Disclaimer : I do not own Nami nor One Piece nor any other shows I mention in this fiction.
Warning : SPOILERS are prone to appear in this chapter.
Chapter Seven :
Mama bear's wrath
"Huh?" Nami repeated blinking, she wanted to make sure what she heard was correct.
"I said no weapons. Hand to hand combat only" Rex repeated cracking his knuckles
"I heard what you said the first time!" Nami childishly yelled, "What I meant was, how do you expect me, a three year old to beat an adult?!" she found herself losing her calm
"You're almost four," Rex pointed out rolling his eyes "Besides Luffy helped Ace and Sabo take on a group of adults when he was only seven"
"Which is four years older than I was, not to mention those adults were mindless barbarians who only fought with brute force instead of thinking like you obviously would do. Let's not forget Luff had back-up." Nami listed off
Rex sighed as he lit up a cigarette "That there is your problem"
"Eh?" Nami asked blinking again at the change of subject
"First off stop comparing yourself to others kid, you're Nami not Luffy. Secondly, don't ever lose your cool in a fight, you have to be the one making the other dance to your rhythm. Thirdly you should only let your opponent see what you want them to see, if you're scared you should just smile." Rex listed off
"Any other flaws you want to point out?" Nami questioned glaring at him
Rex narrowed his eyes at her in what appeared to be disgust "As a matter of fact I do." he stated crouching down to Nami's height "If you keep acting like a coward you'll never be strong. Even that is an understatement, the way you are now is worse than the original Nami princess" he coldly said
Nami's mouth hung open in shock "How can I be worse than the original?!"
"You're afraid to face your fears. The original Nami would have faced her fears even if she was afraid. But apparently you can't fight me because you're too scared, too out of your comfort zone. Isn't that right?" Rex questioned looking at the angered girl through half lidded eyes
"Shut u-"
"And now you're too angered to see the truth." Rex said cutting her off
"Who asked you to-"
"You did or have you forgotten? You were the one to ask me to teach you. I'm not like Belle-mere nor Noko who plays to your tune, when you asked me to teach you, you should have known that you'd be dancing to my tune. Is that pride of yours too big to accept the truth?" Rex questioned
Nami merely glared at him before closing her eyes, her expression softening as she shook her head "I'm sorry." she apologized opening her eyes again to reveal determined eyes "You're right, I'm afraid to get hurt in close combat and that's why I wanted to train with weapons. But the truth is I shouldn't be afraid of pain...because the pain I'll experience will make me stronger. A lesson without pain...it's meaningless isn't it?"
Rex let out a small smile. 'I was a bit hard on her but I got the lesson across' he thought to himself as he purposely exhaled some smoke onto Nami's face "Yep, now let's get this session started..."
"Bell-mere!" Nojiko yelled throwing the door open
Bell-mere who was busy cooking up lunch looked over her shoulder to see a panicked Nojiko "What's wrong?" she calmly asked
"It's...terrible...bloody...passed out...!" was the only words Bell-mere could make as she turned off the stove
"Who?" she questioned
"Nami!"
Nojiko sniffed looking at the passed out orange haired girl in front of her.
"Is she going to be okay doctor?" Bell-mere asked in concern
Doctor Noko nodded in confirmation also looking at the little girl who was on bed "She'll recover eventually."
"Exactly how bad is her condition...?" the mother figure asked once again
"It's not normal for kids." at Bell-mere's questioning look he elaborated "Her fingers were all out of place, her wrist were dislocated along with her shoulders. A fractured rib and a broken nose. Those are the worse one, but she does have bruises and one of her teeth are missing."
Bell-mere frowned
She knew that something must have happened considering Nami isn't usually this injured despite training. Heck, she knew Nami's training couldn't cause this much damage! It could only cause sore muscles.
So she knew something was up "Wasn't she supposed to be with you?" she asked in a slightly accusing tone "She is training under you"
"Don't you know?" Noko asked raising an eyebrow
"Know what exactly?" Bell-mere asked crossing her arms in front of her chest
"She's been hanging around with that man Rex, the one who's body washed up here several years ago." Noko answered
"Rex? Never heard of him. Tell me, who exactly is this mysterious man?" Bell-mere asked
"None of us know exactly, whenever we ask he changes his story. Assassin, thief, secret agent, former marine, former pirate...he never told us his true origins. We're not sure if whatever comes out of his mouth is truth or not." Noko tried explaining, "Despite this we know his a very smart man, great at politics or having his way. While you were away he would fight off any pirates who tried to take over with his bare fists and bizarre weapons."
"And you trust him?" Bell-mere bluntly asked
"He hasn't done anything to hurt us." Noko said
"Yet! He could have been the one who did this to Nami!" Bell-mere argued
"He wouldn't pick a meaningless fight" Noko retorted
"Are you defending this complete stranger?!" Bell-mere yelled in disbelief
Noko rubbed his temples feeling stressed "No. I'm only saying what I know, if you want you can go ask him yourself. He owns the only junk store on this island."
Rex hummed a happy tune as he moved a white piece on the board "What are you going to do next Black?" he questioned
Then he stood up and sat on the opposite seat "Oh, you think you've won White?" he asked in a smug tone as he moved a black piece on the board
He got up again to sit in the other seat "I have something for you"
"What?"
"Here." he said dumping a piece of paper on the other seat
"What's this?" he questioned as he sat at that seat reading the paper
"A list of ways you can beat me." he answered, then he got up to go sit on the other seat again
"But it's blank" he argued
"Exactly!" he laughed madly "Checkmate Black!" he laughed holding his sides, then he got up to seat on the other seat again
"Impossible!" he exclaimed in shock "H-how...can this be?! I have never lost before, I shall not lose to a mere-"
A loud slam interrupted the crazy scene of a man playing chest against himself in a rather dramatic way. He sighed standing up popping a cigarette in his mouth "Oi koneko, you're still mad I kicked you where the sun doesn't shine?" he questioned walking up to the door.
He blinked seeing an angry woman at the door "Oh, welcome miss" he lamely greeted, She looks familiar.
"Are you Rex?" the woman asked
"No, I'm his brother Rick." he answered rolling his eyes, "Of course I'm Rex! Who else could own this junk store but me, a man with too much time on his hands?!" he dramatically questioned
"Perfect!" the woman yelled aiming a punch at him
Only for him to cartwheel away "Sorry miss, you're persuasive but no discounts. Maybe a date?" he questioned
The angry woman took out a riffle pointing it at Rex "How about a no?" she asked
"Oi, oi, it's dangerous to point a gun at others" Rex said raising his hand up in surrender, his teeth crushing his cigarette as he narrowed his eyes at the woman in front of him
"Haven't you ever heard that messing with a mother's child is the most dangerous thing ever?" the woman hissed placing the riffle between Rex's eyes
"I haven't messed around with any women lately, I swear!" Rex yelled in panic
Before the woman could react Rex kneed her in the stomach, then he twisted her arms around. Sometime during these actions he managed to grab the riffle as he now sat on top of the woman with the riffle at the back of her head "Now the tables are turned" he stated with a smirk
The woman growled in anger
"Now miss, please tell me exactly why you went bat shit crazy on me?" Rex requested
"Not after you explain why you sent my daughter home all beat up!" the woman retorted
Rex blinked, "...Are you by any chance Bell-mere?" he asked finally putting the piece together
"No shit!" said woman yelled
Well now I know where Nami gets her anger issues from. Rex thought to himself resisting the urge to face palm at not noticing who the woman was until now.
"Koneko has told me so much about you" Lie. "She wouldn't stop talking about how awesome your flexibility gaining methods were, in fact she almost managed to punch me in the knee thanks to your training. She has a lot of potential"
"...What are you talking about?" Bell-mere asked no longer struggling against the grip
"Didn't Nami tell you she asked me to train her?" he asked in a bit of disbelief, It's been almost a week now
"She doesn't exactly tell me much." Bell-mere stated, he had obviously hit a sore button.
"Ah, well then I'm sorry to hear that? It's just that Nami doesn't want you to worry too much" he quickly reasoned releasing his grip on her as he let her go
Bell-mere mumbled a few things under her breath as she stood up "That doesn't mean you had to go hard on her, she's just three!"
Oh, if only you knew. "I did hold back." Rex retorted fixing his tuxedo
Bell-mere stared at him wide-eyed Could have told me he was this strong doctor...She thought to herself gritting her teeth, Maybe now's a good time to start my training again. I'm really out of shape to be losing against a civilian.
"Though I suppose it was rude of me not to introduce myself to you." Rex said in a sheepish tone
"Ah, no...it was mean of me to jump to conclusions..."
And that's how Rex found himself sitting at the table with Nojiko glaring at him.
He coughed "Something wrong kid...?" he asked trying to get rid of the awkwardness
"Why did you beat her up?" she asked, her glare seeming to increase
"I didn't beat her up, I was training her." Rex huffed Child abuse ain't my thing.
"Train her...?" Nojiko repeated blinking
Rex nodded "She asked me to be her teacher"
The girl then narrowed her eyes at the man "What was the catch?" she asked in suspicion
Rex sweat dropped wondering if having trust issues ran in the family of three "No catch"
"Liar" Nojiko accused
Yep, runs in the family... "You caught me, the truth is..." he inwardly smirked seeing Nojiko lean closer "If you find a raw diamond, wanting it to become polished is natural right?" Rex questioned
"What's the catch?" Nojiko repeated
"This family really has some trust issues" Rex said with a sweat drop
"Precious, huh?" Bell-mere questioned with a chuckle
"Very" Rex agreed
"So what was the catch?" Nojiko questioned again
Rex sighed at the repetitiveness "Alright! I told her that everyone gets help at some point so she has to help someone someday too, is that good enough?" he asked
Nojiko hummed in thought "Alright, seems simple enough"
Rex chuckled much to her confusion "You really are family in all but blood" he stated
Nojiko blushed looking down a bit, she bit her lips "Mister?" she hesitantly questioned, "Can you train me too?" she asked
"No" Rex bluntly said
"Eh? Why not?" Nojiko asked with a frown
"Because there's no need for you to train. Just keep farming." Rex said waving her off
"Then why is there a need for Nami to train?! Can't she just be a farmer?" Nojiko yelled
Rex placed his finger in front of his mouth "Shh, or else she'll wake up." seeing Nojiko quieted down he began "No, she can't be a farmer. Unlike you she wasn't meant to be a farmer and that's why I'm training her." he answered
"What do you mean she wasn't meant to be...?" Nojiko asked apparently picking up that odd way of saying it
"I meant what I said, look kid Nami herself wishes she could just live a simple life but she knows has a huge burden." Rex stated
"Then why can't we share the burden? Why is she letting a stranger like you share her burden? Doesn't she think of us as family?!" Nojiko yelled tears brimming up on her eyes
"I'm not sharing anyone's burden, I wish we could help her but she knows better than us all, that burden is hers and she intends to carry it herself. You should just have faith and hope that someday she'll find someone..." Straw-hats "To help share her burden."
"It isn't about family. She thinks highly of both you and Bell-mere and would gladly die for you, so don't ever think she doesn't see you as family. It's just a matter of responsibility" Rex calmly explained
"Responsibility..." Nojiko repeated "Then why? Why does she have this big burden? Why do you all act like the world will end if she doesn't take responsibility?" she found herself asking clenching her fists in anger
"I..don't know." Rex honestly answered, "But what I do know is that the world won't end in a literate way rather in a figurative way. Either way her luck gained her this huge responsibility"
"That's so...unfair." Nojiko said looking down
"Life's unfair. If someone's saying otherwise then they're selling something" Rex grumbled
"Ain't that the truth," Bell-mere finally said placing plates on the table "But I'm curious about something, do you by any chance know Nami's secret language?"
Chapter end.
A/N : Okay, next chapter is interludes and then the real story begins.