The moonlight looked beautiful as it shimmered off the ocean's surface Bushido reflects as he dries off after his night's training. He had picked up some weights and a skipping rope before they had left Orange Town and had been using them daily. Luffy had laughed at him but he didn't care. Right now his leg muscles were by the weakest part of him. He'd never be able to use Soru with them currently and that had to change.
Luffy was continuing to make very little progress in his Observation Haki training but that was to be expected. When he finally did crack the skill, he would increase in leaps and bound quickly. The swordsman had also finally convinced Nami they weren't playing an elaborate prank on her and she had also started the Observation Haki training.
Bushido padded over to his hammock and laid down. Today had been quite interesting. He had honestly forgotten all about Gaimon, the man stuck in a box and his island full of exotic islands. It had basically played out the same way as originally and now they were enroute to the Gecko Islands.
The green-haired man smiled as he closed his eyes and listened to the sounds of the ocean. Within a few short days they'll have gotten their sniper. "Usopp, wait of rme," he murmured as he began to doze off.
And then he was in his mind.
He observed his younger self going through a kata, clasping his hands together to mimic a sword. "Why are you doing that?" Bushido questioned after a few silent minutes of watching.
Zoro didn't even flinch at the unexpected voice, he was used to at this point. "Why wouldn't I be training?"
Bushido dropped himself to the ground with a grunt. "Why bother? It has no impact outside of here."
Zoro finally stops and turns to face the time traveler and Bushido stiffens. Because those eyes are full of determination and loathing. Zoro points a finger at him. "Because someday I swear you will die by my hand. I will have my body back." And Bushido actually flinches because he knows this isn't a mindless threat. It reminds him of another time: a floating restaurant, a man with a black blade, an utterly defeated man and a choked promise made to a boy wearing a strawhat.
This is a vow.
And Bushido knows that his younger self will throw one hundred percent of his very being into killing him and that is no little thing even for a veteran like him.
And Bushido waked up.
Nami is awoken by yelling on the deck of the other dingy. She yawns and stretches her arms. She gets out of bed and quickly dresses before grabbing her toothbrush. She steps on deck while brushing her teeth. "What's wrong Luffy?" She asked around the toothbrush.
Luffy stretched his arm out and grabbed the rail of her boat, landing with a thump on all fours. "Nami, look," the younger boy exclaimed pointing a finger off into the distance, "land!"
Nami used her hand to shield her eyes from the rising sun and stared. Luffy was right, there was an island on the horizon. "Yup," she confirmed, "that's the Gecko Islands." Luffy let out a whoop of unadulterated joy and began to dance on the spot.
Zoro leaned over the space between the connected boats to talk to them. "We should look for a decent sized boat while we are there."
"Sure," Luffy agreed, "sounds like a plan." The rubber boy returning to his own boat and began packing an adventure lunch while Zoro berated him for taking too much food. The duo were an enigma to Nami, in every sense of the word.
Monkey D. Luffy was a goofy, simple-minded powerhouse with a devil fruit and an idealistic view on pirates. He trusted her completely with all their funds (limited though they may be)
even though he knew full well that she was a thief who specialised in stealing from pirates. Hell, she wasn't even an official crew mate. He dreamed to become the King of the Pirates.
Every day she felt herself grow more and more attached to the rubbery idiot and every day her heart grew heavier and Arlong's shadow longer.
Roronoa Zoro seemed to give off an aura that made her think he was even stronger than Luffy. He was mature beyond his years. At first glance, he seemed like the stereotypical pirate: burly with an eyepatch and sword. But under that gruff exterior was a big ol' softie. That was another thing, his eyepatch and sword. He had told her that his other eye was fine and he just chose to keep it closed (which made no sense to her , but whatever,) and his preferred fighting style was a three sword style (whatever that meant...). He dreamed to become the greatest swordsman in the world.
Adding to that was his mysterious knowledge of this Observation Haki that Nami still struggled to believe existed and that no one in East Blue knew of it. Every instinct in her screamed that he was suspicious. But he had saved her, so she trusted him.
And more importantly, Luffy trusted the green-haired man. In the end, that was all that mattered.
She would miss them, she decided. They were her boys and had made the last two weeks of her life some of the best, but that made it all the more important that they didn't find out about Arlong.
Nami had lost far too much already to lose them too.
Bushido could feel Usopp nervously waiting to ambush them on the cliff above with his "Usopp Pirates". He tapped Luffy on the shoulder. "There's someone hiding above us in the bushes."
The swordsman smirked widely when he heard a frightened "eek" coming from said bushes, and the sounds of three little kids abandoning their positions and fleeing.
"Who's there?" Luffy yell out, "and do you have a meat shop?"
"Idiot," Nami yelled, bonking the rubber teen on the head, "ask if they're friend or foe!"
Rubbing his head, Luffy tried again. "Are you friends with Joe?"
"..." The bushes twitched.
Bushido sighed. "Are you friend or foe?" He deadpanned before turning to Nami."There, happy now?
The navigator stuck her tongue out in response.
"Mature," Bushido muttered.
Luffy laughed.
The bushes explode as a man flung himself out of them and threw himself to his full height...which wasn't that impressive. The man, no teenager, wore boots and overalls. He had tanned skin, curly dark hair and an absurdly long nose. "How dare you damn pirates ignore the great and powerful Captain Usopp! Commander of eight thousand men!"
Bushido closed his eyes and blotted everything out for a second, focusing on keeping his emotions reined in. He opened his eyes and caught the tailend of Nami's sentence. "Really? All local men? That's impressive, considering it's more than all of East Blue's population put together."
"That dastardly witch!" Usopp stage-whispered to himself, "she saw through my lie."
Bushido cleared his tightened throat. "You just admitted it was a lie," he pointed out.
Usopp's face went several shades paler. "W-what cunning pirates," the sniper hissed.
Luffy suddenly snapped his fingers. "I got it!" He announced, "you're Yasopp's son, aren't you?"
Usopp gasped and rushed forward, forgetting that he was on his cliff. The teenager landed on the sand with a grunt and lay there. "Is he dead?" Nami muttered.
"Ha!" The long-nosed boy exclaimed as he jumped to his feet, "like a fall like that could kill me."
Luffy began picking his nose. "Your name's Usopp, isn't it?"
Usopp nodded feverently. "You said you knew my Dad?"
"Yup," Luffy confirmed with a grin, "Yasopp went on and on about his kid."
Usopp's eyes grew misty. "I knew he cared about us."
Luffy's stomach grumbled, interrupting the touching moment. "Ugh, I'm starving," the raven-haired boy complained.
Bushido rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Eat your damn packed lunch then."
Luffy shifted guiltily from foot to foot.
Bushido pinched the temple of his nose. "You ate it." It was a statement, not a question.
Luffy turned his head to the side and began to whistle. "N-no I didn't."
"Horrible liar," Nami whispered in awe of exactly how bad a liar he was.
"Oi." Usopp grabbed Luffy by the shoulders and began to shake him. "Tell me more."
"But I'm hungry," the rubber teen complained.
"How about we get some food in town and we can talk there?" Bushido suggested.
A few minutes later and the four were seated around a table. The cook was busy preparing food for Luffy. "Are you sure you're okay with paying?" Nami asked again, doubt evident in her voice.
"Yup," Usopp assured her, "it'll be worth it to hear more about my Dad."
As Luffy began to talk about the Red Haired Pirates stay at Foosha Village, Bushido lifted his tankard and took a gulp of beer. How was he gonna deal with Captain Kuro?
There wasn't any really purpose in changing anything, even minute changes could be counterproductive. The battle had solidified Usopp has a member of the crew and the had gotten the Going Merry as a reward from Usopp's sick friend, Kaya.
Both things were too important to be messed with. He wouldn't reveal Klahadore to be Kuro in disguise.
Decision made, the swordsman looked up just in time to see Usopp say goodbye and sprint off. "Nice kid," Nami commented.
"Yeah" Luffy areed around a mouthful of meat, "wonder what he had to do to make him leave in such a hurry?"
Before Bushido could join the conversation, the door slammed open and three shrill war cries filled the air. Three young children tumbled in, wooden swords raised in the air. "Give us back the captain!" One roared at them, the effect slightly ruined by his height or there lack of.
Luffy scratched his head. "If you mean Usopp, he's gone."
All three kids paled, their widened frantic eyes flicking from the food to the stuffed pirates. "D-did you eat him?" Another kid stuttered in fear.
No matter how much time had passed, Bushido still couldn't resist. He cupped his hand under his chin and leaned over with a wicked grin. "We ate him."
The third boy pointed a shaky finger at Nami. "You monster!"
"Why the hell are you pointing at me?" Nami roared at the trio.
With squeals, the children fled from the bar. Bushido wiped his mouth clean off his sleeve. "Should we get going?"
Luffy stuffed the rest of the food in his mouth and swallowed. "Sure! Anywhere you want to go?"
"Yeah," Bushido said, "we might be able to leech a ship off whoever lives in the big mansion on the hill."
"Great plan," Luffy agreed without a trace of sarcasm in his voice, "let's go."
Nami sighed. "You two dunderheads really see no holes in that plan?"
"Nope," Luffy said, popping the p. "It sounds like a solid plan."
Nami facepalmed as they left the bar. "I have no idea why I put up with you two."
Bushido tuned out the other two's friendly bickering as they set out on their walk. The chirps of the bird's filled the air and the sun's rays shone down merrily on the ragtag group. The mansion soon came into view and Bushido took a running jump. He easily cleared the sharp bushes and several metre of the immaculate lawn. The swordsman spotted a tree and a familiar long-nosed teen sitting on its branch, deep in discussion.
"Oi," the green-haired man called out with a wave, "Usopp."
The sniper turned to him in obvious surprise as Luffy landed beside him, a struggling Nami in his arms. "You guys," he called out, "what are you doing here?"
A sickly looking girl with long blonde hair stuck he read out of the window beside the tree, confusion on her face. "Friends of yours, Usopp?" She asked with a smile.
Usopp puffed out his chest with pride. "Lackeys of a sort," he explained, "they want me to use my expert skill to help them out."
"Liar," Nami stated flatly.
"She saw through it!" Usopp roared in shock. Both Luffy and Kaya burst into laughter. She had a beautiful sounding laugh, Bushido idylly noted.
"Usopp, what do they actually want?" The girl asked.
Usopp opened and closed his mouth several times. "I don't actually know," he admitted, puzzled. "What do you guys want?" He called down to them.
Luffy stepped up. "I wanted to see y-"
"What are you ruffians doing?" A stern voice cut Luffy off. "This is private property, leave at once!" Bushido turned and observed the new man's approach.
Captain Kuro of the Black Cat pirates looked exactly like he remembered. He wore the same suit with golden faeces markings, striped shoes and a white shirt with a black tie, His dark hair was slicked back and he wore spectacles over shig aunt face. His posture was stiff and his limbs thin.
"Klahadore," the sick girl, Bushido really couldn't remember her name, admonished. "These fellows are with Usopp and were about to state their purpose."
Kuro's dark eyes turned to Usopp. "Miss Kaya," he hissed, "for the last time, please get away from that boy."
The sicky girl, Kaya, frowned. "Usopp means no harm."
The pretend butler twitched and readjusted his glasses with the bottom of his palm. "He is a vicious liar and the bastard son of a pirate."
Usopp jumped down from the tree, his face twisted with anger. He strided towards the bespectacled man, his hands curling towards fists. "You take that back."
Kuro's smirk turned malicious in nature. "So, you don't deny it then?"
Usopp raised his arm to strike and Kuro grinned. "Prove me right," he murmured softly.
Smack!
Usopp stared in shock where his fist met Bushido;s fist. He stared up at the swordsman's eyes, searching for an answer. "Don't waste your hand on something as pathetic as that maggot," Bushido stated simply. "As for you," he said, turning to face Kuro. "Men in glass houses shouldn't throw stones."
Something in the captain of the Black Cat Pirates' eyes flickered, probably reevaluating the swordsman. "I have no idea what you are talking about," Kuro growled, a low sound emitting from the back of his throat and escaping from clenched teeth, "leave."
Bushido shrugged and turned on his heel, strolling towards the exit. "Luffy, we should go," he called over his shoulder, " we can call back later to see the lady of the house when her catty butler isn't around."
He let a smirk grace his features. He could practically hear the the gears in Kuro's head turning.
That had been fun.
Usopp felt like his very world was crashing down around his shoulders as him and Luffy listened in on the two men's conversation. It had to bes some sort of sick prank, it had to be. Klahadore was an ass yeah and they hated each other.
But Kaya's guardian wasn't a murderer!
Every part of Usopp's being as screaming that that was the case, but the evidence in front of him was damning.
Klahadore was talking to a eccentrically dressed man whom he had called Jango. Jango was by far the strangest man Usopp had ever seen. He wore a blue trenchcoat and hat, had a strange...thing under his chin and seemed to have a habit of walking backwards.
"Then it's decided," Klahadore announced with a grin, "the attack will be tomorrow at sunrise."
"Agreed," the Jango fellow agreed, "by the way, should I deal with the eavesdroppers?"
A ball of lead formed in Usopp's stomach and sweat poured down his face. "How?" He croaked out.
"No need," Kuro said with a smirk readjusting his glasses. "No one would ever believe. Best take care of the other one though."
The Jango man pulled out some sort of rings on a string. "Look," he said as Usopp turned and fled, "One! Two! Jango!"
Usopp glanced behind him just in time to see Luffy's unconscious body fall off the steep cliff.
"Luffy!"
