Gotta say I really love writing moments among the Merry. So much fun to write a casual scene! But this is a long chapter because I probably won't update for a while! Vacation timeeeeeeee! Review if you can! I know you all are out there!
-yesiamweird
Stretching out her fingers, Kimi smiled looking at her temporary lab in the kitchen. "Kimi-swan do you need any help?" Sanji looked over his shoulder while finishing up the dishes from the last meal.
"No! Thanks though…" The woman smiled and then flipped to a page in her father's journal. "I've wanted to try this experiment for years and now I finally can. Plus there is a use for this while we are out at sea." She smiled starting on her project.
Sanji grew a heart in his visible eye cooing about how cute she had been while she talked about her experiments, and before she would have found it extremely annoying but being in the crew for this long caused her to have patience she didn't know was even humanly possible.
She wished that the Merry had enough room with a decent amount of space so she would experiment individually in. When given the choice between the deck of the Merry, Ussopp's small an insufficient workshop closet, Kimi chose the Kitchen instead. Since the deck of the Merry was mostly used for entertaining purposes, Kimi happily agreed to the kitchen for her experiments and note taking. And since Sanji usually took over the room most of the day, he had no problem in Kimi joining him while he prepared the meals.
Carefully examining her father's notes as well as making the correct procedures for the ingredients, Kimi boiled and created the liquid her father created for the marines for an alternative cannon ball firing fuel she thought could be helpful for the pirates while they were on their quest.
"Done!" Kimi giggled standing from her seat taking with the glass jar in her hands. She twirled the liquid inside proud and confident in the experiment she had just surpassed.
"Oh Kimi-swan! You are so amazing! I cannot believe just how beautiful and of course how talented you are! Truly you are indeed a gift from the heavens above!" Sanji pranced around the room and then stopped when he realized she had left.
"Ussopp!" Kimi ran out quickly to the deck far away from Sanji's usual love confession. "Look! I made it! Finally!" She held the purple liquid contained in the glass jar in the air to Luffy and the sharpshooter. "Let's try it out!" She smiled and handed the long nosed man the jar.
"Oi, oi. What are you all blabbering about?" Zoro yawned from his usual spot along the deck railing. Kimi took a step back not used to his position for sleeping. She was slowly starting to get used to everyone's habits but every now and then she would forget and freak out slightly.
She blinked as the swordsman stood and yawned crossing his arms at the three noisy people interrupting him from his nap. "Oh, well, I made an alternative to cannon ball fuel! With this liquid dipped in the cannon it will fire and make the balls shoot a farther distance!" She smiled ready to watch the reaction as Ussopp got everything ready to test.
"Alright! Here we go!" Ussopp lit a match with the fuse covered in the liquid. "One, two-" And on the millisecond count of three the cannon ignited throwing the steel ball twice as far as the regular fuse had.
"Yahooo! That was amazing Kimi!" Luffy cheered up and down and then hugged the blue-haired girl making her tense from his reaction. "Oi, that's pretty cool." Zoro nodded and then walked off.
"Huh?" Luffy looked over at the blue-haired woman sinking into the oblivion of her thoughts. "Kimi? You okay?"
She continued to zone out until Luffy pouted and hit the top of her head. "Ouch! Oh, sorry…I was just…lost in thought." She smiled rubbing her budged head.
"Hey Luffy! Be careful with Kimi's brain! We need her to create more of this stuff so that the Marines won't get us!" Ussopp slapped the captain causing him to laugh. "Oh yea! I forgot!"
Kimi removed herself from the captains hold and then looked over the white railing of the Merry to the blissful blue sea in front of her. The winds blew slightly tickling the stray strands of her pulled back hair on her forehead. 'No one has ever hugged me from something I've created…' She closed her eyes thinking of the days that she had been beaten and bruised for trying to be defiant from using her talented brain from the Marines and her dreadful and frightening sister.
'Could I push aside all of the thoughts from my past and be proud of who I am?' She smiled and adjusted her glasses. "Sorry Captain…you just took me off guard for a second there!" She grinned and then looked back at the purple liquid. "I'll be sure to make another batch so we can be prepared for an attack!"
"Huh?" Luffy and Ussopp blinked as the woman suddenly and awkwardly turned and walked off in the direction of the bathroom. "Weird?" Ussopp noted but his comment went unnoticed as Chopper ran out from the storage room with three fishing poles. "YAY! Fishing!" Luffy cheered aloud.
Kimi smiled softly while listening to the fun-loving captain of the ship and while walking towards the bathroom. She didn't need to use it, but in the heat of that awkward moment, it was the only place she could resort to without being overly awkward.
However, she hadn't planned for the knob of the door to be locked, indicating one of her crewmates had been inside. She tensed for a moment clenching her gloved hand into fists hearing Zoro telling her to calm her horses. "Oh it's okay…" She walked off as her plan failed miserably with her head hanging low.
"Oi, I'm done…" the man opened the door walking out while Kimi's back had been turned.
"Oh, it's okay!" She turned to face him with a fake smiled plastered on her facade. "I just wanted to wash my hands…But I'm-"
"You never take off your gloves…" Zoro muttered walking as if she hadn't been in front of him. "Why?"
"Huh?" Kimi blinked at his blunt statement and then looked at her hands. "They are my experimenting gloves…I've always worn them…and I never took them off…" her smiled faded. She was lying through her teeth and she even knew Zoro could tell. "Hmp. Fine, forget I said anything." He brushed pass her shoulder leaving her standing in the hallway with her racing thoughts.
She raised her hands in the air right across from her chest. "No one asked about these when I lived in the town…" She whispered not knowing what the big deal about her constant wearing of her black leather gloves. "Why do people care now?" She closed her eyes letting her hands drop to her sides.
Things were different on the Merry than she had been used to…and she wasn't entirely sure she liked it. She missed her father, first and foremost and thought about him every morning she woke up. Next she missed her lab, her lab coat, her experiments, everything that was neat and pretty couldn't be found of the half-broken pirate ship. Of course, out of rage, the Marines had ripped apart her beloved lab before she left. But still the memoires ached…
She opened her eyes and continued to walk back onto the deck.
But there were some things aboard the Merry she absolutely loved. For starters, she loved having friends: people who liked and respected her. That was something she did not have back home. And Luffy's happy-go-lucky personality really brought out the sunshine hidden within Kimi's heart. Yes, it was totally cheesy, but Luffy had an aurora that brought out the excitement and pleasurable moments of being a human being.
"OI! Everyone!" Sanji yelled from the top of the stairs. "LUNCH!"
And of course, Sanji's cooking…yup there were days Kimi couldn't even believed she had eaten the food her and her father attempted to cook. As Kimi raced up the steps hoping to beat Luffy to the room, Kimi thought to herself. 'Definitely, Sanji's cooking is one of the best things aboard the Going Merry.'
After the colorful and laughing fest of dinner, Kimi found herself alone in the kitchen in the midnight hour not being able to sleep through the night. "Some tea sounds really good." She smiled reaching for the tea pot and pouring the water into it and then placing it on the stove.
She yawned leaning on the kitchen table while the pot began to boil gradually from the stovetop. The serene quietness of the Merry at this moment was something to be greatly appreciated among the Strawhat pirates. Usually the ship was full of talking, yelling, drunken shouts, and laugher. Uncontrollable, pure laughter, another thing Kimi was not used too but liked.
The tea kettle began to whistle before long indicating the boiling water complete for her wanted tea. Turning off the stove and pouring the water into a coffee cup, a splash of water hit the top of her gloves protecting her from the stinging of the boiling water. "See I don't know why they make such a big deal about my gloves…they protect me from daily carelessness." She spoke softly to herself and placed the hot pot back onto the stove.
Putting a tea bag into the cup and two sugar cubes in the hot liquid, Kimiko sat down on one of the chairs at the table and placed her hot cup on her side. "Father…" She whispered looking at the brown liquid in the small cup. 'I know you would be proud of me if you were here…I love and miss you!' She yawned big closing her eyes and then opening them lazily. Her tea still needed a minute or two to cool down so she decided to rest her arms and head on the kitchen table.
'It's only a few minutes…' She thought yawning again as the comforting smell of tea filled the room. A few minutes too long though…with Kimi tucked happily in her own arms and the steady constant sound of her breathing eased her worries from the uncomfortable sleeplessness before in her bed.
With her glasses still on her face, the hot tea cooling down minute by minute and the soft subtle sound of a snore was how he found her the next morning as the cook entered in his workplace to prepare the morning meal for the day.
He smiled at the innocence and beauty of the slightly older blue-haired woman as she slept still in the same position while he began to work. He tried to be as quiet as he possibly could while the woman continued to sleep but there was a limit to how much noise he could contain. As a pot clanked in the room, Kimi stirred for a moment causing Sanji to curse his pot in his head. "Ah…" He sighed as she moaned softly falling back asleep. He continued to cook silently until an unexpected visitor interrupted.
"Oi, Crap Cook!" Zoro yelled walking into the kitchen slamming the door shut. "Why the hell did you put this shit in my shoe?" He threw his boot full of green goo at the blonde man accusing him as he always did.
"You stupid Marimo! I did not do that!" Sanji yelled back but a strained and feminine gasp came from the table as the woman sat straight up still in a sleepy daze. "Huh?" She moaned and then rubbed her eyes behind the black framed glasses.
"Oi baka! See what you did!" Sanji threw a metal pot at the absent-minded swordsman but as expected he had caught it. "Kimi-swan had been sleeping peacefully before you stormed in here."
"What the hell are you doing sleeping on the table?" Zoro questioned causing Sanji to kick his shins, "Like you have any room to talk about sleeping in weird places!"
Kimi blinked through her sleepy eyes and noticed the wooden table in front of her and her cup of tea on the side of her. She titled her head not sure how she was stuck in this spot in the morning and turned to the men fighting in the entrance. "Huh?" she yawned again taking off her glasses making the two sweat-drop at her casual attitude.
"You may be smart Kimi, but you sure are lame." Zoro huffed walking forwards to sit at the head of the table "Marimoooooooo!" Sanji growled and watching him sit.
"Oi, make me food, Curly Eyebrow!"
"Like hell!" Sanji yelled back with the never ending fight Kimi was beginning to figure was NEVER going to end. She looked down at her now cold tea and then placed her glasses back on her head. "I went to sit for just a second while my tea cooled but I guess I fell asleep instead." She smiled to herself and stood from the table.
"Would you like for me to make you a new cup of tea, Kimi-swan!" Sanji cooed as the woman stood to her feet with the cup in her hands. "No thanks, Sanji-san." She giggled and then stopped from her walking. "Uh, have you seen my notebook?" Combined with her confused expression and oversized pajamas, Zoro started to doubt the sanity of the newest crewmate.
"Oi, I saw it in here yesterday…" Zoro looked around but found nothing.
"I didn't see it…" Sanji muttered and then continued to make his food making Kimi place a finger to her lips trying to remember the whereabouts of her precious journal. "Hmmmm…" She thought for a moment and then heard the laughter of their care-free captain. "OI! None of these words make sense! And there are no pictures in this book!" Luffy laughed.
"LUFFY!" Kimi yelled and ran out of the room dropping and shattering the tea cup in her hands in the process. "Hey, Luffy!" She called up to the crow's nest since he had been there all night on duty. "Please tell me you have my journal up there?" She called out holding her hands together.
The rubber man jumped down from the nest with two books in his hands. "Oh, I don't know but they are really boring. No pictures!" He held both her and her father's journal in his hands. "LUFFY!" She snatched the books and frantically flipped through the pages to ensure their safety.
"Oi, Luffy. Did you steal Kimi's books?" Sanji growled walking out from kitchen door.
"No, I found them. I didn't know they were Kimi's."
"BECAUSE IT'S NOT LIKE SHE HASN'T HAD THEM IN A WHILE?" He threw another pot at the captain.
Kimi sighed in relief. Nothing seemed to be missing and she smiled at the young captain. "Luffy, these books are my treasure just like your hat. If your hat went missing, wouldn't you be upset?" She smiled and walked back to the kitchen.
"Oh! So your books are that important to you?" He smiled, "Yes." She nodded back and stood at the threshold of the room and gasped. "Oh no, Sanji! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to break the glass!"
He huffed and smiled at the woman. "Nonsense its fine…I'll clean it." His heart eye popped out. "Oi, Marimo, clean this!"
"LIKE HELL I WILL!"
Kimi laughed and sat down at her chair from earlier. "Not a problem Sanji-san." She cloned herself and allowed the doppelganger to clean the mess. "Ah! Kimiko! We have a new way to do chores!" Luffy laughed entering the room as well. "You make your clones do all the work from now on!" He pointed making Sanji kick his face once more.
Kimi laughed innocently and then flipped to a page in her personal journal. "Sure thing, Captain." She looked pass the laugher tears in her eyes and read the page.
"Hey, you two. Go out and clean yourself for breakfast…" It's almost ready. Sanji declared to the males in the room while making Kimi pull away from her thoughts. "I need to change, Sanji-san, but I'll be back!" She stood from her chair and picked her books into her arms.
"Sure thing, Kimi-swan!" He smiled with hearts surrounding him. Kimi giggled and escaped from his aurora to her quarters to change from her pajamas. "Morning already?" Nami yawned waking from her bed.
"Yes, Sanji-san is almost done!" Kimi smiled walking over to her bed and the chest containing her clothes. 'Today is going to be a great day…' She smiled pulling off her clothes and pulling on new ones. 'I can just feel it!'
Twirling her wine glass in her hand while laughing at the funny conversations her captain and crew mates had with one another over the dinner table, Kimi thought the day had been one of the best she had ever had in her life. Sure, she and the others simply sat and went about their daily lives while aboard the Going Merry, but it had been one of the most relaxing and calming days Kimi had ever had in her twenty years of life.
After the hilarious dinner had ended, Kimi asked for a final refill of the white wine Sanji picked out for the three females and then walked out on the deck to stargaze the night sky. The other crewmates had resumed in their quarters for the night leaving the female scientist alone only with her thoughts and the stars.
She sighed smiling at the twinkling dots above her head and then sipped the final bits of the white wine. By this point, Kimiko was starting to get used to the drinking and alcohol among the pirate life-style, but that didn't mean that she was immune to it by any standards whatsoever. The sensation of her head slightly spinning annoyed but thrilled the woman. It was such an exhilarating feeling that made her enjoy the numbness of her body while she drank.
Sighing from the final sip of her wine, Kimi closed her eyes letting the wine glass tip over the edge of the rail she leaned on. 'I just love this feeling…the feeling of being…alive.' She opened her eyes smiling widely at the shinning bright stars and then turned her head to a body on her right.
"Good evening, Mr. Bushido." She imitated Robin's voice and then closed her eyes giggling slightly. The man smiled at her while he too, leaned his elbows on the white wooden railing. "I told you, it's Zoro…" He glared emotionlessly.
She smiled even bigger and then changed her focus from the stars to the wine glass, twirling it in her hands once again. "I've never been this type of rebellious before." She rested her cheek on her hand grinning even wider. "It's so much fun!" The innocent chuckling made the swordsman grin as well while he took a sip from his favorite sake bottle. "Hm. Guess you could say that." He replied after sighing from his gulp.
Kimi lifted her elbows from the railing and gave her glass to a clone that suddenly appeared on her side. "So what is your story, Mr. I'm-so-mysterious?" She smiled titling her head at the green haired man. He raised an eye brow slightly and sighed not wanting to talk while staring back at the night sky. The stars did seem to sparkle just so.
"Hm." Kimi giggled and looked up at the stars just like the man. "Once again being so mysterious!" She leaned on the railing and then sighed. "Ok, well when I was younger I blew up half of the lab over a simple experiment because I was hungry and distracted from my work, one day." She smiled drunkenly and then looked up at the man. "Now your turn!" She hoped the story she told would persuade the man to tell her something from his past. But it didn't work.
"You are dumb. You know that?" He simply responded closing his eyes and then changing his gaze from her to the sea causing her to sweat-drop from fail of her plan. 'I'll never break him…' She thought and then turned to her clone that had returned from the kitchen with a prize. "Ah! Thanks!" She chuckled to her own-self and then took out the piece of chocolate held within the clone's hand.
Zoro noticed the object in her gloved hand perked his head making Kimi smile devilishly. "Sh! Sanji doesn't know!" She broke off a piece and held it to the man. "Here!"
Zoro shook his head and cocked his eyebrow at the woman. "You know Sanji will kill you for that."
"Nah!" She smiled nibbling on her piece and then shoving the broken piece into Zoro's free hand. "Sanji wouldn't get mad over me. That's why if he finds out I won't be in trouble. Eat!" She laughed finishing her piece of sweetness bliss and then continued to look back at the sky.
"Do you know anything about the stars?" She looked back at her companion who had still not taken a bite of the chocolate in his hand. "Not really."
She nodded and then pointed to the right. "Over there is my favorite constellation of stars, Orion, the great hunter. You can always tell which one he is because of his belt. See the three stars that make a belt? That's the easiest way to tell where he is! Oh and one of the brightest stars in our sky is on his left shoulder, Betelgeuse!" She made sure to point to each star she explained even though it had looked like the swordsman hadn't even been paying her any attention.
"According to Greek mythology, Orion's life ended when he stepped on Scorpius, the scorpion. The gods felt sorry for him, so they put him and his dogs in the sky as constellations. They also put all of the animals he hunted up there near him. Scorpius, however, was placed on the opposite side of the sky so Orion would never be hurt by it again." She stopped and twirled the wine glass in her hands feeling a bit embarrassed by her obsession over the group of stars.
"Why do you like that one so much?" Zoro questioned casually looking up at the 'great hunter.' He never used to think anything of the stars before then but Orion could be placed in the night sky he could be too. Besides being a great swordsman, Zoro decided he would be placed in the stars as well. Despite if a god or gods allowed him too.
Kimi smiled, "I don't really know. Probably because he is the easiest to find in the sky…" She sighed and then lightly punched the swordsman's strong arm. "Have a good watch tonight!" The woman giggled and then walked off in the direction of her quarters leaving the man behind her without another word.
Watching the woman walk off, Zoro looked up at Orion and then sighed looking back at the small piece of chocolate in his hand. "Strange…" He muttered and then bit off a part of the sweet snack in his teeth. "But cute…"
"Kanpai!" The entire crew cheered toasting to their picnic on the uninhabited island. As they first arrived on the shore, Sanji prepared his grill while Kimi and the others gathered small animals and plants to feast upon.
"Oi, Luffy! You said you wanted a snack, but you still haven't stopped eating!" Ussopp pouted at the rubber man as he ate profusely. Kimi smiled at his rubber stomach, it had never ceased to amaze her just at how much he could eat. "But I can eat so much more!" He laughed.
"Robin, if you don't hurry up, there will be no food left." Kimi stated looking back at the older woman reading one of her books.
"But I want to finish reading…its fine." She smiled and looked back at her page. Chopper jumped on the stone she sat on, "Robin if you don't stop reading you will turn into a worm!" The reindeer nodded his head making Kimi and Robin confused by his statement. "You've hear of bookworms haven't you?" He pouted and took a bite of his meal.
Robin and Kimi exchange a small glace to one another and then giggled. Chopper may have been smart, but he was definitely naïve. "Sanji-san the food is wonderful thank you." Kimi stood up collecting her journal and backpack in her arms.
"Thank you Kimi-swan! As long as I make you happy my destiny in life is complete!" The cook yelled making the scientist roll her eyes. "Kimi? Are you going away?" Chopper tilted his head as she took a few steps into the forest they had just collected food from.
"Yes, only for a bit though. Don't leave the island without me." She waved looking back and then rolled her eyes at the sight of a giant mechanical crab crawling towards her crewmates. No doubt it was the Foxy Pirates back to try to defeat Luffy once again. It was actually starting to bother Kimi at how much this captain wanted to beat hers but instead of letting it get under her skin she walked away carefully peeling back the branches through the forest.
"So many interesting plants." She smiled to herself collecting a rare plant her father used to make a cleaning solution. If she brought back a bunch of these leaves and grinded them down plus add a little chemical liquid and by-products, she'd have the perfect cleaning solution for the Going Merry. "Speaking of which…" Kimi pushed a branch blocking the sea line from the pirate ship. "Poor Merry…It's in such bad shape…" She whispered looking at the sheet metal that held the Merry together like tape. She sighed thinking of the possible answers to fix the Merry but frowned. She wasn't a shipwright…only a scientist. Of course she could make minor adjustments to the structure of the ship, but fixing it completely was way out of her collected the rest of the leaves into her bag and then continued on sketching and gathering other plants for various purposes.
"Kimiko?" Nami's voice rang through the forest.
"Oh Kimi!" Luffy's voice yelled out as well. She stood up from her position and waved, "This way! What are you all doing?" She smiled looking at the big sacks on everyone backs.
Nami pouted, "Well while you were goofing off, we went ahead and collected food for the remaining time that we will be out at sea. I don't know how long it'll be 'till we reach the next island!" She frowned. Kimi giggled walking over to the others. "Sorry Nami-san. I'll try harder next time." She smiled innocently and continued on the path with the others.
"Chopper did you collect any medicine?" Ussopp wondered. "Yep! I've got all I need, but there might be some much rarer ones on this island!" He smiled back making Kimi look down at him. "Chopper, I don't know if they are rare to medicine but I found a plant back near the shore. It's called the Loea plant. Have you heard of it?" She smiled.
"NO! What is it!" His eyes gleamed making Kimi smile even wider from his enthusiasm. "My father taught me how to make a liquid all-purpose cleanser with it…Hopefully I have the instructions how to make it in his journal."
"Cool, I want to see!" Chopper giggled jumping up and down. "Once we get back to the Merry…" Kimi nodded and continued to walk along. "You know…I've noticed there's a strange line on the ground. What do you think this mystery line could be?" Chopper asked no one in particular.
"I've noticed it too…It looks like a bicycle track though." Ussopp nodded. "Oi! I thought this island was uninhabited?" Sanji spoke. "If that was true, there would be no one to ride a bike through."
"Ha, true…" Ussopp snorted making Kimi raise an eye brow at the line. 'True…this is strange…' Kimi nodded thinking silently to herself.
"Look we are almost out of the jungle!" Luffy laughed as they walked through a threshold of trees into an open field. Kimi looked around the open field not seeing anything but a big boulder in the middle of it. 'Something doesn't feel right…' She thought standing on her guard at this point.
"Ohhhh!" Chopper ran past Kimi's legs towards the big rock. "What is Chopper doing?" Luffy muttered. "He's going towards that rock. Is there something there?" Zoro titled his head confused by the reindeer's excitement.
"OH LOOK!" Luffy exclaimed running towards the rock. "Chopper is going to eat that big mushroom on top of the rock! All to himself!" He and the rest of the group ran to the rock while Robin and Kimi stayed behind.
"Robin…" Kimi looked to the older woman widening her eyes at the worried look in her face. "What's wrong?"
Closing her eyes and then quickly opening them back while forming her mouth into a fake smile, "Nothing." She nodded and then ran with the others.
"Oi Chopper are you okay?" Luffy yelled as the two women ran behind their friends. From what she saw, it looked as if Chopper had fallen backwards because of something…or rather someone.
"Who's that tall person?"
"What kind of person is he?" Nami and Ussopp questioned as Robin and the scientist made their way to the other side of the rock. Kimi gasped at the man in front of her, almost as if his devil fruit power had frozen her in place. For the woman on her right, however, she seemed to cower away falling behind Kimi and trembling profusely.
It was then the rest of the crew turned around to look at Robin sitting in fear on the grass. "Now, now I am not here on business or orders…" The man spoke freezing Kimi's heart to the core.
She remembered that man from anywhere but of course, she had known most of the Marines. Still, it puzzled her to know how Robin knew him. "The weather was nice, so I was taking a walk." He muttered scratching his head.
"Orders?" Zoro spoke clutching one of his swords. "Who do you work for?"
"The Marines." Kimi spoke clenching her gloved fists, "He is a part of the most powerful force of the World Government…" She trembled like Robin on the ground next to her. "Marine Headquarters, Admiral Aokiji!"
"Ahhh, to what do I owe the pleasure to not one…but two of the most interesting women in the world. Tomoko Kimiko and Nico Robin."
Everyone took a defensive stance as Robin continued to tremble on the ground. "Within the Marines, only three men have attained the rank of Admiral…" Kimi took a step forward looking at the man she knew all too well.
"Akainu, Aokiji, and Kizaru." Robin stated from behind the blue-haired woman making her nod in confirmation. "They are the most powerful combat force of the World Government…And he's one of them!" Robin whispered loud enough for everyone to hear.
"Just chill out you guys, like I said, I was just out for a stroll. You all are the ones….hm….I forgot." He muttered making Kimi and the other sweat-drop. She knew this was his normal attitude but even then, to have it around wanted pirates was pretty lame. "My motto as a Marine is 'Lazy Justice."
"WE CAN TELL!" Sanji and Ussopp yelled.
"I think I'm going to lie down, standing tired me out…anyway, to make a long story short. I'm not here to arrest you, so just relax. I came to confirm that Nico Robin had left Arabasta following the incident there. As we suspected, she has been with you…however." He closed his eyes positioning himself comfortably on the ground. "I did not expect Tomoko Kimiko to turn join you all as a pirate. It's too bad, visiting you and your father were wonderful trips. Not to mention the supplies we acquired from you."
Kimi looked down at her feet embarrassed by his words. It was true he and the other two Admirals had visited her house many times, but to her they were not pleasant experiences. Whenever they knocked at the door, Kimi would sit silently in her chair looking down into her lap while her father explained their supplies they had been forced to create.
"Hey you…little one…" Aokiji looked down at the young teen as she quietly sat in her father's lab chair. "Why are you so afraid?" He muttered with his pocket in his hands.
"I…I don't know…" She whispered closing her eyes to stop the tears from falling out. "I just don't like it. That's all…" She gasped as the words slipped out of her head and into the air.
"Hmmm?" Aokiji tilted his head and bent down in front of the girl. "But we are the good guys."
Kimi opened her eyes revealing the salty tears within them, "Yea but you force me to make things that will hurt people…and if I don't…" Kimi stopped looking back down into her lap. 'Then my sister will make sure I hurt…' She thought silently to herself.
"But we need you to make these things so that we stop the bad people from hurting people like you. The pirates these days are cruel and wouldn't think twice about killing a child like you." He patted her back, "We need your help to stop them."
Kimi stood up on her chair. "I don't care! I don't want anyone to die! Pirates or Marine!" She then covered her mouth looking at Admiral Akainu and her father's stern face. "I…I'm…" Kimi fell back onto the chair crying.
"Ah, so young and yet so brilliant and strong. Your sister tells me you have a Devil Fruit power…" Aokiji smiled patting her back again. "May I see it?"
Kimi looked up sniffing the boogers from her nose. "Um. I guess…" She cloned herself three times and they waved nervously to the tall man. "Very interesting! Would you like to see mine?"
"Aokiji!" Akainu grumbled. "We have what we need. Now let's get out of here."
Aokiji nodded and then stood up towering over Kimi and her clones. "Watch." He held his hand out and froze a chair to the side of him making Kimi gasp. "Aokiji!" Akainu yelled once more. "Good-bye Kimiko. Until we meet again." The tall man smiled and walked out of the lab leaving the chair frozen solid as he disappeared.
"I think I'll submit a report to Headquarters later…now that you have another wanted criminal on your ship your bounty will go up…and with Tomoko's departure she may be included in your crews total bounty as well…"
Kimi blinked in horror at his statement and then heard a growl from Luffy on her left. "Gum Gum-!"
"What are you doing, baka!"
"Leave him alone!" Sanji and Ussopp held their fuming captain behind. "I'm gonna kick your ass!"
Just then a group of hurt and castaway people arrived from the edge of the forest begging for help. Chopper and Kimi helped the troubled people while Sanji and Ussopp helped feed them as well. All the while Aokiji sat in his position lying on the ground not lifting a finger.
One of the men told the story of how their passenger ship had been hit by a giant frog doing the front crawl stroke. Some of the people survived and they arrived at the island they were at now. They watched a man on a bicycle ride on top of the waves to the island when a pirate ship arrived moments later.
Aokiji nodded standing up and then claiming for the people to gather their supplies to head back home. "But they don't have a ship?" Luffy exclaimed while Robin stood. "He has the power to help them." She gasped.
They walked over to the edge of the water ready for Aokiji to help the castaways. Reaching into the sea water Aokiji froze it entirely making the Strawhats and passengers gasp from his Devil Fruit power. Of course, Kimi and Robin had already known the seriousness of the man's ability.
As the Strawhats waved good-bye to the thankful castaways, the group played around the frozen ice for a bit, while the uncomfortable scientist stayed behind to glare at Aokiji.
"Hmmm? You've given me that face many times before haven't you, Kimiko?" He muttered closing his eyes and crossing his arms. "You were such a talented young lady…I never thought you'd join pirates. I honestly believed you would someday take my position. After all, your power is just as strong as your sisters. If not better…"
Kimi huffed and crossed her own arms. "Don't you dare compare me as being a Marine! Out of all of them, you were the nicest, but I always hated and feared the Marines more than pirates!" Their conversation was interrupted as Luffy and the others walked in while she yelled to Aokiji.
"Hmmm…" He opened his eyes staring down the rubber captain. "You're the spitting image of your grandpa, Monkey D. Luffy." He nodded. "Child-like and reckless and yet hard to fully understand." Luffy gasped making a strained face at the word of 'grandpa.'
"Luffy?" Kimi cocked her head to the side, "What's wrong with your grandpa?" She wondered.
"No…it's nothing I- I just…"
"Your grandpa helped me out a long time ago, and I came here to see you and Nico Robin with my own eyes." Aokiji looked into his lap reminding Kimi of the times she had been in the same position when she was a child.
Only when she looked into her lap, it was out of fear…pure and utter fear from the Marines.
"And so…are you ready to die?" the man looked up evilly. "The government still doesn't consider you a threat, but based on your past encounters, we know that you can be a formidable crew. You may be few in number, but with the number of rogues gathered here you will become trouble all too soon. Given the circumstances surrounding your initial bounty, your numerous daring exploits, and the speed at which you are gaining strength…I've fought pirates and outlaws for many years, but you…you all scare the shit out of me."
"But you said you just wanted to see them, not kill us!" Ussopp cried frantically.
"Among your crew, the one I regard as the most dangerous is you, Nico Robin."
Luffy fumed, "See! You are after her!"
"The size of her bounty does not simply reflect her strength, it simply reveals the threat that you can be. That is why a 79,000,000 Berri bounty was placed on your head at the age of eight and you managed to survive. By betraying, sidestepping, escaping and found new partners to make use of. Time and time again you've rebounded and now you've chosen this crew as your next haven."
"Oi you jerk! What do you have against Robin-chan?" Sanji yelled making Ussopp run over to stop him from attacking.
"I don't have anything against her other than she escaped from me once before. But that was a long time ago. You'll learn soon enough that protecting that woman leads to regret. And if you have any doubt, you know that every organization Nico Robin has joined has been brought to ruin. And she had always been the only one to escape. Why is that, Nico Robin?"
"Shut up! The past has nothing to do with us!" Luffy yelled out. "That's right, if it did, then we wouldn't have a former pirate hunter or an ex-thief woman or an ex-Marine scientist on our crew!" Ussopp laughed pointing fingers at the people he pointed out. "That's right, today is more important than the past!" Sanji nodded. "Leave Robin alone! She is our nakama!" Chopper stated as well.
"Hm. They don't suspect a thing, do they…?"
Robin glared holding her hands into position to use her Devil Fruit, "If you want to arrest me, then why not just do it?" with her power, Robin snapped the man in half making everyone believe she had killed him, but for Logia fruit users, it would take a lot more than that to kill him.
"Hm. That was rude." He regenerated as an ice man and then turned to his original form "I wasn't planning on killing you, but…" He made an ice sword in the air and held it in his hands defensively. Swinging it down to slice the woman, Zoro jumped into action blocking the attack with one of his three swords at his hip.
Sanji jumped into action next running over to the two men and kicking Aokiji's ice sword from out of his hand.
"Don't hog all the good shots, you shitty cook." Zoro muttered smiling somewhat. "You're one to talk, moss head."
"Gum Gum pistol!" Luffy yelled hitting Aokiji right in the gut, but instead of flinching Aokiji smiled and held onto Zoro's arm and Sanji's leg in mid air. "What the-?" Luffy fell over backwards screaming as ice engulfing his hand. Zoro and Sanji's also screaming in pain as the body parts Aokiji held onto froze just like Luffy's hand.
"You have some very loyal nakama, Nico Robin. But you will never change." Aokiji smiled turning his body into a frozen ice block ready to attack. In the nick of time, Kimi cloned herself making the clone kick and shatter the Admiral into pieces before he reached Robin.
"Run!" The blue-haired woman yelled at her nakama, "Clone clone, ally!" She created about twenty Robin clones confusing Aokiji as he returned to his normal self.
"Hm…see I always knew you're ability was powerful. Now I don't know which Nico Robin is the real one." He smiled raising his hand out to the terrified scientist. "Ice blast!" His voice rang through Kimi's head.
She tried to take a step back to defend herself from whatever it was that Aokiji was planning, but the damage had already been done. "Wha?" Her feet slid on top of the grass making her lose balance for some strange reason. Then the cold struck her chest and grew wrapping around her torso and arms freezing them in their outstretched position. "I-I can't move my arms!" She cried looking down at the ice that once used to be her hands.
"I've only frozen part of you Kimiko…I just can't bring myself to kill you entirely." Aokiji nodded and then looked to the only Robin in sight. From the surprise attack, the Robin clones Kimi created disappeared leaving the real one the only one standing. Before Kimi and the others could do anything, the ice man hugged the raven-haired woman freezing her like an ice statue.
"ROBIN!" Kimi and the other's yelled out but it was too late. The blue-haired woman felt her warm tears running down her cheeks and then froze on her chin from the temperature swarming around her chest. She tried her hardest to break free from the ice but it was no use, she was useless.
"If you thaw her out, she'll still be alive, but her body is extremely brittle in this state, so you'll have to be careful." Aokiji explained to the worried crewmates. "If any part of her body breaks, she will die." With that, Aokiji raised a fist in the air about to hit Robin but luckily Luffy caught and bent her down just before he attacked. Next Ussopp was the one to take Robin on the other side of the field totally out of harm's way.
"Ussopp! Chopper! Keep running to the ship!" Luffy commanded. "Treat Robin and get her thawed out!" The two nodded and ran with Robin's frozen body in their grasp while the remaining crewmates eyed the Admiral carefully.
"Don't bother; the world would be a better place without that woman in it." He walked to Nami and Kimi on the opposite side of the men. The orange-haired woman had stopped him from attacking her and Kimi just in the nick of time with her metal pole of a weapon. "Doesn't that saying go for just about every pirate though?" She smiled.
"You seem to understand, Miss…" Aokiji looked to Kimi behind her. "That's why I just don't understand why you would stoop so low to be a pirate…Tomoko…"
Kimi clenched her jaw staring down the man. "When I was little, I never looked a Marine in the eyes out of the respect my father made me show towards them." She whispered sternly recalling the memories from her past. "However, the Marines were just as bad, if not worse than pirates could ever be! You all used my family! I've never known anyone to be more scared of Marines than I was as a child!" She looked back at Aokiji as a wave of guilt crashed through her mind. Out of all of the Marines, he was the nicest and the kindest one to her. But it didn't matter.
She was a pirate now. And there was no going back. "I was NEVER meant to be a part of this Government! Nor will I EVER be!"
Aokiji had enough of the screaming woman degrading his profession and was about to do the same he had done to Nico Robin despite his words before. That was, until a rubber hand punched his head smashing it as he had become distracted.
"Guys, head back to the ship." Luffy commanded to Kimi and the other. "I want to fight him one-on-one."
"I don't mind." Aokiji regenerated and looked behind as Kimi and the other woman ran off. "But I don't have any ship to take you in with, so I'll just have to kill you instead.
"Hurry!" Kimi yelled to Nami running behind her towards the ship on the side of the shore. With her arms frozen in place, it was quite hard to keep her balance and run frantically at the same time.
"Kimi-san, are you alright?" Sanji asked worriedly. She nodded once and continued to run panting heavily until she and the others arrived to the ship. "Chopper!" The cook yelled out hoping to get Kimi and him, and the swordsman, treated from the ice.
"Why are you four here?" Chopper cried.
"Not now! We'll go back in a minute but first you have to get this ice off!" Zoro yelled back. "Yes, well we have to douse everything that's frozen in water! But Robin's in the shower room-" the young doctor explained but was cut off from two splashes below the Merry.
"Will this work?" Sanji yelled out from the water. "Yes!" Chopper smiled. "After the heat thaws the ice, start rubbing the affected areas and then come up to the ship!" And with that the reindeer left.
"Nami…" Kimi shuddered feeling numb and sluggish from the ice. At this rate her heart would slowly start to stop and she'd die within minutes. "Throw me in…I can't seem to move anymore." She gasped.
"B-But…Kimi…you'll drown from the water!"
The blue-haired woman turned to look at the navigator. "Just do it!" She screamed terrified from the cold engulfing her body. At this point, she'd rather drown than be frozen to death by the Marine. Nami ran to the woman picking her up by her frozen arms and threw her over the cliff and into the shore. "Sanji-kun! Zoro!" She yelled as the woman sunk no doubt from the effects of her fruit power.
"I got her!" Zoro muttered.
"Marimo. You're arm is frozen! I got her!"
The two dove into the water racing frantically in the water to see who could retrieve the scientist first. For the sake of his manhood, Zoro wrapped his partially frozen arm around the part of her waist not frozen and then swam back to the surface.
"Damn, shitty swordsman! I had her first!"
"It's not a contest!" Nami yelled from the side of the Merry climbing to help Chopper and Ussopp. "She passed out." Zoro muttered making Sanji look over to the partially frozen woman.
"Kimi-swan must have known that Aokiji-guy pretty well. He said he didn't want to kill her." Sanji muttered rubbing one of her arms to break off the ice.
"Makes me think she's not telling us something important about her that we don't already know…like Robin."
"Oi. Don't bad mouth those ladies or I will poison you." The cook glared and then smiled when her arms were finally free from the ice. "Yosh, bring her up to the deck. We have to help Robin-chan."