Sheesh. This chapter was so much work. From this point on, I am pretty much writing completely from scratch with the occasional small snippet from another story. So writing this chapter took a lot longer than any of the others but I think I'm happy with the result so I hope you like it.
This chapter's is the longest I've written but I ended up combining two episodes together cause I was done with Kuro. I kept thinking, 'I'm not taking another two chapters to finish this arc. Be gone!' Next chapter picks up with Zoro's inner dialogue and a bit of his background with Kuina as he bonds with Luffy and then runs into Yosaku and Johnny. I'm so excited!
A big thanks to Shirani-Chan, LightningBlade49, ZoLuFanGirl98, Vampirefreak4eterity, Vampchick2010, Rina, and my anonymous guest for their awesome reviews and continued support. I love you all!
Shirani-Chan: seriously, your reviews continue to be so awesome that they make my day. I go the entire day with a smile on my face cause of you. I hope you like this chapter!
Some conversations and parts have been borrowed from other Fem!Luffy and LuffyxZoro fanfictions. However, from this chapter forward this story has been written almost completely from scratch by me. I will continue to list the authors I borrowed ideas from for previous chapters and make a special note if I end up borrowing a large idea that the original author deserves full credit for in future chapters.
The authors I have borrowed ideas from are: Pen-Woman, ChemGirl, and Killjou. (If someone thinks I have added some of their story, I apologize for not listing you. PM me and I will add you) Please read the original fanfictions as well. They are brilliantly done and I bow to the authors that wrote them!
Beta reader for Pen-Woman is TheBlackSeaReaper.
Luffy Vs. Kuro Final Battle! & Kaya's Gift
Your amazing strength comes from deep inside, how you do it, you should write a guide. Your words and actions always inspire, the way you do it, I truly admire. When I look at you, I'm very proud, not afraid to proclaim aloud. Every challenge that you face, you manage it, with so much grace.
This strength of yours often amazes, you deserve more than just praises. With all you do, I hope you get rest, the rest of us, are profoundly blessed….by
Pepper, Onion, and Carrot, Usopp's faithful crew, had been guiding Kaya through the forest in an attempt to get away from the hypnotist Jango for what felt like forever All three were almost out of breath but they knew Usopp was depending on them to protect Kaya. Even if their captain hadn't asked, they would have gladly protected the rich girl. Pepper, who was in the lead, turned his head to glance over his shoulder, trying to see if they had finally lost the strange man. The still trees and silence behind them made him think that they had.
"Is that hypnotist still behind us?" Pepper asked the others.
"Nope, I don't see him. Let's make sure we lost him for good." Onion replied, panting as he brought up the rear.
"It's impossible for him to catch us now!" Carrot exclaimed, grinning. "He's probably lost in our forest." The purple haired boy was holding tightly to Kaya's hand and pulling the teenage girl along, making sure to keep her in between the other two boys.
"Don't worry Lady Kaya, we'll protect you!" Onion assured, speeding up a bit so that he could grin up at the blonde girl.
"Right, we swear it in the name of the Usopp Pirate Crew!" Pepper's words were filled with confidence and Kaya smiled, grateful for their effort.
"Thank you." She breathed, one hand clutching at her jacket as she struggled to keep running. She had been indoors for the past three years due to her sickness and all the movement was really starting to take a toll on her. The groups confidence continued to grow as they ran when suddenly a loud crashing sound came from behind them. All four quickly slid to a stop and turned, seeing the leaves of the trees around them start to shake and fall before the trees themselves began to topple over. Flashes of silver darted between the trees and with each movement more trees fell, dust kicked up with every crash. The kids watched as the flashes of silver darted into one of the clouds of dust and their eyes widened in horror as two hands emerged from the dust, holding the two pieces of silver that the kids could now see were the hypnotist's chakrams.
Jango had been throwing out the chakram, cutting down every tree he passed in an effort to make a clear path for himself. If he caught one of the kids in the process than it was just a bonus. The dust began to clear as Jango surveyed the open area, twirling one of the chakram around his finer.
"Not here..." He grumbled, cursing darkly under his breath. He hadn't found a single clue as to the location of the three brats and the rich girl and he was starting to lose his temper.
"WHERE ARE YOU, LITTLE WEASELS?!" Jango screamed, at the edge of his patience. "Don't be so sure that you can get away from me! In that case, maybe I should just clear out the entire forest!"
The Usopp pirates carefully glanced over the top of the fallen tree that they had hidden behind. It had been instinct as soon as they saw the trees beginning to fall and all three were happy that they had moved so quickly.
"He seems to be very angry," Carrot stated quietly, glancing over at the other two boys watching the hypnotist next to him. Kaya, finally out of breath and unable to even move, was leaning against the tree and trying to take deep breaths in an effort to get some strength back.
"He's not just a hypnotist. He can do a lot more," Pepper noted warily.
Jango continued to look around the now cleared portion of the forest, walking closer and closer to the Usopp pirates hiding place as he continued to spin the chakram around his finger.
"Where did they run off to?" he muttered to himself, stopping less than a foot away from the boys' hiding place. He did one last visual sweep of the area before turning to the right.
"This way!" He sighed, taking long strides as he began to walk in a different direction, away from the Usopp Crew's hiding place. Pepper and Onion let out sighs of relief, relaxing against the fallen tree. Next to them, Carrot started taking deeper and deeper breaths and both boys turned to see that the purple haired boy had a bit of a tree hanging in front of his face, tickling his nose. Their eyes widened in horror and they dove over Kaya, tacking Carrot to the ground and covering his mouth to prevent him from letting out a loud sneeze that would certainly give away their position.
"Where did you go?" Jango yelled, his voice fainter as he continued to move away, cutting down trees as he moved. "You little brats!" The boys glanced between each other, all three putting a comforting hand on Kaya's heaving frame and sighing. They had avoided the hypnotist for now but they needed to come up with a plan to get rid of him. They couldn't make Kaya keep running like this.
Zoro and Usopp had finally entered the forest and were attempting to follow the path of fallen trees that showed the hypnotist's route. They needed to find Pepper, Carrot, Onion and Kaya before that weirdo Jango got to them.
"Hey! East, go east! I said east, didn't you hear me?!" Usopp yelled from his place on Zoro's shoulder. He was extremely frustrated, Nami had told him that while Luffy could have a bad sense of direction, Zoro's was completely horrible, but he hadn't really believed her. He couldn't understand how a swordsman who had such amazing sword skills would have absolutely no sense of direction. Now though, he really owed Nami an apology. This was just pathetic! Even when he told Zoro to go right the green haired man would immediately head in the other direction.
"How should I know! Just say left or right!" Zoro snapped, glaring at the long nosed sniper.
"Then, go the other way, to the left!"
"But that's where we came from!" Zoro yelled.
As the Usopp pirate crew passed under a fallen tree that was resting against a large jagged rock, Kaya tripped and fell to her knees. She was breathing even harder than before and her vision was swimming in front of her eyes. The blonde girl couldn't even hear as the boys called her name, all she could hear was the blood rushing in her ears.
"Kaya!" Onion yelled, turning to look at the rich girl. Pepper slid to a stop a few feet in front of them, having taken the lead as they ran, and ran back to where Onion was kneeling in front of Kaya.
"Sorry, you guys should go ahead and escape without me." She breathed, grinning weakly at them as she felt Carrot rest a hand against her back and begin to rub in a soothing manner.
"What're you talking about?" The purple haired boy exclaimed, shaking his head.
"Our mission is to protect you, Kaya!" Onion insisted. He placed a hand against the girl's forehead and quickly recoiled in shock. "Oh no! She's burning up!"
"Hang in there Lady Kaya!" Carrot cried, panicking slightly. "We need a doctor, a doctor!"
"Idiot! This is no time for a doctor," Pepper shouted, glaring at Carrot. "We're about to get killed!"
"But, we can no longer run."
"Still..."
In another part of the forest, Jango had stopped cutting down every tree in sight and was slowly making his way through a heavily overgrown area. His head was constantly whipping from side to side, his eyes taking in everything around him. "Where are you, little brats?!" He turned suddenly, throwing out one of his chakram and slicing through a few trees behind him.
The sound of the trees falling caused the Usopp pirates and Kaya to turn. The sound was way too close for their liking. It meant that Jango was starting to catch up to them.
"Thank you," Kaya breathed, causing the three boys to look at her questioningly. "I'm happy that you guys are watching over me. I'll keep that spirit in my heart..." She took a deep breath, her eyes falling shut for a second before she smiled back at the boys. "Now, you three should escape."
Jango stared at the cleared section he had just made, bringing his hands up to cup his ears in an attempt to hear better. "Where are you running to?" He yelled, trying to scare the kids. "No use in escaping now! Come out!"
The Usopp pirates stared off into the forest where Jango's voice had come from, their determined expressions faltering. One by one, the boys slowly lowered their weapons, looking as if they had lost the will to keep fighting."
"If we leave Lady Kaya and run, we'll surely make it," Pepper sighed, lowering his baseball bat.
Next to him, Onion looked down at the shovel held loosely in his hands. "Definitely."
"Captain always said, 'If you find yourselves losing, then turn tail as fast as you can!" Carrot concluded, spinning his frying pan distractedly.
The sound of Jango's stomping and the falling trees continued to get louder and they could hear the hypnotist muttering under his breath. "Damn kids, where are you?!"
"But," Onion said, eyes narrowing as he stared down at the gasping Kaya. "Captain's just a liar!"
"He's fighting hard himself," Onion agreed, glaring at the forest behind them. "Disregarding his own life, trying to protect us!"
"We can't let Lady Kaya die!" Carrot concluded, raising his frying pan again.
"In that case, we're gonna go all out!" Pepper held out his baseball bat and the other two quickly placed their own weapons over top.
"Usopp Pirate Crew!"
"Yosh!"
"Let's fight to the death!"
"No, don't!" Kaya protested, having finally caught her breath. She watched the boys, her eyes wide with fear. "You guys are still kids. You can't die just because of me!"
"We're not going out to die, we're fighting to live!" Carrot interrupted, silencing the blonde girl and causing her to stare at the boy in shock. "That's what Captain always said."
Pepper and Onion nodded, a note of finality in the gesture and the three quickly gathered together, needing to come up with a plan.
Back at the beach, Kuro was still lying face down on the ground, his shattered Cat claw resting against the top of his head. He appeared to be trying to hold back a headache. Luffy stood barely a foot in front of him, still holding the large boulder that had the broken pieces of the former butler's claws still embedded in it, just waiting for the man to get back up. She knew, without a doubt, that Kuro wasn't done yet and she was itching to punch him again.
Kuro's crew watched from the beach, eyes wide and starting to panic slightly at the scene that was playing out in front of them.
"That bitch..."
"Captain Kuro's cat claws..."
None of the pirates could believe what they were seeing. Even though the skinny black-haired girl had beaten them, they couldn't believe that she could take down their Captain. Never in a million years.
Luffy grinned, listening to the men mutter and whisper behind her, before she turned and slammed the boulder into the ground next to her. "Only five left, eh? Those weird swords of yours." She began to giggle slightly, her adrenaline pumping, and started bouncing slightly on the balls of her feet.
Kuro lay still for a bit longer before finally pushing himself to his feet, ignoring the pain in his face and the blood seeping down from a cut on his head.
"It's alright, he can still fight!" One of the crew cheered and the other quickly began to chatter amongst themselves excitedly.
"Right, he's still got his other hand."
"Slaughter that puny girl, Captain Kuro!" Another cheered.
"Hey, ain't that name taboo?" One asked, causing the others to look at him with a frown.
"I think he's called Kuraha-something around here..."
"Then, we'll just call him Kura-san."
The pirates began to cheer again, shouting encouragement to their captain and yelling for him to kill the straw-hat girl.
"You fools... SHUT THE HELL UP!" Kuro screamed, a large vein appearing on his forehead. He looked absolutely manic, strands of hair hanging in his eyes and sticking to his face, his broken glasses twisted but still resting against the bridge of his nose. His angry expression caused everyone to fall silent and the former butler hissed as he stood up completely, glaring down at the pirates still standing on the beach. Luffy just frowned, a little put off by his tone. She just couldn't understand this guy.
"I will exterminate all of you later…" He muttered, raising his remaining cat claw and clinking the blades together. "Of course, I'll kill Jango as well!" His face was blank, his tone emotionless, as if he wasn't even there, as if he wasn't talking about slaughtering his entire crew. Luffy flinched back slightly, startled slightly by Kuro's words but mostly by the hollow tone in his voice. The pirates down at the beach though were far worse than just startled.
"Why do you wanna kill us?" One asked, eyes wide with confusion and slight fear.
"Don't yank us around like that, Captain Kuro."
"If we were to attack the village now, it still shouldn't be too late."
"Besides, as long as Captain Jango gets that girl to write the will, the plan will be complete!"
Kuro stayed silent through their talking, adjusting his broken glasses and clinking his cat claws together before finally speaking.
"You don't need to worry about the plan anymore. As long as your bodies are here, I can prove my innocence." The pirates let out gasps of shock, flinching backwards slightly, most not believing what they were hearing.
"I never planned to let you mongrels leave this village alive in the first place," the former butler continued, turning away from them so that he could glare at Luffy. No one…no one who knows my true identity can be allowed to live to tell about it."
"No way!"
"So, you already had plans to kill us all?"
"That's right. I planned it way back when I was still Captain Kuro, three years ago…everything…everything was planned!" Kuro's eyes had glazed over as he remembered all of the work he had put into planning his disappearance, his grin showing the true inner madness and his voice tinged with a deadly assurance. His plan would succeed and no one would stop him from reaching his ambition. He was broken out of his thoughts by a soft voice.
"Are you all morons?" Luffy muttered, placing her hands on her hips and glancing down at the crew on the beach with a raised eyebrow. "What a dumb pirate crew..."
"'Dumb', you say?" Kuro repeated, pushing his broken glasses up. "A pirate crew is merely a bunch of dogs who aren't fit to live in a civilized society. Without a plan laid out for them, what can they do? It's always been my plans that they followed." He looked away from Luffy's calm expression to stare at his former crew. "Shipmates are just pawns at a captain's disposal. Whether they live or die, it's all up to me! No matter how big the obstacle is, my plan must proceed. They are supposed to die to fulfill my plans." He smirked over at Luffy, proud of his explanation. This was the way of pirates, how they should act, and he was looking forward to seeing the look on the young girl's face.
She and Usopp wanted to be pirates? This was what real pirates were and he would savor her look of disbelief and sadness.
Kuro's smirk faded into a look of surprise as he stared at her blank face. There was no hint of what she was thinking on her face, no expression to show her emotions. She didn't say a single word to Kuro, just stared long and hard at him. Inside Luffy's mind though was a whirlwind of anger though. She couldn't believe that anyone could talk about their crew like that. How could anyone say that a crew's only job was to follow orders and die for their captain?! Her thoughts turned to Usopp and his crew, to Nami, to Zoro... She wouldn't be able to make it to the Grand Line without them, she knew that, so how could anyone even think that she would let them die just to serve her own needs at that moment! Luffy's heart clenched in her chest as her mind conjured up images of her crew, her friends, dead in front of her and her anger flared. Her fury broke through the calm mask on her face and Kuro saw the flash of hatred in her eyes. An anger that just infuriated him even more.
"This is the fate of pirates! don't you dare look down at me, little girl!" He roared the words at Luffy as if the small female rookie had just lectured him. His crew was stunned, to see their Captain losing his cool to a girl, it was unthinkable. Kuro gritted his teeth angrily, his expression furious when Luffy began to speak quietly.
"Even if a captain like you... had tens of thousands of men... you could never win against Usopp!" Her voice rose in volume with every word she spoke, her tone confident as she smirked up at Kuro. The pirates on the beach took a few steps back at her words, knowing that she was provoking their captain and succeeding.
"What'd you say?" Kuro hissed, his voice deadly calm, but his eyes showing his fury. "Are you saying that I'm inferior to that make-believe captain?"
"That's right," she replied, still grinning, and Kuro laughed humorlessly in return, his expression lightening somewhat.
"That's really funny. Don't think too highly of yourself just because you broke one of my Cat Claws." The dark look was back in his eyes as he raised the hand with the broken claws. "How exactly is he better than me? Tell me!" As Kuro shouted, he rose to the balls of his feet and began to dart back and forth, using his Pussyfoot Maneuver to disappear again. Luffy remained in the same spot, her grin widening at the realization that she had pissed off the former butler.
"Because... he's got heart." She didn't turn as she felt Kuro appear behind he, his claw raised to attack, but the man had frozen. He was taken aback by what she had said.
"What?!"
"You don't know the real meaning of being a pirate!" Luffy spun on her heel as she yelled and shot her hand out, spinning it around like a whip and catching Kuro in the face, sending him flying into the sheer rock wall of the cliff. The pirates gasped in shock, the Straw-Hat girl had managed to pinpoint Kuro's location, a feat that they had all thought was impossible.
"Im…impossible!"
"She can actually keep up with the speed of the Pussyfoot Maneuver?!" Luffy's arm snapped back into place, causing her to spin slightly and forcing her to one knee. She shook her head in an attempt to force away the slight dizziness that had come over her and glanced up at the cloud of dust that had been kicked up when Kuro had hit the wall.
"You dare insult me." The dust had started to clear, revealing Kuro, his head bent down as if he was staring at something on his feet. His eyes were shadowed, his expression completely unreadable, and his voice sounded like death warmed over.
"If you really wanna know what a real pirate is like, then let me show you right now." Both hands came up and swept back the strands of hair in his face, returning them to their proper position, as he glanced up at Luffy and grinned darkly. "How terrifying... How terrifying a pirate is when he's been to hell and back countless times!" Luffy pushed herself back to her feet, sensing that something big was coming and watched, slightly confused, as Kuro started to sway in a fluid back and forth motion, his arms hanging down in front of him. Luffy raised one of her eyebrows in question, wondering if Kuro might be drunk or something to be swaying like that, but quickly dismissed that thought when she heard the terrified gasps and whispers coming from Kuro's crew.
"Hey, that pose…he's not gonna…"
"He's going to use that?!"
"For just one girl?!"
"But... there's no doubt about it! Captain Kuro is going to use…the Out of the Bag Attack"
"We shouldn't just be standing around here."
"We're within range too! He's gonna kill us along with her!"
"Didn't he say that earlier?!"
"Please stop, Captain Kuro!"
"Don't do it! We'll do anything you want!"
Luffy glanced back at the pleading crew, her brow furrowed in confusion.
"What's going on?" She asked, more to herself than anyone. "Isn't he just swaying back and forth?" She turned back to Kuro again, curious as to what the former butler was doing that was scaring the pirates so badly. Her head tilted slightly to the side as she waited and watched, muscles taut just in case she had to move.
Kuro could no longer hear the cries of his crew, not that he would have heeded them anyway. All sounds became muted until all he could hear was the soft clinking of the blades on his hands brushing against each other. He continued to sway building up his attack for another few seconds before freezing. He raised his head slowly and Luffy let out a little gasp of surprise. Kuro appeared to be in some kind of trance, he didn't even notice the strands of hair that had fallen back in his face and his eyes... she couldn't even see his pupils anymore... his gaze was that of a dead person.
"Out of the Bag Attack!" Suddenly he was gone, the sudden disappearance similar to that of the Pussyfoot Maneuver. However, unlike his other attack, at the spot he had disappeared a cloud of purple smoke formed. It spread out in all directions, guided by the wind and sweeping across the ground like a specter. Luffy tensed, a frown coming to her face. She knew, whatever this was, it wasn't good.
At this time, Nami was currently aboard the Black Cat ship, having finagled her way on-board while everyone was distracted with Zoro and Buchi's fight and the subsequent argument between Kuro and Luffy. Since no one was on the ship, it was the perfect time for her to raid their treasure and make sure that they hadn't taken any of her own.
"Cheap." She whined, dragging a medium sized bag up the stairs and onto the deck. "I thought they'd have more treasure than this." She was sulking slightly at the small haul she had procured but eventually just sighed and moved towards the railing.
"Now then, it should be over right about now." Nami was confident that they were going to win. She knew how abnormally strong Zoro and Luffy both were and with the two cat guys and their tricks out of the way, Kuro and that weirdo hypnotist would be a piece of cake for the duo. She leaned over the railing and glanced down at the beach, her face falling at the looks of utter dread and intense fear on the faces of the pirates.
"What? Nobody's moving?" She muttered, confused. Her eyes swept the crowd and moved up the slope. She could see Luffy standing about halfway up but Kuro and the hypnotist were nowhere in sight. Her eyes widened and danced around the crowd again as she noticed that there were a few more missing faces.
"Where's Usopp? And Zoro? Zoro would never leave Luffy but I can't see him." Nami was starting to get a little worried. "What the hell is going on?"
It wasn't long before she had her answer. The purple smoke glided across the pirate's feet, passing by each and every one of them. As soon as the smoke passed them they were thrown back, cuts appearing on their chests and arms, as if they were being cut to ribbons like a sword. One by one, the pirates began to drop to the ground, some dead on impact but most of them just severely injured.
Luffy spun around to look at the beach, horrified at the sight of the pirates being shredded by the invisible attack and having no way to counter it.
"Ho-how did he get killed?" She asked, her voice trembling slightly.
One after the other, pirate after pirate; as the smoke passed the men dropped to the ground with five slashed brutally etched into their chests. Suddenly, the rocks next to Luffy were slashed, purple smoke coming from the large grooves in the stone and the raven-haired girl shivered. For the first time in a long time, Luffy was scared. She had never seen something like this, this absolutely sickening sight and the screams of the men as they were slaughtered. She shivered again and crossed her arms, clutching tightly at herself as she tried to shake the fear from her mind.
"Please stop this, Captain Kuro!" One pirate finally screamed, watching as his crew mates dropped like flies around him.
"It's no use!" Another man yelled, turning to look back at the other pirate. "This is a blind stealth attack. He's moving so fast that even he doesn't know who he's killing."
"But how…how can he attack someone without even…" Before the man could finish he was struck down by Kuro's attack, the other pirates flinching away from him, knowing they would probably be next.
Nami watched the scene playing out below her in horror. Seeing so many men die, and without even giving them a chance to run...
'Wh... what's going on? This is insane; he's cutting them to ribbons.'
Luffy's arms eventually dropped to her sides as she continued to stare at the massacre. She was frozen, unable to look away as each man was cut down by their own captain. A slice appeared on her chest but she didn't flinch, didn't even seem to notice it as the attacks continued. Her teeth clenched slightly as her chest tightened with anger.
"Reveal yourself... butler!" She growled, eyes still locked onto the bloodbath on the beach. Her hands clenched into fists at her sides as she listened to the screams of the pirates, pirates who were even now pleading for their captain to stop. But the attacks never stopped, Kuro just continued to butcher his own crew… his men… who had still been faithful to him even after he quit being a pirate. They had done whatever he said and even risked their own lives for him… and yet, he still saw them as mere pawns in his game.
Luffy felt the sting of blades cut into her side and arm and a few seconds later the ground near her feet was sliced. But still she didn't flinch, didn't make a single noise or give even the slightest look of pain even as more and more cuts began to litter her body and tear at her vest. All she could think about were those men's screams. She remembered the Usopp pirate's bravery, Usopp's own sacrifice, and her eyes fell on her hat which had been knocked off her head in the attack and now lay a few feet away from her. Shanks… Shanks had saved her from the mountain bandit, sacrificed his arm to protect her from the sea king, and protected her for so long. Even though Luffy hadn't been a member of his crew Shanks had been willing to risk his own life to save hers, and he said he would do the same for every member of his crew, his family. Her anger continued to build and build until the she-pirate finally snapped and let out a furious scream.
"DON'T YOU HAVE ANY HONOR, THOSE MEN ARE YOUR NAKAMA!"
Her scream caused Nami to gasp and also triggered something deep in her heart. She had no idea why but the word "Nakama" sounded so soothing and comforting coming from Luffy… from a pirate no less… a pirate who actually cared for others.
"Luffyko."
More slashes began to litter the ground and rocks around Luffy, getting closer and closer until they finally reached her. The attack sliced straight across Luffy's stomach, cutting her vest and causing blood to splatter to the ground at her feet. Nami's eyes widened in fear, worried for Luffy because it didn't look like the straw-hat girl could do anything to counter the attack. But Luffy just stood her ground, swaying slightly from the force of the attack before she shot her arm out and grasped the front of Kuro's shirt. Gritting her teeth, Luffy shifted her weight and pulled her arm back, throwing the former butler over her shoulder and slamming him head first into the hard ground.
"Found ya" She panted, smirking down at the man.
"You little bitch..." Kuro hissed, pulling himself to his knees. "you should've just stood still and accepted your fate like a good little girl. Now look at what you've done. Thanks to you, my beloved men are half dead and in misery." His words were blunt, the only emotion in his voice anger at the cocky young woman in front of him. Luffy's gaze slid to the beach for a second, watching as some of the men groaned and clutched at their wounds, before she glared back at Kuro.
"It would've been better to let them die in my attack," he continued, making Luffy's frown deepen.
"What now? You look like you've got something to say..." Kuro asked blandly as he pulled himself to his feet and flexed his clawed hand.
"Yeah, I do." She glanced over at her treasured hat, the hat that her father-figure, the man she respected most in the world, had given to her.
"No matter what happens to me in my life… I will never be like you!" She hissed out the last part, eyes hardening as the looked back at Kuro.
"It's not that you won't..." The former butler raised the hand that still had a cat claw on it and pointed the blades at Luffy's face, mere inches from touching her nose.
"Someone like you can't be like me." Kuro's grin had returned to his face as he stared down at the injured girl. It soon faltered though at Luffy's calm look. There was no fear on her face, no blind hatred, and that threw the pirate captain off.
"Furthermore..." he continued. "You will never be a pirate at all because you're going to die right here!" Kuro began to take slow steps backwards, eventually stopping as he hit the top of the slope.
"You're going to feel the agony of being cut into pieces as I hack you up like a fish. I will take special care with you as you scream. I'm going to carve you up and I'm going to enjoy it!" He pushed up his glasses before starting to sway again, preparing to use the out-of-the-bag attack again.
"Oh no, you don't!" Luffy shouted, charging forward, needing to catch him before he could disappear again. She reached out a hand but only grasped air as he vanished in a cloud of purple smoke. "Dammit!" She swung around to look down the slope, eyes wide and expression slightly worried. She had gotten lucky, grabbing a hold of Kuro earlier and wasn't sure if she could do it again. Her teeth clenched together, she had to find a way to break that stupid attack of his one way or another.
Meanwhile, inside the deep forest, Jango's patience had been growing dangerously thin, he had yet to find the mangy brats and the stupid rich girl and he knew that Captain Kuro would get even angrier if he took too long.
"Come out, you little brats!" He shouted, the sound echoing through the trees. "I know you're hiding around here! Just give it up." His eyes scanned the forest, not really expecting any sort of reply, so it came as a shock when he saw the little white flag appear from behind a large long resting against a rock.
"We give up! You can have Lady Kaya. We'll take you to her." Pepper knelt behind the rock, waving the white flag back and forth and Jango smirked at the kid's idiocy.
"Do they think I'm stupid enough to fall for such a cheap trick?" He muttered, one hand coming up to rest on his hat as he walked forward.
Behind the bushes, Onion grinned and yanked on the rope in his hands, unleashing the first part of their trap. The rope pulled taut, the other end having been tied to a tree across the clearing, and when Onion pulled on it the rope was lifted off the ground, forming a makeshift tripwire. Jango's leg collided with the rope, sending him face first into the ground with a small shriek of surprise.
Pepper leapt on top of the log, still holding the white flag in one hand, and cheered.
"He fell for it! Now Onion!" He pointed towards the blonde's hiding spot and the kid emerged from the bushes, a white cough mask across his face. Jango rolled onto his back, and looked over at Onion, surprised at the kid's get-up, but was unprepared for the boy to lean over him and begin phase two of their plan. Onion brandished a large shaker full of pepper and began to dump it in Jango's face causing the hypnotist to sneeze violently. Carrot appeared from his hiding spot and raised his frying pan with a yell before slamming it down onto Jango's balls. The man let out a scream of pain as the kids took off and after they were around the corner Jango forced himself to his feet, still sneezing and his face blue with pain.
"Those brats 'ACHOO' I'm going to 'ACHOO' murder them 'ACHOO'" Jango muttered, fighting back his sneezes. The hypnotist looked up in time to see the three kids behind a log balanced at the top of a large rock. Pepper had pushed a branch into a hollow beneath the log as the other two boys struggled to push it, attempting to send it crashing down onto Jango. The man had no time to move before the log came free of the rock and dropped down, landing directly on one of his feet. He let out another shriek of pain and didn't notice that the three kids had grabbed their weapons again, still not finished with their assault.
"End of the line, Hypnotist!" they yelled together, jumping off the rock and down towards the man. Jango had finally had enough. He heard the kids' shout and turned, Pepper and Carrot's attacks missing him completely, and allowing him to catch Onion and hold the kid up by his throat.
"Looks like you bit off a little more than you can chew!" Jango hissed, furious.
"Damn, we failed?" Pepper groaned, struggling to push himself to his knees. His body hurt after the long fall.
"You didn't take me seriously. I am a pirate after all." Then Jango turned and tossed Onion, causing the boy to slam roughly into a tree.
"ONION!" Carrot and Pepper yelled, worried for their friend.
"You pretend pirates have gotten in over your heads!" Pepper and Carrot flinched at Jango's words, letting out cries of surprise as Jango lifted them up and, one by one, threw them against the tree.
"Where are you hiding, rich girl? I know you're here so listen up. If you don't come out right now I'll kill these three brats first." He moved to pick up his hat, which had fallen off when the brats first tripped him and placed it on his head roughly.
"You can all contemplate on how stupid it was to mess with a real pirate, in hell." A rustling in the bushes to his left caught his attention and he looked over to see Kaya standing up, having emerged from her hiding spot.
"There you are..." The hypnotist smirked darkly.
"No!" Pepper yelled, worried for the girl.
"Run! Lady Kaya!" said Carrot, waving his hand at her in a shooing manner.
"Run!" shouted Onion, clenching his fists against the ground and shouting with everything he had.
The sound of Onion's scream echoed through the forest, catching the attention of Zoro and Usopp who were not too far away from the boys.
"Did you hear that?" Zoro asked, slowing his run slightly.
"Yeah, it's them. I'd recognize their voices anywhere."
"That way!" Zoro turned almost 180 degrees to face where the scream had come from and took off running. That scream wasn't a good thing which meant they needed to hurry.
Less than a half mile away, Kaya stood in front of Jango, a frown on her face and her eyes sad. She hadn't wanted the boys to get hurt.
"Please stop this. Don't hurt them," She said, sighing softly. "I'll…I'll write the will."
"No, you mustn't!" Pepper yelled. "Once you write it, he'll kill you!" Kaya flinched slightly before her expression turned sad and she turned her face away from the kids.
"I'm sorry..."
"Stupid, don't negotiate with me," Jango scoffed, grinning at her. Captain Kuro wants me to kill everybody," His gaze shifted to the kids and Kaya gasped.
"No, you can't!" She begged, before her eyes took notice of the chakram held loosely in his hand. Moving quicker than anyone had seen her move, Kaya snuck forward and grabbed the ring before retreating back to her original spot. Jango let out a soft noise of surprise and stared at the girl, having not expected something like that from her.
"If you don't meet my demands, I won't wait for you to kill me! Then there'll be no will!" Kaya tilted her head back and held the sharp ring to her throat in warning.
"N-no... no! W-wait! Don't do that! I'll be dead meat if you don't write that will!" Jango stuttered out, panicking slightly as Kaya squeezed her eyes closed and held the ring closer.
"Ka... Kaya!" Pepper exclaimed, the other two boys gritting their teeth in anger.
Jango continued to watch her worriedly for a few more seconds before sighing and clutching his hat. "Fine, I'll let these kids go. However, I doubt that they'll be able to escape anyways."
Carrot ground his teeth together, angry at himself. Usopp had asked them to protect Kaya and they had failed. How could they fail their captain?!
Jango made his way carefully over to Kaya and grabbed the ring from her loose fingers before holding up a quill pen for her to take.
"Here."
Kaya sat on her knees in front of a large tree stump, a piece of paper placed in front of her. As she slowly began to write, the three boys watched on, their faces sad. All three of them were thinking the same thing. They had failed.
"Dammit," Pepper muttered quietly.
"Don't forget to sign!" Jango ordered, watching over Kaya's shoulder.
"I know..."
When Kaya finished, Jango picked up the letter and read it over, pleased to see Kuro's fake name on it. "I leave all my wealth to my faithful butler, Klahadore."
"Good, this'll do. This saves me the trouble of having to hypnotize you." The hypnotist quickly folded up the letter and placed it in an interior pocket of his coat as Kaya carefully rose to her feet.
"You promised not to kill them, right? I di-..." Kaya was cut off as Jango quickly moved forward and shoved the girl back against a tree, his hand at her throat.
"Of course, I'm a man of my word but…" Jango trailed off with a smirk, starting to twirl one of his chakram lazily around his finger. His hand tightened against Kaya's throat as his smile faded into a glare.
"Unfortunately, I cannot extend the same courtesy to you. Your part in this is over!"
"KAYA!" The kids yelled, watching the scene before them fearfully. Kaya just squeezed her eyes shut, hands at her side and clenching the fabric of her jacket.
"Found 'em! Over there!"
Carrot was the only one who heard the shout and he turned his head, eyes widening with shock. In the distance but getting nearer with each second, was Zoro and on his shoulder he carried an injured Usopp.
"Captain!"
The other two kids turned their heads so fast, they looked as if they had gotten whiplash and grinned when they saw the long-nosed teen.
"Zoro, get moving." Usopp ordered, pointing at the hypnotist.
"Alright," Without stopping, Zoro shrugged his shoulder and threw Usopp to the ground, hand gripping the sheath of one of his katana as he ran.
"This is the end, you hypnotizing-freak!"
"Shit! He found us. It seems like I have to end this quickly. Time to DIE!" Jango raised his hand, preparing to strike but before he could, Pepper, Carrot, and Onion forced themselves to their feet and charged the hypnotist.
"We won't let that happen!" They screamed, each of them holding onto part of the handle of the shovel and they pushed it forward, slamming the metal shovel into the hypnotist's back. Jango bit back a cry of pain, a vein appearing on his forehead before he turned and glared at the three kids.
"You little brats!" He screamed, kicking them back as hard as he could before turning back to Kaya.
"I don't think so!" Zoro yelled, causing Jango's attention to switch to the swordsman. In a move that confused the hypnotist, Zoro drew one of his swords and cut a thick branch off of a tree a few feet from Jango. As the branch fell, it revealed Usopp standing a ways behind Zoro, grinning smugly.
"That's right... that branch was in my way." It had been Usopp's idea and Zoro had caught on quickly to the plan, paving the way for Usopp's signature attack. The long-nosed teen raised his slingshot and aimed before yelling.
"Exploding Star!" As the pinball struck Jango in the face it exploded with the force of a bullet, knocking the hypnotist back and free Kaya from his hold. At the loud noise, Kaya ducked her head and covered her ears, watching with a grin as Jango fell to the ground, unconscious before he even hit the dirt.
Luffy stood her ground as she waited for Kuro's next move. More claw marks appeared in the ground around her and another slash appeared in her shoulder as Kuro moved but she didn't flinch, refusing to show weakness. Suddenly, without any kind of forewarning, Luffy leaned back slightly, just barely missing the swipe of Kuro's cat claws as he appeared in front of her. He was grinning smugly but Luffy just stared back at him calmly and after a second he vanished again, reappearing a few feet behind her.
"You tired?" She asked, turning to look at him. "That attack has too many useless movements. You're just dancing around." Her head tilted to the side as if she was curious but her expression never changed.
"Don't get cocky," Kuro smirked, pushing up his glasses with both hands. "Up 'til now, I was just toying with you."
"Huh."
"You'll receive special treatment. I'll let you have a taste of what fear is as I feast on your agony."
Luffy gasped slightly as Kuro began to sway again.
"And now... Out of the Bag Attack."
Kuro was now moving at his top speed, faster than he had ever gone before, and was running up the side of the cliff walls as he sliced through everything in front of him. He wasn't expecting Luffy to be able to keep up with him and thus was shocked when he saw one of her hands in the reflection of his claws, moving straight for him.
He turned, running back towards Luffy and dodging the outstretched hand but he hadn't noticed that Luffy had shot out both of her hands and the other latched firmly onto his leg, causing the former butler to lose his balance and fall to the ground.
A cloud of dust formed, obscuring her view of the butler as she shot forward after her hand, also disappearing into the cloud. The pirates that were still alive on the beach were watching the dispersing dust with apprehension, wondering what was going on inside it. Their eyes widened in shock as it cleared to reveal Kuro standing up with Luffy latched to his chest. Her legs were wrapped around his waist and her arms had curled around his arms, preventing the man from moving.
"Let's see you can run now," She giggled, grinning at him.
"Shit! Let go you bitch!" Kuro snarled, squirming and shaking as he tried to pry the girl off but no matter what he tried, Luffy was stuck to him like glue.
"With this, your three years of detailed planning have come to an end!" Luffy continued, still grinning. It wasn't a happy grin though, it was an almost passive-aggressive 'I'm happy that my cheerfulness is pissing you off' kind of grin. Kuro just continued to growl at her.
The pirates couldn't believe what they were seeing. Their powerful Captain Kuro, the man that they thought was unbelievable was losing to a tiny teenaged girl who looked like she didn't weigh more than 100lbs.
"She's got a hold of Captain Kuro!"
"Maybe... if she wins, then we won't be killed," one ventured, causing the others to furrow their brows in thought. After a few seconds, they nodded to each other before beginning to cheer again, this time for the raven-haired girl.
"Get him, rubber girl!"
"Crush that Captain Kuro!"
Luffy shifted her eyes, glaring back at the pirates and ignoring Kuro's continued snarls. Finally fed up, she gritted her teeth and headbutted Kuro causing the former butler to shut up for a few seconds.
"You guys..." She muttered, leaning her head forward and causing her hair to shadow her eyes. After a second she launched her head back, stretching out her neck until her head was only a few feet from the cheering pirates. "DON'T CHEER FOR ME!" She didn't want a group of filthy pirates who had been ready to slaughter an entire village cheering for her. Luffy was glad that they weren't dead but that didn't mean she liked them.
By this time Kuro had begun struggling again and Luffy rolled her eyes before using her stretched neck to prepare her next attack.
"Gum-Gum..." She began, ignoring Kuro's rambling and shouting. Seriously, that guy never shut up!
"Do you think you've won? My plan will never fail! My plans never fail me!"
"BELL!" Luffy's head shot back towards her body, slamming into Kuro's face and knocking the former butler backwards and off his feet. Her momentum made her continue moving, her legs releasing Kuro's waist as she flipped up and used her hands to slam him into the ground. She remained in her handstand for a few seconds before cartwheeling to the side and back to her feet.
The pirates eyes were wide, shock written on their faces as they took in the sight of Kuro laying lifeless on the ground at Luffy's feet. The raven-haired girl had a victorious smile on her face, her eyes shadowed by her hair.
"It's over." One pirate muttered reverently.
"That…that girl just beat Captain Kuro."
"The Marines were never a match for Captain Kuro, the man with thousand plans, but this chick just knocked him out!"
"She really beat him!"
"Just who on earth are you?!" Another pirate shouted, a little afraid of the small, bloodied girl standing near the top of the slope.
"My name is Monkey D. Luffyko, Luffy for short. I'd never lose to a pirate who would ditch his name and run away from the sea. A true pirate would never give up his name 'til the day he died." Her eyes were still shadowed, but the pirates could hear the raw conviction in her tone. They began to look amongst themselves, slightly confused looks on their faces.
"Luffy? I've never heard that name before." One said, frowning slightly.
"You should remember my name for the rest of your lives!" Suddenly, Luffy's serious expression vanished and she grinned her manic D. grin.
"Because I am the person who will find the One Piece. I will become the very first Queen of the Pirates!" Her proud shout stunned the pirates and they just watched her blankly as she gripped the front of Kuro's shirt and lifted the man up.
"Now get him outta here!" She yelled, tossing Kuro's body over her shoulder to gain better momentum and knocking the former butler down the slope so that he landed mere inches from the injured pirates. "And don't you dare come back!" The group of pirates nodded fearfully before turning tail and running, some grabbing the bodies of their fallen crew mates as they tried to get away from the girl as quickly as they could. Some were even crying and screaming as they loaded themselves into the ship.
Nami had easily managed to get off of the ship while the pirates were panicking and jogged up the slope until she was standing in front of Luffy, her bag of stolen treasure held in her left hand. They stared at each other silently, Nami taking stock of all of Luffy's injuries before looking at the girl's face. Seeing the glazed over eyes, Nami's expression softened and she quickly held out her arm in preparation as Luffy pitched forward, the raven-haired girl completely exhausted and on her way to unconsciousness.
"You did well, Luffy," The orangette said softly, smiling down at Luffy before she set her bag of treasure on the ground and helped the girl to lie back against the slope. "I'm not surprised that you're exhausted. You look absolutely terrible." Honestly, every time Nami watched the girl she fight she just seemed to get more powerful. She could hardly believe that someone like Luffy even existed. Forget the strength, the raven-haired girl's view on life an pirates was so unique that Nami found herself thinking that maybe, just maybe, not all pirates were bad people. Luffy just grinned happily up at the orangette, bringing the older girl out of her thoughts, before both turned their heads to watch as the Black Cat Pirates began to sail away.
Nami sat next to Luffy with a contented sigh, placing her bag of treasure in her lap as she settled down to wait for the boys to get back.
"I really hate that guy." Nami turned her head in surprise at the other girl's soft words. She had thought that Luffy had fallen asleep.
"What?"
"That Kuro…I hate his kind of people. They're just wrong. You don't treat friends like that." Luffy was almost pouting now as she stared up at the white clouds. Nami frowned, her expression darkening as past memories flooded her thoughts before she quickly shook them away before sighing softly.
"What're you talking about? That's just how it is." She replied, picking up Luffy's hat from where it lay a few feet to her left. She examined it briefly as she continued talking, a little surprised that it hadn't been damaged in all the fighting.
"Most pirates aren't as honorable as you think they are. Captain Kuro is actually a pretty standard example. You're the weird one." Nami chuckled slightly and Luffy glanced over at her, her anger fading slightly at the happy look on her navigator's face. Her lips twitched into a small smile before she turned to stare back up at the sky.
"I'm hungry," Luffy finally said. "We should get some meat." Calm mood broken, Nami angrily shoved the straw hat onto Luffy's face in an lighthearted attempt to suffocate the raven-haired girl. Couldn't they ever have just one moment of comfortable silence?!
"Is that all you think about?" She snapped, trying to sound irritated but unable to hold back her giggles. She would never understand Luffy, the she-pirate really was an enigma.
"Can you keep everything that's happened a secret?" Kaya and the kids started in shock at Usopp's words, eyes wide as they stared at the long-nosed teen.
"Eh?! A secret?" Pepper asked, confused.
"Why should we do such a thing?" Carrot added, taking a hard step forward.
"Yeah! We all fought with our lives to protect the village." Pepper finished, raising his baseball bat above his head.
"Captain, everyone would look at you differently." None of the kids could understand why Usopp would tell them to keep it a secret. Their captain loved bragging! He was a liar and typically a coward but he had just saved everyone. He was the hero in a real battle. Onion voiced what they were all thinking.
"You'll become our village's hero!"
"Usopp..." Kaya's voice caused the sniper to turn his head away from the ranting kids and look at the rich girl curiously. "You should clear up all the misunderstandings with everyone." She muttered, hands picking at the grass around her from her place on the forest floor.
"What misunderstandings?" Usopp chuckled, breaking eye contact to look down at his feet, examining the roots of the stump that he sat on. "They'd just think that I'm lying like usual. There's no point in telling them things of the past." He shook his head and grinned up at Kaya. "That would only create panic."
Kaya's eyes widened as she finally caught on to Usopp's train of thought as the teen continued, explaining his reasoning to his crew. "This was an isolated incident. I don't think there are anymore pirates that would try to attack this secluded village ever again. But, if we tell everyone, they might panic. They would live in fear." The long-nosed teen removed his goggles and draped them around his neck before grinning.
"So, let's just pretend that nothing happened. Everything I said... it was just a hoax to fool everyone. The same thing I do everyday." Usopp's eyes slid past Kaya, knowing the girl was already on his side, and stopped at the boys, who stood more to his right. He remained silent, just watching them expectantly.
"I won't make you..." He sighed, dropping his head again.
"No, I'll do it!" Carrot insisted. "If it's the best thing for the village!"
"Me too!"
"Me three, I won't say a word!" All three boys scrambled forward and stood in front of Usopp, trying to get the teen's undivided attention.
"We will never say anything about this ever again!"
"Kaya..." Usopp turned to grin at her happily. "What about you?"
Her eyes softened and she shook her head, smiling softly. "My lips are sealed." Even though she wouldn't say anything, in her mind, Usopp would always be a hero. He was her brave warrior of the sea.
Luffy sat up slowly and yawned, feeling a little better now that she had rested a bit. She just needed some meat and she would be back to full health.
"HEY!"
Both girls turned to see Usopp and Zoro making their way down the village path towards them. Usopp was grinning brightly and waving at the two girls while Zoro just walked calmly a few steps behind him, one arm resting against the hilts of his swords, a small smirk on his face.
"Usopp! Zoro!" Luffy cheered, a bright grin coming to her own face. They must have beaten the hypnotist, and Kaya and the boys were ok based on their happy demeanor. She was glad that they had made it in time. She hadn't been able to worry about them during her own fight but for the past few minutes she had been wondering if they were ok. After all, both were already pretty injured. Luffy just shook the thoughts from her head and continued waving, happy that they had won.
As Luffy waved she felt her vest pull at the cuts on her chest and stomach. She couldn't hold in the wince that the movement caused and quickly raised the hand not waving to cover her stomach. The raven-haired girl took shallow breaths in an effort to mitigate the pain, she didn't want to worry the others. She would be fine after she got some food and rest. Both boys saw her wince and sped up, Zoro's expression darkening when he got a good look at his captain. Countless cuts and marks covered her arms and legs and he could see the rips in her vest that indicated that she had even more injuries underneath her clothes. He quickly stormed up to her and dropped to his knees before taking her wrists lightly in his hands and lifting her arms.
"Geez, Lu. What the hell happened?!" He muttered, eyes sweeping her pale frame. His throat was dry and his stomach rolled as he started at her arms, taking in the multiple deep cuts and dried blood covering them, before moving on to her shoulders and down her vest.
'How could I have left her?' he thought, angry at himself. 'I know I had to help Usopp but she... Dammit Luffy.'
"Stupid butler guy and his dumb attacks," She muttered annoyed, turning her head away from Zoro as she pouted. She was frustrated that she had let Kuro get so many hits on her before she could take him down and the cuts on her chest were really starting to hurt.
"Where is he?!" Zoro snarled, glancing around the slope. 'I don't care if Luffy has already defeated that asshole of a butler. I am going to kill him!'
Nami sighed and smacked the side of Zoro's head, causing him to drop Luffy's hands so he could rub at his head annoyed before he glared at the orange-haired navigator.
"Luffy already kicked him and the other pirates off the island. They're long gone so rein in that protective streak, idiot." She said, rolling her eyes when Zoro's gaze turned to the ocean and his glare deepened.
When Zoro finally let go of her hands, Luffy reached down, intending to adjust her vest so that it wouldn't irritate her cuts. She wanted to just take it off but Nami had told her not to in Orange Town and she didn't want to get yelled at again. She began ripping at gaps in her vest, making the uneven tears wider until, one by one, the destroyed parts began to fall off. After a few more seconds of hard tearing, the raven-haired girl was finally satisfied and she nodded to herself as she glanced down at her modified vest. All that remained was one shoulder portion holding the vest up and a small amount covering her chest. Almost all of her cuts were now exposed to the air and she breathed a sigh of relief before stretching her arms above her head in an attempt to loosen stiff muscles.
Zoro's gaze turned back to Luffy when her arms blocked his view of the ocean and he immediately froze, a hot flush coming to his face and he knew that even the tips of his ears were a bright red. He let out a choked sound as his eyes quickly swept her again and his face darkened even more.
Nami frowned at the odd noise and turned to look over at Zoro again, wondering what could have caused him to make such an unusual sound, and immediately slapped her forehead.
"LUFFY!" she yelled, frustrated. Honestly, she couldn't leave the girl alone for a moment. The remains of Luffy's vest were barely decent and they left almost nothing to the imagination. The fact that Luffy was sitting practically in Zoro's lap and he could see everything was not helping the swordsman control the blush on his face. Nami imagined that Zoro's brain had probably short circuited and she felt almost sorry for the man. It seemed that falling in love with Luffy meant that he was never going to catch a break.
"What?" Luffy pouted, turning to her navigator at the shout. Nami just pointed one finger at the girl's vest and watched as her pout deepened.
"It's not open this time." The she-pirate countered, rolling her eyes before turning to look back at Zoro. He was a brighter red shade than she had seen on anyone before and Luffy wondered what had caused her first mate to shut down so completely. But she had to admit, Zoro looked kinda cute when he blushed, and the raven-haired girl giggled.
"DON'T 'WHAT NAMI' ME! THAT IS JUST AS BAD. YOU PRACTICALLY HAVE NO SHIRT ON!"
"So what?" Luffy sighed, dragging her eyes away from Zoro once again so she could cock her head to the side in confusion. "I wanted to just take it off but I didn't want to get yelled at, which you're doing anyway."
"HAVE YOU NO SHAME?!" Nami took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down slightly. "Luffy, you need to wear a proper shirt."
"Why? Zoro and Usopp are the only ones here and they don't seem to mind." The girl protested, crossing her arms over her chest with a huff. Nami glanced back up the slope to Usopp, who was purposely looking away from the entire scene. He caught Nami's gaze and silently gestured to Zoro with a universal expression that said, 'If he catches me staring at Luffy, I'll be dead in an instant.' Nami couldn't argue with that so she nodded at him and turned back around to glare at the still blushing swordsman.
"Yeah I bet he doesn't..." She muttered, stomping over to the green haired man who was struggling to get his blush under control and forcing himself to look away from the raven-haired girl. She punched him hard, knocking his head forward and snapping the swordsman out of his daze.
"HEY!" Zoro growled angrily, turning to glare at the navigator.
"Shirt. NOW!" Nami shouted, holding out one hand and gesturing at him impatiently. Zoro really didn't feel like being hit again so he slipped his shirt over his head and held it out to the orangette. The navigator just rolled her eyes and gestured to Luffy, muttering under her breath about idiot captains and perverted moss heads, and Zoro just groaned before turning back to his captain.
"Luffy, here. Put this on," He ordered, shifting it so he could pull it over her head. "Raise your arms here." It took a few seconds of struggling for Zoro to help Luffy slip the bloodstained white shirt over her head. It was a few sizes too big and hung off of one of Luffy's shoulders. It looked almost cute on her, despite the red slash marks on the front and as Zoro stood up and helped Luffy to her feet it slid down until the hem was almost at the edge of her thigh high shorts.
Zoro had since gotten his blush under control now that Luffy had a decent shirt on, but he couldn't stop himself from thinking of how adorable she looked. 'I need to start offering her my shirt more often. Hers gets ruined so often anyway.' An almost possessive growl rumbled in his chest and he fought it down, rubbing a finger under his nose in an attempt to distract himself. Now still wasn't the time to start thinking on this, though he knew that he would have to confront it sooner or later.
Luffy turned to look at Usopp as the sniper finally approached the group, shaking his head in disbelief at the insanity of the recent situation. With a grin, Luffy ran up to him and pointed at her new shirt, chattering about how big Zoro was and that the shirt was almost a dress on her, but slowed to a stop when she noticed Usopp staring at the ocean, a blank expression on his face.
"Because of everything that happened here today, I've finally come to a very difficult decision." The long-nosed teen finally said, pulling his eyes away from the sea to look at Luffy.
"Hmm?" Luffy tilted her head in confusion, knowing that whatever Usopp was talking about was very important to the long-nosed boy but not having much of a clue as to what it was.
The day after the foiled pirate attack was like any normal day in the village. The people went about their daily lives, enjoying the peaceful moments and the warm, sunny weather. Some came together to talk about Usopp's no show yesterday and most were a little worried about the long-nosed teen but all of them thought that he'd come through the village that day. They hoped he would at least, some people didn't like starting their days without Usopp's morning lies and yelling.
At the local restaurant, the Straw-Hat crew had finally finished their meal and were discussing whether or not it was time to bid the village goodbye when the door to the restaurant opened and Kaya stepped in.
"Oh, there you are!" She called, smiling as she made her way over to the booth where Luffy, Zoro, and Nami sat.
"Yo Kaya" Luffy greeted, waving one hand, the bandages on her upper arms pulling taut.
"Is it okay for you to be out and about?" Nami asked, leaning out of the booth and looking back at the rich girl, having been facing away from the door.
"Don't worry about me. In the past year, my illness was due to my highly depressed state over my parents death. Usopp has put so much effort into cheering me up that I just can't remain that way anymore." She smiled softly at the crew but Nami could see the faint blush that came to her cheeks at the mention of Usopp.
Luffy grinned happily and nodded her head. "I'm glad."
Kaya nodded again at Luffy before her eyes shifted to Zoro who gave her a curt nod and a small twitch of his lips that the blonde girl took as a smile. Then she looked at Nami, who was smirking at her in a knowing fashion and causing her blush to deepen slightly.
"I've caused you a lot of trouble," Kaya continued. "Thank you very much for your help with everything and to show my gratitude I want to give you a gift." She held her arms out excitedly as the Straw-Hats all perked up, curious as to the present Kaya had prepared. "I hope you'll accept it!"
At the same time, Usopp was in his old house packing up the last of his stuff, the drawers and chests in his house hanging open and bare. Earlier that morning he had called together the other members of the Usopp Pirate crew to make an announcement. From that day forward he was disbanding the crew and setting out to sea. After meeting Luffy and the others he wanted to be a real brave warrior of the sea and make his dad proud of him. It was something he had always dreamed of but never thought that he'd be brave enough to actually do it. At first his crew had thought that he was lying again but after staring at his calm face for a few minutes they began to realize that he was serious. It saddened the boys that Usopp would be leaving them, and they were even more put out that he wouldn't be saying goodbye to the rest of the villagers, but they couldn't fault their captain. It was his dream to be a true pirate and they would never stand in the way of their captain's dream because they had their own dreams.
Instead Onion decided that when Usopp left, the three boys would take over his duties as village liars and make sure to always tell the villagers that pirates were coming. They just hoped that one day, when they said pirates were coming, that their words would actually be true and it would be Usopp returning to them as a successful pirate.
Finally closing his large green backpack, Usopp sat down heavily on his old bed, leaning back against the mattress with his hands behind his head. He was finally leaving. Usopp knew that he would miss this village, he would miss everyone in it especially...
He sat up Quickly and looked out the window over his bed, eyes focusing on the large white house at the top of the hill. He would miss Kaya most of all, all the times they talked and the laughs they shared. His confession at the slope came back to him and he sighed. He hoped that Kaya would understand but he didn't quite have the courage to ask her so he would just leave. Then the confession would only be hard on him and the rich girl could put it behind her.
"Alright, time to leave," He sighed, rising from the bed and grabbing the strap to his bag before lifting the giant bag and hooking it against his back, emphasizing the fact that the bag was almost three times as large as Usopp himself. He made his way to the door but because of the size of the bag, he was unable to force himself through the normal sized opening.
"What?! Why won't it come out?" Usopp grunted, pulling as hard as he could against the straps. The door frame and walls creaked as he pulled, stretching as much as was possible before the frame cracked and Usopp shot forward. The long-nosed teen had been pulling so hard that he lost his balance and went tumbling forward, rolling quickly down the dirt path, completely out of control.
Kaya led Luffy and the others to the North shore where she had stashed their present. Their eyes widened in shock at the sight that greeted them at the beach. Merry stood in front of them, a small ship anchored to the shallows behind him that Kaya insisted was just for them. Luffy's mouth dropped open in shock and she cheered happily, latching onto Zoro's arm and yanking on her first mate happily. The green haired swordsman couldn't hold back a grin of his own, Luffy's happiness rubbing off on him and increasing his own excitement at the idea of finally having an actual ship. Nami just stood on Luffy's other side clapping her hands together with glee.
"A caravel!" Nami exclaimed, easily recognizing the ship model.
"Is this really for us?!" Luffy asked, glancing over at Kaya excitedly, her eyes shining.
"Yes, as a token of my appreciation," The rich girl chuckled, giving them a small smile.
"Although this is a somewhat old-fashioned model, but I personally designed it and she sails like a dream. She is a carvel-make caravel with lateen sails and central stern rudder. It's a fine ship and I call it "Going Merry!" Merry said proudly, pointing our the basics of the ship as the straw-hats stepped closer to the ship.
"Here, I'll brief you on how to operate it..." Merry turned to Luffy and opened his mouth to begin explaining the functions of the ship but Nami stepped in front of the raven-haired girl and shook her head.
"Just explain it to me please. I'm the navigator and Luffy here wouldn't understand anyway." She insisted, grinning at Merry. Luffy just shrugged, unconcerned and moved past Nami to get a better look at the ship.
"It sure is a nice ship!" She sighed happily, eyes scanning the entire thing before settling on the ram figurehead. "That figurehead is cool!"
'That's going to be my special seat,' she decided as she turned back to grin at Zoro.
"I've prepared everything that's needed to set sail aboard the ship." Kaya explained, happy at Luffy and the others' enthusiasm.
"Thank you so much, Kaya! This really means a lot." Luffy bowed thankfully to the blonde girl, who easily waved her off, thankful that she had met this kind group of people. A shrill scream echoed from the slope behind them and all five people turned, watching the large green blob that was getting steadily closer with mixed expressions of confusion.
Kaya was the first person to recognize what the blob actually was and she gasped, in horror. "Oh no, Usopp!"
"What is he doing?" Luffy chuckled, moving back up to stand near Zoro. "It looks kinda fun."
"Whatever, we'd better stop him. He's heading straight for the ship." Zoro's tone was bored and he just raised an eyebrow at the giant green sphere that was drawing nearer.
The Usopp ball hit the beach and kept going as Zoro and Luffy stood side by side in front of it and as one, lifted a leg and used it as a buffer. It was just unfortunate that their feet managed to catch Usopp right in the center of his face.
"Ow~ thanks guys" Usopp muttered, his eyes tearing up.
"Anytime." Both Luffy and Zoro's voices were completely deadpan as they stared at the long-nosed teen.
"So you're really setting out to sea, Usopp" Kaya asked, her voice wavering slightly and her expression sad.
"Yeah, I've decided to get going before I start to change my mind." They both just stared out at the open ocean quietly, appearing to be in a daze.
"So, don't try to stop me. Please."
"Don't worry, I won't. I had a feeling that you would be leaving."
"That's kind of disappointing," Usopp chuckled, turning to grin at the blonde girl. He had been expecting her to argue with him. "Next time when I return to this village, I'll tell you stories that are even more outrageous than my previous tall tales!"
"I'll be looking forward to it!" Kaya giggled, happy for him and trying to hide the sadness she felt at the idea of him leaving. "And when you return, I'll be a doctor so I can take care of all of your injuries!"
"That's great Kaya; You'll make a great doctor!" Usopp praised, the rich girl's excitement becoming somewhat contagious.
They settled into a comfortable silence, just staring at each other as they tried to memorize the other person's features. When they realized that they were staring, they quickly looked away from each other with a blush. Usopp turned to the ship behind Kaya, seeing Luffy and the others leaning against the railing at the stern of the ship, just watching the two quietly.
"You guys, take care too! I hope we'll meet again someday" He said, grinning at them.
"Why?" Luffy asked, tilting her head and looking completely confused.
"Huh? What do you mean 'why'?" Usopp replied, looking at the raven haired girl with a raised eyebrow. " Are you antisocial or somethin'? I'm going to be a pirate like you, so we might meet on the sea one day." He was a little confused as to why he was having to explain this to her, Luffy was a relatively intelligent girl after all.
"What're you talkin' about?" Zoro just rolled his eyes and pointed down at the floorboards of the ship with a sigh. "Hurry up and get on."
"Eh?"
"We're friends, right? So come on." Luffy's expression was calm, as if it was the simplest thing in the world and Usopp should have known it already. She had already decided he was going to be on her crew a few days ago, before the fight with Kuro, so it was already a done deal in her mind.
Usopp was stunned into silence at the girl's words, trying to wrap his mind around the idea. His body began to shake with excitement and a grin came over his face before he let out a whoop of joy. He was about to take the first step towards achieving his dream and he couldn't think of anyone better to share the experience with. And maybe, one day, he and Luffy would run into the Red Haired pirates and get to see their fathers again. He jumped in the air and pumped his fist up as he ran towards the small caravel.
"I'm the captain!"
"No, you stupid Usopp, I'm the Captain!" Luffy shouted, leaning over the railing slightly and pouting. Everyone around the two just laughed but before Usopp could make it to the ladder of the ship, a small hand latched onto his arm.
"Usopp?" He turned to see that Kaya had been the one to grab him and was now fidgeting in front of the long haired teen.
"Yeah, Kaya?" Usopp asked, watching as the blonde girl played with her fingers. After a few seconds she took a deep breath, gathering her courage, before she stood up onto her tiptoes and pressed her lips lightly to Usopp's cheek, giving the boy a chaste kiss. Usopp just froze in shock. Kaya, the girl he had secretly loved for so long had just kidded him. It had to be a dream or something, there was no way he was actually awake right now. His face turned a bright red and a goofy grin came to his lips before he pitched backwards and fainted on the spot.
"Usopp!" Kaya cried out, a little worried because of his reaction but Nami and Merry just laughed.
"Don't worry. He's fine Kaya, he's just happy that's all," said Nami giggling as she watch Usopp twitch every now and then, the goofy smile still plastered on his face. Luffy had her head tilted to the side curiously, that shade of red on Usopp was the same type that Zoro had after the fight. Her eyes shifted to her first mate. Maybe if she kissed his cheek she would get the same reaction. The raven-haired girl grinned to herself, that could be a fun new game for her.
A few feet away Zoro shivered, a nervous feeling coming over him. 'Why do I feel like the next few days are going to be very interesting?'
Mwhahahaha! I soo can't wait to start writing the next chapter. I have so many ideas. I have finally settled on a firm timeline for Luffy's revelation of her feelings and their eventual confessions. From there, it only gets better. I will start making Luffy question herself a bit more in these next few chapters like I made Zoro do back before the Syrup Island arc before finally hitting her with the golden brick of revelation.
I had a ton of fun writing the ZoLu moments during this chapter, few though they were, and I hope you enjoyed them.
Thank you so much for reading!
Till next chapter!