Yay! New update! I'm excited for you all to read this one because there is more of the Kimi/Zoro interaction going on. :) And many thanks to Phoenix, hesmus, and ComicGeek for reviewing!
-yesiamweird
"Paulie-san…" Kimi looked over the man's shoulder as he slouched forwards. "Are you alright?" She questioned briefly. Already knowing the type of pain he and she endured in the fight about an hour ago she was surprised he was even helping her look for Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji.
"Yes." He coughed standing back to an upright stance. "I'm fine."
His clothes said otherwise. Still stained with blood sweat and tears, Paulie stood in front of the blue-haired woman as if his injuries were a simple set of paper cuts.
"Oi! Paulie-san, look this way!" One of the men helping Kimi and the others search called out from the ledge of one of the buildings. The blonde man quickly ran forwards with Kimi tagging along behind.
"Wha the-?" Kimi gasped looking at the sight before her. When she and the others first arrived at Water 7, they only saw parts of the red roofed buildings flooded by the sea. Now, the buildings were completely exposed along with the bottom of the ocean… the tide had receded a couple of miles away.
"How can the tide fall so much?" Paulie questioned with the puff of his cigar.
"I've never seen anything like this!" Kimi gasped leaning over the ledge more. "Does this happen all the time?"
"Actually," One of the men scratched his head. "We've never seen anything like this either."
"What kind of monstrous waves are we in for?" Paulie's face was serious indicating the severity of the situation. Sanji, Zoro and Luffy still needed to be found soon. If not, they would perish in the tide. "The back street district will be wiped out for good…"
"I hope no one is still in there. Or else they are as good as dead." Another added.
Kimi rolled her eyes at that statement. Knowing the thick-skulled brains of her crewmates, it was most certain that they were down there…of course. Kimi went to stand on the ledge to explore the district for a few moments when a hand pulled her back down.
"What, are you crazy!?" Paulie yelled standing her back onto the brick rooftop. "You go out there and you're dead!"
"I know…" Kimi smiled looking over her shoulder towards the area. "And knowing my nakama, that's exactly where they are."
The man made a certain face for a moment and then released his grip on her forearm. Kimi charged forwards once again with Paulie's men yelling for her to stop or for him to go rescue her.
"Kimi!" Nami's voice called out from one of the rooftops. The blue-haired woman placed a hand above her eyes to get a good look at her crewmate. "I think I see Luffy stuck in between the building!"
Kimi nodded already knowing he would be in the strangest situations, "Do you need help?"
"No. Go look for Zoro! Sanji is on the sea-train with Robin so that leaves only Zoro left! Go, hurry!"
Kimi nodded continuing to search for the swordsman. Raising her hands above her chest, Kimi cloned herself in order to make her search more efficient. While her clones searched, Kimiko made her way back to Paulie and the others on higher ground.
"Anything?" The blonde brute muttered with a huff of his cigar.
"No…" Kimi closed her eyes trying to gain control of each and every clone she had created. "Wait!" She opened her eyes as one clone focused in on her reindeer friend.
"Chopper!" The clone of Kimi called out. "Chopper, what are you doing?" He was on another rooftop overlooking the city.
"Kimiko!" The doctor smiled with Zoro's sword still attached to his back. "Look over there…those guys were telling me that's a sea anemone stuck in the chimney…" The clone focused in on the spot he was talking about. "But why would it be stuck, in a chimney?"
Kimi made the clone focus more and more on the spot and the object when both she and Chopper gasped. "ZORO!" Like a speeding bullet, Chopper took off of the rooftop down towards the same district Nami was traveling in.
"Crap." Kimi released her control on her clones standing back on the ledge to watch her friends. "They found them both…I have to go down there and-"
"No." Paulie stopped her once again from going into the district. "Look!" He pointed towards the tide now beginning to wave out in the distance. "In about a minute those waves will come crashing back onto Water 7. You can't make it back in time!"
"Then neither can my nakama!" Kimi ripped herself out of his grasp only to fall back into it once again. "Let me go! I have to save my friends. I have to help! Let go!"
"No!" He yelled back holding his weight upon her shoulders.
"Why do you care!?" Kimi screamed back looking up at the man as rain droplets engulfed her cheeks and forehead.
"Because…" He puffed out a small cloud of smoke to the side in order to not be rude and blow it in front of her face. "You saved my life. I save yours. A life for a life."
Kimi had been struck aback by his comment. Yes, she had saved his life by helping him and Iceberg out of the burning building but if she wasn't already inside, she wouldn't have fought to go back in and save them. She had only been focused on saving Chopper, and retrieving Zoro's sword. Iceberg and Paulie just happened to be lucky she wasn't as cruel of a person as her sister was.
"LUFFYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!"
Kimi turned her head towards Nami's voice in the distance. She couldn't make out the rest of the words Nami and Luffy were exchanging but she imagined she was telling him of the truth of Robin's absence. Surely the truth of their nakama would force Luffy to break free of his captivity from in between the two buildings.
"Damn! It really is several times higher than usual!" One of the men behind Kimi stated distracting Paulie and Kimi from their argument. The wave towering above the decrypted city was nearing. Nami and Chopper would be caught in the fierceness of the beast.
"NAMI!" Kimi called out griping onto the ledge, "CHOPPER!" Her tears were cascading down her cheeks but she couldn't tell from all of the rain wetting her body. "ZORO, LUFFY! WE HAVE TO SAVE ROBIN!"
"Look at the waves!"
"Hold onto something!"
"It's huge!"
"It's too late!"
Kimi just couldn't pull herself to look away. She had to witness the event. And it was a good thing she did, the building Luffy had been stuck between split apart and just on the other side the building Chopper had gone to also smashed into bits indicating Zoro had been freed as well.
"Who the hell are these guys?!"
"LUFFY!" Kimi called out waving her arms above her head as he and Nami attempted to hop on building to building in order to escape the destruction. Chopper had in his arms the green haired man as well. "TO THE BRIDGE! HURRY!" Kimi screamed pushing from underneath Paulie's grasp down the brick stairs towards her nakama.
They were safe, she thought with a huge smile plastered on her face, they would get back Robin and their crew would be complete again!
"Oi, Kimi!" A hand pushed the woman back and onto the ground. Just when she was about to yell at Paulie for pushing her away from her friends once again, she understood why he reacted in such a way.
The waves of the Aqua Laguna crashed on the bridge taking her crewmates with them. But Paulie had been quick enough using the skillful rope technique to pull her friends back to safety. "Run!" He gasped as soon as the four were safe. "Head to Shipbuilding Island!" Paulie's arm wrapped around Kimi's small waist as he and the other's ran up the staircase to higher ground. As soon as they were safe, Kimi fell to her knees. "Damn, you guys sure are reckless." Paulie spat out while trying to light another cigar.
She only giggled with a slight nod while Zoro attempted to pry off Chopper's hold on his head. "Thank you."
"Like I said." Paulie nodded.
"Thanks. You saved our lives, rope guy." Luffy fell to the ground with a sigh.
"I can't believe this. So this is the terrible Agua Laguna?" Nami questioned trying to warm her wet and cold arms.
"If the waves were that large every year, this island would have perished long ago. This year is an exception…" Paulie looked to the navigator.
"You guys sure have impressed me," I strange voice called from the side. "I can't believe you survived that!" It was the woman from the train station, Koroko. "Monster Granny!" Luffy started to say, "You're on the island too?!"
"You bet I am! If I was out at sea, I'd be a floating corpse by now!" She laughed, that smile on her face was just a tad bit too creepy for anyone's liking, but she still made Kimi smile.
"Yo! Pirate Bro!" The little girl and her bunny ran behind the overly-large woman, "That giant push was so cool!"
"Thanks."
"I nearly suffocated!" Zoro yelled finally removing Chopper from off of his face. "You dumbass, you lost consciousness while you were clinging to me!"
Kimi couldn't hold in her giggle but she placed a hand over her mouth in order to be somewhat polite to the swordsman. Paulie looked down at her and then back at the two she was laughing at.
"Wait, I just thought of something, Zoro!" Luffy smiled, "Why were you running from the wave? Were you down there too?"
"Huh?" The swordsman attempted to play off his position, "No, not really."
"He was stuck in a chimney! Kimiko and I saw him!" Chopper replied gaining the said man to strangle him. "Zoro is so stupid! How did you get stuck-" Luffy taunted the green-haired man when Nami began to pull on his face stretching it out.
"You think you're one to talk!?" She yelled.
Kimi continued giggling enjoying the light-heart moment of their desperate situation. As she ended her escapade, she wiped away the wet rain from her face looking into a concerning look from Zoro. She figured he was trying to act tough despite her finding him in a chimney. But then she noticed he was looking to the side of her instead, towards Paulie.
With a quick glance of his eyes, his attention went from him to her and then back to him until Nami started to say something about Sanji.
Not sure why the swordsman would be concerned about her and Paulie, she then noticed how close the two were sitting next to each other. Plus the fact he had rescued her from the Aqua Laguna in front of the crew…was this Zoro's way of being overprotective of his crew mate? She shook the thought away figuring he was probably grateful Paulie had saved them in the first place.
"I have a lot to tell you, and you too, Zoro. Pay attention!"
Kimi felt uneasy as she, Nami, Luffy, Chopper, Zoro , Franky's family, and Paulie and his friends all gathered in the sea train Kukoru had in her storage area agreeing to be comrades and fight together to save Robin from Enis Lobby. After that terrifying trip to get the train out of its station and then onto the tracks, combined with Luffy and Zoro's slice through Aqua Laguna, Kimi figured she never have the hiccups ever again.
They had been traveling fast in the small sea train to try to catch up to Robin on the other sea train and after talking to Sanji through the den den mushi, Luffy gave him the word to take on the enemies on board.
Kimi sat with her knees tucked to her chest on the floor staring aimlessly at nothing. She and Chopper had found their spot due to the crowdedness in the cart. The Franky crew along with Galley-La workers and the Pirates made it uncomfortably cramped. A shoe kicked Kimi's leg and the scientist looked up to see the navigator with a grey sack around her arm.
"Yosh! I have some new clothes for us!" Nami threw the bag on the floor waving for Luffy and Zoro to make their way over to the area.
"New clothes?" Kimi tilted her head in confusion by the navigator's statement. "What for?" She looked over at the green haired swordsman with an eye brow raised.
"For battle of course, Kimi!" Nami huffed and then examined the three pieces of clothing being held in her hands. "Now change quickly!" The scientist looked at her own outfit confused as to why she would change into a new one. She was still wearing the pair of skin tight black pants, Nami's green spaghetti strap tank, her brown boots, the black leather arm band and her usual black fingerless gloves. Why did she need to change? She looked just fine… then Kimi thought about the fact she had been wearing the same clothes since the day they first arrived on Water 7 two days ago. Plus the added in factor she wore these clothes during the fight at Iceberg's and in the rain looking for Luffy and Zoro.
On second thought, maybe it was a good idea to change.
Luffy handed the bag to Zoro and then he handed it to Kimi as she prayed to herself that Nami had at least picked out a decent outfit for her taste. She pulled out what was left and frowned. "Um, Nami-san?" Kimi held a pair of short (and by short –meaning underwear boy shorts- short!) blue denim shorts in the air frowning. "I am not wearing this-" She looked over at her female crew member and blushed as she watched Nami blatantly change in front of her and the rest of the men and crew in the small single train cart.
"Yosh! I am ready for battle!" Nami declared as she threw on her last piece of her outfit, a blue denim cropped jacket.
"What's wrong with you changing in here? You disgraceful woman!" Paulie yelled at the orange-haired woman after she finished. "Nice and ungrateful!" The other men held their bloody noses along with a thumbs up gesture.
Nami pouted, "I have no other option! There is only one car!"
"Cover your stomach and legs!" Paulie turned to Mozu and Kiwi, "You guys, too! You are the ones that make society go downhill!"
"Shut up, shy boy!" Kiwi pointed to the blushing blonde man, "Shy boy!" Mozu added. The reaction of Paulie was hysterical as the blush burning on his cheeks seemed to evaporate his cigar between his teeth.
"Heh heh heh, maybe I should change also." Koroko laughed. The men that had been infatuated with Nami, bowed respectively, "Please save us the agony."
Kimi shook her head and looked back to the shorts still held in her hands. Her head lowered into her lap. "Why me?" She sighed and then looked up at a soft chuckle from the swordsman. "Having a wardrobe malfunction?" He assumed.
Kimi stood from her sitting position and showed the man her shorts, "I'm not going to wear this!" She looked back at Nami with an even bigger frown, "Why would you pack me this?"
"Oi! Because, Kimiko! You are a woman and you need to show off what you got!" Nami smiled sticking her tongue out. "NO! You are disgraceful!" Paulie argued with an even brighter red blush.
"Well…" Kimi sighed walking pass the swordsman into a corner while picking up the bag left on the ground. "At least I won't be showing off 'what I got' to the cart. Excuse me!" She placed her hands in front of her body and called out the help from her clones to protect her figure from the others while she changed.
"See now at least there is one decent girl on this train!" Paulie snickered and then Kimi heard the familiar sound of a punch. Most likely given from Nami.
After changing, the modest scientist looked down at her new outfit and she almost liked what she had changed into…almost. Instead of wearing the shorts Nami had packed she continued to wear her skin tight black pants and replaced her boots with the black sandals Nami had picked out. For her top, however, she changed from the green tank and into a black corset top with short sleeves. The top might have showed a little too much cleavage for the scientist, but she figured it was better than wearing her dirty and smelly tank top. Plus, by the way Nami and Robin dressed, she needed to catch up- in a decent way though.
Her clones disappeared and Kimi walked out placing her glasses back onto her face ignoring the dumbfounded and smitten looks from the men. She huffed and pulled out her hair from its bun and brushed through her blue strands with her hands.
"Yosh! See Kimi, much better!" Nami giggled and then continued on with what she had been doing before Kimi finished.
"Ugh, I feel so exposed in this outfit." Kimi brushed her wavy hair behind her back and shivered at the cold that exposed her arms.
"Why is that?" Zoro looked over at the girl with his arms crossed. He had changed into a yellow jacket and like Nami and Robin, he was exposing his chest. Unlike the girls, however, Zoro had a predominate scar that spanned his whole torso. Kimi had made a note to ask him how he had gotten the scar, but she knew now was not the time to do so.
"Oh I don't know…I'm not used to wearing clothes that show off everything…" Kimi sighed and twirled her hair and secured it back into her usual bun.
She looked up at the smirking swordsman and didn't know exactly what to call the look on his face. Was it happiness or content? She could not tell…that was until he closed his eyes and crossed his arms, "You look fine." He simply responded and then opened his eyes slightly smiling at the attractive woman.
Even though she was so brilliant and so smart, when it came to human emotions and feelings, Kimiko couldn't understand most of Zoro's hints. He decided it was another thing about Tomoko Kimiko that he liked.