Pointless Report:

GYAHAHAHA~!

Hey guys! So yeah it's been a while since I last updated. *dodges a pot* I know I told you guys before but I'll say it again, I'm really sorry and I'll try to update sooner.

In other news, it's been about a year since Cursed began and if I do say so myself, it's turning out alright.

So big cheesy smiles and praise to: Cupcake (), sucker4villains, Moonlight Calls, Jen567, Arrowashi, SniperKingSogeking0341, momeme and littlelostsecert! Thank you all for the kind reviews which helped remind me that I really needed to get my ass in gear.

So here it is, my New Year's Resolution: To update at least once a month!

_ If I ever cheat on this please, feel free to spam me with nagging messages.

Anyways Happy Holidays!

And a huge high-five to Shinju-chan who made a fanfic about a poem I wrote on my DA file. Seriously, I really enjoyed it!

CHAPPY TIME~!

-"~"-

Mariko stared at the ceiling. She'd been lying there for a while, she felt like she'd only had an hour or so of sleep.

The same thought bounced through her mind, like a boomerang, no matter how far she tried to throw it away, it always came back.

You're going soon.

Dread and anxiety steeped into her bones. She dreaded being in the company of strangers for even a few days. She rolled onto her side and curled up into a ball. It wouldn't be so bad if she knew who would be there. She might even run into a few friends. But it was a lot to hope for. The only time she'd met Madame Kousei face to face was when she was eleven and Yukio had needed to give a general report on some findings and new spells she'd discovered. It had been that visit that had made the Madame notice her. One of the guests had decided to poke fun at her, and she had given him a piece of her mind in response.

It had taken four guards to pry her away from the guest. Or what was left of him.

Madame Kousei, having been amused at the ferocity Mariko had shown when provoked, had been keeping tabs on her ever since.

Yukio had been far from impressed at her lack of discipline.

Mariko made a few quick calculations in her head. The Madame was about 28 years old now. Some would think she was too young to hold the amount of power that she did.

Mariko watched the sun begin its slow rise into the sun.

She wondered how many more she'd need to watch before she was reunited with the crew.

-"~"-

Mariko slung her backpack over her shoulders and walked out of her room with a heavy heart. She shut the door quietly so she wouldn't wake up Arasoi. The poor kitty needed her rest.

She barely registered someone glaring at her from down the hallway. She turned and was only a tad bit surprised, it was the brat.

'So,' Rei said glaring up at her, 'you're leaving to go off on some adventure?'

Mariko shrugged. 'I guess so.'

Rei continued to glare. 'You jerk! Because you're leaving I'm going to have to do all of the chores by myself.' She said accusingly.

Again Mariko shrugged. 'Not my problem, maybe the work will fix that attitude of yours and maybe the next time I see you I won't have the urge to throw you over board.'

Rei stuck her tongue out. 'Whatever, just don't get killed or do anything stupid to stop you from coming back. Doing all of my chores and yours is going to be a pain in the ass.'

'And here I was thinking that kids were supposed to be little wide eyed and innocent.' Mariko replied sarcastically.

'Welcome to reality.'

'Indeed.' Mariko turned to leave.

'I mean it! Don't do anything stupid!' Rei shouted over her shoulder.

'Yeah yeah, you take care of yourself kid,' Mariko muttered.

-"~"-

Law stood stiffly as he watched Mariko come onto the deck. Her backpack looked lighter then he thought it would've been. She looked up warily at him and seemed to hesitate before walking up to him.

'Good morning,' she said softly, staring at her feet.

'Good morning to you to. Are you ready?' he asked calmly.

'As ready as I'll ever be.'

'And am I correct in assuming you will not be taking Arasoi with you?'

'No, there are dogs where I'm going. I don't want her to get hurt.' She still kept her eyes to the floor.

Law sighed and gave her the slip of paper with the crew's Den Den Mushi number written on it. 'I can only begin to imagine what I'll have to do in order to eat my meals, without your interference I have a feeling dinner's going to be like a battlefield. You'll find out how well I did when you get back by how much weight I'll have lost, or how much weight that demon has gained!' he said dryly.

Mariko looked up and grinned slyly. 'Don't be such a baby. You'll live.' She said taking the paper and slipping it into her pocket, where she was sure it would be safe.

Law smiled.

Mariko looked at him with a curious look. 'Law?' she asked tentatively.

'Yes?'

'Could you take care of this for me?' she asked. She took off a necklace that had been hiding in her hoodie and held it out to him. 'There are going to be a few thieves at this party and this is special to me, I'd feel a lot safer if you'd hang onto it for me.'

'Of course,' He said taking the necklace from her. It was a plain black cord with a single crystal dangling from it. The crystal swung gently in the wind, quietly reflecting a rainbow of colors onto the deck. He tucked it into his pocket.

She watched him uneasily for a moment, as if wondering if he could be trusted at all.

Giving him one last look she turned so she could face the group of crewmates who'd come to see her off (and those who'd just come to see how she was going to get off the ship without a boat).

'Well everyone, it's been a pain being with you but as weird as it is I'll miss you.' She shouted.

'Promise us you'll talk to people instead of being anti-social okay?' Zeke yelled out from somewhere in the crowd.

'Then promise me you all won't get slobbering drunk while I'm gone okay?' she yelled back.

A few crewmen laughed.

Mariko felt invisible tears threaten to slide down her cheeks. She bowed deeply. 'Then good luck to you all and I promise to be back as soon as I can.'

She muttered something and winked out of sight.

The crew stood there for a moment, still watching the spot where Mariko had been standing only a few moments ago.

Zeke frowned. 'You know, I was kind of hoping for something with a bit more…pizzazz in it.'

'Well what were you expecting?' Bepo asked curiously.

'I don't know, but some sparkles or some smoke might have been nice.'

Law laughed.

-"~"-

Mariko closed her eyes. In an instant she felt the slow rock of the sea disappear. The smell of stale alcohol and sweat was replaced by dry wood and other earthy smells. She felt the temperature rise and sighed.

She stood there for a moment with her eyes closed. Half-hoping that if she did keep them shut, it would delay the weight of reality would sink in.

When she finally did open her eyes, the familiar deck surrounded by crewmates was replaced with an empty small wooden paneled room, save for the large crystal almost directly in front of her. She hung her head and couldn't understand why she had been somehow expecting to see them still standing there.

She had arrived at the safe house.

Yukio had set up a number of them in the first part of the Grand Line, and claimed to have had a few in the New World, though Mariko had never been to any. The ones she had visited had been very similar. They normally had two bedrooms, a decent size kitchen, two bathrooms, a large sitting room, a sinister looking iron fence all the way around the property and a garden. Yukio had always had a green thumb no matter what season the island stayed in almost yearly, a talent Mariko had inherited. Since none of the properties would be used frequently, Yukio would normally strike a bargain with the villagers, they could help themselves to whatever they wanted to in the garden if they would spend a little bit of time cleaning the inside of the house.

Mariko poked her head out of the small room, satisfied that no strangers were in the vicinity, she carefully slipped out and closed the hidden door behind her.

Yukio had once mentioned that no matter how honest the villager was, it would take one Hell of an explanation as to why there was a big ass crystal in the middle of an empty room.

Mariko dropped her bag against the wall and inspected the room absentmindedly. At least these villagers kept their word about keeping the house clean. There was always the unfortunate village that had gone back on their promise.

Needless to say, Yukio had often made sure said village understood the consequences.

If Mariko remembered correctly, one particular village was still under the attack of savage flying homicidal bunnies.

Going back into her routine, Mariko pulled out a sign wedged into a bookcase. She'd made it years ago after being tired of finding unknown people wandering in the garden.

"Until this sign is removed by the owner(s) of this house, all services are not required. Should you have any questions for the owner(s) please submit them in written form into the mailbox. Should anyone be found wandering around the property, the owner(s) are not responsible for any burns/limb loss/frostbite/cuts/bruises/massive head injuries/bleeding/bites/scratches/taste bud loss/paranoia/IQ loss or any other health related incident. We hope you have a wonderful day and immediately turn around and go back to wherever you came from. Thank you." It read.

She went outside to hang it on the gate. She hated trespassers.

-"~"-

Mariko twisted the stems of some pomegranates and gently dropped them into her basket already brimming with other foods. There was something about this particular island that made it possible to grow a vast variety of vegetables, herbs and fruit. Mariko was thankful Yukio had taught her some basic recipes and had made her help in the kitchen.

Walking back inside, she wondered what the crew would be having that night. She supposed that by now, Law would be fighting Arasoi off as he tried to protect his food, Bepo would be trying to figure out how he could help, Jean Bart would be trying to ignore the situation and the others would either be laughing, stuffing their faces or fighting with each other.

Mariko sighed in regret. She was going to miss Arasoi, she'd gotten so used to having an extra fluffy black pillow sleeping with her, even if that pillow scratched…and hissed.

She stared out through the window, out towards the sea. She wished she was still there. A green shark jumped out of the sea as landed with a splash back into the…Wait…A green shark?

Mariko dropped the basket onto the table and rushed out of the house. Last time she checked, sharks were blue or gray. And the island was outside mermens' usual territory. The closer she got, the more she was sure what it was. Only that it was swimming back and forth in some sort of a zigzag pattern.

Mariko gritted her teeth, whatever it was. It was annoying as Hell and getting on her nerves.

'Hey~!' she screamed. 'Hey you!'

The thing continued to splash around.

'Maybe it doesn't understand,' she thought irritably. She glanced down at her hands. She still had a little magic left. Concentrating her power, she focused her magic.

'Amphitrite!'

And held her ground as water built up behind the splashing thing. A wave grew larger and larger until it was almost taller than the trees, then she let it drop and a massive amount of sea water came crashing down onto the beach.

A young man with short spiky green hair coughed up water onto the beach. He looked up and glared at her with murder and yelled at her, 'What the Hell was that for?'

She blinked in surprise.

'You trying to drown me?' he yelled again.

She sent him an icy glare of her own. She didn't have time with this idiot. And she'd been hoping for some weird sea creature to wash up instead.

'You're trespassing,' she informed him, 'so get lost.'

The young man growled, 'Hey, I didn't ask you to take me away from my training!'

'Training?' she thought. This guy wasn't just an idiot, he was completely mental.

'Well from a distance you looked like some weird drowning thing, so being the nice and considerate person I am. I thought I was saving something's life.' She didn't feel like mentioning that if she thought it was edible she would have killed it on the spot.

Now that she could see him up close, she could see the strong muscles and tanned shin of someone who had trained vigorously outside. Her eyes fell onto the three katanas strapped to his side. She had no doubt of that the man in front of her was competent enough to use them skillfully. One sword made her particularly nervous. She felt raw power drip from it making goose bumps appear on her arms.

'What would someone be doing with a cursed sword?' she wondered.

The young man's eyes drifted down to where she was staring and smirked. 'Pretty nice aren't they?' he asked.

She shook her head in disbelief. This guy wasn't just mental, he was suicidal. She turned on her heel and tried to march as far away from him as she could.

'Hey!' he shouted after her, 'where're you going?'

'None of your business! Now get lost! You hear me? You're on private property!' she shouted back at him without slowing down.

She heard him curse and she heard him start to follow her. She felt herself smile.

'Alright, Sword Boy, let's see you try and follow me.' She muttered under her breath. She swerved off the path she was taking into some dense bush. By the time night fell, he'd be lost in the dense wood, while she'd be home for hours.

'Should've taken my advice and gotten away while you could.' She said to herself with a smile.

-"~"-

Mariko walked back to her house with a satisfied smirk plastered all over her face. She'd led that stupid Sword Boy on a wild will-o-wisp chase all over the woods. It'd be a miracle if he'd find the path again by tomorrow afternoon.

She kicked a rock near her feet. Stupid people always got exactly what they deserved. She just hoped that he wasn't insanely lucky.

It was twilight now and the air was cold and crisp. She sighed in delight, this was one of the reasons she loved this island. It wasn't so populated that the sky was attacked with light pollution, so the stars shone brightly and the colors painted across the sky left you speechless. She had spent countless nights, sitting on the roof of the house in her pajamas with only a thick blanket to keep her cold.

She opened the gate and let herself in. Those were some of her better memories, the times she was truly thankful to Yukio.

Crepuscule was what Yukio called this time of day.

She stood there, taking in the natural beauty of the world. She smiled as she imagined how nice her supper would taste, while sitting outside, watching the sky.

She opened the door and wondered into the kitchen, already tasting the food and imagining how her breath would drift into the sky as she said-

'What the Hell are you doing here?' she screamed, her calming thoughts turned dark with rage.

Sitting there, at the table, helping himself to some of the fruits she'd picked that afternoon, was the Sword Boy.

The man blinked, 'I could ask you the same question.'

Mariko screamed long and loud, in frustration.

-"~"-

'Feeling better now?' he asked calmly.

'Shut it,' she growled back.

She glared over the rim of her glass and wondered what method she should use to kill him. She had a stack of plans for assassinations, but she was saving them for Law.

She watched the man stare unblinkingly at his food. What had possessed her to invite him was beyond her, but while he was here, she might as well see what sort of information she could get out of him.

The man looked up at her, 'What's this?' he asked.

Mariko raised an eyebrow, 'I beg your pardon?'

'I mean what did you put in front of me?'

'It's cut up vegetables, fish and a glass of that sake you found. What don't you understand?' She looked him right in the eye, 'and oni-giri,' he flinched, 'that's about it.'

'Oni-giri?'

'Oni-giri.'

He stared at his plate again. 'It's the rice ball right-'

'Yes! Yes it's the rice ball!' She snapped and palm slapped her forehead. 'I'm not much of a cook so I did what I could with the ingredients I could find okay?'

He stared down at his plate, obviously considering something. He muttered something under his breath and chewed the oni-giri slowly, his stony expression never changing.

Mariko thought she'd heard something about a cook, but she could have been wrong.

Mariko narrowed her eyes and bit into a carrot, letting it make a satisfying snap as she did so.

'Oh by the way, who are you.' He asked taking a swing of his drink.

Mariko slammed her head into the table. 'You're just asking me now? AFTER you break into my house?'

The man shrugged.

She glared into the table.

This guy was climbing higher and higher on her list of people to destroy. At the moment he was above "stupid people who break her train of thought" and below "annoying people who try and sneak up on her to try and scare her". Law was still number 1, needless to say.

'You okay?' she heard him ask.

'I'm fine, absolutely fine.' She said through gritted teeth.

'Good, so you can tell me who you are.'

She had to bite the inside of her mouth to stop herself from screaming in rage. Instead she shoved all her frustration and anger to the back of her mind and looked at him in calm distain.

'I'll tell you who I am, if you tell me who you are.'

He shrugged, 'Sure why not.' He said rolling his eyes as if letting her know that he really didn't give a damn who knew who he was.

She glared at him. 'I'm Mariko, a pirate lackey working under an annoying captain I may or may not destroy in the future, currently on my way to a party I could care less about for,' she paused, 'personal reasons.' She looked him in the eye, 'and you are?'

He shrugged, 'I'm Zoro, a first mate pirate also working under a pain in the ass captain, right now I'm supposed to be training under my new master.'

Mariko had a vague feeling that she'd heard that name somewhere, but she brushed it off. She'd figure it out later.

The two sat in silence, each assessing the other.

'You may or may not destroy him?'

'Long story short, it wasn't exactly my free will to choose to become part of his crew, besides he's a pain in the ass. But I must admit, I have seen him act decently, and I have some friends in that crew that would die for him. So I'm still weighing my options.' She sipped her drink. 'By the way, is it hard for you to figure out what your captain is thinking too?'

He looked at her in surprise and burst out laughing. 'I don't think I'd want to know what he's thinking. I have enough to worry about as it is without worrying about what he's thinking too!' He sighed, 'Not to say it wouldn't have come in handy sometimes.'

She sighed, 'It seems you have to be some kind of monster to form a crew that'd last this long on the Grand Line.'

He grunted in agreement. 'I've been with my fool of a captain since he started, but I can't complain. He's a good nakama that you can count on in a fight.'

She watched him take another bite of his dinner. Had Law first come up to her when he started out, she would have probably laughed in his face and told him to get lost, now she wasn't too sure.

'So how far up are you on the food chain in your crew?' he asked.

'Second from the bottom I think, I just joined a few months ago. But it's a reasonably large crew and I don't interact with them too much, so I haven't really gotten to know many of them.' She drank the last of her juice. 'How many are in your crew?'

'Nine.'

She almost spat out her drink. 'N-Nine?'

'That is, assuming my captain hasn't recruited anyone while I've been gone that is. He has a bit of a habit inviting anyone weird to join his crew.'

Mariko wisely ignored the last comment. 'And how far did you all make it on the Grand Line?'

'We got to the Red Line, but we're all training for a few years before we regroup and go any further.'

Mariko felt a chill go up her spine, just who were these monsters? And here was one of them, sitting in front of her and eating her food. She could only imagine the damage he'd done, and could almost believe that he could use that cursed sword.

Again she felt her eyes being drawn to it. Just being in such close proximity put her nerves on high alert and make goose pimples rise on her skin, once again she was thankful for wearing a long sleeved hoodie to hide it. Such weakness could not be tolerated here on the Grand Line, where fear could cost you your life.

She could feel him follow her gaze to the katanas on his hip but she made no effort to move her eyes.

She heard him sigh as he saw what she was looking so intensely at. 'So you feel it too?'

She didn't have to ask what he was talking about. 'Yeah, if I thought I could get away with it, I'd probably steal that god-forsaken thing and throw into the sea and hope no one finds it.'

His hand flinched over the hilt and glared at her darkly, 'Try and I'll cut you up.'

She watched him sullenly. 'That sword will be the death in you.'

'I've been pretty lucky so far, and if my luck changes then I don't deserve to live.'

She shook her head in disbelief. 'Then your life is in the gods hands now.'

He smirked, 'I don't believe in god, I prefer thinking I'm the one who controls my life.'

She laughed in surprise. 'You're a cocky bastard, I'll give you that. I for one full heartedly believe in the supernatural. I've seen miracles happen and seen them work in mysterious and terrible ways.'

He said nothing to that and finished off the last of his food. 'Suit yourself, you stick to your ideals and I'll stick with mine.'

She smirked. 'And should we ever meet again, I suppose we'll have to see how that worked out for each other.'

He smirked back. 'I guess we will.'

-"~"-

Mariko watched him swim off, whether to be eaten by a passing Sea King or to actually make it to his destination she couldn't say.

She'd called him a fool for rejecting her offer to stay in the extra bedroom for the night but he'd insisted on leaving, saying his master hated sloppiness.

'What an idiot,' she muttered to herself, 'if he'd just waited until morning the waves would have been smaller.' She watched a wave crash down on him. 'Idiot,' she said watching his head bob to the surface and continue on his way.

As he got further away, she wondered if they really would see each other again, that is, if they were both alive enough for that to happen. She could tell he was a true pirate. It would be exciting if they met in a fight between their two crews. The thought nearly pleased her.

As she walked back to the house, she felt an odd sensation in her gut, a feeling she'd felt only a few times in her life.

It was something like friendship. She felt that she'd found a kindred spirit she could, on some subjects, relate to. She could only pray that he'd keep his word.

Before going inside, she looked out towards the sea.

'Good luck Sword Boy,' she said silently.

She opened the door and went inside. She had a phone call to make.

Maybe over the phone, Law would be a little more tolerable. Besides, she had a lot to tell him.