Thank you Lamp and Ill Douchey Musclelini for beta reading. This might be my last update for anything for a little while but idk yet. I'll try to keep you guys updated.
"This is the ship, right?" they could hear one of the marines asking.
"Yeah. The captain already let headquarters know where we are. We've got them now."
Koby and Usopp shared a silent yet oh-so-loud look of trepidation. The two were tied back to back and were left to fry under the burning sun on the deck of the Going Merry. Despite not being tied to anything aside from each other, there wasn't any opportunity to escape; they were surrounded on all sides by uniformed men and women with muskets drawn and aimed at their heads.
The marines were the least of their problems, however.
A scary-looking, cigar-puffing, Marine Captain himself was glaring down at them, and he was more than close enough to do something that would hurt a lot, no guns needed.
Neither Koby nor Usopp knew what to do in this situation. Were they supposed to talk their way out of this? Usopp had considered it for a moment, certainly, but even he figured it would be better to hush up for now.
"The Jolly Roger," the captain managed to enunciate past the smokes in his mouth, gracious enough to make the first remark, "there's a straw hat painted on it."
"This is, uh—" Usopp paused for a moment, realising that he spoke before knowing what he was actually going to say. He couldn't stop now, though. "It's a farmer's ship, obviously! We're farmers."
"This is Monkey D. Luffy's ship," the Marine Captain stated firmly, deciding to ignore the obvious lie. "Where's your captain?"
"This isn't our ship!" Usopp denied immediately.
"You just said it was!" Koby hissed.
"Enough!"
The Marine Captain didn't lash out physically, but the angry shout was enough to make the both of them jump. The surrounding marines snickered at their expense like cats watching trapped mice squirm.
The tall, scary, white-haired man dropped his cigars on the deck and stomped them out before pulling out a couple more from under his jacket. Usopp shot him an offended glare, but correctly chose not to speak up right then and there.
"Your crewmate: the white dog. Has she contacted you?"
This time Koby and Usopp's silence came from not having a clue what he was talking about.
Waiting wasn't a game that the Marine Captain was willing to play. Not ten seconds after posing the question, he scoffed and about-faced.
"Bring them to the brig and lock them up," the captain told one of his sailors. "Get whatever you can out of them; I'm done wasting time. We're moving farther into the island."
Koby frowned. Something wasn't sitting right with him. These guys were Marines, right?
"Is that really all you're here for?" he questioned the man, glaring angrily at the "Justice" kanji emblazoned on the back of his jacket.
The captain didn't turn back around, but he hadn't made any move to leave yet. He was waiting for the boy to say his piece.
Usopp tried to nudge him discreetly. "Shut up!" his long-nosed companion whispered. "I think we can get out of this if we play our cards right. Don't piss these guys off, or you can kiss your hopes of being a Marine goodbye!"
Koby didn't care about that right now.
"Marines are supposed to protect the innocent," he declared. "How long have you let those fishmen terrorise this island? You wouldn't believe the things the people here had to go through just to survive! Why are you only acting now? Because the bounty's finally big enough?"
In the face of the man's silence, this time it was Koby who presumed that the man was ignoring him.
"Well?!" the boy egged him on.
Usopp was staring at him wide-eyed. Even the other Marines looked a little uncomfortable.
The captain remained silent for a moment longer.
"Who's in charge of the Sixteenth Branch?" he eventually asked.
"Captain Nezumi, Sir!" a Marine replied.
"Get me on call with him then."
X
Nezumi's mind was working a mile a minute.
HQ had called, not long ago, to tell him that they had received information concerning a pirate of great—if recent—renown that had been spotted on one of the islands under his jurisdiction. They expected him to deal with such a pirate, of course. This would be a source of stress for him, depending on the propensities and ambitions of the individual in question, since it could potentially jeopardise the delicate balance of the table under which he and Arlong handled their affairs.
Normally, he'd simply let the pirate pass, if he could, because It was easy enough to tell HQ that he couldn't find the pirate in time before they moved on, but the issue here was that HQ was so dead-set on dealing with this fellow that they would be sending support.
Dracule Mihawk of all people.
On one hand, it was a boon: as the highest-ranked Marine on hand, the government-sanctioned pirate would be under his control, and he could think of a number of ways to use such a powerful weapon in the time he'd have with it.
On the other hand… how big of a deal was this pirate, really?
He had taken a look at the bounty. Monkey D. Luffy: a supposed pirate whose appearance made him out to be nothing more than a normal boy. What could possibly be the reason behind the astronomical sum the World Government had put on his head? The name was certainly familiar… Monkey D. Garp was known to all, after all, and presuming that they were related, this had to be an attempt to scrub out an unseemly stain on the Hero's reputation.
But then… but then!
But then, that they would go far as to send a Warlord of the Sea filled him with knee-quaking trepidation because one boy couldn't possibly cause that much trouble on his own.
Maybe it was just to ensure that the job would get done.
This unwanted task would be unavoidable, then, and Mihawk wouldn't care to scrutinise the business being conducted in the periphery of the task at hand, at least, for the man was little more than a pirate himself.
Nezumi let out an exasperated sigh as he tapped his fingers against his desk.
Perhaps, in a way, this was perfect.
Captain Nezumi: the marine who captured the one hundred and fifty six million beli man. That would fatten up his resume quite a bit, wouldn't it? It sounded like a commendation to him. Maybe it would even warrant a bonus, which would be such a nice recompense for the trouble, at the very least.
He grinned.
As long as he spun the report in such a way that it highlighted his own efforts, he could ride the Warlord's coattails here. Plus, a reward of any sort would be wasted on a filthy pirate anyway, regardless of who he worked for.
A noise came from his desk, interrupting his thoughts.
Someone was calling his transponder snail.
Pausing briefly, he picked up the line.
"Captain Nezumi of the Sixteenth Branch speaking."
"This is Captain Smoker."
Nezumi froze. Was this the Marine Captain from Loguetown? He couldn't imagine why the man would be calling here.
"How can I help you, Captain Smoker?"
For a couple of uneasy seconds, there was nothing coming from the other end of the line but silence.
"I'm with my men to the south of the archipelago. We followed the tracks of the pirate Monkey D. Luffy and found his ship here. I assume you've heard of him?"
A chill ran down his spine. Of all the things the other man could have said, that was the last thing he wanted to hear.
"I have," Nezumi responded, words coming out on auto pilot.
What business did he have poking his nose around Nezumi's islands? HQ hadn't mentioned Smoker at all!
"Captain Nezumi?"
Crap.
He shook his head and tried to regain his bearings.
"I have. His presence was made known to me not five minutes ago, and it is most distressing."
He tried to stop his words from coming out in a drawl.
"Headquarters must have received my report. I'm pleasantly surprised to hear that they got in touch with you so quickly."
It had been his report?
"Can I be of any help to you, Captain?"
They were of equal rank, though this was his territory, Nezumi was quick to remind himself. He had the upper hand here.
"As a matter of fact… We captured two men we think are members of Monkey D. Luffy's crew. They seem to think that the island is being terrorised by fishmen. Would you be able to confirm or deny such a claim?"
Oh.
Oh no.
Nezumi scoffed. "The pirates are merely deflecting, I'm sure. So we must pay their words no mind, and I know everything to be under control."
"If you say so. I'll be in touch."
"Good day, Captain Smoker."
"Mm."
The line went dead.
"Shit!" Nezumi shouted, pushing away from his desk and frustratedly pulling on the ear-shaped protrusions on his hood.
This changed everything.
Why wasn't he told about Smoker? Presuming that he managed to hide Arlong from him for the duration of the manhunt for Straw Hat, if that guy captured the pirate, he'd have to share the credit or—worse!—Smoker might even take it all for himself. If Mihawk was being sent to support the Marine effort, who would he answer to?
To the one in charge of the base, Nezumi tried to reason with himself. That just made the most sense, didn't it?
Nezumi sat in silent contemplation for a moment.
No. No, that wouldn't do. He wouldn't tell Smoker about Mihawk unless HQ told him themselves. He'd make use of Mihawk the best he could in the meantime.
But he'd need a contingency, wouldn't he? If Smoker did interfere…
He had to call Arlong.
If there was one thing he couldn't allow, it would be for another Marine Captain to discover the less-than-scrupulous dealings the two of them were involved in.
He quickly picked up the den den mushi once more and dialled his business partner's private line.
Click.
"Arlong!" Nezumi greeted the man animatedly. "I—"
"Not now. I have my hands full at the moment."
For the second time that day, the line hung up on him.
For what felt like the millionth time that day, his stomach dropped.
X
Smoker was stone-faced as the expression of the transponder snail in his hand reverted to a more neutral look. Everyone on the deck of the pirate's ship, captives included, had heard the conversation that had transpired between him and Marine Captain Nezumi.
That man was hiding something.
His eyes fell on the younger pink-haired pirate that had had the nuts to tell him what a Marine should do. He walked right up to them, his towering frame casting a large shadow.
They both cowered, eyes watering. Despite looking so scared, however, the pink-haired one still tried his best to scowl defiantly.
"What was it that you were saying about fishmen?" Smoker asked.
He got to his rank by being a man of strong principles; he was tasked with taking down Monkey D. Luffy, and he would succeed in doing so.
Because Monkey D. Luffy was a pirate.
He refused to let crime and injustice pass him by unimpeded. Knowing what he did now about the danger that that man posed, he would have gone out of his way to take him down regardless of what the Navy ordered him to do.
Similarly, if he had an inkling of a suspicion that a Marine was cooperating with criminals, he wouldn't let that pass him by either.
The pink-haired boy's fake bravado wavered as he tried to speak. Smoker saw his eyes continuously flicking back to his long-nosed companion who couldn't do much to support an opinion at the moment, judging by the way his whole body seemed to tremble in fear.
"We were brought here to help our—" The long-nosed one nudged him. "We're here to stop Arlong the Saw! The people of Conomi have been suffering under him for… I'm not sure how long, exactly, but it's been years! So many people have died. They're suffering, and the Marines in charge of this region have done nothing. As far as I'm concerned, they're just as evil as—ouch!"
"Shh!"
Before he could finish his tirade, his friend awkwardly cranked his neck and managed to headbutt him. It was smart of the guy to try to shut the kid up, Smoker thought. It wasn't unusual for a pirate to hate Marines, but this was neither the time nor the place.
"Do you have proof?" Smoker asked calmly.
It threw them both for a loop.
"Wha—"
"Do you have proof of what you're saying? About the fishmen."
"Of course!" the long-nosed one insisted. "There's a village that they ruined not too far from here. Heck, some of the fishmen that Luffy beat up might still be there."
The captain "beat up" fishmen? Plural? If that was true, then it wasn't just his cunning that Smoker had to watch out for.
He made up his mind.
"Pink Hair."
"Y-yes?"
Now that the anger had diffused for the most part, the timidness had returned.
The two of them squealed as Smoker grabbed the rope tying them together and pulled it apart. He grabbed hold of the younger one's arm and his men secured the other one without instruction. The long-nosed one struggled, though they quickly muffled him so that he couldn't scream too loud.
"You know where this village is?" Smoker asked.
The kid looked uncertain, watching what was happening to the other one with a fearful gaze, but thankfully he didn't freeze up for too long.
The kid nodded vigorously.
"Yes, Sir!"
"Good. You're gonna show us the way. Your pal here is gonna stay here so that you don't get any funny ideas and try to run away."
Not that he would be able to.
X
Yamato smiled giddily as she made her grand introduction. Her chin was held up proudly, and her hands were placed firmly on her hips. It was a little self-indulgent, but it was all for the right reasons.
Surely.
These fishment didn't look as impressed, unfortunately. The one who seemed to be in charge here—he had a funny hat and a long nose that looked like a hair comb—stared at her blankly as if not understanding something.
"Intruder!" another fishman suddenly announced.
Wha—Were they still going on about that? Give her time to explain herself, at least!
Before she could say anything, the whole group turned to face the entrance. Were they not talking about her after all? Did they miss her introduction because they were looking at the new guy?
She and the hair comb fishman looked at the opened front gate: a man was standing there. He looked ready for a fight, judging by the weapons strapped to his waist.
"Shit," the man cursed aloud once he figured out that he was spotted. Not giving it a second thought, he drew his weapons—all three at them—and dashed toward the group.
Yamato was unsure about what was going on at first. It didn't take her long to piece things together, however, as the swordsman struck down the first fishman who moved to defend himself.
Her eyes widened as the second fishman dropped to the ground, and as the third one followed, she moved to intercept the swordsman before the hair comb fishman could do so himself.
She caught the two swords that he swung down on her and kept him locked in place for a moment. Now that she could get a better look at him… he was a lot younger than first impressions would suggest. The green-haired man panicked and tried to pull away, but the blades snapped under her unyielding grip and he left stumbling back.
He looked shocked, same as all the others, but didn't have as much of an outward reaction as some of the visibly-frazzled members of Hair Comb's group. He just scowled.
"Are you a fishman too," the swordsman asked with fake calm. "You don't look like one."
Yamato was angry.
That's what it was all about? This unprovoked attack… just because of their race?
She didn't deign to reply, instead choosing to knock him out right away with a short blast of Conqueror's haki.
It did not have the desired effect.
This man… He was an idiot, but certainly not weak. Though he was unquestionably shaken, he stood tall and very much still conscious. That his willpower was so abundant birthed conflicting feelings within her.
The enemy swordsman tried to catch his breath.
"What—"
She took off her jacket and threw it at his face. He panicked for all of two seconds before she kicked him in the gut and he dropped like a sack of flour.
Turning back to the fishmen, she now saw how uncertain they all looked. As opposed to their earlier hostility, what she saw now was the trepidation radiating from their body language.
Their leader's expression was much more scrutinising.
"I hope he didn't do too much damage," she said, offering her condolences. She frowned sympathetically. "Does this happen often?"
X
It took Arlong a moment to find his words. A lot had happened in such a short amount of time.
Hachi had come back to them not long ago, tired and wounded. The others that had left with him still hadn't been found. According to the octopus fishman, dealings with the pirates had fallen through quite spectacularly. They had even lulled the fishmen into a false sense of security before taking them all out when they let their guards down.
As if such a human-like betrayal wasn't enough, it was Nami herself who led them here. That little rat had decided to bite the hand that allowed her to thrive all of these years.
She had roped an unsuspecting group of rookies into starting a war with the Arlong Pirates, and it was a war he intended to finish.
For this reason, everyone was on edge when this one showed up: the tall, horned woman dressed in spikes and leather. Her, and her friend that got away. They thought that the pair was from Monkey D. Luffy's group, but now he wasn't so sure.
A human swordsman of remarkable strength had attacked Arlong Park just now. Despite his physiological inferiority, he cut down three fishmen without breaking a sweat. One would be forgiven for disregarding that entirely—calling it a fluke, even—because this woman made him look like a babe learning to walk for however little time it took her to deal with him.
He knew haki when he saw it. She was not from around here. The East Blue was not her home, and she had no place on his island.
Rookie pirate? Not a chance. This was an unrelated encounter. The green-haired swordsman might have been one of Monkey D. Luffy's men, but that information could be beaten out of the man later.
For now…
"It's quite common, unfortunately," Arlong admitted sadly. "Humans and fishmen don't get along. They want nothing more than to see us dead at their feet."
She obviously had her own ideas about what was going on here, and Arlong was perfectly happy to support that truth.
Arlong was no liar, after all.
The woman bowed her head.
"I'm sorry," she offered simply.
Arlong offered his hand. After a moment, she grabbed it firmly.
He smiled down at the handshake.
"I'm sorry," the man stressed. "We were wrong to attack you. We mistook you and your partner as part of the group that we're feuding with. Do you suppose your friend is all right? The one that jumped in the water."
She nodded.
"I'm sure he's fine. Please, don't worry."
She was confident in that man's abilities, then. One would normally be more apprehensive if a human fell into the ocean, from what he understood.
He glanced over to his crew; they all understood without anything needing to be said. This woman could be a powerful ally, and it was time to show some hospitality.
X
"We're here," Nami told me, slowing down to a stop. The path that we were following continued forward, but now there were a bunch of houses lined up on either side of it.
This was probably what that other wrecked village looked like once upon a time. Only now that the houses weren't toppled over, I noticed that they were actually pretty colourful.
Nami gave me a second to take it all in before giving me a nod and leading me forward with purpose. I thought she looked scared a moment ago, but I guess I was wrong.
Actually…
Whenever we passed someone by, they gave us a strange look. It was kind of a frown, but… not really. Nami was acting like she didn't notice it at all. She was super straight-faced the whole time.
I kept craning my head around to spot everyone looking at us funny. Nami looked annoyed by that for some reason.
"Do these guys not like us?" I asked.
"They don't," she answered without missing a beat.
"What did we do?"
She didn't say anything for a second or two.
"Not you. Me."
"What did you do?" I corrected myself.
She sighed.
"I'll tell you later."
"Okay."
She forgot to take her next step for a split second, but pretended that nothing happened. I guess I would pretend that nothing happened too, then.
"So…" I trailed off, thinking of something else to say. I was getting bored. "Where are we going?"
I was here to make sure the fish guys didn't do anything bad to the village while Koby and Usopp and Zoro brought our ship. I didn't know how long that was gonna take.
"I don't want to bring too much attention our way," Nami told me seriously. "We're going back to my house, and we're gonna stay there until the others get here."
"Okay," I agreed again.
She stopped in front of a house that didn't look too different from every other house, I decided.
Nami nodded at me silently; I followed her in through the door.
"Who's— Nami!?"
A blue-haired woman with cool tattoos was standing over a wooden table in the middle of the room we walked into. It looked like she was laying down some cups and plates before noticing us and rushing over.
She quickly pulled Nami into a hug; my navigator stiffly patted the other girl's back.
"I'm back, Nojiko," Nami whispered.
The blue-haired woman was the first to pull away. She looked at me over Nami's shoulder curiously.
"This is…" she trailed off.
"I'm Luffy!" I introduced myself with a smile.
"This is Luffy," Nami repeated uselessly. "He's going to get rid of Arlong."
All of a sudden, all of the blue-haired lady's friendliness left her face. She frowned at the both of us.
"Be serious!" the blue-haired lady shouted. "You haven't come home in ages, Nami. Do you have any idea how worried I was? I thought that maybe you had gotten into more trouble than usual—that all of your scheming had finally caught up to you—but this? You have a good head on your shoulders. You know that this won't end well. For any of us."
Nami snarled. "How long has he made us suffer, Nojiko? I might've practically gotten off scot-free, but you? The village?"
"Don't throw your life away!" the blue-haired one snapped back, then continued in a more subdued tone of voice. "After everything, don't throw your life away."
Nami's mouth opened to say something but nothing came out. She clenched her fists and looked down at her feet.
My head whipped back and forth between them, trying to piece things together.
The blue-haired one looked at me strangely before sighing. "You're in over your head, Kid. I don't know how or why my sister roped you into this, but—"
"Ah. She's your sister, then," I deduced.
She frowned. "Hey—"
"Sorry," I apologised. "There's not much we can do now. I beat up some of the fish guys already, so they're probably coming here looking for a fight."
"Luffy!" Nami shouted at me. I realised I wasn't supposed to say that too late.
"Oops. Sorry!"
Nami's sister gasped. "What do you mean they're coming here!?"
"Yeah," another voice agreed with her. "I'd like to know too, actually."
Everyone turned to a blonde guy walking in with a big pot in hand from another room. He placed it in the middle of the table and gave Nami and me a look. Mostly Nami, actually.
"Sanji," Nami's sister greeted him.
The blonde guy tugged at the hem of his shorts—they didn't really look like they fit him—before carefully rolling up the sleeves of his white dress shirt. He was dressed in a really funny way, I decided.
"I owe this kind lady quite a bit," he told me, not really frowning but not really smiling either. "If you're coming here to cause trouble, I'm gonna kick your ass."
I laughed. "Try it, then!"
Nami kicked my foot.
"Don't you dare!" she threatened.
I pulled my leg up out of the way and pouted.
Nami turned her head toward the other two as if nothing had happened. "Who's he?"
Her sister still looked upset. "Don't move on like we aren't talking about something serious, here!"
"Nojiko saved my life," the guy answered for her. He looked to the side and frowned as if he was thinking super seriously about something. "I was on the brink of death, fading fast. She pulled me from the jaws of death with no regard for her own safety as the ocean—"
"He washed up on the beach. He's staying here while I put his clothes up to dry," Nami's sister finished.
"I just made lunch," he added nonchalantly, then gave Nami another look. "I thought it would just be us two, but I'm sure I can figure something out."
I grinned and rubbed my tummy. "Gee, thanks!"
"Not you," he denied me.
My smile dropped into a frown. "Huh? Why not?"
"You don't live here, do you?" he asked, sneering at me. "Eat rocks."
"You don't live here either!" I countered.
"I didn't cause any problems for Nojiko-chan and—I'm sorry, miss. Your name was Nami-chan, was it? I'll—"
WHAM!
I headbutted him. He dropped to his knees right away and grabbed his nose.
"Why you—"
He shot back up to his feet surprisingly fast and tackled me.
X
Nami and Nojiko watched them wrestling on their dining room floor with complete apathy. The elder sister allowed it to waste space in her mind for a second longer before grabbing the younger one by the shoulders and turning her to face her squarely.
"Please, Nami. Tell me what's going on."
The orange-haired girl gently pulled her sister's hands down as her eyes closed remorsefully.
"I was serious, you know. Luffy is going to beat Arlong."
"Forget that! Why is Arlong coming here?" Nojiko stressed, not wasting a beat. She was willing to put aside the absurdity of her sister thinking that this guy was going to do anything to the Arlong pirates, for now, in favour of the more pressing issue of those same pirates possibly getting ready to kill them all.
"Arlong sent a crew to greet us when we reached the island," Nami answered, getting straight to the point. "They took us through one of the ghost towns, gloating about it. That made Luffy angry and he beat the shit out of them right then and there. I don't think he killed them, though. Once Arlong hears from them, he'll know that I've betrayed him."
Nojiko's lips flapped about uselessly before she managed to find her words
"That's—that's not possible. They're fishmen. He's—"
"A pirate. His bounty is bigger than Arlong's."
Once again, Nojiko lost her words. With a horrified look in her eye, she slowly cranked her neck to face the boy who was still monkeying around like an idiot with Sanji, who had for whatever reason gotten swept along with his antics.
"You're joking," Nojiko tried, her voice barely louder than a whisper.
"I'm not," her sister answered, dashing all hopes.
The eldest's hands floundered about before she carefully forced them back down to her sides. Calm. She was calm.
"And the money?"
Nothing more needed to be said for Nami to understand what she meant.
"...I'd have enough if I just took what was on the ship."
"Then why didn't you!?"
"He'd catch me."
Such a straightforward admission pacified Nojiko with frightening efficacy.
Nami was the best at what she did. For it to come out of her own mouth—for her to say with such certainty—that she wouldn't be able to steal money from a pirate was almost incomprehensible.
Nami sighed at Nojiko's dumbstruck look. "Even if I did have the money… I think this would still be the best choice. I really, really do."
"Because he's strong?"
"Because I trust him. I think."
Nami couldn't look her in the eye.
"Really?" the straw-hat boy piped suddenly, eyes wide and hopeful. He held Sanji at bay and smiled brightly at Nami. "Thank you, Nami!"
Nojiko tried not to show her surprise. He heard them? He was actually paying attention this whole time?
Slowly, Nami's face reddened.
X
"Don't pretend that you're not listening when you actually are! Jerk!"
"Huh?" I was confused. " What did I do?"
"Creep!"
"Hey! I'm not—hmph."
The blonde guy slapped his hand over my mouth and pushed me aside as he stood up. He was pretty ruffled after all that, and he looked annoyed.
"So you're some hotshot pirate, huh?" Sanji asked him.
I pouted at the two girls and pointed at him.
"See? He was listening too!"
Glaring, Sanji grabbed me by the collar and pulled me in close. "You said you're going to take down Arlong?"
Hah?
My pout melted away. A look that was just as serious as his replaced it.
Did he wanna fight Arlong too? Tough.
Nami's sister palmed her face; Nami just frowned at us.
"Hey, you two…"
The blonde guy and I were busy.
"Yeah. What about it?" I asked him.
"This isn't some sort of pissing contest," he growled. "I hope you're not going to put the lives of innocent people in danger just because some fishmen made you mad."
"Of course not!" I bit back. "Nami asked for help, so I'm gonna help her, obviously!"
He didn't say anything else in return. Slowly, his grip on my vest loosened until he took his hands off of me entirely.
"I can respect that," the blonde guy admitted. His lips quirked up but it still didn't really look like a smile yet. "If that's the case, I wouldn't mind lending a hand. If only to help Nojiko and her sister."
I blinked. Once I understood what he was saying, my smile came right back.
X
Koby was scared out of his wits. He could barely keep his walk normal even, every step feeling robotic as Marine Captain Smoker led him along with a hand on his back.
There were about half a dozen more Marines following along, most of whom had eyes on the boy to make sure he wouldn't try anything funny.
Of course he wouldn't. He wasn't stupid. He wasn't Zoro-san and he wasn't Luffy-san. He was just a normal guy who would die if shot with a normal bullet from a normal gun.
"Hey. Kid."
Hearing the captain's voice almost made him jump.
"Y-yes, Sir?"
"You don't look like a pirate," he remarked straightforwardly. "How did you end up with a gang like them?"
"I'm not a pirate," countered Koby, though his words held little weight.
"Right," the captain drawled, little if any credulity in his tone. "You just ride on a pirate's ship. That's all."
"Luffy-san is a good person," Koby found enough courage to declare. "He's going to save the Conomi Archipelago from Arlong the way Marines should have done long before now."
The captain didn't say anything after that, and the rest simply wouldn't. Koby's nerves aggregated with every passing second of silence.
The next short while was spent following the well-worn path that Koby knew would lead to the razed village. No words were spoken until—
"What made a kid your age hate Marines?" the captain asked, not bothering to look at him.
The question threw Koby for a loop. It came out of nowhere, even. Hate Marines? Him?
"I don't!" the boy insisted. "Ever since I was a little kid, it was always my dream to be a Marine. An admiral."
Smoker scoffed. Even the other Marines looked away to hide their snickers.
"Tall tales won't do you much good now."
They didn't believe him, but that was fine. His… his dream wasn't something to be said for the sake of someone else. He was the only one who had to believe it. Hearing Luffy-san speak of his dream taught him that.
Koby wasn't discouraged. He kept talking.
"I used to think that every Marine was good just because they were Marines. I know better now, is all. He glanced up at the white-hared man. " I think you're a much better Marine than whoever's in charge here, Sir. For the record."
That he was willing to take the word of "pirates" on the off chance that something needed to be done spoke volumes, as far as Koby was concerned.
For whatever reason, the captain had nothing to say after that. No further efforts to communicate were made until they reached the remnants of the village.
It was exactly the way that Koby remembered it… though it seemed like the fishmen were gone now. Did they get up and leave or were they taken away?
The Marines were visibly uncomfortable. He understood, frankly. Houses obliterated and completely flipped over just wasn't possible by any stretch of a normal human's imagination.
If nothing else, no one would try to claim that it was just a natural disaster.
There was one difference, though. One very alarming difference.
A man was approaching from the opposite direction, though maybe "approaching" was the wrong word. He seemed to be hobbling forward, more than anything, clutching his right arm as if he were injured in some way. Koby couldn't tell for sure from this distance.
What he could tell was that it was Zoro-san.
What happened to him after he'd wandered away? He was a total mess. There was only one sword held under his haramaki sash that normally held three.
"Is that a villager?" one of the Marines wondered aloud as he got closer.
"He has a weapon on him," another remarked. "He's pretty banged up."
Koby saw the exact moment when Zoro-san realised it was him. The man's eyes widened and his mouth opened to say something. He wasn't that stupid, was he!?
"I think it's a civilian from a neighbouring town," Koby said in a voice that was definitely loud enough for Zoro-san to hear. "This place was completely abandoned earlier. Maybe he knows something?"
Thankfully, Zoro-san seemed to have gotten the memo. He kept his mouth shut as some of the Marines ran ahead to check up on him.
"Sir! Do you need medical attention?"
"His shoulder is dislocated."
"Make sure we don't miss anything."
The swordsman remained silent as they led him toward the group by his uninjured arm. Captain Smoker even let go of Koby to get a better look at Zoro-san himself.
The moment the captain stepped away, Zoro seemingly stumbled and tripped over his own feet, somehow knocking into Koby and sending both of them tumbling to the ground.
Koby squealed, completely caught off guard.
"Arlong is the least of our worries," Zoro-san quickly whispered into his ear. "There's someone else here who's much stronger than he is."
By the time that Koby had realised what the man had done and said, he'd already rolled off of him.
"Sorry," he apologised blandly. "I tripped."
After nothing more than a suspicious look from the captain, he was helped to his feet and taken to the side by the others.
For the duration of the five seconds that it took Smoker to pull Koby up by the hem of his shirt, he laid flat on his back, shocked into speechlessness.
What the hell did Zoro-san mean!?