One Piece: Grand Endeavours

Chapter Eighty: Hypnotic

Kuro
Three days have passed since those assholes drugged us and thankfully I was right in my calculations about only being ill for about a day. Plus Nova brought me the whole saga in the end which is nice even though I tried to convince him that I didn't blame him for the sugar crash. He still insisted on the extra book though so no complaints.
"Do you wanna go on a date on the next island?" Luffy asks, coming over to where I'm starting on the first one. He sits beside me, resting his head on my shoulder, and I suppress the urge to smile excessively.
"Sure, where?" I ask, glancing up from the page to see his grin widen significantly.
"Well Usopp went on a date with Danni to Build a Bear," he suggests. I don't say anything against it but I think he reads my doubtful expression and chuckles. "Yeah, I should have guessed that isn't your kinda thing."
"It's overpriced," I point out.
"I'd pay!" he offers. I shake my head. "If there's a theatre we could go watch a play?" That sounds fun...I am not a big comedy person but in a theatre nearly anything can be enjoyable. Plus even if the play is average I'll be with Luffy which makes everything better.

"So going to read to me, Kuro?" he asks me, looking up at me with the puppy eyes. I wouldn't say no anyway but now? I can't say no. I nod and he claps his hands together and shifts so he can look at the book whilst still curling against me. This is a level of too much cuteness. I start reading though; smiling slightly at the positive outlook I am getting lately. It so far seems to be a good book as well. It is pretty dark but not so dark that it is completely messed up.
"If it gets too morbid let me know," I say as I finish the prologue. I feel like this is going to go from pretty dark to very dark. It is what made me interested in the saga.
"Kay!" he replies cheerfully. "It probably won't get that far though. Besides. You reading to me is relaxing." As is reading to Luffy.

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We arrive at an island just as we get halfway into the book.
"Aw," Luffy complains, sitting up. "I was enjoying that."
"And it was pretty interesting," I agree. "I'll continue reading it tonight if you want?"
"Yay!" Luffy enthuses, clapping his hands slightly, grinning. Again, how can someone be this happy but not annoying? Normally happiness is aggravating but it endearing with Luffy.

We get off the ship and Luffy holds my hand, half walking with me and half leading me towards the town.
"Lunch first?" he suggests.
"Up to you," I say, indifferently. "You know I am never too bothered about food."
"Ramen?"
"Ramen works," I agree, somewhat more enthusiastic. I am not going to complain about ramen, especially if they have a spicy one.

We get to a restaurant where we're the only customers and we sit at a table in the corner next to the fireplace. It is dimly lit here so the flames are ice to watch, casting interesting shadows across the walls.
"Your eyes are really pretty with firelight," Luffy comments. I hope I don't blush at that comment and shake my head. "They are Kuro. You just never admit anything good about yourself."
"I do so!" I protest then pause as I try to think of an example of something good about myself. "I'm good at random facts no one needed to know." Luffy chuckles and we wait for someone to come take our order when I feel the cold metal of a blade press against my throat. Shit.
"Leave him alone," Luffy orders. I can't see who it is since I can't move without slitting my throat but one hand grabs a fistful of my hair, lifting my head slightly so it would be easier to kill me.
"Hm...no," the familiar voice says. Someone I did not expect to hear or see again.
"Jango?" I ask in surprise.

One cuff is put around my wrists and I can't even try to fight back. The other one of the cuffs is connected. My energy and stamina instantly feel like they have been drained and when I pull against them he presses the blade harder. Sea Stone? Never had to deal with it before and it means unfortunately I can't just phase around them. I feel a drop of blood run down and wince. A pair is tossed to Luffy who just scowls.
"I suggest you cuff yourself too," Jango states. "Or your crew mate's blood will be dyeing the floor."
"Luffy don't," I say. "You getting caught isn't worth my l-" He cooperates but surprisingly, despite Luffy now being in a not intervention stage he removes the knife.

It is surprising he is here. I told the crew that my old crew tried to kill me because my urge to be evil decreased and they did so in a storm so the entire ship sank and I washed up on that icy hellscape. What I didn't tell them that first Jango joined the marines in secret and tried to poison me so he could hand over the 'dead' part of my bounty and that was what motivated the crew since he didn't succeed they wanted a go at it themselves. I never liked this guy but given how obnoxious he is and the type of poison and method he took? Poisoning is extremely cowardly and the type of poison he used was painful. Now, I absolutely despise him.

"What do you want Jango?" I ask, flatly, as he sits down, still having the point of the knife near me so if Luffy attempts to escape I'll be a pin cushion for blades. "To kill me?"
"Too easy," he comments with a taunting expression. He gets his stupid tool for hypnotism out. I huff.
"Going to try to hypnotise me into killing myself then?" I scoff slightly. "You know it doesn't work like that."
"Huh? How come?" Luffy asks.
"You can't hypnotise someone to do something that drastic or something they would never do like killing someone they care about," I reply with a loose shrug. "So you could hypnotise someone into lying to the point it ruins their life or kill someone they hate. Mind control you could make someone do an-" He presses the tip of the blade against my throat and I get the hint to shut me up.
"No...I'm going to do much worse," he says with a sinister smirk. "You see, Kuro, even back when you weren't this pathetic you made me have a line on the level of hypnotism I could take. I want payback. And to hurt you..." Great. He's a moron. "In fact...you seem to care about the Straw Hat....I can't force you to kill him but making you totally despondent to him slowly dying and then me hurting however I want to any extent I want? How does that sound?"
"It sounds like you should be in the psyc ward for psychotic tendencies," I reply, rolling my eyes. He glares then smirks.
"You won't be pretending you're clever for much longer once you see they're dead-" He glances at Luffy. "I promise I'll make it as slow and painful as possible so you can dwell on the death for a long time." Jeez this guy needs therapy. And a reality check. It isn't going to work.

I see Luffy also looks remarkably unconcerned so he likely knows as well as I do that Jango's plan is going to go to shit and deteriorate in front of his eyes. I for one will be glad to watch that smug smirk deteriorate into the dirt given he is nothing but dirt himself.

Jango does his usual mundane routine but instead of me going into a trance-like state his eyes glaze other and expression goes blank. Oh great. So I'm not just immune but can get him to do whatever? Well I am not crossing the same lines as he did but I can have a little fun with it. I consider then grin slightly and calmly say the idea which is probably the best if we don't want him bothering us again.
"Undo the cuffs then run full force, headlong into a wall to knock yourself out." Jango is the kinda guy who if knocked out will be unconscious ages. He undoes the cuffs and I rub my wrists where they dug in and then runs into the wall. Luffy chuckles. "Should we go? I feel like we won't exactly be served here now."
"Yeah, we can get snacks if there is a theatre," Luffy agrees. "That was pretty cool Kuro. I forgot you mentioned you were immune to hypnotism til then."
"Eh, well I'm not a total idiot," I say with a grin. "I wouldn't have a hypnotist if I could be hypnotised. I spent my whole life being pretty much controlled and hurt...Oh I'm being depressing. Let's go." Luffy chuckles again and takes my hand as we head off, leaving the reminder of my old life unconscious on the ground.