A/N: Yay! New POV in this chapter! I'm excited about it, but I couldn't post it in it's intended form. In my Word doc of this chapter, certain words are crossed out where the narrator changed his mind, but I couldn't get it to show up here. So I am sad about that, but I found a way to sort of convey it. So every word (like this) is just an added thought while every word ((like this)) should be crossed out, if that makes any sense? I hope so. Anyway! I hope you enjoy this new chapter!

Eustass Kid was in what one might call a 'situation' and he wasn't (quite) sure how to proceed. So he crossed his arms over his bare chest and propped his ankle on his knee. He (studiously) avoided making eye-contact with the older pirate next to him and instead chose to stare at the crimson curtain in front of him. As he watched the curtain gently sway and move from the occupant of the small room it hid, Kid thought about the events of the past two days that had led up to this (strange) predicament.

Hearing about the Hell Cat (supposedly) making his (her) first appearance in a decade had been mere chance. Kid and his crew had decided to stop by an island well known for being a pirate safe haven. It had been one of the first islands the Kid Pirates had visited since entering the New World and was the perfect spot to pick up any extra supplies the group needed. While his crew had gathered everything, Kid and Killer had sat down in the local tavern for a quick drink (to get rip-roaring drunk). The owner had been cleaning up a window that had been broken in a fight the day before. Nothing unusual for a pirate town, to be sure, especially in the New World. Only the strong could survive in those harsh waters, so fights were often brutal. The owner should be counting his lucky stars that the window was the only thing he had lost.

Kid commented as much to his masked First Mate, loud enough for the entire bar to hear. The owner had paused in his sweeping and turned his glare on Kid. The owner then returned to his sweeping, muttering about brats being a pain in his ass. Kid had started to snicker (laughed openly and loudly) when the owner continued on about how pirates should stay in Impel Down when they were put there. It wasn't quite one month after the Straw Hat had broken out of the notorious prison, and brought several (infamous) criminals with him. Why, that Hell Cat had already tried to rejoin the Red-Hair Pirates, at the expense of his poor window.

The old man's words had caught Kid's attention (again) and he had slammed his mug down on the bar (it shattered). He had sauntered over to the man and threatened asked the man to explain. Not much else to the story: someone had appeared, thrown Red-Hair Shanks through the window, and then claimed to be the Hell Cat. The old man hadn't been convinced, but the crew was and had departed that morning with the supposed Hell Cat. Kid had felt excitement start to swell in his gut (he was tempted to kiss the old man out of gratitude).

When Kid had learned that the Hell Cat had been taken into Marine custody (years ago) and was more than likely dumped in Impel Down, he had been (utterly) heartbroken. Kid had vowed to become the strongest pirate in the world—to find the One Piece and become the King of the Pirates—so that he could free the Hell Cat and look him in the eye, proud of his accomplishments. It had never occurred to Kid that the Hell Cat had been one of the inmates who had escaped with Straw Hat. Kid hadn't accomplished his goal (yet) but that didn't matter (it did, but not enough to stop him). He would not let this chance slip through his fingers.

After some (painful) cajoling of the old man, Kid and Killer had finally found out the direction in which the Red-Hair Pirates had left. As the Log Pose had only detected one island in that direction, it had been (too) easy to find out where they had gone. The group had made excellent time and had arrived not too long after Red-Hair. Once they made landfall it had only been a matter of following the whispers to discern where Red-Hair and (hopefully) the Hell Cat were. Kid had felt disappointment rise in his chest when he had stumbled across what appeared to be a family lunch (his own lunch almost made a repeat appearance). Just Red-Hair, some wench (who was more attractive than Kid wanted to admit), and what appeared to be two brats.

Except those brats seemed awfully familiar.

And that wench was glaring intensely at him, murder in her familiar yellow eyes (holy shit, is that the Benineko?!).

Eating a calm lunch with one of the Four Emperors was not where Kid had expected to once again see the ((beautiful)) notorious Rear Admiral. Looking at those brats of her's, though, and it was obvious why she was with Red-Hair. Despite one having his mother's hair, both were the spitting image of the Emperor. Kid felt stupid for not having noticed their parentage when he had first met them on the Sabaody Archipelago (but, then again, on that day Kid had been rather distracted). That had been an eventful (exhausting) day. Not only had Kid met the other two Supernovas worth over 300 million (and been mildly impressed by them both), he had seen the legendary Dark King Rayleigh as well. But that hadn't been nearly as exciting (terrifying) as meeting the Rear Admiral known as the Benineko.

When he fist laid his eyes on her, she had just thrown open the doors to the auction house and sauntered in as if she owned the building. The first thing Kid had noticed about the woman were her legs. They were long and pale, the four-inch high heeled sandals she was wearing only accentuating their length. Kid's eyes had traveled higher up her legs, noting her incredible ((very short)) black shorts. Next he noticed her bare stomach, the smooth skin marred only slightly by three pale parallel lines that crossed from just under her right ribs to right over her left hip. (Kid would never admit just how much he wanted to trace those lines with his mouth.) Her waist was thin and womanly, accentuated by her shirt (if you could call the scraps of material a shirt). The black fabric of her shirt hugged her (incredible) breasts like a bikini, with thin fabric coming from the bottom (which covered her back while leaving her stomach bare).

When Kid had finally (barely) managed to pull his gaze away from her (delicious) cleavage and look at her face, he was (again) surprised. Her face looked deceitfully youthful, her full lips curled in a half-smile that revealed twin, small fangs. Her eyes were a (startling) yellow color, her pupils slit down the middle (like a cat's). And one glance at her head revealed that his feline comparison was right on the mark. Her hair was whiter than snow and fell to her elbows in soft waves despite being tied in twin tails on top of her head behind her ears. And when he says ears, Kid means the two triangular cat ears that twitched and swiveled at every small sound. In shock, Kid had glanced down to see that she had a matching tail (how the hell had he missed that while admiring her wonderful legs?). He had almost (completely) missed the two young boys standing just behind her (lovely) legs.

Kid had been aware of Killer whispering into his ear that this (beautiful) Cat-Woman was the Benineko, but the damage was done. Kid was more than just attracted to the female Marine (he was down-right enamored). He had even gone so far as to help her hide from Kizaru (though he has no idea why she was hiding from the Admiral in the first place). The look of the imposing ((fantastic)) woman had been burned into his mind. Kid had even enjoyed seeing her the few times she had been shown during the broadcast of Fire Fist Ace's death (fleeting as they were). But the woman Kid had found on that winter island was (drastically) different from the one he had met on Sabaody.

It had taken a moment for Kid to recognize her, and when he saw her once again (later that afternoon) he could pinpoint why it had been difficult. She had lost some (a lot) of weight, her cheeks more pronounced and with dark circles under her (arresting) eyes. Looking lower, Kid had been able to see that she had lost weight all over her body, not just in her face. The most noticeable area was her chest; her beasts were still large, but no where near what they had been when Kid had first seen the (stunning) woman. When Kid had commented on her weight loss, the Benineko had gotten angry at him (but that hadn't been the reaction that irritated him). No, it had been the surprise (clearly) etched upon Red-Hair's face. The ((fucker)) bastard hadn't even noticed just how small (and frail-looking) Elle had become.

And that had been the moment that Kid declared (silent) war on the older man.

So Kid had agreed to watch their brats, not because Red-Hair wanted to speak to Elle alone, not because of her (scary) threats, but because Kid had seen in her eyes that Elle wanted to be alone with Red-Hair too. Kid had taken her brats and explored the island, found the building she was looking for, and returned to the house (after ditching the annoying tail that they had picked up from the building). When they had returned to the (house in the) clearing, the brats had decided they wanted to play (they ran ahead and had ambushed Kid with snowballs). Everyone must had gotten carried away because the red-haired one (Eli, the other had called him) let out a (sharp) squeal.

Kid heard a window behind him crash open and had turned just in time to see something jump out of the house. Before Kid could even scream (let alone draw a weapon or use his abilities), his back was pinned to the snow. Elle sat on his chest and snarled down at him, her face more feline than he had ever seen it. Her hands were wrapped around his throat and he could feel her claws digging into his skin, his Devil Fruit powers (strangely) not working. In that moment, Kid had (fully) understood what Elle had meant when she said she never bluffed.

Staring up into those (wild) golden eyes, Kid knew that he was about to die (and that there was nothing he could do about it). So it is safe to say that Kid was (incredibly) relieved when it appeared that Elle was back to normal. And he found that he respected Red-Hair (a little) more than before when the older man managed to keep Elle from ripping out his throat (for the second time in five minutes). Even as Kid felt the (incriminating) wet spot on his chest slowly freeze in the (bitterly) cold air.

Yes, Kid did as Elle requested of him. And, yes, he did agree to help Elle out (on the condition that she help him find the Hell Cat). But that didn't stop his dreams from being crushed (once again) when he found out that the Hell Cat was (now) a (fucking) Marine. Kid was not happy (he was pissed) and it had (greatly) pleased him to be able to say no when Elle requested his financial help. But his resolve had weakened (it wasn't that strong to begin with) when those pretty red lips had pouted and begged for his help. But Kid had his pride (er, well, what was left of it), so he agreed (but only on the condition that he got to choose her new swimsuit). If he was going to pay for it, he damn well better like what she looked like in it.

And that was how Kid found himself to be sitting in a little shop right next to the man who had been his enemy not twelve hours earlier. Kid and formed a (tentative) truce with Red-Hair Shanks the previous night. Both of them had realized that Elle would likely choose a mom (un-sexy) swimsuit if left to her own devices. And both of them had realized that they couldn't let that (tragedy) happen. The two ((perverts)) pirates had silently come to the conclusion that Kid would pick out the sexiest swimsuit he could find (even if it meant listening to her grumble and moan like (an old lady) a concerned mother).

Kid heaved another sigh (his fourth in the past half hour) and opened his mouth so speak. Unfortunately, Red-Hair beat him to it and said in a (surprisingly teasing) voice, "Kitten, do you need some help in there?"

What sounded like a growl came from behind the curtain and Elle stuck her head out. She (outright) glared at the two men sitting before her and ((snarled)) snapped, "Is this some kind of joke? Where's the rest of it?"

Kid felt a wide ((smirk)) smile stretch across his face. "Nope, that's all, Senpai," he said, again calling her by the title she had (jokingly) requested.

Elle turned her glare on Kid and his heart did a little (big) flip in his chest. Her cheeks had a faint red tinge to them, showing that the Cat-Woman was pleased with her title without her actually saying anything about it. Her (beautiful) amber gaze jumped from the (half-grinning) Emperor to the (full-on smirking) Supernova and back several times before her (full) lips curled in disgust. "You're both pervs," she snapped before ((retreating behind)) closing the curtain.

Kid could hear Elle muttering (to herself) behind the curtain, but his attention was snagged by the pirate next to him. Red-Hair was giving Kid a strange (harsh) stare, his dark eyes narrowed and his lips pulled down in a frown. Kid couldn't tell (exactly) what the other male was thinking, but he could make a good guess. Kid's smirk widened into a grin and winked at the Emperor before he stood up. As Kid ((sauntered)) stalked over to where Killer was helping the twins find their swimsuits, he felt a (deep) sense of satisfaction burning in his chest. Last night, Red-Hair had accepted Kid's declaration of war (with his little voyeuristic show). But the real battle was only just beginning.

Shanks continued to frown after the rookie pirate long after he had joined his first mate and the boys. Last night the two had come to a silent agreement that only two men interested in the same woman could. Elle usually gravitated towards more conservative clothing, despite what she wore. She had been that way when she was little, wearing hand-me-down clothing from Shanks. The pirate had thought that had changed in the past decade, but when he had asked the twins about it, they had told him differently. Apparently Elle rarely shopped for her own clothing.

Garp bought the majority of her 'work' clothes—the clothing she wore in her official capacity as a Marine. The Vice-Admiral knew that when Elle actually took her job seriously she was usually fighting. So he bought her clothing that fit her snugly enough not to hinder her while still being loose enough for her to fight with ease. As for her leisure clothing? That was handled by some woman named Dadan. When Shanks had asked who Dadan was, Sora and Eli had merely said she was the den-mother of all of Garp's wards. And despite having been angry at Garp for giving her another brat to look after, Dadan had been secretly pleased to finally have a 'daughter'. Most of what Elle wore were clothing items Dadan bought for her to show off that Elle was indeed a woman.

When the rookie had first mentioned swimsuits, that conversation had popped into Shanks' mind. And when the younger pirate had agreed to pay for everything so long as he got to choose the swimsuit, Shanks knew that he had been thinking to same thing: if Elle were to chose her own, she would likely find the first one that covered up the most skin. So the two men had silently agreed to stop that travesty from occurring. But when the rookie had picked out a deep purple suit that was barely more than scraps of fabric tied together with string Shanks had felt a smidgen of doubt bloom in his mind.

Oh, for sure, Shanks knew that Elle would look incredible in the suit and that he would love it. But seeing Shanks' own excitement mirrored on the younger man's face was—troubling. It made Shanks want to find the most grandmotherly swimsuit in that damn shop and force Elle to wear it. Shanks would still buy the suit Elle was currently trying on, but he would leave that for a time in which there was only the two of them. Shanks stood up to go looking for the new swimsuit, but paused when Elle stuck her head out of the curtain again. She jerked her head, silently beckoning Shanks to come closer to her.

Shanks obliged the Cat-Woman, bending down so that his ear was close to Elle's full mouth. "My tattoos are entirely visible in this, Shanks," she murmured quietly. Her amber eyes shyly met Shanks' dark ones. "Is that okay?"

Shanks' smile became more genuine. "Of course it is, Kitten," he said smoothly. "There's no reason for you to hide them here."

Elle narrowed her eyes up at Shanks, almost like she could guess what he was thinking. Shanks smiled a bit wider and softly brushed a kiss against the corner of her mouth. His distraction worked, as Elle's face turned bright red and she disappeared back behind the curtain with a small squeak. Shanks felt eyes on him and turned to see the rookie staring hard. Shanks smirked at him, shoving his hand in his pocket as he leaned back against the wall. The kid didn't know it yet, but Elle was about to fully declare that her heart belonged to Shanks. After a—

Shanks jumped when Elle's head shot out of the curtains. Her face was pale and slightly sharper than before, her eyes narrowed as she scanned the shop. Her nostrils flared several times and he felt the soft caress of her haki as she scanned the building. Shanks softly asked what was wrong and Elle flinched as if she hadn't noticed he was there. "I thought I—," she started to say, but stopped with a sharp shake of her head. "Never mind. It was nothing."

Shanks scanned her face, searching for any sign that she was lying to him. Elle gave him a small smile, her hand reaching out to lightly rub against his arm. Shanks' shoulders relaxed, knowing that she was alright. When she had been little, right after the Roger Pirates had found her, Elle had jumped at every shadow. She had been convinced that Brutus was following her, just waiting for the chance to snatch her up. Shanks figured that being on the same island as the scientist brought her old fears back to the surface and that was why she was so jumpy. Satisfied that nothing was amiss, Shanks returned to his earlier thoughts.

Any urge Shanks had to cover Elle up had vanished the moment she had mentioned her tattoos. Shanks knew Elle as well as he knew himself, so he instinctively knew the reasoning behind the locations of her tattoos. The jolly roger of her brothers was inked across her shoulders because Elle knew that they would always have her back. The jolly roger of the Roger Pirates was on the backside of her right ribs, covering up a small circular scar. Elle had been shot by a Marine when she had tried to rush to Captain Roger on the executioner's platform, so she had inked her father over the hurt. But it was her third tattoo that Shanks knew would be 'check'. It was his jolly roger, inked into the skin right above her heart. Because even when she had been just fifteen, Shanks had owned the entirety of Elle's heart.

Shanks winked at the rookie pirate as the curtains next to him slid open. Indeed, Shanks was looking forward to seeing the look on the brats face when he saw just how stunning Shanks' little Hell Cat truly was. And Shanks was down-right excited to see what kind of face the Supernova would make upon learning Elle's true heart.

I stood in front of the small locker, my arms crossed over my chest and foot tapping on the damp floor. I stared at my new swimsuit, trying to work up the courage to put it on. Perverts, all of them, but most especially the two pirate captains. Little Bastard had picked out the small swimsuit himself after sharing a long look with Shanks, who had nodded for the younger man to continue. When I had stepped into the dressing room with the scraps of fabric I had checked the size. The bottoms were the correct size, but the top...? The fuckers had grabbed one three sizes too small.

I had asked them for a larger size, but Little Bastard had just distracted me with pleasant words, buttering me up by calling me 'Senpai'. And, goddammit, I was weak. Its bad enough to be reduced to a giggling mess when Ace had called me 'Aneki' as opposed to his usual 'Aniki'. And God help me if the little shit had called me 'Nee-San'. I would have done anything for my brother, just as I would any time Luffy called me 'Nee-Tan' like he did when he was little and crying. But this Little Bastard of a rookie pirate had quickly figured out I was weak to 'Senpai'. Fucker. All three of them. Shit, I needed to learn how to tune out those words.

I let out a sigh that was more of a snarl and pulled my shirt over my head. Might as well get this over with. I held the shirt in my hand, my fingers rubbing the soft fabric. Shanks had been kind enough to let me wear a pair of his shorts along with this shirt. I felt like a teenager again and had practically floated down the stairs this morning. The Little Bastard had taken one look at me before barking out a curse. I had known that, in that instant, all of his doubts regarding my identity were erased. I lifted my middle finger at him before jumping down the remaining stairs, laughing at his curses.

I quickly folded the shirt and placed it in the locker, followed quickly by my pants and underclothes. I pulled my bikini bottoms on and adjusted the ties so as to keep it from riding up my ass. A peek over my shoulder proved that, thankfully, my ass crack was covered, but I wouldn't be bending down any time soon. I was working on the complicated ties of the top when I heard several women enter to locker room from the Women's Hot Springs. I was in the last bay of lockers, the bunch located closest to the Unisex Springs, so none of the women knew I was in there. As I stared in the mirror next to me and adjusted the strings of the bikini, the women started to talk.

"Did you hear, Akari?" one of the women said. "Master has given Reiniko-sama permission to pursue Red-Hair Shanks."

I hissed in a small breath to keep from crying out. I rubbed the red line on my collarbone where my finger had slipped at the mention of Shanks, scratching me. It stung, but wasn't bleeding, thankfully. Seeing that I wasn't injured, I returned to tying the many strings and silently listening to the two women talking.

"Hanako, hush!" the second woman hissed. "You know we're not allowed to talk about Master in front of outsiders!"

Oh, don't mind lil' ol' me.

"That doesn't matter," the first women said dismissively. "So long as we don't mention Master's name or identity, we're safe. I just feel bad for the woman with Red-Hair."

"And why is that?" Good question, Hanako-chan.

Akari-chan scoffed and I heard the sound of something wet slapping against the floor. "The woman is obviously in some sort of relationship with Red-Hair," she said before letting out a small grunt. "I mean, look at those kids."

"What makes you think—here, let me help you with that." Forget that! Keep talking about Shanks and the kids! "What makes you think those kids are Red-Hair's? That rookie pirate with them has red hair, too."

I shuddered at the thought of having the Little Bastard's children, but still paid close attention to the conversation. "His hair is more wine colored, Hanako. That kid's hair is exactly like Red-Hair's." I stifled a snort. Yeah, when the three of them were together, there was no doubt who the father of my children was. "And that's why we need to warn that woman. She needs to get those children and leave before Reiniko-sama arrives."

Okay, the time for eavesdropping was over. Using one of my claws, I severed six of the strings attached to the bikini, leaving only the four that tied behind my neck and back. I slammed the locker shut, sliding the key over my wrist. I threw my towel over my shoulder and walked towards the women. I stopped in the first bay of lockers and faced the semi-dressed old women. I raised an eye brow and started pulling my hair up into a tightly coiled bun.

"Tell me, Akari-san," I said with a small smirk, addressing the elderly women. "Why should I take my children and leave?"

Both women were staring at me wide-eyed, but the one on the right didn't look too surprised. She seemed the younger of the two, but was obviously the dominant force in their friendship. She threw her shoulders back, making her small frame more imposing. When she spoke, she used the voice of Akari. "Because Reniko-chan doesn't like to share," she said, voice strong despite the small tremble in her hands. "It would just be safer for you and the children to leave Red-Hair right now."

I couldn't help it; the wide grin I shot the two women could only have been described as feral. "Then it's a very good thing that I don't like to share either."

Akari-san opened her mouth to say something, but her friend elbowed her stomach. "We've already done more than we should've by warning you," Hanako-san said sharply. "It's not our fault if you don't heed it."

Akari-san sighed, but her face said she agreed with her friend. After a long moment, she seemed to finally notice my swimsuit. "Are you going to the Devil Fruit Spring?" she asked, blinking in surprise. "That's where all the perverts go, since it's unisex. You should really go to the Women's Spring; it's safer for a young girl like you."

My grin turned more bitter than feral. "Considering I'll drown in there, I think I'll take my chances with the perverts," I said with a small shrug. I gave each woman a hard stare before adding, "Thank you for the warnings. I'm not going to run, but at least I know to be on my toes now. So I appreciate it."

Without another word, I turned and walked out into the Devil Fruit Springs.

A/N: The first true ~battle~ of the story will be in the next chapter! Woo-Hoo! Anyway, I would love to hear what you guys thought about Kid's section. Do you think I did alright? Did I make his thoughts a little too OOC? I feel that he's not an honest guy, least of all with himself, so I tried to convey that in the chapter. I hope it came out all right! I would love to hear your thoughts on it!

I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter!

Vis love,

~Shini