Chapter 11 - Girl Talk
It was now nighttime on the Thousand Sunny, just hours after the bounties of the new Straw Hats were revealed.
They had another party at the insistence of Luffy, much to the chagrin of those who just had a party the day before. The ones cooking this time were Takumi, Megumi and Hisako, serving pizza as the main course (mainly because Hinata was the one who personally asked Takumi to make pizza dishes, which was how he and Yachi spent their first date together at a local pizza restaurant in Miyagi) with side dishes like vegetables and some medicinal tea, which got strong positive reactions from the group and made them party wildly, with the exception of a few wanting to have the peace and quiet, but were pulled into the chaos.
They also spent the rest of the day having to stop at a nearby island to refill on supplies and provisions, then take on a couple bandits that were robbing some people, and had to leave in a hurry that while taking down said thieves, they caused quite a bit of destruction (by accident) and left the island in a hurry.
Sitting outside on the main lawn was Nami, dressed in her pajamas, wanting sometime to herself with recent events of yesterday from the Blue Sea Resort incident to their strange battle with the Marines, coupled with Robin's theory of a strange mastermind behind it all.
Nami let out a sigh of worry. "I'm really worried for our new friends. They have their own lives ahead of them."
"We need to find the creep responsible for this and fast." Nami thought, starting to get worried. Her negative train of thought was interrupted by a blanked over her head.
"It's kinda cold out for you to not have a blanket on you." Nami turned to see the voice responsible being Lucy, alongside Weiss, Yachi and Erina; all dressed in pajamas with blanks around them as well.
"Hey." Nami greeted. The other four girls smiled and sat down beside her.
"Lucy-san and I noticed you weren't in the room and quietly went out to find you." Weiss explained.
"And Nakiri-san and I need some time to ourselves with fresh air. Must've been a coincidence." Yachi said.
"Plus, we need to get away from the awkward sleeping in the aquarium," Erina said, starting to remember the loud snoring from Hinata and Ruby, the clinginess of Soma, and Juvia's weird dream fantasies about her and Gray. Megumi was oddly sound TOTALLY asleep in the chaos.
The five girls began to enjoy the stars in the night sky, with the calm atmosphere being very soothing and free of all the worry in an instant. They were silent for a while, having some trouble finding the words to speak.
"It's crazy. We just met for a day and all of a sudden… we're already very close friends." Weiss commented, being the first to speak.
"More than that - family." Lucy said, surprising the other four.
"We may be from different worlds. Or share blood. But we are family." Lucy continued, rubbing the pink guild mark on her right hand.
The other girls were surprised by Lucy's words, remembering all the friends they have gained from their journey that supported them physically and emotionally against whatever came their way. This caused smiles, even from Erina, to share her sentiment.
"It feels nice. You girls are like the sisters I admire and trust." Yachi explained.
"I technically have an older sister, but having younger sisters of my own doesn't seem so bad." Nami commented.
"Same here with my older sister, and in a similar way how I view the members of my team. But you girls are sisters that I can feel at ease." Weiss commented.
"It's a first for me to have sisters, even not of blood. It's like a wish that I always dreamt of having, and here it is." Erina explained.
Lucy was touched by their words and was really glad that Nami, Weiss, Yachi and Erina feel the same way.
"Then we do have some things in common after all." Lucy said.
"Indeed." Nami said, the girls starting to stare at the sky again.
Nami began thinking about all the things she went through in her life: her tragic childhood of losing her foster mother to Arlong and being forced as her navigator, showcasing her initial hatred of pirates, until Luffy and the others freed her from Arlong's grip and became her friends, her time on Weatheria to grow stronger 2 years ago after Luffy's message and learning about Ace's death, her time spent with the crew with her invaluable skills to keep them alive, her ups-and-downs with Usopp and Robin back at Water 7, and Sanji at Whole Cake Island, with all 3 crew members left for different reasons only to come back, and lastly, her loyalty and bond with her straw-hat wearing idiot captain that also became her source of strength.
The other four girls started to think about similar things like Nami when they looked at the night sky.
For Lucy, she thought about her mother's passing and the strained relationship she had with her father, and her meeting with Natsu and Happy for the first time and joining Fairy Tail, having always been her dream. Since then, she went on countless adventures with both of them along with her many other guild mates, befriending new Celestial Spirits, having the courage to face her father after the Fairy Tail-Phantom Lord guild war, then mending it much later after hearing her father going through a tough time, going to Edolas and meeting her alternate counterpart, teaming up with Cana to participate in the S-Class trials before facing off Grimoire Heart and Acnologia, losing 7 years of her life in a seal from the latter's attack, only to learn in that time her father passed away and realizing he always loved her brought out so many bottle emotions of regret and sadness, and dealt with more loss from seeing her future self dying in front of her eyes in the battle against Future Rogue during the Grand Magic Games finals, and lately being forced to sacrifice Aquarius' key to summon the Celestial Spirit King to save her friends from Tartaros' deadly clutches. But through it all, she had her Fairy Tail family to give her the strength and courage to fight for what her heart believes in. And Natsu was by far her biggest inspiration to never give up against the odds.
For Weiss, she thinks back to where she had her own family problems with her abusive and tycoon father, her drunken mother, and her conniving little brother, and had only her older sister Winter and butler Klein to trust. Not to mention dealing with the White Fang in the past made her racist towards the Faunus, and living up to the Schnee name made her very difficult for many to deal with. But all that changed when she came to Beacon, swallowing her pride to not only get along with her childish leader Ruby, when she wasn't chosen and decided to be the "best teammate", but start understanding the Faunus in a new light from her own Faunus teammate Blake, and began trusting others more. The Fall of Beacon and no longer being heiress changed her outlook entirely, making her more selfless and becoming the embodiment of "defiance" to rebel against her family and carve her own destiny, even reuniting with Team RWBY when they were scattered on their different journeys only to come back together to save Haven Academy from Cinder's forces. That team was now more than just her friends, they became Weiss' second family that she values with all her heart, with Ruby herself being the biggest inspiration to fight for what's right.
For Yachi, her life changed for the better when Kiyoko invited her to become the second manager for Karasuno and being a tutor to Hinata and Kageyama to pass the exams and have the green light to go to the training camp in Tokyo to have practices games with Nekoma, Fukurodani and other schools in the volleyball club's preparations for the Fall tournaments and make it to Spring Nationals. She experienced not many things since joining the club, but from her time with her beloved Hinata, who was the very source of strength that gave her change to her meek character, little by little, standing up to her mother to declare her joining Karasuno, and been there to help him mend his temporary fallout with Kageyama over the new Quick Strike, which worked wonderfully by the end of the training camp. Her memories from the other world during Karasuno's fight against the Red Dragons showcased her ability to fight besides her friends that helped them become even better physically and spiritually. Her life wouldn't have it any other way had it not been Hinata, the boyfriend who aspires to become the next "Little Giant" change her for the better, and she wouldn't have it any other way.
And for Erina, her life by far was the hardest, with her mother abandoning her and being abused by her father almost her whole childhood had it not been her grandfather, and the curse of the "God Tongue" made her the usually stuck-up and cruel queen. But all that changed when she meet Soma during the Transfer Exam on the first day of Totsuki Academy, who surprised her with his Transforming Furikake Gohan and learning he is the son of her idol, Joichiro Saiba-Yukihira, barely passing by a hair. At first, they didn't get along with her being annoyed by his presence and Soma managed to turn her insults back at her with his cheeky demeanor. But that changed during their car ride back from the hellish training camp they started to open up about each other's past and had their first accidental kiss. Then, they had started their relationship with their first date and working together for the first time at Yukihira Diner. Then, Soma won the Autumn Selection because of him winning for her; the very person he wanted to cook and be happy for. Her memories from the other world when she, Soma and the others fought against the Dark Circle, and her love for Soma were just as real. They even fought back against her father Azami, allowing her to stand up for herself to save Totsuki from his corrupted revolution and claimed first seat and headmistress together. Soma was the very person who saved her from the darkness and made her feel more ordinary than her arrogant prestige and gave her the love, warmth and meaning of how fun and enjoyable cooking is.
(A/N: This is based on a mixture of the Food Wars! canon version and the "Learning Love" by FoodWarsJunkie.)
The girls, now having remembered all the things they've been through, now have a more determined resolve to solve this mess.
"We have to find the creep responsible for this. No matter what." Weiss said.
"No doubt we're gonna find them and whoever's siding with 'em." Nami explained.
"And if we end up facing old enemies again, like that creepy demon?" Yachi asked, remembering the fight against Jackal was a terrifying one.
"We'll take him down and anyone else that doesn't learn their lesson." Lucy declared, being confident that made Yachi more confident.
"Exactly. And our friends will be right there with us." Erina explained.
"And no matter what happens, even if we're worlds apart - we will always be friends." Erina continued. This got a nod from Lucy.
"That's right. The bond we all share is something that will never be forgotten." Lucy reassured.
This made all girls giggle as they continued to talk the night away.
XXX
In a dark room, Holland was kneeling alongside his mysterious partner in front of their silhouette master.
"Everything's all ready, master." Holland said.
"We can finally begin." The other figure said.
"Very well," The second figure said, moving forward with Holland and the first person moving aside to let them pass.
"At last… everything will bend to my will." The figure said, revealing bright red eyes that glowed with malice.
Next time: Chapter 12 - The Invitation
A simple, nice talk with the five girls of their respective series, sharing common interests like people they admire (and love deeply), tragic pasts or ups-and-downs with parents, and the determination to continue their collective journey to return home. It was little short, but it doesn't have to be long, much like a one-shot. Next chapter, everything will start getting serious!