"I don't like you" by BloodyMarryMe
Here's another one! It took me longer to post this than to actually write it ^^' I barely found the time to upload it. But finally it's here! :D
So before we go to the chapter, as usual let's answer a few questions from your reviews. :)
Yuzen: Yeah, I suck at writing titles. I'm never good at naming. I'm not really satisfied with the title myself. ^^' But I'm glad you changed your mind. :)
Elielephant: First I got to say; Thank you very much for taking the time to find all the mistakes in the last chapter and hopefully I managed to correct them all. :)
Secondly; Oh, by no means will Law give up. Of course he'll go after what he wants (It's Law after all :P) However he's still human and all humans have doubts, you can't really change that. Yes, Law is level-headed and cool 99% of the time, but I also want to portray that 1% that shows his more "human" side such as emotions, doubts, suspicions...Without it he would seem more like a robot than a person, and I think without it there would be no way for Law having a romance with Miyako either.
Izzie: I see where you're coming from. I guess Miyako getting a new sword is a big change and in a way a new step in life for her.
Akagami hime chan: What a coincidence, I've been writing this all yesterday morning instead of studying for my exam today. XP
So that would be it, and before continuing; one more notice I forgot to mention so far. This is story is also being translated to French by Zoro et Robin!So if there's anyone who would prefer to read it in French, now you can! :D I'll put a link on my profile since I can't here or you can find her penname in the reviews. So many thanks to Zoro et Robin for taking the time to do that. :)
Now let's go to the story finally!
Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece or any of its characters but I do own the OC Suzune Miyako.
CHAPTER 30
Miyako walked down the muddy street with the rest of the pirates as she excitedly looked around. Now that it was daylight she could clearly see the similarities with the Kyonin Village in Wano. The main street, which was full of small stores, dango-shops and tea-houses, was alive with people everywhere. Completely different from last night. But that was probably because of the bright sun that gave warmth to people in this fresh morning, while everything still glistened from yesterday's rain. They say sun comes after the rain, and in this case it was literally the truth. Even so, Miyako could see the affects that the big storm had on the village as there were leaves and mud everywhere and everything was uncomfortably wet. Not to mention some of the villagers had to repair their roofs as the wild wind blew parts of them off.
Even though everything seemed alive, the girl could feel tension in the air. The villagers seemed nervous as they glanced at the strolling pirates and whispered things in worry. At first, she thought they were just scared of the notorious Surgeon of Death, but after listening to some of their conversation, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"Did you hear? Yesterday night a woman disappeared?" A woman whispered to her friend as they sat in front of a tea house.
"what? Who?"
"A maid working in the Kuyaki household. She went out in the storm and never came back."
"Oh my…She must have gotten lost in the storm. Maybe she fell from the Black Cliffs...she wouldn't be the first. "
"That's what the Kuyakis think too…but don't you think it's suspicious...? She went missing on the same night those pirates came to the island."
"Oh, you don't think-!" She stopped talking when she realized the said pirates were passing by.
Law didn't even look at the two gossiping women as he went on with his own business. The rest of the Heart pirates looked at each other in wonder as they also heard the conversation. Miyako, on the other hand, wanted to talk to Law about it even if he didn't appear to be interested. If this continued the villagers might be a problem for the pirates and they had to stay here for four more days. Still, their captain didn't seem worried at all. The samurai girl couldn't understand how a person could be this calm and without a worry or care all the time; at least that's how he always looked to her. But even if Miyako wanted to speak to him, she didn't know how to approach her captain…not after what happened last night. She still didn't know what to think of the whole event and she just knew, if she went to Law it would be all she could think about and she wouldn't be able to even look him in the eye. So instead, she kept a good distance from him.
Trafalgar also didn't mention anything about that night and he didn't talk to her at all this morning except wording a few orders. When she woke up this morning, he was already gone and talking to his crew about their next plan of action, which spared her the trouble of the morning awkwardness.
So the girl stayed quiet and just passed by the two women as the rest of them, even though there was a troublesome look on her face all the while. The women gave her a nervous stare in return and that was the end of it.
After a while, Miyako learned to ignore the tension in the air and instead focused on the little stores around her. She wanted to see if there were any katana shops here, but then she remembered she would have to ask Law for the money anyway…and her enthusiasm decreased suddenly.
Bepo's voice brought her out of her thoughts and she looked at the bear who was staring at a shop's window. "Pretty!"
She came next to him and a little smile crossed her face. It was a store with traditional Wano dolls. They had colorful kimonos and yukkatas on, while the male ones wore hakama and gi. It even showed scenes from their everyday lives, like weddings or samurai duels…And everything was made with perfect precision. In Wano, making such dolls was a respected, but a hard trade. What's more, these dolls were all sizes and some of them looked almost like real people.
"Wow, some of them are really realistic," Miyako commented in surprise as she watched one specific doll of a maiden that was the perfect size of a human being. Its black long hair looked soft and real, and so did the rest of its features. But the eyes were glassy and plastic, starring at Miyako, and proving it was only just a doll after all.
Josh and the two mechanics walked over to the couple, while Law and Cody continued walking, too deep in their conversation about the "White plague", a disease discovered a few years ago on a certain island in the New World. It got its name because of the white rash that would start appearing on the people's skin and after that the person would die in a matter of days. The plague wiped out the entire island's population in 10 days and they still haven't found the cure for it.
"You're looking at dolls? Seriously, Bepo?" Josh eyed the first mate with a suspicious and unbelieving expression.
"But look at them, they're so realistic," Bepo defended himself as he pointed at the few human-sized dolls. "Actually, it's kinda creepy…"
"Wow…you're really turning into a girl, aren't you?" Penguin snickered as he teased the bear.
"Well I'll agree with him on one thing…the human-sized ones really do look creepy," Shachi admitted a bit nervously as he stared at a doll of a man in his forties, dressed in simple Wano clothing and carrying a kodachi on his waist. He had a traditional top knot while the rest of his head was shaved.
Josh rolled his eyes, "So now we have three girls in our crew."
"Shut up short-stuff, you're afraid of frogs!" Shachi bit back, making a few anxhious heads turn in their direction.
On this statement, Miyako's ears perked and she looked at Josh with a big grin. "What?" There was obvious delight in her voice after finding out such an interesting fact about him. A big, scary pirate was afraid of frogs!
Josh got red in the face from embarrassment. "S-shut up! I'm not afraid of frogs! It's just...the way they croak…especially at night. It sounds like some kind of demons."
As soon as Josh finished, a loud laugh was heard as Miyako almost fell on the floor with laughter. She clutched her stomach and doubled over as she laughed so hard tears started forming in the corners of her eyes.
Meanwhile Josh yelled at her to shut up, but it was in vain as she ignored him, still having her laughing fit. "Who…gets scared of frogs…?" She panted out in between snickers, after her laugh died out a bit.
"It's not the frogs!" Josh protested, as if that would change anything.
"Oh right! It's the way they croak! That's much better then," Penguin added and grinned as the rest of them, patting the short medic on his back.
"Yeah, I have to say I don't get it either." Bepo shrugged, blinking at Josh questioningly.
"Shut up Bepo! Not you too!" The redhead yelled and the bear apologized immediately.
"Hey, don't get mad at Bepo because of your weird fears!" Miyako reprimanded, still giggling slightly while trying to calm down.
Josh glared at her, but she ignored him, not the least bit phased by his deadly glower. Suddenly he got an idea and a sly smirk appeared on his face. "Well what about you? You've been avoiding captain all day, are you afraid of him or something?"
That shook the girl's usually stable mind a little. "W-what do you mean? I'm not avoiding him at all." An obvious lie.
Penguin and Shachi looked at each other in confusion. "Really? We haven't noticed it." They said almost at the same time.
Josh rolled his eyes. "That's because you're dimwits." He simply stated and then turned back to the samurai with a smirk. "Yeah, so what exactly happened last night, hmm? Why are you getting all worked up about it?"
Miyako scowled and clenched her fists. "Nothing happened and it's none of your business anyway, shrimppy-boy!" Her voice rose a little too loud in tone as she continued, "And the only reason I have for avoiding him would be because he is an egotistical, sadistic, perverted, always-has-to-be-right jerk!" She tried reciting every insult she had thought out for Law ever since they met, and luckily she had a lot of material from those few months when the girl couldn't stand the captain. True, she almost never thought of Law like that anymore unless he'd really piss her off…though the pervert part she still firmly believed, but Josh didn't have to know all that.
"And who exactly are you referring to, Miss Miyako?" Law's voice came from somewhere behind her and the poor girl jumped in surprise.
The rest of them did too, since nobody noticed their captain, except Bepo who already knew he was coming by scent, and yet the bear kept quiet, not finding it necessary to warn the others. If the others knew, however, they would probably skin him alive. Maybe even Miyako, who seemed in most trouble now because of not noticing him.
The samurai girl turned around slowly, and saw Law and Cody standing right behind her. Cody had a puzzled expression as he blinked in confusion as to what was going on here, while Law just kept smirking with amusement written across his whole face.
"Um..I was just…talking about Josh here!" She finished with a nervous grin and leaned on Josh's head with her elbow, hinting for him not to say a word.
The pirate doctor raised an amused eyebrow. "Is that so?" He looked at Joshua who surprisingly kept quiet, but looked as if he was about to explode with annoyance any moment now. However, he didn't and the reason for it was very clear even if Law didn't know it; Miyako was giving Josh her best 'If-you-keep-quiet-I-won't-tell-the-whole-crew-that-you're-afraid-of-frogs' look. Josh was returning it with his own; 'It's-not-the-frogs!' glare.
"Is that so?" The captain smirked and glanced at Josh, who didn't seem too pleased to answer.
Still, on captain's surprise, Josh covered for the girl. "Yeah…Miyako was just insulting me as usual…I'm the egotistical, sadistic, perverted, always-has-to-be-right jerk," he answered through gritted teeth.
Bepo scratched his head in confusion since he knew that's not how it went and opened his mouth to remind his poor forgetful friends of what really happened, but Shachi and Penguin grabbed him and put their hands over his mouth as they nodded to Trafalgar in agreement, with a nervous grin to add.
Law had to admit the whole scene was amusing. Finally, he turned around to leave. "Let's go." But as he walked a few steps away, the man stopped as if he remembered something suddenly. "Oh and Miss Miyako…" The girl looked up at his back with a questioning, yet still slightly nervous look. "It's not that I always have to be right…" He turned his head to look at the stiffening girl and grinned as he continued, "…It's just that I always am."
~…~
When they finally reached their submarine, they could already see the rest of the Heart pirate crew working at the docs as they loaded crates and boxes or cleaned the sub's deck. Jean Bart and Sai were standing on the deck and talking about something while staring at a map. Sai was probably charting the new island and Jean Bart was helping him.
Miyako didn't want to stay long, though. Honestly, she wanted to walk through the big village more. The similarity to Wano's Kyonin really interested her. Besides, she wanted to get some information, both on the disappearance of that maid-girl and on a store that might sell swords. She knew she wouldn't find out anything useful if she traveled with the big group of pirates because they made the people nervous and the villagers would instantly stop talking and walk away or go inside their houses when they saw the men approach. There was definitively something more going on in this village.
So she subtly turned around to walk away from the submarine, but a low voice stopped her before she could get very far. "Where are you going, Miss Miyako?"
The girl stiffened a little, but put on her best innocent facade as she turned around towards Law. "Well I wanted to see if there are any katana shops here so I was heading back to the village. "
Law crossed his arms on his chest and raised an eyebrow. "Without notifying me?"
Miyako's straight face faltered for a second and she cleared her throat. "W-well..I would have…wrote you a note…" She started explaining gibberish. *What the hell am I saying?*
Law's face remained serious and he walked over to her. They were a bit further away from the rest of the crew now, who were busy with their own task anyway, so Law and Miyako were left with complete privacy. That sounds like a good thing, but not so much when you're trying to avoid your captain as much as possible, and now here she was; completely alone with him and nowhere to run.
Trafalgar walked a bit closer to her, but thankfully didn't invade her personal space. He kept a certain distance, probably not wanting to scare the girl off. He wasn't stupid, he noticed the girl was avoiding him all day and as much as he didn't like it, he couldn't blame her. However the surgeon of death was never a subtle one, so he just decided to come right out and say it; "Miss Miyako, even if you are uncomfortable around me because of last night, that's no reason for you to run off on your own without telling anyone. You could get into serious trouble and we wouldn't even know. Didn't you already learn from past experiences you shouldn't do that?"
A guilty expression flashed on the girl's face as she remembered the last few times she got herself into trouble. But she felt like a kid being babysat when Law would send someone to go with her or demand she always tell him where she's going and why. And that also made her feel he didn't trust her one bit, which on her surprise hurt a little. She didn't think she'd care, but for some reason she did. Even more guilt appeared when she realized Law was right not to trust her…after all, didn't she plan to just use them to get back to Wano? Recently, out of that thought always arose more questions and complicated feelings she didn't have time to think about at the moment, so instead she concentrated on the captain in front of her. That didn't help much though, as she stiffened when he mentioned the event from last night and so casually like it didn't matter at all, while using his bored-looking expression and hands in his pockets. He didn't seem too bothered by it, while she spent half of night and day thinking about the occurrence; that just made her feel silly. Little by little, she got annoyed by the very fact the more she thought about it and she didn't like his approach at all. However, she decided she wouldn't gain anything by arguing with him, so instead she put on her usual emotionless mask. The one Law knew well, especially at the beginning of their trip together. Miyako didn't use it as much as she used to and as she felt more comfortable with the crew, she showed more and more of her true emotions, but to the captain's slight annoyance, it was once again back.
"You're right captain, I shouldn't just go off like that. And yesterday night doesn't matter at all so I won't let something so insignificant affect my daily duties or behavior. " She even bowed to him ever so slightly, her voice calm and impassive, though she tried to hide the coldness in it.
Law tilted his head and folded his arms on his chest. He tried to hide the irritation which rose inside of him from Miyako's actions. She was talking to him like a machine, so formal as if to a stranger; like she just wanted to get rid of him as soon as possible so she was saying what he wanted to hear. He wasn't about to be manipulated that easily. "It's good that you understand, but I don't need you to talk to me like a well-taught robot. At least mean it."
The Wano girl blinked a few times then sighed dramatically and put her hands behind her back, entwining her fingers in the process. She looked somewhere to the side and into the distance. "You're really confusing captain, first you want me to be good and obey you and now that's not good enough either." She glanced back at him with a mockingly innocent face. "What do you want, Trafalgar Law?" Her eyes pierced him knowingly and for a while Law wasn't certain what was she referring to. The questing sounded strange and threw him off his game a little, but he regained his composure almost instantly.
He sighed, as she started being innocently snarky, something she did a lot at the beginning of their journey as well. This girl was changing personalities faster than the weather changed on the Grand Line. Right now she reminded him of the first time they talked, when she was still captured and in his submarine unwillingly. The memory made him smirk a little.
The girl raised an eyebrow quizzically when she saw her captain smile so slyly. "What's so amusing?" It sounded a bit more arrogant than she wanted to.
However, the doctor ignored her and instead took a step closer. She leaned backwards a little, suspiciously looking at her smirking captain. He always looked like this when he got an amusing idea, and per usual, she didn't want to have anything to do with it. Though she knew that was just wishful thinking. Meanwhile, Law took another step closer and Miyako had to fight a rising urge to take one backwards. She wanted to keep her distance from the pirate, but didn't want to seem weak or afraid so her pride didn't allow her to move from that spot. And yet, the man kept approaching, more and more looking like a panther ready to pounce on its prey any second. Absentmindedly, the girl thought that that comparison fit him perfectly as he really reminded her of some wild man-eating animal…especially now. When the girl finally broke from her thoughts, she was surprised to see Law already in front of her.
He lifted up her chin, his face inches of hers and that smirk still gracing his features. He stared at her with amused eyes, but as he leaned even closer they became half-lidded. Miyako didn't dare to even move or breathe for that matter when his lips almost brushed against hers, but stayed teasingly an inch away; on her shock, that made her feel somewhat impatient and she found herself wanting for him to close that small distance.
"You want to know what I want?" His hot breath came in a whisper and tickled her lips. If anyone heard him now, completely out of context, they would surely think the captain was being seductive. The question itself sounded excessively suggestive.
Miyako didn't answer. Instead, she remained completely still and stiff as a board, looking at his smirking face with wide eyes. For a second she glanced behind them at the working crew to see if they were aware what was happening not so far away from the submarine. Luckily no one seemed to notice. Good; she didn't want having to explain this to her friends, it was far too uncomfortable and confusing…she wouldn't even know what to say.
Her eyes darted back to Law when she felt him move. He was still holding her chin, but his face now traveled next to her and his lips went to her ear. Hhe didn't make any actual contact, yet she could feel his breath on her skin giving her goosebumps all over. He breathed in her ear before his voice came in a whisper again; "I want you to get your ass back to work in the galley and help Munk prepare lunch for everyone." His voice was still sensual and low, so unfitting for what he just said, though, most of all, there was amusement in it.
The girl blinked in confusion, needing some time to completely understand what he just said and why the words didn't match his actions at all. By the time she finally realized what just happened, Law was already walking away towards the submarine with his hands in his pockets once again. Miyako's face changed through all shades of red as she clenched her fists in anger and glared at the captain's back.
"That's sexual harassment, you know!" She yelled at Trafalgar who just kept walking, but she could hear a small chuckle come from him. Her yell was a bit too loud so a few other heads turned her way and looked at the girl with puzzled expressions. She stiffened in embarrassment when she realized she was bringing unwanted attention to herself and quickly looked away.
~…~
Miyako spent the rest of the day with a deadly aura surrounding her that made everyone stay away if they valued their life. Even in the galley the cooks pretty much avoided her and at lunch, her friends kept their mouths shut and didn't tease her anymore. Even Joshua kept quiet, though that could be because he was still worried she would tell someone about his little fear…that he didn't find strange at all, by the way!
The reason for Miyako's foul mood wasn't just because of what their captain did, but because her whole day seemed to be going in the wrong direction. And she still had no katana and no idea where to buy it…and no money of her own for it, either. Yep, today was definitively not a good day. It was only around 4pm so there was still more to come, knowing it could get even worse. That idea was enough to make her deadly aura even darker.
She was glad when she got some free time after lunch at least and was now sprawled on her bed, staring at the metal ceiling. She wanted to go out, do something, find a sword, do anything really, but knew Law was teaching her a lesson because she tried to sneak off before and he wouldn't let her, or would insist someone goes with her…maybe even him. Miyako definitely wasn't in the mood for company, so the next best thing she could do is have some peace and quiet in her small quarters.
Just as her eyes closed and she started drifting off to sleep slowly, a loud knock was heard on her metal doors. Miyako only had time to sit up on her bed, confused as to what was happening, when the doors opened and people started swarming in.
Two mechanics, two medics and one polar bear came inside almost as if they were entering their own room. In these past 6 months the guys often made themselves comfortable in the girl's small quarters and would come and go as they pleased, which would then really get on her nerves. They had no respect for privacy at all. Sometimes she believed they spent more time hanging out in her room than in their own, which was probably because their rooms were shared and always filled with other crewmates.
The samurai rolled her eyes. *What now?* She didn't want to be rude to her friends, but she just wanted to be left alone today. "What are you guys doing here?" She furrowed her eyebrows in question.
The guys somehow miraculously actually managed to fit in her small quarters, making the tiny room even more cramped than usual. "Well you seemed down at lunch so we thought to come and cheer you up!" Cody explained as he entered, almost dragging Josh through the doors with him.
"Miyaa-chaaan!" The two mechanics sang in unison as they walked in as well, grinning at the girl. Penguin held cards in one of his hands and the girl knew exactly where this was going; they'll want to play poker or some other game that she doesn't know anything about. And then she'll either lose money or more likely, since she was broke, be forced to do their chores as payment.
"Cheer me up, hmm?" She looked at the cards suspiciously then raised an eyebrow at the guys. They knew exactly what she meant by it, and Shachi and Penguin smiled nervously and looked at each other, scratching their heads. However, her stern look softened a little and she smiled slightly. "Thank you but I'm really ok and I don't need any cheer-"
"Oh please, you've been like a walking dead person with a nasty personality all day." Josh cut her off and rolled his eyes, folding his arms on his chest before he plopped down on the floor and sat there cross-legged.
"And we know you're still bummed about the whole sword thing." Cody sat next to her on the bed and slightly punched her in the shoulder to get her out of her daze.
Bepo and the two mechanics just nodded in agreement and sat down on the floor as well.
Miyako sighed. "Thanks guys, but what are we supposed to do? I'm kinda tired of playing card games."
The pirates looked at each other and grinned. "Well actually..." Penguin started. "Right now we're at war with the guys from the room 5B. Want to join in?"
The girl blinked in confusion. "In a war?"
"Yep. They started it though! This morning when we got back, we went to lie in out beds and they all suddenly collapsed! They took out the screws and totally busted them. It took Penguin and me hours to fix them back up again!" Shachi complained.
Then the redheaded medic grinned. "But we retaliated and put glue inside of all of their boots. They won't be taking those off anytime soon." The rest of the guys snickered, except Bepo who looked as confused as Miyako. Since he had his own room, he wasn't in on any of it.
"So you've been pranking each other all day?" She asked with a sweat-drop.
"Yep," Cody said proudly and the girl was surprised even he was involved.
"That's not very nice..." Bepo finally commented on it and gave his friends a scolding stare.
"Maybe….but it's fun." The redhead grinned evilly.
"Well I don't want to be a part of it," the bear answered in determination and looked at the group with a slight frown of his snout. "If you don't mind I'll just hang around here and take a little nap." He was yawning before he even finished the sentence, before leaning against the wall, closing his eyes and smiling at the thought of a rest that was to come.
Penguin and Shachi sighed. "You're no fun…" But then they turned to Miyako. "So what do you say? You in?" The dark-haired mechanic asked a bit childishly and the girl had trouble believing someone of his age was really doing something like this.
"I…don't know…I don't think I should…" She really had nothing against the guys from 5B and this all didn't seem like a very good idea. She just knew it was all going to end badly, as those kinds of thins usually would. At that moment a knock was heard on her door once again and she got up, confused as to who it might be. Usually she didn't get many visitors, and people who did visit were all already here. So her first thought was that it might be an important notice and she was needed somewhere in the submarine. *Maybe Munk is having some trouble in the galley?* She walked towards the doors and opened them, but there was no one there. Then she heard a noise down the hall and Miyako stepped outside to look what was going on. As soon as she did that, her foot pulled a thin, almost invisible wire and it set off a small mechanism. The wire led upwards and was connected to a bucket of water so when the wire was moved, the bucket flipped over, spilling its contents all over the surprised victim.
A very wet and very annoyed Miyako raged with fury, though her friends could only see her shaking back. Her eye twitched as a vein pulsated on her forehead. And her anger was only increased when she heard laughter down the hallways, but could only see moving shadows, as the pirates ran away from the crime scene. The samurai gripped the doorknob tightly, as if to focus on the cool metal and calm down. Unfortunately, it didn't work. "Alright, that's it! You're on!" She yelled and her friends grinned with victorious smiles behind her. They were going to have some fun now!
~…..~
After some planning, the pirate group decided to make the shared room of the guys to be their headquarters, since it was closer to 5B than Miyako's quarters. The girl didn't mind at all since it meant her room will be spared from the catastrophe that was about to unfold here.
The other crewmembers stayed clear of the room since they didn't want to be caught between this war as 'unsuspecting casualties,' which left Cody, Josh, Penguin, Shachi and Miyako able to prepare for their next attack without any disturbances.
After the incident in Miyako's room the group fought back with a prank of their own. First Cody snuck into the control room and used the speaker while Sai was on a break, faking an urgent message and naming all the members of their enemy group to come to the control room quickly. When they got them out of the 5B, the rest of the group went in and filled the room with toilet paper, hid rotten eggs under their pillows, and Josh even found an alarm clock that wouldn't stop beeping and hid it somewhere in a small crack on the floor beneath a metal plate and then Penguin screwed it back again. After that, the group hid nearby and snickered as they heard shocked shouts and curses from the other Heart pirates. Meanwhile, Cody was guarding their own room, 10B so it wouldn't be attacked in the process of their plan.
Soon after, the guys from 5B retaliated by hiding in the ventilation pipe that was big enough to fit a smaller person and crawled to wards the other room, until they were right above the 10B group that was currently thinking of another plan. Suddenly the ventilation lid opened and tar splashed all over the group, followed by slowly falling feathers from freshly torn pillows. Yes, they were tarred and feathered!
As the war went on, the pranks got meaner and more dangerous and the groups were getting eviler towards each other. Especially one where Josh stole a tarantula pet from Garry and put it in one of the beds of their nemesis group. Then when Garry went searching for it like crazy, Penguin subtly mentioned he saw it going towards room 5B and Garry walked in right as the freaked out Mori was about to step on it and kill the spider. Of course Garry exploded with rage because Mori almost killing his precious pet and kicked the younger man's ass.
Then just as they were in the midst of planning their next move, the group heard a knock on their door and grinned.
"Oh like we'll fall for that one again!" Penguin announced.
Miyako took one of the water balloons they had prepared and went to the door. "This'll teach them a lesson. Prepare yourselves," she said to her friends as she was about to open the doors quickly. As she did, she threw the water balloon with a loud "Ha!" but her victorious face soon became a shocked one and then a freak out one when instead of their enemies, their captain stood in front of the doors, his face dripping wet. It was a very irritated and pissed off Law, who tried his best to keep his calm, but Miyako could see his eyebrow twitched a few times in anger.
"What do you think you're doing," he asked through gritted teeth while a dark look covered his eyes, one that promised nothing good.
At first Miyako couldn't even speak from the shock and she just gaped at the sight of her captain and the realization she just hit him with a water balloon. When she finally retrieved her ability to speak, she stuttered trying to explain, "N-No…well…you see…we were just…I mean, the guys and I….Guys?" She turned around to look at her friends in hopes they'd back her up, but on her surprise she saw them all sitting on the floor in a circle, playing poker innocently like they had no idea what was happening around them…as if they weren't a part of all this at all.
*Treacherous bastards!* The samurai yelled in her head and she gave a glare that conveyed those very words towards them. Still, she could understand why they were playing dumb…nobody would want to be even near Captain right now and especially not responsible for this.
As Law leaned to look behind her and into the room, he could see the whole quarters were in chaos. The group tried to clean it after the tar and feathers incident and managed to do so the best they could, but the evidence was still left in some places. Luckily, they managed to shower and clean themselves so only the room was a mess and not them anymore.
The dark doctor wiped his wet face with the sleeve of his hoodie. "Explain," he simply ordered, not wanting to waste anymore words, but his eyes dangerously narrowed.
The girl laughed nervously and scratched her head. "Eh, he, he….you see…we were just playing war with 5B."
"Law raised an eyebrow. "Playing war?"
"Yeah well…you see first they spilled water on me, and then we…" And Miyako started explaining in a hurry, but as she did, Law's eyes just narrowed more, his stare darkening into a glare. After a while, realizing that her explanation was just making the situation worse, she trailed off into a barely audible mutter. "I think I should shut up now." She finally said, almost wincing under Law's hard gaze.
"I got complains from other crewmembers there were some of the guys causing trouble, but I never thought it would be you. I didn't expect that from you, Miss Miyako." Then he leaned to the side and looked at the two mechanics and his two medics; "And you…You should be an example to the others, not playing this childish games."
The pirates sweat-dropped and stiffened at his reprimanding voice and then turned towards him and bowed in apology. "We're sorry, captain," they apologized in a defeated voice, sounding like Bepo.
Law didn't ease up though, obviously still mad at the whole situation. "You will clean this mess up, properly. And after that you two…" He pointed at the two mechanics. "…will check all the machinery in the engine room and then clean it all spotless. " Penguin and Shachi gulped and looked at each other. That will keep them busy for hours, which was surely the captain's plan. Then Law turned to the two medics; "And you two will do the same with the infirmary." He ordered and Josh and Cody nodded uncomfortably. And now it was Miyako's turn. His eyes narrowed again and the girl gulped. "And you will clean the deck, by yourself. All of them," he emphasized, just in case she tried to get out by some loophole in his orders since there were technically three deck on the submarine. However, the girl didn't dare oppose him now that he was this pissed so she just nodded.
"Yes captain." She said sadly, in a low voice. It was a tone of a badly scolded child.
~…~
The wet mop splattered on the wooden deck, making a squishy wet noise. Miyako wiped the sweat from her face with her hand as she kept cleaning the floors. She's been doing so for an hour now under the brightly hot sun. The worst part was, every now and then a crewmember would exit the sub or come on the deck and dirty it with their muddy boots, so Miyako would have to clean that place all over again. She swore in her mind that the next time someone comes and dirties the deck, she'll kick him overboard! As she moved the mop, the wooden handle suddenly broke off from the mop part. "Oh come on!" The samurai cursed as she tried to put it back together, alas with no luck.
Then an idea popped up in her head. She examined the wooden handle in her hands and hummed. She stood in a ready stance with her makeshift sword like they always did in the dojo when training with her master. With a swift cut through the air, Miyako swung with her "sword" moving forward in the process. The move ended in the exact stance she started it. And then she moved again, but this time backwards as she swung with the wooden handle, cutting through the air. Miyako continued on a perfect fast rhythm without missing a beat.
It was a long time since the girl did any training even when she still had her katana. And she didn't get to use it much ever since they left Maple Town, only on rare occasions when they would encounter the marines. She almost forgot how fulfilling it could be; when you were just repeating the moves, not thinking of anything, clearing your head completely and just following your instincts while letting your body move on its own. She realized how much she missed that. The deck-cleaning was completely forgotten as Miyako moved and practiced, not even bothered by people staring at her in wonder or by the hot sun shining upon her.
~…~
Law opened the heavy metal doors of the submarine and was about to step on the deck when a scene caught his eye. Miyako was practicing her swordsmanship on the deck with a mop handle and completely ignoring everything around her…including his order to clean the deck until she could see her reflection in it.
He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes for just a second. *Is it impossible for this girl to follow an order?* He was just about to interrupt her ministrations and tell her to get back to work, when he noticed the expression on her face. It was nothing he ever saw on her before. She was completely concentrated, staring only in front of her with determined, focused eyes. Yet there was a slight smile on her face, as if remembering a fond memory from a distant past.
He leaned on the door frame with his hands folded on his chest and watched the girl with a smirk. She, who would usually notice his presence as soon as he opened the doors, hadn't even realized he was there, totally in her own little word.
"Captain?" The voice of his first mate brought him back from his own thoughts and he turned his head backwards slightly, to see the big polar bear staring down at him questioningly. Bepo was holding Law's nodachi in his paws carefully and blinked with his small black eyes a few times, awaiting his captain's response.
"It's nothing," Law answered and stepped outside, the first mate right behind him.
At first Miyako didn't even notice a person next to her, but when she finally did, she stopped her ministrations and looked at Law with wide-eyes. Suddenly she remembered what exactly she was supposed to be doing. She saw captain give her an amused, but questioning gaze and without even having to ask anything, Miyako quickly answered; "The handle broke," the best excuse she could think of as she showed him the broken mop.
"Well I'm not surprised if you're practicing swordsmanship with it." Law answered, still smirking.
The Wano girl looked to the side with a mixture of guilty and sulky expression. "That's not how it broke though…," she muttered. Then an idea entered her head and she made an innocent, yet thoughtful face. "So I suppose I won't be able to finish the deck-cleaning…"
Law wouldn't have it though and he just tilted his head with a serious stare. "Oh, you're finishing your work. I gave you an order, so follow it. I don't care how you do it." He put his hands in his pockets, not phased with Miyako's frown at all.
She thought for a while again and then a grin appeared on her face. "Well you could fix it with your 'Tape-it-together-powers!'"
Law's eye twitched when he heard how she named his devil fruit ability. He couldn't help but repeat the name in his head with extra annoyance. *Tape-it-together…* He didn't know if she was deliberately trying to piss him off or was it just pure talent to always say and do the wrong thing…or rather the right one, since it would push all of Law's buttons perfectly. He sighed and looked at her, a slight annoyance still present in his voice as he spoke; "It's called Ope Ope no Mi, and don't use my powers for stupid reasons. If you need to fix it, do it yourself."
Miyako's frown deepened, though it didn't really show true anger. She probably already knew he would say something like that. "Fine." She leaned on the handle with a sigh, but it slipped on the wet floor and she stumbled to the side, almost falling on the floor. Somehow she managed to regain her balance and stay on both feet, sighing in relief.
The captain sighed again at that scene that seemed to have fallen out of some cheesy comedy. Was it just him, or was he doing a lot of that lately? "Come on Bepo, let's go." He called out for the bear, who was, at the moment, looking at Miyako with confused eyes, probably wondering if the girl was alright or if the sun affected her too much.
"Aye, captain!" Bepo called quickly and went after Trafalgar who was already off the sub and heading towards the big village.
Miyako looked after them and scowled a little. *Why does he get to go to the village and everyone else has to stay here and do boring chores? (And by everyone she meant her, of course)...Oh right, he's the captain.* She rolled her eyes at the thought, and quickly decided that wasn't an acceptable reason in her book. Not that she could do anything about it. Instead, she focused back on her task and put a finger on her chin, thinking how she should do this. Then a light bulb lit over her head as she remembered how she used to clean the dojo. It was a bit harder, but much faster and she could use the extra exercise anyway. She crouched, took the mop part and started running, bent forwards, with the mop. When she reached the end of the deck, she would just turn around and repeat the process.
She stopped for a second to catch her breath and wiped more sweat from her brow. Thankfully it wasn't that sunny anymore…actually, the sun was already slowly setting and she took a pause to gaze in the distance at the beautiful sunset. Red and orange colors painted the sky, as the sun disappeared over the blue horizon slowly.
~….~
Miyako sighed, exhausted but happy, as she was finally finished with the whole three decks. "Now that's a deck you could eat of!" She announced proudly to herself as she examined the spotless and shining wooden boards. She was proud of her work. Just at that moment, the metal doors of the submarine opened again and her peace and quiet was instantly broken. She turned to see Shachi and Penguin talking about something….but what really got her attention were their oily boots, leaving footprints all over as they walked across the deck. The mechanics were working in the engine room all day so it wasn't strange that both their jumpsuits and boots were full of stains, even their hands as they tried to wipe them off on their snow-white clothes.
"Oh, Miya-chaaan! Hey!" Penguin noticed the girl and waved, the two friends coming towards her. However, it was already too late when they noticed the girl's irritated, twitching face as she slowly went into fuming rage. Her eyes were fixated on their boots or rather the footprints they were leaving behind.
"Miya-chan?" Shachi asked, a bit uncertain, but mostly worried after seeing her face.
The two mechanics barely saw it coming, when the girl took the handle from the mop and did a kenjutsu move with it. The next thing they knew, they were flying overboard and into the ocean with a loud splash. The last thing they heard before the water engulfed them was Miyako yelling, "Bakatachi!"
~….~
"I was really surprised when captain told us we're sleeping in the submarine tonight." Penguin said, chewing a piece of meat as they all sat down at their usual table during dinner.
"Talk or eat, choose one. Don't talk with your mouth full; you're spraying food on me," Josh complained and started poking Penguin with his fork.
"Now that you mention it, we didn't get much free time to roam the village as we usually do when we're on the island," Shachi added thoughtfully, ignoring his two fighting friends.
"Well…that's probably cause we got ourselves into trouble," Cody answered with a sheepish smile, remembering about what happened earlier that day.
Miyako glared at him. "Yeah, and I won't forget how you guys totally abandoned me there." She muttered, looking sideways at him with narrowed eyes and Cody just sweat-dropped while smiling nervously and shrugging his shoulders. She ignored him and sighed instead, returning to the main topic, "But I think I get why…Didn't you feel the tension among the villagers this morning? I think they suspect we kidnapped that missing girl or something. Captain probably just doesn't want any unnecessary trouble." She shrugged.
"Yeah, we don't want to end up in a similar trap like the one at Windmill Hill." Shachi grimaced as he remembered his disappointment when the villagers weren't as friendly as they seemed to be at first, and more importantly, the girls weren't either.
The rest of the group nodded in agreement.
"Still, we have 4 more days to spend here and we can't hide on the sub all that time," Josh reminded them. He stretched, accidentally poking a fellow pirate at the next table in the head with his fork who gave an annoyed "Hey!"
Miyako suddenly stood up as she finished her food and picked up her tray to put it with the other used ones. The group looked at her confused. "Where are you going?"
"Oh, Munk told me to go give Captain his dinner when I'm done." Munk would sometimes order her to take captain's dinner to his quarters. They would usually have some small talk at that time, chatting to pass the time while Law worked, letting his dinner grow cold. Miyako guessed that's when she first went from 'resenting and wanting to stab Law repeatedly' to 'He's-not-such-a-bad-guy…I guess' They got a bit closer; she knew that much. And she found she didn't mind the task as much as she did in the beginning. It almost became a little tradition of theirs.
Still, she blushed when there were a few knowing 'Ooohhs' from the Heart Pirates and some sly smirks to add. "D-Don't be silly! It's just part of my job," she defended herself and turned around to leave quickly, not looking back at the snickering pirates.
~…~
A light knock on his doors broke Law's concentration and he called, "Come in," a bit annoyed to be interrupted. He completely forgot it was dinnertime as he was buried in thick books on his desk. That's probably why Munk always sent someone with his food and didn't wait for the always-working captain to come down to the galley himself.
He looked up from his work when he noticed familiar golden eyes staring down at him, an amused glint in them. He looked at the tray in her hands and sighed. "Oh, so it's that time already." He moved some papers away so Miyako could put the tray down. "Just leave it here," he said in a murmur as he was already scanning another book again.
Miyako sighed and closed her eyes for a moment, furrowing her eyebrows, before she made a somewhat reprimanding look like a mother would give to a child. "That won't do."
The captain glanced up at the girl, but didn't say anything. He knew he didn't have to, since she would explain anyway, whether he wanted to hear it or not.
And she did. "If you don't eat properly and take care of yourself, you'll get sick. Look…" She pointed right at his face, leaning over the table and closer to him. "Even your circles under your eyes are darker than usual, you don't even sleep enough. You're a doctor, right? So you should know this is bad for you."
Law's eyebrow raised slightly as he looked at the girl with a mixed expression of amusement and surprise. "Are you actually worried about me, Miss Miyako?"
In regards of that comment, a slight pink shade appeared on her cheeks and she stood up straight with her hands on her hips and tried to hide her embarrassment as she spoke. "T-that's not the point. Besides, Munk said…" She cleared her throat and then started quoting in a gruff voice, trying to imitate the chef, "Ya be sure he eat' all o' it now! He already be scrawny enough, that he be!"
Law's smirk fell into a slight frown at the chef's words. Yes, that definitively sounded like something Munk would say. He was the only crewmember who could say such things, yet get away with it since he was at least the double of Law's age. The chef respected Trafalgar and was extremely loyal to his captain, but Law sometimes felt like a kid under his care. With a sigh, he took the tray and put it in front of him and almost rolled his eyes at Miyako's victorious, satisfied expression that beamed on her face.
But then he raised an eyebrow. "Are you going to stare at me the whole time while I eat?"
Miyako shifted her weight a bit uncomfortably and shrugged. "But I'll just have to come back again for the tray."
The man smirked. "Ah, and we wouldn't want that. After all that would mean you would have to see me all over again. And that would be awful for you, I'm sure," he said sarcastically.
"Not really," Miyako blurted out completely calm and serious as if she just answered the most normal question. Law was actually a bit taken aback by the sudden answer and his eyes widened ever so slightly. At first Miyako didn't understand why such a reaction from him, but then when she actually thought about it for a while and realized what she had actually said, she blushed a bit and put both hands on her mouth before moving them in front of her defensively. "I-I mean, I didn't mean, I just…" She tried to think of the best response, but Law's chuckle made her stop blabbing.
"It's fine." Law responded with a smirk and gestured for her to sit down on the chair opposite of his, on the other side of the desk. She did so, albeit a bit reluctantly, while still trying to calm her hot cheeks. Meanwhile, the man was staring at his tray with a slight scowl on his face as if he was having a silent argument with the food in front of him. Miyako tilted her head and blinked in confusion but then he took a little plate with a piece of cake on it and put it in front of her. "I always tell him I don't eat sweets," he muttered as he added a small fork for the cake on her plate.
Miyako looked at the sweet dessert and took the fork in her hand. She smiled slightly and winked, looking at Law. "That's why I'm here for." It was true, the girl would never say no to sweets. Especially the strange ones that Munk made, which Miyako never saw or tried before. In Wano there weren't so many different kinds of sweets such as the ones they ate in this part of the world.
The two ate in silence for a while before Miyako decided to break it. "I think I'll go look for a weapon shop tomorrow."
"Ah," Law just made a confirming noise but didn't answer. Was that a yes? Well she decided to interpret it as such. But as he swallowed, he added. "Just try not to get yourself into trouble."
The girl pouted a bit. "Don't worry, I'll be fine."
"That seems impossible when it comes to you," he answered calmly, not looking away from his plate and the book he was reading at the same time while eating. The guy really never took a break.
Meanwhile, Miyako's pout turned into a frown as she heard the comment. "Great, now I'll be babysat again."
Law gazed up at her and smirked in amusement. "I'll tell you what; when you stop getting into trouble, you'll stop getting 'babysat'." He repeated her own words mockingly.
The silence returned between them once again as the samurai thought for a while, before she decided to break it again, "I don't get into trouble that much…do I?" She stared back at him questioningly, uncertain of the answer herself and Law just responded with a smirk that pretty much said it all. Miyako mulled over it again, before sighing with a sweat-drop in defeat. "You're right, that'll never happen."
Wow, that seemed long. O.o Anyway I hope you liked it. The plot is still only just beguiling though there are some indications of it. :) More of that in the next chapter though.
As always reviews, comments, questions, constructive criticism or anything else you can think of is welcome and see you soon in the next chapter!