Beta by Navigator101.
Chapter 5
"I am the Great Captain Usopp! If you are thinking of attacking the town, think again! I have eighty million followers," was what greeted them at the next island by a lanky teen atop a hill with three kids who ran not too long after the pirate trio landed.
"You're lying," Nami called him out, causing Luffy and Zoro to laugh at the teen's surprised reaction.
"You're funny," Luffy laughed.
"Don't insult me. I'm an extremely proud man! I've got so much pride that people call me 'Usopp the Proud,'" Usopp yelled at the kid. He'd yell at the other guy for laughing too, but sadly, Usopp wasn't brave enough to yell at someone walking around with three swords. He may be scared, but there's no way he's going to let these pirates into town.
"Don't worry, we're not going to kill anyone here," Luffy said after he finished laughing. "I'm Luffy. This guy is Zoro, and that's Nami."
"As if I'd believe you. Buggy Pirates are known to be cruel," Usopp pointed an accusing finger at them.
"Buggy?" Luffy tilted his head in confusion.
"The sail, Luffy," Nami jerked a thumb towards the boat they came in. "We didn't have another sail to replace that one, remember?"
"Oh," Luffy said as he hit his fist into his palm. They never took down the sail with Buggy's mark on it.
"Don't worry about Buggy," Zoro assured Usopp. "Luffy already took care of him. We stole the boat."
"That kid? Does that mean you're not pirates?" Usopp asked hopefully.
"Nah, we're pirates," Luffy grinned. "But really, we won't do anything to the town. We just want food. I'm really hungry."
Usopp finally decided that there's no way these people were that dangerous if they have an innocent-looking kid with them. The only pirate-looking person there was the green-haired swordsman. Thinking they didn't look too dangerous, he led them to the village restaurant.
"So, you're looking for crew members and a ship?" Usopp asked as they ate.
"Yeah, that's right," Luffy said as he happily ate his third plate of salad.
"Well, as you can tell, we don't have any big ships here or anything. We're a small village, but I know someone who has one. I just happen to know the owner of the mansion up on that hill," he pointed out the window. He went on to tell them about the young lady of the mansion.
"Hey, lady! More salad!" Luffy called out after Usopp finished his story.
"And sake!" Zoro added to the order.
"Are you even listening!?" Usopp yelled at them.
"Luffy, you should eat something more than just salad if you're hungry," Nami said in concern. As much as she claimed that she's only sailing with them and not joining them, Luffy had grown on her. She wonders if this is what it's like to have a younger sibling. "Try eating meat or something with protein in it. It'll fill you up faster," she said before calling out for another dish for Luffy.
"Mmm," Luffy gave his dish an unsure look before poking at it with his fork.
"It's not bad." It was the same thing she ordered for herself. Satisfied after Luffy took a bite, she turned her attention back to the topic at hand. "Maybe we should find a ship at the next stop then," she said, feeling bad about asking a sick person for a ship.
"By the way," Usopp said, "you said you were looking for crew members, right?"
"Yeah?" Zoro answered since Luffy didn't say anything. He raised an eyebrow at the way his captain looked like he was concentrating on eating, rather than inhaling it like he did with the salads.
"You can make me your captain," Usopp said confidently.
"No way," Nami and Zoro said together.
"Hey! At least think about it!"
"Yeah, no. Luffy's the captain," Zoro nodded his head towards Luffy, before narrowing his eyes at Usopp. "And before you say it again, Luffy's not a kid."
"Uh, ok," Usopp averted his eyes before he remembered he needed to be somewhere and left them.
"Really, Luffy," Nami sighed, "just finish your food already. It's getting cold." She even took a bite out of it to taste it. There was nothing wrong with it, and it tasted the same as when she ate it.
Luffy said nothing and continued to concentrate on his food. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either. His stomach was deciding on whether it's okay to keep in there or not.
He had just finished his plate when the three kids from earlier came running to their table. "What have you done with our Captain?" they demanded with their wooden swords raised.
"Ugh, my stomach," Luffy said as he laid his forehead on the table. His stomach was still too busy struggling to digest the meal he just had to even bother listening to the newcomers. He'll just let Nami and Zoro deal with them. Right now, he's got a rebellious belly to take care of. Maybe if he willed it, all the food will stay. The meal was a little too oily for his sensitive stomach to handle.
"Your stomach!?" the kids shouted. "You mean, the Captain's…" Nami giggled at what she was sure the kids were thinking.
"If it's your captain you want," Zoro gave the kids an evil smile, "we just ate him."
"Aahhh! Onibaba!"
"Why are you looking at me!?" Nami screeched at the kids, then gave a glare at Zoro for laughing so hard. "Your captain went somewhere, saying 'it's time.' We have no idea where he went."
"Oh," the kid with the green helmet said as if remembering something, "if it's around this time, he should be at the mansion."
"You mean the mansion with the bedridden girl?" Nami asked.
They all turned to watch Luffy slowly move his head up from the table, the first movement he'd made since the boys accused them of eating their captain. He gave them a determined look before stating, "Let's go find Usopp." The queasy feeling in his stomach wasn't as bad now. Maybe it would go away without him having to take his medicine.
Zoro was the only one to notice that Luffy was a little pale but didn't say anything about it.
"But we already know where he is," Nami pointed out.
"Right, he's at the giant house that might have a ship for us."
"Luffy, we just talked about this. I don't feel right asking a sick person for a ship. We can get a ship at the next island," Nami reasoned.
"No. We're getting that ship. I need a bath," Luffy crossed his arms, letting her know that he's not taking 'no' for an answer.
She gave a sigh before getting up. "Fine," was all she said as the rest of them got up to leave the restaurant.
As the three pirates walked, the children explained why Usopp visited the mansion frequently. They thought it was admirable that Usopp wanted to cheer the sick girl with his lies, even though the way the boys explained it didn't sound very good at the beginning. Just on that alone, Luffy was thinking about recruiting the long-nosed boy on his crew. He'd be fun to have around. Stories were always good. It'd be like at home, where his Pops and Grandpops liked to tell them stories.
Once they reached the mansion, the boys showed them the secret entrance that Usopp liked to use. The found the other teen easily once they got through the bushes. The girl in the window was laughing at something Usopp said from the base of a tree.
Luffy interrupted them when he stumbled as he walked over to them.
"Are you okay?" the girl asked worriedly.
"They're fine. They're fine," Usopp quickly assured her, not wanting to alarm her and not wanting her to call for her butler. "They've heard how great I was, so they came the join the Great Usopp Pirate Crew."
Luffy slowly pushed himself upward, trying to get his breathing back under control. The food from earlier wasn't wanting to settle right and is now rebelling again. Instead of getting back on his feet, he decided to just sit where he was.
"No, that's not it," Luffy quickly shot down and waved a hand at Zoro's worried look at him. "We have a favor to ask."
"A favor?" the girl asked. "From me?"
"Yeah. We're looking for a big ship -"
"What are you people doing here?" a stern voice cut Luffy off from finishing his request. "You're trespassing and causing problems for us."
"Klahador, these people are -" the girl tried to explain before being cut off by the man that showed up.
"Not right now," the butler-looking guy said. "I will listen to your explanation later. I'd like for you people to leave. Or do you have something to say?"
Luffy didn't like the condescending way the man was talking to them, but he'd put up with it if it meant he could get himself a ship. He really needed a bath, damn it! "Yeah. We're looking for a ship -"
"Absolutely not!" the man interrupted again. "Usopp!" he called out. "I've heard rumors about you from the villagers."
Luffy really didn't like the way this guy was talking to his about-to-be-new-crewmate. It was just making his stomach even more queasy. Maybe he'd just puke it all up right here to spite the man. That might just make his stomach feel better too.
Oh, now the stupid man was bad mouthing Usopp's dad. Luffy could tell that Usopp didn't like that at all. The teen's demeanor changed, and Luffy liked what he was seeing. Usopp was no longer the scaredy cat that met them when they first landed. He was now a brave person, defending his dad. This was the person Usopp would be in the future if he had someone to push him in the right direction. The punch to the butler's face wasn't strong, but it was perfect.
Luffy wanted him. He felt proud when Usopp defended his dad's dream.
"I'm the son of a pirate!" Usopp shouted proudly.
And here, Luffy had enough. The hate, and anger from both parties was not sitting well with his stomach. Not to mention every time the butler mentioned pirates, there was a tint of something else behind his words. Better to just let it all out and get away from the negative feelings. Nami was getting worried about the situation.
"Luffy!" Zoro and Nami shouted in panic when their captain just dropped to his hands and knees and puked.
Nami knelt to rub Luffy's back, not knowing what else to do. "Are you okay? Do you need anything? Water? What's wrong?" She asked in a panic.
Zoro knew his captain hadn't been looking too good since they left the restaurant but didn't say anything, as it wasn't his place. Now, he knew better. He should have made his captain take a rest before coming. He should have been the responsible one since his captain was much younger than he was, practically a kid.
Because of his carelessness, his captain was now puking … blood? Panicking, Zoro knelt next to Nami to place a hand on Luffy's shoulder as he heaved and hacked up his lunch.
"Hey," Usopp said with fear in his voice, abandoning his argument with Klahadore, "are you okay? What's wrong? Do you need a doctor?" He had to bring his head closer to Luffy when he couldn't hear the response. "What was that?"
Luffy rolled his head back to lean on his swordsman's shoulder. "Out. Far away from here. Too much," he said breathily.
With that Zoro quickly picked him up and walked straight out the gate with Nami, Usopp and the kids following.
"What's that?" Nami asked as Luffy took out a bottle from his pocket.
"Medicine," he answered, shaking out a couple of colorful balls and stuck them in his mouth. He then made himself comfortable in Zoro's arms. "Better in ten minutes."
"What happened?" Zoro asked. He was very worried about his life as a pirate with this captain now. It didn't seem as easy as it should be. Though, now that he thought about it, the note that was in his pocket should have been a good enough warning.
"Was it the food?" Usopp asked worriedly. "They usually make the best food here."
"No," Luffy answered with a sigh, rubbing his stomach. "My stomach doesn't like some foods. It needs to be cooked a certain way, or it'll all come back up. But I did manage to keep it down longer than usual," Luffy flashed them a smile as if that was something to be proud of.
"Why didn't you say so?!" Nami screeched, wanting to punch him.
"I thought it would be okay. It's been a while since that happened, and the food really did taste good, and I was sooo hungry, and I was told to never waste food," he whined before turning pained again. "I thought I could actually keep it down, but then there was so much yelling, and my stomach gave up the fight."
"Is this far enough for you?" Zoro asked, looking down at his captain.
"Mmm…can we go there?" Luffy pointed to the ocean on the other side of a small forest. "I want ocean air."
The children had left them to go home before they entered the forest, stating that they needed to be home soon.
Zoro set Luffy down by a tree overlooking the cliff to the ocean and sat down next to him. Nami and Usopp joined them at another nearby tree. Luffy took a deep breath of sea breeze and stretched his arms over his head. "That feels good. I feel better now. Thanks."
"You should tell us these things so that we know what to expect," Zoro said, looking to the ocean. "We're sailing together now, so we have to watch each other's back."
"Yeah, sorry. Didn't want anyone to worry. I got enough of that at home," Luffy chuckled sheepishly.
"It's not funny," Zoro fumed with his arms crossed. "I saw you out eat me at Shells Town, and now, I see you puking up blood because of something you ate."
"I ate at that restaurant at Shells Town before. I think my brothers told the nice lady how to make my food, so it stayed down. I can't remember all the details, so I can't explain how it should be cooked."
"Anything else we need to know about you?" Nami asked with a pointed glare.
Luffy tilted his head in thought. "There's a lot of things," he shrugged before turning his head to look at Usopp. "Your dad's Yasopp, right?"
"Ho-how'd you know?"
"I've met him. He's sailing with Shanks and likes to talk about you. A lot. I mean, every time he gets drunk, we try to avoid him since you're all he talks about," Luffy laughed. "The ass said your dad was a pirate, and then I remembered where I heard your name from. I'm surprised I forgot your name with how many times I heard him talk about you. Your dad is one of the best sharpshooters I've ever met."
"He's with Akagami Shanks?! You've met him?" Usopp crawled over to sit in front of Luffy, wanting to hear more about his dad. "How did you meet him?"
Instead of telling him more about his dad, Luffy shoved Usopp aside and crawled over to the ledge and peered over. He had to shush them to be quiet when Nami asked what he saw. Together the four of them watched as the butler and a strange man with a goatee talked on the beach below them, revealing the plan to attack the village and kill Kaya to take over her inheritance.
Luffy slapped a hand over Usopp's mouth before he could make a noise of surprise, reminding him to keep quiet. The two parted ways after finishing up their plan, and Luffy finally lets Usopp go.
"We have to do something! We can't let them kill Kaya and attack the village!" Usopp screamed as he ran around them in circles before slumping down on to a rock. "I love this village. I want to protect everyone. How can I just watch everyone gets killed?" he cried.
"We'll make sure nothing happens to them," Luffy assured him. He wasn't at his best right now, otherwise, he'd just jump right down and beat the crap out of them. "Tomorrow morning. We'll wait for them to land first."
"That's Kuro of a Hundred Plans, captain of the Black Cat Pirates! He's supposed to be dead! He was supposed to have been caught by the Marines five years ago and executed. But he's still alive!" Usopp grabbed his hair with both hands. "What do we do? What can we do? There's no way we can beat him."
Luffy placed a hand on his shoulder and gave him a smile. "Don't worry. We're strong. I can beat him for you, just not right now." He placed a hand over his stomach with a strained smile. "I'll be better by morning."
"That's right, we've got this covered," Zoro said with a feral grin, hands on his swords.
"I'll leave the fighting to you boys. I'm going after the treasures," Nami smiled with her hands on her sides.
"But we don't even know which coast they're going to come from," Usopp said weakly, feeling overwhelmed and lost. His village and Kaya will be destroyed tomorrow, and he's too weak to do anything about it.
Luffy hummed as he closed his eyes to concentrate. "There," he pointed to the opposite coast where he felt the presence of multiple people in one place on the ocean.
"That's where our boat is!" Nami said, running towards their boat. "My treasure!"
Zoro stopped Luffy from following with a hand on his shoulder. "How are you sure they're that way?" he asked with a raised brow and suspicion in his voice.
"Haki," was all Luffy said as if that was an answer he'd understand and continued walking.
"Haki?"
"What's that?" Usopp asked walking on the other side of Luffy.
"Hmm…" Luffy hummed in thought with a finger and thumb under his chin. "Haki is haki. It's how I find people."
Zoro and Usopp shrugged and hoped he was right.
They reached the top of the slope where Luffy said the pirates would come and found Nami hiding a large sack behind some bushes.
"So, we'll just protect this slope with our lives and the village will be safe," Usopp said as they settled down to plan.
"Sounds easy," Luffy nodded. "We'll just sleep here tonight, and we'll be ready for them."
"That's easier said than done. What are you guys good at?" Usopp said as he made a mental plan, which happened to not include himself fighting.
"Cutting."
"Stretching."
"Stealing."
"Hiding."
"You have to fight too," Zoro and Nami shouted, bonking Usopp on the head.
Luffy laughed at them before telling Usopp, "You do what you can, and we'll back you up. Don't worry, you're braver than you think you are."
"Th-th-thank - oh no! The villagers! I have to warn the villagers and Kaya!" Usopp yelped before running off into town.
Night had already fallen when Usopp returned, bruised but not badly beaten. He dropped himself down next to Luffy. He was in so much shock that he didn't notice that Luffy was snuggled up to Nami. "I've lied so much that no one will listen to me, not even Kaya."
Luffy turned around to face Usopp and stretched his arm to wrap around his waist, pulling Usopp down to lay with him and into a hug. "Don't worry about it. We'll make sure the lie will stay a lie. Now go to sleep."
Usopp continued to mumble and sniffle about not being able to convince anyone to run and hide until Luffy was done with the negative feeling. Without warning, he gave Usopp a headbutt and gave a sigh of relief when it was quiet again.
Zoro chuckled at the sight of Luffy sandwiched in between Nami and Usopp and how Usopp was now being used as a teddy bear. He closed his eyes from where he sat not too far from them, where he had the best vantage point over the slope. His captain is young, but his captain is his captain. Zoro will be right where he'll know when the pirates come and warn them before the attack happened.
Luffy smiled to himself, knowing what Zoro was doing. It was like having Ace and Sabo with him. They liked protecting him because he's the youngest, even though they knew he could take care of himself. With that thought and the warmth of Nami and Usopp surrounding him, he felt safe enough to fall into a deep sleep, trusting Zoro to wake them in time.
-*/
Dawn, just before the sun had fully risen, Zoro opened his eyes when he sensed some movement where Luffy, Nami, and Usopp slept. He silently watched as Usopp sat up to rub his forehead where Luffy had headbutted him the night before. The swordsman snickered to himself when Usopp's eyes widened at seeing Nami and Luffy with their arms around each other, but he couldn't stop the full-blown laughter when the long-nosed teen shrieked and crawled backward away from them while apologizing.
Nami sat up and stretched before asking, "Is it time?"
While Luffy sat up, rubbed his eyes, and asked, "Is breakfast ready?" Instead of waiting for an answer, he pulled Nami back down to the ground to go back to sleep.
"Wake up, you idiot!" Nami yelled as she gave a punch to his head. "We have a village to save."
"Huh?" Luffy gave her a confused look before yawning and stretching his arms over his head. "Oh, Nami. Right. Save village."
"And what's wrong with you?" Nami asked Usopp, who was a good few feet away from them, on his butt and hands behind him, shaking in fear.
Usopp quickly sat on his knees and brought his hands and face to the ground. "I'm so sorry!"
"Huh?" both Nami and Luffy said in confusion.
Zoro held in his laugh. He knew how it looked to outsiders when two teens of opposite sex sleep together that closely. It didn't take him long to understand that Luffy doesn't see Nami that way, more like, he doesn't see Nami any differently as he saw Zoro. She was just another human being.
"He's sorry for sleeping with you," Zoro grinned.
"Oh. It's fine. Luffy was in between us," Nami waved off the concern.
"B-bu-but it's fine for you to sleep next to Luffy? That's indecent!" Usopp pointed at them.
"What's in-dee-sent?" Luffy asked Nami.
"He means, 'it's bad and shouldn't be done,'" she answered Luffy before looking at Usopp. "There's nothing indecent going on between us. I mean look at him. He's like a cute little brother."
"You mean it's bad to sleep with you?" Luffy gave Nami a horrified look. "Why? I didn't want you to be left out."
"Left out?" Usopp turned to ask Zoro behind him.
"He takes his naps with me during the day."
"Why?"
"Who knows," Zoro shrugged.
"Because I can't sleep by myself," Luffy said as he stretched to wake himself. "Trao says it's because I've been conditioned to sleep with someone since I was tiny and was never broken out of it." He then turned wide eyes to Nami. "Is it still bad to sleep with you?"
"No," Nami sighed then glared at Usopp, "you can sleep with me. I think it's adorable."
"Hey," Zoro's serious voice gained their attention, "I see a ship."
They all turned to look out to sea and saw a ship slowly coming towards them. The sun was now fully up, and they could see the pirate flag of the Black Cat Pirate crew.
"So how do you want to do this?" Luffy asked them.
"I'll just stay back here and take command," Usopp said proudly with his knees shaking.
"No, you're going to fight too," Luffy grinned with his arms crossed. He's determined to make Usopp understand how brave he can be.
"I don't care as long as I get to cut someone down," Zoro said indifferently.
"Same. I just want the treasures on their ship," Nami said.
"Okay. We'll all just fight. Usopp, you can stand behind and cover us with your slingshot. I'll help Nami with the treasures," Luffy grinned. "Defend this slope like your life depends on it, guys!"
"I'd rather go treasure hunting," Usopp mumbled, wanting to avoid fighting real-life pirates.
"You want to get through all that?" Luffy pointed.
At the sight of the horde of pirates jumping off the ship with their weapons drawn, Usopp squeaked, "Never mind. I'll leave that to you."
"Take those kids out and attack the village!" called out a man with a goatee when the pirates stopped in confusion at seeing the four teens. "We don't have time!"
"All right! Let's thin out this crowd first," Luffy said as he wound up his arm.
In just one attack, Luffy and Zoro were able to send them all flying back to the bottom of the slope.
"Eh?!" Luffy cried out in surprise. "They're so weak!"
"You guys are so strong!" Usopp yelled at them.
"You didn't kill them?" Luffy tilted his head in curiosity at Zoro when the pirates all got back up. He thought that was a normal thing in pirate fighting, especially with swords.
"I don't just kill everyone that comes after me. Besides, they're not worth my time," Zoro huffed before he narrowed his eyes at his captain. "Or are you saying I should kill them?"
"Nah, you do what you want."
"Good." Zoro may be a swordsman, but he's not as bloodthirsty as the rumors claimed him to be. He only kills the ones that deserve it. The others just needed to be scared enough to not want to bother him again.
"Ooo, what are they doing? Looks interesting," Luffy said as he watched the strange man with the goatee from yesterday swing a ring around.
"Look at my pendulum," the strange man said to his crew. "After I say 'One, Two, Jango,' you will become stronger, and your wounds will heal."
"Looks like he's hypnotizing them," Nami whispered. "Making them think they're stronger."
"Oh, no," Luffy hissed, pulling his hat down to cover his eyes as the man said "Jango."
There was a loud roar from the pirates, and Luffy lifted his hat out of his eyes to see one of weak crew member punch the side of a cliff with his bare hand, causing it to crumble easily. He could even feel each of the crew member's strength increased.
"It really worked!" Nami cried out in surprise.
"That was close, that was close," Luffy muttered to himself with his hand over his heart. "That would have been dangerous."
"He crushed the wall! How did they gain so much strength?" Nami said in surprise.
"This might be bad," Usopp trembled.
"What say you, Captain?" Zoro asked with a grin around the sword in his mouth.
"We take them out, of course," Luffy grinned. "I'll take Nami and thin out the crowd for you. Come on, Nami. Let's get your treasure."
"Right!" she said as she readied her staff. She may not be strong, but she's not going to let Luffy do all the work when he's helping her get the treasure.
Luffy made quick work of those that were in his way, punching his way through with Nami following closely behind. Once they reached the ship, Luffy grabbed a hold of Nami and jumped up. What greeted them on the deck was one skinny and one fat man who were startled awake. Not giving them time to fully wake, Luffy grabbed them both and tossed them over. "These are for you, Zoro!"
After some time wandering around the large ship, Luffy had to leave Nami on her own when he felt an angry presence outside. He cursed at himself for being too distracted at having fun treasure hunting that he didn't realize Kuro was coming. He reached the deck and looked over the rails in time to see and hear the butler ordering the Nyanban Brothers to finish the fight in five minutes.
Luffy thought the claws the butler was now supporting looked interesting. He's never seen a weapon like that before.
Zoro's all banged up with only one sword, but Luffy has faith that his swordsman can beat them up. Looking down to his left, Luffy wondered why two of Zoro's swords were laying there. "Hey, Zoro," he pointed to the swords with wide innocent eyes, "why did you leave your swords here?" Weren't swords a swordsman's pride or something like that?
"I didn't leave them there!" Zoro yelled at him as he defended himself with his single sword. "It got stolen!"
"Oh~ Okay. Here you go," the young captain jumped down to toss the swords back to its rightful owner. No wonder Zoro's all beaten up. He looked to the side to where Usopp was leaning against a tree, more beaten up than Zoro. "Good job, Usopp! You can take a break now."
Usopp gave a shaky thumbs-up before dropping his arms back down to the ground in relief.
The Nyaban Brothers attacked Zoro with renewed vigor, only to be cut down in one strike. With all three of his swords, it was much easier. Now that the obstacles were gone, Zoro turned to face Kuro, who merely looked uninterested.
"Four minutes," Kuro simply said.
Luffy and Zoro looked towards where they heard a cough. It was Buchi, the fat one. Luffy knew that Zoro had meant to kill both brothers, but this one was still alive because his fat saved him from being hit anywhere vital.
Buchi asked the goatee guy to hypnotize him. Once done, the large cat-man gave a loud roar before Jango gave an order. "Buchi, you take care of haramaki guy. I'll take care of the straw hat. We don't have time!"
Before any of them could start fighting, Kaya showed up to try and stop of the fighting, even saying that she'd be willing to give him all her inheritance if he'd stop attacking and leave. Merry, her other butler had explained everything to her after she found him bleeding in the house early in the morning.
Kuro didn't want that and went on to explain his reason for wanting to kill her.
Luffy was surprised when she pulled out a pistol to point at Kuro. There was no way she'd be able to pull the trigger though. That was okay because Usopp was there to distract the butler from attacking Kaya.
With the butler distracted with his attack to Usopp, Luffy stretched his arm back far behind him to make his punch reach all the way to the top of the slope where Kuro was. The punch knocked the man off his feet before he could touch Usopp.
It wasn't enough to keep him down, Luffy knew that, but it was good enough for now. Everyone was already surprised that he was able to knock down the butler, even Usopp was scared. If he'd actually killed the man, Luffy was afraid that Usopp would be too scared to join.
The three kids from yesterday showed up to attack the butler's face with a frying pan, a bat, and a shovel. Kaya yelled at them to stop. She had told them to not follow her when they found her on her way to the coast. Once they stopped their attack, the butler got up to look at Luffy, ignoring the kids.
"That was quite an odd attack you just used," Kuro said as he got up like he wasn't just attacked. "It seems you possess the power of the Devil's Fruit."
"That's right. I ate the Gomu Gomu no Mi. I'm a rubber man."
Kuro gave a smirk at that. "Jango, I will take care of this kid. You take care of Kaya. Make her write that will and kill her."
"Hold it," Zoro said, getting in Jango's way. "You're not getting past me."
That was when Buchi finally went to attack, distracting Zoro from stopping his captain.
"Usopp, leave this to us!" Luffy yelled. "Protect your friends!"
With Jango leisurely walking up the slope and past Zoro's fight, it gave Usopp time to grab Kaya to run, but his legs gave out. He fell face first. He was injured, tired, and terrified, but he tried his best to get himself back up. Kaya has to be safe! So, he ordered the children to take Kaya to the forest and protect her for him.
The enemy pirates started to laugh at how pathetic and weak Usopp was. They were saying there was no way for him to escape Jango. Luffy grabbed a chunk of the cliff and threw it at them. "If you dare to laugh at Usopp again, I'll kill you," he threatened them, letting out a bit of haki to let them know how angry he was.
That was all it took to give Usopp the courage to try to get up again, but his legs just wouldn't hold up. Jango passed him without a second look, going straight to the forest. Usopp hoped the kids and Kaya would be okay until he makes it. And he will make it. Luffy and Zoro hadn't laughed at him for being weak. They trusted him to protect his friends, his village, and his home.
He finally made it to his feet. He took a step and another, feeling more confident that he wouldn't fall again. The next thing he knew, Usopp had to start running when Buchi decided to stop him from going after the hypnotist. Zoro was able to stop the fat man, but the fear and adrenaline choose to kick in, and he fell again.
"Damn it," Usopp cried as he crawled his way up. "Even if I'm no match for him, I'll still protect them. I'll protect them!"
Buchi pushed Zoro off and into the cliff.
"I'm Captain of the Usopp Pirate Group! I'm a brave warrior of the sea! I won't let you hurt the villagers!" Usopp cried out in determination, more for motivating himself to keep going.
Zoro had enough and finally killed Buchi. "I'm taking Usopp and going after the hypnotist bastard. Do you have any problem with that?" Zoro said as he picked Usopp up from his pathetic crawl. He may be pathetic, but his resolve was admirable.
"Nope. Go!" Luffy gave him the okay. He gave another punch towards Kuro, that didn't hit but gave Zoro enough time to run past the butler. "Huh? He disappeared." Luffy said in confusion when Kuro wasn't where he thought the butler would be. Feeling the presence behind him, he ducked in time to avoid being beheaded.
"Tell me," Kuro said as he righted his glasses with the palm of his hand, "what reason would a stranger have for saving this village?"
"I have a friend in this village that I don't want to see dead," Luffy grinned.
"What a simple reason," Kuro scoffed. "Are you okay with that? It'll be your reason for dying."
"That's okay," Luffy said as he readied his fist. "I'm not going to die anyway." He cracked his knuckles with a grin, ready to have some fun, while waiting for Zoro and Usopp to come back.
Kuro merely huffed before doing some fancy footwork, then disappeared in a cloud of dust. This time Luffy was ready and followed the ex-captain's presence. Luffy easily dodged the few attacks that came his way.
"You're a bad pirate," Luffy stated when Kuro took a break. "Real pirates don't just throw away their crew."
"What would you know about pirates?" the butler sneered. "You're just a kid playing pirate. What would you know of my hardship?! Those you call my crew are the reason for all my hardship. Useless!" He then went on a rant about his past and how he tricked the marines and the world into believing he's dead.
"You don't know what a real pirate is," Luffy grinned after Kuro finished his rant.
"If you want to know about real pirates that much, then I'll show you that terror," Kuro scoffed before sneering. "The terror of a pirate who's been face to face with death many times!"
Luffy could feel the anger grow from his opponent as the man swayed back and forth, then he was completely out of sight. Luffy followed his presence to find the man far behind him and closer to the ship and the rest of his crew. The boy was angry when he realized Kuro was attacking his own men and grew furious when he realized Nami was watching from the top of the ship.
Nami would be in trouble if Kuro found her on his ship! Luffy was the only one there who could see Kuro, who was going too fast for anyone to avoid being cut. He had to stop him before Nami got hurt.
Using Gear Second, Luffy disappeared to follow and gave one punch to the butler's face and yelled, "What do you take your crew for?!" He huffed as he continued to punch the ex-captain as onlookers gawked at the unconscious Kuro on the ground. "What kind of captain hurts their own crew?! You're the captain! You're supposed to protect them!"
In the short time she'd been with him, Nami had never seen, or ever believed, the happy-go-lucky Luffy would ever get that mad. She was scared. She was scared at how easily Luffy lost it. She was scared at how angry Luffy was. She was scared by how much she cared for the little boy she barely knew. She was scared she was getting attached. She was scared, but she had to do something to stop him.
Jumping off the ship, leaving the bag of treasure behind, she landed just behind Luffy and ran towards him and did the only thing she could think of. "Luffy!" she cried out as she hugged him as hard as she could from behind. "Luffy, stop! It's over, so stop!"
She felt the boy still in her arms. "Nami?" She nodded as she sniffled. "I – I'm sorry," Luffy mumbled as he looked down at his bloodied hands and Kuro.
Nami gave a chuckle as she wiped the tears from her eyes. "Why are you sorry? You defeated the stupid butler, didn't you?"
"Yeah, but…" He couldn't take his eyes off the mess he made of Kuro's face.
"Come here," she turned him around to hug him, so he wouldn't be able to see the beaten man.
"Say," she said quietly, "what were you mad about?"
Luffy gave a light sniffle against her chest. "He's wrong. That's not what a crew is. A crew isn't there to live and die on a captain's word. And then, I saw you there and thought he was going to hurt you, so I beat him up, and I couldn't stop because I didn't want him to hurt you, and I scared you. Am I a bad person?" He mumbled as he tried not to cry, afraid that she'd leave him.
"Oh, Luffy. You're not a bad person. You did great. I'm safe, and you saved Usopp's village. I'm not scared anymore. See?" She gave him a smile that she made sure he saw. He gave her a smile when she ruffled his hair. "There. All better?"
"Yeah," he nodded.
"Good. Let's get you cleaned up." Nami gave him a hand to help him up and lead him to the ocean to wash off the blood.
Of course, she couldn't forget the treasure that she left. "You!" she pointed to one of the still conscious Black Cat Pirates, "Go get my treasure up there for me and no funny business. Or else!" Fear of her letting her boy-captain loose had the man rushing to do her bidding. "The rest of you!" she said to the others, "get everyone else on that ship and off this island!"
Luffy laughed at how fast the pirates climbed up the ship and sailed away. "Nami is scarier than them."
"Well, of course. We had to get rid of them somehow. By the way, should we go after Usopp and them?" Nami asked as she looked towards the forest in worry.
"Nah. Usopp is braver than he thinks, and Zoro is with him. Zoro is strong." Luffy's confident smile calmed her.
-*/-*/-*/-*/-*/
Omake
Usopp gapped at the scene before him. Luffy, naked, being yelled at Nami for running out of the bathroom without his clothes and catching colds. He then thought back to all the weird happenings since the start of his pirating career and joining Luffy's crew.
1. They wouldn't let him be the captain. That just isn't fair. He'd be a great captain. He isn't called the Great Captain Usopp for nothing! But it's ok. He'll just grace them with his awesome presence.
2. Luffy running around Going Merry, the ship which was gifted to them by Kaya and designed by Merry. The weird part of that was when Luffy told the sheep figurehead, "Don't worry. I'll get you talking to me in no time." Right. As if the ship would ever talk.
3. Nami taking control of the ship. Wasn't the captain's job to tell everyone what to do? Wasn't she just the navigator? Why the hell is Luffy taking orders from her? And Zoro's going along with it?!
4. Luffy asking everyone to take a bath with him, even Nami. Of course, Nami said no because she's a girl. Usopp had already bathed the night before. Zoro insisted he's clean enough.
5. Luffy in the bath was just plain weird. They all heard the giggling, then the splashing, then the yelling. Zoro had to go in to take care of whatever was going on in there.
6. And last, but not least (and Usopp's sure this isn't going to be the last of the weirdness), Luffy running out of the bath with nothing but his straw hat.
That concluded Usopp's review of the weirdness of his pirating career. Oh, and let's not forget Zoro standing next to him with his hand covering his face in only his pants. Looks like Zoro ended up having to take a bath after all.
"So what was all the yelling about?" Usopp decided to ask.
"He wanted to soak in the tub," Zoro deadpanned in his hand, not wanting to see the nightmare that came from his not being able to clothe his captain.
"…" Usopp didn't see what was wrong with that. It's normal to soak in the tub after washing. "Ok, and?"
"Luffy's a Devil Fruit user. He can't swim and therefore, can't sit in the tub without drowning," the swordsman growled. "Goddammit! Why couldn't he just wash and get out?"
There was a pause before Usopp decided to brave it and ask, "Why's he naked?"
"I DON'T KNOW! He just grabbed his hat and ran out!" Here is where Nami, Luffy, and Usopp stared at Zoro's outburst. "Oh, wait," Zoro said right after and pulled out a damp paper from his pocket to read. "Ok. I should have known this wasn't a joke," he sighed and shoved the paper to Usopp.
Usopp read the paper and looked at Zoro as if the swordsman lost his mind. "You're joking, right?"
"No. Look at number three and six."
"Let me see," Nami said as she took the paper from Usopp, after successfully dressing Luffy. "The third one says, 'Make sure he has clothes on before he leaves the bath. If I ever hear that he made it out in public without clothes, I'll have your organs in my hands and make you watch as I pulverize them.' How morbid. Number six … 'Be sure to only feed him non-greasy foods, or lots and lots of salad if that isn't possible.'"
Nami glared at Zoro after reading that. "Why didn't you say something earlier? We could have avoided the whole puking thing if we knew about this!"
"Because I thought this paper was a joke!" Zoro defended himself. "Or are you telling me that pirate captains usually come with instruction manuals? Because I've never been a pirate before nor have I ever had a captain. This paper just magically appeared in my pocket the day I joined Luffy, so I thought it was just a prank!"
"My brothers like to play pranks on people," Luffy joined in. He had to stretch his neck to read the paper over Nami's shoulder. "This note is from my family. My brothers probably snuck it on you."
"There. See?"
"So this is the haki thing you were talking about?" Usopp asked, pointing to the line that says 'Don't worry about him getting lost. He knows how to find you,' wanting to break the tension that was building. All the while, he silently hoped he wouldn't have to watch his insides get pulverized.
A/N: I'm so sorry for taking so long on this. I've been so busy with this and that, and then this and that happened. Anyway, I've been on a hectic schedule. Not to mention this chapter is boring, and it was so painful to read it again and again. So I kept putting it off. T_T No. I am not happy with this chapter, but I'm done with it. I'm hoping the next chapter won't take as long and wouldn't be as boring...