We spent almost one week on the wide open ocean. We left Nami's island on the next day, a little after the party due to a few troubles. Ever since the talk with Tsuki, I have been very moody, my emotions go wild and no matter how hard I try to suppress them there is always a little hint in my voice stating the obvious.
We were heading to Logue Town, now I can say we finally arrived safe and sound. Maybe shopping would do me the world of good, it usually lifts my mood drastically and I feel a lot better. That day, I was wearing a blue shirt with a butterfly design on the back, black mid-rise jeans, and black boots. I wandered around the shopping district, looking and staring. I had some of the money with me I had earned during my time as maid; it wasn't a lot, but enough to keep things affordable.
Thank god that Nami did not find it, otherwise things might have ended up hairy. I went into the store named Anguish. The clothes that they offered reminded me of things I had seen in 'Hot Topic' or 'Macy's', perhaps both mixed together. I browsed around.
"Can I help you?" a voice questioned me from behind.
I turned around to see a woman glancing in my direction. The female had pink hair with brown eyes. She had a white, plain blouse with the cutest pink plaid skirt. She combined the cute outfit with brown cowboy boots and looked to be around twenty-five years old…perhaps younger.
"Hi," I waved a little.
"I am actually looking for clothes that are easy to move in and which look cute as well," I told her. She smiled at me and started to walk towards the middle of the store.
"Well, we have some clothes designed for vigorous activity, but still fashionable," she explained clearly, picking out adorable pieces, "but it also depends which colors you prefer and in which sort of activity you want to participate in."
"Really…thanks…um…well, not quite sure…what's your name? My name is Angelina," I asked as I looked through the rack of items.
"My name is Penelope," she stated nicely before returning her attention back towards the clothes, "here are some cute blue skirts and shorts to go under," she pulled them out, showing them to me. I nodded and looked at the price. 'I can afford this,' I thought to myself, 'thank God I can.'
"Do you have jeans and shirts to match?" I asked quickly.
"Maybe even some sweaters, perhaps jackets and accessories…as well?" I smiled sheepishly at her. And from one second to another I saw those eyes…those Beli signs practically slapping me across the eye socket. 'Another Nami,' I thought to myself, sweat dropping.
I left Anguish with two full bags of clothes. In total, I spent around 2,500 belies. I had 1,000 beli left, not counting the coins. I signed up to be an Anguish member, in case of any cheap offers. She gave me the spring catalogue and her business card in case if I ever needed any information. I gave her my picture so that the glider birds could find me anywhere.
She said I was special, since I completed her new outfit, but I doubted that a little. I kept going down the street, scanning every store I passed. Then I spotted Zoro walking on the same street with his new swords. I smiled a bit. He told me that without three swords on him, he felt uncomfortable and weak.
I continued my way down the street to spend more money. I felt a little better, but I still did not quite understand how shopping could make me feel so at ease. Suddenly, I saw something that surprised me. I stopped walking and quickly went back to the window I had passed. Inside the weapon shop, I saw them.
Those beautiful boots I adored, Honey Eyes had worn just the same pair. Maybe I was overreacting a little on my behalf…the boots were almost the same, except that they had three buckles instead of two. I slipped into the store and then realized that it was filled with weapons of all sorts. One side of the wall on my left was covered with swords and daggers.
Some were just plain, huge, small, decorated with fancy craftsmanship, or unbelievingly colorful. Across on the other side were guns. These guns were specialized; at least they seemed to be. Some were small to fit in a person or purse. Some were long for accuracy. Others were probably for sniping or showing off. Then in the middle of the shop were fighting clothes and accessories.
"Welcome to Starblast Weaponry. The name's Hank. Can I-...oh it's just a girl," the man cut off his words abruptly and turned away. He had lots of tattoos carved onto his back and he seemed awfully gosh.
The male named Hank was short. He was probably 5 feet, maybe even shorter. He had a bald head, small, black eyes, and fish lips. His skin was the color of peaches, but was covered with only black tribal tattoos. He had a black tank top on from what I could see.
"Honey, who is it?" a feminine voice from the back asked.
"A girl, Bevel," Hank yelled, not very amused. I frowned at that, it seemed rather unfair. I bet he was a sexist to boot. A woman appeared from the back of the counter whom I believed to be this Bevel person.
She had a large, built body compared to the man, and was taller than me. Her hair was multi-colored and rather unusually designed. Her skin was tanner than my own. It reminded me of milk chocolate. Her eyes were the color of dark sapphire gems.
Her ears were pierced seven times on each. Her nose was studded, and from what I could see from her purple shirt was that her nipples were pierced as well. Not a pleasant thought.
"Are you lost, dear?" she questioned me kindly. I saw her tongue ring from here, darn she must have guts! I put on my small smile and pointed at the boots.
"No. I am here to buy shoes in a size eight, and maybe something I can use to defend myself?" I asked sheepishly, "I am not that knowledgeable about weapons though, so some help would be appreciated." The man nodded.
"Be right back, little lady," he announced and disappeared into the back room.
"So are you a fighter?" Bevel asked, leaning against the counter. I moved back a little, towards the rack where gloves of different colours caught my eye. I shook my head wildly.
"What do you do for a living?" she continued, "anything you need a weapon for? Or is it for protection?" I put my bags next to me. I thought a bit. I couldn't tell her that I was a pirate. She might call the marines.
"I am a crewmember going to the Grand Line," I simply stated. She started to laugh. I lifted my eyebrow slightly, confused. I just turned my head back to the gloves and lifted a pair up.
It was a bit heavy to be a normal pair of leather gloves and they were pretty thick. I felt that it had a special pouch filled with some type of metal in front of the knuckles, behind the fingers, and the hand. I put one on and started to like this. I picked one pair each of the blacks, whites, pinks, purples, and blues. Bevel finally calmed down a bit to actually talk. I guess the thought of a weak girl going to the Grand Line must be hilarious, maybe even ridiculous.
"No one made me laugh like that in years. Going to the Grand Line…. that was good," she said with a smile. I looked at her, a pout forming on my lips.
"I was being serious," I said, smirking. I walked up to the counter and placed the five gloves on top of it. My bags were right beside me. Hank came back with a box containing my shoes.
"Here, try it on," he placed them on top of the counter, opening the box up and giving me a boot. I took one of my black shoes and tried it on.
"They look just like his and are adorable on me," I practically shone with happiness, looking at them affectionately. Bevel had a devious face.
"Who is he? Hmmm. A boyfriend of yours?" she questioned, leaning forward and smiling a bit. I took the boot off and placed it in the box. I looked her way and blinked at first.
Then I pushed my long bangs behind my ear and blushed a bit. I thought a little. Dracule Mihawk as my boyfriend? Oh my god, those images that came up into my mind. I saw us walking side by side, sharing a meal together, watching the sunset, drinking tea, and kissing. I shook my head.
"No. He is just a swordsman whom I have a crush on…." I said. My ears turned a bit red. I could feel my face heating up.
"So, crushing on a swordsman. Thinking that becoming stronger will get his attention," she said, smirking. I crossed my arms.
"I doubt it. I just saw him two weeks ago and developed a crush on him. I am hoping that it goes away. I know he will never look my way," I told her, glancing down towards the floor boards. To be honest, I doubted that I would ever meet this man again. She looked a bit angry, maybe even upset.
"Then get his attention. If you like him, get to know him first," she said in an encouraging manner. I was shocked. This woman did not know that I liked Dracule Mihawk, the strongest swordsman in the world. She expected that I could simply talk to him.
"If I see him, I'll talk to him," I said, smiling. She smiled a bit, but her eyes knew what mine were saying.
"Since you are getting the gloves and don't know how to use them properly, do you need any hints or even tips?" she questioned, getting excited. I nodded my head; I really needed to learn first. She took some books from under the counter.
"Here are some books that will help you. Just for 35.99 beli, and in total that will be," she said, ringing up my things.
"That will be 150.98 belli"
'Damn, Daddy,' I thought as I reached for my wallet.
An isolated tropical island in the middle of the sea and Mihawk had set his golden eyes towards it. The waves brought his boat to the sandy beaches to the mentioned ground piece. In his hands were the posters of Luffy and Zoro. He smirked. The clouds were as grey as they could be.
A blonde man with a telescope in his hands sat on the warm sand. He saw nothing until he spotted a black dot. He wondered what it could be. His bald friend leaned against a palm tree, keeping the blonde man company.
"Huh? What the hell is that?" he stated out loud, "looks funny," he added as he continued to observe it. His bald headed friend looked up and stood up.
"Lemme see," he asked and took the telescope. When he saw the familiar swordsman, he screamed. A group of pirates gathered around the beach to see Dracule Mihawk.
Dracule stood up and started to walk. They parted ways to let the swordsman go through. They did not know what to do, so they armed themselves. Dracule reached the line where the beach and the forest met. The blond man stopped him.
"Hawk-eyes! What are you doing here?" he questioned carefully, scared of this strong man. The blonde tried to act with toughness, but he failed dramatically. Dracule just looked at him with a dull glance.
"Shut up. I have no business with you. Where is your captain?" Dracule rather stated than asked, staring at him with his unnerving eyes. The man swallowed once and then ran off to his captain.
"Camping on an island like this…he's much too casual," Dracule mumbled to himself and followed the weaker man.
In the center of the forest, there was a clearing where a white and red umbrella was neatly stuck into the hard ground. The blonde man came out of the bushes and flew in front of his captain. He heaved, sweating like mad. His captain looked up, smiling at him in a questioning manner. Three lines graced his façade, all three of them old scars. They ran through his eye and covered quite a bit of his face.
"B-b-b-boss," he mumbled and tried to tell his captain about the situation, but he was out of breath. Someone gave him, a cup of water. The blonde man drank with greed and heaved a sigh when he was finished. The strongest man in this crew lay low and close to their captain, waiting for the man's message. Finally, he had enough.
"Hawk-eyes!" he simply said and then chills ran through his back. His eyes widened. He held his breath and looked back to see Hawk-eyes himself. He ran away from him.
"Yo, Hawk-eyes. Long time no see," Shanks smiled warmly, "I'm not feeling so good right now. Did ya' come for a match?" the red-hair captain questioned. Dracule looked uninterested though.
"Mhm. I really have no interest in challenging a one-armed man like yourself Shanks," Dracule paused, thinking. He looked at his old friends missing arm. Then he continued.
"However, I came across some interesting pirates, and it reminded me of something that you told me a long time ago," Dracule explained, getting the wanted poster out of his coat and giving it to him. "A story about a small village, and an amusing little kid," Dracule finished.
Shanks's eyes widened when he took a better look at the paper pieces his friend brought. He could not believe that Luffy had a bounty; neither had he thought that the time was already ready. He was becoming the very pirate he had been boasting about.
The sun rays went through the dark clouds, the dark mass disappearing gradually. Shanks grinned widely, amused about the sudden events. Others were shocked that Luffy had made it this far, then again he knew better.
"So you have finally come, Luffy!" Shanks mumbled quietly as he continued to gaze at the wanted poster. Then he looked down, somewhat happy. Everyone looked at their Captain, awaiting an order. "Well then, Mihawk," Shanks started, waiting for a reaction. Mihawk glanced at the man in front of him.
What was going through his mind at this moment? Was he challenging him in any sort of way? Mihawk could only wonder about this man. He lifted an eyebrow, awaiting a continuation. Shanks grinned and stared directly into Dracule's eyes with confidence.
"I can't let you go just like that," Shanks finished, a smirk plastered across his face, "so stay and have some fun with us!" Somehow Shanks persuaded Mihawk to stay and to celebrate that Luffy had finally become a pirate of his own. Shanks set down a cup and filled it with sake.
"So Mihawk, c'mon, drink up! Drink, drink!" Shanks called out eagerly, already half drunk. A red blush went across Shanks' face, a dorky smile covering his usual grin. The others pirates started to drink, eat, and dance. Mihawk was wondering how the hell he would manage to get out of there.
"We're going to have a party today!" Shanks proclaimed, "And it will be fun, fun, fun!" Mihawk gripped the sake cup and looked at it in disgust. Then he looked at Shanks with his golden eyes, a bored gleam in them.
"You seem to have already done so," Mihawk simply stated, swatting away a fly. Shanks ignored him totally, acting like his usual self.
"Don't mind me, just drink. C'mon, c'mon, c'mon!" Shanks pushed his guest, encouraging the swordsman to lighten up. Mihawk started to drink in one fell swoop and that made Shanks laugh out loud.
"Party! Party!" Shanks yelled at his men, waving his arms around like a maniac.
"But, boss! You just said you had a hangover from drinkin' too much!" one of them reminded him, wondering about their strange captain. Shanks frowned a bit.
"Dumbass! Don't ruin my fun here!" the Red Haired male replied tactlessly, sitting next to Mihawk. Mihawk took a sip and watched the scene before him. The Swordsman wondered how in the world it was possible to respect the man seating right next to him. Was he insane?
"So, Mihawk, how did you meet Luffy?" Shanks questioned, "He didn't challenge you, did he?" Mihawk retold his view of the story, trying to repress the urge to punch some of the drunken crew members. How a group of weak pirates had interrupted his nap, how they thought of him as a joke.
He had destroyed all of the ships one second later except one due to a strong storm. He had wanted to kill them for some time, so he followed them all the way out of the Grand Line for fun. The weak pirates had stopped at a restaurant, where he had destroyed their ship. Then, a swordsman named Roronoa Zoro had challenged him to a fight. After the fight, he had gained new respect for him and had defeated him with his black sword.
Then, Luffy had tried to fight him, but Zoro had stopped him, telling Luffy he would one day defeat Mihawk himself. That had earned him a half a smirk from the Master Sword Fighter. Next, Mihawk had asked Luffy what his goal was, and Luffy had screamed out loud, "To be the King of the Pirates". Everyone started to laugh.
They started to remember how Luffy had been then and how he was back in the old days.
"Those were good times," Ben, Shanks' first mate, stated calmly, "he is as amusing as ever." He took out the cigarette, lighted it and took a deep breath. Mihawk was strangely quiet, which wasn't really that unusual. Mihawk couldn't get some words out of his head. He kept hearing that girl calling him Honey Eyes over and over again. It aggravated him. How could the greatest swordsman, one of the Shichibukai, and scariest man alive be called Honey Eyes?
"Oi, Mihawk, something else happen," Shanks stated more than asked. Mihawk simply looked at him, pondering if he should actually tell his friend about the strange female. Shanks seemed to know him all too well; even now the Pirate knew something was up with Mihawk, even on those good days he could sense it.
Something would always happen to Mihawk and Shanks would know without taking a second glance. The male sighed and took a sip. Some pirates stopped what they were doing and decided to eavesdrop.
"What do you mean?" Mihawk asked, trying to avoid the question. Shanks just grinned.
"I've known you for a very long time," the red haired man announced rather loudly and downed a beer glass in one fell swoop. Mihawk knew that Shanks always got his way somehow, and today he was plain too tired to do anything.
"…There was a girl when I met Luffy and Zoro," Mihawk started, looking straight ahead. Everyone in the place froze. Ben's cigarettes dropped to the floor due to its lighters sheer amazed expression. Yassop woke up from his nap, wondering what had woken him up.
La Roux stopped eating and just chewed the piece of meat between his teeth. The others just looked at this man with jaws dropping and mouth's wide open. Shanks suppressed a scream, sake coming out from his mouth. Everyone thought the same thing, but never said it aloud. 'Mihawk? Thinking about a girl….wait…WHAT!'
"For some apparent reason, this strange girl was not particularly scared of me, not trembling because of me, nor screaming at me. She did not use any of my alias or my name," Mihawk told Shanks, remembering the nickname.
"What did she call you?" Shanks questioned, the thought amusing him. Everyone leaned in a bit, careful not to get his attention. They wanted to know very badly who and what had happened. Mihawk stayed quiet for a while. He did not want them to know, but he didn't care anymore either. Why should he? He chugged down the last beer in his sake cup before saying what she had said to him.
"Honey Eyes," Mihawk stated, sounding like the usual. It went quiet. No one made a move nor did any of them make a sound. The birds did not even chirp and the wind stopped for a short moment. Then, someone broke the silence.
"Dahahahaha! Aww, looks like someone likes you, Honey Eyes," Shanks joked, trying to restrain his laughter. Then his crewmates joined into the fun and Mihawk denied it.
"Don't be ridiculous."
"Tell us more about the girl."
"I don't remember."
"You sure? What's her hair color?"
"…Chestnut."
"Eyes?"
"Hot Chocolate."
'He remembers all that from a glance?' Shanks thought before continuing, "this is very important: her name?" he questioned quickly. Mihawk frowned.
"I don't know," Mihawk stated, "I did not stay around long enough to catch that, neither did I care very much for it."
"Are you serious? Nothing else about the girl, oh Mihawk, you are boring!" Shanks stated abruptly, a little disappointed. His crew went back to celebrating, bored enough with Mihawk.
"No," he stated, "nothing else." Shanks put a hand on Mihawk's shoulder, restraining himself even further. He had to be cautious around his friend; he knew what he was able to do when agitated.
"Come-on, this girl likes you, isn't afraid of you, and nicknamed you. Doesn't that mean anything to you?" he asked the great swordsman. Mihawk looked sharply at Shanks and the captain slowly started to sweat.
"No. I don't pursue woman like you, 'Red-haired' Shanks," he stated sharply, "I think they are useless, incompetent, and mindless-" Mihawk was cut off.
"Mihawk, everyone needs some companionship in a lifetime," Shanks told him, at least in a wise manner and a head shake. Mihawk rolled his eyes, wondering why he even bothered.
"Please save me the lecture," the swordsman sighed, rubbing his eye lids. Ben looked at Yassop while his captain lectured Mihawk about women, the entire crew was just wondering about their relationship.
"I really want to meet this girl," Ben said as he lit another cigarette. Yassop looked up with a confused expression.
"Bet 2,000 belies that he'll come back for advice."
"Deal," Ben said, not believing that Mihawk will actually come back for one girl.
I started to breathe harshly now, my lungs being strained. Running non-stop to our ship with a load of marines following and shooting at us was a great workout if you needed exercise. I had a glimpse at the marine captain, and indeed, Chuck Norris reminded me of him in some sort of way, not the other way around.
A little while later we gathered on deck, every single crew member finally arriving on the boat. Everyone explained their dreams and hopes for the future on the floor boards of the Going Mary.
"To find the All Blue," Sanji said lifting his leg on top of the barrel.
"To be the Greatest Swordsman," Zoro announced proudly, mimicking Sanji.
"To be the King of the Pirates!" Luffy called out with a grin
"To be the Bravest Warrior," Ussop stated happily with little confidence in his voice.
"To map out the world," Nami added at the end, grinning from one ear to the other.
Everyone was now waiting for me. Tsuki told me that I couldn't go back, but there might be a way back. I was so confused now. This would make me a permanent member of the Straw-Hat crew. I took a deep breath. What are my dreams? Back home, I always want to be a teacher or a CEO of my own company. Now, I can do anything I want. So what do I really want to do?
"To be the best swimmer." My destiny was now written on stone.