Chapter 2: Ma Petite Chérie!
"Resist much, obey little."
-Walt Whitman
...
"Eeeeeeeh? You know each other?" The boys yelled comically.
Usopp scratched the back of his back with an apologetic smile. "Yeah, Ayame's a friend of mine." He looked at everyone and noted the confused faces. Nami appeared to look more shock by placing her hands over her cheeks, while her mouth made an 'o.' Usopp eyed her suspiciously. "It's not normal to see a girl smithin', ya know?"
She's a girl? The majority of them thought with wide eyes. It could've fooled them. Their eyes trailed down her chest and saw a small lump. She's a girl. They confirmed, nodding.
In the background, Usopp caught Nami snapping her finger in a flash with a large smile, as if she's got this all down. Like she had written a play and it went precisely as it should. But once they caught eyes, the young navigator froze. As he was about to call her out, he blinked and saw her "shock" expression again. What the? He blinked a couple more times and asked himself if he had been hallucinating.
Shaking his head, he continued.
"See?" He pluck the wig off, her hair fell in waves, and her wig dangled above her head. It was soft cotton pink hair that fell slightly above her shoulders. At the roots was a dark golden brown color, so it was clear she was not born with an unnatural color.
Irking, she stood on the balls of her feet and reached for it. She even jumped for the wig. Unfortunately for the 17-year-old, she was only 5'1. But with a quick little punch from her to him, he recoiled and held his abdomen. She snatch it right out of his fingers and attempted to place it back only to be stopped.
"Ah-haa~!" A coo startled everyone. A blond bent his knee and lifted Ayame's hand. "Mademoiselle~ I knew you were a girl this whole time! You can't fool ol' Sanji, my dear! You're the cutest little thing I've ever seen!" He pinched her chubby cheeks, stretching and rubbing them. Of course, Nami knew he wasn't telling the truth.
I am feeling the power of Satan inside me. Ayame glowered down at him. Meanwhile, Usopp gaped at Sanji. Those adjectives were taboo to her. Growing annoyed like a cat, she smacked his hands off her dramatically. The one thing she hated most was being called "little" and "cute" in the same sentence. It was a natural occurrence for short girls. Folding her jeans up, climbing counter tops, and get aggressively attacked by a cabinet if she used it to climb up said counter tops.
"That makes sense," Nami agreed with a slight nod. "This is an old fashion world. Girls aren't suppose to take 'manly' jobs. So you just deliver knives then?"
"Smithing? Like blacksmith?" The straw hat boy questioned, a bit disappointed. He had hoped for a musician or someone extraordinary while Ayame looked for her mask and found it on the table.
Seeing no point in pretending any more, Ayame finally spoke in her normal voice. It was unusually low for a girl but nothing like a man's voice, it had a certain femininity. "Apprentice." She corrected, but her voice was too quiet - it was barely even a whisper.
"Wait, wait, wait. Blacksmith? Apprentice?" Sanji started, looking at the girl with wide eyes. Suddenly, he felt a rush of guilt for what he said yesterday.
Zoro harrumphed with the tiniest smirks on his tan face. "The scrawny little boy, you mentioned to us?"
"It's not like I knew he was a she!" Sanji shot back and turned to the short girl, who narrowed her eyes at him. He held her hand once again and bowed his head, and he cooed, "I am so sorry, ma petite chérie." In return, she just stared at him with a blank face but her eye twitched upon hearing 'petite.'
If there wasn't so many witnesses, you would've left my wrath. She tightened her fist.
Luffy continued, an eye squinting at her. "Blacksmith? That's not what I wanted... Can you fight like cool and all?" He inquired even though he wasn't going to accept her as his crew mate. She gave him a look, both lost and cautious.
"Nope." She answered without a care. Her voice was low, bored and husky. Like she had been inhaling too much smoke or drinking too much alcohol, perhaps both.
"So, where you headed?" Luffy asked, picking his nose. "We'll drop you off if we can."
"Logue Town." She said curtly, eyeing the cook who wanted nothing more than to pinch her cheeks again. She swatted his hands before they assaulted her said cheeks.
"'Kay." He nodded, but continued to stare at her as if he expected her to talk more. "You don't talk much, do ya?" With that, she shrugged in attempt to dismiss his question.
Usopp frowned at the girl, who wanted nothing more than to nurse her wounds and do her job. It had been a while since he saw her, and he wanted her to join their crew.
The backstory for these two was a few years back, when she had been found on a wreckage by the beach. It was apparently a common occurrence for her: being found stranded somewhere. The two were close, although it may not seem like it, but Usopp knew Ayame. She has a hard time expressing herself and would rather not express anything as it confuses her. It was safe to say they are friends, maybe close friends or siblings.
Turning to his captain, he went to persuade him. "Luffy! My friend, here, is a fortune teller! Don't we need that type of person in our crew? Like, you know, do fortune telling things, see if luck in on our side, and reading our palms, voodoo magi - Oh," he paused, knowing this next topic would be a solid deal. "Magic tricks."
Whipping her head, Ayame stared at him. "Usopp, what are you-"
"REALLY?" Luffy bellowed as if lightning had struck him hard. He turned to her with a wide smile that she was sure she can see his molars. "Show me! Show me! Show me! SHOW ME!"
"No!" Ayame glared after she pull Usopp's arm and brought him to the side. "I'm not a magician, Usopp!" She whispered to him. "Just what are you trying-" Realization hit her. "I don't want to be a pirate."
Usopp knew she disliked pirates and she knew Klahadore was a pirate. She had told him plenty of times to stay away from Kaya's house, but of course, he couldn't just stay away. It irritated Ayame, but soon she kept watch from a safe distance to make sure he was safe. Or at least that was what his gut was telling him.
"Yeah, but you know how magic tricks works right?" He rubbed his sore arm and grinned, while she sighed in contempt. It was true. She could make things disappear, but that was a trick her previous master had taught her. "And you'll finally live free!"
"Who said I want that type of life?"
Oh, she was being difficult. Usopp huffed. She adored the safe mundane life. Gentle weathers, cookies and chocolate, and the sweet aromas of the bakery. But that was boring. Dreams don't come true by doing nothing, it must be sought for.
"WHY NOT?" he shouted like an angry child. "Show me, Stupid!"
"Don't call me 'Stupid', Stupid!" She shot back.
Sanji cooed. "You're so cute when you're angry!"
Gritting her teeth together. She was at her limit. "Keep it up and I'm about to get real adorable." The cook opened his mouth to continue until Luffy ran up to her face and begged for a magic trick.
"Usopp," Nami teared up. "We're keep her."
...
Somehow, Ayame had ended up doing one simple magic trick in an attempt to calm him down. But after that, she ignored every plea from Luffy. He wanted to see more and had the audacity to call her 'stupid' once more. Irking, she could not believe she was stuck with a pirate, who only continued to beg while he ate his sandwiches. Spit and food landed unceremoniously on her bare face while she tried to eat her own share.
Another problem was Sanji. He came on to her with his hands reaching for her cheeks - he even tried to come in for a hug, had she not slapped his face away(the slap was instinctive). And the swordsman, who sat quietly in a corner, narrowed his dark eyes at her.
"Aaayaaaameeee! Maaagiiiiic!"
"Leave me alone!" She barred her teeth at him.
"C'mon Luffy, you don't wanna get her angry..." Usopp whispered. He was sweating all over the place.
"I JUST WANNA SEE ANOTHER TRICK!" He stomped his foot viciously. Luffy's arms extended twice as long and it seemed boneless.
Caught off guard, Ayame fell backwards with plate-size eyes.
"You... You're a devil-fruit user!"
Luffy grinned. "Well, yeah! Ain't I cool?"
She sat away from him with a deep frown, watching his arms noodle around each other. Without limits, without boundaries. It disturbed her to the core. Like a worm... He moves like a worm. Or a seaweed.
A/N:
Well, for Sanji lovers out there. Here's a tiny bit of "fluff"-but we all know Sanji acts like this to every girl. Ahaha
*ma petite chérie = my little dear/my little darling
Thank you hesmus, Nebelkatz, and nikkichu112 for the favorite/follow! I didn't expect anything until the next, next, next, next chapter! Thank you SO much!