Odd Eye (One Piece Fanfic)

-22- You know Better; so Fight.

"Cross!" 

The red-haired male burst into the hut, out of breath-- the bear leaped into the room, its fur wet and its paws muddy, but excited for the embrace of one familiar boy.

Cross sat on the ground, contemplative. 

The hut was dimly lit, and Titus was still on the bed, unconscious. 

"Gao?" Leer called out, a whimpering worry.

With a sigh, Cross grasped the bear in his arms-- and turned to Takara. 

"Hey, Takara, I'm so glad you're alright--" he greeted him, "the villagers were a little... rough, and Titus got hurt. Sorry."

Takara swallowed. His breath was ragged, his clothes were damp-- but Takara knew that Cross was shaken. He was down, emotions conflicting within him-- seeing Titus' state made Takara cringe in concern.

Takara stepped in, realizing there was no one else aside from the two of them.

The person called Luz-- where was he? Could the white-haired boy he passed by just now be 'Luz'? That meant Cross and Titus knew the boy.

Takara grabbed Cross by the shoulders.

"Cross, we need to talk," he was firm, "now, it's urgent."

Cross was bewildered, "well, if Takara is so worried about it-- but, now's not really a good time."

Not a good time?

Takara came to realize that Cross and Titus had been through a lot too. He was up there, on the mountain-- while Cross and Titus went through something that made Titus end up so injured.

Titus' face was wrapped with bandages neatly, something done by a person with medical experience.

"The villagers-- they're rouge shinobi--" Cross' expressions darkened, "and now they're calling us spies or something. They're distracted by something now, so their attention's away from us. We should get out of the island while we can."

Takara tightened his grip on Cross' shoulders.

"Cross, please, listen to me," he pleaded, "I came from up there. They're after a girl-- she's alone-- and because of me, the villagers are going after her, wanting her life. Cross, I think you know what I'm trying to say here."

Cross' eyes narrowed.

"A girl?" he grumbled, "the one Luz was talking about. Yeah, it was you, after all."

Takara felt shivers.

Cross' voice was cold and unfeeling-- accusatory and absolutely unsympathetic.

"I'm glad you got yourself out of it because the villagers got there. I don't know what's going on, but up there was dangerous," Cross' smile was back on, colder and so much less innocent than before, "Luz did say they were trying to kill her."

Takara pulled Cross forward by the collar.

"Cross!" his voice was raised, "are you listening to yourself? I'm telling you someone is going to die! They're all marching up there, calling it a work of purification, calling her a witch, and she's alone in all of this!"

"And what exactly does that have to do with me?" Cross seethed. 

Takara faltered.

"Luz betrayed us!" Cross was angered now, "he sold us out, told the villagers we were here, and they were going to kill us! Are you telling me we're supposed to help him out now?"

Cross' clawed at Takara's grip, fighting back. He grasped at Takara's collar, eyeing him with similar rage in his senses.

Takara clicked his tongue.

"Luz, huh?" he muttered, "is that Luz guy the one that did the bandaging work on Titus?" 

Cross flinched.

"You suck at wrapping bandages, Cross, anything that has to do with doctoring," Takara whispered, voice laced with acrimony, "Luz sold you out? He's also the one that fixed up Titus, wasn't he?"

"So?" Cross spat, "doesn't erase the fact he tried to kill us."

"You lived through it, Cross," Takara stayed strong, "Stop being a fucking baby about it! Are you going to kill someone just because they indirectly tried to kill you?"

"What the fuck do you know?" Cross shot back, "he tried to kill me, so I'm gonna let him die! How is there anything wrong with that?"

"Lives aren't to be bet on like a petty, childish revenge!" Takara yelled, "people shouldn't die just because you don't like them! why can't you-- why can't anyone understand that?"

Cross threw Takara's arms off him. 

"This is the kind of world we live in," Cross' words were heavy and painful to hear, "if you don't adapt, you're not going to live long, Takara. Pretty words and heroic ambitions don't fix a problem."

Takara stopped.

"I thought you knew that firsthand, Takara," Cross was disappointed.

Takara's fists clenched.

Words don't save a world. All is naught without a strength that crushes and destroys. Takara hated violence, but soon learned that without violence, nothing can be saved.

That was an oxymoron Takara hated, hated, hated to hear.

"Even so," Takara-- his voice hurt, spilling out of his eyes, in uncharacteristic tears he didn't want to shed, he didn't think he'd shed, "even so, I want to save them."

Cross paused, eyes widening in surprise.

Takara bit his lip, pained.

"I can't do anything alone," he admitted, "I tried, and I failed. I lost everything, I lost even my fucking spine."

Cross had never seen Takara cry. Even through the most painful of his rehab, through the agony of wounds, Takara never showed his weaknesses in the form of tears that spilled in cowardice.

"I know I'm too much of an idealist, and I don't have the strength to make things happen with just sweet nothings," he dropped to his knees, facing Cross again, "that's why I need you, Cross. Please, just this once-- for a reason that brings you no merit at all-- help me, Cross."

His voice only faltered with each word, but persisted. It cracked, broke in a pained desperation that took so much out of him, but now he was laying down his pride to just ask for a favour from a child that could fill in the gaps of what he didn't have.

He took Cross' hand in his, holding it tight with his hands, curled in a desperate plea. 

Cross, watching the stronger of them break down in weakness, felt his expressions soften. 

Takara was always with Cross, Takara had always helped Cross. It was never the other way around, and the both of them knew it.

"...What do you want me to do?" his voice was only a soft whisper, a question that spoke nothing of a guarantee. 

Takara's smile sprouted onto his expressions.

Tears still in his eyes, he whispered back.

"...I want them in our crew."