Missing Piece

Chapter 26

Please die—So I don't have to.

They all just wanted to live.

Blood ripped into the air, splattering in a line against the stone ground.

"And the winner, the undefeated champion of forty-three matches, "Deathbringer" Charlotte!" The announcer of the forsaken human blood fight announced as the crowd cheered wildly, their attention focused on the child wailing towards the sky. Bloodied hands pressed against her ears.

And so did she.

"Not going to share?" Cole pushed and Charlotte snapped back to the present, platinum eyes narrowing against frustrated hazel ones. "And you expect us to just learn when you won't tell us anything!"

Charlotte clenched and unclenched her hands and the muscles in her jaw coiled far too tight. Then it snapped. "You want to know how I learned Haki? I figured it out by my damn self!" She hissed and she ran it against Cole's face. She stalked off without looking back even once as she stalked off.

Rike called after her. But she didn't stop. The rest of the Heart Pirates watched the fuming huntress leave in silence.

Cole plucked his face out of the ground, complaining at how she dislocated his jaw with that punch. He winced, ducking in pain as two fists slammed against his head, adding to his injuries. "What the hell? I just did all of us a favour." Cole said, twisting back towards a Shachi and Penguin, both who looked like they wanted to hit him again.

Jean Bart stood behind them, but his gaze remained on the huntress. "You should go apologize to her." He advised when his gaze finally left her.

"What why? The Sadistic Witch is probably just enjoying watching us squirm in pain. You don't actually think that this will give us Haki."

"You're a sniper, right?" Shakky interrupted and the crew turned towards the woman whose backyard they've been occupying. "What the most important factor in making a successful shot?" She questioned when the other nodded, answering for Cole.

Cole's lips slanted into a grin. "Amn—"

"Sight." She interrupted while blowing another ring into the sky. She turned her eyes away from the many papers that Charlotte had drawn up on the crew and their abilities. The words "great shot" and "expand range" circled multiple times on Cole's sheets. "Charlotte's a great judge of abilities. You have the most to gain from learning Kenbunshoku Haki."

The others gathered around, taking their own profiles from the stack that Shakky was waving around. Their lips trudged down as they read their individual assessments and individual training plans. It even included watch outs and secondary objectives on covering their weaknesses that they were barely aware of. When did she—no, how long has she been building these?

"Crazy stalker woman..." Cole muttered under his breath, snatching his own paper from the stack to see what the big deal was. The others shot him a disapproving glare. Ungrateful brat. They thought unanimously.

"The young brat isn't wrong though. It won't teach you Haki control in time for the New World." Shakky eyed their physiques, their breaths barely over a pant and the severely lacking number of injuries on their bodies. "Charlotte's method isn't wrong, per say." She corrected quickly. "It may eventually lead to you all awakening Haki, but who knows when that'll be."

"You sound like you know what you're talking about. Why don't you teach us Haki?"

Shakky laughed at the proposition. "Because there's no way I'm babysitting a bunch of young rookie pirates in Haki training." She took another drag. "Besides, you wouldn't want me as a teacher. Unlike Charlotte, I'm not kind. You want to know the best way to learn Haki?" The pirates straightened, keen for her next words. "The best way to learn Haki is to be constantly put in near death situations. Ray is probably teaching Luffy Haki by making him take on the wilderness on Amazon Lily blindfolded. Or that would be my guess." She shrugged, and the silence pulled her attention from her smoke rings to their gawking faces.

She quirked a brow. "What? Did you think awakening Haki is like waking up one day knowing how?" She snorted. "If it was that easy, then way more people would have it. Haven't you ever wondered why Charlotte's littered in scars?"

The group fell silent at her words.

"Go apologize." Rike whispered, nudging Cole who was still staring at his training plan. The crew had already cleaned up and showered, all except for Cole. His eyes re-reading over and over again the words on his training plan circled in red.

Shakky watched closely at the face of the one called Cole. "I can tell you where Charlotte's gone should you want to look for her."