A/N: Chapter 20, woo-hoo! I'm sorry it's taken me so long to update. I was hold this chapter hostage because I found a really cute picture of Shanks and Makino that I wanted my sister to re-draw with Elle, but she straight-up told me that she wasn't going to do it for a while. As the picture doesn't really have much to do with this story (but, rather, a one-shot that will come after), I decided to give in and post this chapter. So I appreciate your patience and, without further ado, here's chapter 20 of Akagami Shiro Neko!
I grumbled to myself as I stepped into the warm air of the locker-room, my cheeks burning red. I shut the door behind me, not caring that the slam echoed through the empty room. Damn Little Bastard, making fun of me needing Shanks to haul me out of the spring. It's not like he was able to get out without Mask-Chan's help! Gah! And I do not look like a drowned kitten when I am wet! Shanks' nickname for me has nothing to do with it. I glared at my reflection in the mirror. Not only is the Little Bastard an asshole, he was a perverted asshole. I snarled at the reflection of my swimsuit and turned to face my locker.
I am embarrassed by the noise I made upon almost tripping over another woman. I could feel the heat return to my cheeks when I noticed the small woman avoid meeting my gaze. Must have been muttering louder than I thought. I cleared my throat and rubbed the back of my neck as I politely asked the woman what the hell she wanted. In a very high voice, the woman said that a nice gentleman had bought me one of the yukatas from the gift shop attached to the Hot Springs. When she held up the dark fabric, I couldn't stop myself from reaching out and touching it.
It was very soft and well made, clearly straight from the Wano Kingdom. Very rare, due to the island being closed off, and thus very expensive. Despite my large collection of yukatas and kimonos, I only had one of each from the Wano Kingdom. My yukata was given to me by Captain Rodger years and years ago when we visited the Wano Kingdom. It was now much too small for me, but I still kept it in case I ever had a daughter. My Wano kimono was a different story. I had been traveling in the area and been unable to tolerate being on a ship any longer, so I made my men pull over to the first island we found. Long story short, became re-aquainted with the daimyo and my boys sort-of adopted his son. As a farewell gift, Oden-San had given me the kimono.
Both of mine were of much higher quality than this yukata, but I could still tell that this one had cost a pretty penny. My first thought was that Shanks had bought it for me, but he knew that I like floral designs rather than these lines. Plus, he didn't have the money to buy it. So that left the Little Bastard and Mask-Chan, but with the way LB had been grumbling about all the berries he was spending today, I doubted it was him. I looked back at the small woman (she really was small, the top of her head barely reaching my shoulders. And I am not by any means tall) and asked who had bought it. She looked down, her dark hair falling forwards and covering her face.
"The gentleman said you would know if you thought about it."
Okay, so Shanks and the LB were definitely out. The face of one of the creeps who had been in the spring with us flashed in my mind. When Mask-Chan had swam over to play with Shanks and the boys, this perv had moved close to me and started talking about how nice I would look in the yukatas they had on display. Luckily the violent glares Shanks and Little Bastard gave him made him leave before any of his pervy nose-blood touched me, but still... Was he the one who bought this for me? A shiver rolled down my spine, but I took a closer look at the yukata. It really was pretty, and would look nice in my collection...
"So this is mine?" I asked slowly. "Like, to keep? Free of charge?"
"Mm," the woman said with a nod of her head.
"I gueeessss it wouldn't kill me to accept it. I mean, it is rude to not accept a gift..."
Kid leaned against the side of the building with his arms crossed over his chest. He drummed his fingers on his biceps (he wasn't cold, dammit!) as he ((glared at)) watched Red-Hair. His finger drumming became increasingly faster as he continued to observe Red-Hair smile (seductively) at the simpering (obnoxious) female in front of him.
She had light brown hair (like the color of shit) that fell just past her shoulders and pale green eyes with slit pupils that were both the same a different from Elle's (but, frankly, gave Kid the creeps). Her body reminded Kid of how Elle looked on Sabaody, all rounded curves, a slim waist, and legs for days. But where Elle dressed in skin-tight clothing that revealed little skin, this floozy wore little to no clothing. She had on what appeared to be a black bikini top that was several sizes too small and a pair of shorts (an apt name) that left most of her ass hanging out of the bottom. The (floozy) woman was dressed more for a day at the beach than the snowy island they were actually on.
As a healthy male, Kid very much appreciated her choice of attire. But after seeing the way Elle looked at Red-Hair, the way that she so obviously loves him... Kid grit his teeth and glared harder. Seeing this whore all but dry-hump Red-Hair's side and him do nothing about it made Kid want to tear them to shreds (after giving them a piece of his mind). Not only did Red-Hair keep smiling down at her, he even placed his hand on her bare waist. With a (very loud) snarl, Kid turned away from Red-Hair and found himself focused on the twins (mostly to see how they were handling seeing their father flirt with a woman who wasn't their mother). The anger simmering in their identical dark eyes Kid expected to see (no child of Elle's would react any differently). But the fear over powered the anger and made the blood leech out of their faces. That was unexpected.
Kid crossed the few steps between him and the kids quickly (he wasn't worried. Why should he be worried? So he didn't run. Just walked. Really fast. Okay, maybe he jogged. But he didn't run! And he wasn't worried!) Kid glanced over at Red-Hair to see if he had noticed the kids' reaction, but looked away with a ((growl)) small noise of disgust. When Kid reached Sora and Eli, he quietly asked if everything was alright. Without looking at him, Sora (at least, he thought it was Sora...) asked if he had a Transponder Snail. Kid didn't, which he told the twins, but Killer does, but Killer had wondered off somewhere (probably to that ramen stand they passed on the way to the Hot Spring)...
"Hey, wait, where're ya goin'?!"
With a grunt (growl) of annoyance (worry), Kid followed the twins as they ran towards the reception counter. Kid opened his mouth to ask what they were doing there, as neither one of them were tall enough to see over the counter. Before a sound could escape his lips Eli (or, at least he thought it was Eli...The one with red hair) crouched down. Sora (white hair) sat on his brother's shoulders and Eli (red hair) stood back up. This made it possible for Sora (white hair) to rest his arms on the counter. He interrupted the receptionist's (annoying, but accurate) cooing of how cute he was to ask for a Transponder Snail. Looking put out, the woman glanced at Kid (seemingly for permission). Kid just shrugged and leaned against the counter, content to observe what the twins intended to do.
Sora (again, white hair) quickly dialed a number and his twin impenitently tapped his foot as the Snail rang once, twice, three times before an annoyed male voice answered with a harsh, "Hello?"
"Doffy-Jii-Chan!" both boys shouted before Sora (white) roughly kicked Eli's (red's) stomach. "Doffy-Jii-Chan, it's Sora!" (So Kid was right about their names! Ah-ha!)
The Snail seemed to raise an eyebrow in amusement and gained a (rather creepy) smirk. "I know who you are, Boy," the Snail said. "Elle's children are the only ones who dare address me as such." The Snail abruptly frowned. "But I don't recognize the Transponder Snail you're calling from. Why not use your mothers?"
"Mama's busy right now, but that's not the point!" Sora said in a (panicky) strained voice. "You need to come quick! You're the only one who can stop her!"
The Snail's frown deepened and Kid felt his hackles rise. He didn't know exactly what they were talking about, but he assumed that it had to do with fighting Elle. And Kid liked to think that he would be able to at least stand on equal ground with the Benineko. (And, quite frankly, it stung that the twins didn't seem to think so.) (In fact, it more than stung that they believed that this old man stood a better chance at fighting Elle than Kid did).
"Aren't you guys with Red-Hair?" the Snail asked slowly. "The Emperor shoulder be more than a match for Elle, even if she goes feral."
"That's the thing, though!" Sora said, even as his brother harshly whispered his name. "The old man is the one who—Eli, shut up!" Sora snapped when his brother kept saying his name. "Shanks is the one who—"
Sora obviously caught sight of something out of the corner of his eye, as he stopped talking mid-sentence. Wondering what could cause the already pale boy to blanch even further, Kid turned to see what had caught his attention. At first, Kid's attention was caught by her clothing. She was wearing a black kimono with bright red stripes all along the right third of it, the obi-sash a matching crimson. The tight-fitting kimono accentuated her curves, yet made her seem more demure due to the lack of visible skin. The cloth ended a few inches above her feet, which were wearing only a pair of geta sandals. Her white-blonde hair was still coiled atop her head, though it appeared to be falling around her face. Kid almost liked Elle dressed like this than he had in her new swimsuit. Almost.
"Doffy-Jii-Chan!" Sora said in a high voice (distracting Kid from staring at Elle). "Some chick is flirting with the old man and Mama just saw him!"
Why did that fact make the twins so scared (looking closer, Kid could even see that both of them were trembling)? Anyone who had spent any amount of time around the two of them (Red-Hair and Elle) would realize that they only had eyes for each other. So despite the fact that Red-Hair didn't seem to be dissuading that woman (whore) from flirting with him shouldn't cause ((any)) this amount of fear in the boys. Kid looked back at Elle and felt all of the blood in his body go cold. Elle was ((stalking)) walking towards them, her movements all predator. And despite the fact that he could not see any trace of her (fluffy) tail or (pretty) cat ears, the look on her face could only be described as feline.
The pupils of her golden eyes were just thin, vertical slits down the center. And they were totally, utterly cold. Looking at the whole of her face (which, let's face it, Kid could never get tired of doing), one couldn't get a sense of what she was feeling. It was just—blank. But her eyes (those pretty, golden eyes) held so much rage and fury in them... Kid was suddenly ((extremely)) very glad that the twins had not asked him to stand between Elle and Red-Hair. Because, for the first time, Kid was able to truly see the woman who had stepped onto an island and left behind nothing but corpses.
For the first time, Kid came face-to-face with the Benineko.
Twenty minutes. It takes me twenty minutes to put on a kimono by myself.
Twenty.
Two-zero.
By myself.
As in, just me.
No help.
None.
And I have been standing here for the past—a glance at the clock—forty-five minutes while this bumbling pipsqueak of a woman lolly-gagged and just took her time. I could feel my cheek twitching in annoyance, could feel my claws itching to burst free and rip this helpless woman to shreds. But I do have some self-control. So I just snarled at her to get out of my way and finished tying my obi. In the five minutes that took, I limited myself to just glaring at the cowering woman. But I didn't paint the walls of the locker-room red with her blood. See? Self-control.
When I was finally completely dressed, I gathered up my other clothing and shoes and placed them in the bag that the trembling woman handed to me. I slipped my feet into the geta sandals, not even bothering to put on the tabi socks. I hoped that the men would at least give me time to put the socks on before we walked back to the house, but if not, I'm sure I could ask Shanks or the Little Bastard to carry me back so I wouldn't have to slog through the snow. That decided, I quickly left the locker-room, fervently hoping that they hadn't left me behind. It had taken so long for me to get dressed (damn squeaky woman) that I wouldn't put it past the Little Bastard leaving me behind.
When I exited the locker-room, the first thing I noticed was Sora sitting on Eli's shoulders and talking into a Transponder Snail. Both of my boys looked pale and scared, instantly putting me on edge. Something had to have frightened them and hearing Sora say 'Doffy-Jii-Chan' only confirmed it. If they are freaked out by something and I am unable to help them, I taught the twins a list of people they are to call for help. First was the Old Fart, Garp. I may not like the man, but I trusted him to do the right thing and protect my children. If the Old Fart was too far away, or it was something they knew that he could not handle, the boys were supposed to call Vice-Captain Rayleigh at Shaky-San's bar. If he wasn't there, then—and only then—were they to call Doffy.
So this makes sense in this situation. If they had called the Old Fart, it would blow my cover, so he was out. Vice-Captain Rayleigh was training Luffy, so he obviously wouldn't be at Shaky-San's bar. So that left Doffy. But the only question I had was why on earth were they calling Doffy? What could have scared them so much that they used a strange Transponder Snail to call the Warlord—
My mind became peaceful, a strange calm that only filled my body when my Cat-Cat Fruit was thirsty for blood. Standing outside of the hot spring was Shanks. And draped across his arm like some kind of skanky cloak was a woman. My first instinct was to rip both of them to shreds, an instinct that ten years of being apart had done nothing to dull. But then the wind shifted, bringing the woman's scent right to my nose. And I felt my lips curl into a blood-thirsty grin. Oh, I definitely knew what had scared my boys. They thought that this woman was flirting with Shanks and my first action would be to kill them both. So Sora and Eli had called Doflamingo, knowing that he was probably the only one capable of stopping me.
So I had better stop Doflamingo from arriving before he blew my cover.
I ripped my gaze away from Shanks and the skank and stalked over to my sons. I grabbed the Snail from Sora and said, "Don't bother coming, Doffy. She's not flirting with him."
I hung up the Transponder Snail before Doflamingo had the chance to respond and turned my attention back to Shanks. Oh, yes, she wasn't flirting with him. She was trying to pull him close enough to her so that she could bite him and inject Shanks with a lethal amount of her venom. And while I loved killing women who dared flirt with my Shanks, I liked scaring those who threatened his life much more.
Much, much more.
Shanks could feel sweat start to drip down his spine, despite the cool air surrounding him. Why couldn't this Reniko-chan just take a hint and leave him alone? Shanks glanced over her head and back at the entrance to the hot springs, letting out a small sigh of relief that he didn't see Elle. Talking with that dick of a Warlord the other day had make Shanks realize that Elle's jealousy was extremely dangerous. And if she were to walk out of the hot springs to see Reniko-chan so close to him, Shanks wasn't sure if he would be able to stop her anger.
"Shanks," Reniko-chan purred, her voice not nearly as enticing as Elle's, "Why don't we go somewhere more—private?"
Shanks kept his easy smile and placed his hand on her bare hip, subtly trying to push her away from him. "As much as I would love to—" Shanks hated lying, but he couldn't bring himself to be anything but nice to the woman, "—I'm actually waiting for someone right now."
Reniko-chan just pushed herself closer to Shanks, rubbing her breasts against his arm. "Oh, c'mon, Shanks, I'm sure they won't miss you too much," she said, her voice going slightly husky as she batted her pale emerald eyes at him.
"I really am sorry," Shanks said, trying harder to push her away. Something, he didn't know what, made Shanks look up. He saw Elle staring at him, her face carefully blank. It was like back on his ship, her face blank while her golden-yellow eyes were cold. Shanks felt his heart start to race and his smile drop from his face. "Really, you need to let go, Reniko-chan. I'm not interested."
Reniko-chan laughed and wrapped herself even tighter around him. "Oh, don't lie to me, Shanks," she said. Shanks looked back at Elle just in time to see her vanish from view. "I know you want to—"
Elle suddenly appeared right behind Reniko-chan, halting her words. Elle's lips curled into a small smile, revealing teeth that had sharpened to fangs. Elle leaned down and whispered something into Reniko-chan's ear before standing up and ripping her arm away from Reniko-chan. Elle flung her hand down like a sword, the blood dripping from two of her fingers splattering and steaming on the fresh snow. The pupils of Reniko-chan's eyes became slitted, almost making them appear reptilian. Her lips curled into a snarl, canine teeth becoming longer and sharper than Elle's. Before Reniko-chan could do more than turn and snarl, Elle swung her body into a round-house kick. The heel of her sandal connected squarely with the two bleeding holes right below Reniko-chan's collarbone.
Reniko-chan went sailing several meters down the street, sending snow flying in all directions. No sooner had she stopped than Elle was standing right above her, having disappeared not long after she had kicked Reniko-chan. Elle lifted her foot and slammed it down onto Reniko, hitting the same spot she had just kicked. A loud cracking sound came, followed quickly by Reniko sinking down and snow flinging up around her. Reniko let out a sharp scream of pain, but managed to glare up at the smiling Cat Woman above her. Elle leaned down, resting her arm on her knee even as she dug her heel sharply into Reniko's wounds. Despite being several meters away from the woman, Shanks could clearly hear Elle as she spoke.
"Now, listen up, Bitch, as I only want to say this once," Elle snarled, despite the smile stretching across her face. "You're going to leave Shanks alone."
Reniko reached up and grabbed Elle's ankle, her lips moving into a pantomime of a smile. "What, are you scared of a little competition?" Her grin widened, much more of a showing of teeth than an actual smile. "Afraid he'll choose me over you?"
Elle laughed, the sound sending shivers down Shanks' spine. He assumed that was the sound a cat would make when she had a mouse trapped under her paw. "Oh, sweetie," Elle cooed, "You and I both know that you weren't flirting with Shanks. You were trying to kill him. And, besides, if you had been—" Elle's smile suddenly became savage, "—you'd already be in itty, bitty pieces."
Elle dug her foot deeper into Reniko's chest and the latter let out another sharp cry of pain. Elle's smile abruptly fell from her face, leaving nothing but hate behind. "If you try to kill someone who is mine again, I will not hesitate to rip you apart piece by piece," she said, her voice as cold as her yellow eyes.
Elle stood up straight and turned her back on Reniko. Elle leveled her gaze on Shanks and lifted her hand to her mouth. As she walked towards him, Elle started to lick the blood from her fingers. Shanks was unable to tear his gaze away from her, so her next movements shocked him enough that he took a step back. Her lips curled and a vicious snarl ripped from her throat. In one smooth movement, Elle turned and caught the hand that was arching towards her neck with razor-sharp claws. Elle through Reniko on the ground, face-first, still keeping a hold of her arm. Still snarling, Elle slammed her foot down on Reniko's shoulder and yanked—
Shanks blinked once, twice, three times before his mind fully comprehended what his eyes were seeing. Elle stood in the middle of the street, blood splashed across her face. Her hand was still loosely curled around Reniko's wrist. And Reniko's wrist was connected to her forearm, and her forearm was connected to her upper arm... But that was it. Blood dripped obscenely from the ragged edge of the severed limb, pooling at Elle's feet. Reniko rolled around on the ground, screaming as she clutched her shoulder where her arm had been attached.
Elle glared coolly down at the screaming woman and said, barely audible over the screams, "Consider this your second and final warning. Next time you try to attack me or mine, I will not stop until you are left in pieces no bigger than my thumbnail." Shanks felt the blood drain from his face, acutely aware of the fact that she had done just that to those Marines back at Marineford. Elle turned her head to the left and gave something a savage smile. She threw the severed arm and a dark person Shanks hadn't noticed caught the limb. "Put that on some ice and Master might just be kind enough to re-attach it."
Not waiting for the dark person, who seemed to be made of nothing but shadows, to answer, Elle turned and walked back towards Shanks. She stopped and arms-length in front of him, her golden eyes wary as they appraised him. It suddenly hit Shanks that she expected him to reject her after her little—display. But Shanks had seen Elle do much worse than this, with much less provocation. He had read about everything she had done as a Marine, both before and after she became known as the Benineko. And Shanks knew that Elle would—and could—do much, much worse if someone were to threaten her children—or him.
Shanks saw that she expected him to turn his back on her because she had shown just a hint of what she was truly capable of—Like he hadn't already known that she never makes threats, only promises.
So Shanks reached his hand out and gently cupped her cheek, brushing some blood away with his thumb. Giving his Kitten a small smile, Shanks leaned forward and kissed the top of her head.
Yes, Gol Elle could well and truly be a monster. But she was his. And nothing could ever change that.
A/N: I think this is the first time I've ever written about Elle fighting and/or acting like this, so I hope you guys liked it! Also, I know this is the first time that Elle's surname is mentioned. I'll touch back on that later in the story, but, for now, know that it was totally intentional.
Also, because you guys were so patient waiting for this chapter, I will be uploading a bonus chapter sometime pretty soon! So please look forward to that~!
I hope you guys loved this as much as I do!
~Shini