WARNINGS: YOAI (boyXboy) Shanks X Luffy, and wide age differences between people in a relationship.
Don't like, don't read. You've been warned.
'…' what they are thinking
"…" what they are saying
Disclaimer: Oda owns One Piece.
Being a Girl
Chapter 18: Misunderstanding
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Summary of the last chapter: The ghost Juliet is trapped inside the mansion with her crazy lover Romeo trying to kill her. Luckily though, Zoro saves her by knocking Romeo out. While Juliet is crying over Romeo, a familiar person comes across them.
Shanks and Luffy, on the other hand, are trying to find another way into the mansion. They get onto the roof top and, although discovering a ladder leading down into the building, Luffy chooses to jump straight down the hole.
Nami, elsewhere in the mansion, has unlocked the cell she was imprisoned in and is running to tell Luffy that the note Tanya sent actually leads to a trap. Nami is unaware that Luffy didn't even read the letter before chucking it into sea. While running she is spotted by Tanya and Doctor Dracula.
-End of Summary-
When Luffy jumped into the hole all he could see was darkness until…
"Ughf!" The young man crashed through a board that was covering the ceiling of a long hallway. He lay bewildered on his back with broken pieces of wood scattered around him. The remaining piece of board on the ceiling swung from metal hinges which hinted that there had been a way to open the wooden covering rather than crashing through it. That is, if he had bothered to use the ladder.
Laying on his back, with his arms and legs spread out carelessly, Luffy turned his head left and right but saw only the empty hallway, illuminated by the light which came through the cracks in the boarded windows.
Luffy knew he was forgetting something though, and when he turned his head forward again to look at the hole he fell through, he remembered what it was.
The young man saw a glint of white in the darkness of the hole. Within a second the white formed the shape of a shirt, and then Luffy saw a black cloak which waved around with the force of acceleration as Shanks crashed down onto Luffy.
"Ow," They both groaned.
"I'm sorry," Shanks said from atop Luffy, being careful to support his own weight, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," Luffy smiled and wrapped his arms around Shanks's neck, giving him a chaste kiss. "I feel like this has happened before." He was referring to the incident in the park.
They both laughed, then Luffy said seriously, "Do you think Juliet is alright?"
Shanks nodded, kissing Luffy back, "I'm pretty sure Zoro was inside that room, because I could sense his haki near her. But I also felt someone else who's haki seemed more vicious."
Luffy grinned, "Zoro will definitely save her! He's a lot nicer than he lets on."
"I'm sure he is," Shanks said with a pang of jealously.
The younger man noticed the change of tone and chuckled, "Don't worry, I like you the best, Shanks!" They kissed again before Luffy said, "Then lets go find Nami first!"
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"Oi!" Zoro yelled, "What are you doing here curly-eyebrow?"
Juliet blinked at the man that came through the door. 'Oh yes, he is another one of Luffy's nakama. But… he doesn't have his cloak on!'
"Mosshead!" Sanji said coming closer, "So this is where you are! I came in here by chance, but to think that you ran off to this type of place with Nami-san!" Sanji glanced at a worried looking Juliet, "And now your with another pretty lady?!" The chiefs eyes burned with fire as he stomped up to Zoro.
"Idiot, you've got it all wrong!"
Juliet exhaled in relief as they quarreled. The rule was that if two people in love had their hoods off at the same time then the two nearest ghosts would be pulled into their bodies. But lucky this wasn't the case with these two.
Yet a second later Juliet was proved wrong when she felt a gush of wind, and suddenly found herself with a sword in her mouth and two more in her hands.
Sanji was lying pass out on the ground in the same way that Romeo, now nowhere in sight, had been.
Uh-oh.
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Nami froze when she turned the corner and saw Tanya and Dracula at the other end of the hall staring her down.
"What are you doing out of your cell?!" Tanya screeched.
"Escaping, obviously," Nami said as she quickly removed the three pieces her clima-tact from the strap on her side.
Tanya glared and motioned with her head for Doctor Dracula capture her.
Dracula took a step forward and Nami started to twirled her weapon pieces.
"Are you going to show us a magic trick or something?" Tanya laughed as she too advanced.
"Something like that," Nami said coolly. She glanced up quickly to make sure her cloud was forming, but when she looked forward again Doctor Dracula was lunging at her with an knife in his hand. Nami barely avoided getting cut by taking a quick step back. Still spinning her weapons, she dogged a second slash. Then Tanya and the doctor attacked at once and Nami flew back from Tanya's punch to the stomach.
"That," Nami stood up wincing, "Was hardly a punch. Now why don't you look up," The navigator pointed to the ceiling as she released a little ball of electrically from her clima tact.
Following the ball Tanya and Dracula looked up, "When did the cloud--" ZAP!
The two Marines fell to the ground, their hair fried and expressions shocked. (('Shocked' get it? Haha.))
Nami shook her head, "It's embarrassing to think I was even caught by you."
The navigator stepped over their still forms and continued down the hallway.
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"Um, uh," Juliet fidgeted and looked around. She had no idea what to do with these swords! She had never even touched a weapon before, and having one in her mouth unnerved her. But she couldn't take it out while she had swords in her hands. 'But how do I put these back in their little homes' --the sheaths -- 'without cutting myself? Zoro-san might get mad if I just leave them on the floor…' While Juliet fumbled over this Sanji's still form began to stir as Romeo awakened.
"Oh no!" Juliet, in Zoro's body, paled when the other man stood up.
"R-Romeo!" Zoro said holding his hands to his chest, but careful of the swords still in his hands.
"Ugh," Sanji rubbed his head, then seeing Zoro he raged, "You! You ruined everything!" Sanji grabbed the knife that was still on the floor from earlier and ran at Zoro, "This time you die!"
"N-No! Romeo, please!" Zoro cried squeezing his eyes shut when Sanji lunged at him.
Luckily though, Zoro's muscle memory automatically made an "X" with his swords that caught the knife between the steal of the two blades.
"Oh!" Zoro said, tears running down his face when he saw that he was still alive.
"Bastard!" Sanji tried to push his knife through the block, but his strength was no match for Zoro's toned muscles.
All Zoro could do though was hold his position as tears streamed down his face from the terror of it all.
Their deadlock continued as ghosts drifted into the room to watch. The other spirits had felt a possession take place and came to see who it was.
There were about five of them and, since they couldn't physically do anything, they cheered loudly for Romeo to "kill!"
"Ugh!" Sanji shook as he focused every ounce of his strength forward with his knife, but to no avail.
That's when Nami came dashing through a nearby door after following the disturbing cheers that called for death.
The navigator stopped when she saw the mess, and it took her a second to process it all: Sanji and Zoro were fighting… that was normal. But Zoro was… crying?! What the hell? Sanji looked like a rabid animal, and there were see-through people crowding around them.
Nami scratched her head, "There's only one way to deal with this…"
The orange haired girl walked over to the two men and, raising her fists, hit them over the head so hard that they fell to the floor without a single twitch. The ghosts quickly glided off and Nami was left in a situation she deemed was 'under control.'
"But I still have to find Luffy in case he decided to follow that note," The navigator picked Zoro and Sanji up by the back of their shirts and started to walk toward the double doors door that, grudging from the light coming through the bottom, led outside.
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Luffy and Shanks had been running along a corridor hoping to find Nami when suddenly Luffy stopped. The boy backtracked a few steps and peered though a large crack in one of the boards that had been nailed across a window. "I see Nami!" Luffy exclaimed.
"Outside?" Shanks asked.
"Yeah! She's wearing her yellow cloak." Luffy said as he punched the board, effectively removing the wood.
On the second floor, looking out the window, they saw Nami holding Zoro and Sanji by their shirts and dragging them across the pavement away from the mansion.
"Nami!" Luffy called as he leaned out the window and waved his arm.
Nami turned around and recognized the boy despite the black hood covering his face, "Luffy! --I knew you were too stupid to read a note-- What are you doing in there!?"
"Me and Shanks came looking for you and Juliet."
"Juliet?"
Shanks answered, "She a ghost girl that should have been with Zoro."
Nami looked confused, "I didn't see any girls with Zoro, but when I found him and Sanji they were acting weird."
"Weird?" Shanks and Luffy both asked.
"Yeah, Zoro was crying and Sanji looked like he was trying to stab him."
Luffy laughed, "Zoro was crying?! Shishi, He must have been possessed or something!"
Shanks rubbed his chin, "Probably; neither him or Sanji have anything covering their faces, and after hearing Juliet scream earlier I'd think she would have be crying."
"You think Juliet was possessing Zoro?" Luffy tired to follow.
Shanks nodded, "And maybe the person who made her scream had possessed Sanji."
Luffy's eyes twinkled as he hugged Shanks excitedly, "Shanks, your so smart!"
Nami stepped closer to the window, "So Juliet's a ghost you met? Like the kinds that possessed you guys earlier?"
"Basically," Shanks tried to explain as Luffy nuzzled his face into Shanks's chest, "It's kind of a long story, but if you just put a hood over their faces like you did with Luffy and me they should return to normal."
"Then I'll go ahead and take them back to the ship." She said before addressing her distracted captain, "Alright Luffy?"
Luffy poking his head out of Shanks's cloak and grinned, "Alright! Good job, Nami!"
The navigator smiled and turned to leave before saying, "By the way, I beat up Tanya and Doctor Dracula for you guys."
"Awesome!" Luffy laughed as the girl left. His arms were still wrapped around the older man's back in his previous hug when he looked up at Shank, "I guess it all worked itself out! But," The young man pouted, "I didn't even get to beat Tanya up!"
Shanks ruffled the young man's head, "Don't you think the one who gets kidnapped deserve to do it?"
"That's true," Luffy nodded, "And I bet Nami kicked their asses good!"
They both chuckled, completely unaware of the ghost that was quietly gliding through the wall behind Shanks.
This ghost, a perverted man in his late thirties, had a special ability. His ability allowed him to posses people even if they had their faces covered. And that was just what he did. Sneaking up behind Shanks, he forced his way into the red-haired man's body.
"Huh?" Luffy tilted his head to the side when Shanks suddenly stiffened. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing." The other man mumbled, his expression hidden by his hood. Shanks's hand, which had been ruffling Luffy's hair a second ago, slipped downwards and rubbed the younger man's groin.
"Ah!" Luffy jumped back.
Shanks stepped forward and pinned Luffy to the wall.
"Wha!?" Luffy pressed his arms against Shanks's chest trying to lightly push him away. But Shanks was strong. Luffy's gasped when he felt that hand at his groin again. It rubbed back and forth across his pants and he squeezed his eyes shut. 'What's Shanks doing all of a sudden? In a place like this?' "Ah!" The hand reached into his pants. 'These may feel like Shanks's hands,' Luffy tried to push the arm away, 'But it definitely doesn't feel like him' With that final thought the young man summed up his strength and elbowed the older man square in the chest.
Shanks landed flat on his back. He lay their motionless for a moment before Luffy saw the ghost of a different man glide out of him and fly away cursing.
"Shanks got taken over by that ghost?" Luffy scratched his head.
Just then the red-haired man sat up and rubbed his chest in pain, "What happened?"
"Shanks!" Luffy rushed over to the man as he got up, "I think a ghost took over your body, but I punched it and it flew away!"
"I thought they couldn't if my face is covered…" Shanks blinked, "What did it do? It didn't try to hurt you, did it?"
Luffy fidgeted and looked away, "Um, no… not that."
"What?" Shanks questioned.
"Er…"
"What?" Shanks asked again. He patted Luffy shoulder and moved the young man's chin left and right looking for damages.
"It's not…" Luffy blushed and turned around, "We better go back to my ship to make sure Zoro and Sanji are okay." And with that the younger man patted away, leaving a desperately confused Shanks to catch up.
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Author's Note: And that's the end of this chapter! Sorry for the outrageously long wait. I have nothing to say for myself.
By the way, there's probably going to be smut in the next chapter! I'll post a lemon warning right before it so if you don't want to read it you can skip right over that part. Also, because of the lemon, the rating of this story will probably be changed to 'M.'
Comments are appreciated to know I'm not doing a horrible job.
In the next chapter: How will Shanks react to Luffy's unease? What about Zoro and Sanji? Does the fact that they were able to be possessed mean that they have feelings for each other? And what about the Shanks and Luffy lemon?! Find out next time in Chapter 19!