Chapter 7: Tentative Friendships

Luffy eyed the well-dressed man carefully, careful to make sure none of the kids got closer to him. The dark aura and feeling set Luffy on edge, and he was debating whether he wanted to outright fight this man or let him be.

"Actually, Klahadore, these people are-" Kaya was interrupted as Klahadore adjusted his glasses again, speaking.

"That can wait for now. I can hear all about your reasons later." He said while Luffy glanced over to Kaya's window. He didn't feel any empathy, love, or caring in Klahadore towards Kaya, yet his words and tone suggested he felt otherwise.

The man began stepping forward again- closer to Luffy- and the teen stiffened, his frown deepening.

"Now leave, all of you! Or do you have something to say?" Klahadore asked them, stopping in his advances towards them. Luffy refused to speak to the man and behind him Nami was glancing between him and Zoro. Gathering up enough courage, the navigator stepped forward a step.

"Actually, we were wondering if we could get your help. We need a ship-"

"No!" Klahadore told her, not waiting for her to finish as he adjusted his glasses again. Nami frowned at that but didn't speak again, Luffy once again making sure that everyone was safely behind him.

"Usopp-kun!" Klahadore announced, looking to the tree Usopp had been in moments ago, though now the man was nowhere to be seen.

"I've heard all about you. You're well known in the village." Klahadore continued as Usopp finally climbed hesitantly back onto the branch, smiling nervously.

"Y-yeah?" Usopp asked with a nervous chuckle, Kaya watching on worriedly.

"I hear you've been on many adventures. Quite impressive for someone so young." He said, and again, the man's feelings contradicted his words. Instead of actually feeling impressed by this, he was filled with annoyance. Darkness.

"You can call me Captain Usopp, too! Since you admire me so much!" Usopp called back, standing proudly on the branch.

"Captain, huh... I've heard all about your father, as well." Klahadore told him, adjusting his glasses.

"What?!" Usopp asked, guarded now in contradiction to the smile he'd worn seconds before. Luffy's fists tightened at his side.

"Klahadore! Stop!" Kaya yelled, frowning now as well.

"You're nothing but the son of a filthy pirate! Nothing you do will surprise me, but I ask that you stay away from the lady of this house!" Klahadore yelled back, Luffy's eyes shadowed by his hat as his own anger began rising.

"F-Filthy?!" Usopp asked, his anger visible on his face.

"And what's so wrong with that? For someones parent to be a pirate?" Luffy suddenly asked, surprising everyone as he spoke for the first time since Klahadore had arrived. Klahadore's attention turned from Usopp to Luffy now, frowning.

"Everything, of course. Pirates are money hungry- greedy- and will do anything they want as long as they benefit from it. Its only common sense that their children would do the same as well. Usopp, for example, is from a completely different world as Miss Kaya. I'm sure he only hangs around her for money. So, Usopp? How much is it that you want from her?" Klahadore asked, Luffy's blood boiling at the answer.

"That's enough, Klahadore! Apologize to Usopp-san!" Kaya shouted angrily leaning even more out of her window.

"Hey, now, be careful Kaya!" Usopp said worriedly as he noticed just how far Kaya was leaning out now. Unlike Klahadore, Luffy could feel Usopps concern for the woman, whereas Klahadore had none of that despite his words.

"What reason is there to apologize to this savage man, my lady? I am merely stating the truth." He said as if he couldn't comprehend how he was in the wrong.

"Liar," Luffy told him, his frown never letting up. Again, everyone looked his way, a tension filling the air as they noticed the look on Luffy's face.

"And who exactly are you to call me a liar?" Klahadore asked, looking down on Luffy as he adjusted his glasses.

"Monkey D. Luffy," Luffy said, eyes still shadowed by his hat, only his frown visible. It was Klahadore's turn to frown, and Luffy could feel both the recognition and the hint of fear beginning to form in the man.

"Monkey D. Luffy? You wouldn't happen to be 11097, Whitebeard Pirate Monkey D. Luffy, would you?" He asked, eyeing Luffy carefully now. Behind him, Kaya gasped and Usopp began sweating, jaw-dropping at the words.

"Yeah, that's me." The teen said, the fear in both Usopp and Klahadore rising while Kaya was merely shocked, though a little worried now.

"And what is a Whitebeard doing here in the East Blue? I'm sure there are much bigger and better islands to go and torment then this one." Klahadore said carefully, the greed flaring again inside the man.

"I'm not apart of Pops' crew anymore. I'm starting my own." Luffy said, eyes finally unshadowed as he looked Klahadore in the eyes. There was silence now, Zoro watching Klahadore just as carefully as Luffy was while Nami looked around nervously, not really wanting to get into a fight at the moment. Usopp was still in shock along with Kaya, and the children were glancing between Nami, Zoro, and Luffy, wondering if they should run away from them or not.

"Is that so? I must ask again that all of you leave the premises immediately, pirates or not. I will not allow you to corrupt Miss Kaya's mind any longer." Klahadore said boldly, despite knowing Luffy was a Whitebeard now- knew how strong he was.

Another moment passed, Luffy glaring at Klahadore while the man stared back, neither blinking. Eventually, Luffy consented, moving to leave. Nami, Zoro and the children began following suit when Klahadore suddenly spoke again.

"Honestly, I feel for you Usopp," He said, noticing that Usopp had been about to leave as well. Everyone paused at this, looking back at the man in confusion, Luffy feeling that he was once again lying- and not the good kind like Usopp.

"You must truly hate your great idiot of a father for abandoning you and the village because of his lust for treasure!" He said to Usopp. There was a feeling in the man that told Luffy he was trying to rile up Usopp, but he didn't need his ability to feel emotions to figure that one out.

"Klahadore!" Kaya shouted, taken aback by how mean the man was being.

"Don't you dare insult my father anymore!" Usopp shouted in fury, his past shock and fear gone as he jumped off the tree branch, falling safely to the ground thanks to a grappling hook he had in his back.

"Usopp-san!" Kaya called as she leaned to watch Usopp walking over to the man.

"What are you getting unnecessarily riled up for? Why not simply tell another of your special lies at a time like this? About how your father is really a traveling salesman, or how your not really related by blood-"

"Shut up!" Usopp cried out as he rushed forward, punching Klahadore in the face and knocking the man to the ground, his glasses flying off his face. Luffy wasn't able to tell if he was feeling Usopps anger or his own, his fists clenched tightly at his sides as he watched, forcing himself not to interfere as he tried taking deep breaths. This time they weren't working as well as they usually did.

"Captain!" The children called out in surprise as Klahadore moved into a sitting position and put his glasses back on.

"S-see! You immediately resort to violence! Like father, like son!" The man spat, but even though his words were said with anger, Luffy could feel the satisfaction in him, happy that he'd been punched rather than angry like he made it seem.

"Shut up!" Usopp shouted again.

"I'm proud that my father is a pirate! I'm proud that he's a brave warrior of the sea! You're right, I am an exaggerator! But I'll never lie about my pride to be related by blood to a pirate! I'm the son of a pirate!" Usopp yelled loudly, and finally, Luffy was able to let the anger leave him, instead feeling proud of Usopp, deciding that he was another person he wanted to help like Nami and Zoro and Coby.

"Captain..." Carrot muttered softly.

"A pirate, a brave warrior of the sea? That's quite a twisted way of putting things..." Klahadore said with a chuckle as he stood back up, dusting his suit off.

"But you're the undeniable proof of his savage blood! You run around spouting lies, and act violent whenever you're angry! And to top it off, you cozy up to the lady of this house so you can get her fortune!" He accused, adjusting his glasses as he looked to Usopp.

"What?! I only-!"

"The fact your father is a pirate is more than enough proof that you'd hatch such a scheme!" Klahadore yelled, cutting off Usopp, and this time Luffy felt a strange truth to the man's words that made him curious because he was saying them to Usopp, but it felt like he was directing them somewhere else.

"Damn it, you still won't let up?!" Usopp yelled as he grabbed Kuro by his shirt, raising a fist in preparation to throw another punch.

"Stop, Usopp-san!" Kaya shouted from her window, dangerously close to falling out. Usopp froze, anger still on his face as he held himself back.

"Please, no more violence! Klahadore isn't a bad person! He's just-, He's just trying too hard to do what's best for me!" Kaya said, Luffy knowing that she was wrong about that. Not only was this man anything but a good person, but not once during this whole encounter had Luffy felt any affection from the man towards Kaya.

It stopped Usopp however; the long nose mans grip loosening on Klahadores shirt as he let him go, hand falling.

"Leave this place! Never come near this mansion again!" Klahadore said as he slapped Usopp's hand away from him.

"Yeah, I get it. I don't need you to tell me!" Usopp said as he dropped his fist now, walking past Klahadore as he left.

"I'll never come back here again." Usopp finished before disappearing.

"Usopp-san..." Kaya said softly, Luffy feeling her sadness as she watched him go. Suddenly, the kids ran past Luffy and towards Klahadore, making him blink in shock for a second.

"You stupid butt-ler jerk! Our Captains not that kind of guy!" Carrot shouted angrily.

"Yeah! You stupid head!" Pepper shouted, fist raising in the air.

"Stupid-head!" Onion echoed. Not liking how close they were to the dark auraed man, Luffy walked over to them, gently guiding them away from him.

"Let's go. I don't like stupid heads." Luffy told them, glaring to the man one more time before leaving, the kids walking with him but turning to stick their tongues out at Klahadore.

Nami and Zoro followed after them, and it took every ounce of self-control Luffy had not to turn back and deck the butler in the face. Once they'd walked far enough, everyone stopped to sit on the side of the dirt road. Nami sat on the top rung of the wooden fence nearby while Zoro and the kids sat on the ground against it. Luffy, still feeling angry, decided it would be best to go for a walk and look for Usopp, leaving without saying anything to anyone.

Smelling the air, it was easy to find the long nose man's scent, distinctly smelling of gunpowder and paint. The scent led him through the town and through a wooded area which immediately began calling Luffy's name. Climbing into the first tree he saw, he decided he'd travel that way from now on, Usopps scent still clear to him from up there. Jumping from tree to tree his body slowly relaxed until he was grinning, as if everything with Klahadore hadn't happened.

When he found Usopp, the teen was sitting on the cliff's edge, watching the ocean. Jumping into the tree closest to the man, Luffy walked out onto a branch above the long nose man and let his body hang.

"Yo!" Luffy greeted, face to face with Usopp as he hung upside down. Usopp shrieked in surprise and fear, leaning away from Luffy.

"Here you are!" Luffy said, still hanging.

"Oh, it's just you! At least say something, will ya?!" Usopp yelled, calming slightly.

"So, what, do you want something?!" Usopp asked, and Luffy could feel that the man was still annoyed and angry from what had happened at the mansion.

"Not really," Luffy told him, placing his hands on the ground and releasing his legs from the branch. Now balancing solely on his hands, he walked on them a few times before falling.

"Oww..." He whined, despite not actually being hurt. There was a second of silence before Usopp spoke up again, voice resigned.

"That damn butler... insulting my dad like that!" He said, staring at his lap. Luffy, who now sat in front of him- his back to Usopp- nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, I hate that guy too!" He agreed.

"No matter what anyone says, Yassop was a great pirate!" Luffy continued, frowning as he leaned back on his hands, watching the sea lazily moving below them.

"Yeah, huh?!" Usopp asked eagerly, a smile on his face and negative emotions gone as he moved beside Luffy, smiling to him.

"In this day and age where pirates are everywhere, I'm proud of my old man for living with his life on the line at sea! Yet, that bastard stomped all over my pride! He'll pay for this!" Usopp said, the frustration returning as he stood, fists clenched at his sides. Silently, Luffy agreed with him, because there was no way he'd leave here now knowing there was someone with a dark aura here. Especially when his new friend Usopp was still here.

"But you're not gonna go see the girl anymore?" Luffy asked instead, turning his head to look at Usopp. The long nosed man stiffened, his fists unclenching before he crossed his arms and looked away.

"Y-yeah, I dunno... If that butler comes and apologizes to me, I might consider it." Usopp said, Luffy feeling his turmoil. Feeling something else though, he turned, spotting said butler and another guy down on the shore below them.

"That butler?" He asked, pointing to them. Usopp looked, hands on his hips, and nodded.

"Yeah, that butler... What's that butler doing out here?!" Usopp shouted in surprise, falling to the ground and pushing Luffy's face into the ground as he did.

"Ow! That hurts!" Luffy whined, voice muffled by the ground, but again, not actually hurt. If anything, it was only mildly uncomfortable.

"Hey, Jango. I told you to avoid doing anything to make you stand out. Yet you go and sleep in the middle of the village..." Klahadore said, addressing the man with him, his voice drifting up to the two eavesdroppers.

"Don't be stupid. I don't stand out one bit. I'm not weird, either." Jango said defensively, one leg bent at the knee as he held his open jacket in one hand and his hat with the other.

"There's someone else with him. A weird guy..." Luffy said to Usopp as they watched.

"Never seen him before. Who is he?" Usopp asked, mostly to himself as he continued holding Luffy's head down, though no longer in the ground like he'd done before.

"So, preparations for the plan are ready, I hope?" Klahadore asked, making Luffy frown at the darkness that rose in the man.

"Of course. We can start anytime... The Rich Girl Assassination Plan!" Jango announced loudly, Usopps anger rising at the words and Luffy's frown deepening. Even though this Jango person didn't even have grey in his aura, he was still going along with this butler guys plan apparently, one Luffy could tell already was no good.

"A-assassination?!" Usopp asked.

"Don't call it an assassination, Jango. That has a bad ring to it." Klahadore reprimanded.

"Oh, right. Accident. It's an accident." Jango agreed.

"Accident?! Assassination?! What are these guys up to?!" Usopp asked in a mixture of fear, anger, and worry.

"We can't simply kill her. Miss Kaya must perish in an unfortunate accident. Don't mess that up!" Klahadore told the man as he began walking away. Jango sat on a rock, hands now in his pockets.

"So basically, on your signal, the men and I storm the village and kill the girl. And then you'll get her inheritance..." Jango said, reciting the plan, to which Klahadores frustration rose and he turned back to Jango.

"You fool! You do not understand a thing! How would I, and outsider, inherit Kaya's estate?!" He asked, his own hands in his pockets.

"You'll work hard to?" Jango asked, making a pose as he did.

"Working hard won't amount to squat. Listen, this is the most important thing! Before you kill her, you'll use hypnosis to make Kaya write her will to say, 'I leave my entire fortune to my butler, Klahadore!'" He said, pointing a finger in Jango's face, his greed and darkness continuing to rise, making Luffy increasingly uncomfortable.

"Only then will I inherit her enormous fortune... in a completely ordinary manner... I've spent three long years gaining the trust of everyone around me so that it would be unsurprising for her to leave her inheritance to me." He finished, Jango standing.

"Three years as a butler for that, huh... But you sure scared us back then Captain Kuro. Three years ago, you suddenly said you were giving up life as a pirate. In no time flat you set up a subordinate to be your double, then let the world see Captain Kuro get executed. So that was the very beginning of this plan. You truly are Kuro, Man of a Thousand Plans." Jango praised, but Klahadore, or Kuro rather, was only annoyed by it.

"Don't call me that. I abandoned that name three years ago. I now want to obtain great sums of money without the government on my back. In other words, I'm a pacifist." Kuro said with a grin, Jango laughing at the words. Luffy didn't know what pastfish meant, but whatever it was, he could feel the lie from Kuro as he said it.

"Some pacifist you are, killing off an entire rich family for this 'peace' of yours." Jango laughed.

"Hang on now, the father's death was real. I hadn't planned on that." Kuro admitted. Jango shrugged, shoving his hands back in his pockets.

"Well, whatever. It doesn't matter. Anyways, hurry and give the signal. We've been sitting in the waters near here for a whole week now. The men are starting to grow impatient." Jango told him.

"Ah, that reminds me." Kuro said, his good mood changing as he frowned.

"It seems there's a Whitebeard pirate on this island." He said to Jango, the mans eyes bugging.

"A-a Whitebeard?! On this island?!" Jango nearly screeched. Kuros frown deepened, but he didn't remark on the outburst.

"Yes. According to him, he's left the Emperor's crew to start one of his own. As it stands now, it doesn't seem like he should get in the way of our plans so try and avoid him will you?" Kuro requested, his frown never letting up. Jango only blinked, trying to process everything he was hearing, but eventually he nodded quickly.

"Y-you don't have to worry, Captain Kuro! The guys and I will steer clear of anything and anyone that could stop your plans!" Jango reassured. Kuro sighed at the overt display of false confidence but nodded.

"This is seriously bad!" Usopp whisper shouted. Beside him Luffy glanced to the long nose man, feeling his turbulent emotions and blocking them the best he could. He didn't like what he was hearing anymore then Usopp and the fact that Kuro had both the dark feeling and aura made him ready to attack him any second.

"Captain Kuro is said to be the smartest and most brutal pirate of all! Word had it the navy caught and executed him three years ago, but Captain Kuro is alive! As Klahadore the butler! They're gonna attack the village. Kayas in danger too! Bad! This is seriously bad!" Usopp said, voice slowly getting louder and his emotions becoming stronger to the point they were starting to influence Luffy; the teen began feeling Usopps anxiety and fear start taking hold in himself as his hands started shaking slightly.

Because he was suddenly so focused on forcing the feelings out, forcing himself to realize it wasn't his anxiety or fear he was feeling, but instead Usopps, he didn't notice as Kuro and Jango both left the shore, leaving Usopp and Luffy alone on the cliff's edge.

Usopp was still talking to himself, slowly getting louder, but Luffy forced himself to ignore it. Take deep breaths. Focus on your own emotions- not other peoples. Deep breaths.

A few minutes passed and Usopp was standing now, announcing how he had to do something, warn the villagers and Kaya, but before he could run off to do so Luffy stopped him, standing and grabbing the long nosed mans shoulder. Finally, Luffy's second-hand anxiety and fear were gone, instead replaced with his previous anger towards Kuro.

"H-hey, what're you doing?! I have to go warn Kaya and the villagers before its too late!" Usopp said worriedly to Luffy, his fear almost taking hold of Luffy again.

"Don't worry, we'll stop them before they can hurt anyone," Luffy said with a serious face.

"We? Wait, how are we going to do that?! You heard them, that was Captain Kuro! A real pirate! With a real pirate crew!" Usopp shouted, making Luffy pout.

"Hey, I'm a real pirate too! And it might not be big, but I have a crew too!" Luffy said indignantly, crossing his arms over his chest. Usopp blinked at him once before shrieking and backing away from Luffy quickly.

"Ack! I forgot! Klaha- Kuro! He said you were Monkey D. Luffy, that Whitebeard pirate everyone was talking about!" Usopp shouted in a new fear, realizing Luffy himself was probably a bigger threat than Kuro and his crew combined.

"Well, yeah, but there's no reason to be scared of me." Luffy pouted again, hating that that was always everyone's reactions.

"S-scared?! I-I'm not scared!" Usopp said, trying to stand tall, but his legs were trembling beneath him.

"Liar." Luffy deadpanned, making Usopp 'eep' in fear at being found out so easily.

"It's not like I'm gonna hurt you or anything. You're my friend. And that Kubo guy is a bad guy who I want to fight." Luffy explained in hopes of calming the teen. It didn't seem to do much, but Usopp did at least stop shaking, though he was still very obviously wary of Luffy.

"Kubo? You mean Kuro? Of course, he's a bad guy, we just overheard his plan to kill Kaya- Ack! They're gonna kill Kaya! We have to go stop them!" Usopp shouted, the conversation going in circles now.

"I already said we will! Geez, don't you know how to listen?" Luffy asked in annoyance, huffing as he grabbed Usopps wrist and began dragging him towards where he could smell Nami and Zoro. As they walked Usopp continued sputtering out nonsense, trying to free his wrist from Luffy's grip, but to no avail. By the time they were walking down the road Luffy knew his friends were on, Usopp had stopped struggling as was allowing himself to be dragged, though he hadn't stopped talking nonsense the entire time.

"Oh, Luffy, you're back!" Nami said as she hopped off the fence.

"Captain!" The children called as they ran over to Usopp happily. Luffy let go of the teens wrist at that, trusting he wouldn't run off now, and walked over to Zoro and Nami.

"So you were with that guy then," Zoro said, he and Nami having guessed as much earlier.

"Yup. We heard that that butler guy was a bad guy, so we're gonna beat him up." Luffy said to the two, only confusing them.

"Wait, what? What butler guy? Klahadore?" Nami asked, trying to figure out who they were supposedly going to beat up and why.

"Yeah, but his name isn't Klaha- whatever, it's actually Kudos," Luffy told them, Usopp face-palming behind him.

"Kuro. His name is Captain Kuro, the Man of a Thousand Plans." Usopp said. The children weren't there anymore, but that didn't matter to Luffy, or Nami and Zoro for that matter as they both raised their eyebrows.

"Captain Kuro?!" Nami asked in surprise, having heard of the man herself.

"I thought he died a few years ago," Zoro said in confusion.

"Yeah, but he didn't. That's not the point. The point is, he's a bad guy, so I'm gonna beat him up before he can hurt the villagers and that girl in the big house." Luffy said, wondering why everyone cared so much about the details.

"Now hold on a second! Ok, so that butler is actually a pirate, but he's been working as their butler? Why? And why are you beating him up now?" Nami asked, not understanding. As much as she hated pirates, Klahadore, or Kuro, didn't seem to be causing any harm here. In fact, no one even knew he was a pirate.

"He's planning on killing Kaya and stealing her fortune! His crews on their way here once he gives the signal and they're gonna attack the village!" Usopp told them worriedly.

"Ok, let me get this straight. So Klahadore, Kaya's butler, is actually a pirate Captain named Kuro." Nami started, Usopp and Luffy nodding.

"And his plan this whole time was to take Kaya's money," Zoro said next, the two nodding again.

"So he's going to kill her and attack the village." Nami continued, her words met with more nodding.

"And all we have to do is beat them up and stop them." Zoro finished, Luffy and Usopp nodding once more.

"Alright, I'm in," Zoro said with a shrug, Luffy smiling at that.

"So what's the plan?" Nami asked with a sigh, not seeing any way around this. She didn't want anyone getting hurt, and if that meant they had to fight some pirates, then so be it.

Besides, think of all the treasure she could get.

Luffy laughed, grinning widely as he put his hands behind his head.

"No clue!" He said, despite the situation they were in. Nami and Zoro facepalmed at this while Usopp watched them with wide eyes, not having expected this.

"You guys... are going to fight with me? Why?" Usopp asked, trying to fight tears from forming.

"I already told you, they're bad guys, and I like you, so of course I'll help you," Luffy said as if it were obvious- and really it should be by now, he had told him this a bunch of times before.

"Yeah, and 'scared' is written all over your face," Zoro said to him.

"M-me, scared?! I'm perfectly okay with lots of bad guys or whatever! Because I'm Captain Usopp, Brave Warrior of the Sea!" He boasted, though his legs were shaking.

"Damn it! This isn't a show! These are Kuro's pirates we're dealing with! Of course I'm scared! What's wrong with that?! I don't want your sympathy! You guys can leave! Leave!" Usopp shouted to them.

"We ain't laughing! We're helping 'cause we want to and you're a good guy!" Zoro said, annoyed that Usopp wasn't getting it.

"As if we'd risk our lives because of sympathy!" Luffy told him, equally annoyed. This seemed to finally reach Usopp as he stared at them, legs stopping in their shaking as the tears came back, this time falling down his face.

"Oh... you guys..." Usopp cried.

"But I call dibs on all the treasure!" Nami yelled, Luffy laughing at that and Zoro smiling. With that, Usopp stood taller, hands on his hips as he grinned.

"No problem! In that case, Captain Usopp knows exactly what we can do! It's still early which means we have time to prepare! The ship still needs to get here, and that means they'll have to dock at the beach, but we'll be ready for them!" He boasted, Zoro and Nami listening in interest while Luffy watched with wide eyes.

"Now, here's the plan!" Usopp said as he turned to the slope leading towards the village, walking over to it while everyone else followed.

"Alright, they're going to attack from this shore at daybreak. But the only route into the village is this one slope. Everything else is cliff, making it tougher to come through. In other words, if we can defend this slope to the death, the village wont get attacked!" He explained, walking up the slope with the three until they were at the top.

"Oh! That's easy!" Luffy said cheerily.

"Talking about it is, but the rest depends on our strength! What can you guys do?" Usopp asked them because he didn't really know the three all that well. They'd only met earlier that morning after all, and the only thing he really knew about them was that they were pirates, and in Luffy's case, he was a notorious criminal.

He tried to will away the fear as he remembered that, tried reminding himself that Luffy was, thankfully, on his side.

"Cut."

"Stretch."

"Steal."

"I can hide," Usopp said after everyone gave an answer.

"You're gonna fight!" The three yelled at Usopp who paled, tears forming as he sweat.

"I'm just kidding! Geez!" Usopp cried, though Luffy felt the lie.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Sometime later, the four were admiring the work they'd done. In front of them, there were three barrels spilling oil from them, slicking the slope up to the point that anyone unlucky enough to step on it would slip and fall instantly.

"Alright! Perfect!" Usopp said with a smile, hands on his hips.

"Now they won't be able to climb up this slope, thanks to all this oil we've laid out here! We'll let 'em slip and slide on this slope, then beat the crap out of 'em while they flail about!" Usopp grinned, obviously pleased with his work.

"Oil, huh..." Nami asked, she and Zoro moving closer to it.

"No matter what, we will protect this slope!" Usopp said.

"Conversely, let's just hope that none of us slip down there," Nami said. Luffy, who was sitting on the ground near the oil, began carefully stepping on the oil, testing it.

"It'd be like diving right into an ant-lion pit." The navigator told them.

"I'm amazed you came up with this!" Luffy said, turning his head to address Usopp.

"But of course! When it comes to plans and slingshots, I'm utterly confident!" He boasted, crossing his arms over his chest and standing tall. Everyone smiled to him at his words, finding it nice to see the man when he wasn't so scared all the time.

"Well anyway, it's still early in the morning. They won't be here until daybreak tomorrow, right?" Zoro asked, Usopp nodding.

"Then we should make sure that no one comes over here and slips down there before then." The swordsman said, sitting against the cliff wall as he did.

"You're right. We should set up a watch, that way we can make sure Kuro himself doesn't find this or anyone from the village." Nami agreed.

"I can stay first." Zoro offered, eyes closing as he rested against the wall.

"I'll go next. Luffy, you can go after me and then Usopp. We'll switch off every two hours." Nami decided, everyone nodding in understanding.

"Bye Zoro! See you later!" Luffy said with a smile and a wave as he stood up, leaving with the others. Zoro nodded their way before closing his eyes, relaxing further against the cliff wall.

"Well, what now?" Luffy asked after a minute of walking.

"Well, I'm going to go look around for a bit. It'd be a good idea to think about restocking the boats with food before we leave here and seeing as you and Zoro don't have money of your own, I'll have to pay for it. Of course, with a small fee. You understand, right?" Nami asked Luffy sweetly, and he could feel the rising greed, the almost ill intentions despite her nice-sounding words, but he shrugged it off, more excited over the prospect of free food.

"Yeah!" He told her, Nami grinning widely at that.

"Leave it to me then. See you guys later." She told them as she turned her course towards the village. With the woman gone now, it was only Usopp and Luffy left, and because of that, Luffy was focused solely on the long nose man's emotions, the man's worry and fear rising again and making him sigh.

"You don't have to be so scared all the time you know," Luffy told him, hands behind his head and stance casual as he walked. Usopp looked to him in surprise, blinking.

"S-scared?! What makes you say that?!" Usopp asked hesitantly, trying to smile and sound normal but failing miserably.

"I can feel it. You don't have to be scared of me. Or those pirates. We'll fight 'em all and keep everyone safe." Luffy said confidently as if he knew for a fact what the outcome of this fight would be. Honestly, he kind of did, knowing that it was extremely unlikely that he'd find anyone too threatening in the East Blue, the weakest of the seas.

"You can feel it?" Usopp asked in confusion, not having expected that to be Luffy's reasoning for knowing. He knew that sometimes he wasn't the best at hiding his emotions- lying desperately to hide it instead- but Luffy hadn't said that he saw it, he said he'd felt it.

"Yeah, your fear, and your worry. Oh, and I guess your confusion now too." Luffy said, having no qualms about sharing this with the man.

"What do you mean? How can you feel that?" Usopp asked, wondering if Luffy was lying to him, but if he was it was extremely convincing.

Wait, hadn't the news about Luffy been that he was crazy? A mental hospital escapee?

"I just... can. That doesn't matter though. What matters is it's alright, everything's going to be fine." Luffy said reassuringly. Despite the words though, Usopp couldn't help but still feel that way, skeptical of Luffy's so-called ability to feel his emotions.

"So is it just my emotions you can feel?" He asked instead, momentarily forgetting about the fact that Luffy was a big bad pirate, forgetting the village was going to be attacked by tomorrow morning. It was nice to have a distraction, even if it was a big elaborate lie from the straw-hatted man. Or conversely, a story from a crazy man. Either was a valid option at this point.

"Nah, I can feel everyone's emotions. Zoro's, Nami's, your's, those kids, Kaya's, Kumo's, even him." Luffy said, naming people on his fingers before pointing to a villager that they were walking past.

"What's he feeling now then?" Usopp asked curiously. Even if he didn't believe it, he wanted to keep the conversation going, to keep the distraction going.

"Mm... calm... happy... a little annoyed about something, I think it's directed towards someone he knows," Luffy said, head tilting as he read the man's emotions. Usopp had to admit, Luffy was invested in this.

"What about them?" Usopp asked, pointing to a woman that was sweeping the stoop of her home.

"Oh, she's annoyed to... maybe she's annoyed at the guy then? Ne, Usopp, do they know each other?" Luffy asked, recognizing the similar emotion in the two and the fact it was both directed to people they knew.

"Uh, yeah... lucky guess..." Usopp said, eyebrows furrowing in even more confusion at the accurate assumption. It wasn't proof or anything though. After all, it was a small village; it was only natural people would know each other.

"Shishishi, I think they got into an argument or something. It's not my business though. Marco always told me that people's emotions are their own and I shouldn't tell others about them, but that was mostly because he didn't like when I told people he was lying." Luffy said with a fond smile, looking to the sky.

"Marco?" The long nose man asked, not recognizing the name. Not to mention, it was another piece to this strange story- lie- that Luffy was telling him. Sure, he told fancy stories to Kaya all the time, but rarely did he add anyone else into them, especially people with names, because if you forgot the name- or used a real person- it was that much easier to be caught up in the lie.

"Yeah, you know, Marco the Phoenix? He was my ship brother back on Pops' crew. Everyone always asked me if he was lying about certain things, and he got annoyed when I told them so he said I couldn't do that anymore because it was an 'image of primary'." Luffy said, confusing Usopp.

"Image of primary?" He asked, not understanding what that meant.

"Oh, wait... maybe it was invision of posture?" Luffy asked to himself, never remembering the correct wording.

"Image...? Invision...? Invasion?" Usopp asked, trying to guess the first word.

"Yeah!" Luffy said excitedly.

"Invasion of... privacy? Was that it?" He asked, again receiving an excited nod from Luffy.

"Yeah! He told me it was an invasion of privacy so I shouldn't tell people what others are feeling. You didn't believe me though- well, you still don't, but I thought you might if I told you." Luffy said with a shrug, not taking it personally that the man wasn't believing his story.

"W-what?! Of course I believe you!" Usopp said nervously, shocked that Luffy had figured that out. He thought he'd played the part of a believer pretty well, but apparently not.

"Liar," Luffy said with a smile, laughing lightly to himself. Usopp gaped at him, not sure how to respond for a moment.

"W-wait, so you can feel people's emotions, but lying isn't an emotion..." Usopp said, trying to find the flaws now so Luffy would crumble and tell him it was all a lie.

"No, but people don't feel genuine when they tell lies, so I always know when they're lying," Luffy said as if it were obvious. Usopp narrowed his eyes at that, getting an idea.

"I'm a millionaire." He said with a straight face and tone, Luffy's smile growing at the words.

"Liar." Alright, maybe that one had been a bit obvious, but he would surely catch Luffy now because there was no way he could really feel his lying.

"My favorite color is red." He said next.

"Liar."

"My favorite food is mushrooms."

"Liar. You hate them."

"How did you know that?!" Usopp asked in surprise, not having expected the last bit of detail.

"Because you felt like you did. Duh." Luffy said as if he were stupid for not realizing that. Usopp blinked, and a small part of him began to believe Luffy now.

"You know, uh... my mom, shes waiting for me. I should go check on her!" Usopp said nervously now, smiling and pointing over his shoulder, because honestly he was getting a little scared now. Luffy pouted at that, arms falling to his side.

"If you didn't want to hang out anymore you could just say so. I told you, I know your lying." Luffy said, a bit sad that Usopp wasn't believing him. This made the man in question stiffen, heart in his throat as he gaped at Luffy, freezing in place.

"B-but... but... that's not possible!" Usopp almost shouted, because, after all of that, Luffy had gotten every answer right, even things that he'd have no way of knowing about Usopp after only knowing him for this short period of time.

"Yes, it is," Luffy told him in response. He was living proof that it was possible.

"N-no! People aren't supposed to be able to feel other people's feelings! I-its... unnatural!" Usopp said, his eyes still wide and legs shaking slightly.

"That's not nice..." Luffy muttered quietly as he frowned. Maybe telling Usopp hadn't been as good an idea as he'd first thought.

"I-I... you..." Usopp was at a loss for words, not sure how to respond as he paled.

What was he saying?! Was he trying to get himself killed?! It was so easy for him to forget that not only was Luffy a pirate himself, but he was a Whitebeard Pirate! He'd had a bounty on his head for years now, and the marines hadn't caught him or his brothers once since they'd escaped the mental hospital. Yet, here he was, practically insulting the man and asking to be attacked.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean-..." Usopp stopped talking again, trailing off as he found it hard to form words. His voice was at a slightly higher pitch than normal, his skin almost ashy compared to its usual color, and his legs much more visibly shaking now.

"It's fine. Your scared and I shouldn't have told you about it. Sabo and Ace said normal people get scared of things they don't really understand, so it's my fault. Sorry. See you later Usopp." Luffy said, his frown never leaving his face as he began walking away from him, his movements much slower and somber compared to earlier.

Usopp could only watch him walk away- because for as bad as he felt, that man walking away was still a dangerous criminal that could turn on him at any moment.

That didn't stop the guilt from forming inside him, however.

Well, this isn't at all how I had originally intended on ending this chapter. My first idea was to have Luffy tell Usopp and then by the end of it, Usopp would still be skeptical but they would continue talking together and become better friends by the end of it. As I was writing it though, I kept reminding myself that, well, it's not normal for Luffy to feel emotions and not everyone can be as accepting of that as the Whitebeards had been.

Usopp himself is a liar- and a scaredy-cat- so to be faced with someone who could see through all of that, with evidence of it, would only scare him even more. Not to mention Luffy's a dangerous criminal in his eyes, which he has good reason to think. Because of this, I feel like he wouldn't be so quick to accept it and move on like Luffy had been originally hoping. Luffy realized just how different people's reactions could be and because he didn't want to continue making Usopp experience negative emotions, he felt the best solution would be for him to leave since he was inadvertently the one causing the emotions.

Anyway, thank you all so much again for the amazing reviews and help when it comes to writing a stronger Luffy in place of a weaker Luffy! And to the guest reviewer Thev, I didn't mind the lengthy review, and I didn't find it rude at all! As always, I'm elated that people love this story- as well as my writing- enough that they want to help me improve it in the future!

So as always, I will see you all in two weeks with the next chapter! I'll try and implement the tips you all had for me in the meantime!