Hello! Now I know what I said last time, but I managed to type up this next chapter in time before I got busy with my new job. So here it is, the next chapter, so I hope that you enjoy it!
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for Kasumi or any other OC's that may appear.
Chapter 3: Lieutenant Morgan and Zoro our new crewmate
Kasumi's P.O.V.
"Th… This is bad!Who are they?" A man exclaimed, looking at both me and Luffy with wide eyes, but then again, so were the rest of the villagers.
"She dared to hit the lieutenant's son…! Lieutenant Morgan won't forgive her!" Another man said.
"Kasumi-San! Calm yourself! They are Marines!" Coby spoke desperately as he held me back from doing any further damage, then looked over at Luffy. "Luffy-San, help! Can you calm her down."
"Nope, sorry. Plus I was gonna do the same thing." Luffy said.
"Huh? Why?!" Coby questioned, his grip on me loosened enough for me to escape but fortunately for him, I didn't punch Helmeppo again but just stood there.
"Because I don't care! A bastard is still a bastard." Luffy spoke, glaring at Helmeppo. I smirked.
"Yeah. At least we can agree there." I said, but it was then that I saw Helmeppo sit up, with some help of those Marines that had flanked him, and glared at me.
"Y… Y… You dare hit me?! My dad hasn't even hit me once! I'M MARINE LIEUTENANT MORGAN'S SON! I'LL TELL HIM ABOUT THIS!" Helmeppo yelled at us, mostly me though.
"Oh wah wah! Your such a baby for hiding behind your dad and using his reputation for your own benefits! God, I hate people like you, such a coward and a disgrace!" I said, closing my eyes as I spoke.
"AN YOU DARE INSULT ME TOO?!" He yelled, glaring at me.
"Your only insulted because you know it's true." I spoke, smirking at him with amusement.
"Why don't you fight us yourself!" Luffy said then.
"Luffy-San, Kasumi-San, don't do this!" Coby spoke desperately but we were ignoring him.
"You'll regret hitting and insulting me! You'll get the death sentence for it!" Helmeppo said smirking as the two Marines putting his arms around their shoulder and lifted him up and then they left, but before they completely disappeared, Helmeppo yelled one last time.
"AND MY DAD WILL BE THE ONE WHO EXECUTES YOU!"
"It's meaningless to hit people like him." Luffy spoke.
"Yeah, I waste of time and effort. I don't know why I even bothered." I spoke frowning.
"He ran away…." Coby muttered looking in the direction the cowards ran in. It was then that little girl came up to me and Luffy, a big smile on her face.
"Onii-Chan, Onee-Chan you were so cool! Just then when I was scared to death!" The girl spoke suddenly coming up to us, and I turned to her and looked down at her. She had a big smile on her face and looked as if she idolized us, I chuckled.
"Really? I should have hit him as well and a few times too!" Luffy said, smiling himself.
"Thanks kid. But it's nothing to worry about really." I spoke, my face heating up slightly and turning to look away.
"Ah! Your blushing!" The girl said and both she and Luffy laughed, making me glare at them.
"NO! I'M NOT!" I yelled, shark teeth appearing as I yelled, but the two continued to laugh. I sighed before I saw a woman running in our direction.
"Ri… Rika! Come here!" The lady spoke, most likely the Mother. I smiled.
"Don't talk to strangers! You'll get executed too if you were mistaken as one of their own!" The Mother spoke, looking down at her daughter.
"Mom, they are good people! And so is Zoro…" Rika said, trying to explain a little.
"Don't be silly! Did you sneak into the execution site again!?" Her Mother exclaimed, trying to gently push Rika into the house that they stood in front of.
"No… No I didn't." Rika lied, hoping to not get in trouble.
"Come back into the house quickly!" Her Mother spoke, still trying to lead Rika inside the building as said girl looked back at us sadly. Both me and Luffy waved to her, smiles on her face just before the door closed behind them.
"LOOKS LIKE WE'RE GONNA BE IN A LOTTA TROUBLE! IF LIEUTENANT GETS MAD, HE MIGHT SEND MARINES AFTER US….!" Coby yelled, completely freaking out. I stared at him, my face blank of emotion and then sighed.
"Coby. Calm down before you give yourself a heart attack." I said, hoping that he would calm down. "And besides, if they do send Marines after us, your yelling would tell them where to find us."
"We'll deal with it when it comes! I'm gonna go talk to Zoro." Luffy said, acting all carefree as he started heading in the direction of where Zoro was. I nodded, looked at Coby for a second before following Luffy.
~Time Skip, a few minutes later~
I found myself sitting on top of the wall again as I watched Luffy approach Zoro, who looked rather annoyed and was glaring at Luffy. I could help but snicker, as I did warn him earlier but he clear has either forgotten that detail or was still surprised by this.
"Yo." Luffy greeted as he stopped in front of Zoro.
"It's you again? I told you I don't wanna be a pirate…!" Zoro spoke, his annoyance laced in his voice as well as on his face.
"I'm Luffy! If I loosen up the ropes, then you're gonna join me, okay?" Luffy spoke bluntly, and at this had me laughing a little louder.
"I've told you clearly!" Zoro spoke annoyed as he glared at Luffy. "I have things to do. Besides I'm not going to be a bad guy like a pirate."
"That's the difference? Besides… Everyone already thinks you're a bad guy." Luffy spoke.
"I don't care what they say about me! I haven't done one thing that I regretted in the past and it will be the same for the future!" Zoro spoke, looking all serious and yet his glare lessoned slightly. "I won't become a pirate!"
"I don't care! You are joining me!" Luffy spoke bluntly, making me laugh again and then I decided to jump down at that point to join them.
"DON'T DECIDE FOR YOURSELF!" Zoro yelled.
"It's too late to say that. Told you he wouldn't give up!" I said coming to stand next to Luffy, a grin on my face.
"Hey, I heard you use Katana, is that right?!" Luffy asked, looking at Zoro.
"Hrm… If I'm not being tied up, I could use a Katana." Zoro said, looking curious as to why Luffy would mention that.
"Where is the Katana?" Luffy asked.
"That bastard kid took it. It's something that I treasure most… Other than my life…!"Zoro said.
"Ohh? Treasure huh? It must me something great!" Luffy spoke in wonder, and yet there was a hint of happiness. He spoke again.
"Okay! I'm gonna go to where the bastard is… And get your Katana back." Luffy spoke, as if what he was saying was the simplest thing. It made me laugh, he made everything sound easy and I had to sometimes wonder what goes on in that head of his and yet I didn't want to know either.
"What?!" Zoro exclaimed, surprised to hear Luffy say that.
"But you want me to return it to you, you'll just have to join us!" Luffy said, and now he decides to include me into the bargain, somewhat.
"THAT'S DIRTY!" Zoro yelled and I chuckled.
"Ha, but that's just the way Luffy is." I said, my grin has yet to leave my face. And just after Zoro yelled, Luffy ran off, probably to get Zoro's Katana.
"Is he planning on sneaking into the base? What a fool!" I heard Zoro mutter.
"That he is. The biggest fool that I've ever known but that just how he is." I said, gaining Zoro's attention.
"Why does he want me to join so badly?" He asked me, his eyes clearly showed his curiosity. I chuckled.
"Dunno. All I know is that when Luffy wants something, he does everything to get it. But my guess is that, when he heard about you saving that girl a few days ago and you being a strong swordsman, must have made him decide to get you to join us." I said, looking in the direction Luffy ran in.
"Ah. And what about you?" Zoro asked, I looked at him, confused.
"Huh? What you talking about?" I asked, looking confused.
"Your name? He told me his." Zoro asked and I looked at him in surprise but then smiled.
"Kasumi. Monkey D Kasumi." I said, introducing myself to him. But then I heard a loud explosion and saw a lot of commotion coming from the top of the Building, and when I looked I could see half of a statue falling form the roof. I sighed knowing who caused it.
"Damn it, Luffy. We haven't been here all that long and your causing us trouble already!" I said glaring at noting in particular.
"What's wrong?" Coby asked and that's when I noticed that he was even here.
"I… It's nothing." I said, trying not to worry him. Coby nodded then he looked around for a second before asking.
"Huh? Where's Luffy?" He asked.
" In the Marine base. Looking for Zoro's Katana." I answered as if it was plain obvious.
"What?! Luffy-San is inside that base? He's too hot-headed…!" Coby said.
"Yeah, you're right. Anyway, who is he?" Zoro spoke.
"He's my captain and my little brother. And an idiot to top it off." I answered, still looking that the Marine base.
"Oi! If you help me, they are going to kill you!" Zoro said, and I turned towards them to see Coby starting to untie Zoro. I walked up to them, and started trying to help, though I'm not good at untying knots.
"You shouldn't be arrested! I can't stand those kinds of Marines! I'm going to become a real Marine! Just like the way Luffy is determined to become the Pirate King and Kasumi wanting to be the strongest Alchemist alive!" Coby said, as he tried to concentrate on trying to untie the ropes.
"WHAT? P… PIRATE KING…?! YOU ARE JOKING?!" Zoro yelled then looked at me. "AND YOU ARE AN ALCHEMIST?! AND WANT TO BE THE STRONGEST ONE AROUND?! ARE YOU SERIOUS?!"
"Yeah. Both me and Luffy are serious about our dreams. They are big true, but that what dreams are, right?" I spoke, completely calm as I had expected such a reaction from him.
"Yeah, even I was shocked to hear them say that. But it is true, they are truly serious!" Coby said but then something happened and in some way I saw it. I noticed someone pointing a gun in our direction and got in front of Coby just as he shot at us, and next thing I knew I was in the ground, blood pouring from my stomach since that's where I got hit.
"Ugh! Seriously?" I spoke collapsing onto one knee before glaring up in the direction the gunman was.
"Kasumi!" Coby exclaimed, kneeling next to me in concern. "Are you okay?!"
"I'm fine. I've had worse." I said, my right metallic arm would've proved my point but it was covered by my coat and gloves and that they didn't know about it. I stood up slowly, and being absolutely careful, pulled the bullet out with my right forefinger and thumb.
"Hey! What you doing?! Are you crazy?!" Coby and Zoro exclaimed, looking alarmed that I'd do such a thing.
"It's fine." I spoke softly as I held onto the wound, stopping it from bleeding out.
"Run for your life. They're almost here…" Zoro said as he was now looking towards the base.
"No! I've got to set you free as soon as possible!" Coby spoke going back to trying to untie the ropes. While I stood guard, ready in-case we got attacked again.
"There is no need to worry about me. As long as I can stand this for a month, they'll set me free. Hurry and lea…" Zoro spoke, but before he could finish, I interrupted him.
"They will not set you free! Because they're gonna kill you in three days!" I said a little loudly.
"NONSENSE….! THAT BASTARD PROMISED ME THAT IF I COULD SURVIVE FOR A MONTH HE'D FREE ME…." Zoro yelled.
"He never intended to keep his promise! That's why Kasumi-San punched and insulted him on your behalf…! Because he was toying with you!" Coby spoke.
"And besides, he is a cocky, arrogant bastard. Did you really think he'd keep his promise?" I spoke, looking at Zoro as if he was an idiot. "Bastards like him; they are always lying, especially for their own entertainment."
"Wh…. What did you just say…?!" Zoro asked, looking at us both, his eyes were wide with surprise. Probably couldn't fully believe in what he was hearing.
"The navy will never let the three of you off! Please! After I set you free, please help both Luffy-San and Kasumi-San!" Coby begged looking at Zoro. As Coby said this I had clapped my hands together in concentration before I placed one of my hands over my wound. I healed it slightly, just enough to stop the bleeding or at least temporarily.
"I will not force you to become a pirate, however, they're my saviours!" Coby said, and I looked at him in surprised but I got a little touched that he'd go this far to help us, even while knowing we'd be fighting on opposite side in the future, even knowing of the possibility that we'd become enemies and may have to fight one another at some point.
"Both Luffy-San and Kasumi-San are very strong! As long as you three join forces, you all will definitely be able to escape this town! Definitely!" Coby said, and I would have said something, along the lines of a 'Thank you' but I noticed a bunch of Marines head in our direction.
"Guys! Now's not the time for chit-chat!" I spoke, alerting them both of the coming danger.
"THAT'S ENOUGH! YOU THREE OF YOU HAVE BETRAYED LIEUTENANT MORGAN… DIE HERE!" They yelled, pointing their guns at us.
"SURROUND THE BASE! DON'T LET THE GUY WITH THE STRAW HAT ESCAPE! AND SAME WITH THE BLONDE HAIRED GIRL!" A yell came from behind the group of Marines and when I looked, I saw a large guy standing behind them, wearing a long coat that the higher ups wearing in the Marines. I only knew this because of Garp. Anyway, this large guy I presumed was Lieutenant Morgan, and I could tell because is of that axe that replaced his hand.
"How interesting…. The four of you are planning to cause political upheaval?" Morgan asked as he glared at us. "Roronoa Zoro… I've heard of your name from a long time ago, but do not underestimate me. Before my great strength… You're just garbage…!"
"READY!" I heard the Marines yell and I knew they were going to fire at us, so I clapped my hands together, preparing to summon a shield to protect us.
"FIRE!" I heard them yell and I was just about to slam my hands to the floor when I notice Luffy landing in front of us and shielding us from the bullets. Luffy had taken on their attack head on, I also saw that he was carrying three katanas on his back.
"YOU!" Zoro yelled, actually seeming to be worried about my rubber captain, I smiled at that.
"LUFFY-SAN!" Coby yelled in worry, and I did wonder if he forgot about Luffy's ability.
"Ah, Luffy. Nice timing on your return." I spoke, I was probably the only one not freaking out.
"IT NO USE!" Luffy yelled. I laughed my head of when the bullets bounced off of Luffy and returned back to the gunmen when stared at Luffy in fear and shock. I watched and listened to everyone as they screamed their heads of, it was pretty funny.
"WHAT KIND OF HUMAN ARE YOU?!" Zoro yelled looking wide eyed himself.
"Hehe… I am….The one who will become the pirate king." Luffy said, a grin on his face and I laughed harder at the way he said it. Luffy had made it sound very simple and made it seem like it was the easiest thing to do. What an idiot.
"Look, which one is your treasured katana? I couldn't figure it out, so I brought all three of them." Luffy said, now holding out the three swords out towards Zoro, showing them to him.
"All three belong to me. Because I use three katanas." Zoro said.
"Wow! That's so cool!" I spoke interested, I gave Zoro a grin as he smirked back at me.
"Resisting the navy here together with us two will make you an outlaw!" Luffy said, referring not just to himself but to me as well. "Or maybe you want to die here?"
"Are you the offspring of the devil… Forget it…. Rather than die here… Why don't I just accede to your request…. And become a pirate!" Zoro said, finally accepting our offer. I laughed, happy by the news.
"Haha. Our first crewmate!" Luffy exclaimed happily, while I shook my head but had a smile on my face.
"Okay, hurry and get these ropes off of me!" Zoro said and that's when both me and Luffy started trying to untie him. I heard the marines start yelling, but since I was actually fully concentrating, I didn't know what they were saying.
"Damn! This knot is so hard to untie…" Luffy spoke, he sounded bored and I would have laughed, but our situation stopped me.
"OI! HURRY UP!" Zoro yelled at us just as I managed to get my side undone.
"Ah! Did it! Luffy, hurry up with untying him from your side." I said before seeing a bunch of Marines running in our direction, and so using my alchemy, I summoned my spear and ran at them. There were quite a few of them and yet that didn't faze me and I managed to take a few down, just knocking them unconscious but a few managed to get past me.
"Crap!" I yelled as I was about to run after them. I noticed Coby who had fallen on his but had probably been shocked by Luffy's ability of deflecting bullets so shocking that he fell. Anyway, I saw him stand up and yell at my two other companions.
"AAAH! LUFFY, ZORO, WATCH OUT!" Coby yelled and this was the first time I heard him speak to use with the formalities.
"IDIOT! HURRY AND GET ME MY SWORDS!" I heard Zoro yelled, I was now concentrating on holding back these Marines. But was struggling, using weapons were my strong point, but with so many Marines to fight while somewhat being alone, I kinda needed the weapon.
"ALL WHO OPPOSES ME MUST PERISH!" Morgan yelled suddenly, distracting me. The men who I tried chasing after managed to reach where Zoro and my brother were and for a second I was a little worried, though it wasn't long did I sigh out in relief. I saw that Zoro held a katana in each of his hands and the third being held my his mouth, blocking the attacks.
"What the….!" Morgan exclaimed in surprise.
"Ohh….. Cool….!" Luffy yelled, it was clear that he was amazed and entertained by this.
"Hmm, not bad there, Zoro." I complimented, giving out a whistle to show my amazement.
"All you better not move! You move… And I'll kill!" Zoro threatened looking at the Marine who he was blocking the attacks from. And let's just saying every single one of them paled in fear.
"I already told you I'd be a pirate with you and your sister…. Either-way, after this incident with the Marines I'll be an outlaw too… But it's okay… I still have my own goals!" Zoro spoke suddenly and I knew he was speaking to Luffy, who was now looking back at Zoro, listening.
"I'm going to become the world's greatest swordsman! I no longer care if my name is clean or not… Bad guy, Good guy, it no longer matters! As long as my name is known worldwide! If you do something that ends up in the way of my goal, I will have you cut your stomach open to say sorry!" Zoro spoke. I didn't like that he just threatened my brother but didn't do or say anything as I understood why. He wanted to reach his goal, his dream and would do anything to obtain it, just like me and Luffy with our dreams.
"Good! To be the world's number one swordsman! Since you wanna be the pirate king's crew member, if you can't even accomplish something that small then I would be very embarrassed as well!" Luffy spoke, smiling at Zoro but was looking at the swordsman with a serious sort of look.
"Heh! Well said!" Zoro spoke, a smirk on his face.
"Welcome to the crew Zoro! Now can we finish this? Because I do want to go at some point but with Morgan still on our backs, we ain't going anywhere." I spoke, breaking up their little bonding session.
"WHAT ARE YOU GUYSSTANDING THERE FOR?! HURRY UP AND FINISH THOSE THREE OFF!" Morgan yelled.
"ZORO, KASUMI, DUCK!" Luffy warned and I followed his order quickly, falling to the floor as fast as possible before I heard him kick all the Marines away, his leg stretching as to hit them all in one go, swiping over them all.
"LEG SWEEPER!" Luffy yelled as her threw the attack.
"Super!" Coby complimented.
"Good job, Luff." I said, grinning at him.
"What are you…?" Zoro asking, and I snickered as I started thinking. How many people out there will ask that same question? The very thought made me laugh.
"I am… A rubber-man!" Luffy said, grinning as carefree as he could. I shuck my head but my smile never left my face.
"Ru… Rubber-Man?" One Marine asked, dumbfounded.
"The girl is an alchemist! I saw her summon that spear from earlier!" A different Marine said in surprise and possible fear.
"Lieutenant! We can't fight these three!" Another spoke, sounding scared.
"They're two strong…" Another spoke, also scared.
"Any… Anyways… We can't defeat Zoro…" Yet another spoke in fear. These guy were serious cowards, and I felt like I was completely wasting my time. I looked over at Lieutenant Morgan just then looking down at the ground, he seemed rather pissed off. Uh oh, this could be bad.
"This is an order… Whoever… Just said that… Get a gun and kill yourself!" He ordered angrily.
"Did he seriously just say such a heartless thing….?" I muttered, being very quiet and thankfully no-one heard that, but I was looking at him with wide eyes, shocked at such a thing. Wasn't he supposed to be a Marine? A being who is supposed to protect lives? That bastard, and soon I felt sorry for those who worked under him, they all looked rather scared and looked up at Morgan with wide eyes.
"I don't need… Useless soldiers! THAT'S AN ORDER!" Morgan yelled the last part rather loudly.
"WHAT THE HELL?!" I yelled, watching in shock as they all put a gun to their heads.
"What the hell do these dumb Marines think they're doing…?!" Zoro yelled as he and Luffy ran at them, I was already there, but I wasn't a hundred percent sure who to go for as I knew Luffy would want to deal with Morgan. I felt useless at this point, and yet I was just waiting on that moment where an opening would appear and you can have a go. Yeah I was waiting on that.
"I am the Marine's worst enemy! If you have guts then execute me!" Luffy said as he threw a strong punch at Morgan who blocked it using his axe hand. Each of the Marines watched in surprise, not expecting to be saved or defended by a pirate.
"LUFFY-SAN! DEFEAT THESE MARINES!" Coby yelled, and I grinned. Finally, the boy grew some guts, a bit of confidence which was a good thing.
"People like you, without status… Have no right to oppose me!" Morgan spoke, as if he was in charge of everyone, he probably felt like he should have been treated like a king. Pathetic.
"I AM MARINE LIEUTENANT AXE-HAND-MORGAN!" Morgan yelled.
"My name is Luffy! Nice to meet you!" My brother spoke, even in such a situation, he can still say stuff like that. I sighed. But then I watched as Luffy had to jump to dodge Morgan's attack. Morgan had swung his axe hand at Luffy but instead hit the fence that was next to the two and I looked in surprise when the fence split in half.
"WAH!? THE FENCE BROKE IN HALF JUST LIKE THAT!" Coby yelled, shocked.
"You just took the words out of my mouth!" I spoke, shocked myself. But then I saw that, while still in the air after dodging the attack, Luffy kicked Morgan in the face as hard as he could and while using both of his feet.
"LIEUTENANT, HE…." A Marine started to yell but decided to stop.
"You little bastard…" Morgan spoke, just as Luffy ran at him. Morgan raised his axe hand above his head, ready the swipe down at Luffy. "Go to hell!"
"I'm not dead yet!" Luffy said just after he dodged the attack when it was thrown before he kicked the side of Morgan's head, causing the Lieutenant the fall over backwards.
"Too… Too strong…" Coby spoke in shock, his eyes wide and mouth gaping. I just grinned.
"Lieutenant Morgan…. Can only be kicked around!" A marine said in shock, they all were watching in surprise by all this, not that I blame them for it.
"Some great Marine you are… Destroyed Coby's dreams and goal…" Luffy said pinning Morgan down on the ground and started to punched him.
"WAIT!" A voice yelled, an all too familiar voice and I turned to see Helmeppo, pointing a gun at Coby who he stood by a mere metre away. Luffy punched Morgan again as if he didn't hear a thing.
"YOU IDIOT! I TOLD YOU TO WAIT!" Helmeppo yelled, seeming angry at being ignored.
"Oi." Zoro said, gaining Luffy's attention, and then motioned towards Helmeppo, though he like everyone else minus Luffy noticed that I was now stood behind Helmeppo.
"It's fine." Luffy whispered, so only Zoro could hear him but I could lip-read a little and I caught onto that. And when Zoro looked in the direction of me, Coby and Helmeppo, his eyes widened at the sight of me there and his head looked to and from where is was now and where I had been standing. It was only a second ago was I standing next to him and Luffy.
"IF YOU WANTTHIS GUY TO SURVIVE , THEN DON'T MOVE! IF ANYONE MOVES, I'LL SHOOT!" Helmeppo yelled, clearly has yet to notice me standing behind him.
"LUFFY! I… I DON'T WANNA BE IN YOUR WAY…" Coby yelled.
"You stupid son, Coby's not afraid of death!" Luffy said shifting his weight from one foot to another but I had a feeling Helmeppo thought he was going to do something because he started yelling again.
"HEY! YOU IDIOT, I TOLD YOU NOT TO MOVE, OR I'M GONNA SHOOT!" Helmeppo yelled.
"GO AHEAD AND SHOOT!" Coby yelled, as if daring Helmeppo to do just that.
"Oi! Kasumi! Hurry and do what you need to do!" I heard Luffy call to me.
"Ah! There's no need to say anything! I was about to do it!" I spoke making both Helmeppo and Coby jump in surprise, both soon turn to finally see me.
"Hi!" I said before giving a strong punch to Helmeppo's stomach before punching him again in the face. Helmeppo fell to the ground, unconscious.
"H… How?" Coby asked, looking at me in surprise.
"Did you really think Luffy was the only strong one here? I have the ability to run very fast." I said.
"A devil fruit?" Coby asked, calming down.
"Nope. Pure skill!" I said, grinning and Coby freaked out again. And it was true, by using my abnormal strength, I push of the ground so hard that it can make me quite fast, but also I was using a little alchemy. I had transmutation circles on both my boots which can strengthen my speed but there are other stuff that they can allow me to do.
"LUFFY! BEHIND YOU!" Coby yelled suddenly, breaking me out of my thought bubble and when I looked, I saw Luffy looking at us with a smile, but Morgan just standing behind him, ready to attack and I think Luffy didn't notice him there.
"LUFFY!" I yelled, worried myself.
"I am… The great Marine Lieutenant!" Morgan spoke darkly, ready to throw the attack. Luffy looked to see the attack but it was too late to dodge. But I was thankful when Zoro stopped Morgan from doing anything, saving Luffy.
"Nice, Zoro." Luffy said, the closest thing Zoro will get as a thanks.
"Leave it to me! Captain!" Zoro said, grinning up at Luffy.
"The Lieutenant…. Lost…!" A Marine stated in shock.
"LIEUTENANT MORGAN HAS BEEN DEFEATED!" Another yelled, and it was then I looked over at the Marines to see them looking at us in shock, their eyes wide.
"If you still want to arrest us, come and get us." Zoro said. The Marines looked at one another, as if debating on something.
"What's going on?" I asked, thinking out loud. And then every single member of the Marines started cheering, all yelling out in pure happiness.
"YES…!"
"WE'RE FREE!"
"WE ARE OUT OF MORGAN'S CONTROL!"
"LONG LIVE MARINES!"
"What the hell? They are happy we took out their Lieutenant…?" I questioned watching them.
"What's going on? They seem happy that Morgan was defeated!?" Luffy said wondering the same thing as I did. But it was at that moment did I notice Zoro was swaying, reading to collapse and I ran to him, using my speed.
"Everyone… Hated Morgan…" I heard Coby say just as Zoro lost it as went to fall but I caught him in time.
"Oi! Zoro! What's going on?!" I exclaimed placing one of his arms over my shoulder and my free arm around his waist, supporting him as best as I could. Right now, I was thankful for my abnormal strength.
"Zoro?" Luffy said, looking over at us.
"ZORO-SAN!" Coby yelled in worry.
~Time skip~
"I'M FULL! Haven't eaten in nine days, almost starved to death!" Zoro exclaimed happily, rubbing his now full stomach. We were currently in Rika's home as her mother had kindly offered us to stay there to eat and rest. To say that I was grateful may have been an understatement.
"Then it's impossible for you to last a month!" Luffy spoke as he laughed.
"Says the guy who can't even last a day without a single piece of for a day!" I spoke, laughing as Luffy shot me a glare. I smirked, sticking out my tongue at him. Soon after calming down, Luffy turned back to finishing his 20th plate of food, I rolled my eyes.
"You're so scrawny, how come you can eat more than me!" Zoro spoke, looking at Luffy. I laughed.
"Probably because his stomach is practically a bottomless pit. But you better get used to this, Luffy is always hungry." I explained but I was still laughing, which increased when Zoro looked at me with wide eyes. And thinking of food, I had just finished my 8th plate of food, even I have a big appetite but it was nowhere near as big as Luffy's.
"Thank you for the food, it was lovely." I said to Rika's mother, giving her a grateful smile.
"Sorry… Even I ate quite a lot!" Coby spoke to the mother as well.
"Don't worry! Keep eating, you saved our town!" She spoke, smiling at us. It wasn't long did Rika approach us, a huge smile on her face.
"Onii-San, Onee-San, you're both so strong!" Rika said, smiling up at us. I ruffled her hair gently.
"It was nothing. I'm just happy to help." I said, smiling.
"Yep! I'm strong! I'll get stronger later on!" Luffy spoke as carefree as ever, he was still stuffing his face and was currently on his 21st plate.
"Oh yeah, what are your plans next?" Zoro asked, suddenly speaking up. I looked at him, then at Luffy, waiting on the answer.
"I am going to head for the 'Grand Line'!" Luffy said, and I shuck my head.
"WHAT!? YOU'RE SAYING CRAZY THINGS AGAIN! JUST THE THREE OF YOU, HOW CAN YOU ENTER THE GRAND LINE?" Coby yelled, freaking out once again. I was starting to think that he was so predictable.
"DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND? THE WORLD'S STRONGEST PIRATES GATHER THERE!" Coby yelled.
"Hmm? Sound like fun to me, makes me wanna go now!" I say, a grin on my face.
"We're going for One Piece… It won't hurt to head that direction!" Zoro said.
"Kasumi-San, Zoro-San, even you both are saying this rubbish!" Coby said, turning to look at me and Zoro.
"What are you so worried about, it's not like you are coming with us…." Zoro said.
"Yeah Coby, calm down. You know about our dreams… You knew it would make us head there at some point." I said calmly.
"EVEN THOUGH I'M NOT GOING… I WILL STILL WORRY! CAN'T I? CAN'T I WORRY ABOUT YOU GUYS?!" Coby yelled, not calming down in the slightest.
"Uh…" Zoro muttered, he was clearly feeling awkward as he looked away slightly.
"Luffy-San, Kasumi-San…. Even though we just met… But we are friends!" Coby said.
"Yep! Even, though we have to part, we'll always be friends." Luffy said.
"That's right, we are now friend now and in the future." I said, both me and Luffy were smiling at Coby who in turn, smiled back at us.
"I never had friends growing up… Every time I would be picked on… No one would ever stand up for me…" Coby spoke, while me, Luffy and Zoro listened intently to him. "But the three of you.. Taught me to live by my dream!"
"That's why we're heading for the Grand Line." Luffy said.
"Yeah." Zoro said in agreement to what Luffy said, I just nodded my head just as I drunk the glass of water that I had in my hand.
"Hmm… That's true." Coby said, rubbing the back of his head, and I just looked at him wondering why he wasn't freaking out.
"NO! NO! WHAT I MEANT IS, YOU'RE TOO RECKLESS…." Coby yelled. Ah, I spoke to soon, he was freaking out now.
"Oi Coby it's fine. We have someone who knows the Grand Line." Luffy spoke, a large toothy grin on his face, and when he said that, I knew he was talking about me.
"We do?" Zoro questioned.
"Yeah! Kasumi-Nee does!" Luffy spoke pointing at me with his thumb, making my two friends look at me.
"But I thought you were his sister? How can you possibly know anything on the Grand Line?" Zoro asked.
"I was originally born on the Grand Line. I am Adopted into Luffy's family." I explained, Zoro nodded while Coby looked at me in wide eyes.
"You were born on the Grand Line?" Coby asked in surprise.
"Yeah. Why?" I asked looking at him, confused as to why Coby was surprised by this piece of news. He shook his head as if to say 'never mind'.
"ANYWAYS, EVEN WITH A LITTLE BIT OF AN ADVANTAGE, IT'S STILL TO RECKLESS!" Coby yelled at us three.
"First of all, you'd better worry about yourself!" Zoro spoke, gently poking Coby's forehead using the handle of his sword.
"Huh? Why?" Coby asked, genuinely confused.
"Even though you were just doing chores on a pirate ship, you're still a small pirate. Don't underestimate the Marine's ability to gather information. If they know your past, they won't let you join." Zoro said.
"Not to mention things can get dangerous and not to mention ugly. Morgan was proof of that!" I said.
"Excuse me!" A voice spoke, coming from the front door of the house that we were in. We all looked to see that Marines were outside, and one of them, probably the one in charge, was standing in the door and it was him that had spoken to us.
"We are wondering, are you really…. Pirates?" The Marine asked us.
"Yes, we just found of first crewmate, so that makes us pirates now!" Luffy said.
"Err Luffy, we were already pirates when we left. I am your First-Mate remember?" I said, looking at him.
"Oh yeah. Sorry." Luffy said, looking at me with that goofy grin.
"Even though you are pirates, in reality… You saved our town and base. For that we are grateful but, since you are pirates… As Marines we cannot allow you to stay any longer…." The Marine spoke. I could tell he really was thankful and that was probably as close to a 'thank you' that we were ever gonna get from them and I understood their reason as to ask us to leave.
"Please leave this place immediately, as for the events that occurred here, we will be reporting it to the headquarters." The Marine spoke again. I sighed, knowing we don't have any other choice. I looked over to Luffy to see him looking at me, we both nodded to one another, having a silent agreement. I heard the town's people yelling in anger, in our behalf, saying how we are their saviours and that we helped.
"Hmm well then… Let's go!" Luffy said as he and I stood up at the same time. "Thank you for the food Ma'am."
"Luffy-San, Kasumi-San…" Coby spoke, looking at us in concern.
"Are you really leaving, Onii-San, Onee-San?" Rika said, looking up at us sadly.
"Yeah. Sorry and thank you." I said ruffling her hair again, I then turned to my other two companions. "Let's get going, Luffy, Zoro."
The two nodded and with that we started walking out the building.
"Aren't you with them?" I heard the Marine ask, and I knew without turning that he was speaking to Coby. I smiled, and I turned to see Coby looking at us through the corner of his eyes, I gave a gentle nod, making sure only he saw it.
"I…. I….. I'm… Not… Not… I'M NOT WITH THEM!" Coby yelled just as I stepped out the building and came to stand next to Zoro as I waited on Luffy.
"Please hold on…." The Marine said, making Luffy stop and turn. "Is he telling the truth?"
"I know what this guy… Used to do…" Luffy started, and I grinned, gaining the feeling of what he was up to.
"Luffy-San?" Coby question, confused.
"I can't remember where but, he used to be with this fattttt female pirate…. I think her name was Alvida." Luffy said, a grin on his face.
"Stop… Don't say anymore…" Coby spoke, frowning.
"It was a fat and ugly female pirate, this guy spent two years there…" Luffy continued.
"SHUT UP!" Coby yelled angrily as he punched Luffy right in the face. I smiled, finally, Coby gained a bit of courage, even if his anger fuelled it.
"You! You deserve a beating!" Luffy yelled as he punched Coby right back. But he kept punching Coby over and over again. "Damn you! You deserve a beat-down!"
"BOTH OF YOU STOP IT! I WON'T ALLOW THIS TOWN TO GET IN ANY MORE FIGHTS!" The Marine yelled. I re-entered the building and approached my brother.
"Oi, Luffy. Stop." I said, grabbing the back of Luffy top and pulling him away. "You went a little over-board there."
"I KNOW HE ISN'T YOUR FRIEND! PLEASE LEAVE THIS TOWN IMMEDIATELY !" The Marine yelled, glaring at us. And with that over, me, Luffy and Zoro left and headed down to the docks to where we left our boat. When we arrived it was quiet with no-one but us around and it was then did Zoro spoke, he had obviously waited until no-one was around.
"Nice act! This way, even though he's been a pirate before, it wouldn't be such a big deal!" Zoro said.
"I believe Coby will become stronger and more independent in the future!" Luffy said.
"Yeah! From this, Coby will be able to forwards and we will again someday as equals in strength." I said, a smile on my face as I jumped onto the boat and sat down near the front of it.
"Time to go, or else there's no telling what else will happen! Not leaving anything behind, that's what pirates are all about!" Zoro spoke, a smile on his face, watching as Luffy untied to rope that held our boat to the dock.
"Hahaha! That's what I'm saying!" Luffy spoke, laughing as he finally manages to untie the boat.
"LU… LU… LUFFY-SAN! KASUMI-SAN!" We suddenly heard someone yell and when we turned to look, we saw that Coby was standing there, he seemed to be breathing hard as he had probably ran here.
"Coby…" Both me and Luffy said at the same time.
"THANK YOU VERY MUCH! I WILL NEVER FORGET YOU BOTH FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE!" Coby yelled, saluting to us. I smiled.
"I've never seen a Marine saluting pirates!" Zoro said, and I chuckled.
"There's always a first for everything." I spoke, my voice laced the amusement that I felt. Luffy laughed as well.
"COBY! WE'LL MEET AGAIN SOMEDAY!" Luffy yelled, a huge grin on his face.
"GROUP, SALUTE!" I heard the Marine yell, the one that spoke to us earlier and then I saw a bunch of Marines standing behind Coby, all were saluting to us. I smiled and waved.
"BYE COBY! SEE YOU AGAIN SOON!" I yelled, waving at Coby while Luffy used both his arms to wave. I sighed.
"So tell me…" I heard Zoro speak and when I turned to look at him, he was looking at me. "How'd you join? Or should I ask when?"
"Haha, well as you I said to you earlier that I was adopted into his family, right?" I spoke, and Zoro nodded still looking curious.
"Well as soon as I met him, is when he asked and that was ten years ago. And that's how I found out about his stubborn side, and how persistent he was." I spoke, and Zoro laughed at that.
"But I didn't say yes straight away, because he asked me for a completely stupid reason." I said, it was then did Zoro look at me in confusion.
"What stupid reason?" He asked, as Luffy came to sit down next to me. I took off my coat and gloves and showed Zoro my robotic/metal right arm. Zoro's eyes widened, his mouth gaping to the point his chin was close to hitting the bottom of the boat.
"Luffy." I started, looking at my brother, then at my green-haired friend who was still looking wide eyed at me. "Saw my arm and instantly felt amazed. He finds the simplest things amazing and cool that he'd want them."
"But though after a short time after knowing him, and revealing my abilities, I said yes."
Flashback (Ten years ago)
I has been just over a week since I came to stay with Dadan, Ace and the rest of the bandits and let's just say the first week wasn't easy. Luffy kept trying to follow Ace out into the forest, most the time coming back alone knowing he had lost Ace at some point but eventually Luffy didn't come back, and my guess was that he had managed to keep up with Ace. But the day Luffy never came back had me worried and so I went in search of the two boys, after an hour, I found Ace standing on the branch of a tree with another boy who I've never seen before. That boy had blonde had, was wear a top hat and had a round head, and his name was Sabo.
After arguing with Ace and Sabo, and getting into a fight against Ace, which turned out to last long since we both were equal in strength. I hadn't notice Sabo slip away and when he came back, he alerted us about Luffy's predicament and when I heard what happened, I grew very angry and ran off to where Luffy was, both Ace and Sabo following behind, trying to calm me but soon turned out that they ended up help me save Luffy. Shortly after the incident, we went to the town known as Goa that over-looked a junk-yard that we called the Grey Terminal, in there we ended up fighting a bunch of men who tried to hurt us, and even though he knew how strong I was, Ace tried protecting me. I was confused by that but didn't question it.
After finding out that Sabo was a noble's son, we were surprised but then felt sad finding out how much pain he was in because of it, and so the four made a pact, a promise, that by sharing Sake and sharing a promise, we became siblings, three brothers and one sister. It was a very touching moment, but I knew by the way they looked at me, that they'd protect me, just as we'd protect each other.
I was thinking all this and was currently sitting next to a small lake with my brothers, while I sat on a rock next to Ace, while both Sabo and Luffy were talking. They were talking about his devil fruit ability, now showing their interest in it.
"So your body is made of rubber?" Sabo asked, stretching Luffy's mouth.
"Yep!" Luffy said as carefree as ever.
"That's stupid. Who'd want such a useless power?" Ace said from where he was laying down, he was on his side. I sighed.
"He ate the fruit by accident. Don't be too mean to him." I chided but didn't look in their direction, too busy reading a book. It was a book on alchemy which I just so happened to buy, curtesy of Makino who I told in secret away from the boys.
"Okay, okay." Ace said, but by the way the way he said it, it sounded as if he didn't pay much attention to my words. I sighed but didn't do anything about it. I started to think again, putting my left hand over my right arm, thinking that both Ace and Sabo didn't know about what happened to me, about me losing this arm and I was somewhat glad Luffy has never once mentioned anything, but I knew that I needed to mention it soon.
I was brought out of my thoughts when I heard yelling and saw Luffy, round and looking like a balloon and was probably hoping to show off but was soon turned into a ball that both Sabo and Ace had started kicking him, tossing Luffy between the two. I knew they didn't mean any true harm, just teasing Luffy, just what older brothers were for. I laughed at the sight.
"Kasumi-Nee! Help me!" Luffy called over to me, making me laugh harder. But just as I got up to help, Ace accidently kicked him off in the wrong direction and Luffy found himself in the water of the lake. Both Ace and Sabo went to stand at the edge of the water, just watching as Luffy deflated and went to drown and then a crocodile randomly appeared and ate him, making us yell. But before Ace or Sabo could move, I was already jumping into the water, but as I past my older brothers , I took my coat off and quickly jumped in after Luffy.
Oddly enough, when I took off my coat, both Sabo and Ace never noticed that my arm was made out of metal, more alarmed that Luffy had just been eaten. I swam as hard as my legs and arms could allow me and soon I had a hold of the croc's tail, pulled and hit it stomach, making it throw Luffy back out and I grabbed Luffy and threw him out the water and to the older brothers who caught him with ease.
"Kasumi!" Ace yelled, and was about to jump in to help me when, I had thrown the crocodile out of the water and when it landed in front of my brothers, they saw that it was unconscious. My head broke the surface of the water and I looked at my brothers as they poked the beast.
"You guys okay?" I asked climbing out the lake.
"Yeah I'm okay! Thanks for saving me!" Luffy yelled happily, while both Sabo and Ace stared at me, their expressions horrified.
"W…What is it?" I asked them grabbing my coat from Ace's arms and was about to put it back on when Ace grabbed my arm, stopping me from doing anything.
"WHAT THE HELL?! WHAT HAPPENED?!" Ace yelled, looking absolutely pissed off, I looked at Sabo who too looked angry but not as much as Ace.
"A…. Ace. What?" I spoke softly, looking at Ace.
"I WANT TO KNOW WHO HURT YOU! WHO DID THIS TO YOU?!" He yelled, looking at my robotic arm. And with that, I told my brothers everything, about me being a slave and that I was an alchemist and of course I had to explain to them what an alchemist was too. I even showed them a little alchemy, summoning my spear, to which they were amazed but I could tell that Ace wasn't completely happy, as he glared at my arm, probably wanting to hurt those who hurt me.
"HEY! Kasumi-Nee!" Luffy spoke excitedly and I turned to him, and saw him smile at me. "Join my crew, PLEASE!"
"Are you actually being serious? You really want me to become a member of your crew?" I asked, tears coming to my eyes, after hearing my story, he still wanted me to join.
"YEAH! JOIN MY CREW!" Luffy yelled, grinning ear to ear. I sighed.
"Fine, I'll join you." I said, a tired smile on my face.
"Your actually gonna join him?" Sabo asked.
"Yeah. And at least one of us can watch over him and try to keep him out of trouble." I said, and gave out a small laugh.
"I guess. Good luck though." Sabo said. I smiled as the four of us went back to Dadan's place, all of us now carrying to crocodile, which would be tonight's dinner.
End of Flashback
"So that's it. That's how I joined." I said, finishing my story on how I joined. Now that I thought about it, ever since my older brothers found out about my arm, Ace always gained a sad or angry expression whenever he saw my right arm, I wondered why.
"Ah, I see." Zoro spoke in reply to what I said, he had long calmed down.
"Zoro, can you promise me not to tell anyone about my arm?" I asked slipping my coat and gloves back on.
"Why?" Zoro curiously asked.
"Because she's very self-conscious about it." Luffy said, joining the conversation.
"You know when we get more crewmates, they will find out at some point." Zoro said looking at me.
"I know that. I will tell them at some point but it just for now. I just told you cause I needed one other person on this crew to know other than Luffy and someone that I can trust. I feel like I can put my full trust in you." I said, and Zoro nodded.
"Alright, I'll keep it a secret. I will only say it out-loud once it's out." Zoro said, before sleeping as it had reached the evening, no longer day time.
And so after that, I feel asleep, dreaming of the adventure that was ahead of us.
Author's Note: I truly hope that you enjoyed this chapter and will continue to do so.
I also want to thank those who following and favouring this story as it pleases me that you all are enjoying the story. And I also want to thank you for the reviews, they do help and if you have any ideas or any opinions on what you may like Kasumi to do, let me know as I'm always open to ideas and I will try to include them in if I'm able to.
Please keep reviewing, Favouring and Following this story, it will make me happy and grateful as it does truly help me.
Thanks for reading,
Doomedbex :)