I don't like you!

by BloodyMarryMe

By pure chance and unluckiness Miyako finds herself at the Sabaody auction house as a slave. And of all the people, the one interested just had to be the most smug, egoistical and sadistic pirate she has ever met. So at least she can give him as much trouble as possible, right? LawXOC

32. Chapter 32

"I don't like you" by BloodyMarryMe

Finally! Ok, I know it took some time so sorry for the long wait. I lost inspiration at one point and had to think about what to write next. ^^'

Thank you for waiting patiently though. :)

Now to answer some comments.

Chuu112: Yeah, I kinda left you with a cliffy here and then made you wait a long time. Sorry. ^^'

AliceLaw: Thank you, and I'm really happy if my writing has improved! :D

DrainaPurpurne2412: Thank you! I hope you'll like the rest too. :)

Zoro et Robin: Thanks ^^ and wow, I actually knew what it meant without having to translate it. XD And then they say television can't teach us anything good. :P

MangaFreak55: Thank you for the support and I'll answer any questions you have. (Unless they would be spoilers for the story, for that you'll just have to wait and see. ;P). Oh and I almost squealed when I saw you were from Croatia, too! :D

SeaDevil: *ehem* *ehem* I know nothing... *innocent look* :P

SkittlesKat: Yep, I don't like to over use cliffhangers but sometimes it's not that bad. :) I like people guessing what will come next. ;)

Izzie: I'm glad you liked it! :D Hm, well, I got the inspiration for the dance scene from the movie Tangled a bit. You can see some similarities. And yeah, I can totally imagine the teenage girl thinking something like that, like; Score! XD And I didn't want to exaggerate with Law/Miyako close scenes since I just made that one with the fish-scooping. Also I kinda wanted to leave the suspension of what happened next in the air with the scene when Law took Miyako's hand and they left. :) About the dance, music, song question; No, I didn't really do it with a particular song in mind nor the dance. I listened to the two songs you put and really liked Spanish Caravan. Blue Sunday kinda made me sleepy. XD Though what I picture for Wano music is something like traditional Japanese music. :)

akagami hime chan: Hahaha I actually pictured it and laughed out loud. I think I would be dying of laughter if I actually saw that. XD

Elielephant: Thanks the correction again! And I'll to watch out for the 'as well' too. :) Hm, I went over my old chapters in case I really did put something about a deal between Miyako and Law but didn't find anything. o.O It shouldn't be there...if it was, it would be a very big mistake on my part. ^^' One of the reasons I made Miyako suck at the game was also because I don't want her to be good at everything. I want her to have flaws too. But I don't think she should be good at it just because the game originated from her country. (I know I suck at some games that are from my country. ^^') And yep, the dance scene was inspired by the one from Tangled. :) And the last part…well, I can't say yet. *whistles innocently*

Now, let's finally get to the chapter! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or any of its characters, but I do own the OC Suzune Miyako.

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CHAPTER 32

Miyako finished showering and getting dressed, and she was just about to go to the deck to get some fresh air before her work in the galley started, when she heard a booming voice outside. She opened the heavy doors of the submarine and stepped outside to see Penguin, Shachi, Law, Cal, Mori and Sam on the deck. She furrowed her eyebrows, not understanding what the guys were doing here so early in the morning.

"Umm, Captain…there's a big and really angry guy down there," Cal commented as he stared downwards and over the railing.

Miyako ran up to Law with a confused look. "What's going on here?"

However, her question went completely ignored as Law walked towards the railing with a serious but very displeased expression on his face. He looked over it as well and saw none other than Takahashi Muso standing there. His face was completely red, showing nothing but pure rage and he was clutching something in his big hand.

When the big man noticed the pirate captain, his face twisted in anger even more. "Trafalgar Law, you bastard! I'll kill you if you did anything to her!"

Law's eyes narrowed dangerously. He didn't really know what Muso was talking about, but he did know one thing; He didn't like to be threatened no matter what the reason behind it was. However, he understood there was no other way than to settle this thing face to face. He turned to his crew and ordered in a serious voice, "Pull down the gangplank." The gangplank was usually moved from the control room but it could also be taken out manually, which Cal did and a metal gangplank was taken out to connect the submarine with the ground below.

Law turned around to see his loyal first mate there, holding his nodachi. He couldn't help but smirk at the bear who knew exactly what he needed to do as he took Law's nodachi from his room and went to his captain. Law took his large sword, rested it on his shoulder, and walked casually towards the raging man.

The Heart pirates looked at each other in slight worry, but only kept watching intently from the sidelines. They knew their captain was strong and he could take care of himself, even if Muso was exceptionally muscular.

The man's voice was loud enough for all to hear as he spoke again. "Where is she, Trafalgar? What did you do to her?"

Law stopped a few paces away from Muso and tilted his head a little, furrowing his eyebrows in the process. "I'm afraid I have no idea what you're talking about."

The man gritted his teeth and clutched the item in his hand even tighter. That's when Law realized he was holding a sheathed katana in his left hand and his eyes narrowed dangerously. This could turn out more bloody than he originally thought…But if Muso decided to attack, Trafalgar had no intention of holding back. Still, he preferred to find out what was going on first and why was Muso being so stupid as to risk his life like this.

"Don't play dumb with me! I know it was you!"

Law was losing his patience with this man. "Instead of yelling, why don't you tell me what did I supposedly do exactly?"

Every word the captain spoke seemed to be a fuel to Muso's already raging fire. "Izumi is gone! She went missing after last night. She just disappeared over night, just like the others! And I know it was you! The whole village was already talking about it; How you kidnap people and experiment on them!"

The pirate's eyes narrowed. "Only a fool would believe that," he hissed angrily. He really didn't care what the people were saying about him, be it true or false, but he didn't like when him and his crew got problems because of it.

"You can call me a fool all you want, but you had every reason to kidnap Izumi! Admit it! It was because I refused to make you a sword, so you kidnapped my daughter to blackmail me and force me to do it!"

Law didn't even flinch nor did his expression change as all the accusations came pouring from Muso's lips. He just stared at the other man with a blank expression. "An interesting theory, and I must say, the idea doesn't sound bad at all. But I didn't take your daughter, Mister Takahashi." Law's voice was slightly mocking when he spoke.

Muso didn't like the pirate's attitude one bit. The hot-tempered blacksmith had enough of Law's cocky and uncaring demeanor and in a flash he took out his katana, making the bright metal glisten in the morning sun.

Miyako gasped when she saw the katana in the man's hands. "That is…a Masamune sword," she exclaimed, looking at the blade with wide-eyes.

The crew turned their heads to her and gave her confused looks, not knowing what she was talking about.

"Umm, Miyako. Mind telling us what the big deal is so we can be surprised too?" Penguin asked with a raised eyebrow. though it could hardly be seen under his cap.

Miyako didn't seem to pay much attention to Penguin's words, but she did explain, still staring at the sword. The katana had a crimson decorated sheet and the blade almost looked white under the sun. It had lightning streaking on the blade, called kinsuji; one of the characteristics of Masamune's work.

"Gorō Nyūdō Masamune was acknowledged as one of the greatest swordsmiths. He made many different kinds of blades, but the most known were his katana. His katana are famous for their beauty and quality as you can see for yourself. And the steel is completely pure and perfectly molded; something that's very rare even in Wano. That's why it almost looks bright white under the sun. " Miyako pointed at the glistening blade before continuing. "They say in Wano that Masamune swords are blades of peace that aren't meant to cut needlessly. There is even a legend about that."

"A legend?" Shachi blinked behind his sunglasses.

Miyako nodded. "My Master often spoke about it. These swords are the exact opposite of the Muramasa swords made by his student. Those swords are bloodthirsty and evil and don't discriminate when cutting. That is why, in the legend, when they tested both their swords putting them into a stream, Muramasa's katana cut everything that came towards it and opposed it, while everything that came to Masamune's sword only slid next to it unharmed."

The Heart pirates looked at each other in suspicion. "But how can a sword know who to cut and who to spare," Cal asked.

Miyako shrugged. "Well it's only a legend…Though the way I see it, you can cut the innocent even with Masamune's sword, but that sword will never fulfill it's true purpose then and will never be used properly. Because of that, you will never be able to get a connection with it and pull out your true and full potential by using that sword." She turned to see the crew still looking at her as if they had no idea what she was talking about and she sweat-dropped. "Well…that's only my opinion though…"

"So what's this Masa-whatever guy's sword doing with this guy anyway?" Mori asked, scratching his head in question.

The girl sighed. "Masamune has been dead for more than a hundred years and after his death, his swords were scattered all across Wano. Most of them ended up in property of nobles or with some daimyo. Some ended up with Samurai …some not even knowing that they own a Masamune katana. But I really can't say why Takahashi-san has one." She looked as confused about that part as the rest of the pirates.

"This is Yawarakai-Te, the exact katana from the legend of Masamune and Muramasa." Muso explained as both him and Law heard Miyako's long explanation. "This sword is passed down from master to student and Masamune gave this to his best student. Well, he wasn't the most skilled, but he understood and followed Masamune's teachings unlike Muramasa. And as it was passed down through generations of swordsmiths, it finally came to my father who was a swordsmith and who was given this Yawarakai-Te by his master. After he passed away, it was given to me; both his son and student," Takahashi explained. He clenched the sword as his glare returned to Law. "And now, with the help of this Yawarakai-Te, I will make you regret ever laying a hand on my daughter!"

With that final word, Takahashi swung his sword and brought it down, aiming for Law's head, who unsheathed his nodachi in the meantime and was ready to counter attack. However, both of them stopped instantly. Muso halted with his sword in the air as Miyako suddenly appeared in between them with her arms outstretched as if protecting Law.

The crew gasped when they saw the unexpected sight and glanced back at the place by their side, where Miyako was just seconds ago. Of course, there was no one there anymore. "When did she…!?" Penguin muttered in shock as he tried to figure out how and when did Miyako rush down there without them noticing.

Law and Muso were startled as well, both having wide eyes and perplexed faces.

"Wait! Please, Takahashi-san, don't bloody this sword without a reason!" Miyako pleaded.

Muso gritted his teeth in anger. "Without a reason? This man took away my daughter and you say that isn't a good reason! This has nothing to do with you girl, so don't get involved! Step aside!"

"I will not!" Miyako's expression and voice both showed pure determination. "Because I don't believe Captain kidnapped Izumi-san," she exclaimed.

Muso didn't want to listen to excuses, though. "And how would you know? He is an infamous, merciless and sadistic pirate, so it makes perfect sense. And you…I can't believe you're even trying to protect a man like him." Muso looked at Miyako with a mixture of disbelief and disgust. "If you stand up for people like him, you are no better! I thought you were a person of honor…but now I see I was wrong about you."

The samurai took the insults head-on and didn't change her expression nor did she falter. She had her own beliefs and she didn't care much what other's thought of her, including this man. "I don't mind if you don't like me, but I know what I believe. And I believe Trafalgar Law is innocent. He might have committed a lot of other crimes and hurt other people, but he isn't involved in this one."

At that moment, she felt a hand on her shoulder and glanced down at it to see the tattooed death squeezing her shoulder lightly. Miyako turned to look at Law's face, but he was staring ahead at Muso, even when he spoke.

"Miss Miyako, if I remember correctly, you were to stay on the deck with the others. What do you think you're doing?"

"Yes, but I-" Miyako started, but Law didn't let her finish.

"I don't remember asking you for your help. I'm capable of dealing with this situation by myself and without your help or you jumping in front of his weapon." Law's voice was cold and he hissed as he spoke, obviously angry.

"But I didn't want you two to hurt each other needlessly," she finally managed to explain.

That's when the captain gazed down at her with a cold, dark look. "I don't need your help Miss Miyako and I didn't ask for it," he hissed. "Don't go against my orders and do something like this ever again." His voice and expression left no room for arguments.

Miyako nodded with a gulp, still standing in front of him. She knew she defied him and meddled in his affairs, which was why he was angry, but she only did what she thought was best. Though when she thought about it, she probably hurt his ego by jumping in to protect him like he was some victim in distress instead of a pirate captain. But that's not why she did it. She knew Law could take care of himself, she just didn't want to see needless fighting.

What she didn't know was actually another detail that she didn't even think about. And that was the fact that Law was mainly furious because she stepped in front of a weapon, risking her life, in his opinion, needlessly. Just the scene when she suddenly appeared in front of the weapon was enough for his gut to turn uncomfortably. That feeling just got worse, when the scene of what could have happened if Muso didn't stop, entered his mind.

Law moved Miyako to the side and turned his attention back to the blacksmith. "Now, let's get this over with already. I don't have all day, Takahashi-ya."

"Listen to her, Muso!" Yet another new voice came through the wind and everyone turned to see the old man from before, his katana securely tied to his waist, and both his hands hidden in the sleeves of his gi, as he casually strolled towards them. The old man didn't add any honorific to Takahashi, which meant they were obviously close. The Heart pirates looked at each other in question, though the trio on the ground already knew who he was.

"Samue! Why are you here!?" Muso blinked a few times in confusion.

"I came to stop you fools from doing something unnecessary," the old samurai explained as he came towards them and then sighed at the sight. "Muso, you're always so hot-tempered."

Muso tried to speak, but Samue held out his hand, stopping him. "The girl doesn't look like she's lying. And she's right; there's no point in fighting each other, since that won't bring back Izumi."

"Then what do you suggest we do?" The large man was already losing his patience. He didn't care about all this; he was only interested in one thing and that was getting his daughter back, no matter what.

"If Trafalgar-san had kidnapped your daughter to blackmail you, he would have already asked for something, no?" Samue continued, ignoring Muso's demands. "Yet he didn't ask for anything."

This realization seemed to make Takahashi Muso relax a little. But only a little, as he still kept a suspicious eye on the captain.

Meanwhile, Samue turned to Law and Miyako and bowed a little with a slight smile. "I don't think we have been introduced properly yet. My name is Shindo Samue, and you could say I am a…retired samurai." He paused a little before that title and a smirk formed on his face.

Miyako bowed as well. "Thank you for your help, Shindo-san."

The captain just stayed silent with that displeased frown of his. He was annoyed at people constantly meddling in his own affairs. The truth was, Law didn't mind Muso attacking him at all. The big man had been irritating him with that attitude of his from the start and this gave him a perfect chance to teach the old man a lesson. But fate obviously wasn't that kind to him today, because everyone had this problem with fighting all of a sudden. What's more, the dark doctor was getting annoyed at Miyako for acting on her own like that. He wouldn't admit it, but it was slightly bruising his ego and he wanted to teach the girl her place as well; which is a subordinate in his crew that is supposed to listen to him and answer only to him.

"But if Trafalgar has nothing to do with this, who does? Who kidnapped Izumi and the other two? The kidnappings started the same night these pirates came into the village," Muso said, spitting the word 'pirates' out with contempt.

Law narrowed his eyes warningly at that. Oh, this guy was really rubbing him the wrong way.

The girl sensed her captain's rising dark aura and glanced at his darkening face with some uncertainty. She knew if he got irritated enough and decided to do his thing, nobody would be able to stop him and he would kill Muso. She didn't want to see that, so she had to do something.

"Then, we'll help you find her," Miyako suddenly exclaimed.

Both Law and Muso looked at her in surprise and said "What?" at the same time, though Muso's loud voice made Law's almost impossible to hear. Samue only smirked at the girl's statement, as if he expected the girl to say something like that.

Miyako turned towards Trafalgar with a serious look, ignoring their shocked outbursts and also Law's displeased expression. "Captain, if we find Izumi we can prove your innocence," she explained.

But Law didn't look satisfied with that explanation at all. Actually, his eyes narrowed into two dangerous slits. "And why would I have to prove anything? I don't care what these people think of me and their problems don't interest me. I have no reason to help this man, Miss Miyako." His voice was dangerously cold, which was to be expected since Miyako had once again decided things on her own, without considering her captain at all.

She bit her lip. This was not going good. Law was losing his patience fast and that was never good. She had to think of something and fast. Finally, after some brainstorming, she did. She stepped to the side, gesturing for Law to lend his ear and then stood up on her tiptoes so she could reach. She leaned forward towards him.

The captain stared at her with slight surprise mixed with confusion as to what she was planning, his eyebrows furrowing. Yet, when she started whispering in his ear, his dark expression lightened up a little and a small smirk formed on his face instead.

When Miyako finished and leaned away, Law looked back at Muso who was eyeing them suspiciously. "Alright...we'll help you under one condition; you will forge Miss Miyako a sword," Law said simply with a smug smirk on his face.

Muso's eyes widened a little with unexpectedness of it, and he stared at Miyako who gave him an apologetic expression. She knew that was the only way for Law to accept this and help them. First she wanted to resolve this issue, later she'll think about what to do with Muso forging her a sword that would make him trample over his vow. She didn't want that to happen either, but for now she didn't have any other choice but to follow through with her plan.

The blacksmith didn't like the idea either. He turned to Samue with gritted teeth. "I don't need help from these pirates! I will find Izumi on my own!"

Samue's eyes narrowed a little and his expression became slightly annoyed. He was losing his patience with Muso's stubbornness. "And how do you intend to do that? You have no clues and you're on your own. You need all help you can get with this."

"And we kinda have experience with missing people," Miyako whispered to Law with an amused glint in her eyes as she remembered Maple town and Lady Shiori. However, Law just gave her a dark glare in return, indicating he was still mad at her, and that won't be changing any time soon. So Miyako moved a bit away from him, rather uncomfortable, and went quiet.

"There is certainly something strange going on in this village and we need to find out what. And for that, we'll need all helping hands we can get," Samue stated.

Trafalgar stayed quiet, but looked at Muso with a questioning, raised eyebrow, waiting for his decision. To be honest, the captain couldn't care less, but if he can get something useful out of all this, then why not? They needed a sword anyway and now they can get one. Besides, he knew how much the blacksmith was against it and forging them a sword would be like rubbing Law's victory in the other man's face, which the pirate would enjoy immensely.

Muso was quiet for a few more moments, which resulted in Samue sighing impatiently and giving him a stern gaze, so Takahashi had no other choice but to agree. He sheathed his katana back in its covers and nodded his head. "Fine…But if I suspect you for just a second or you do anything suspicious, I won't hesitate to cut your throat." He glared at Law as he spoke. "I still don't like you, pirate."

"The feeling's mutual," Law answered with a glare of his own.

Miyako sighed in relief when they finally reached an understanding and both men sheathed back their weapons.

"So all of that aside…how should we proceed from here?" The girl finally asked, still standing a bit away from her captain and his current foul mood.

"How about Mister Takahashi tells us what happened last night, hm?" Law suggested, putting his nodachi on his shoulder more comfortably.

"Certainly, but this is no place to talk. Come, let's all go to the village. You can be my guests," Samue declared, cutting Muso off when he started explaining everything he knew about the incident, which wasn't much unfortunately.

Law and Miyako looked at each other as if deciding whether they should go, though the decision was of course on Law alone. After a while, he turned to the submarine and his subordinates on it. "Shachi, Penguin, I gave you orders. Bepo, you come with us." He called for his first mate, who rushed down the gangplank and was by their side in an instant.

The crewmembers saluted with a "Yes, captain!"

~….~

Miyako was sitting with her legs folded under her at a short, small table, sipping some green tea. The others were sitting around it as well, a moment of silence taking over before Samue cleared his throat to break it.

"Now Muso-kun, tell us what happened last night," the old samurai urged his friend.

The blacksmith fumbled with his cup for a while, staring at the tea intently as if trying to remember yesterday's events. "I don't know much. Izumi said she'd go to the festival. I stayed at home since I still had some work left so she went alone. But even after the festival was over, she never came back…When I realized her bed was still untouched this morning, I went to find her in the village, but nobody had seen her."

"Where was she last seen," Miyako asked, listening to Muso's story carefully.

"Well one of the villagers said she saw Izumi go a bit away from the festival area to take a walk…But nobody saw her after that."

"Maybe she got drunk and fell from those Black Cliffs the villagers were talking about earlier," Bepo suddenly noted. He was innocently blunt, not realizing he was a bit too blunt and very insensitive.

Muso banged the cup against the table as he put it down harshly. "My daughter wouldn't do something so stupid! Don't insult her!"

When Bepo realized he was the cause of Muso's rag,e he bowed his head as low as it could go and quickly apologized saying "Sorry!" a few times, in almost a panicking voice.

Samue cleared his throat again to break the tension building up in the room. "Has she gone to the festival with anyone? Perhaps had a boyfriend or someone close to her that might know where she is?"

The big man shook his head roughly. "No, nothing like that. And she went to the festival alone…I don't understand. How could she have disappeared just like that!"

"She must have been kidnapped just like the rest of the victims. That is pretty much obvious," Law commented in a matter-of-fact tone.

"I already talked to her best friend, Yuni, who said Izumi had no…lover or anything similar. She hasn't got any idea where my daughter could be and I doubt she'd hide something from me in a crucial time as this," Muso explained further.

For a while everything was silent again, everyone in their own deep thoughts.

"What about the other victims? Maybe if we find clues about them, we'd find Izumi's kidnapper as well. I mean, it's 99% the same person anyway." Miyako broke the silence as an idea popped into her head.

Law nodded, agreeing with her. "You're right. We should try and find clues with the other two who went missing. I'll have my crew work on it too. But the amount of my subordinates available will be reduced, since we have to work on our…little problem too. " Law's dark gleam in his eyes returned when he remembered someone had messed with his ship. Nobody messes with his submarine! "Speaking of that…would you know who could be responsible for the damage to our submarine," the pirate captain continued, looking between Muso and Samue, and examining both closely to see how the men would react to that question. If he saw the slightest bit of hesitation in telling him or the faintest suspicious look as if they were telling lies, they would be trapped in his Room in matter of seconds.

Muso and Samue looked at each other in wonder, obvious confusion on both their faces. "We don't have mechanics or anything like that here. Nobody would even know how a submarine works." Samue shrugged.

Now it was time for Law and Bepo to look at each other, both having an unreadable expression on their faces. It appeared as if they could understand each other perfectly, almost as if they were communicating mentally. Miyako glanced at the two pirates with a questioning, confused gaze since she, on the other hand, had no idea what they were thinking.

She shook it off and instead focused on something else. "But you don't need particular skill to destroy something, do you?" She tiled her head, looking at Trafalgar questioningly, like she was expecting an answer from him.

"True. But you need particular equipment to do so. Especially when the item is a 500kg submarine engine that was pierced through. They had to pierce through three layers of metal to get to the main mechanism inside," the captain explained. "Not to mention, they had to have the equipment to dive underwater and stay there for at least half an hour to work on destroying it," he added.

"And Cal said the engine looked as if it was busted by a weapon rather than some kind of tool. He said he never saw anything like it before," Bepo added as he remembered a conversation with one of the mechanics on the deck.

Suddenly, the bulky blacksmith slammed his fist on the table. "Who's the bastard behind all this?! Who could be doing something so awful?"

~…~

Izumi stared around the dark room with wide eyes, looking like a frightened animal about to be eaten by a predator. She didn't know how long it has been, even. Hours? Days? Weeks? Did anyone notice she was gone?

*Papa and Yuni must have. Papa must be so worried.* The thought flashed through her panicked mind for a second.

She wanted to scream, call for help, run away…anything! But she was currently bound to something that looked like a big, leathery, old chair that smelled of mold and something else…blood, Izumi realized. And that realization only made her panic more. The chair was leaned backwards and straightened horizontally so she was in a lying position. There were metal bindings on the chair that held her wrists and ankles, impossible to get free from. And to top it all off, she was gagged and her jaw already started hurting from the cloth in her mouth.

When she woke up, she was a panicked mess, trembling and crying when she found out she was bound, fruitlessly trying to get free….but she got tired quickly and had no results to show for her efforts. So instead, Izumi tried to remember how she ended up here. Unfortunately, that only left her with a hazy mind and a headache, as she slipped into unconsciousness again.

After she woke up the second time, she tried once again gaining her freedom and once again failed. But her mind felt a bit clearer now and she was able to calm down enough to look at her surroundings and think.

She tried to remember what happened that night, but everything was a blur. And the thinking just gave her a headache since her mind has been through enough. She remembered going for a walk, away from the village square. And then….crying? Yes, she heard something that sounded like crying. She went down the narrow streets and saw something. Like a shadow of someone running through the streets. Then more crying. She tried to follow the noise, but it was dark. It was hard to see anything.

Izumi shuddered a little as she remembered the slight uneasy feeling she felt back then when she remembered the two missing villagers. Then she remembered seeing the shadow again and ran after it. The crying got louder…it was ringing in her ears even now as she remembered it. And then Izumi saw it….a child. The kid was just sitting in the middle of a dark narrow street and crying, its back turned to her.

Izumi supposed the child was lost and went towards it. As she got closer, she could see the small boy. She called out to him, but he just kept on crying, not realizing she was there. So she went closer and called out to him louder. Still no answer. Her heart started beating harder, that uneasiness slowly creeping back into her heart. When she finally came up to him, she tried to turn him around. She put a hand on his back and he…He turned.

Izumi's hazy mind still didn't give her the full information and she couldn't remember the boy's face. Who was he? But somehow, even now she had that uneasy feeling when thinking about it. She remembered she was shocked then…But why was she shocked? After her initial shock after the boy turned …everything went black.

Yes, someone had come to her from behind and put something over her mouth. She remembered a strong smell hit her, but she couldn't quite tell what it is. And then she fell unconscious and woke up here.

Izumi searched her surroundings again, or at least what she could, considering her position. Her eyes got used to the darkness a little and she could make out more of it than before. She saw there were some kind of silhouettes all around her. Izumi twitched, thinking it was her captors, but the silhouettes kept perfectly still and quiet. So Izumi suspected those weren't human, even though they seemed to have similar shapes. So what were they? She didn't notice anything else. There were also some things at the side of the room, but it was all covered in dirty sheets.

There was still one big question bugging her. *Where is the kidnapper? Why haven't anyone come here yet?* Izumi hadn't seen or heard anyone since she woke up here for the first time. At first, she thought of calling out to somebody, but both the gag and fear that her captor would hear her stopped her from that idea. She didn't want her kidnapper to come down here after hearing her.

Then suddenly her thoughts were interrupted by a sound. Izumi turned her head towards it, as it got louder and louder….the sound of footsteps. Any minute now, somebody would open the only doors in this room and walk inside. And she'll be here, helpless and at their mercy. Izumi's eyes widened again as she started panicking, trying to break free from her bonds with all the strength she had left. But all was in vain, and then the door screeched open and the woman almost turned to stone. She became motionless and stiff, her eyes wide and staring at the figure walking inside the room.

As he came to the chair, Izumi could see it was a tall man, but it was hard to identify who it was, especially in the dark, plus the man had a mask covering half of his face. A mask people wore for medical reasons, a surgical mask, Izumi noted. Then he flicked a switch and suddenly bright light burnt her eyes and blinded her. She didn't even notice there were lights above the chair, as if they were specifically made to shine their light on the chair.

The woman could see even less now since she was blinded by the bright light. She squinted her eyes and was able to notice the silhouette of the person as she could see the light reflecting from the man's glasses.

A hand suddenly came down and rested on her forehead, which only made Izumi more nervous. She wanted to ask him what he wanted. Why was she here? But the gag was still keeping her silent, except for a few muffled whimpers and sounds coming from her mouth. She could feel tears of fear building up in her eyes, threatening to fall across her sweaty face. Beads of sweat kept forming on her skin, both from anxiousness and the hot, bright lighting.

The hand on her forehead kept stroking her, removing some loose strands of hair from her face, almost as if the man was trying to comfort her. She gave him a pleading look, silently begging him to spare her, but the man just kept on with his ministrations silently.

"Such pretty skin." The man's voice seemed almost as if he was in a daze, but it was muffled behind the mask so Izumi couldn't find out much about her kidnapper from it.

Then the man removed the cloth from her mouth and Izumi breathed a few deep breaths of air as she tried not to hyperventilate on the spot. Though, for a second a thought crossed her mind that hyperventilating might be better than dealing with this.

Her lips trembled when she tried to speak, her throat dry and voice hoarse. "P-Please…" It was something in between a whisper and a whimper. Izumi wasn't even sure what to say…What could she say to make him stop?

But the person only put a sole finger on her lips, indicating for her not to talk. "Shush. You're not supposed to talk."

Izumi didn't really understand that statement. Was he saying she shouldn't make noise in case someone heard her? She didn't know, but all of a sudden she was torn between screaming her lungs out and being as silent as a mouse.

Still, one more question just had to come out. "W-what are you….g-going to do to me?" She could hardly finish the sentence without crying.

"And lovely hair…" The man kept on in his dazed voice, completely ignoring her.

She trembled even more. "Please…stop. L-Let me go."

The man's head moved a little as if he stared in her eyes, but it was hard to tell from the light glaring down at her and his covered up face. "Oh, but you'll be perfect. You have to be happy…you'll become art. True Art."

Izumi felt tears streaming down her face, her chest rising and falling in whimpers she was trying to stifle. "P-Please…don't…."

Then suddenly the man moved and Izumi felt a tinge of relief. A speck of hope that he changed his mind. Will he let her go? But then she saw him walk to the side and she followed his every movement. He took off one of the sheets, revealing a table on wheels that he moved to the chair. She could see all kinds of items on the table. Pots, though she couldn't see what was inside, brushes, paint and a lot of different kinds of knives and other metal instruments.

Her mind went berserk as she tried to move away and free herself, fighting against the bonds, her eyes wide and teary. "no…NO!"

The man didn't say anything as he gagged her again, turning her screams into muffled sounds. He took her head in his hand and held her steady with a surprisingly strong grip as he strapped a belted bond from the chair on her forehead, making her head unable to move.

"Don't worry. You'll be a beautiful piece of Art. You'll see." He was holding something that resembled a carving knife. "But first, we just have to get rid of all the unnecessary parts." There was excitement audible in his soft voice.

~…..~

Miyako stretched. "Aah, finally back." It was already afternoon when they returned to the submarine and Miyako only had a little time before she had to go and work in the kitchen. *I think I'll use this free time…to do nothing.* She grinned at the thought of having some relaxation time. They'd been figuring out what to do about this situation for hours, but there wasn't much to do, honestly. They would just have to go through the village and ask about the three victims, hoping to find some clues.

She turned a little to see Law talking to Penguin and Shachi about the repairs. Then he turned to Bepo to discuss the team that would be on the missing-people case. Miyako sighed. *He's busy as always…guess that's what it means to be the captain. He'll give himself a heart attack one of these days.*

She turned to the metal doors of the deck, just about to leave the deck and go inside when she heard the familiar low voice behind her. "Miss Miyako."

When she turned, the captain was already standing behind her and she flinched a little in surprise. *That's fast!* Still, she put on her best innocent face as she already knew what this was about. But maybe he won't be so hard on her if she looks innocent enough…maybe…oh, who was she kidding! This is Trafalgar Law after all! "Um, yes captain?"

Law's eyes narrowed a little when he saw her 'I-have-no-idea-what's-going-on' expression. "I'm sure you already know, Miss Miyako." He stepped a bit closer to her, but not in that teasing way he sometimes did. He didn't even have a slight smirk on; just a completely serious face. "Don't ever step over your boundaries and act like you did today, on your own." His voice was dangerous and warning, but low so only she could hear.

She didn't show any signs of fear or anxiousness. Well she wasn't feeling it either, since she was already used to that tone, however she knew she would just be punished if she put on her 'Whatever' face. So instead she just nodded. "I understand Captain…sorry." For a while, she thought about was she really sorry or not, since it's not like she regretted her actions…but she guessed a part of her really did feel bad just because Law was mad at her. And she almost made a 'What the hell?' face mentally at that part, since that realization came totally unexpected.

But in her opinion, Law cared too much about his ego…or was that true about all guys? It could be. What was with guys and always needing to be so manly and strong, so that their ego is so easily hurt by a girl trying to help them out? She frowned at her thoughts, her mind going into a whole different world while wondering what's so wrong about asking directions when you're lost?

Law saw Miyako getting into her own thoughts, so before she lost herself completely, he brought her back with another low but sharp tone. "Now, I think you have work to do."

The samurai blinked at him in confusion, opening her mouth to protest or rather correct him, since her work was to start in about two hours.

Before she could say anything, the pirate captain interrupted, explaining; "You skipped on working for breakfast and lunch today so you should start earlier. I'm sure Munk is already there, preparing the kitchen. "

Miyako just sighed but nodded her head, turning on her heels and walking into the submarine. They both knew this was actually a punishment…something she seemed to be getting a lot lately. And she didn't like it one bit. She felt like a child being scolded and punished by her parent and she really didn't appreciate feeling like a kid. On the other hand, she already knew there was no use arguing about it with Trafalgar unless she wanted to make matters worse.

~….~

"Feeew! I'm stuffed." Penguin exclaimed and leaned into the chair with his hand rubbing his slightly bigger belly.

"You pig…you didn't have to eat so much. What if there's an emergency? You won't be able to move," Shachi exclaimed, scolding his friend, but rubbing his own oversized stomach in the meantime.

"Look who's talking! You're both pigs!" Cody and Josh yelled at the two mechanics.

Miyako chuckled as she saw her four friends bicker.

The group was sitting in the galley after lunch, some free time on their hands to finally relax. Since the engine incident, Miyako hardly saw the two busy mechanics and she had to admit; deep down, a part of her missed them. She was brought out of her musings by Penguin burping loudly and Shachi laughing at him, which brought them more scolding from Cody and Josh. Ok, deep deeeep down; Miyako realized.

"Hey, I know what we can do now." Shachi grinned and took out his deck of cards from the jumpsuit pocket. It seemed the mechanic always carried a deck of cards, as if always ready to rip someone off and take all their money. Miyako scowled as she remembered how many time she had been the victim of it. But her pride just wouldn't let her back down from his challenge. And she was pretty sure he cheated most of the time too, now if only she could catch him in the act.

But then a sly smirk crossed her face. Actually she was just waiting for something like this to pay them back. She won't be the victim today.

Josh saw her mischievous expression and raised an eyebrow. "What are you smirking at?"

She only gave him a quick glance, but then her smirk widened and she leaned with her elbows on the table. "Actually, I have something fun in mind." Then her face turned into a dramatic frown. "We always play poker, aren't you guys bored of it already?"

The men looked at each other and shrugged. "Well what else could we play?" Cody asked with question in his blinking dark eyes.

Miyako grinned slyly. "A little Wano game." The pirates gave her a weird look so she decided to persuade them into it, "We can actually play something fun. Wanna try?" Her smile suddenly became innocent and playful like a child's would.

But the pirates looked at each other again, uncertain. "I dunno…," Shachi begun.

"Oh come on, don't tell me you're scared? I thought you liked to gamble." Miyako's face remained innocent as she batted her big golden eyes.

"Pih, like I'd be scared of a game. Bring it on!" Shachi grinned and the others joined him, getting newfound confidence all of a sudden.

Miyako smirked slyly once more. "Then...let's begin. Let's play a few games for you to understand the rules first. The game is called Daifugō." She shuffled the deck, then started explaining the rules as she dealt the cards.

When the pirates more or less understood the rules, they started playing. At first it was hard for them, but little by little, the guys got a hold of it and the games progressed faster each time. After a while, the guys started winning as well.

Miyako once again had a deck in her hands, shuffling it. "How about we make this a bit more interesting now?" She suggested innocently.

"What do you mean?" The redhead eyed her suspiciously.

"Well, you always gamble with poker, no? So why not now? It'll be more fun that way." She smiled at them sweetly.

"Ok, so what did you have in mind?" The dark-haired mechanic asked as he and Shachi looked at each other with grins on their faces. They had understood the game the best and were pretty good at it already, so they suspected this would be an easy win.

"Yeah, we won't back down from a challenge," the brunette nodded.

"Then….how about a month worth of chores?" Miyako suggested. "The losers will have to do the winner's chores for a month." She grinned.

The pirates looked at each other with wary eyes again. Would they risk it? Would they dare?

"Ah, the hell with it! Why not!" Shachi grinned. He just couldn't refuse a challenge…or gambling. Miyako was pretty sure he had some gambling problems….well, she wouldn't really call it problems though, since he was the one winning most of the time.

Penguin nodded as well and then Cody and Josh, though the redhead did it quite reluctantly.

Miyako smiled again. "Great! Then let's begin." However she forgot to mention one very important thing; in all of the games, Miyako was gradually worsening her performance, letting them win. After all, this was a game she has perfected herself in throughout her life, especially on those boring rainy days when she had nothing better to do. So this was a piece of cake for her. Finally she'll get her revenge. An evil smirk appeared on her face, but hidden behind the cards.

~…..~

Shachi, Penguin, Josh and Cody just sat there, eyes wide and jaws slack.

"N-No way." Cody said in disbelief.

Miyako giggled childishly until it turned into a snicker. An evil glint was in her eyes as she smirked slyly. "Something wrong?" She grinned widely and shuffled the deck.

"She won!" Penguin yelled out. "I can't believe it. And we lost so easily too!" He was gripping his hat as he shook his head in disbelief.

"Then….how about 2 out of 3!" Shachi exclaimed, not wanting to let it end like this.

Josh sighed as he folded his arms on his chest and closed his eyes. "Give it up, Shachi. She got us…"

Cody nodded with his arms folded on his chest as well, agreeing with the redhead. "We've been had."

Miyako's smirk widened and she looked at Shachi through half-lidded eyes. "But I'll take your proposal…if you have something interesting to offer."

"500 Beli!" Shachi suddenly said. "I'll stake 500 Beli if you stake the chores I need to do."

"Are you insane, you gambling maniac!? You'll lose for sure!" The redhead's eyes opened suddenly as he almost yelled at the head mechanic.

"It's fine. She just surprised us with the last game, but now she has no more aces up her sleeve. We're even."

Miyako tilted her head. "Alright" She agreed before Shachi had a chance to change his mind. She was proud of her plan. The game was still new to Shachi so Miyako knew he wouldn't be able to cheat, and she didn't have to since she perfected the skills in playing Daifugō. The pretense worked perfectly too, and now Shachi was hooked and didn't want to quit until he won and freed himself from the chores he had to do. But the girl wasn't worried. The thought of having them all at her disposal, so every time it was her turn to clean the deck, do the laundry, do the supply counting in the storage room or anything else, she could just tell one of them to do it, was tempting indeed. Oh, sweet, sweet revenge. But she wasn't done yet.

"What about the rest of you?" Miyako looked at Penguin, Cody and Josh who didn't appear so thrilled now that they realized she was much better at the game than she let it show at first.

"I'll pass…," Cody shrugged. "I don't have much money anyway."

"Yeah, me too," Josh muttered.

Penguin glanced back and forth at Shachi and Miyako, Miyako giving him an innocent questioning look while Shachi gave him a 'Don't-be-a-wimp!' one. "I…I think I'll pass too."

"Wimp!" Shachi exclaimed before Penguin could even defend himself. "Well I'll win the next round, you'll see! I'm getting better at this game every turn." He grinned with new-found confidence, though the girl couldn't say where it was coming from.

~…..~

Shachi's head was on the table, his body slack and unmoving. The only indication that the man was alive was a groan that escaped from his throat. It sounded almost painful. A dark aura of depression swirled around him; the Heart pirates wouldn't believe someone else except Bepo could get this depressed.

Miyako sweat-dropped at the sight. Now she felt a bit bad for the mechanic, even though he took both money and made her do his chores and other tasks when she would lose in poker.

"10,000 Beli….I lost 10,000 Beli" Shachi murmured, before muttering something else that nobody could understand because his voice became even softer, sounding tired.

"Well, now, now…" Miyako tried to comfort him with a nervous smile on her face and another sweat-drop.

Penguin patted Shachi on the back. "Oh, come on…you'll just make some unsuspecting fools gamble with you again and return that money in no time." He smiled reassuringly.

Josh just grinned at the poor sight of the mechanic. "It serves you right, you gambling maniac. That's because you have no self-control."

"Shut up, short-stuff! Who asked you, anyways!?" Shachi suddenly yelled at the redhead, lifting himself from the table and glaring at Josh through his sunglasses with evident annoyance.

"Hey, don't be mad at me just because you suck at losing!" Josh yelled back.

"Oh, please, the last time you lost, you pouted for days about it." Cody rolled his eyes, joining in.

Josh looked like he was about to bite Cody's head and Miyako could swear his teeth got sharper. "You stay out of it, spiky!"

Cody's eyes narrowed and then an eyebrow twitched in obvious annoyance. "S-Spiky…?" He knew Josh was referring to his hair, but that just angered him more. In his opinion, his hair was cool and he liked it! Though, Josh would always tease him because of the strange color and the odd position of it, since it went up in the air, defying gravity.

"H-hey…don't fight…" Miyako tried to calm them all down, but the guys already started arguing, with Penguin also getting involved somehow.

Suddenly, a loud laugh that echoed throughout the galley made them all stop and shut up. They turned towards the big figure standing close to them. It was Munk, still wearing his apron and leaning on a broom as he swept the galley. The pirates completely forgot he was there.

"She real'y got ya, eh? Hahahaha!"

The guys glared at the big cook, but he ignored them as he continued his loud laugh.

"Tat's wha' ya get fo' tryin' ta fool her, ya greedy bastards!" The man laughed still, no real anger or spite in his tone though.

The four Heart pirates scoffed and pouted, folding their arms on their chest. "What do you know, you old geezer," Josh muttered under his breath.

Then Munk stopped laughing and came towards them with a big grin on his face. Josh looked up with a sweat-drop when he saw Munk standing over him with a grin that somehow looked more evil now.

"Geeza', eeh?" Then he took the broom in his hand and started handling it like some kind of weapon, wielding it in the air and bringing it down to smash a table. The table they were sitting on split in two and the group jumped away with screams of surprise.

"What the hell, you crazy cook!" Penguin yelled in shock.

Munk wielded the broom again. "Shut ya traps, littl' saplings! You be makin' noise in me galley an' now you disrespect ya elders, too! Shame on ya! Get out of me galley!" Munk yelled after them, still trying to hit them with the broom.

The group ran in fear for their lives and from the deadly broom as they exited the galley, though they didn't stop running until they were far away that they couldn't hear Munk's yelling anymore.

"Crazy….cook!" Josh said through panting breaths.

"Yeah, he's gonna kill us one day!" Shachi added, still clutching to the cap on his head as he did while running.

"His temper is worse than yours." Cody commented as he glanced at Josh, who couldn't disagree with his taller friend.

"Yeah, sometimes I'd even say he can be scarier than captain…," Josh muttered as he remembered all the times Munk beat or almost beat the crap out of them. There wasn't a pirate on this submarine, except Bepo and Law, who didn't experience Munk's wrath and the power of his wooden spoon.

"What are you talking about? There's no way anyone can be scarier than captain. Remember the time when Garry accidentally burnt up some of captain's medical books with his cigarette?"

The pirates grimaced at the memory and a shiver ran down their spine. Only Miyako was left blinking in confusion since she didn't know what they were talking about. But even she could tell it wasn't a pleasant memory.

"Yep, he's definitively the scariest here." Shachi nodded with his arms folded on his chest.

"Who is?" A sudden voice rang behind them and the group jumped in surprise and yelped, startled to their bones.

As the pirates turned around, they could see Law and Bepo behind them. Bepo holding Law's nodachi as always, and Law leaning against the metal wall of the submarine with his arms on his chest. A slight amused smirk graced his lips. "Well? Who were you talking about?"

"Captain! Please, don't do that!" Josh was holding a hand over his heart, trying to calm it down to a normal beat.

"How does he do that, every time!?" Penguin asked no one in particular, but Shachi was the one to answer with a shrug and disbelief as he shook his head.

"You'll give us a heart attack one of these days." Miyako muttered, her hand also on her chest.

Law looked at each of his subordinates with an amused smirk on his face. They looked a bit nervous by his presence and he knew they were talking about him. He was wondering whether he would torture them mentally until they confessed or just let it go. Well, maybe if it was any other time he'd have some fun with them, but right now he was here on business and didn't want to waste time.

"Shachi, Penguin, how are the repairs going," he asked.

The two mechanics got out of their daze rather quickly. "Well, we're working overtime and if nothing else goes wrong, we should be done in scheduled time," Penguin answered.

"Yeah, we should be able to set off in about three days as we would have in the first place. Maybe a few hours later. We were really lucky to have all the spare parts we need."

Law put a hand on his chin, playing with his black goatee. "Hmm…so the culprit didn't succeed in stalling for time and keeping us here. But if they find out, they might attack again so be sure to keep close watch. Tell the others as well."

"Yes, captain!" Penguin and Shachi both saluted. "We should be heading back to work, anyway." The two mechanics said their good-byes to their friends and nodded to Law one last time, before turning and leaving for the deck. They'd have to work underwater again, which they never really enjoyed, but there was no other way.

Then Law turned to the girl. "Miss Miyako, we should go too. We need to find more clues about the kidnappings. You, Bepo, Mister Josh and I will investigate about the kid. I have Garry, Mori and Sam on the maid case." Then the captain turned to his blue-haired medical assistant. "Mister Cody, you will be in charge of the infirmary while I'm gone."

Everyone nodded as they got their new orders and both Josh and Cody saluted. Miyako thought it would look a bit silly if she did the same, so she just gave a verbal response and a nod of her head.

~…~

Miyako examined the small house. It looked a bit run down and it was obvious the people living here didn't have much money. She glanced back at the rest of her group.

"Maybe it'll be best if only one or two of us go in. We don't want to scare the family; it'll just be harder to talk to them then," she suggested, looking at Law.

The captain just nodded silently, then turned to Bepo and Joshua. "You two stay here and wait for us. Let me know if you see something unusual." The medic and the bear nodded their heads and stayed outside. Josh put his hands in his pockets and leaned against the house wall lazily. Bepo just sat on the nearest bench, still holding Law's nodachi carefully in his paws.

Miyako knocked on the doors lightly and it took a few seconds before she could hear footsteps on the other side, followed by the unlocking of the doors.

A woman's head peeked out, barely visible. Miyako could see it was dark in the room, which only made it harder for her to see the woman's face clearly. Even so, she noticed the sleep-deprivation signs, such as dark circles under her tired eyes. She couldn't be older than 35, but she already had worry lines on her face, making her seem much older. "Yes?" The voice of the woman was timid and soft.

"Um…is this the Ushiromiya family? We're here to investigate the disappearance of the boy from this household." Miyako tried to sound as less intimidating as possible.

The woman's chocolate brown eyes widened in surprise, but then softened into half-lidded ones. She was silent for a few minutes and just when Miyako wanted to try again, the woman spoke. "Yes, he is my son. His name is Ushiromiya Haku and I'm Ushiromiya Emiko."

Miyako's eyes softened too. This explains why the woman looked so out of it. She must have been worrying about her son all this time. The samurai felt bad for the young mother. "I see. I'm sorry to intrude, but could we ask you a few questions?"

Emiko looked slightly timid and uncertain again. "D-Do you have some news about my child? Did you find him? I already told the authorities everything, so who are you people?" She looked at Law suspiciously, who was behind Miyako.

"Well, we're not with the authorities, but we're trying to find the victims and the culprit-" She couldn't even finish before the woman cut her off with more questions.

"Then Haku really has been kidnapped? I suspected it, but the officers wouldn't tell me anything."

Miyako nodded. "We think so, mam. So can we..?" She let the question hang in the air as she looked at Emiko questioningly and then her gaze moved to the room inside the house.

The mother hesitated for just one more second before she finally nodded and opened the door completely for them to let them in.

Miyako and Law stepped inside the dark room and watched the woman lit a few candles to lighten it up a little. Now that she could see the woman's full form, Miyako saw exactly how much of an impact the kidnapping of her son left on the woman. She was thin as a stick and slightly hunched forward as if too tired to even stand up straight. Her hair was messy and tied into a loose bun, some of the strands falling on her face. The woman closed the doors behind them and led them to a small coffee table with cushions on the floor.

Law sighed silently, though no one could hear. He was getting tired of the way villagers here had those small tables so you had to sit on the floor which was rather uncomfortable after some time. When they were at Samue's place, his legs started feeling numb after an hour and he felt completely stiff by the time they were finished. Did any of these people have normal furniture?

Still, he kept his thoughts to himself and sat down on the small cushion. He glanced at Miyako with the corner of his eyes as she sat next to him, but her attention was completely on the woman in front of them.

"Now, can you tell us everything you know about the kidnapping? Did you notice anything unusual with your son?" Law asked as he moved to sit cross-legged, hoping that would ease the strain on his legs.

Emiko looked around the room as if searching for something, but then her gaze fell down on her knees, her head bowed. "W-well…a few days before he went missing, Haku often talked about a friend. But I never saw him and nobody else knew anything about it either. And by Haku's stories, in the end I discarded it as simple child's imagination. It's normal for kids his age to have imaginary friends. I told the officers about it, but they didn't find anything."

Miyako and Law looked at each other for a second, both of them thinking of the same thing. Miyako was the one to speak though, "Can you tell us more about that friend? What did Haku say about him?"

"W-well…Haku said his name is Katsu. And that he had a forest green hat he always wore, and bright blue eyes, thought that's very unusual for the descendants of Wano. He didn't say much else…He said they met at the outskirts of the village and often played together by the ocean. I would always scold him because he wasn't allowed to go out of the village on his own. I asked the villagers about Katsu, but nobody saw Haku playing with someone like that. And Haku would say the strangest things; that Katsu could fly and move his limbs in an unnatural way. At first I just thought it was really only his imagination, but he just went on and on about it and it started freaking me out. I got scared and forbid Haku to go there and play with Katsu, whoever he was. I even went out there myself, but never found anything….That night Haku and I had a big fight about it and he ran away…and never came back." By now Emiko was already shedding tears, trembling from grief. She buried her face in her hands. "I-If only we hadn't fought…if only...if only…"

Miyako's eyes softened and she wished she could help the young mother, but didn't know what to say or do. She couldn't just promise they'd find Haku since that would be too irresponsible. Who knew where he was or was he even alive anymore.

"In the end the officers didn't find anything and they said he must've hurt himself after running away. Falling from the cliffs or maybe an animal attacked him…But the villagers all went to search for him and never found the body…they didn't find anything. How could he just disappear? I don't understand." The woman started whimpering again, unable to control her sadness anymore. It was obvious she blamed herself for everything.

"Is there anything else?" Law asked, his voice calm and emotionless as always. He didn't seem to care that the woman was crying in front of him, but in his opinion; why should he? The woman wasn't anyone close to him nor anyone he should care about, so there was no reason to try and comfort her. Sure, he felt some sympathy for her loss, he wasn't a monster after all, but that was all. And that's also why he ignored a slightly reprimanding look Miyako gave him for being so blunt.

The woman stared at the pirate captain for a while, her eyes glassy and full of tears. Then she shook her head. "No, I'm afraid that's all I know."

The pirate nodded and started standing up, Miyako following his lead and then Emiko as well. "We'll just have to figure something out from the information we have." He nodded to the woman and turned to leave, not stopping to wait for Miyako who bowed to the woman and gave her apologies one more time.

When they were out, the samurai had a thoughtful expression, completely ignoring her surroundings. Especially Bepo and Josh, who were bickering about something behind Law and Miyako as they all walked down the street.

"Are you worried we don't have enough information to continue the investigation?" Law glanced at her and brought the girl back to reality with his voice.

She blinked a few times and looked at him, something obviously troubling her since she bit her lower lip. She always did that when something was bothering her, Law noted.

She didn't have to say anything though, since the expression clearly gave him his answer. Trafalgar closed his eyes for just a second and then looked forward again. "We still have the other team working on the information about the maid so it's too early to give up. For now, let's go back to the submarine and meet up with the others."

Miyako still seemed in thought, though, but then suddenly she stopped. "Actually, I want to check something. Would you go on ahead without me?"

Law gazed at the samurai suspiciously for a while, deciding whether to let her go or not. He didn't want her to get in trouble again and she seemed to have a gift for that.

"Don't worry, I won't get into trouble." Miyako smiled sheepishly with a sweat-drop, as if reading his mind.

Law sighed, but then nodded. "Fine. But be back by dinner."

Miyako's smile brightened a little and she nodded, a determined look in her eyes that Law couldn't understand. Just what was she thinking? Oh well, he'll just ask her when she gets back. The girl seemed happy that he trusted her enough to let her go off on her own, but then again, he knew Miyako wasn't weak. In the end, she could take care of herself. Though there was a small part inside, worrying about her since she didn't have any weapons with her now. *But even without a katana, she should be fine.* The villagers and the authorities really weren't a threat to them and it appeared that both were too afraid to approach the Heart pirates anyway. Even the officers gave up after that night in the tavern.

"I'll be on my way then." Miyako bowed slightly to him and then waved to Josh and Bepo, who looked at her confused. "See ya later!" She called as she ran away on her own.

Law sighed once again as he looked at the leaving girl. Somehow, he had a bad feeling about this.

~….~

"Samue-san!" Miyako called out for the old samurai as she ran up to him, a little out of breath. "Samue-san, I need your help."

"Hoo? What's this about?" Samue stood up from the small porch of his house and slowly walked over to the panting girl.

"Is there a list of people in this village? Maybe records on all of them?" Miyako didn't have time to explain everything to Samue, she just hoped there was a way to check every person in this village. It might take a long time, but it was the only way to get information about everyone and see who could be suspicious. Miyako was starting to suspect the culprit really was someone in the village. At first she thought perhaps there was someone outside the village, hidden, and waiting for his chance to strike, but if the villagers searched everything and didn't find absolutely any clues…She had to suspect the other possibility and that was that the culprit was one of them.

"Hmm…well there are the village archives in the checkpoint where the officers are…But you are a pirate, you can't just show yourself and walk in." Samue held his chin in thought, his eyes gazing into the distance. "However…there is a way. I'm actually on good terms with them."

Miyako looked at him suspiciously, taking one step back unconsciously.

Samue smirked. "Don't make that face. They just owe me…I've helped them in the past. Come, I know a way to get you inside."

Miyako relaxed a little when she heard the man and nodded, the determination never leaving her. "Hai!"

~…..~

The young officer hurried in front of the couple walking towards the station. "O-oh, Samue-san, what are you doing here?" He looked at both the old samurai and the person in an old cape, a hood covering most of their face.

The old man looked at the youngster and grinned, showing his slightly yellow teeth. "Why? Can't I? I just have some business to check in the Archive room."

The young officer looked a bit nervous at that statement. He knew the samurai did a lot for the village and also the authorities here, but nobody was allowed to enter the Archive's room without permission from a senior.

"Then, I'll just call for Yukuri sempai," the youngster suggested and was already turning around to go take a den den mushi.

"Don't be ridiculous!" Samue's voice boomed with authority, making the young man stop instantly in his tracks. "If you bother Yukuri for such a trivial thing, he'll skin both of us. You know how short-tempered that man is."

The young officer gulped, obviously knowing what Samue was talking about. He wanted to say something else, but Samue cut him off.

"Besides, this is a personal matter so don't get other people involved…the station at least owes me that much, no?" Samue pierced the officer on guard duty with his eyes.

"Y-Yes sir…but…who is this?" The young man tried to see inside the hood, but it was impossible to see anything from beneath the shadows. He didn't even know if it was a man or a woman inside the cape.

"I already told you this is a personal matter! This person is with me, so I'll guarantee for them." Samue's voice was authoritative again, harsh and letting no room for argument. He purposely avoided mentioning his companion's gender or anything about them, just in case.

"I-I see….I suppose it's fine then. Come in…" The officer didn't look pleased by all this secrecy, but he couldn't go against Samue's status he had in the village. He was an important person and a valuable asset, plus a real helper to the authorities here, so they had to treat him with respect. Yukuri always asked it of the other officers. He knew Samue and Yukuri were close friends, so what harm could this do? The officer hoped; none.

When the couple was inside the Archive's room, safely away from the others, the person took off their hood, revealing their bright golden eyes and dark blue hair. "Thank you, Samue-san." Miyako smiled to the old samurai who just smirked in response.

"I still have some spunk too, you know."

Miyako couldn't help but laugh at Samue's choice of words. But her laugh stifled into a snicker quickly since she had to avoid the others hearing them. "Then, let's begin."

"I want to check the records of the people in the village. And also, any strange accidents or disappearances in the last 20 years." She started looking through the archives, trying to find the most recent ones. She took out a giant, dusty register where all the villagers were listed and put it on the wooden table with a labored huff.

"But there are more than 100 people in this village. You intend to look at each of their records?" For the first time Samue showed some disbelief and shock on his face, though it was barely visible.

Miyako sighed and sat down, looking up at the old man. "I know it might take a lot of time, but I really want to find this culprit." Suddenly the image of that young mother crossed her mind, crying and looking like a living corpse. Then Miyako remembered how Muso was crushed because of Izumi's disappearance and finally thought of Izumi herself. She didn't know her long, but Izumi seemed like a sweet person. "I'll do my best!" Miyako exclaimed to Samue, looking up at him with that same determination from earlier.

For a while, the old man just stared at her, but then he smiled faintly, closing his eyes for a few seconds and sitting at the table next to her. "Alright…then let's start this."

Miyako didn't know how long it has been since they started going through the records, lists, articles from the village newspapers about accidents and kidnappings, but it must've been for a few hours. Still, they didn't find anything useful or something that could lead them to any clues. She was glad she had Samue's help on this or the time of her stay here would be doubled. The girl sighed as she leaned in her chair, resting her eyes for a bit. She was disappointed and frustrated. "I can't believe it…and I was so sure I'd find something here." She muttered, knowing the samurai couldn't hear her anyway since he was somewhere hidden behind bookshelves of papers and books, doing his own research.

Miyako leaned back on the table with her elbows, tiredly holding her head up with her hands. She was exhausted, hungry and starting to get in a foul mood due to her fruitless search. Once again, she started picking through the old paper articles, then suddenly her eyes widened.

"This is…." Miyako was still in shock, clutching at the piece of paper in her hands when she suddenly heard a noise of something falling at the back of the room. She couldn't see anything since all the shelves were in the way and the room wasn't completely bright due to the candles that were already burning out slowly. Miyako's eyes focused on one of the candle flames when she noticed how it moved suddenly by a gust of wind. Something must have went by quickly and close to it.

Her eyes narrowed as she tried to peer into the darkness. "Samue-san?" She called out, but got no answer. Miyako cursed under her breath. She didn't have any weapon or anything to protect herself. And why wasn't Samue responding? She walked slowly to the place he was reading a book before and called again, but once again, no answer. Miyako peered around the shelf in hopes of finding the old samurai there, but there was no sign of him. Then once again she felt a gust of wind as something rushed behind her. This time Miyako could clearly feel a presence though she couldn't understand what it was. Right now she couldn't even tell if it was human or not and that confused her. Usually she could always tell if she was dealing with animals, humans or something else when she felt a presence, even before she could actually see her opponents. But what was this? A shiver ran down her spine when she remembered she was weaponless against whatever it was.

She quickly turned around in hopes of catching a glimpse of whatever was moving around, but once again was only met with darkness. And the gust of wind managed to extinguish one of the three candles in the room, so now it was even darker.

"Samue-san!" This time Miyako yelled loud enough to be sure he heard her…if he was there in the room. And yet, no answer. She walked quickly, checking all the spots and shelves, both because she was looking for Samue and because she was wondering what the hell was in the room with her. The logical part of her was screaming for her to run and get out of there as the feeling in her gut tightened and got worse by the second. But if Samue was here somewhere, unconscious and defenseless, Miyako didn't want to abandon him. So against all her better judgment, she decided to continue her search.

Thousands of question were going through her head, one of them being how come nobody in the station heard her calling and came in? *Where is everybody!* That just made her more suspicious of the whole situation. Miyako put the article she still held in her hand in her pocket and turned around once more when she heard another sound, this time of a book falling down.

Then all of a sudden, she felt a presence behind her and quickly took the first book out of the shelf, turning around and using it as a shield. Miyako thanked her Haki ability when she was saved, as three needle-like weapons dug deep into the book's covers. If she wasn't more alert, it would've been her head.

Once again her attacker was gone. She could hear shuffling of papers and then suddenly it became even darker when the second candle went extinguished. But what the girl really couldn't understand was why she couldn't hear any footsteps of her attacker. *Is it a ninja or something?* Miyako didn't have much time to ponder about it as suddenly more of those needles came at her from the darkness and she could see a shadow move. She ran quickly as the needles left their trail right behind her. She hid behind one of the bookshelves, only peering slightly to see where the person was.

The last candle went out and Miyako's eyes widened when she sensed something again. She looked up and just in time to see a form crouching on the bookshelf she was hiding behind, a sword coming down at her. The girl jumped to the side and saw the sword pierce through the spot in the ground where she was just seconds ago. She did the first thing she could think of to buy some time and found a big book with hard covers, throwing it at the person. But they just swung the sword and sliced the book still in the air. The attacker rushed towards her and the samurai girl jumped to the side, took a dash towards the other bookshelves and found new cover. Yet she knew that won't do her any good for long. *If I don't find a way out of this situation, I'll be dead for sure. I can't just run and hide forever.*

A cracking noise of wood brought her back to reality and she only had time to turn around and watch wide-eyed as the bookshelf sliced open and the form smashed through it with their sword, splinters and pieces of wood and paper flying all over the place. The form charged through the flying mess, its form covered with papers at first, so it was hard to notice their next more. Miyako barely dodged the next attack that tried to pierce her head. She felt a sting on her cheek where the sword managed to slice her and then it proceeded to pierce the bookshelf behind her. She wasted no time in running once again from the odd form, but not before she noticed something that made her big eyes even bigger. The person's feet didn't even touch the ground as they rushed at her; it looked as if they were hovering above the ground.

The girl dared to turn around and see where her attacker was, but didn't see anyone behind her anymore, which gave her an even worse feeling. She started looking up as well as around her, knowing the attacker could come at her from anywhere. These shelves were good cover for her, but also a good cover for an ambush for the other person. She felt like in a game of cat and mouse.

*Ok, think Miyako. There has to be a way out of this. There's always a solution to everything!*

Then an idea popped into her head and she allowed herself a barely visible smirk. At that moment, the person appeared again, this time close enough for Miyako to see that it must be a man by its build. He was just about to attack again, but Miyako took a book and ripped its pages, tossing everything in the air so the attacker would lose sight of her. This time it was her turn to disappear in front of his eyes.

Everything fell silent and not a fly could be heard. Suddenly, a noise of a book falling on the ground echoed through the room and the man hurried towards it. Miyako was biting her lip nervously, carefully waiting on the other side of the bookshelf, waiting for the right moment. *I hope this works…*

She saw the person come to the right spot, looking at the book Miyako threw earlier on the floor. She didn't waste time and started pushing at the bookshelf with all her might, desperate to make it fall down on the attacker. The big bookshelf screeched and swayed a little, then started falling when Miyako pushed with her whole strength into it. The bookshelf toppled down with a loud crash. The person jumped, but wasn't fast enough and the shelf struck at his feet, sending him back down and onto the floor.

The samurai didn't wait to see if the bookshelf hit its target completely or not, she just rushed towards the door and opened them widely before running out. To her surprise, the station was completely empty, but she didn't have time to think about it as she ran outside and into the village. It was already dark, but there were still people on the streets and Miyako had to admit she felt a bit safer with other people around her. She turned around to take one last glance at the station, panting and her heart still beating violently from the adrenaline.

*What the hell was that? And where did Samue-san go? Was that….him? But why would he do such a thing?* Miyako didn't know the old samurai that well, but he seemed like a kind person and she didn't want to suspect him yet. Not without evidence.

She walked through the village and passed by the village tavern, hearing loud voices from inside. As she came closer and peeked inside, she could see a pissed of Captain of the Station and his officers, talking to the innkeeper. A man walked out of the tavern and she stopped him.

"Sir, could you tell me what's going on here?"

The man looked at her up and down; a look she really didn't like, but ignored it for now. She could see he was a bit tipsy anyway…well actually, he was completely drunk. "Oh…thfe office's came bargin' in…somefing about pir'es."

Miyako's eye twitched in annoyance. "Could you be a little more specific?" She asked through gritted teeth.

The man gave her a grin that she found disgusting and then leaned in closer to her. "Spefcic? Spec…Spef…?" He tried to repeat the word, but it wouldn't come out of his mouth right. Then after a small pause, he grinned even wider; "An' whaf fill you gif' me if I am?"

Miyako's eyes narrowed dangerously. Oh, she was so not in the mood for this. She's been through enough crap for one day and this was just the icing on the cake. Her darkening mood worsened, seeing the man's goofy grin as he once again looked at her like she was a piece of delicious meat.

Her aura swirled around in suffocating dark pressure as she gripped the man by his shirt, slightly pulling him closer but not enough for her to smell the man's disgusting drunken breath. Her golden eyes were completely cold, with an expression on her face that promised certain death if the man pissed her off some more.

"Talk or die. It's as simple as that." Her voice was deadly, showing she was completely serious.

The man gulped and looked at her eyes, trying to see if she was bluffing or not. But there was certainly no bluff in her expression. She looked like she would strike this man down because of a wrong word and she really would. That was obvious even to a drunken man like him. So the man cleared his throat and sobered up immediately. "W-well, they were saying that someone notified them that the Heart pirates were causing trouble in the tavern. But when they came here, not one pirate was around. It was just some stupid prank or something."

Miyako was still holding his shirt for a while, thinking about what the man just said, then she released him and he stumbled away, not wanting to be near the currently very dangerous woman.

~…~

When Miyako finally came back to the submarine it was already pitch black outside. She walked up the gangplank in a slow trod, almost swaying from the tiredness. As she came to the deck, she noticed Bepo sleeping against the railing and Law leaning on him as he sometimes did, his arms behind his head as he sat comfortably against the living pillow.

"You're late," was all the captain said when she walked by the pair. But then he instantly noticed her expression and knew something wasn't right. His smirk disappeared and was replaced by a serious face. "What happened?"

Miyako didn't answer anything at first, but went to sit beside him with a loud sigh. She looked up at the starry night sky for a moment, marveling the sight of thousands of shining lights decorating the clear sky. "I went with Samue-san to the village Archive in the Station…and I was attacked." She ignored Law's questioning look and went on. "Samue got us in so we could do some research on the villagers and I wanted to check some things out, but then he suddenly disappeared and a man attacked me…I couldn't see much of him because it was dark."

"Are you sure it wasn't Samue?"

She shook her head. "I don't know, but I hope not. And he moved…strangely." Once again, she ignored Law's raised eyebrow and continued. "I thought it strange at first that I couldn't hear the attacker's footsteps and then I saw why…he wasn't really running. More like hovering in the air as he moved. And he was fast."

The man's eyes narrowed in thought a little and Miyako knew he was already thinking of all the possibilities to this strange story. But Miyako couldn't explain it herself. "I managed to push a bookshelf down on him, though I don't know if it killed him or not. I just ran away. The strange part was also that there was no sign of the officers in the station, but later I saw them in the tavern and found out somebody notified them that Heart pirates were causing trouble in the village, though it obviously wasn't true. They supposed it was just a prank, but I think the culprit called them so he could get them out of the station and leave Samue-san and me alone there."

Trafalgar nodded, agreeing with her. "Yes, that's most likely. Though I don't like the fact they used the name of the Heart pirates for their little game…" His look was icy cold as he commented. Miyako knew he was really pissed by now, even if it didn't show much on his features. Somebody already messed with his submarine, crew and the name of the Heart pirates… to Law, that was unacceptable. Whoever it was, when the captain finds them, they'll be in for a hell of a ride to Hell and back.

"Ah! One more thing!" Miyako remembered the thing that surprised her in the archive room before everything else happened. She took out a piece of paper, an article, and showed it to Law. "Looks familiar?"

He had to focus his vision since it was dark, but when he finally read it and saw the picture, his eyes widened slightly. On the picture was a boy, about 12 years old, with a forest green cap and dark blue eyes. Below the picture there was an article; 'Shindo Katsu, 13 years old, went missing. Suspected to have died during the tragic earthquake.' The article was published about 3 years ago.

"Katsu….," Law muttered, a bit confused by the article since it said the boy was missing for 3 years. Everyone would think he was already dead. And the weirdest part was Haku told his mother the boy was about his age, while this one should be 16 by now if he was alive. Also, the last name was familiar, and Trafalgar remembered that Samue's last name was also Shindo. "So Katsu and Samue are somehow related."

Miyako nodded. "There was a big earthquake here about three years ago and a lot of people died or went missing under the rubles. It says here he was the youngest victim."

"So you think he was actually kidnapped by the same kidnapper we're dealing with now." Law said it more like a statement than a question, since Miyako's thoughts were obvious. And he had to agree, that crossed his mind too. But they still couldn't explain Katsu's revival. "That explains why Samue wanted to help us solve this case. He must be looking for the kidnapper as well…if he is not the culprit himself. After all, his disappearance and then you being attacked all sounds very suspicious."

For a while, the man was quiet, before he decided to ask, "Was there anything else?" Law looked at Miyako, playing with the piece of paper in his tattooed hand.

"Nothing specific. A few people went missing over the years, usually during the storms so the villagers just put it under accidents. It wasn't that rare to find the bodies of the missing villagers under the Black Cliffs or ashore after the sea swallowed them. But there hasn't been any unexplained disappearances." Miyako shook her head a bit disappointed that her research didn't help her as much as she hoped it would.

"Well if nothing else, we can with certainty say there is at least one culprit and he is a man. Also, he has to be relatively young and strong if he can carry the kidnapped bodies alone and if he was able to give you trouble."

Miyako nodded. "But if we suppose there are more than one, than the theory changes since it would be easier for them to defeat, kidnap and carry their victims away," the girl said, suggesting another side of looking at things.

Trafalgar nodded. "Yes, but since for now we only have one, let's focus on that." He looked up at the starry sky for a moment, before looking at Miyako again with a serious expression. "In any case, from now on, nobody from the crew is allowed to wander around alone and without permission. Remember that well, Miss Miyako."

The samurai girl sighed. "I understand captain."

Miyako looked back up at the beautiful sky and for a while both of them just kept silent and still, marveling nature's beauty. "It's beautiful, isn't it?"

Law looked up at the starts, then glanced back at his samurai, seeing her in a daze as she stared at the sky, her golden eyes almost shining in the darkness. She had a slight smile on her face that somehow appeared nostalgic. "Yes…yes, it is."

"It reminds me of Wano. The sky was always clear there as well. It was always full of stars."

Law looked back at Miyako again. He was a bit surprised she decided to share that, though it was just an innocent little statement. Still, the girl rarely mentioned Wanokuni. Actually, they didn't have a real conversation about the island since they came on Howl's Island. "You don't talk about your home island much. How come?"

Miyako shrugged and hugged her knees. "I don't know…not much to tell."

"Do you miss it?"

The girl was a bit surprised by that question. In all honesty, she didn't think about it much. Wano was her home, but when she thought about it; she was never really that attached to it. Miyako was always a person who wanted to travel, explore, learn new things…so she was never that tied down to one place. Especially after she became a rounin. "Sometimes. I try not to think about it, though."

"Do you want to go back?"

Miyako's eyes twitched and narrowed for just one second before her calm face returned. Once again, her expression was purely emotionless. She knew where Law was going with this questioning. He wanted to know her plans for the future, wanted to test her loyalty to see if she was still attached to Wano or not. She glanced at him with the corner of her eye and saw his unreadable mask, but she knew exactly what he was thinking and expecting.

Miyako smirked, still looking at him with only the corners of her eyes. "Come now, captain. You don't need to test me like this; I already told you I'd join your crew so I got rid of all my attachments that I might have had, a long time ago. It's already been 8 months since we met, no?" The smirk never left her face as she talked and for a while she looked similar to Law when he used his infamous smirk. That made her think that she has been in his company for a bit too long.

Trafalgar smirked as well, his a little wider than the girl's. "Perhaps…but you can't blame me for being curious. After all, people usually aren't so quick to be ready to change their whole life and leave everything they had behind."

Miyako gave him a raised, questioning eyebrow so Law decided to explain. "You decided to join fairly easy. So you can't blame me for being suspicious why you never put a bigger fight. That makes me think you're still hiding something." His smirk widened again. "Are you?"

The samurai sighed and closed her eyes, leaning against the railing. "You never give up with that, do you?" The statement was said in a somewhat tired and almost annoyed tone. As if she was already bored of the whole topic. "If I remember correctly, you never gave me much of a choice to begin with. So what was I supposed to do?" She opened her eyes and stared at her captain questioningly.

The man looked back ahead, closing his eyes and smirking for a while. "I suppose you're right. Besides…if you're hiding something, I'll find out sooner or later."

Miyako smirked and gave him a sly look, almost as if she was challenging him to try. "Well aren't you awfully confident. But you know, you can't always get what you want."

Trafalgar almost chuckled at that statement, which made Miyako's smirk falter a little. He didn't look angry or irritated by her taunts, only amused. As if he knew something that she didn't. "Then you don't know me well enough, Miss Miyako." The captain turned to look at her directly, piercing her with his amused grey eyes. "I always get what I want. Because I do whatever it takes to get it. That goes for One Piece…and anything else." He grinned as he gazed at the samurai girl who's smirk was now replaced by a frown.

Miyako looked away from her captain and back at the starry sky. "The higher you climb, the harder you fall, Captain," she warned, but her tone was emotionless, like she didn't really care either way.

This time Law really did chuckle. "You don't have to worry about me, Miss Miyako." He said it as if she should worry about herself instead, though Miyako couldn't decipher if there was a certain reason for his words or not. She gave him a suspicious look, but the man didn't say anything else and instead leaned a bit more comfortably back into Bepo, with his hands still supporting his head, and closed his eyes. He still had that smirk on his face and he looked completely relaxed, as if without a worry in the world.

The samurai girl sighed defeated when she saw her captain, who looked like he'd fall asleep any second now. *How can he be so relaxed?* Sometimes, Miyako really couldn't understand her captain…ok, a lot of times, though it was easier than when they first met and started this journey. She stared at Law as his chest slowly rose and fell under his hoodie. His face seemed completely relaxed, though he still had a small smirk gracing his lips and for a moment Miyako wondered if he even held onto that smirk while sleeping. She wouldn't be surprised.

"You're staring, Miss Miyako."

Suddenly, his amused voice brought her out of her daze and almost made her jump with surprise. She thought he had already fallen asleep. And how did knew even know, when his eyes were closed? Miyako felt her face heat up and quickly looked away, hugging her knees closer and staring at the wooden floor. "S-shut up…" She muttered in obvious embarrassment that she fruitlessly tried to hide. The embarrassment only got worse and she felt her cheeks heat up even more when she heard him chuckle, completely amused by her statement.

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Glossary:

Yawarakai-Te - Tender Hands.

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Proofread by Dokuroskull

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*phew* Is it just me or was this chapter long? All I know, it took me ages to proofread. And I'm happy to finally be able to upload it. I know you guy have been waiting like a week for this one.

Reviews, comments, questions and criticism are always welcome so feel free to leave some. As you see, I'll answer all of your questions. :)

So I hope you enjoyed it and see you (hopefully sooner)!