News About Usopp
Chapter 3
"Hurry up, guys!" Piiman shouted as the trio ran towards their home village. "Villagers must hear about this!"
"That's right!" Tamanegi agreed.
"Finally we have proof about our captain's courage," Ninjin shouted eagerly.
They ran to the village but before they had time to shout anything, the boys stopped abruptly when they almost ran into Mornin, a mayor of the village.
"Boys! Where are you going in such hurry?" Mornin asked with amused expression. "You are running like you would be late for something important."
"Good morning, mayor Mornin!" the boys shouted in unision because their mothers had insisted that they must be polite to the mayor.
Then Tamanegi added with eager expression: "It has finally come!"
"What has come?" Mornin asked.
"The wanted poster! Our captain has finally got his own wanted poster!" Piiman explained with a smile.
"Really?" Mornin asked. The mayor seemed a little bit worried but he couldn't help but feel little bit curious too. "May I see it?"
The boys grinned at each others.
"Tadaah!" they shouted with smiles as Piiman gave the mayor the wanted poster that promised 30 million berries from the man in the poster's photograph.
Mornin stared at the photograph. "Uummm... Who is he?" he asked carefully.
The boys' smiles disappeared.
"What do you mean 'who is he'?" Ninjin asked. "It's our captain!"
"Are you sure?" Mornin asked as he studied the photograph of the masked man. "He has a mask on his face. How do you know that it's Usopp?"
"From his nose, of course!" Tamanegi replied as he pointed at the nose of masked person.
"Well, it seems to be similar like Usopp's nose but there are lot of other people who have long nose too," Mornin remarked.
"But he's called the King of Snipers and you know how great shooter our captain is!" Piiman said.
"It's true," Mornin said as he remembered those times when Usopp used to shoot the city hall's metal weathervane for fun. "But I'm still not sure if the man in this wanted poster would actually be Usopp."
"But we know that it's our captain," Tamanegi shouted.
"Yeah! And when we show this wanted poster to others, they'll surely recognize Captain," Ninjin said with determined expression.
And so the boys left the mayor and continued their running.
Shopkeeper Brett was talking with Hugh and Brett's wife Millie was putting products on the shelf when the boys rushed into the shop.
"Our captain is in the wanted poster!" Piiman shouted so suddenly that Millie almost dropped cans from her arms.
"Is he again in other person's photograph?" Hugh asked as he remembered how excited the boys were when they had seen the back of Usopp's head in another person's wanted poster.
"Not this time! Our captain has his own wanted poster now!" Tamanegi informed, earning surprised looks from adults.
"What? Let me see that paper," Brett ordered as he reached out his hand. Piiman gave the wanted poster to the shopkeeper who studied the paper with Millie and Hugh. For a moment it was quiet in the shop but finally Brett turned his attention back to the boys.
"Who is this weird guy?" Brett asked.
"'Weird guy'?" the boys shouted with shocked expressions.
"That's our captain!" Ninjin said after he had got over the shock.
"How do you know? They don't show this guy's face," Hugh remarked.
"From his nose!" Piiman informed.
"That's not a proof!" Hugh said.
"Our captain is great shooter. That's why they gave him an epithet the King of Snipers!" Tamanegi explained with determined expression.
"We know that he can hit a target but he isn't that great shooter," Brett sighed.
"Besides 30 million is too much from Usopp in my opinion," Millie said. "He's a rascal but he would never do anything so aggravating that they should offer a bounty like this. Poor boy would be frightened."
Their skeptical attitude started to annoy the boys.
"No matter what you say, it's our captain," Piiman said with defiant tone as he took the wanted poster from Brett.
"We are sure that others will agree with us, even though you don't believe!" Ninjin informed.
The boys turned and left the shop with determined expressions.
Next they went to the village's restaurant. When the boys arrived, Helen was wiping the surface of tables, post officer Lucas was drinking a cup of coffee and Matthew was reading a newspaper.
"Our captain has got his own wanted poster!" Tamanegi shouted at the restaurant's door, earning attention from everybody in the restaurant.
"Really?" Matthew asked with surprised expression. "Let me see."
When Piiman gave the wanted poster to him and he started to study it, Helen and some customers of the restaurant gathered around him to see at least a glimpse of the wanted poster.
Boys waited anxiously their reaction but they became disappointed when they saw villagers' skeptical expressions.
"Who-?" Lucas began but the boys interrupted him.
"It's our captain," Piiman informed.
"We know it from his nose and the epithet referring to his shooting skills," Tamanegi explained.
"Are you absolutely sure?" Matthew asked. "This guy... Sogeking? His name and appearance looks like he is from some kind of a fictional drama. Is this a joke?"
"It isn't a joke!" Ninjin shouted. "That's our captain!"'
"Why would Usopp use a mask?" Helen asked. "He lies and brags often and had caused some of mischief but he had never done something so... weird."
"That's one of ugly mask, by the way," Matthew stated as he lit his cigarette and gave the paper to the nearest person.
Boys stared at the villager's faces as they passed the wanted poster around but nobody showed any sign that they would had recognized Usopp.
"You made this up, didn't you?" Lucas asked from the boys. "You were disappointed because Usopp hasn't wanted poster, so you decided to claim that that guy in the wanted poster is him. Am I right?"
The boys stared at the post officer with shocked expressions before their shock turned into anger.
"We didn't make this up!" Piiman shouted.
"They said in the newspaper that Sogeking is member of Straw Hat Pirates just like our captain. It must be him because our captain is the only one from that group whose face hasn't showed in wanted posters!" Tamanegi shouted.
"Maybe Usopp wasn't there when photographes were taken," Helen suggested.
"You have heard from what reason that group got those wanted posters, haven't you? Usopp isn't that foolish that he would pick a fight with the World Government," Lucas said.
The boys glanced at each others.
"You know what? I'm starting to get tired of this," Ninjin muttered to others.
"Yeah, me too," Tamanegi said.
Tamanegi took the wanted poster from one of the villagers and the trio left the restaurant without saying a word.
Boys continued walking until they sat down on the bench in the village square.
"Villagers are so thick-headed, Ninjin muttered.
"Yeah. They just can't believe that our captain isn't just a liar and coward," Tamanegi sighed.
They sat in silence until Piiman said with serious expression: "Guys. There's only one thing we can do now."
The boys stared at each others and together they made a wordless decision. It was time to go meet one of those few people who believed in Usopp.
"It really is Usopp-san," Kaya said.
The boys almost sighed in relief. They knew that they could always rely on Kaya.
"We told the villagers that it's Captain but nobody believed us," Tamanegi told.
"Fortunately at least you believe, Kaya-san," Ninjin said with a smile.
Kaya smiled while the boys commented how cool the mask was but deep inside of her mind she was worried.
"Usopp-san... I see that you've encountered dangerous troubles. I hope that you have somebody who will take care for your injuries during your adventures. If you are injured when you someday return home..." Kaya thought to herself. She then rose from the fence she had been sitting on and began walking away.
"Kaya-san? Where are you going?" Piiman asked when the boys noticed Kaya leaving.
Kaya turned to face the boys again. "I'm going to continue my studies. I must become a good doctor soon, so I can take care for Usopp-san if he's injured when he returns home," she explained with a smile. As Kaya continued walking away, the boys decided that Usopp deserves to get a hit if he ever would make Kaya cry.
To be continue...
