyes met his, silently asking for help. Shanks just grinned and shrugged, winking at the Cat-Woman before going to the helm. She wanted to keep them from knowing he was their father. So, call him petty, but Shanks refused to help her parent them until he was able to officially be their father.
A/N: Wow. Twelve chapters. Can you believe it? I've never written a FanFic for so long, and have only surpassed this with the novel I'm currently working on. So thanks, my dearest readers, for sticking with Akagami Shiro Neko for so long! And starting in the next chapter, we are finally getting started on the hunt for Brutus! Yay! Also, as a forewarning, either the next chapter, or the one right after it, will contain a nice lemon scene. So look forward to that!
As always, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
~Shini