A/N: Special thanks to Volleys-chan, who was a huuuuge help in completing this chapter!
Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece. If I did, Zoro would wear a lot less clothes, and Ace would still be very much alive! x3
Zoro was the first one to wake that morning. The first beams of light coloring the sky as the morning fog danced about the surface of the ocean. While his days were often peppered with naps, the young swordsman was actually quite an early riser mostly due to his rigorous training for the last decade. He usually would be doing his morning routine, but since being captured and imprisoned by the marines, he had not been able to go through his morning training ritual. Still, every day for the last three weeks, he woke without fail with the rising of the sun.
To be honest, it was one of the things he was looking forward to most now that his freedom had been regained. At first opportunity, he would obtain some weights to begin working up his muscles again. Zoro could feel the lingering effects of his recent starvation much to his displeasure. It would be a while until he was back to full strength and it vexed him a bit that something like that had even happened to him, but he didn't regret protecting that little girl.
The veil of his drowsiness was lifted as he quietly began to roll the stiffness from his joints and lightly stretched his muscles the best he could within the confines of the tiny ship. As he did so, he took to observing his new nakama. He had already figured out enough about his new captain. Luffy was boisterous, blunt, determined, strong, and but completely impulsive in his actions, something that was bound to get them into repeating trouble. Zoro thought that there was more to Luffy's frightfully deceiving visage, one that had possibly been altered due to his devil fruit, because, at times, he was completely reckless yet, at others (though rare they seemed to be), he was quiet and contemplative.
Zoro decided that though Luffy might not have been the most responsible person in the world, he was loyal and worthy to be followed. He kept his word, respected the value of life, and honored the idea of following one's dreams.
Then there was Kaia.
He honestly didn't know what to think about the female warrior. While in the short while he had gotten to speak with her, he could tell that she was extremely responsible, resourceful, and completely cognitive of the needs of those around her. Not only that, but he could tell she was also protective of her nakama- if how pissed and violent she had gotten at the marines during their fight was to tell him anything.
However, one of the most obvious things about her that had first drawn his attention was her sheer strength. Since he was a swordsman, he had a pretty good gauge at how heavy an object was by sight and how it sounded when the object was set down. That big ass hammer of hers was not light, yet she waved it about like it weight nothing. He couldn't help but think any woman that could do something like that was extremely attractive in a way. Not only that, but with her choice of clothing, he could easily see how her muscles rippled with every controlled swing of her hammer. Yet, at the same time, it wasn't like she was a body builder. Her muscles were not obvious when she wasn't straining them. If anything, she was just as deceiving as their captain was in appearances.
The woman was tiny, well, compared to both him and Luffy, she was a few inches shorter and that caused him to have to set his gaze downward to meet her eye to eye. While her bust wasn't the biggest he had seen, most woman didn't have anything on this woman's ass. Though to be honest, it was a really nice, well-shaped, curvy ass, one he had caught himself staring at once or twice since their short time together. He had barely turned his gaze away in time to not be caught and accused to be a pervert. He would rather die than be categorized as such, but there was something about hers that kept drawing his eye back to it.
The most noticeable and odd part about Kaia's appearance, however, wasn't how small or pear shaped she was, but her elfin ears and talon like nails. Alongside those sea foam colored eyes and marvelously red hair, those features almost made her look like some sort of sea nymph. He had almost asked once or twice about the oddity of their nature, but refrained. If it was important, he would eventually learn without accidentally offending the young woman in any way.
Kaia woke shortly after the sun had barely having risen over the horizon. Zoro watched quietly as she yawned softly. She reached over her head, her back arching back as she slowly sat up. Rubbing her eyes with the heels of her palms, being careful of her claw-like nails, she looked around, slightly disoriented. Her head turned towards where Luffy was lying at the stern of the boat sprawled out, snoring softly, his fist clenched around a brown sack. In a sleepy haze, she stared at the captain for a moment or two before turning her head to look at Zoro. He sat at the bow of the ship, opposite from their captain.
Kaia smiled sleepily as she murmured a soft 'good morning, receiving a nod in return. He wasn't one for much noise in the morning, often, when having to travel with others, to be left alone until after breakfast. Suddenly, her eyes grew wide in realization and her head whipped back around to stare in abject horror at the sack in Luffy's hand. Zoro too looked at the bag, puzzled by her behavior. He had noticed it earlier but not drawn the same conclusion that Kaia had until now. That had been the sack their food was stored in!
While Zoro was finding himself filled with panic and anger towards the recent development, he had enough control over his temper to reign in his wrath. Kaia, not so much, he realized. Her head dropped slightly, her mussed crimson locks falling forward to shadow her gem-like blue-green eyes, which were narrowed in a viscous glare, her shoulders trembling with rage. Her eyebrow twitched as a vein throbbed in her forehead, her fingers twitching.
"LUFFY! I'M GONNA FUCKIN' KILL YOU!" She practically roared, Zoro's eyes snapping wide open in his surprise at how viciously she lunged at their captain, her fingers closing around his throat, throttling him violently even as he woke. "YOU ATE ALL OUR FOOD! THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO LAST UNTIL THE NEXT ISLAND!" Zoro was glaring at him as well, even as he moved to pull her off their flailing, apologizing captain.
"I'M SOOOORRRRYYY" Luffy wailed dizzily as Kaia shook him violently. Finally Zoro managed to pry her off, but he found the only way he could properly restrain her without capsizing the boat and effectively damaging the it was by sitting in the center of the boat with her in front of him, both arms pinning her own to her sides and one leg thrown over both of hers, the other tucked beneath her knees, as she kept trying to lunge at Luffy.
Kaia squirmed and wriggled and jerked in Zoro's tight hold for several minutes, oblivious to the effect her movements were having on the irritated and surprised man. Irritated at Luffy for eating all the food, and surprised at his own body's reaction to the squirming woman in his arms. Normally he had far too much control of himself for that to happen, but it would seem even his control had limits but, in his defense, the hard friction she was creating wasn't helping him in the least. He was simply grateful he had enough control to keep from groaning pleasurably at the sensation.
It took several long minutes for Kaia to calm down, finally slumping in Zoro's hold with a fierce scowl on her face as she glared at their swirly-eyed captain. Of course, once she had done so, it took only moments for her to feel a rather noticeable something pressed into her backside, and suddenly she wasn't so angry at Luffy anymore. No, she was too busy debating whether to blush so hard steam came out of her ears, or to smirk and wiggle.
Decisions, decisions.
Settling for something in between, she ducked her head as a pale pink flush suffused her cheeks, catching her lower lip between her teeth as she shifted slightly against him. Turning his face away, Zoro unwound his arms and leg from around her, and Kaia carefully removed herself to sit leaning against the opposite side of the boat. There was a rather uncomfortable tension in the air before Luffy recovered from her assault and distracted the two from their awkward moment.
"Can't you just catch us some fish?" Luffy asked as he sat up, a confused look on his face.
"And how in the five blues would we cook it?" She asked him, only to pinch the bridge of her nose and sigh irritably as he looked even more confused. "How many times do I have to tell you, Luffy, that humans like you guys can't digest raw fish safely in large amounts?"
"Humans like us?" Zoro asked curiously, looking at her. "What do you mean by that?"
"Ah, that's right, we haven't told you yet." Kaia said as she looked over at Zoro, surprised at her forgetfulness. However, with how racially unaware Luffy was, it was easy to forget that she didn't look like a regular human. "Well, as you've probably guessed by my ears and nails, I'm not actually fully human. I'm fishman on my mother's half, though what type exactly I'm not sure yet. My dad says that while my birth mother was an angelfish fishman it doesn't necessarily mean I will be one. Fishman genetics work differently than human genetics."
"You're a half-fishman? So what can you do, turn into a fish or something?" He asked, leaning forward slightly in interest. To be fair, he had heard of fishman, but never actually seen one or heard anything beyond the fact that they exist. Kaia chuckled slightly at the image his words brought to mind.
"Dihihihi…No, nothing so extreme as that. Like full-blooded fishmen, I can breathe under water, I can swim much faster and for much longer than humans. I'm much physically stronger than most humans too, though obviously not quite as strong as a full blooded fishman is. At the moment, those are the extent of my heritage-related abilities, though dad says I'll probably pick up a few more tricks as I get older and stronger. I can also digest large quantities of raw fish without any negative effects."
"Huh. Interesting." Zoro said, looking thoughtful. At the front of the boat, Luffy threw his arms up, exclaiming happily that his nakama were 'Awesome!'. Kaia shook her head a bit at her captain. He knew this, and yet every damn time she had to remind him, he always thought it to be the coolest thing ever.
"So, how long have you known Luffy?" Zoro asked. Since there was nothing to do now that there would be no breakfast and the boat was too small to do much else than sit or sleep in, he decided to get to know his nakama a little better. He knew he could have asked Luffy, but Kaia seemed to be the much better option. Luffy hadn't even seemed to remember she was different than most humans. Not that Zoro cared. In his mind, Kaia was Kaia just like he was himself. Both uniquely their own individuals. No two people were alike, not even twins.
"I've known Luffy since I was little. He had just turned seven and I was almost eight. The moment we met, Luffy had every intention of having me on his crew and, as I already mentioned, I never questioned it." Kaia shrugged, "Possibly because at that point, Luffy had been the only child in the village who would play with me."
"No one else would play with you?" Zoro's eyebrows shot up on his brow. He might have never played with children as one himself, but that had been because he had been too focused on his dream to play.
"Nope. I think they were a little scared of me. My father and his crew were a bit boisterous and rambunctious and I will admit I didn't exactly look like a normal child. My ears were much bigger comparatively when I was a little girl and it didn't help that I was stronger than the rest of them by a huge margin."
"Kaia once knocked out my brother for calling her a girl." Luffy laughed at the memory of his oldest brother sprawled out on the ground with this dazed look on his face and a bloody nose from where her fist had met his face.
"It wasn't the fact that he called me a girl, Luffy-kun, it was how he said it. And what he was insinuating by saying it." Kaia corrected with a huff. Personally, she still thought Ace had completely deserved the humiliation of being beaten by a girl. Even though Makino had made her apologize, all three of kids had known she hadn't meant a word of it.
"And when you kicked him in the balls?"
Kaia gave Luffy the darkest of looks. "He deserved every agonizing moment of that. You don't say that to anyone ever. It's just rude."
"Shishishishi," Luffy sniggered. "He never said anything like it again."
The three of them continued to talk for a while until the sun rose higher into the sky. By noon, Kaia was the only one of the three whose stomach was not tying up in knots from hunger pains. She felt bad, easily able to catch and consume fish at her convenience, but it was Luffy's own fault his stomach was cramping up on his. She especially felt bad for Zoro, having just been rescued from a situation where he had not had anything to eat for three weeks, so to try to lessen their pain, she got into the ocean and pushed their boat along for as long as she could.
She'd take a few breaks here and there, pulling herself back into the boat and pass the time away by either further chatting with the two men, singing a few nautical songs to distract them from their hunger, or, what they ended up doing most until the sun set over the horizon, play with the deck of cards Luffy had stashed on him. It was the only thing from their original boat he had managed to save, ironically, and it came in handy to ward off boredom.
It was sometime during their third day of being out at sea that something happened. Kaia had been swimming for most of the morning when she finally took a break. Both her and Zoro were playing with the deck of cards while Luffy was too hungry to want to play anything and wallowed against the side of the boat.
"Ahhh~ I'm hungry…" Luffy sighed as he stared listlessly at the water.
Kaia rolled her eyes as she ignored her captain and continued to deal out the cards between her and Zoro. She was sitting against the same side as Luffy while Zoro was learning against the other side of the ship, watching as she dealt the cards out before slapping the stack down and picking up her cards.
"When will we reach land?" Zoro asked aloud to whoever might now the answer, picking up his cards to carefully inspect his hand. Kaia, he noticed, was glowering at her hand, whether because her hand was bad or because she was growing annoyed by Luffy's whining, he wasn't sure.
"Who knows…" Luffy sighed again as he continued to stare at the ocean. "We go where the wind and sea takes us. Will we reach land?" That caught Zoro's attention as he stared at the back of Luffy's head in mild concern. Luffy just continued to talk, unaware at the anxiety his words were stirring up within their new nakama. "Well, I'm sure we will… Someday…"
"Isn't it strange that you want to become pirate king and yet you don't have any navigation skills?"
"Why do you think he ended up in a barrel prior to obtaining this ship? We sailed our other one straight into a whirlpool and lost it." Kaia looked nonplussed as she deposited a card and drew another one. "While I have a good instinct for traveling on land, I never sailed prior to this. So, to be frank, neither of us can navigate for shit."
"It's not strange," Luffy refuted, "I just drift in the sea." He lifted his head a bit to look at Zoro with a bit of confusion. "What about you? Aren't you a pirate hunter of the sea?"
Zoro scoffed at the statement, discarding a card and drawing up a new one of his own. "I don't recall ever being a pirate hunter." He leaned back against the railing as he stared at the sky in a slight daydream. "I went out to sea looking for a man, but I got lost and couldn't return to my village. I had not choice at the time but to hunt pirates for the bounty."
"What, so you were just lost?" Luffy asked offhandedly.
Neither Kaia nor Luffy expected his reaction. He quickly uprighted himself and stomped his foot against the bottom of the boat. "Don't say it like that!" He yelled angrily, reminding Kaia of an animal with his hackles raised. Apparently that was a taboo topic. He must easily get lost to be so sensitive about it, she figured.
However, she didn't have long to think about it before she was distracted by the momentum of his actions causing the boat to violently sway back and forth, nearly toppling Luffy into the very ocean he had been staring at for the last hour. Kaia quickly grabbed the rubberman by the scruff of his shirt, but the old straw hat that sat on his head was knocked from his head and was swept up by the wind.
"Ah!" Luffy gasped as he quickly recovered from his near spill to glance at where his hat had gone. Kaia looked surprised as well, but remained calm as she watched it glide with the wind. Zoro was also watching the hat intently as he got up to help their captain retrieve his treasured hat.
The young demi-fishman watched the two, carefully and slowly follow after the hat, waiting for the moment it came within reach to snatch it up.
"I've been through many battles with this straw hat and it's very important to me." She could hear her father's words echo through her memories. The silhouette of his form spinning the hat above his hand pulled to the front of her mind. "Luffy, I can't give this to you."
Memories of how Luffy had won her father's approval ran through her mind as Zoro reached out and caught the hat, returning it to their captain and all her ire at Luffy dissipated like the morning mist. For a moment she wondered how her father was doing. That day had been the last time she had seen him, after all, despite whatever letters, pictures, gifts, and den den mushi calls he managed to make.
Luffy took to being quiet too as he sat near the front of the ship staring at his hat. Zoro returned to his spot, adjusting his swords so he could sit comfortably once more before noticing both his party members' inattentive gazes.
"Hey," he called to Luffy, pulling them both out of their reveries. He picked up he cards as he spoke once more. "If you keep spacing out, you'll drop it again. It's very important, right?"
"Yeah," Luffy put his hat back on and gave his new nakama a grateful smile. "Thank you, Zoro."
"Ah, don't worry about it." Zoro waved off as he finally laid his hand out. "Two pairs."
"Full house, dihihihihi." Kaia laid out her winning hand causing Zoro to groan at his loss. This was about the fiftieth loss in succession he had suffered since playing. But he was so damn hungry, it was the only thing that was keeping him from outright thinking about it.
"Damn it, don't you ever lose?" He complained, leaning back once more he stared into the sky.
"When you learn how to play cards by playing against pirates, bandits, and thieves, you learn very quickly the tricks on how to win. Especially when they require you to gamble with the little coin you might have." Kaia grinned mirthfully as she collected the cards to shuffle once more.
"Hell, even Captain knows how to play for keeps. It's one of the few things he's good at outside of punching things."
"And eating." Luffy added. "I'm good at cards, fighting, breaking things, and eating."
"Yes," suddenly Kaia's mood turned dark as she glared at Luffy, having just been reminded of their current predicament's origins. "You are damn good stuffing your face and are shit at showing self-restraint."
Just before Luffy opened his mouth and found a way to unintentionally light Kaia's temper anew, Zoro spoke up. "Ah. A bird…"
Luffy looked up as well and his eyes seemed to sparkle at the sudden idea that came to him. "Cool! Let's eat that bird!"
And before Kaia could even try to nix the idea with the fact that they had nothing to cook the bird with, Luffy stood up and readied to take aim and fired his arm upwards to grab the mast of the ship and rocked him towards the flying creature.
However, neither person left in his wake had even expected what would come next. Instead of Luffy slamming into the bird and bringing them both down somewhere into the ocean, where Kaia would have to jump in to retrieve both her idiot captain and his unfortunate catch, the two watched with mouths agape as Luffy seemed to get stuck in the air as the bird began to carry him away.
"Ahhhhhhhh!" They heard him shout. "Kaia! Zoro! SAVE MEEE!"
"YOU DUMBASS!" Both of them screamed angrily into the sky.
The next thing Kaia knew she was clinging to the mast as Zoro rowed like crazy, both of them screaming profanity up at their idiotic captain as the bird carried him away. Three shipwrecked pirates and an ass-kicking later, she and Zoro sat side by side at the bow of the boat, Kaia glaring furiously at the three bruised, groveling men rowing the boat for them as they and Zoro spoke.
The three telling them all about how they'd ended up in the water, and about their captain, Buggy the Clown. The name seemed familiar to Kaia, though she couldn't place from where. Figuring she'd remember eventually, she gave a mental shrug and kept silent, scowling fiercely at the three when their rowing seemed to slow. Soon they came upon an island, and the three pulled to boat up to the docks, where Kaia hopped out and tied it off.
"Alright, Zoro-kun. You see if you can't hunt down Luffy, and I'll see about getting us some supplies, okay?" She said, looking up at the green-haired swordsman as he disembarked as well.
"Yeah, sure. No problem." He replied, already walking off in a random direction. Kaia watched him go for a moment, she had the strangest feeling that Luffy wasn't going to be over there.
Shrugging, she slung her hammer over her shoulder, easily snapping it into place on its strap, and made her way down what looked like a main street. It didn't take her long to notice that the town seemed to be completely abandoned, and, after peeking into a few houses to confirm this, she decided to just take what she needed. She was a pirate, after all, and pirates steal. At least she would only take what they would need, even if that did include a fair amount of money. Several minutes of rather aimless wandering later, she finally found what appeared to be the shopping district and set to work. She was sure Zoro would locate Luffy just fine and this was the perfect opportunity for the currently penniless no-name pirates to take full advantage of.
Making her way into a nearby shop, she picked out a selection of sturdy knapsacks to fill with supplies before beginning to look around. This particular shop carried mostly clothes, so she made her way to the women's section to pick out a few things. The first things she grabbed were a pretty black bikini with a halter-style top and a pair of dark blue shorts, which she set aside to change into before she left. Next were a few more bikinis and shorts, as that was her usual outfit, to mix and match in later days. She also found a few very pretty dresses, including a gorgeous silk kimono and a slinky turquoise number that she just had to have.
Packing her chosen clothes away, she grabbed the black bikini and shorts and went into the nearby dressing room to change. Once dressed, she grabbed a bunch of thick hair ties, using one to pull her thick crimson locks into a slightly messy high ponytail. She left some out to frame her face, and packed the rest away. She was quite pleased with her first stop, now having a fair amount of new clothes to choose from after most of her other clothes had gone down with their first ship. She wasn't like Luffy and needed variety in her selection, which she now had once more.
Nabbing a pack of hair pins as she went, she hunted through the store and the back room until she found the safe. Using those both the hairpins she had acquired and her heightened hearing, Kaia quickly and efficiently picked the lock. Though sometimes her above average hearing abilities were a pain, times like this more than made up for any inconvenience. Within the safe, she found some 20,000 beli, which she proceeded to slip into her clothing bag, hidden underneath the clothes.
Taking one last look around to make sure she didn't need anything else from here, she then made her way to the next shop on the street, a grocery. Three bags of fruit and pre-packaged meals, like sandwiches and onigiri, and 50,000 beli later, she made her way to the next shop, a pharmacy, and repeated the cycle, this time with medical supplies like bandages and ointments. Shop after shop she hit, each time gathering more supplies, like a sewing kit for clothing and sail repairs, and a special curved needle and suture thread for if one of them needed stitches. She even managed to score a few sleeping bags, lanterns, some much needed camping supplies, a skillet, and a portable stove to cook on. Now, if
Luffy ate through their supplies (which she knew he would do again), they had something to properly cook fish on. By the time she made her way back to the boat to drop of their new provisions, she had hit twelve shops and a bank, and had six large full knapsacks with roughly 50,000,000 beli split and concealed at the bottom of each knapsack.
Hearing the sound of barking and fighting in the distance, she stowed the knapsacks carefully and made her way towards the sound. Knowing her captain, he had probably somehow managed to pick a fight with a dog. Drawing closer, she sighed in exasperation as she realized she was right, watching as an old man broke the two up before leading a seemingly limping Zoro into a nearby house. Figuring the swordsman had gone and gotten himself hurt, she sighed, deciding she would have to pin him down and take care of it when they left. Nearby, she saw an orange-haired girl she wasn't familiar with, but temporarily ignored her presence as she waved and called out to her captain who seemed to be stuck in a cage. What had those two idiots been doing while she had been busy?
"Oi, Captain! What're you doin' in that cage?" She hollered, and the orange-haired girl spun around quickly to face her, Luffy simply turning and grinning widely at her as she finally got within normal speaking distance.
"Kaia, you're here! The dog ate the key, and won't give it back, so I can't get out." He told her, totally unconcerned by the situation he was in, and Kaia sighed again. Sometimes her captain could be a real pain.
"How's Zoro? I saw the old guy take him inside." She asked, only for Luffy to shrug.
"I dunno. He got stabbed by some weird guy with a big red nose."
Kaia blinked at the familiarity of that vague description. She had heard of someone matching that very illustration, but she just couldn't remember when or where or by who. She didn't bother dwelling on it. If it was truly important, she'd remember. But for now, she had some important matters to put right, starting with her captain in the cage.
"Don't move." Kaia told him before she grabbed her hammer from where it rested. The demi-fishman quickly lifted it over her shoulder, the strap unsnapping by her action, and slammed the blunt side of her hammer against the lock of the cage. However, instead of only smashing the lock, she caused the entire concrete side of the cage to crumble in her hammer's wake.
"W-what?!" The orange haired woman shouted as she gapped at both Luffy and her. "How- how did you even break that open?! Those bars were made of steel!"
Kaia turned her attention on the orange hair woman for only a moment or so, ignoring the jovial laugher of her captain as he chanted 'I'm free!' over and over. "The bars might be made of steel, but the lock wasn't and neither was the base of the cage. It was cement. Even a sword could slice through that."
The look on the woman's face told Kaia that none of them had thought of taking the cage out from a different side, too focused on trying to break the bars instead. Sometimes she swore she was surrounded by idiots.
"W-W-What?!" The old man now stole Kaia's attention away as he too overreacted to the destruction her hammer had caused. "How in the-"
"Old man, how's Zoro?!" Luffy cut him off as he once more was paying attention to what was going on. Kaia too wanted to know the answer to this question, more than worried about her nakama.
The older man shook his head in slight vexation and disbelief. "I told him I would take him to a doctor, but he said he'll be fine if he sleeps."
Kaia's right ear twitched a bit as she gave no one in particular her own look of vexation as she pinched the bridge of her nose. That was not how that worked. Damn it. She was surrounded by idiots who didn't know the difference between a superficial abrasion and a grievous flesh wound.
While she wasn't a damn doctor, Kaia had been with Luffy long enough to know how to stitch up a wound. Deciding it for the best, Kaia quickly informed her captain that she wanted to take a quick look of Zoro's wound and see if there was anything she could do. She slung her hammer back onto her shoulder, snapping the strap in place once more as she strolled towards the house Zoro was in.
Luffy sat down on top of the remains of his previous prison and grunted his affirmation. The old man shouted after her the location of his first aid kit, to which she nodded her head and gave him a short wave of her hand. As long as Zoro cooperated, it wouldn't take her long to make sure his wound was sewn up quickly and nicely. Until then, she just hoped her captain wouldn't attract too much attention without one or both of them to back him up.
Kaia, though she loved her captain like a brother and tried to think positively concerning the rubberman, honestly wasn't holding her breath on that one.
Making her way inside the small house, Kaia quickly hunted down the first aid kit the old man had mentioned, popping it open to make sure it had what she would need. Satisfied, she snapped it closed and made her way through the house in search of her new nakama. Finding him sprawled out on the bed in a small bedroom, she set the kit down on the floor beside the bed and retrieved a warm, damp washcloth from the bathroom. Kneeling beside the bed and pulling the covers back, she quickly found the slowly spreading bloodstain on his haramaki, and resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of her nose in exasperation. This man was almost as big an idiot at their captain, for letting a wound that bled like that go untreated.
Sighing softly, she carefully peeled away the thick cloth wrap, folding it down over his hips to keep it out of her way. Likewise, she peeled the hem of his shirt up, careful as to not upset the wound, pushing it high on his chest. Looking down at him, her eyes widen slightly, her lips parting in a soft gasp. Her mouth practically watered as she took in the sight of his broad, muscular chest and rippling abs, reaching out in a slight daze to brush her fingers over his stomach. Damn, despite having been starved as badly as he had been, the swordsman still looked completely mouthwatering. She had seen men with toned bodies before, but he was on a whole different level than Ace or Luffy, in her opinion. Snapping back to reality, she shook her head sharply, mentally berating herself for becoming so distracted when she was supposed to be treating his wound. Grabbing the washcloth, she began to carefully clean the area around the wound, wiping up the blood with gentle strokes. It helped for her to focus more on her job than those tantalizing abdominals of his, and soon her mind blanked to everything that was not the task at hand.
Zoro, on the other hand, was dreaming as she started her work. His mind filled with the images of lush curves and crimson silk curls that had been occupying his thoughts as of late. The young woman to whom such features belonged had been one of two people he had any interaction with as of late and, even awake, he found her far more pleasing to look at for hours on end. So perhaps that, coupled with the sensation of soft, lightly-calloused hands on his skin, could be blamed for his strangely erotic dream. At the moment, he really didn't care upon the reason. He was too caught up in enjoying how it would all pan out.
Suddenly, a twinge of discomfort, almost pain, intruded on his dream, but was quickly soothed by those small hands. Another twinge, definitely pain this time, had Zoro furrowing his brows as his consciousness slowly drifted into a waking sleep. As he slipped further into the waking world, it distantly occurred to him that dreams weren't supposed to hurt. The physical brush of fingers, a gentle swipe of some type of soft cloth, drew his attention more and more as he slowly became more cognitive of the world around him. His eyes opened slowly, and his vision was flooded with the sight of red hair and the concerned visage of the very woman he had been dreaming about. Her lips moved, her voice sounded far away, though it was quickly becoming clearer.
"I'm sorry, Zoro-kun, but I'm afraid this might sting a bit." She told him gently as she saw his eyes flicker open, her slender brows furrowed apologetically. Then she uncapped the small bottle of alcohol and, positioning the washcloth to catch the excess, poured it over the wound in his abdomen.
Pain. Fiery, burning pain. It radiated throughout his entire body as he lurched forward from the initial shock. He clenched his teeth quickly enough as to not cry out, instantly coming wide awake though.
"Shit!" He cursed as he flopped back down onto the bed, breathing out heavy breaths as he tried to manage the pain and take inventory of what was currently going on. Hadn't he been left alone not too long ago by that nosy old man?
Moments later, he realized two things.
One, Kaia was kneeling beside the bed, first aid kit in hand, obviously attempting to treat his wounds. Not something he was really pleased about because all he needed was a decent amount of sleep and he'd be fine, just like he had told the old man.
Two, and this was the big one, the… dream he had just woken up from had him hard and aching. His pants uncomfortably tight at the moment, and, what he found worse than not being able to adjust himself to make it more bearable, was the fact that the subject of said dream was sitting right there. So, naturally, he freaked out a bit. Just a bit though.
"What the hell, woman?! That shit burns!" He exclaimed, mostly to draw her attention towards his face and away from… down there, as he attempted to push himself up.
"Well, if you had bothered to get it treated before I got here, I wouldn't have to do this!" She was instantly irritated. She never liked having to be the one to patch people up. It always made her feel like she was the bad guy when the treatment caused them more pain, but she knew it had to be done. The redhead frowned at the green-haired man, and, planting one hand on the center of his chest, shoved him back down effortlessly. "Now lay back down and shut up so I can stitch you up."
"I'm fine. I just need to sleep it off." He told her, frowning at her.
"You're bleeding like a stuck pig, you baka. Now be a good boy and let me do this, or I'll knock your ass back out with my hammer." She snapped back threateningly, more worried than angry as his wound began to bleed more freely at his movement.
Grumbling his assent, he looked away as she threaded a curved needle with suture thread and sterilized it with alcohol. He decided that he would just have to sit very still and hope she didn't notice it. Though he knew Kaia to be pretty chill about a lot of things, he didn't know how she'd react to such a… predicament, but, if he went by his experience with most women, he'd be on the opposite end of her hammer in a matter of seconds. He did not want an up-close and personal meeting with that hammer.
Zoro hissed and flinched slightly as the needle pierced his flesh, only to be thoroughly distracted from her suturing as she rested her small hand dangerously low on his stomach, pressing down to hold him still as she worked. With every stitch, she would brush her thumb gently over his skin, as though subconsciously trying to comfort him, and every time she did so his pants got just that much tighter than before. He could only be thankful that she had placed his haramaki where she had, or she probably would have noticed right away.
Finishing off the last stitch, she tied it off and cut the string, then helped him to carefully roll onto his side, so that she could get to his back. He personally could not be more relieved and easily complied as he focused further on getting his… problem under control. After she had taken up the washcloth, gently cleaning away the blood, Zoro realized his attempts would be completely futile. Even as she repeated her process as she worked on the gash on his back, she was still putting her hand on his hip to hold him in place, fingers dangerously close to the problem area, and yet unaware of the affect she was having on her reluctant patient. Her thumb brushed over the skin of his side with every stitch, and he clenched his jaw tighter and tighter to keep from making a sound, his hands fisting tightly as he steadfastly resisted the need to adjust himself. Hell, he even tried to focus on the pinching pain of the needle or the burning sensation of her choice of disinfectant, but those soft circles she kneaded into his side with the callused pad of her thumb stole all his attention.
When she was done she assisted him in rolling him back over and tugged him carefully up into a sitting position, kneeling between his legs as she took out a pair of four-by-fours and a roll of gauze. Starting just below his ribs, she began to wrap his in the gauze, heedless of her close proximity when she reached around him. Zoro was now officially unsure as to what was worse for his throbbing manhood, her innocent little touches or how her breasts were practically being shoved into his face. Either way, he was going to be in so much trouble if she realized what was going on, but, in his defense, this was not his fault.
Kaia continued to work without any regard to the things around her as she placed the pads over the stitched wounds. She finished wrapping the gauze over the pads gently, before tying it off just above the waistline of his pants. After making sure it was snug and wouldn't easily come loose, the demi-fishman finally looked up at his face. Her brow furrowed slightly in concern as she took in his expression. He seemed to be very tense, his jaw clenched and shoulders stiff, his large hands balled into fists. She had tried to be as gentle as she could, but perhaps she had been a little too rough with him. She made note to be better about it next time around, which, with these two boys, she knew there was going to be a next time.
"You can go back to sleep, now, Zoro-kun. Just be careful not to tear your stitches." She told him softly, using a hand on his knee to push herself up. Picking up her used supplies, she made her way out of the room, unaware of the way his eyes followed the sway of her hips. "Get some rest, neh?"
Zoro gave her a grunt, but internally, he was relieved that she was finally leaving him in peace, though he nearly smacked himself stupid when he caught himself staring at her sway. An ass like hers paired with that seductive gait needed to be illegal. How did Luffy ignore this woman's appeal as easily as he did? He finally began to make himself as comfortable as he could get once she left the area and soon was blissfully unaware of the world once more as his light blood loss drained him of his energy once more.
Meanwhile, Kaia was busy throwing away the used supplies and the bloody washcloth. She stored the first aid kit back where she had found it and washed her hands before slowly making her way out of the house. She saw Luffy waving her down with a happy smile, one she happily returned, relieved that her captain had not wandered off in the short time she had been gone. But her smile only lasted for a moment, however.
She had only gotten a few feet away from the closed door before, suddenly, the house seemed to collapse into a pile of rubble. Spinning around, she stared wide-eyes at the destruction in abject horror. She didn't think she shut the door that hard! Shit, and Zoro was still in there! Double Shit!
"Zoro!" She yelled, her voice panicked, as she took a faltering step towards the rubble that was once a house. Behind her she distantly heard Luffy yell something, the old man saying something about him being dead, and she shook her head slowly, tears welling up in her eyes.
"Ugh, that's a hell of a way to wake a guy up." She heard from within the rubble, and gasped, a watery smile curving her lips. "Not enough sleep…" He complained grouchily, holding his head.
"Thank goodness he's okay..." She murmured to herself, wiping her eyes quickly to get rid of any tears that might have fallen before she called out to him with a big smile. "Oi, Zoro-kun! Didn't pop a stitch, did you?"
"Nah, I'm fine." He said with a smirk as he looked over at her. "Good as new."
"I'm coming for you, Buggy the Clown!" She heard the old man cry as he ran off, and she turned around, surprised.
"The mayor was crying…" the orange-haired girl murmured. Kaia made a mental note to find out who she was once all this was over. Because she didn't seem to be just an innocent bystander, like the old man. Nothing she was wearing even remotely looked like what this island sold in their clothing stores. A traveler like them?
"He was? I didn't see." She heard Luffy respond.
"Looks like the party's getting' more exciting!" Zoro said, his smirk widening in anticipation of a good fight.
"Well, then. What're we waiting for?" Kaia told them, shifting to rest her left hand on her hip, the right reaching back to grip Saika's handle, a blood-thirsty smile curling her ruby lips, chuckling darkly. "Dihihihi…Let's go have us some fun."