"We're running out of fruits Jack gave us," Nami sighed as she picked up an apple and threw it at Luffy before picking up an orange for herself from a small pile of fruits at the back of the boat.
Luffy hummed biting into the apple as he read a newspaper. "They sure are delicious though. Jack's beast island had great food even though he didn't have meat"
The Jack they were talking about was none other than Gaimon. Luffy had gone 'Hey look, it's Jack-in-a-box. Hi Jack!' when he first saw Gaimon and the name stuck, with even Nami and Zoro calling him that. Gaimon kept snapping 'My name is not Jack, goddammit!' which only made Luffy want to tease him more.
That was the only island they had been to after leaving Orange Town and after helping Gaimon out with finding the treasure chests, they were currently en route to Gecko Islands which Nami said they would reach in half a day more.
Just as she said, half a day later, Luffy finally laid eyes on Gecko Islands and smiled when he could already see some bushes rustling on top of a small hill as they neared the shore.
"There should be a village up ahead here. It's pretty small though," Nami said reading a map and getting out along with Zoro while Luffy anchored the boat.
"Ahh! Feels good to be on land again," Zoro stretched his legs and body while observing the surroundings. Luffy, on the other hand, was more focused on the four people that were hiding in the bushes on the hill.
"So what's up with them?" Zoro asked pointedly looking towards the hill, also having noticed them. The next instant, metal pellets were launched at Luffy's feet, who didn't bother to move.
Soon, pirate flags started being erected all around the hill in sets of three, before a long-nosed teen with medium-length curly black hair and prominent lips popped up out of the bushes, looking down at them proudly while holding a slingshot. He reminded Luffy of Yassop immediately.
"Ahahaha! I'm the leader of the great pirate crew that has conquered this island, Usopp!" He declared boldly, "Everyone praises me and calls me the Great Pirate Captain Usopp! This island is under my protection and I have 80 million men under my command! So you better think twice about invading!"
Everyone looked at him unimpressed. "Do you really think anyone would believe that there are 80 million people on this small island?" Nami asked with a deadpan.
Usopp freaked out, "Oh no! She saw through me!"
Luffy paused thinking about what Nami said, "Is it even possible to have an army that big? What's the biggest army ever created in history?"
"Hm?" Nami tilted her head thinking about it, "I think there was this war in South Blue that had about a million people on both sides a few decades ago… not sure though…"
Luffy hummed thinking that Robin would know about it.
"Hey! Stop ignoring me!" Usopp yelled looking offended. "80 million may have been an exaggeration but I have plenty of strong men under me!"
"Really?" Zoro chimed in, "Bring them out then. Sounds like a good exercise"
Usopp started sweating seeing the ferocious look on Zoro's face and at the same time, six flags started moving in tandem.
"More like three children," Nami said slyly.
"AHHH! S-She saw us!" the three veggie kids yelled before running away leaving behind Usopp, who gaped at them with a shocked face, "Hey! Wait, where are you going?!"
"Shishishi you're funny!"
"You damn woman!" Usopp cursed at Nami first before pointing at Luffy, "And you! Don't laugh at me! I'm a man with high self-esteem, and people even call me Proud Captain Usopp!" He then pointed his slingshot at them, "My skill with the slingshot is even better than with a pistol, as you saw earlier! Leave now, or I'll be forced to attack you!"
"Oh, you're pointing a weapon at me?" Luffy smirked as he discreetly removed his cuffs, before shadowing one eye with his hat and glaring at him with the other, "Weapons are not just tools to scare people, you know…" He then made his voice very deep to sound downright demonic, "If you point a weapon at someone, be ready to put your life on the line as one will be pointed right back at you!"
"GYAAAAH!" Usopp flinched before screaming and turned his back to run away. His legs trembled violently, though, and he lost balance, collapsing to his knees, but fear overrode any other thoughts he had, and he crawled/ran away towards the village at a really impressive speed while screaming his lungs out all the way. "IT'S A DEMON!"
Luffy awkwardly watched him run away while Zoro and Nami were also shocked to hear his raw, gut-wrenching, extremely deep voice. They stared at him, astounded, Zoro with a hand over his swords and Nami with the shock staff at the ready, not even registering that the long-nosed teen had run away.
Realizing that he had gone overboard, Luffy sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, turned to Nami, and said, "Ah, looks like I went a bit overboard, huh?" still in his deep demonic voice, which made Nami jump in fright. But soon realizing that it was only his voice that had changed and that he was still that same idiotic, confusing pirate she knew, she felt rage boiling up in her.
"STOP! FUCKING! USING! THAT! VOICE!" She roared delivering a strong blow from her staff to his head at each word.
"Oh! I'm still talking using demon voice huh, MUHAHAHAHAHA!" He started laughing seeing Nami's pissed-off face which further infuriated her and led to her beating him up.
Zoro who was watching all this with amusement also laughed and Nami's rage was indiscriminate as he became her target next. "Stop laughing at me!"
"Hey! Ow! Stop it, witch!"
"Man, you guys sure are funny! MUHAHAHAHA"
"WILL YOU STOP IT WITH THE VOICE ALREADY!" Both roared at him feeling their insides churn every time he talked.
"Okay okay, I stopped. Happy?" Luffy chuckled as he picked up his cuffs and put them back on.
"Wait, that was your devil fruit power?"
"An application of it, yeah"
"Voice-based devil fruit?"
"Nope!"
"Forget your stupid guessing game!" Nami snapped not at all interested, "Let's just go to the village. Who knows what kind of panic is ensuing there…"
"What panic?" Luffy asked wondering why panic would ensue but a couple of minutes later, he understood when they arrived at the village.
Usopp was shouting and begging everyone to run away and evacuate the village while the villagers were calling him a liar and telling him to stop doing such things every day. The three veggie kids who had run away earlier were also there trying to convince the people that they were telling the truth.
"It's really true this time! There's a Demon Pirate coming! We have to run away!"
"Oh, please shut that kid up!" / "Usopp, we tolerate your lies every day but you're going overboard today!" / "This is the second time today!"
The three Strawhats sweat-dropped watching the scene unfold.
"Well," Nami said, "I was expecting all the villagers to be panicking too… But they don't seem to believe him"
"Yeah," Zoro agreed, "Normally, people would start panicking and run away if one person spots a pirate and informs the rest of the village…"
"Well, let's clear up the misunderstanding," Luffy said as he cleared his throat loudly getting everyone's attention.
Usopp saw them and screamed again, "AHHHHH! THAT'S THE DEMON I WAS TELLING YOU ABOUT! RUN! RUN AWAY!" He tried pushing a couple of people but they refused to move and just watched the three curiously.
"Ah, you see," Luffy began normally but then suddenly smiled wide like the Grinch before dropping the cuffs and making his voice demonic again, "MUHAHAHAHA! I'VE COME TO DRINK YOUR BLOOD! AND EAT YOU SOU-"
"IDIOT!" Nami grabbed his neck choking him. "You call that clearing the misunderstanding?!"
"SEE?! I TOLD YOU," Usopp screamed, "IT'S THE DEMON!"
"AHHH! AND IT'S THE ONIBABA!" the three veggie kids screamed pointing at Nami, who suddenly stopped choking Luffy and snapped her neck at the three.
"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!" She growled angrily while Luffy and Zoro burst out laughing.
Usopp got even more panicky but he brought his slingshot out and aimed it at the three Strawhats before yelling, "YOU ALL RUN AWAY! I'LL HOLD THEM HERE! HURRY! HURRY!"
The three children immediately ran away screaming but the villagers looked unimpressed at all of them. Usopp's knees were trembling violently, sweat was pouring down his face, and his eyes were trembling and watery… but he still stood his ground regardless as he really thought that Luffy was there to harm the village, and seeing that, Luffy smiled.
"So you roped more people into your prank today huh?" one villager said with a sigh, "This is getting out of hand."
"I'm not lying this time!" Usopp snapped but no one believed him and looked at the three Strawhats.
"Ah, it was just a joke. Don't mind us." Luffy placated the villagers nodded before going "See? It's just another one of Usopp's pranks…" and quickly dispersed.
"No, he's tricking you! RUN AWAY NOW!" Usopp screamed at them but froze when he found Luffy standing right in front of him. He just stood in place looking incredulously at him while Luffy studied him.
"…your legs are locked up huh?" Luffy chuckled as he lightly pushed him and he began to keel over. Luffy caught him before he could fall though and put him in a headlock before whispering mischievously, "Well, that was a lie. We're here to feast on all the humans!"
"GYA-" Usopp tried to scream but Luffy clamped his mouth shut while grinning.
"She will be the one who will be doing all the eating though," Zoro added pointing at Nami with a straight face earning him a smack on the head.
"Geez, don't scare the poor guy so much…" Nami sighed shaking her head.
"Well now, let's go eat!" Luffy declared as he dragged a poor, paled-faced, squirming Usopp under his grip to the nearest restaurant while imitating Doflamingo's laugh which almost made Usopp faint.
———
"So…you really were joking?" Usopp asked half out of his seat still thinking of running away, while Luffy kept a tight grip on his shirt. They had gone to a restaurant called 'Meshi' and Luffy had finally let him go but when he tried to immediately run away, Luffy grabbed his shirt to keep him there while they ordered food and talked.
"Yeah, you really don't think there are actual demons in the world, do you?" Zoro asked.
"There are cannibals who call themselves demons and eat humans though!" Usopp argued. "And what about that demonic Jolly Roger?! And then the voice?! Those things definitely point to you guys being in some demonic cult!"
"Well," Nami giggled, "I won't argue on that point. The Jolly Roger does look demonic"
"Pirate flags should strike fear in enemies," Zoro laughed, "Guess it's working in a way"
"It's just a temporary placeholder!" Luffy snapped.
"…Wait… so you're really not here to hurt anyone?
"Nope"
"Seriously?"
"Seriously." Luffy said and when it looked like he was still doubtful, added "I was just messing with you. I heard about you from Yassop"
Usopp's eyes widened and he gaped at Luffy, all his doubts getting replaced with questions about his dad. "You know my dad?!"
"Sure do. He came to my island when I was a kid"
"He did?! What for?!"
"He was the sharpshooter on Shanks' pirate crew"
"Really?! On Shanks' crew?… wait a minute! You don't mean Red-haired Shanks, do you?!"
"Yeah the same"
"My dad was with such a famous pirate?!"
"He still is"
"Woah!"
Luffy then happily told him all about his father from how he was the best sharpshooter he had ever seen to how much he talked about his son and Usopp had a wide excited smile the whole time.
"Disregarding his own life and indulging himself in the vast and endless sea… I'm so proud of my dad! He's gone on a real adventure on the seas!"
"Do you want to be like him too?"
"Yes! Going on an adventure facing mighty enemies! I want to be just like him!"
"Shishi good"
"Well, I guess this makes things easier," Nami interjected, "Do you know anyone here who can help us get a ship?"
"A ship? No, this is a small village as you can see. I don't think anyone here can help you, Sorry." Usopp said looking apologetic.
"What about the mansion at the top of that hill?" Zoro asked as he pointed a thumb at a mansion that was visible through a window.
Usopp suddenly stood up and raised his voice, "Don't go near there!" surprising both Zoro and Nami. Instantly realizing that he had overreacted, Usopp awkwardly laughed before hastily saying, "Ah! I just remembered that I have to do something! The restaurant owner knows me, so order whatever you want. It's on me!" He then ran away grabbing his bag.
"He sure was in a hurry…"
"Well, I'll focus on making him go bankrupt," Luffy said as he ordered more food and Zoro gleefully joined in ordering more booze.
"I honestly think that you can make a country go bankrupt seeing how much you eat sometimes," Nami sighed but also joined in, ordering both food and drinks. Luffy did eat a lot when he wanted to, but there were many times where he just skipped meals or ate very less which made her think that he had very weird eating habits.
A few minutes later, just as they were finishing, the three veggie kids walked in, shaking like a leaf as they stared at Luffy and slowly walked up to him. "W-where's o-our Captain?!"
"Ah, that was some good meat!" Luffy said patting his stomach.
"Me-meat?! You can't mean…!" the three paled backing away.
Zoro smirked as he joined in, "Your captain…we gobbled him up!"
They pointed at Nami and screamed, "AHH! ONIBABA!"
"AGAIN?! WHY AM I THE ONIBABA?!" Nami, who was giggling until then, snapped causing the three kids to fall back.
Luffy and Zoro lost it as they began laughing when Nami smacked them, "It's all your fault for being stupid!"
It took some time to calm the kids down but once they learned that it was just a joke, they became friendly. Luffy asked them about where Usopp had gone to and they began leading them to the mansion while telling them all about Kaya and how Usopp lies to her to make her feel better.
"So has Kaya gotten better after listening to his made-up stories?" Nami asked once they were done.
"Yes, she has!"
"Well okay then, let's go!"
They soon reached the mansion and found two guards standing at the gate. They asked to be let in and were instantly turned down when the guards saw that the three Usopp pirates were with them.
"We told you, it's impossible to get in. Guards will be standing there most of the time," Onion said with a sigh.
"Eh it's okay, we'll just break in," Luffy shrugged as he grabbed Zoro by the neck of his shirt.
"Wha-" Zoro began confused but felt a sudden rush of wind before he found himself flying over the fence. 'He threw me!'
Luffy laughed as he looked at Nami next, who instantly showed him her fist.
"I'm not gonna throw you obviously," Luffy said as he scooped her up in a princess carry and told the three kids to grab onto him before jumping over the fence.
"That's good," Nami nodded happily as the two landed on the other side along with the kids and as soon as Luffy let her go, Zoro grabbed him by his vest, "Don't throw people, ya bastard!"
"Shishi you're so durable though"
"Don't describe a person as durable either!"
"Shishishishi"
"Umm…hello? Are you all alright?" a sweet voice interrupted their argument and the three Strawhats looked up at the second-story window to find a pale-skinned blonde girl looking at them curiously while Usopp was sitting across from her on a tree branch.
"Ah, it's okay, Kaya. These guys heard of my reputation and have travelled afar to come join the Usopp pirates!"
"Nope." Luffy denied it before turning to Kaya, "Hi, I'm Luffy. Nice to meetcha. This is Zoro and Nami"
"Ah yes hello, I'm Kaya"
"We wanted to talk busine-"
He didn't get in any more words before Kuro showed up yelling, "What is going on here?!"
"Ah Klahadore," Kaya said a bit flustered, "You see, these peopl-"
"I'll hear your excuses later, Miss Kaya. For now, you all must leave immediately. Or do you have some business here?"
"Yep. I want a ship"
"I can't help you." came his instant response.
"Good thing I wasn't asking you then." came Luffy's instant retort, which surprised Kuro, before Luffy turned to Kaya, "I heard you have a ship. I want her"
"Oh, you mean the Go-" Kaya began but was again cut off by Kuro.
"Did you not hear me?! You won't get any help here. Leave the premises at once!"
Luffy ignored him and seeing that, Kuro turned his attention to Usopp, who was trying to silently sneak away.
"You're Usopp, aren't you? I've heard about you from the villagers…"
Kuro started taunting Usopp, calling him out on all his lies and how he was abandoned by his father. Kaya was getting flustered as she kept trying to defuse the situation by making Kuro stop, but no matter how much she tried to speak up, he just straight-up ignored her and continued insulting Usopp.
Zoro and Nami could also clearly see what Kuro was doing and were watching impassively while Luffy was honestly bored. Watching someone as uncool as Kuro insulting someone as amazing as Yassop didn't make him the least bit angry and it was at the most boring to hear him talk.
"You are the son of a worthless-" Kuro was saying, enjoying himself internally, when Luffy decided to cut in. He put a hand on a very furious Usopp who was just about to punch Kuro.
"Hey, calm down. This idiot is running his mouth talking bad about Yassop when he hasn't even met him. I have, and I can honestly say he's one of the greatest people I've known"
"That's right! I'm proud of my father! He's a brave warrior of the sea, I'm proud to be the son of a pirate!"
Kuro sent an annoyed glare at Luffy for ruining the moment. "Hah! Who even are you?! His father is a gr-" He again started intending to insult Luffy too but Luffy rolled his eyes at him before turning to Kaya.
"Hey Kaya, can we talk business? We want to buy the ship"
Kaya was startled by the sudden non-sequitur but was also very happy that someone had cut in and stopped the deteriorating situation. She was about to nod and let them in when Kuro cut in again, "We don't have a ship! Leave!"
But Luffy didn't even look in his direction and stared directly at Kaya, not moving an inch.
"Did you not hear me?! I said leave the premises right now! And take this worthless pirate's son with you!"
Usopp was about to lunge at him but Luffy grabbed his shoulder stopping him as he continued to stare at Kaya. "Can you help?"
Kuro continued to mouth off while Kaya just stared back at Luffy and understood what he was conveying. 'I'll not leave until you say so'
Zoro and Nami also caught on to what Luffy was doing and faced away from Kuro staring up at Kaya too. Kuro was still screaming his head off asking them to leave and insulting them too, but as the three continued to ignore him, Kaya also completely calmed down, not listening to him.
"Should we leave, Kaya?" Nami asked and Kaya understood the message. 'You are the owner of this house. You are the one in charge. Not Klahadore'
She shook her head and composed herself. They were guests who had come to see her to talk business and she was showing this shameful display to them.
"Klahadore-" she said but he again dismissed her saying, "I'll deal with these trespassers! I'll hear you later"
"Klahadore." she said again putting a bit more strength into her voice but it was still calm and even. Kuro finally stopped shouting, sensing the change too and looked at her.
"You should take rest, Miss Kaya. I'll ta-"
"Klahadore," Kaya cut him off, "Calling my friend worthless and insulting guests who have come to talk business? You've gone too far this time… You may leave now. I'll entertain my guests here"
"But Miss-…"
"You may leave now," she reiterated with a bit of an edge to her voice. She was angry at Klahadore for insulting Usopp so much and that unconsciously seeped into her voice.
Kuro gaped at her looking shocked. He had been with Kaya for three years and in all those years, he had never seen Kaya get angry at him or reprimand him. Sure, she would throw a tantrum whenever he dismissed Usopp but a few sweet words would always make her submit. But now, she was angry at him, she was cutting him off, and she was dismissing him. He tried one last time and concentrated on Usopp as he was the easiest target but as he turned his head to insult Usopp again, Kaya quickly cut in and addressed the three strangers. "You can come in. I'll have someone else arrange some tea for you"
And Kuro knew he had lost. She was ignoring him too now. He slowly bowed gritting his teeth in annoyance and anger and looked at the straw hat bastard who had changed the situation so easily, but he wasn't even looking at him. He silently vowed to make sure that he would take revenge on the straw hat bastard, the long-nosed idiot and also vowed that Kaya would die extra painfully before leaving the premises.
———
Luffy and the others were brought into a spacious dining room and were served some tea by a butler while Kaya dressed up a bit.
Usopp was also there and was sipping tea with them while his mind was going through everything that had happened earlier. He stared at Luffy who was joking around with Zoro while Nami was yelling at them to act civilized, and before he could think, he heard himself asking "How did you do it?"
"Hm? Do what?"
"Before with Kaya and Klahadore…I've been trying to get her to stand up for herself for so long… and you just come up here and…stare at her… and that somehow gives her courage. How did you do that?"
"It was nothing special…" Luffy shrugged, "I just ignored him, that's all"
"…that makes no sense"
Kaya entered just then and she did hear Usopp's question which made her feel bad. She herself didn't know why she had suddenly snapped at her butler, so she didn't have an answer for that either. It was awkward between the two as Kaya smiled at everyone and took a seat at the table.
"Thank you for inviting us in," Nami began in a very formal manner.
"Ah yes. I apologize for the shameful display earlier"
"Ah no no, it's no matter"
Luffy rolled his eyes at the excessively formal speech both girls were using and jumped straight to the point. "I want a ship."
Nami pinched his waist under the table and directed a glare at him, "There's a way to handle these conversations idiot!" she whisper hissed. "And don't you see the awkward atmosphere here?"
Kaya and Usopp shifted uncomfortably hearing her.
"…Sorry, it's my fault," Kaya said apologetically. "I heard the question Usopp asked…and to be honest, I don't know why I did that either…"
"Ahh! I didn't mean anything by that!" Usopp said flustered feeling bad.
"It's okay, it is true after all… I don't know… I wanted to defuse the situation and when you all just kept looking for my confirmation, I just calmed down too…and felt like you were saying that I was in charge here and that made me just snap I guess"
Zoro, who had picked up booze and was downing it, spoke up then. "It's probably Luffy. He does stuff like this a lot, so don't break your head over it"
"Yeah," Nami agreed, "There was this wimpy kid we met a few weeks ago and he was too scared to even look me in the eye in the beginning. This idiot," she said pinching Luffy's cheeks, "spent like half a day with him, and that same wimpy kid was raising his voice against a Marine Captain five times his size who was about to kill everyone and pretty much started a rebellion"
"I see…" Kaya nodded looking at Luffy for any sort of answer.
Luffy was silently eating crackers while they talked and when things quietened down, he looked up and found that everyone was looking at him. "Hm? I want a ship," he said again ignoring everything else.
"He also likes to pretend that he doesn't know he's capable of such things," Nami said looking peeved.
"Ugh fine fine," Luffy sighed before analyzing the situation. "With you," he pointed at Usopp, "Kaya's having to choose between two people she cares about who hate each other. That's pretty much a nightmarish scenario as no matter what choice she makes, it'll end up hurting someone as both are right in their own way. In our case just now, she had to choose between guests who had come to talk business and her butler who was showing a shameful display to said guests. He was clearly in the wrong, so it's an obvious choice to take our side. Subconsciously too, she knows that Ku-the butler will also realize that it was his fault, understand why she reprimanded him, and even apologize later and reconcile very easily… That's all"
"…"
"…"
"Wow okay… When you put it like that, yeah… it makes perfect sense…" Kaya said nodding her head slowly.
"Yeah makes sense," Usopp nodded sagely as if he knew all along.
But things were still too awkward between them. And seeing that, Luffy opened his mouth again, "If anything, it shows that Kaya likes you a lot and wants to spend time with you even when another person close to her doesn't want her to. And you basically just got jealous and want to spend more time with her too. It shows that you like her a lot too. It's perfectly normal boyfriend-girlfriend behaviour, don't worry about it"
Both instantly blushed heavily and Luffy grinned knowing he had broken the ice before he went back to eating.
"W-W-what a-are you s-saying?! We're n-not like t-that!" Usopp stuttered while Kaya was too heavily blushing not able to mumble even a single word. They looked at each other and instantly looked away with matching blushes, which only caused Luffy to chuckle.
"That was actually really impressive," Nami said looking impressed while Zoro chuckled already expecting something similar.
"You a psychiatrist or something?" Zoro asked.
"Nah, Leo taught me a bit of psychology"
"Leo?"
"My brother"
"You have a brother?" Nami said surprised.
"Yeah," Luffy said before looking at Kaya and Usopp who were still blushing, "Anyway, can we talk about the ship now please?"
"Yes!" Kaya latched onto it, wanting to move on from the previous topic, "We do have a ship that we barely use… Merry has designed the ship, so I think it'll be better if we hear his opinion"
She soon called for him and a sheep-like butler with horns entered the room. "Yes, Miss Kaya?"
"These people want to buy a ship and I wondered whether you would be willing to sell the ship you designed to them. It is currently just sitting with no one using it after all"
Merry looked surprised as he studied each member of the table when Luffy waved at him. "Yo! I'm Luffy, Future Pirate King. I'll take good care of her"
"Pirate King?" everyone who didn't know gasped while Merry was more surprised by what Luffy said after that. "Her?"
"Yes," Luffy nodded resolutely.
Merry already liked that Luffy treated the ship as more than a vessel and smiled. As a shipwright, he was sad that the Going Merry wasn't being used for what it was designed for, and finding someone who was ambitious and also had the right mindset on how to treat a ship? He couldn't have asked for more. "Well, I'm not opposed to selling the ship. It's been barely used as Miss Kaya said. I'll have the ship cleaned up today, so you can come by tomorrow. I'll give you a tour and you can decide if you want to buy her"
Luffy sighed internally but agreed. He wanted to meet Merry badly and that's why he had stopped Usopp from punching Kuro and was talking to Kaya, but guess he had to wait.
"Well, that was easy…" Nami commented before looking at Luffy, "And how will you pay for the ship? I hope you're not thinking of using the money I have right? You did say I had to give it only for food expenses if I remember correctly"
"Don't worry, don't worry, I have enough," he placated. 'I got 200 million lying in the boat…'
That actually made him wonder how Nami hadn't found it yet. It was inside the cabin even when Makino was with them, and Nami had slept inside every night. Had she not snooped around at all? 'Mystery to solve for another day' He thought as he got up and said he had to go to the restroom before slipping out. But he actually went looking for Kuro's room.
He was three weeks early when he had met Zoro, and Clockwork Island, Eldoraggo, Ganzack and many other events had taken place to fill that gap. At Orange Island, he felt that they had arrived earlier than what had happened in the story, but didn't know by how many days. But now, he could confirm it if he knew when Kuro was planning the attack. He hoped to god that it was the next day itself, as staying in such a peaceful village for more than necessary made him want to blow his brains out.
There weren't many people in the house, so it didn't take him long to find a door marked Klahadore. He didn't sense anyone inside, so slipped in and found himself in a small tidy room. He looked around trying to find any indicator of when the attack would take place, and he didn't have to look for long as there was a date circled on a calendar out in the open. The circled date was just two days away with '3 years' written next to it. And that triggered a memory of a scene from the story where Merry gifts Kuro something as an anniversary present which Kuro smashes before attacking him.
'Okay, they'll attack the day after tomorrow in the morning… so just one extra day…' He sighed in relief. Getting what he wanted, he went back to the dining room.
———
"Ugh, it's your fault! You made things so awkward by saying that!" Usopp whined as the three and soon-to-be fourth Strawhat walked towards Usopp's house after leaving Kaya's mansion. They had talked normally, but Luffy's words still seemed to be at the back of their minds and things remained a bit awkward. At the end, Kaya said, 'You'll come by tomorrow at the usual time…right, Usopp?' to which Usopp responded with 'Of course, I'll be there!' but both were blushing when they saw Luffy standing to the side grinning at them.
"Uhh, another shot?" Zoro asked unsure.
"Heehee see? I'm not the only one who says 'It's your fault'," Nami smiled slyly at Luffy, "You're the problem, not me"
"Yeah yeah," Luffy smiled rolling his eyes playfully.
"What's this about?" Usopp asked lost on what they were talking about.
"Oh, it's an inside joke. You'll learn it and a whole lot more soon enough," Luffy grinned, "And as to making things awkward, it's better this way rather than holding negative feelings towards each other right?"
Usopp sighed. "Well… I guess so, yeah… Still, that damn butler is the one responsible… making fun of my dad and trampling all over his name… I wanted to punch him so bad!"
Luffy just shrugged putting his arms behind his head as he walked, "We're pirates, you know. Apart from a few who've actually met us or know about us, the rest of the world will always call us evil and worthless and whatnot… So, people like that Butler are pretty common… and they're not wrong for the most part either… Good pirates are very few in the world…"
"I agree," Nami agreed looking serious, "I have a really bad impression of pirates too… There's only one pirate I know of that's good…" She turned to Luffy, "And that's you"
"You're a good pirate too," Luffy said softly and Nami opened her mouth to retort… but couldn't. She was technically in two pirate crews currently, one she hated with all her being and couldn't wait to get out of, and the other… had become something she wholeheartedly loved and wanted to be a part of. 'No! Stop thinking, stop thinking…' she berated herself until her mind went blank.
"Huh… never thought of it like that…" Usopp pondered with a hand on his chin, "Still, you have to fight for your honour when someone tramples on it like that butler right?! Real pirates wouldn't just let it go if someone makes fun of them! Especially, not the Great Pirate Captain Usopp!"
"Shishi sure," Luffy didn't argue. He still had a childish and immature view of pirates just like his seven-year-old self who picked a fight with Higuma and he would have to grow and mature himself. "Anyway, you're good at building stuff, right? I want something built. Can you do it?"
"Hm? Yes, I am also known as the Great Inventor too! What did you have in mind?"
Luffy smiled. He had been waiting to get a wingsuit or a glider made ever since he had been lost and airwalked over the Calm Belt all those months ago. "Do you know the physics behind flight?"
———
After Luffy explained how a glider worked (as much as he could anyways) to Usopp, he and Zoro started sparring right outside his house. Usopp was outside too at a workbench cutting wood and building what Luffy requested, while Nami was also to the side drawing maps and occasionally watching the two men fight.
Zoro panted hard as he tried to get just a single hit on Luffy but it was as if he knew all his attack patterns. Especially today, there was something different in the way Luffy dodged all his attacks.
He had improved tremendously by his daily spars with Luffy and his speed and techniques had improved a lot, but it was still nowhere near Luffy's level. No matter how fast he was, Luffy was faster. Even when he performed feints and switched attacks at the last moment, Luffy would be one step ahead and react to it. And today, Luffy was taking it one step further by somehow dodging or deflecting attacks before he even made them. It couldn't be that he was memorizing attack patterns either as he was mixing it up, so it baffled Zoro.
'It's not just speed… there's something more today…' Zoro realized as he tried to analyze just how exactly Luffy was predicting his attacks. He held two swords in front of him making a downward V before lunging at Luffy with both swords diverging outward. Luffy stepped back and raised his hand in front of him and Zoro then changed one sword slash into a thrust which Luffy deflected. 'His arm was already up before I even began to switch the attack!'
"Finally realizing it huh?" Luffy smiled as Zoro paused trying to think.
"So there is something more going on here. You're somehow predicting my attacks before I even do it…"
"You're still thinking about it before you do it though"
"…You're reading my thoughts?"
"In a way. It's time you learn about Haki"
"Haki?"
"Yeah. You guys pay attention too," Luffy said to Nami and Usopp, and surprisingly, Nami was already focusing on them. She instantly stopped drawing her charts and came closer to them, while Usopp watched while still working giving the reason that "You guys are monsters, you know. I'll stay as far away as possible so that I don't get roped into it"
Luffy shrugged as he brought a piece of black cloth and started blindfolding himself.
"You're gonna fight with a blindfold on?" Nami asked surprised.
"Yup. Zoro, attack me. Seriously"
Zoro didn't hesitate for a moment and attacked him without holding back even a bit, and just as he expected, Luffy dodged all his attacks with the slightest of margins.
"Haki is a dormant power that's present in all living beings," Luffy began even while Zoro kept attacking and he kept dodging, "But most people never notice it or ever awaken it… It can be described by lots of names - Presence, Will power, ambition, spiritual energy…"
"…So you're sensing my presence right now?" Zoro asked as he kept up the attacks hoping to understand what Luffy was talking about.
"Yeah, I can sense your presence, your intent. You think of attacking before you actually do it and that's what I'm picking up on"
"How?" Zoro breathed becoming excited at the prospect of learning something new and strong.
"There are three types of Haki," Luffy continued, "First is Observation Haki. It's what I'm doing right now. It's a sort of sixth sense that lets me perceive the world around me. I can sense your strength, your intents, and kinda see your aura. It can also be described as voices… It's hard to explain. You'll understand once you feel it on your own"
"Wait…" Usopp looked at the serious looks on Zoro's and Nami's faces, "You're not actually thinking this is true right? Something like that can't be real. He's just making up stuff… and I should I know- I'm a master storyteller after all"
"Well," Luffy grinned turning his back to him, "Attack me with your slingshot then"
"Are you sure? My skills with the slingshot are no joke. You'll get hurt!"
"Yeah, go ahead"
"Well, don't cry later that I didn't warn you!" Usopp proudly brought his slingshot out and shot a metal pellet right at his head. Luffy only tilted his head slightly and it whizzed past him.
Usopp gaped for a second before he shot another one which he dodged with minimal movement again.
"C'mon, try harder"
Usopp took it as a challenge and started firing in quick succession, and Luffy dodged it all without taking a step away from where he stood with his back to them. Zoro also attacked him suddenly while being completely silent, which he sensed and dodged.
"Unbelievable…" Usopp muttered after a few minutes of unsuccessful hits.
"So that was Observation. Second type is Armament Haki," Luffy continued as he removed his blindfold and went to stand in front of a tree. "You can coat your body with Haki to act like armour and also increase the force of your attacks. Watch. This is a normal punch," Luffy said as he punched the tree in front of him and only a small dent formed on the bark. "Now, the same punch with the same strength, but I'll coat my fists with Armament Haki." He again punched the tree and a deep hole that almost went one-third of the way in was drilled into the bark and cracks formed.
"…"
"Of course, you can coat it on swords too. There are way more things you can do with Haki which you'll learn along the way… and if you want to be the strongest of anything, Haki is as necessary as breathing"
"How do I awaken it?" Zoro asked hastily wanting the power for himself.
"Well, Haki is a mysterious power. There are some who are born with it and don't have to train to unlock it, some train for years and don't unlock it, some unlock it during really stressful or intense situations too… The way I learned it was," he grinned, "Get hit. A lot."
"Get hit?"
"Yeah, put a blindfold on yourself and make someone whack you with a stick. For Observation, you need to focus on sensing the stick coming at you and dodge it. For Armament, you need to focus on channelling your Haki to coat your body parts to protect yourself."
"…I see" Zoro nodded knowing it wasn't going to be easy.
"Well, the best way is of course life-or-death battles. I didn't have anyone to whack me with a stick, so I just blindfolded myself and jumped into the middle of wolf packs and other beasts to train myself. A few weeks of being treated like a rag doll and I unlocked it." Nami and Usopp went pale imagining Luffy being clawed at by normal wolves, but Luffy was talking about 5-7 meter tall wolves and even bigger beasts.
"I'm still not good at Armament though, so I need way more training too"
"That's being not good?!" Usopp exclaimed with shock pointing at the tree.
"Yeah, one can get waay more powerful"
"What's the third type?" Zoro asked not caring about him.
"Well, let's skip that for now. I'll show you some other time. Now, who wants to train?" Luffy said holding out the piece of cloth and, of course, only Zoro was up for it.
"Ahahaha!" Usopp laughed awkwardly, "I-I have to finish building the thing you asked me for, so I'll pass. Besides, I'm already really strong, so I have no need for this! Ahaha!"
Luffy nodded knowing he was still childish in his idea about pirates and that wouldn't change for a while, so he wouldn't focus on getting stronger himself any time soon. Mentally, Luffy was in Wano, knowing how strong the opponents would eventually get and how much stronger they would all have to grow. But the rest weren't. Other than Zoro who always had a drive to get stronger, and Sanji who would most probably want to compete with Zoro and get stronger too, Luffy didn't think anyone else would take training from him. He didn't mind it one bit though. They all had different fighting styles, so he would just have to find different ways to help them grow stronger as the journey continued.
Luffy then turned to Nami, who had been unnaturally quiet the whole time.
"Where exactly did you learn all this?" Nami asked when she noticed Luffy staring at her. "This and the Rokushiki too… you said you saw Marines performing those techniques, but I've never once seen anyone do what you do. And I've travelled a lot over the years…"
"Well, not Marines in East Blue. I meant the higher-level Marines in the Grand Line"
"You're from the Grand Line?!" Usopp gasped loudly while Nami and Zoro already seemed to have guessed it and nodded in affirmation.
"I was there for a bit, yeah"
"Oh my god! Someone from that sea is here!" Usopp exclaimed with shock as he stared at Luffy with a bit of reverence. "Is it really true?! That it's filled with horrors?!"
"Hmm well for me, it's the most beautiful place in the world"
"What?! I heard that there are mons-"
"Alright, I want to train now," Zoro interrupted causing Usopp to stare at him in bewilderment.
"You don't want to hear about that place?!"
"Not really. We'll be going there soon anyway," Zoro said nonchalantly as he took the blindfold that Luffy held out to him and started tying it around his eyes.
"If you want to know, you need to go there and see for yourself." Luffy grinned and shut down any more questions as he grabbed a stick.
'Me?! Go to the Grand Line?! Impossible, Impossible!' Usopp thought to himself before wincing when he saw Luffy whacking Zoro in the head. "Ouch…"
Meanwhile, Nami was lost in thought as she watched the two blockheads. 'So he is from the Grand Line too… could he?… No, stop thinking! That bastard is from the Grand Line too and he's a Fishman! Don't pull others into your problems!' Nami berated herself and stopped herself from thinking about it any more. She couldn't help but wonder if Luffy could defeat Arlong whenever she saw him doing impossible things casually.
The idea that Luffy would help her in a heartbeat with no hesitation was pretty clear to her, but would he actually be able to defeat Arlong? The scenes of Arlong literally spearing Marine Battleships with his nose and all the times she had failed in killing him passed through her mind, and she squashed any ideas she was getting about Luffy defeating him. 'Fishmen are stronger than humans… No human can defeat a Fishman…' she chided herself and stopped thinking about it. She almost had a hundred million anyway, so defeating him wasn't even needed.
She went back to the boat to draw some charts, Usopp went back to his house to build the glider, while the other two spent the entire day training, by the end of which, Zoro's head was filled with bumps.
The next morning, Nami and Usopp were still asleep, but Luffy and Zoro were again sparring as Zoro was more motivated than ever to grow stronger. As they trained, it suddenly occurred to Luffy that he should focus on making Zoro learn how to cut steel first. Cutting steel was the next step to evolve his skills, so he thought he should push him towards that direction.
"Hey, Zoro. Your sensei should have told you about the concept of cutting nothing, right?" He asked when there was a pause in the fight.
Zoro's eyes widened as he blankly nodded. 'Listen Zoro, in this world we live in, there are swordsmen who can cut nothing'
"Yes… He did tell me about it. But what does that even mean? To cut nothing?"
"Hmm, everything in this world has a…breath of its own. The trees, rocks, leaves…everything. You'll feel their presence and it feels like it's almost breathing… it's hard to explain to people but once you experience it yourself, it'll just click. That breath is what you should be concentrating on. Try to feel it, try to concentrate on it, meditate and focus on everything around you expanding your senses. When you feel that breath, that's when you'll be able to truly understand what exactly cutting nothing means"
Zoro quietly listened to his words processing them. 'A breath huh?… That makes absolutely no sense…'
"Well, okay…" Zoro said, pondering over it as they continued sparring.
———o———
Luffy had a day to kill before the battle, so he wondered what he should do. He thought back on his adventure and decided on training the Voice of All Things. He pretty much meditated every day for at least four hours concentrating on his Observation, Conqueror's and the Voice of All Things at the same time, but today, he wanted to completely focus on the Voice.
After a quick breakfast with everyone, he first found a local cat and then sat under a tree with the cat napping in his lap. He then closed his eyes and started meditating.
He remembered the feeling he got when he talked to Roxanne, the Sea King he had befriended in the Calm Belt, and focused on it. It wasn't long before he felt the familiar fuzzy hearing he usually heard when he tried to hear Sea Kings, and he turned his focus on the cat napping in his lap, hoping to hear it.
He was doing this because he was sure that he had understood Chouchou back in Orange Town and that led him to wondering if he could talk to animals. It was shown that only Beasts with high-level intellect like Sea Kings and Zunesha could be heard using the power, but many animals in this world had high-level intellect too.
Carue could understand humans, even though it was a bit dumb.
Chopper could talk to a wide array of animals and they seemed to be smart too, particularly the wolves on Skypiea came to mind.
Mermaids could talk to fish.
There were birds that delivered newspapers all throughout the world. Morgan's devil fruit maybe played into it, but the News Coo's could actually show a wide array of emotions like being pissed when people don't pay, shrug when people complained about prices, and cheer when it made a good sale.
Then there was Criminal, the worldwide fashion label that was created by Pappag, the Starfish, Camie's pet and teacher. He was a starfish that had learned the human tongue because in his childhood, he thought that he was a human and by the time he realized that he was a starfish, he had already learned the human tongue. However that worked. And that starfish had created the biggest fashion luxury brand in the world that charged outrageous prices. He didn't remember it from the story but had actually heard it from Reiju. She actually used a lot of Criminal products and also another brand called Doskoi Panda, and those two were apparently the biggest luxury brands in the world. She had clothes and purses from those brands and she had even bought Luffy some of those luxury clothes (which he had lost when he was stuck in the Calm Belt.)
'Ugh stop stop, I'm going on a tangent. Let's get back to the Voice of All Things'
Bottom line was that animals had a high level of intellect in this world too and he thought that he should be able to hear them too if he tried hard enough. Not all of them probably, but the smarter ones at least. 'Or animals with high EQ' he added when he remembered Chouchou. The dog was repaying a favour and was happy that Luffy had protected his treasure, so maybe that emotional bond made Luffy understand him? He wouldn't know if he didn't try, so began focusing on the cat and lost himself in meditation.
—
"That looks heavenly…" Nami's eyes shined as she saw a cat curled up on Luffy's lap as he slept leaning against a tree while a few more cats were also arriving and climbing into his lap. "They're so cute!"
"Well, I wanted to train but-" Zoro began but Nami cut him off.
"Don't you dare! The cats are sleeping so peacefully. Don't disturb them!"
"Yeah yeah…"
"…Besides, I guess Luffy needs some sleep too… have you ever seen him sleep for long? He's still awake late into the night when I go to sleep and when morning comes, he's already awake before me…he pretty much takes up all the night watches…"
"Yeah, I asked him. He said he usually can't sleep for long periods and just takes a few power naps…"
Nami sighed, "He has a messed up sleep cycle too… Need to fix that…"
"Well, you do that. I'll go train," Zoro said and walked off leaving Nami alone.
She slowly walked towards Luffy and the cats, not wanting to startle them, but they were pretty much relaxed as they slept on and around Luffy. Three cats had now curled up in Luffy's lap with a couple more around him and she slowly sat next to him to pet them. She scooped one up to put it on her lap, but it immediately went back to Luffy causing her to huff irritably. She soon leaned down to pet them and giggled when she felt the soft purring. "So cute~"
—
After some time where Luffy heard absolutely nothing, he suddenly felt someone shaking him forcibly which made him open his eyes.
He had started meditating right after breakfast in the morning and it was already late evening with the soft orange glow of the setting sun washing over them. Zoro was next to him shaking him awake and on his lap, three cats were curled up together sleeping… and more surprisingly, Nami's head was resting on his lap.
She was curled up right in front of him with her body facing him and the most peaceful smile he had ever seen on her face. She seemed to have lied down in front of him to play with the cats as one of her hands was resting gently on them, and had dozed off at some point with her head in his lap. There were two more cats that were peacefully sleeping in the crevice that Luffy's legs and Nami's body created.
Luffy then looked up to see that a small crowd of villagers were also standing around and looking at them smiling and murmuring "Such a cute couple" / "They look so peaceful" / "Someone needs to draw this scene" "I did!" / "Cats!"
"Did I really spend the whole day meditating?" Luffy whispered with a sigh realizing he had missed meeting Merry.
"Meditating?" Zoro teased, "I thought you two were out on a date and were sleeping here"
"Yeah yeah," Luffy rolled his eyes before looking down at Nami. He gently shook her and she mumbled incomprehensibly before burying her face in the cats more and smiled feeling the soft fur.
Luffy shifted his gaze back at Zoro, "I feel like she'll kill me if I wake her up now"
Zoro softly chuckled, "Well, I would have left you two but there's a situation"
Luffy looked around and not finding Usopp, nodded understanding what probably happened. He shook Nami again with a bit more force and she groaned as she slowly opened her eyes. She blinked a few times, saw the cats right in front of her face, turned slightly up to see Luffy's face and suddenly sat up blushing. 'Oh no! I dozed off?!'
Her suddenly sitting up, of course, disturbed the cats that were sleeping in between them and they meowed loudly in protest, which woke up the other cats too.
"Ah no! Sorry, sorry," Nami said apologetically but they all meowed yawning and stretching as they got up, which made everyone watching go 'Awww~' before they licked Luffy's face as if thanking him and soon, jumped off. 'So I attract animals to me too? No… probably just cats being cats'
The mission of hearing animals had failed and he decided to ponder on his power later, but he was happy as he had caught a cat burglar sleeping on him. "Had a good sleep?" Luffy smirked at Nami, who was blushing.
'That was one of the best naps of my life…' Nami thought internally but externally, she scowled grabbing Luffy by the neck of his vest. "Not a word. Ever. Got that?"
"Oh c'mon, we just slept together. It's no big de-"
"Don't word it like that!" she snapped, "I slept on you…ugh, that sounds bad too…"
"Shishishishi"
"Don't laugh!"
Zoro cleared his throat getting their attention, "If you two are done flirting, there's something important to talk about"
"I'm not flirting!"
"Sure, I believe you-" SMACK! "-Let's go"
———
It didn't take long for them to reach Usopp's house and as Luffy expected, he had a bandaged shoulder and looked like the whole world had ended.
"Oh god, what happened to you?" Nami asked.
"He got shot at Kaya's place," Zoro said as they all sat around in a circle.
"Really? Kaya did that?"
"No no!" Usopp hastily defended her, "It's not her fault really… it's mine. I always keep lying, so, of course, this would happen… I should've realized it by what happened yesterday when I told the villagers about you guys and no one believed me…"
"Can you just tell us what happened?" Nami sighed.
"He isn't telling me either. He made a lot of ruckus in the afternoon yelling that pirates were gonna attack at dawn tomorrow, and was chased around by a mob. He then went to the mansion and came back with a bullet wound"
"You guys won't believe me either. You'll just think I'm a liar like everyone else too, so what's the point?"
"Well, I know the attack is real," Luffy said nonchalantly, "I saw it marked on Kuro's calendar"
"Righ-… YOU KNOW ABOUT KURO?!"
"Yeah, I was going to tell you but ended up sleeping through the day…Oops?"
"You bastard! Why didn't you tell me earlier?! If you were there, we could have convinced everyone!"
"Really? They would have just thought that you had roped another person into your prank…that's what happened yesterday too…"
Usopp froze thinking back and hung his head again with a sigh, "Well… yeah.."
"Okay, so what's going on?" Zoro asked not following.
"Kuro… Isn't that a pirate?" Nami recalled, "He was killed a few years ago I think…"
"No, that damn Klahadore is Kuro! I saw him making a plan to…" he then narrated what all he had seen. He had apparently gone to see Kaya like usual and she told him that Klahadore had apologized to her for going too far. She was also a bit pushy in making Usopp talk and forgive Klahadore too, but Usopp still held a grudge against him and soon left feeling uncomfortable. He went to the cliff he usually visited to think and things turned out like in the story when he witnessed Kuro and Jango making plans.
"And how do you know?" Nami asked pointedly looking at Luffy.
"I recognized him, broke into his room back at the mansion, found that he was gonna attack tomorrow… I was gonna tell you today, but you know…"
"You dozed off"
'I wanted to prevent that whole unpleasantness…Oh well…' Luffy shrugged moving on. "Well then, what do you wanna do now?" He asked Usopp.
"…They all think I'm a liar and that tomorrow will be a peaceful boring day like always… So, I'll make that happen! Even though I got shot and they chased me away with brooms…This is still my home! I love everyone here! So, I'll protect them!"
Luffy smiled seeing the burning determination in his eyes even though his legs were shaking and nodded. "We'll help you"
Zoro smiled too as he looked approvingly at Usopp. "You've got a good heart. You even lied to those kids so that they wouldn't be in danger"
"This is actually great. I can steal from those pirates now after we take them out!" Nami added.
"Huh?… You're willing to fight beside me?" Usopp asked bewildered. "Why?"
"You look scared" / "You're outnumbered" came the blunt answers.
"Me?! S-Scared?! So what if they outnumber me?! I-I'll be fine! I'm the Great Captain Usopp, Brave Warrior of the Sea after all! I can take them all with my 80 million-strong army!"
The three looked down blankly at his legs that were shaking uncontrollably and Usopp snapped hitting his legs in frustration "What are you looking at?! It's Captain Kuro and his crew! Of course, I'm scared! I don't need your pity, so leave!"
"We're not pitying you. You said that you want to fight to protect your home… And as long there's at least one person willing to fight-" Zoro said with a smile.
"-We'll be there to help." Nami finished, also with a smile, before giving a sideways glance at Luffy, "Right, captain?"
Luffy's lips curled up wider than usual. "Shishi Yep!"
"You guys…." Usopp looked at them with thankful teary eyes for a few moments before he wiped his tears away and faced them resolutely, "Okay, we don't have much time. We have to set up traps!"
———
They were standing atop a hill where Usopp had just explained how he wanted to pour oil over the slope and then attack the pirates while they were slipping and sliding.
"Well, it sounds easy but it'll depend on our strength as we'll be fighting a small army… So what can you guys do?"
"I shock people. And steal, of course"
"I cut people"
"I just goof around…"
"I ru-wait! What do you mean you goof around?! And what do you mean you shock people?!"
"You'll see," Luffy said before bringing up another point, "Why do you say this is the only shore for the pirates to come in from? We literally docked at another shore…"
Usopp blinked for a few seconds before panicking, "That's right! There's another shore in the North! I assumed they would be coming from here since they talked here, but they can come from the north shore too! What will we do now?!"
"We just have to split up" Zoro answered calmly.
"I'm taking the north shore!" Nami said instantly, "Our boat is also there with all my treasure in it! Need to hide it"
"Okay, then I'll take this shore," Zoro agreed.
"I'll go to Kaya's place then," Luffy said and the other two nodded before they started to walk in respective directions.
"Wait wait! What're you saying?!" Usopp panicked, "We're already outnumbered! We can't afford to split up!"
"It's fine, don't worry," Nami said as she grabbed Usopp, "You're coming with me. I need a scapegoat in case something goes wrong"
"WHAT?!" Usopp screamed as Nami dragged him along with her to the other shore while Zoro just sat at the shore they were already at and Luffy went to Kaya's mansion.
Luffy soon reached the mansion and climbed up to the roof to wait. He sat there staring at the night sky feeling much more happier than usual as the earlier comment Nami made had left him elated. It was obvious that she considered herself to be a part of the crew but, she still blanked out sometimes when he was sparring with Zoro or fighting others, and it was easy to figure out what was going through her head. He sighed knowing that she had kind of vowed to herself that she wasn't going to ask for help in dealing with Arlong, but he wasn't about to let her suffer like in the story and decided to confront her soon.
———
"What is it with you idiots?! Why did we all split up?!" Usopp yelled for the millionth time as he poured oil over the slope on the North shore.
"Will you stop complaining already? It'll work out"
"We didn't even talk! What will happen if those pirates come here?! We need to signal those two to come here right?! How will we do that?!"
Nami pulled out a transponder snail and showed it to him, "I'll just call them"
"…Oh…" Usopp blinked dumbly.
The transponder snail was something Luffy had bought for her and Zoro pretty much the day after they met. Luffy seemed to have a weird obsession with transponder snails and people not carrying them everywhere. 'I just don't get why everyone doesn't carry one everywhere they go! What if some emergency occurred and I wanted to reach you huh?! I get these are useless pieces of junk for long distances, but they're still useful for short distances! God, I hate this world sometimes for not having phones!' Nami giggled remembering the very long rant he had gone about this topic before forcibly handing her and Zoro each a transponder snail, and was adamant that they carry it around everywhere. He said some really strange things sometimes which made no sense.
"Anyway," Nami came out of her thoughts just as Usopp finished pouring the last barrel of oil over the slope, "This looks good. Let's just hope we don't slip and fall for this trap ourselves"
"Haha don't worry! This is the Great Captain Usopp's plan! There's no way it will fail!"
"Sure sure"
"…Uhh Nami…" Usopp spoke up hesitantly after a few seconds, "No offence, but we'll still have to hold on long enough for the other two to come here… I-I know I'm strong and I-I'll be able to handle them… but still, some might slip past me and come after you. Can you even fight?"
"Well," Nami cattily grinned, "We'll just have to wait and see, won't we?"
Usopp trembled as he nodded and declared, "D-Don't worry! I guess I'll have to work a bit harder to make sure you're okay too! Ahahah-"
"Shut it! Don't shout!" Nami smacked him and he fell down instantly. "Ah sorry sorry, I'm used to hitting the other two blockheads, so I used the same force…" She said apologetically as he helped him up.
"Gorilla woman…" he muttered as he got up massaging his head and that earned him another smack, albeit a bit softer this time.
Dawn soon arrived and a ship with a cat figurehead with a Jolly Roger on its sails could be seen arriving on the horizon on their side.
"Oh no! They're here! Why did we have to pick this shore?!" Usopp panicked watching the pirates while Nami calmly pulled out her snail and let the other two know that the pirates were at the north shore.
The pirate ship soon docked, and a bunch of bloodthirsty-looking pirates hollered and cheered as they got off the ship brandishing their weapons. A weird man in a purple cloak and heart-shaped glasses seemed to be the leader as he was ordering the others.
"Alright, my men!" Jango yelled, "Hit the beach, sack the village and capture that estate!"
"YAAAARRR! Pillaging time!" The pirates started charging up the hill while Nami and Usopp watched them from behind a tree. Once the first wave of pirates stepped on the area covered with oil, they slipped and fell face first on the ground before the next wave of pirates behind them ended up stepping on them and fell down too.
"What the hell?!" / "It's slippery!" / "It's oil!"
"Woah! It actually worked!" Usopp exclaimed with surprise as the pirates became confused and came to a stop at the bottom of the slope.
"Why are you the one most surprised by it?" Nami muttered with a sweat-drop.
Ignoring her and getting bolder, Usopp stepped out and stood right at the top of the hill staring down at all the pirates. "Ahahaha!" He laughed getting everyone's attention, "My name is Captain Usopp! My 10 million men and I have been waiting for you scoundrels! We're fully prepared for battle! You'll be wise to turn back now if you value your lives!"
"10 million?!" Jango gasped.
"He's obviously lying," one of the pirates said which caused Usopp to go "Oh no! I was caught!" and Jango to respond "You were lying?!" while Nami watched blankly at all the idiots.
"Captain! We can't get up this slope. It's super slippery!" The others started complaining as they kept trying to climb up the slope but kept sliding down after a few steps.
"Hahaha! That's my deathly trap! Let's see you even attempt to overcome my oil-slick plan!"
"Is that so?" Jango drawled as he brought out a ring, "Alright men! Look at this ring. When I saw One, Two, Jango, you'll all forcibly shove your foot and swords into the ground to climb up the slope as fast as you can no matter what!"
"Is he trying to hypnotize people? As if that would ever work" Nami scoffed but choked on her words when Jango said "One, Two, Jango!" and suddenly, the pirates cheered and started running up the slope with increased vigour by creating footfalls using their swords and feet.
"That's actually working?!" Usopp gasped before realizing that the pirates were actually managing to climb up the slope. He quickly pulled out his slingshot and loaded his projectiles.
"Now it's time for my secret weapon! Lead Stars!"
One pirate got hit right on his forehead and he fell backwards before sliding down the oily slope. Usopp yelped in surprise as he kept shooting each one square on the forehead and the plan seemed to be working as pirates kept losing balance. "It's working! It's working!"
"Again, why are you surprised by it?"
"Shut up! What are you doing anyway? Go and fight them!"
"On the oily slope?! I'm not going down and fighting them there!"
"Haha! So looks like it's up to Captain Usopp to take the lead here! Hahaha!"
"Keep shooting, idiot. They're starting to climb up"
The pirates just kept charging up the slope, some using their swords, some burying their feet into the ground to keep balance, and soon enough, with many pirates doing the same thing over and over again, the footfalls became prominent enough that they could climb up easily.
"Oh no! They're starting to come up!" Usopp panicked.
He tried throwing caltrops to slow them down, but Jango's hypnotism was in effect and they didn't care as their goal was to climb up the slope. Soon, the first one reached the top of the slope and Usopp trembled when he saw a big man holding an axe coming at him.
"Die! You annoying piece of shit!"
And that's when Nami stepped up and jabbed her shock staff into his midriff with not much force. The pirate paused, Usopp gaped while Nami just stared blankly.
"What the hell?!" Usopp cried shaking like a leaf, "You looked so confident, so I thought you were strong, but what the hell?! You can't even hit a person properly!"
"Heh heh, little girlie," the pirate grinned, "This is a real battle. This is no place for someone like you"
Nami just stared as three more pirates came up from behind him and grabbed his shoulders to use as support to balance themselves as the soles of their footwear were still slippery. And that's exactly what she was waiting for. They would, of course, hold onto each other for support when they came up and her strongest suit was the element of surprise after all, so the more people she got in the first attack, the better.
When two more came up and grabbed the ones ahead of them, they seemed like they were going to attack, so she gave a cute smile before turning the dial up, "Okay, bye-bye!"
BZZZZT!
The whole area froze as they watched five pirates get electrocuted and fall down unconscious all at the same time before the bodies slowly slid to about halfway down the slope. Nami didn't wait as she saw a couple more pirates almost at the top and extended her shock staff to reach them and took them out too. She then turned back to Usopp, who was gawking at her, and grinned. "You were saying?"
———
Luffy sat atop a tree which had a good view of the slope the fight was taking place on and grinned watching the battle play out. Jango's hypnotism which told the pirates to 'climb up the slope no matter what' was still in effect, so the pirates kept climbing up, even though they looked terrified of Nami. And the two held their own against all of them really well. Usopp was sniping at everyone while occasionally throwing caltrops, while Nami just shocked the ones that came up the slope.
A few did manage to climb up as a group and Usopp got bashed in the head once, and Nami got flung back and crashed into a wall too. But Nami quickly got up and retaliated. The pirates were more wary of her and focused on her, so Usopp managed to trip a couple of them making them fall and Nami took that chance to shock them.
It wasn't long before Jango realized that the two kids had managed to prevent his entire crew from going to the village and he didn't want to face Kuro's wrath, so he hypnotized his crew again, this time telling them that they were superhumanly strong and that their wounds would heal faster. The pirates roared loudly and one pirate punched a cliff breaking it off, which truly shocked Nami and Usopp, who gawked at the display of strength.
Luffy still didn't interfere but kept a watchful eye on them as he kept watching.
"Uhhh…what's that noise?" Kaya, who had been sleeping next to Luffy on the tree until then, woke up because of the loud ruckus. She was wrapped up in plenty of blankets so that she wouldn't feel the cold and was positioned comfortably on the tree branches.
"Ah Miss Kaya, you're up!" Merry, who was also there, smiled holding onto her.
"Merry?" Kaya mumbled confused, "What's happening?"
Merry just pointed towards the shore with a grim expression and Kaya's eyes widened when she saw a hoard of roaring pirates charging up a slope and at the top, she saw Usopp standing with a slingshot in hand and a determined expression on his face as he sniped at the pirates. "Wh-Usopp?!"
"Mr. Luffy!" Merry yelled terrified for the brave young man who had tried to warn them, "Aren't you going to help?!"
"Don't worry, he finally found his way," Luffy chuckled just as Zoro passed below them. This was actually the third time he had passed by their tree and thankfully, he was finally going in the correct direction this time. "Well, you explain the situation to Kaya" he said to Merry before jumping off the tree.
Zoro burst out of the clearing and appeared at the top of the slope, saw the charging pirates with Nami and Usopp facing them, and ran at them. "Duck!" he yelled while holding two swords horizontally outwards.
Nami saw him and pushed Usopp to the ground just as Zoro passed above them while twisting his body. "Swirling Strikes!"
He spun in the air, his outstretched swords spinning as he slashed all the ones at the front of the charging line and the momentum also flung them back. Two rotations were all he needed to stop the charge completely as the pirates at the front got flung backwards with enough force to push all the ones behind them back.
"They're kinda strong," Zoro muttered surprised when he noticed quite a few had stood their ground without falling off before charging at him again. He again slashed at them, sending all of them back down the slope.
"Wow…I didn't know you were that strong…" Usopp said with a sigh of relief.
"What took you so long huh?" Nami demanded before holding up a hand, "Wait, don't answer that. You were obviously lost"
"I wasn't lost!"
"Sure you weren't." Nami rolled her eyes, "And by the way, they weren't that strong before. That heart glasses guy used some sort of hypnosis on them and they suddenly became like that"
"Hypnosis huh…" Zoro nodded as he watched the downed pirates getting right back up again even with all their injuries.
"Who are you now?!" Jango demanded getting frustrated. "Why are you all getting in our way?!"
"I told you!" Usopp took the chance to boast, "We're fully prepared for battle! You think these are all the men I have? There are a million more like these two under me! I'll give you one last chance to turn back! Leave if you value your lives!"
"I won't fall for the same trick again! Men, do you really want to anger Kuro?! We're already behind schedu-" his words died in his throat when he heard cracking sounds from behind him. He looked back only to yelp in shock and dive flat on the ground just as the cat figurehead of their ship swung above him. The other pirates weren't lucky, however, as they got smashed by the figurehead.
Luffy dropped the figurehead after swinging it in an arc once and appeared next to the group. "Yo!"
"Hey! You took pretty much everyone out…" Zoro complained.
"Ehh don't worry, the stronger ones in their crew are yet to show themselves"
"Wow… you're a monster too…" Usopp mumbled, truly impressed by the strengths of all three.
"And you're a monster at sniping too," Luffy smiled giving him a thumbs-up.
"… Ah-Ahahah! Of course, I am!" Usopp blushed slightly at the praise, "They don't call me the Great Sniper King for nothing after all!"
They were interrupted when an enraged Jango cursed them first before calling for Sham and Buchi. Luffy again took the backseat as Nami and Zoro wordlessly stepped up to handle the two Meowban brothers. The brothers started acting weak and scared and pretended like they were only fighting because Jango was ordering them to. Nami easily recognized that they were acting and didn't let her guard down but Zoro did, feeling sorry for them when they started crying too while charging slowly at them.
Nami managed to block the claw attack from Sham when he suddenly attacked but Zoro became surprised by the sudden shift in attitude from Buchi and lost his swords.
"Hahaha, you actually lost your swords?" Nami teased causing Zoro to glare at her but he quickly turned his glare at Buchi who threw his swords away while laughing at him. But the next instant, the swords were safely back in Zoro's hands, courtesy of Luffy, much to the two brothers and Jango's shock. Zoro wordlessly put Wado in his mouth, angry and embarrassed that he had let his guard down.
"So uhh… you just sit back like this huh?" Usopp asked as he and Luffy stayed back watching the two fight.
"Most times yeah…" Luffy said as he picked up and aimed a large rock at Sham. Nami jabbed her shock staff at Sham's stomach and cutely smiled turning the dial up. Unfortunately, nothing happened and Sham lifted his shirt showing her that he was unhealthily thin and all Nami had jabbed was empty air. Sham grinned thinking he had won and was about to slash her face, but a rock hit him square in the face and he got flung all the way back next to Jango, who gaped at them all.
"Thanks, Luffy…" Nami pouted sadly, mad at herself for getting tricked.
Buchi fell next to Jango not a second later as Zoro was done with him too before he and Nami both came next to Luffy and Usopp again.
"Wow, you all are like… so in sync…" Usopp nodded impressed.
"Don't worry. You'll learn how we work soon enough…" Luffy said and Usopp nodded reflexively before tilting his head in confusion. "Wait what? Why wou-"
He was interrupted when a loud worried voice yelled his name "USOPP!"
All eyes turned to see a panting Kaya, who was being supported by Merry, coming towards them.
"Kaya?!" Usopp's eyes bulged out, "What are you doing here?!"
"Hey, I told you to stay on the tree," Luffy whined at Merry.
"Wait! You brought her here?!"
"He kidnapped us," Merry said looking a bit peeved as he rubbed his neck. Merry had woken up a few minutes before the battle, and Luffy had briefly explained the situation to him. Even though Merry didn't believe him, Luffy just said, "Wait for a few minutes, and you'll learn the truth yourself" and calmed him down.
"Hey! Kidnapping is what you do to children," Luffy rebuked, "You're adults, so you should be saying that I abducted you"
"…"
"…I don't think that's right…" Nami deadpanned but was internally giggling.
"Well anyway, I was getting bored at the mansion, so I just knocked them both out and brought them here. I wrapped plenty of blankets around her and put them on a tree too, so don't worry…"
"Why? Are you crazy?! They're targeting Kaya! She shouldn't be here!"
"It's fine, it's fine. You're here to protect her, aren't you?"
Usopp flinched but a moment later, he nodded and stood up straighter, "That's right! Leave it to the Mighty Usopp! I'll protect her!"
"Can you all please stop talking as if she isn't here?" Nami said pointing at Kaya, who was utterly lost hearing the random and calm conversation they were having while being on a battlefield.
When all attention turned to her, she finally snapped out of it and turned to Usopp, "Usopp! Y-y-you're bleeding! Are you okay?" Usopp had blood flowing down his knees and elbows which he had scrapped and his head was bleeding too, so he did look like he was in an intense battle.
"Hehe don't worry! These are just battle sca-"
Again, a loud angry voice reverberated across the shore interrupting them. "WHAT'S THE MEANING OF THIS?"
Kuro had finally shown up.
Luffy and the others sat and watched as Kuro's crew became terrified that he had shown up and was angry at them. Jango started making excuses but Kuro was surprised when he saw Kaya and realized she was there too.
"K-Klahadore…" Kaya muttered, her eyes trembling.
"You're here? I just saw you in bed"
Nami looked at Luffy questioningly and he answered, "I just arranged a couple of pillows to make it look like she was still there"
Kuro heard him too and addressed him, "So I can assume you're the one responsible for this whole thing?"
"I'll say this only once," Luffy said blankly looking at him, "Don't talk to me"
Nami, Zoro and Usopp all looked at him confused, wondering why he said that.
"Haha! Scared of me huh? No matter," Kuro smirked turning his attention to Kaya, who was crying, "Well, this isn't how I imagined killing you, but this works too"
Kaya burst into tears, finally getting confirmation that it was all true. "I-I was s-still hoping that t-this was all a big m-misunderstanding… b-but-"
Kuro just rolled his eyes at her, dismissing her, before looking at his crew while Merry and Usopp comforted her. Kuro taunted his own crew calling them weak and feeble, which caused the two brothers to mutiny. Kuro quickly showed them their place by showing off his pussyfoot manoeuvre.
"So he can use Soru too huh?" Nami commented calmly.
"It's way slower though," Zoro said, "I can still follow his movements"
"Really? I can't see him at all" Usopp chimed in.
"Eh well, you train daily with Luffy moving at much faster speeds, you'll start getting used to it"
It was just their private conversation so Kuro didn't hear them and soon gave them the five-minute ultimatum and the Meowban brothers begged Jango to hypnotize them and got back into the fight.
Nami stepped up again along with Zoro, but when Buchi jumped high in the air and landed like a cat, cracking the ground into pieces, Nami turned right back and came back to the group without missing a beat. "Way above my weight class"
"Heh, more fun for me then," Zoro smirked as he flipped back just as Sham came down cracking the ground too, before he lunged at the two brothers.
Meanwhile, Kuro was threatening the other crew members to attack too, and before the first pirate mustered up the strength to stand back up, a metal pellet hit him straight on the forehead, courtesy of Usopp, making him fall back down again.
Kuro stared at Usopp, who glared back at him. "As long as I'm here, none of you will even get up the slope!" He declared before shooting down two more pirates. With the meagre strength they had left, they didn't have any more energy to get up again.
"Useless, all of you!" Kuro spat hatefully at his crew, and Luffy's hands twitched.
Kaya yelled at him then, telling him that he could have all her wealth if he just stopped, which caused Kuro to laugh and reveal that he had done everything just so he could acquire her wealth legally and live a peaceful life. He taunted her saying how every happy moment they had together was a lie and he hated working for her, which caused Kaya to sob and Usopp to finally punch him in the face, making him fall flat on his back.
The three Usopp pirates also burst out of the forest then, hitting Kuro with their makeshift weapons and scolding Usopp for lying to them, just as Zoro gave the finishing blow to Sham and Buchi.
Kuro slowly got up watching the surroundings and found that only Jango was standing at the bottom of the slope, doing pretty much nothing.
"Can't even beat a bunch of kids… You're all worthless…!" Kuro growled as he looked at his crew, at Kaya, at Usopp, and then at the three Strawhats before he got in stance and started swaying weirdly.
"What's he doing now?" Usopp asked confused.
"It's the Out of the Back Attack! Captain! Please don't kill us!" the Black Cat Pirates panicked and begged.
"If it makes you feel any better, I'm not killing you because you're all incompetent idiots… I was always going to kill you all. I can't have anyone who knows who I really am to be alive after all"
His crew begged for him to stop and Luffy finally stood up. Just as Kuro disappeared, so did Luffy, before they both appeared at the bottom of the slope in front of one of the Black Cat Pirates.
"W-what?!" Kuro stuttered shocked as his attack was completely halted. His foot was being stomped on and his clawed hand which was about to reach the Black Cat pirate to end his life was being held by the straw hat man in front of him. He tried to pry his arm and foot away with all the strength he could muster up, but he couldn't move a single inch and became agitated.
"I thought I wouldn't get angry much if you didn't talk to me, but I guess not huh…" Luffy sighed as he increased the pressure and Kuro's wrist twisted upwards as he fell to one knee.
"Grrkk!… wh-who are you?!" Kuro recognized the danger he was in when he saw Luffy's blank eyes and knew he was no match, so tried to negotiate with him.
"Luffy"
"I-If y-you want, ack! we can s-split the profi-"
"You're the lamest and most uncool pirate I've seen and not at all fit to be a captain," Luffy cut him off. "You were taunting Usopp and his crew earlier telling them that were just kids playing pirates, weren't you? They're a million times better than you"
"Fool!" Kuro spat, his pride unable to let go of that comment even though he was in pain, "I'm inferior to those kids?! Hah!… Ack!"
"Yep. Unlike you, they have conviction"
A loud crunch! could be heard followed by a scream of agony and everyone at the top of the slope and also the Black Cat Pirates at the bottom flinched in unison.
Nami gulped trembling slightly, "W-well…back with Buggy and his hat… he was just slightly annoyed huh?"
Zoro blankly nodded, "Yeah…guess this is what angry him looks like."
They saw as Luffy lifted his foot up from Kuro's feet which seemed to be broken as he immediately fell forward. But Luffy didn't let him fall as he lifted him by his broken hand and whipped him once into the ground which cracked it. And Kuro was done for.
The Black Cat Pirates saw that their captain was down and slowly realizing that they were saved, started cheering. Luffy turned to look at them blankly before releasing a Conqueror's blast.
The Strawhats and the others at the top could only see the back of Luffy's head as he was turning away from them, so it was a shocking sight to see a large group of people instantly fall down unconscious foaming at the mouth just because a man looked at them.
"W-w-what t-the hell was that?!" Usopp shivered.
Nami clasped her hands too, feeling a shiver run up her spine too. "Did his face look that terrifying or something?"
"Well," Zoro sighed, "Guess we know why he goofs around always instead of fighting… it's just plain bullying if he did that at the beginning…"
Luffy sighed letting his annoyance at Kuro go. He thought he wouldn't feel nothing but apathy towards him, but when he saw Kuro threatening his own crew, he became angry. And when his own crew cheered their captain's defeat, he became annoyed and not wanting to hear a word more, took them out. He looked around feeling one more presence who had backed away into the forest far enough that his Conqueror's didn't reach him and his face split into a smile when he saw who it was.
"Jango!" Luffy waved at him, "You're still conscious"
"P-p-please don't hurt me!" Jango begged coming out of the clearing, knowing that he wouldn't be able to run away now that he was spotted. "There's something strange going on already with me and now this…"
"You mean how your chakram keeps getting slapped out of your hand?" Luffy chuckled.
Jango trembled more, "It was you?!"
Luffy nodded with a grin. Ever since the start of the fight, whenever Jango tried to use his chakram for anything other than hypnotizing people, he just soru'd to him and slapped it out of his hand, which had confused and terrified Jango and he couldn't do anything at all during the fight. As for why Luffy doing it…
"I was actually saving you for last. I wanted us to battle one-on-one!"
"M-me?!" Jango almost lost consciousness remembering how he had just crushed Kuro.
"I've never seen Luffy actually issue a challenge like this," Zoro said studying Jango with interest, but just couldn't see anything special in him.
"I thought Kuro was the strongest here… but it's that guy?"
They watched intently as Luffy pulled a device out of his pocket and after fiddling with it for a few seconds, a catchy beat started playing out of nowhere followed by vocals.
"All I wanna say is that they don't really care about us!"
Luffy started doing the shuffle to the beat of the song before he pointed at Jango, who stared dumbly at Luffy, not understanding what was happening. And the ones at the top of the slope were equally lost.
"It's a dance-off! You and me!" Luffy exclaimed and almost everyone did a face fault. "YOU MEANT A DANCE BATTLE?!"
Luffy laughed as he continued dancing while also singing along to the lyrics. "Skin head, dead head, Everybody gone bad, Situation aggravation, Everybody, allegation…" It was something he had recorded when he was with the Kuja, so the vocals were mostly Leah and him, with the chorus being the other Amazons.
Jango couldn't help but bob his head to the really catchy tune and the inner dancer in him awoke when Luffy pointed at him again. He started with a moonwalk, causing Luffy to cheer, before he transitioned into a smooth wave flowing from head to toe a couple of times and then smoothly transitioned into a wave from hand to hand and finished by pointing back at Luffy.
"Whoo! That was great!" Luffy caught the wave from him and did his own smooth wave from hand to hand before breaking into acrobatic spins.
"Woohoo! That's great, Strawhat! You're just as good as me! And what song is this?! It's one of the best songs I've heard!"
"Shishi thanks! It's a song from an isolated country!"
The guitar riff started and both got excited as they broke into playing air guitars and went crazy. "Yeaaah!"
Meanwhile, the rest were just staring at the two in bewilderment.
"Weren't we just fighting against that guy's crew?" Nami muttered feeling unsure, "Did I dream the whole thing up?"
"No no. We definitely were fighting…" Zoro said as he watched Luffy fall to the ground while doing the worm along with Jango.
"Goofs around," Usopp nodded thoughtfully, "I understand now…"
"It's a really great song though," Merry offered slightly bobbing his head to the beat, "I don't recognize some names but very powerful lyrics"
Kaya too was just staring at the scene, allowing herself to forget about the whole Kuro thing for just a moment. "Really catchy too"
"Some things in life they just don't wanna see~ But if Martin Luther was livin' HE WOULDN'T LET THIS BE, NO, NOOO!" Luffy sang with passion raising his voice.
A crescendo of "All I wanna say is they don't really care about us!" played, the entirety of Amazons that were on the ships yelling at the top of their lungs being responsible for it. The three veggie kids burst onto the floor too and the two men cheered teaching them their moves.
"That was great!" Jango panted happily as they finished.
"You're cool, Jango!"
"Idiot!" Nami finally came running in and smacking him. "That's the enemy you were playing around with!"
"Ah right!" Jango also seemed to recall that fact too, "I'm sorry I tried to attack a fellow dancer. I'm really sorry!"
"Eh don't worry about it. You can leave. The rest, however, it's up to her," he said pointing at Kaya up the slope.
"Really?! You're letting me go?!"
"Yep!"
"Thank you!" Jango hastily shook Luffy's hand before running to the shore and climbing inside a dinghy that was on their ship. "I hope to see you again, Strawhat! Let's dance together again!"
"Sure thing! Bye-bye!" Luffy waved as he rowed away before looking at everyone else. "Well, that was fun!"
A few smacks from a huffing Nami followed.
———