"So you're telling me-" he breathed in, a deep frown marring his face, "you went and caught-" he paused to find the correct words, "the guy A-"
A high-pitched voice interrupted, "Hey! I'm a girl."
Smoker continued without looking at the tied girl on the floor, "The girl Akainu had been looking for fruitlessly, the past year or so?"
Nanko tilted his head, with an innocent smirk. "Basically, yes."
"And pray tell me how that happened?" Smoker asked with frustration, staring at his unscathed subordinate and friend.
"Well, I stumbled upon her trading pieces of information and after a little fighting, I apprehended her!" Nanko shrugged nonchalantly.
Ko once again cut in, "Objection, your honor!"
Smoker sighed and turned to look at the young criminal sitting peacefully on the floor. "What."
The pink-haired girl argued, raising her shackled hands. "He kidnapped me, a weak little girl, for absolutely no reason!"
"You were selling illegal information on the government," Smoker answered coldly.
"I'm just doing my job," Ko squirmed a little before pouting and turning her back to them, "How else can a little girl like me survive our harsh world." She sniffled loudly, starting to tremble.
"How old are you?" Smoker asked, discomfort seeping in his tone. Finally, he walked up to the frail figure of the teen. When he received no answer, he turned to look at Nanko in distress, only to see he had already fled, abandoning him to deal with the crying teenage girl. He internally cursed the brat. He was never taught how to deal with crying teenagers.
The seconds seemed unbearably long as her silent muffled cries echoed in the room.
He gently put a hand on her shoulder, wanting to end his suffering, only to stumble back as she latched onto him, making him fall back. In his surprise, he forgot to act, and before he could understand, she was standing upon him, a devious smirk on her lips and no traces of her fake crying. Her blue eyes glinted in the darkness of the room, like a cunning fox, she thoroughly observed his dumbfounded reaction with delight. "You really fell for that!" She cackled, falling back on the floor, and freeing him.
"What-" Smoker remained stiff, his mouth was slightly parted, yet no words found their ways out. In his stupor, he didn't notice the door opening.
"What a sight..." Nanko leaned against the threshold, a Den Den Mushi resembling Garp in his hand.
__________
"They're arriving soon, behave," Smoker ordered in a monotonous voice. His beard had grown unkempt while dark bags laid under his eyes.
The culprit of his unrest was innocently sitting on a chair on the deck of the boat, hands tied behind her back and legs tied to the chair. "Of course, who do you think I am?" She whistled idly.
Smoker stared at her pointedly before giving up with a sigh. He walked over to plop down next to an eating Nanko "Finally, I can get rid of that little demon."
"Hey, I heard that!" Ko whined, an apple in her hand that came from who-knows-where, her bonds broken and on the floor.
"It was on purpose," Smoker shouted back.
"They're here," Nanko commented, pointing with his chin the marine fleet coming toward them.
"Great!" Smoker bounced back up, lighting up his cigar with the slightest of joy.
Before he could fully advance, he stopped on the deck, squinting toward the incoming shadow. Soon, that shadow started forming the figure of an old man he knew and somewhat respected, Garp.
His exuberant laugh could be heard before he fully landed, announcing the ball of energy arriving.
He landed with a loud bang, and his gaze flew over the people waiting for him before stopping on the blue-haired man who was waving at him. "Nanko! I haven't seen you in ages!" He turned to nod at Smoker too, "Smoker."
The tired man's lips twitched at the noticeable difference of treatment. But he wouldn't let that dampen his mood, he glanced at Ko who was silently observing them. He suppressed a shiver when she winked at him while mouthing something he could easily recognize. The sooner he got rid of the little devil, the better his life.
Meanwhile, Nanko seemed unaware of his captain's plight and instead remained still under Garp's silent gaze.
The old vice-admiral scratched his chin in thought, "I feel like you've gotten stronger."
Nanko smiled in answer, discreetly taking a step back. He knew what usually followed that sentence. And just as he had guessed, a wave of haki hit him, gauging and pressuring him at the same time. He frowned as a strand of hair fell back into his eyes, he narrowly managed to avoid the punch sent his way with restricted vision. Nanko quickly pushed back his hair, glancing at his wrist to see he had forgotten his hair-tie, he still hadn't had the time to cut his hair.
While he was distracted, his body still avoided the flurry of attacks seamlessly. Managing multiple bodies at once had done wonders to his capacity of multi-tasking.
"That's enough." A detached and cold voice commanded. "You can fight later." The familiar voice grated his ears, Akainu.
Garp sighed audibly and stopped his attack. "Fine, fine," he grumbled under his breath, not an ounce of respect in his voice, rather irritation and reluctance.
Ko tilted her head from where she sat, free of her bounds, save for the seastone handcuffs. "Magma guy, fancy seeing you here!" She smirked, her voice overly honeyed, already starting to get under his skin.
Smoker discreetly smirked, happy to see someone other than him suffer at her hands.
Akainu didn't respond to her provocation and simply stared at her. He had longed to see her imprisoned, shackled, beneath him, her proud self, broken and begging. She represented everything he wanted to crush, a dirty criminal that rebelled against absolute justice. Yet, he felt silent fury at the idea that he wasn't the one to catch her. He looked toward the blue-haired marine officer who smirked at him. He couldn't understand, and he loathed what he couldn't control.
An invisible wave of bloodlust emanated from him, one a skilled assassin and ninja like Konan detected in that fraction of a second it escaped his control. She frowned internally, raising her guard up. It could get dangerous.
Still, Ko stayed true to her character, and continued playing around. "As shy as ever!"
Garp muffled a laugh, trying not to blatantly laugh at his partner's expanse, yet he fooled no one.
The now frigid vice-admiral clenched his fist, yet restrained himself, his veins bulging as he ordered his subordinates to contain her and seal her mouth.
The precautions to keep her imprisoned were very high, she was after all, an informant who gained top-secret pieces of information on everyone, ranging from celestials to high-ranked marine officers. They couldn't afford to lose her. They had to extract everything she knew and then forever seal her mouth.
_________________
A chapter for y'all before I go to sleep ! ٩(◕‿◕｡)۶