One Piece belongs to Eiichiro Oda
Kingdom Hearts characters belong to Square Enix and Disney
OCs belong to me
-Chapter Forty-
"Look, I'm sorry, so can you please stop beating on my chest now?" Zoro grunted. "Alright, I get it! I'm shitty for just leaving you back there with the Marines!" he snapped the moment I slapped his face before Nami and Usopp finally dragged me off of him.
"Shitty marimo..." I angrily muttered, crossing my arms as my words seemed to have finally struck a chord in him and caused him to become frustrated the moment he stood.
"Come on now, don't start calling me that as well" he frowned, heaving an annoyed sigh as I childishly stuck my tongue out at him.
"Can't you two wait until we get inside to have your little lover's quarrel?" Nami huffed.
"It's not a lover's quarrel!" we automatically snapped back in embarrassment.
"Sure, whatever you say—just save it for once we're safe inside" she rolled her eyes, brushing us off before suddenly gaining a sly grin on her face. "Or better yet...makeup right now!" and with that, she shoved me straight toward Zoro. Stumbling into his chest, I felt him instantly grab hold of my arms in an attempt to halt my momentum and keep the both of us from following over again. Almost in an instant did my face become flush as I tentatively stared up at him with a small glare—eyes slowly starting to sting as I held back the tears that now wanted to fall the longer I stared up at him...
I wasn't even sure if they were tears of frustration or from how hurt I was the longer I thought about how he simply tossed me aside and made a break for it all in order to get away from that woman.
"Eh?" he frowned the moment he saw the glossy look in my eyes, instantly becoming concerned. "Are you really that upset about me leaving you behind that much or is this about something else?" he suddenly asked, his grip on my arms now loosing as a flash of something flicked through his eyes.
"I'm only upset about you leaving me behind—nothing else..." I muttered, quick to break eye contact as I flickered my gaze elsewhere.
"You sure?" he asked, leaning down a bit closer as he attempted to look at me.
"W-what are you trying to imply?" I frowned, leaning away from him as my brows furrowed in confusion at this sudden line of questioning.
"You know, I'm pretty sure I remember there being a bit of venom in your voice earlier when I was speaking with that woman...are you sure it's not because you're—"
"Don't you dare even think about finishing that sentence, Roronoa!"
"—Jealousy?" he grinned.
"W-why would I be jealous? In fact, w-what reason could I have to be jealous over some r-random woman I don't even know?!" I embarrassingly sputtered, blush only getting darker as the swordsman started to laugh. "Where would you even get such a crazy thought?!" I snapped.
"Oh, that's adorable" he suddenly cooed, wiping away an imaginary tear at the corner of his eye as he grinned down at me. There was this soft and almost nostalgic look in his eyes that only made my blush worsen as it now started to spread along my face and down my neck.
"S-shut up!" I sputtered out, burying my face into his chest as I couldn't bare to look at him any longer least I explode with embarrassment. He only chuckled as he comfortingly patted my back.
"There, you both feeling better now?" Nami grinned, crossing her arms as she listened to my muffled grumbling while Zoro only nodded.
"Uh...Luffy...?" Usopp suddenly questioned as our attention was now dragged away from each other and instead towards our screaming captain who was currently running right toward us.
"It's that Smoker guy!" Zoro quickly pointed the moment he spotted Smoker not that far behind our rubbery friend.
"Looks like we weren't the only ones to run into the Marines—wish we had run into Smoker instead of that woman though..." I sighed.
"Hm?" Zoro hummed, leaning down closer toward me as that grin of his came right back full force. "What was that? Is that jealousy in your voice I hear?" he teasingly asked, quickly ducking back as I swatted at him.
"You must be deaf if you hear something as ridiculous as that!" I scoffed with a nervous little sweat.
"Hey, you guys—let's go! We have to run inside right now!" Luffy frantically shouted, barreling right past us and toward the dinner.
"Right behind you!" Usopp nodded as we ran after him, none of us really wanting to fall behind and risk being caught by the Marine Captain who was still giving chase and showed no signs of stopping.
"So he's in there..." Luffy muttered as we ran towards the diner. "So I guess that's where I'm going—listen up, Crocodile! I'm coming for you and I'm about to kick your sandy ass! Get ready!" he shouted as if believing that the Warlord would hear him all the way from out here. "I know you're in there—I'm coming, Crocodile!"
"Not so fast you!" a Billion snarled, suddenly appearing out of nowhere with a group of men who now gave chase.
"Don't talk—just shoot them!" another one angrily snapped as they raised their guns and got ready to shoot.
"Damn, these guys are annoying!" Zoro growled, quickly taking care of the group of men as if they were never really a threat to begin with. "Ha! I think that oughta shut them up!" he cockily boast, grinning the moment he looked towards me as I stuck out my tongue.
"Boasting will get you nowhere" I huffed.
"Neither will jealousy" he teased right back, causing my blush to return.
"If I forgive you for ditching me will you drop this silly notion of yours?" I asked, already wanting him to quit with the teasing before it went any further.
"Hm...maybe" he hummed in mock thought, laughing the moment hear heard me loudly groan.
"Shit, there are so many things going on right now that I can only pray that that "maybe" means yes—so I forgive you for abandoning me with the Marines, now let's go" I huffed, lips twitching upwards into a small smile as I watched how he nodded with a beaming smile of his own before we quickly went and caught up with the others.
"Hey, Crocodile! Show yourself!" Luffy demanded the second we entered the casino. Instantly did his loud entrance catch the attention of everyone in the building as they now stared at us with questioning eyes before eventually shrugging and returning to what they were doing before we had entered. It was as if they didn't really care all that much about a group of weirdos suddenly bargaining in here while angrily screaming the owner's name. "Listen, I crossed an ocean and a desert to kick your ass! Crocodile—" Nami and Usopp struck his head before he had a chance to say anything more.
"That's not going to make him come out here, you loudmouth dope!" Nami quietly hissed as the captain's head fell to the floor before snapping back into place on his shoulders.
"Don't forget, we're dealing with this country's hero—you want to turn all these customers against us?" Usopp frowned.
"He's right" I agreed.
"Okay, fine" Luffy nodded. "So what do we do?" he asked.
"Whoa, hold on! Without Vivi, we don't even know what Crocodile looks like" Usopp pointed out, reminding us of a fact that we had all seemingly forgotten.
"Now that you mention it, where is Vivi?" Nami asked as she started to look around at the crowds of people that gathered around the tables and mingled with one another as they gambled and drank.
"Huh? You mean she never showed up?" I frowned. "I would have thought she'd be the first one here."
"Vivi! Crocodile! Come out!" Luffy, Usopp, and Nami all suddenly started to shout, no longer caring about who heard them as they started calling for the princess and the Warlord.
"Hey, you know what? I'm thinking they might not come out just because we call" Luffy suddenly pondered as he finally stopped shouting the moment he realized that he wasn't getting any responses back.
"Geez, I wonder what gave you that idea" I deadpanned, causing Zoro to snort.
"I got you this time, Straw Hat!" Smoker suddenly shouted as he finally started to catch up with us.
"Smoker?!" Nami fearfully squealed.
"Well he took his time in catching up" I remarked with a raised brow, wondering what had taken him so long to reach us despite literally being made out of nothing more than a cloud of smoke.
"You think you can stroll in anywhere you like and I won't find you?" Smoker growled.
"Not old Smoky!" Luffy whined, causing me to choke back a laugh at the rather cute nickname the pirate had given the Marine Captain.
"Run!" Usopp screeched, hurriedly ushering us further into the casino and straight through the crowd of people. "Oh great, what's that refugee from an ashtray doing in a casino in Rainbase?" he groaned
"Maybe he's here to gamble" I playfully joked.
"If you ask me, I think he's developed a special affection for Luffy here" Zoro suggested.
"That as well" I chuckled.
"This building is surrounded by a lake—there's nowhere to run!" Smoker shouted as if thinking that that would make us halt in our tracks and just turn ourselves over.
"Now hold on, that's far enough!" two men firmly stated, moving in front of Smoker's path in an attempt to stop him—both clearly dressed in their best suits making it clear that they were employees of this fine establishment.
"Unofficials aren't allowed inside, you must leave at once" the other man frowned.
"Man, he's stubborn" Luffy grounded out once he realized that the Marine Captain was still chasing after us, refusing to let any of the obstacles that now stood in his way slow him down.
"Give it up!" Smoker growled, carelessly tossing the men aside and out of his way.
"Argh! I'm in no mood to try and deal with this right now!" Luffy groaned, now growing frustrated with the Captain's presence once he realized this was interfering with his plans in kicking Crocodile's ass.
"Excuse me, sir" a man suddenly said as he and a few others stepped in front of our way as if attempting to block our bath and prevent us from going any further. "I'm going to have to ask you and your friends—"
"Hold on a second—did I just hit something?" Luffy blinked, haphazardly barreling right through the group of men and knocking them out of our way without ever once realizing they were there in the first place.
"Give it up!" Smoker repeated as he started to gain on us.
"Hey, look ahead! It's…" Usopp pointed as we approached a door with the words "V.I.P." written across it in gold lettering. Stood on either side of the door was a group of finely dressed men and women who all wore suspiciously welcoming smiles that greatly contrasted with the behaviors of the men from earlier that had tried to stop us.
"Thank you..."
"For coming..."
"Please step this way..."
"The V.I.P. lounge welcomes you..."
"Did he say the V.I.P. lounge?" Usopp questioned, clearly confused by this sudden welcoming party as the group of employees eagerly ushered us towards the doors that would lead us back towards the V.I.P. section of the casino that would normally be reserved for the most esteemed guests.
"Eh?" I frowned. "Why are we being welcomed into the V.I.P. section? Isn't that normally reserved for the most prestigious of guests?" I questioned.
"Do you think it could be a trap?" Nami asked. "Maybe..." she quietly pondered aloud to herself, already answering her own question after thinking about it for a second.
"Hey, don't these lounge deals usually have free drinks for their guests?" Zoro suddenly asked.
"Really? That's what you're worried about?" I sweat dropped.
"It's not like we have a choice—run for it!" Luffy ordered.
"The V.I.P. lounge? Don't tell me these blokes are friends of Crocodiles" Smoker frowned. "But if it's true...all of them could end up on the gallows together."
"What is a vip anyways?" Luffy suddenly asked, only just now wondering what exactly the room we had just run into was. "Hey, the hall splits!" he pointed out before anyone even really had a chance to answer him.
"It says V.I.P's. go left..." Usopp read.
"And pirates go right..." Nami finished.
"In what world would a V.I.P. section have a sign like that?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. "This is totally a trap and not even a good one" I scoffed, realizing just how half-assed this trap really was.
"I agree" Nami nodded.
"Which way do we go?" Luffy asked.
"The sign—quick!" Zoro shouted as we drew closer to the sign and needed to hurry in making a decision.
"V.I.P.! Choose V.I.P., quick!" Usopp shouted. "That's got to be the way to go!" he reasoned.
"That's crazy talk—we're pirates and pirates are supposed to go this way, come on!" Luffy argued as we turned right and followed our captain's decision despite some of us being well aware that it wasn't the greatest one to begin with.
"Well yeah, you got a point there" Usopp nodded.
"He truly makes a compelling argument" I sarcastically said.
"Hey, wait..." Zoro frowned as we turned the corner and came to a halt after seeing the dead end that greeted us.
"Straw Hat" Smoker growled as he came to a stop right up behind us. "This is certainly unexpected..." he remarked as the floor dropped out from underneath us and sent us falling down a dark and gaping hole that looked almost neverending.
"Wha—!" I tensed as my heart shot straight into my throat while my hands quickly grabbed hold of the nearest person beside me which just so happened to be Zoro.
"I can't believe we fell for this old trick..." the swordsman grumbled as Nami and mine's screams seemed to just drown out whatever Usopp was babbling about.
"I hate trap doors" Luffy annoyedly huffed.
"I hate this!" I fearfully cried out.
A/N: Enjoy
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