Kuro woke up to scream.
His brain couldn't process the pain he was going through, his arms and legs jittering in reflex, which only caused more pain as his broken joints pulsed with how messed up his body was.
He didn't even realize that he had people around him until he heard Merry gasp, horror in his voice, barking for pain killers to be delivered.
A gruff voice he didn't recognise grumbled about how that wasn't something he deserved.
A hand landed on his chest, and another two forced his head up, fingers forcing his eyes open.
The light blinded him, but he could see the blurry shapes of the four pirates that had ruined everything in the span of a minute.
"He really is Kuro."
The hands around his face disappeared and his head hit the pillow again, voice too sore to continue screaming, and brain still too tired to try to comprehend the pain he was in.
"...the pirate attack that killed Kaya's parents…"
He would've laughed at the pathetic tone that damn liar boy had, if just staying alive wasn't causing him immense pain.
"Oi."
His brain spun as a hand clapped against his cheek and gripped his face, people screaming as his body was heaved up, arms dangling and causing even more pain that threatened to knock him out once more.
He finally managed to open his eyes slightly to look at the face of his current torturer.
He was greeted with a view of the muscular, red-vested straw-hat that had looked more innocent and curious than dangerous last time he saw him. "Where is your crew?"
Now, Kuro thought, he looked more like a guy that could crush his skull at a whim.
"Fuck you." Kuro grumbled, ready for whatever the captain was about to do.
He was willing to leave that as one last gift to Kaya, a pirate crew that would haunt her dreams till the day they launched their surprise attack and claimed this island.
"Well, I tried." The captain mumbled, then pushed him back into the bed, another scream escaping his lips before the pain sent him back under.
"Luffy!" Nami screamed, punching him in the shoulder. "What the hell!?"
"He didn't wanna talk!" Luffy protested, gesturing at the bed, then turning to her with a shrug. "Didn't you hear?"
Her face heated up. "I—you!"
She punched him again.
"I think she's talking about how we could've used more…" Robin's eyes grew darker. "Persuasive methods of getting information out of him, Captain-san"
"Your eyes don't look as pretty when you talk like that, Robin," Luffy stated, ignoring or ignorant of how that made Nami blush, and Robin flinch before smiling lightly.
"Besides that sounds not fun," he added, grumbling and pouting at the others in the room. "Anyone else have any ideas?"
Nami huffed, crossing her arms.
"Bet they would have a ton of loot." He added, glancing at her in the corner of his eyes.
He grinned as he watched her light up with excitement, almost seeing beri signs appear in her pupils.
Usopp rubbed his chin, surprisingly calm for once after all the screeching he was doing a second ago. "... he would've had a way to contact them if he was going to launch an attack, right?"
"Possibly, long-nose-kun," Robin hummed, tapping her own chin. "But that could be chalked up to monthly or even yearly check-ins, I'm sure Luffy wouldn't want to wait that long."
"...they should be close." Nami hummed rubbing her own chin and looking to the ceiling "or at least keeping very low, I haven't seen any new bounties on the crew he captained. Have you, Zoro?"
The swordsman grumbled, rubbing his eyes. "Huh-wha?" He yawned "Kuro's crew? Nah, haven't heard about 'em in ages till today."
"Weird how they could keep low for three years while still active," Nami mumbled. "Just the cost of being on the ship would've made this operation moot…"
Luffy sighed and took a seat on Kuro's chest, ignoring how the man wheezed with pain. "So we got nothing?"
"What if they were living on an uninhabited island nearby?" Usopp offered, eyes shining. "No marine patrol, land to grow food on…?"
"That's what I would've done…" Buggy mused absent-mindedly, unaware that the rest of the crew could hear him.
"...there is a small island close to here that would fit," Nami hummed, remembering her few mapping expeditions over the last decade or so. "Doesn't hurt to check, right?"
"...If you are going out of your way so much for our sake…" Merry mumbled, rubbing his hands together meekly. "Please let us provide you a ship to get there, Monkey-san."
Luffy's eyes shone and a smile bloomed on his face. "Could we keep it?"
Merry returned the smile kindly. "...I'm sure Lady Kaya and myself could agree to that, Captain."
"Alright!" Luffy cheered, jumping off Kuro and onto his feet. "Zoro, Robin, you stay here! Nami, Usopp, let's go hunt some pirates!"
With that he ran off, leaving a dust trail in his wake.
Nami face-palmed, and sighed.
Merry sweatdropped. "...does he know where the ship is docked?"
"W-wait what? Me? Why do I have to go?" Usopp asked meekly, sweat running down his forehead.
Nami shook off her stupor, grabbing the sniper by the scruff of his neck and starting to drag him out. "You'll get used to it, C'mon."
Zoro grumbled gently, scratching his hands "Why does the new guy get to have all the fun?"
Robin giggled quietly, hiding her lips behind her hand.
"Hey! Flashy bastard where the hell do you think you are going!?" Buggy screeched, not happy with all the tossing and turning he was suffering as Luffy dashed through the sleepy streets of Syrup Village. "I-If you keep that up I'm gonna get sick!"
He blinked, coming to a realization "Wait, no I don't have a stomach right now. Heh. Head joke!"
Half a world away, a skeleton frowned.
Luffy ground to a halt. "Wait, I thought you were still connected to your body…" He grabbed the rope binding the clown's head to his hip, rolling him around "where did the ale you drink go?"
"Hey! Hey don't look at my stump that's private! Hey !" The talking head protested, finally grumbling with a reddening face as Luffy turned him upside down, glaring at the stump.
"...Luffy, wait up!" Nami screamed, cresting the hill and panting as she caught up to the captain. "You don't know where the shi—what are you doing?"
"Looking at Buggy's stump," he answered, tossing the head in the air before grabbing the rope and attaching it back to his hip. Buggy wheezed, fighting the urge to throw up.
"It's a mysterious black hole ," he mumbled, eyes glazed and looking out to the horizon aimlessly.
Nami looked at her captain, slowly tilting her head. Then she shook it, deciding that was a conversation for later. "...anyway, where the hell do you think you're going?"
"...circling the island, duh?" he offered. "It's a ship, where else could it be but in the sea?"
Well, he isn't wrong . Nami sighed "Or, you know-" she pulled Usopp out from behind her. "You could ask the local where it is"
Usopp wheezed, panting softly, needing to catch his breath after catching up to the two. "How are you- not even sweating?"
Luffy shrugged, and Nami turned to him with a doubting expression. "Do you know where the docks are?" she asked, really not in the mood to talk about her monster of a captain.
"North, but the ship were taking wouldn't be there, we should probably go back and ask Merry!" Usopp argued back. "And leave me behind! I need to be here for Miss Kaya!"
"Eh?" Luffy looked lost. "But that's why Zoro's staying behind. To protect her."
Nami blinked, "And here I thought it was so you could hog the fight."
"Ehhhhh?" Luffy leaned over her shoulder. "But Nami, I just said I didn't wanna do that!"
She smirked back in response.
Buggy groaned, "Stop flirting, I beg you."
"Luffy."
Buggy screamed in pain "Stop it! Stop it you're gonna tear it off!"
"Ok, but why did you bring me, then?" Usopp questioned again, getting restless and feeling more unfit to be near the three by the second.
Luffy turned and blinked at him. "Did you not wanna come?"
The question threw Usopp for a loop, the sniper blinking and sweating at the implications. "B-but I'm just dead weight?"
Luffy laughed, shoulders shaking with mirth. "You really are a great liar!"
"Now… let's find that ship!"
Usopp nodded dumbly, unable to argue against the steadfast and blunt way Luffy crippled his insecurities. He gave in and Iet himself get dragged into the young captain's rhythm.
None of them paid attention to the man moonwalking down the street as they picked up and started walking to the southern port.
Nami blinked, an incredulous smile blooming on her face at the sight of the stubby caravel with only one square-rigged mast and a triangular lateen bobbing up and down gently in the still waters of the west side of the island.
If she was being honest, she was excited to try and sail a boat so maneuverable, so tied to the weather itself. But she wasn't so sure this one was the boat Merry had mentioned.
"You sure this is the one?" she asked their reluctant new recruit, tapping him on the shoulder to get his attention.
Luffy laughed and jumped onto the ram-like figure head, crossing his legs and laying back, feeling the wind in his hair. "Hope so, I love this spot."
"...yeah I think so, I think Merry had commissioned this for Kaya, to take her sailing when she got better." He mumbled, looking up to the ship with shaking legs. "Are we really going to do this? Do you two know how to sail a ship?"
Luffy cackled, "How hard could it be?"
Buggy sighed in defeat. "I'm gonna die. You're gonna kill the great captain Buggy, and it won't even be flashy."
Nami fought the urge to punch both of the idiots, and only the distance was keeping her at bay. "Don't worry Usopp, I'll guide us wherever we need to go."
"Ah! There you are!" Merry called cheerfully, walking down the path set into the cliffside, apparently straight from the mansion.
Nami blinked at the sight and face-palmed.
"I see you found our ship- the Going Merry!" He smiled brightly, clapping his hands in front of him and tilting his head kindly. "I hope it's fitting of your needs?"
"She's perfect!" Luffy cheered, hopping to his feet and showing off impeccable balance as he managed to not even slip from the rounded head even as the boat shifted and tilted with the lapping of waves. Buggy seemed less impressed as his head broke out in a cold sweat with fear. "We're setting off!"
Merry blinked. "B-but- wait! Give me a second to teach you how to run her!"
Nami knew, if Luffy knew how to pull the anchor, he would've already.
She sighed and groaned, dragging Usopp by his clothes again. "Merry, if you could give me a quick once over? Our Captain isn't the most…"
She heaved a sigh, laced with a smile. "…patient."
She managed to haul Usopp onto the boat by the time the butler managed to shake off his stupor. Finally, he too scrambled up the rope ladder, but unlike the makeshift pirate crew, he looked unfit for the little vessel in his butler attire.
Despite his appearance, the man had more than enough passion for the small ship, running his hands over the rails with the tenderness of a parent, a wide smile on his face. "I built her for Kaya, some time ago… I think two years now, when I was hoping she could at least get a voyage in, but her sickness worsened before she ever got a chance to step on it."
He smiled sadly. "Sorry I couldn't let you sail until now, Merry."
Nami shot a look at Luffy, hoping the man wouldn't say something callous. To her surprise, he didn't. His only response only resting a hand on his hat, tilting it down slightly to shade his eyes. "We'll take good care of her."
Merry looked happy with his response, smiling brightly. "Please give her the adventure she deserves!"
Jango waited, tapping his thumbs together in the usual spot where he and Kuro had their weekly meetings. His old captain had made sure that the hypnotist would never head into the mansion, in fear of it ruining their plan.
But now it had been four hours past the meeting time, and Jango was getting slightly worried about it all.
"...maybe just a peek couldn't hurt?"
Luffy roared with laughter as the wind hit his face, the Going Merry churning through the waves with ease under Nami's guidance, their sniper shoving the steering column left and right as his navigator read the winds guided them out of the coast.
Nami took to the ship like a fish to water, while Usopp seemed to forget his hang-ups entirely, dutifully following Nami's command from the kitchen and meeting area of the ship.
It had been just an hour or so, but the cramped but cozy insides of the Going Merry almost felt like home to Luffy already.
"Let's kick enough ass to earn this!" The young captain cheered, already imagining how fun it would be with Zoro and Robin with them too.
"You mean just you, right?" Buggy added from his hip. "Lassy and Lanky ain't built for a proper pirate fight."
Luffy paused and looked down to the head on his hip. "Nah, they got this!"
"Oh no we don't!" Nami hissed, walking up and grabbing him by the shoulder. "Don't gimme that shit, Captain."
Luffy tilted his head with a pout. "But Namiiiiiii- You won't get better if you don't fight!"
"Who said I wanted to fight at all, Dumbass!" She hissed, tightening her grip on his shoulder. "I'm just the navigator till I get enough money to…"
Her voice trailed off, and she looked away. "Buy a village."
Buggy opened his mouth to say something, but Luffy's hand on his scalp made the Clown pirate think twice before giving the Straw Hat a reason to throw him over board.
"You really sure you don't want to see the world with me?" He asked, voice a little more serious than usual. Nami couldn't match his gaze, still looking to the side.
Then her mouth fell open, gaze focusing on something in the distance. "There they are!"
Luffy turned to face the massive galleon, nearly hidden behind the tops of trees on a supposedly uninhabited island. "We'll talk about this later."
For once, Nami wished Luffy was dumber.
Robin paused, closing the book she was reading in the archives of the little town and places her hand over her mouth, connecting to the one she had left in the mansion.
"Swordsman-san, I think you're about to get the fight you were itching for." She didn't need eyes in the room to know the man gripped one of his swords with a hungry grin. "I just saw a strangely dressed man sneaking around the west side of the mansion."
With that, she returned to her book, unaware of her mistake.
In the distance, pirate hunter Ronoroa Zoro rushed out the north side of the mansion, looking for a fight.
"Oh…" Jango mumbled, catching a glimpse of the swordsman stepping out of the house and running away from him. He knew that black bandana, three swords and the green hamakiri on his waist.
It was the infamous Pirate Hunter Zoro.
"Oh no… what is he doing here?" Then, the coin dropped and he figured out why Kuro was late.
He was suddenly very glad he had brought Buchi along for protection.
"Luffy! I won't say it again! I'm not fighting!" Nami protested, Usopp next to her too scared to even pipe up. "Why don't you? You love it!"
Luffy tilted his head with a childish huff. "Yeah, but I wanna see what you guys can dooo."
He then shot her a charming smile. "Don't worry! I'll step in if it gets too bad!"
Buggy grumbled from his hip. "You're terrible."
"Don't make me agree with that asshole!" Nami screamed, jabbing her finger towards the clown pirate. She took a deep breath in to regain her composure, then struck a cutesy pose. "Besides… I'm too cute to fight, aren't I?"
"I'm cuter!" Usopp barked, face stony and frozen in a scowl.
Luffy blinked. "...I don't think that's how it works, either of you."
Buggy sighed and gritted his teeth angrily. "You're all hopeless."
"W-Well! Easy for you to say!" Nami grumbled, getting in Luffy's face and jamming her finger against his chest. "You got your devil fruit to save you, I bet you couldn't even fight without it!"
Luffy looked offended at the concept, scrunching his face. "If I take them down without it will you at least try to fight sometime?"
"Yes!" Nami agreed, her hand still on his chest. "But if you go back on your word, you'll have to listen to me from now on!"
"Deal."
Usopp looked between them, then at Buggy. "What the hell is a Devil Fruit?"
Buggy missed his hands, he wanted to face-palm.
Kaya had locked herself in her room since the truth of Kuro's identity had been revealed to her, sniffling and fighting coughs the entire day.
She still couldn't believe that her kind caretaker was a monstrous pirate, one known for murdering entire marine platoons on a whim. But she couldn't get the image of the wanted poster out of her head.
For years, she had been taken care of by a pirate, god knows why. Part of her raged, wanting to shoot him in the head and end it all.
Another feared his crew. The ones that had most likely killed her parents.
She hugged her knees, wishing that Usopp was there to lie to her and take her mind off of it all. To make her laugh and forget.
The young heiress smiled sadly, knowing why he couldn't be there for her, not right now.
…He's out there being a brave warrior of the sea, like he always said.
She looked out to the blue skies "Hurry back, Usopp…"
"I'm not ready for this!" Usopp screamed, hiding behind Nami, his slingshot trembling in his hands. "I should've stayed in the village!"
Luffy turned to laugh at him. "I thought you wanted to be like your father?"
"He wasn't eighteen when he left the village!" the sniper shot back, poking his head over Nami's shoulder to glare at the straw-hatted captain.
She, without thinking about it, assembled her bo staff and smacked his forehead with it. "You're being pathetic, what would Kaya think?"
"That I'm insane for even being here!" he screeched, uncaring how close they were getting to the pirate outpost.
"Women like that in men, y'know?" Nami offered with an impish grin, shooting a look at the sniper over her shoulder. "Now go be a hero for your ladyfriend~"
Luffy shot a look back at her. "Do they really?"
Her face bloomed in a blush, raising the staff as if to whack him, only to scream in terror as she saw three pirates push the foliage apart infront of them.
"Ah, Straw Hat, behind you." Buggy mumbled, looking at the three grunts.
The grunts slowly looked down at the talking head, then back up to the Straw-hatted teen. Luffy stared back at them.
Then they screamed, matching Nami in pitch, before running away.
Luffy grabbed his hat and sighed.
"I hope Zoro is having a better time…"
"There you are!" Zoro shouted, finally finding the man Robin was probably talking about.
A fat man with a bell on his collar and a cat-like costume looked up at him with boredom before panic settled into his eyes "...Pirate hunter!?"
Zoro was already raising his sword to his mouth before the man had spoken. " Finally, a proper fight! "
"N-no, I'm just a simple fisherman!" Buchi argued, hiding his head behind his clawed gloves.
Zoro stopped, glaring at the man. "...you have weapons in your hands?"
"Ah! He caught me!" Buchi barked in shock, dramatically tossing his hands into the air. "Wah! I've got no other choice but to attack, then!"
Zoro wanted to go back and sleep at this point, watching the man run at him, clawing in front of him with each step.
"...if I fight something that stupid, I'll feel like a jackass. What should I…" he mused, pulling his white blade out from his mouth and sheathing it. "...Guess one sword should cut it."
"If you think so!" Buchi shouted back, his foot denting the ground as he leaped forward at Zoro in a sudden burst of speed, one the swordsman couldn't even imagine a man of his mass possessing. He barely managed to block the claws at the last second in his surprise.
Zoro grinned, looking up at Buchi, who seemed a lot more fierce all of a sudden.
"That's what I'm talking about!"
Shoving the cat-man back, he went to pull the rest of his blades out, his hand coming up empty when he went to his belt.
"Looking for these?" Buchi bellowed, laughing while gripping the nameless blade and Wado, tossing them over his back and onto the dirt. "I don't think you need those for little ol' me, do you?"
Now, there were a few things that would always piss off Ronoroa Zoro. And all of them revolved around messing with his blades.
"You're right." he hissed, adding another hand onto the grip of his lone blade. "It'll be a lot more painful for you now, though."
Buchi didn't need to act scared as the swordsman approached.
Luffy chased after the three goons that had happened upon them, jumping up and grabbing onto a sufficiently large branch. The tree heaved and cracked into splinters as he pulled it off without pausing, landing on his feet with a skid before tossing it straight at the lead pirate, catching him on the back and causing him to topple over.
The captain grinned, rushing over and kicking the branch up, grabbing one end and then using his armored feet to clean up the smaller branches still hanging off the pole. He smiled with satisfaction at the makeshift club, christening the weapon by smacking it against the downed pirate's back as he tried to get up.
He shot a look behind him, chuckling with pride as he saw the other two charging him from behind. He turned and kicked the tree next to him hard enough to splinter the wood, the oak falling over and revealing the opening to the clearing that housed the Black Cat pirates.
None of them could comprehend what hit them. Heavy branches smacked against the sides of heads, pirates barely managed to pull their swords out to strike only for the blades to be redirected, a devastating series of punches crashing into their guts.
They didn't even have time to set off their alarm.
Luffy sighed, leaning against the trusty branch that had a few more slice marks decorating it now. It had taken him a few more minutes than he'd expected, but he had managed to stomp out the crew with ease. "...this kinda takes me back to the mountains with gramps."
Nami and Usopp stared at him with wide eyes, going back and forth between Luffy and the twenty beaten and bruised men.
"W-what kinda monster are you?" Usopp muttered, taking a step back. "Oh, it feels like my 'cannot-go-near-Luffy-disease' is acting up, so sorry I'll wait at the Mer-"
Nami shut him up with a hard punch to his shoulder. Not letting her eyes leave Luffy's form, she gave a one word demand. "Explain."
"Oh!" Luffy smiled, shifting his gaze back to the two. "My brothers and I used to kick ass with lead pipes when we were little kids, l dunno, ten-year-olds? Anyway…" He shifted and spun the branch around with his wrist, showing plenty of aptitude with it. "Been a while since I used something like this, after I got the hang of Moho-Moho, I never needed it, y'know?"
Nami looked at him, then back to her bo-staff, then back at the man as he spun the branch around his neck before grabbing it with both arms, looking content.
"...can you teach me?"
Luffy's face almost split apart with a smile.
