Dr. Heart Stealer

ch17: Byoki Island, Time to Leave

WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE

Fuchowa* no Kazue

15,000,000

"Welcome to the crew Kazue-ya." Law said while smirking.

I stared at the beige wanted poster in my now sweat-covered hands. Panic rose in me like a volcano's dramatic eruption, and my frail frame began to shake like a leaf in a storm. This wanted poster now represented everything I had feared since my arrival in the One Piece world. Well, part of it, anyways. This poster showed my loyalty to Law and his crew, proof that I was now nakama. Something greater than it is made out to be. If I were to return home at any given moment, I would be betraying Law, and he was one of the last people I ever wanted to betray. He, out of everyone in his crew, was the one I trusted the most, despite what I might say to anyone here. If I got too close to Law and his crew while I was here… when I have to go back… I might not be able to go on, I would be far too used to having all of them there, by my side. I could last without Jake, I had done that for three years. But the rest of my new nakama… I hadn't spent years away from, I might drown myself in self-pity and stupid sorrow. My breathing became slightly heavier.

Law noticed.

"Kazue-ya, are you okay?" he asked, his smirk dimming only slightly. I nodded my head. I wasn't okay, but Law couldn't know that. I stood from where I was sitting on the ground. Law raised an eyebrow.

"I'm fine… Traffy, shouldn't we be getting back to the sub now? How could I break it to the people I had to kill their local hero to save them? They would be at our throats for doing that… Come on, really everyone must be awaiting for us to get back. Even Jake has left to go back already." I tried to come up with every reason under the sun to go back. I needed time to think, and this just wasn't the place to do so.

Law frowned at me.

"Kazue-ya, I recommend you call me captain. And to stop using such a stupid nickname." He mumbled the last part but I heard him loud and clear. "And Jake didn't leave because he wanted to. I told him to get the rest of the crew, so they could join in on the festivities. Why are you in such a hurry to go back anyways?" He asked in a carefree manner. I gaped at him. Since when has he been so carefree? The last time I saw him being so carefree was pre-timeskip. Then I had to resist the urge to smack myself: I was still early in the timeskip, it's no wonder he was acting so carefree right now. I flopped back onto the bare ground below me.

"It's nothing… just, you know… about where I'm from, what it'll be like when I go back…" I trailed off, not wanting to finish what I was saying. But to my luck Law corrected me on something I wish he hadn't.

"Ifyou go back. Not when. Live in the moment right now, not the future. We can address this when we get back to the sub. Be a little more joyful, you are an official pirate now. That's a big step, right?" He asked me. I should be more happy, but I couldn't find it in me to do that. So instead, as to not be a wet blanket, I smiled. A fake one on all levels, but I could try. I would try to be happy, even if only for a little while.

"Okay, Captain Traffy, I'll try to be more happy for now." I said that and lied back onto the hard dirt. With a small frown I drew grass-like shapes in the dirt, and put on an illusion to make the area look grassy and feel more comfortable. Not that it did much, but people gave me cheers and words of thanks. Both things I was still unused to. A small smile slid my lips as I closed my eyes. I was tired from the fight and had not had the chance to get any sleep. So why not try before the real party gets here?

~X~X~X~

My slumber was disturbed by fingers jabbing at my face and shins. With the speed of a cheetah, I moved my hand to grab someone's wrist when they got too close to my ticklish stomach. My eyes burst open and I sat up from the ground. Looking to the side, I saw Penguin's wrist in my grip, and his surprised face.

"What do you want? I was sleeping just fine without you waking me up." I said seriously. Penguin brought up his other hand to scratch at the nape of his neck. While I was glaring intensely at the hat wearing male, someone blew hot air into my left ear. With a yelp I let go of Penguin and turned around to smack whoever scared me. But, thanks to my horrid luck today, it was Sadao with a light red, hand-shaped mark on his cheek. I glared at him, just as intensely as I had glared at Penguin.

"Um... we just wanted to wake you up... you almost got stepped on by Jake... and the party's for you." Penguin said, his voice squeaking slightly at the end of his sentence. I laughed, earning me a surprised look from Penguin and Sadao's face veiled frustration under his calm exterior. It wasn't the fact that I had wanted to laugh, but more so the fact that I wanted to seem happy in front of my new nakama. Because, to be honest, I didn't know if I wanted to be glad they were now my nakama, or if I wanted to grieve because of the pain I would bring if I suddenly left them all.

"Kazue-ya, you do need to wake up. If you don't..." Law moved down so he was right next to me, invading my personal space, to whisper into my ear. "...I'll just have to continue calling you my property, Slave-ya." with that being said I jumped up, and ran over to Jake who was sitting next to some people who lived on the island. I could hear Law chuckling as I ran towards Jake and the islanders.

"Hey, Jake!" I shouted as I reached his side. "What are you doing? Penguin said you almost stepped on me! Care to explain?" I asked him, malice shown in my voice. Jake smiled back at me drunkenly.

"Aw, come on, sissy! You still love me!" he said as he made kissy faces at me. With a shake of my head I smacked him. "Since when have you been so feisty? I like it!" he yelled with a slur. I smacked him again.

"You're drunk. Now stop acting like an idiot. I can still call mom." I said flatly, and his face seemed to pale.

"Nooooo... mom'll get mad... don' tell 'er!" He shouted. I laughed at him.

"Then stop acting like a drunk pervert, Jake." I responded. He simply frowned. I ruffled his hair and walked away as he complained about his hair.

A group of islanders crowded around me as I was walking. Many thanks were said into my ears. I only wanted a peaceful and solitary walk around the slowly regrowing island. From what I could see, when I had lifted the islands curse by killing Keith, the island began to grow back to it's normal state. But sadly I couldn't appreciate the aspiring beauty with all of these annoying people huddling around me. So I did what I thought to be best at the time.

"Hey..." I said turning around, "I'm tired from the fight, don't you have better things to do with your lives than follow me right now?" I asked.

Now, I realize that was a horrible idea. Saying something so cruel to people whom looked up to you, people who were too busy idolizing you to see that you just need to be alone... but I cannot really feel guilty for what I did. I was confused and needed space, a party was not where I was going to get that.

The cave where I killed Keith would though.

As would the path where he had kidnapped me.

I was going to both.

I wanted to see the beauty he had thrown away, while he was secretly controlling everyone on the island's fates.

Who knows, maybe the dead forest would be teeming with life and sakura, like I had imagined it would.

Maybe the cave that was full of sickness and disease before would be a pristine underground lake, full of fish for the people to eat, so the currently stick-like children could play in the clear blue water.

There was an abundance of hope for this island. I just wanted to find it for the people who lived there. At least... that's what I had hoped for.

As soon as the people had once the surrounding people had left, I walked on towards what I had hoped to be a somewhat nice place at least. But no, the dark forest was still black as pitch, the trees looked like black Japanese maple trees, and the cave Keith was murdered in was not full of light or water like I had hoped it would have been; it looked the same as before; a thick fog still lingered over the ground, although a light gray instead of lime green, and the smell of sickness had been replaced with the odor of rotting death. As I inhaled the wretched scent, my nose crinkled, and I suppressed the urge to cough. With a saddened face, I sat in the dirt just outside the cave. I sat there for hours just thinking over what would happen to me while I was here. 'When I leave, what will come of Law and his crew?' was one thought that never seemed to go away. It just stuck to my mind like a baby would stick to its mother. I looked up to the unclouded sky above me. I closed my eyes.

~X~with Law and his crew~X~

"LAW-KUN! HARMONY DISAPPEARED!" Jake yelled in worry. "LAW-KUN!" he continued to yell as he ran at Law. Law looked over to his panicking subordinate, and walked towards him.

"Jake-ya, stop acting so childish. Now calm down, and tell me what you were saying." Law said calmly. Jake started to ramble incoherently while making various hand motions. Law glanced to the side to see Mikio walking about sharpening the point of his dagger. Mikio looked up and saw Law's gaze, so he walked over to his captain.

"Mr. Trafalgar, is there something you need?" Mikio asked Law, while looking at Jake sceptically. Law pointed to the teen rambling on about the missing crew member.

"Please get him to stop rambling, I'm starting to get a headache." Law instructed. Mikio smirked as he took his knife and his sharpener for it and put it right next to Jake's ear. He slowly ran the knife down the sharpener, forcing it to emit a horrid screeching sound. With a ear-splitting scream, Jake stopped blabbering.

"WHAT THE HELL, MIKIO?!" Jake yelled in Mikio's ear, which earned him a knife being held against his throat. "...Harmony's missing... we've got to find her..." He gasped against the round not-blade of the stiletto, obviously forgetting that its blade held no edge. Mikio withdrew the knife from Jake's throat and nodded.

"Well, Mr. Trafalgar, it seems that the girl has run away. Guess the way of the pirate was too much for her to deal with." He laughed at his joke, Law glared at him. It managed to make him shut his trap. "Sorry, Mr. Trafalgar, we should go look for her." he said with a frown. At that Law nodded.

"So we should start looking, right?" Jake asked eagerly, earning a nod from Law and an annoyed groan from Mikio.

"Yeah... if we have to... why the hell are we looking for a girl who obviously can't be a pirate for shit?" Mikio asked in irritation. Law shot him a glare.

"You didn't see her fight against Keith. Me and Jake may have helped her more than she thinks, but we seemed to be more of a burden when she was fighting against him. She will make a great pirate, I'm sure of it. She'll just need a bit of training first." Law said in response as he began his search for his newest crew member.

~X~X~X~

The walk to find the only female crew member took hours, but soon enough they stumbled upon a dark forest. The same one Kazue was kidnapped in.

"Law-kun, this place is scary. How did we get through here without dying last time?" Jake asked with a whiny voice that scratched at Law's and Mikio's nerves.

"I don't know, kid! Shut the hell up, before my knife ends up in your head!" Mikio snapped, a few crows flew from their spots in the shady trees, their caws loud enough to be heard for miles. They heard a groan muffled by the distance of the forest, making all of them stop in their tracks.

"Goddamn crows... SHUT UP!" a feminine voice yelled further within the forest. The three males looked to each other.

"I found her!" Jake yelled as he sprinted off towards the voice. Law nodded in agreement and kept his steady walking pace, Mikio never leaving his side.

"Damn... I thought she had disappeared for good. I blame the crows." Mikio mumbled in anger, Law laughed at his comment. Mikio's eyes widened in surprise, it was quite rare to hear Law laugh at a simple comment. Well it was hard for the crew to get him to laugh at simple comments in general.

"It will take more than just that to get that girl to disappear." he said with a short laugh. They continued to walk onward towards the source of the girly voice, that Jake went running for only moments before.

Although they were passed by Jake as they ran back towards the submarine.

"Jake! Get back here!" Kazue roared, making her way towards the three men and fast. Both Mikio and Law exchanged confused glances.

"Nope! Hey, Law, Mikio, run! She's on a rampage!" Jake laughed as he ran away from them. The two people addressed looked to where he had just come from to see a pissed-off Kazue running to them. Kazue passed them as she ran.

"You were the one who woke me up, weren't you, Jake?!" She yelled. Law and Mikio once again looked to each other with confused expressions.

"Do you think…?" Mikio started.

"Yeah." Law finished without having to hear the rest. They both, now, knew that she doesn't like being woken up. "Well, I guess this will just add to the excitement to come. We should be getting back to the sub."

~X~X~X~
~X~X~X~

A/N: So, I feel like the ending was a bit weak for this arc... but I know that all of you wanted me to post this ASAP. Let's see today is the sixth, and I said two weeks and some change on the nineteenth of last month... so I'm three days late... I'm so sorry! I don't have the next chapter made yet, but I'll be working on it. (So far, if it plays out like I originally planned it (meaning I can turn my thoughts to coherent words online), it might just be one of my favorites!) Let's see, I went backpacking for awhile and that's why I'm late, also I had horrible writers block for that last part. I changed it at least four times. For those of you expecting a filler, there won't be one. I'm going straight to the next island. This is because fillers are hard for me to write about and are very random (As shown by my last attempt), and that would delay me my writing even more than I have already. So I just won't do that. I know I just posted this chapter, but I'm having some editing done to it. So if you see it updated or something, but don't see a new chapter, it's because I'm having it corrected. Until next time, keep being awesome!