I can't believe I got a new chapter out in only a week since I updated! This is like, a total new for me, though that might be because I've finished my exams. Million cheers! Goodbye forever to Sejarah and Moral Studies! Hope I never have to see you again!
Anyways, go ahead and read. Don't mind me.
Disclaimer : Don't own One Piece and never will.
"No."
"Eh?! Why not?!" Haruta cried, his grin falling immediately.
"Because." L replied with her arms crossed. Across from her, the twelfth commander started whining, trying to get her to agree despite her refusals.
She stood firm.
After several dozen more attempts, Haruta dropped to the floor, out of breath and shot a glare at the woman opposite him. Damn it, he really wanted to fight her…
Next to him, Ace smirked at his crew mate, an 'i told you so' plastered on his freckled face. He turned his glare onto the fire user who didn't even flinch. No one said it to his face, but Haruta's glare was famous on the ship for being completely useless-at least, to his crew-and him sitting on the floor wasn't helping any.
"Ah…don't be too disappointed, Haruta. That's just how Nee-chan is." He said, crouching down to clap his friend on the back in an effort to cheer him up. It didn't work though. If anything, instead of cheering him up, it had the complete opposite effect as Haruta started to pout.
"I really wanted to fight her…" He muttered. Sighing, Ace looked at his sister who had been talking with Windry. The two women were speaking in soft tones and he couldn't hear them clearly. "Hey, Nee-chan…" He called, not caring that he was probably interrupting. "Why won't you spar with Haruta?" He was pretty sure he knew what her answer would be, but still… At the question, Haruta looked up too, clearly wanting to know her reasons. Faced with two pair of eyes that were intent on staring at her until she gave them what they wanted, L relented. She was too lazy to bother resisting, not that it would make much difference anyway. They were both stubborn as hell-even Haruta, who she'd only met.
"Why should I?"
Silence.
Ace and Haruta exchanged a look before simultaneously falling to the ground in a kneel.
That's right…why would she when she had no reason to…
To the side, Windry chuckled at cast a glance at the only other woman in the room.
"You really are breaking them aren't you?" She stated, looking at the meager states of the commanders. Of course, L denied doing such a thing.
"Sure, whatever you say. But you know…a spar wouldn't hurt anyone, would it?"
The doctor had a feeling that her new friend-yes, friend, she liked the assassin very much and already considers her a friend-was frowning beneath the mask.
A few minutes later…
"Fine. We'll spar."
"REALLY?!"
"On one condition."
"What?"
"Tell me Ace's embarrassing stories."
"Deal!"
Ace idly wondered whether he should kill Haruta for selling him out in exchange for a spar.
Maybe he will…provided a certain someone didn't beat him up too badly first.
It might guilt trip him if that were the case.
-=v=-
"Oi, did you guys hear? Apparently Haruta asked 'Queen' L to spar with him!"
"For real?!Oh man, this we gotta see!"
The news of an spar between the famed assassin and one of their commanders quickly spread throughout the Moby Dick, becoming the hottest topic of the day. News even reached the ears of the Okama Queen's group who had spent the most of yesterday recuperating inside. Since they hadn't been present-and no one remembered to notify them-they were unaware of the assassin's presence on the ship. When they heard from some passing pirates, they were shocked. Some more so than others.
"Vhat? Queen-chan is on the Moby Dick? And she's Ace-boy's sister?"
Ivankov slid down the wall of the cabin where he had been indented as he cried in shock.
"Eh, that's right…" The pirates stood in the door, all sweat dropping at the Okama Queen's stunt.
Inazuma, wine glass in hand, strode over.
"It would seem so, Iva-sama. And you mentioned a spar?"
"Eh. Commander Haruta asked her earlier for a spar, and she agreed. They'll be having it later in the afternoon."
"This is too much for vme to take in…"Ivankov got up and started to sway."Vi'm gonna…faint…vi'm gonna…"
"Vi'm gonna be just fine!"
No one laughed. Frozen in his pose, Ivankov started to sweat. He'd forgotten he was on Whitebeard's ship! His candies weren't here!
"Iva-sama. Should we meet with Queen?"
In his mind, he thanked Inazuma for his timely interruption as he cleared his throat, pretending as if the awkward moment before never existed.
"Vwe should. Vwe haven't seen vher in a vhile after all."
"We'll I'm not." A gruff voice grunted from the corner of the room. Ivankov turned, a wide smirk on his overly large face.
"What's wrong, Croco-boy? Scared Queen-chan will beat vyou up for hurting Strawhat-boy in Arabasta?" He taunted.
Crocodile flinched slightly. The Okama Queen had hit a nerve. He wouldn't admit it out loud, but he was indeed scared of said assassin. But not for the reason Ivankov thought.
"Mind your own business, Emporio Ivankov." He snapped.
"If it weren't for you I wouldn't be on the old man's ship!"
"So vyou don't want to watch Queen-chan fight? What a waste~"
"Shut up!"
"Vi'll make sure to tell Queen-chan vyou said hello."
"IVANKOV!"
"Hey…why are they even on our ship in the first place?"
"Dunno…Marco said they followed Strawhat on board. These guys are just a few of them. I heard the rest of the okama's are terrorizing the Moby Two."
"…we really should be grateful, shouldn't we?"
-=v=-
Afternoon came on sooner than expected.
As soon as both Haruta and L stepped onto deck, pirates from every corner of the ship had dropped whatever they'd been doing and rushed outside. Whitebeard sat in his chair at the bow, grinning as he watched his sons and daughters gathering above deck. They rarely did, not even during parties. There were simply too many people for them to all fit comfortably. But they seemed to consider this spar to be a lot more important than being comfortable, for whatever reasons. Beside him, his nurses huddled together, whispering in hushed voices about something or another. They were probably making bets, he assumed. Rarely did one of the spars on board involve a female, so he guessed that his daughters were simply ecstatic to have someone who wasn't male to bet on. It was safe to say that almost all of the women placed their bets on L.
From the other end of the ship where the infirmary was, his head doctor sauntered over, hands stuffed into the pockets of her white coat. "Girls, are we betting?" She asked, smirking at her medical staff. The women, having worked with her for a long time knew what she was immediately. Paige held out a box that was filled with money for her to see. She smiled wickedly. "We're betting against the boys. The odds are one to one."
Windry raised her brows skeptically.
"Only fifty percent? A little low, don't you think?"
She shrugged."The boys are convinced that Haruta can at least tie with her."
"Neither wins this way, eh? What do you think, Oyaji?"
Whitebeard, who had been watching them with a knowing smile broke into a large grin.
"1000 berries on Ace's sister."
"1000 berries on my sister."
Two voices spoke simultaneously.
Windry deadpanned.
"Did you two have some sort of secret agreement we don't know about?"
Whitebeard and Ace grinned at each other. They didn't really have any agreements per se, it was just pure coincidence…not that anyone would believe them.
Discerning the hidden meaning behind their large grins, the doctor rolled her eyes. "Fine. Don't tell then." She yelled over her shoulder at her staff. "Paige! Oyaji and Ace each bet 1000 berries on Queen. Give'em the slip!"
Shortly after that, the match began.
L and Haruta both stood on opposite sides of the ship facing each other. The brunette commander had already slipped into a fighting stance, his sword at the ready. In contrast, L stood relaxedly without her sword in sight. Was she going to fight bare handed?
"Where's your sword?" Haruta asked, a slight frown forming on his face.
Though he couldn't see it, he had a feeling his opponent was smirking.
"You'll see." She replied, evading the question completely."Just attack."
"If you say so…" He rushed forward at the speed of sound, his sword coming down in a downward slash. For some reason or another, he wasn't the least worried that he would hurt the assassin so he never restrained the power behind the slash.
No one knew what happened afterwards. Just when it looked like his sword was about to cut her, the sound of metal against metal filled their ear. Blinking, he saw that his sword had been blocked by another sword that was barely out of its sheath. Instinctively, he pushed back, landing a few metres away. Just in time to avoid the wide arc that nearly slashed him across the middle.
"You have quick reflexes." He heard the assassin say. "But not quick enough."
Before he could even register what had been said, his legs were swept out from underneath him. He quickly flipped himself over, moving his sword to parry an attack that may or may not have ran him through.
Shit. He thought. She's fast.
To untrained eyes, the spar would seem like a blur of lilac and green. But to those who could keep up with their speed, they could clearly see that the female assassin had the upperhand. While Haruta was one of the fastest on the ship, L was even faster, not even giving the commander a chance to breathe. She pushed him hard, her attacks quick and sharp, forcing him to focus on defending himself instead of trying to look for an opening to attack. A minor slip of attention on Haruta's part however soon brought the match to an end. Distracted by his brothers cheering, L managed to force the sword out of his hands and in that split second, he found himself weaponless and on the floor, a sword aimed at his throat at point-blank range.
"I win." The assassin stated.
Vista, the fifth division commander blew a whistle, signalling the end of the match. Being a fellow swordsman, he had been asked to referee the match, which in his opinion, had proven to be totally worth the time.
"'Queen' wins!" He announced. A round of applause sounded across the ship, and loud cheers were heard from the group of women who were gathered next to Whitebeard, who by the way was high-fiving his youngest son.
"Time to pay up, boys." Windry grinned, her hand held open in front of her. Grumbling, the men gave up their cash sourly, muttering curses at Ace for being a traitor. Ace laughed and replied with an answer that had most of the men glaring at him. "She's Nee-chan. Of course she'd win."
"You have so much faith in me, little brother." A voice said next to him. Turning around, Ace greeted his sister as she approached, her sword tapping lightly against her shoulder. "How much did you bet?"
"1000 berries." The fire-user replied happily, not even bothering to ask how she knew that he had bet on her when he had never told her. He had long since become used to his sister knowing things she should and shouldn't know. Honestly, he wouldn't be surprised if she even knew what color underwear Garp had on today…though he didn't think he wanted to know. Behind her, he could see Vista and Haruta making their way towards them, both sporting large grins. Haruta especially was completely ecstatic, even though he had been defeated. Vista on the other hand, wasn't as hyper, but anyone could tell that the man's interest had been piqued.
"That sword is a meitō, isn't it?" He asked, motioning to the sword that she was carrying.
"It is. This is one of the 21 Great Grade Swords - Rinhe Zakura." Unsheathing the sword, she handed it to Vista to allow the man a closer inspection.
"An Ōkatana…you take very good care of it, don't you?" He handed it back.
Sliding it into its scabbard, L spoke, the smile evident in her voice.
"Zakura is a very good sword."
"Indeed it is."
At that exact moment, the ship tilted. We say tilted, but actually, it was more of a steep slant due to the ocean suddenly splitting. Not expecting the sudden shift in gravity, L lost her footing and fell backwards, slamming into Marco who had been headed their way and sending the both of them over the railing. Everyone else was too busy trying to stay on board themselves, so they could only watch as the two were swallowed by the waves.
"Marco! L!"
"Queen-chan!"
"Commander!"
"Nee-chan!"
Namur, the only fishman commander, jumped in immediately, leaving his brothers to cling onto any handhold for dear life while he rescued Marco and L. Moments later, the sea righted itself, and as soon as they could, all the pirates ran over to the side of the ship anxiously. Whitebeard remained in his seat, golden eyes narrowed as he waited for his son to surface with the other two.
"They're over there!"
"Quick! Someone go help him!"
A sudden commotion at the railings alerted the elderly captain to the situation, and he let out a relieved sigh.
"Give them some space, brats." He commanded to his sons and daughters who still crowded the area by the railings. Immediately they retreated, leaving enough space for Haruta-who had went to help Namur-to place the unconscious assassin on the ground. He was soon followed by Namur who did the same for Marco. Windry and her nurses snapped into action in an instant, resuscitating the two. L woke first, coughing up water before she noticed where she was. Her eyes snapped opened in alert, and everyone then noticed something different about the assassin.
Her mask was gone.
Drenched, her hair and clothes clung to her, accentuating her curvaceous, hourglass figure. And that wasn't even what they were focused her mask, her face was in full view for the first time since she boarded the ship the previous day. Black hair framed heart-shaped face where a single violet eye reflected the sunlight while the other was hidden behind a curtain of black. Slightly thin eyebrows arched gently, and a button-nose wrinkled in reaction to her emotions. Lips that would have been rosy appeared pale due to her dip in the cold sea-water. Her features combined with her fair skin, gave of an air of youth that made her look younger that they had expected.
"What are you looking at?" L asked, slightly irritated from both her fall in the sea and the pirates' incessant staring.
"Uh..nee-chan…" Ace pointed to his face, prompting his sister to reach up, only to find the familiar smoothness of her mask gone.
"Ah...it must have fallen off." She realized as the men started to recover. At the same time, Marco woke too, coughing so hard as if he was trying to hack his lungs out.
"What the…?" He asked, still coughing. Taking in his surroundings and the state of his clothes, he came to a conclusion. " I fell in?"
The crew fell silent instantly.
"What?" He asked, confused.
A voice next to him spoke up.
"That was sort of my fault actually."
"Huh?"
"I crashed into you."
Turning, the first commander came face to face with a woman-who in his opinion, had beauty that rivaled the Pirate Empress-whom he didn't recognise.
"You're...L?" Besides his sisters, there was only one other woman on board he could think of who he wouldn't recognise at first glance.
"Where's your mask?"
L rolled her eyes at the question.
"It fell off." Obviously.
"Oh." He replied lamely.
A chuckle from the side drew their attention, effectively breaking the awkwardness that had settled in. All eyes shifted to one crossdressing commander who stood next to their father, arms crossed and smiling brightly.
"A good thing it did, wouldn't you say?" Izou said. "Otherwise we might never have seen that beautiful face you were hiding."
L tsked, getting up from the floor. At her feet, a puddle had formed from the water that dripped off of her.
"Is that supposed to be a compliment?" She muttered as Ace handed her a towel to dry off.
"Probably." Izou replied, the smile never leaving his face. Though a few seconds later, he was gaping like a fish at the display before him. "What the hell are you doing?!"
In plain sight, the assassin threw her belt in a heap at her feet and started to pull her wet top over her head.
"Ace stop her!"
"Why?"
"What do you mean WHY? She's…"
Izou trailed off as the top came off completely, revealing a black sports tank underneath.
"I'm not an exhibitionist, sixteenth commander." L commented dryly, wringing the lilac top to remove excess water.
Unable to retort. Izou turned on Ace. "You knew?!"
"Of course I did." Ace shrugged, a shit-eating grin plastered on his face. "You all thought she was only wearing bras, didn't you?"
At this, a huge portion of the pirates blushed, giving away that they had indeed thought that. Marco and Izou included. Behind them, exasperated sighs could be heard from the nurses.
"Men."
"Men." Ace echoed, receiving loud sounds of protest from his fellow pirates.
"Ace." L called, extending a handful of wet fabric towards her brother. He caught on immediately, taking the cloth into his hands. Spreading it out, he sent his fire out in small wisps, drying the top.
"You know, I could've just dried you off." It would've saved his crew a whole lot of embarrassment if she had instead of outright stripping.
"Ah well…I was getting hot in it." She replied nonchalantly. The crew fell into silence once again, this time because of her straightforward answer and the notion that she didn't care. Seconds later, guffawing was heard. In his chair, Whitebeard nearly choked on his drink as he laughed.
"You really take after him don't you lass?"
PLEASE READ THIS A/N BEFORE YOU LEAVE.
Well there you have it : Chapter 7. Kind of sloppy but don't mind it. This will probably be the last new chapter until next year since I plan to rewrite the previous chapters. There are a lot of plot holes and some parts feel a bit weird when I go back to read it so I might tweak a few things here and there. This includes the adding and removing of certain characters, so Law may or may not be removed. Not to mention I tend to forget things that I wrote in previous chapters, so yeah, I'm gonna revise it and rewrite a lot of it.(PS: Should I post the rewritten version as a separate story?)
On top of that, my family is moving next month and my mom hopes we can settle in completely before the new school year starts so I'll be really busy since our stuff is like only 5 percent packed.
And before i forget, is anyone here a beta that's accepting beta requests? I don't know about you guys, but personally i think i need one. You all see how well the story turned out… so any beta's out there, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REPLY! I want help with rewriting! FYI, I need someone who can beta everything that's not spelling and grammar. I've tried looking myself, but so far none have replied. Please reply in a review or just PM me if you're interested.
And a question for you too: Should I put in other pairings like LuNa, or ZoRo? Review if you want me to put them in.
And also, I'm not asking for reviews or anything really, but you know, a little more would be nice. And very much appreciated.
Anyways, thanks for reading and supporting 'L'!