y'know that "taking back the number of the beast, cuz 6 is not a pretty number" audio on tiktok? If another video of Usopp with that sound pops up on my FYP, im gonna flip my shit. They're good, but WHO asked you to make me sad? Certainly not me.
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By the time I had ran over to Luffy, the red masked guy was mid-rant. Through the old man's yelling, Luffy and I learned that Otama hasn't eaten in many days, and the rice that Otama served him was a rare birthday meal.
Otama came back before the man could go on. She referred to him as her master and kneeled in front of him in order to plead for him not to dishonor her. The fortitude of this girl is amazing. I can't imagine giving anyone my food if I hadn't eaten for that long, even if I was conditioned for it. Then again, I'm a pirate, not a samurai or anything close to it.
The girl stopped talking when she interrupted herself with a violent cough, followed by her throwing up water. "Tama!" Luffy shouted in alarm.
We both ran towards the hill that the house was on and climbed it. When we were up, the old man picked her up and started talking, "She must have done a foolish thing. I suppose she drank the river water to ease her hunger."
"What's wrong with the rivers?" I questioned, having not seen anything wrong with the wildlife or landscape other than the fucked up village behind us. To be fair, I haven't traveled too far in the first place.
"River waters in this country... are polluted by liquid wastes from Kaido's factory!" the man informed. "For a small girl like her, it's like drinking poison."
"Then why are you living here?!" Luffy asked.
I nodded, "If there's so many regions in the country, at least one of them should have drinkable water."
The old man sighed, "It is true that there are places that would be a bit better, but she's waiting here... For someone who promised to come back. He is a pirate named Ace!"
My eyes widened and so did Luffy's. I looked toward Otama, who looked even smaller in the old man's hands. She was a bit blue, and looked to be getting weaker by the second. She met him? I know that Ace has gone pretty far with the Whitebeard Pirates, but into Wano as well? And this place isn't connected to the rest of the world, so no one here would have got the news about what happened to him.
"Tama..." Luffy called for her. She struggled to open her eyes, but she responded. "The Ace that you're waiting for is... Portgas D. Ace, right?"
She smiled and asked, "Do you know him... big bro?"
I had to bite the inside of my cheek as an image flashed through my head. Shit. "Mhm," Luffy answered. He then gave a short sentence that completely changed her mood, two words that I did not expect him to say so suddenly: "Ace died."
Her eyes widened in disbelief. She sat up even with the state she was in and she cried, saying that Luffy was lying before she straight up passed out. We brought her back inside the house and laid her down.
"So Ace visited the Land of Wano, too..." Luffy breathed out with a smile.
I let out a breath before I smacked Luffy over the head and sent him into the opposite wall of us. The old man ran and stood over him, yelling, "Are you the devil or something?!"
"Wha- she's the one who hit me!" he shouted, motioning to me.
The man facepalmed and so did I. He doesn't even understand. The three of us left the hut to talk so we wouldn't disturb Otama. "How could you tell Otama that Ace died so causally?!" the man questioned.
"But it's true," Luffy responded shortly. "No matter how long she waits, Ace won't come back!"
I pinched at the bridge of my nose and sighed, "Luffy, you can't just tell her like that. There's a way you should do things when it comes to these situations, especially with kids." Ace might be his brother so maybe I shouldn't be upset about the way he executed that, but... I don't know, how are you supposed to handle a situation like this?
The old man nodded and crossed his arms, "Exactly! You have no delicacy!" He then looked between the two of us, "Who are the two of you?!"
"I'm Luffy, I'm gonna be the king of pirates!" my captain answered. He then grabbed my wrist and held my hand up a little, "And this is (y/n)! She's part of my crew!"
"WHAT?! You're pirates?!" the man yelled, pushing his nose into Luffy's face. "I generally don't like pirates!"
Luffy pushed his nose away and shot back, "Well, who are you?!"
"I am Hitetsu! I'm a swordsmith!" he said.
I grinned and called his attention to me, "I'm a swordsmith too! Well, actually I'm a blacksmith, BUT! I'm a swordsmith as well. We don't sweat the details here."
Hitetsu was about to respond, but Luffy interrupted with the real issue at hand, "Ace is gone now! Take Tama and move to a better place!"
The masked man sighed, "I truly want to do so, but I've been waiting for someone here for a long time myself..." He went on to tell us the past that made the village behind their house look the way that it does today, then explained what Ace did in the country and how he met Otama. "I can't believe our lives were saved by the shipwrecked pirates."
I chuckled and shook my head, "I'm glad to hear he didn't get here safely, either. Makes me feel better about how we got here."
Luffy smiled, "Yea..."
~~~
After a bit of thinking, we decided that we would be taking Tama to get medical help. It didn't really take that much thought, and surprisingly Hitetsu was quick to agree to our proposal. According to him, Kaido's subordinates are patrolling everywhere, even around the waste land that we would have to pass through, so we'd have to be careful not to get caught.
Once we got the information we needed, Luffy walked toward the house with me following after him. Hitetsu stopped us before we could grab Tama and be on our way, saying that our clothes were too conspicuous. It was a fair enough point, given that Tama and him were dressed like Kinemon and Kanjuro. With how big the country is, I'm surprised their clothing doesn't differ per region.
Luffy was given a red kimono with blue patches on it, while I was given a [color] one. Luffy magically had a top knot on his head as well. Meanwhile, I put my hair up to the best of my abilities with the ribbon and pins Hitetsu gave me.
While Hitetsu was trying to tie a band around Luffy's waist to keep his kimono closed, my captain said, "I'd like samurai armor too!"
"No one wears that every day!" the old man shot him down. He finished tying the sash around Luffy and let out a breath, "There's a reason I can't go to the town... So take care of Otama! I'll reimburse the doctor's fee later!"
Luffy laughed, "If I can meet my friends before that, we'll get food and medical care for free!"
"Yea, and either way, don't worry about paying us back for it," I added. Luffy nodded in agreement.
His eyes then directed towards something beside us. My eyes followed where he faced, then they widened. "Look what you got there!" the teenager chirped before stretching his arm and grabbing the large, purple striped sword that was displayed on the wall. "Let me borrow this sword, too! It's very samurai-ish!"
I was staring at the sword on his waist intently as he dragged me to where Tama was laying down. He picked her up and walked outside, all while my attention stayed on the sheathed sword. It can't be. How do I keep running into these legendary swords? It's gotta be a fake.
"Wait! You fool! You can't take that sword!" Hitetsu shouted, getting up in Luffy's face with anger. "My ancestor, Kotetsu, forged that world famous sword! It's one of the 21 Ō Wazamono! It's called Kitetsu II!"
I dragged my hands down my face and stared at the famous sword. I was right. Of course it's not fake. Who hangs a fake cursed sword up when they claim to be a blacksmith? I couldn't even hear what Hitetsu was saying at this point. How do we keep running into world famous swords?!
My wrist was grabbed suddenly, and I was pulled off of the hill. Of course, it was Luffy running away in the middle of Hitetsu's explanation to leave the Ō Wazamono grade blade. We already ran quite a bit before the old man caught up to us and tried to stop us again. Luffy grabbed his nose and threw him behind us. It was then that he gave up.
"I won't forgive you if anything happens to Otama!" the old man yelled to us.
"Yea! I'll save her at any cost!" Luffy replied easily.
"And don't forget to return the sword!"
No response. I looked at Luffy, who clearly had no intention of promising anything else.
"Answer me! Why aren't you responding?!"
I turned around and gave Hitetsu a thumbs up, "Don't worry! As your fellow metal worker, I will return it to you even if he doesn't!"
The man audibly sighed, and I continued running away. We were eventually picked up by Tama's lion dog, which meant that we were going even faster, and we weren't going to get tired from running so much.
That being said, I'm going to focus on something else other than the main issue of Tama. "Hey, Luffy," I called for his attention.
He looked to me and grinned, "Yea?"
"Could I... perhaps... take that sword off your hands for a second?" I asked, looking at the huge blade at his side.
"Why not? I brought it because it makes me look more like a samurai, so you can have it for a second! It makes me look like one, huh?" he chirped, pulling it out of his sash and handing it to me.
I laughed a little and decided to entertain him a bit, "Yea, it sure does. You look like the real deal even if the sword isn't on you." I took the sword from his hands and unsheathed it a bit. I still understand that it is cursed, and I'm not so stupid as to pull it out completely with my horrible luck as it is, especially with a sick child on board.
"I think you look good too," he said casually with his usual bright smile.
My face got a little warm and I gave him my own smile before looking back at the blade. "Thanks, I do try," I hummed.
I inspected the blade a bit more and looked up to see what Luffy was up to. He went silent for a bit, and it wasn't usual. Lo and behold, he was already staring at me. It was almost like he was spacing out with me as the unfortunate subject in his line of sight.
"You still in there?" I finally said after a solid ten seconds of him just gazing upon my greatness.
He blinked a little, as if coming back to his senses, then smiled some more, "Yea! I just really like you. Or looking at you. You look the happiest when you look at swords like that. I like that, too."
My lips formed a straight line for a minute straight and my face slowly grew warmer while he continued to grin like nothing happened. Maybe he doesn't fully understand what that means, or maybe I'm thinking about it in a way I shouldn't. "...What do you mean by that?" I questioned.
"Hmm I don't know," he answered. He didn't seem bothered at all by how this conversation was going, nor how I was reacting. He must just be blurting things out like he tends to do. Luffy likes everyone, after all. Yea, let's stop thinking about this.
There was movement in the corner of my eye, and Luffy noticed as well. Looks like Tama is awake, and this conversation is being abandoned, as I wanted it to. "Good to see you're awake," I told her. She looks less blue than before.
She seemed a bit confused about her surroundings. "Why are we riding Komachiyo?" she asked.
"We're going to a doctor. Does this dog know the way?" Luffy asked. Tama stared at him for a second before whimpering a bit. She must have remembered why she passed out earlier. My suspicion was right because she started hitting Luffy's back weakly. "Oi, stop that! You're gonna fall!"
"You're a liarrr!" she sobbed out, still hitting him.
I sighed as Luffy told her again that Ace wasn't going to come back. "He's not a liar Tama, there was a war that everyone but this country knows about," I butted in.
She clenched her fists and muttered, "But... we made a promise...! Ace will come back!" She cried harder at the thought of it. This guy is making promises to people willy nilly isn't he. When I die and see you in hell, Ace, I'm going to punch you in the face for all of your unfulfilled promises.
Tama took out her frustrations on Luffy by stretching his face everywhere and hitting his head. At least she's getting it out of her system. I didn't take it too well either. I couldn't even get drunk enough to forget when it first happened. She was waiting for him for a long time, too.
~~~
"Whoooaaa! A tiger! A boar!" Luffy pointed out as we stood at the wasteland's edge.
There were many animals running around this place, but Tama explained that the people who used to catch them are no longer able to, and the animals are poisonous as well. It's only natural, seeing as they drink the same water that's making her ill.
Apparently, there is also a place untainted by the pollution that is only for the wealthy people or for Kaido and the Oden. "Damn, this is like Doflamingo all over again, but with even more people and problems," I groaned, rubbing my temples. It makes sense considering Doflamingo worked under this Yonko.
"Dofl..amingo?" Tama mumbled.
I shook my head, "It's nothing to worr-" My eyebrows raised at the state she was in when I drew my attention back to her. I took her off of Luffy's back and laid her in my lap. "Are you alright? You're getting really warm." I brushed her hair out of her face and felt her forehead. She's burning up.
"Hang on!" Luffy told her, holding her hand. "I'll get you to a doctor soon! If the enemy has food and water, that serves my interests just fine!" He faced forward again, "Hurry, dog!"
Komachiyo barked in response and went a little faster. A few seconds into this running, Luffy spotted someone getting chased. I looked as well, and just as I did, someone came in and saved what looked to be a woman.
"Don't they look familiar?" I thought aloud, referring to the person who saved the woman.
He nodded and squinted a bit, leaning forward, "Yea! It almost looks like... hmmmmmm... ZORO?!"
"Huh? No way," I leaned forward and squinted, too. "Oh wow! It really is him. I thought you were hallucinating, but green hair like that isn't just anywhere," I hummed.
"Let's go get him!" Luffy chirped, redirecting the dog.
I sweatdropped, "What about Tama?"
He waved his hand, "He can help us find a doctor!"
"What he'll do is get us back to Whole Cake on accident..." I grumbled. Luffy laughed and just kept on leading the dog to where the swordsman was. I'm glad to see him, but Tama is dying over here. Chopper would have been a better pick, but I guess that would have been too convenient.
"OI! ZOROOO! It's me! It's me!" my captain cheered, waving his hands around as we approached the swordsman.
It took a bit, but Zoro recognized him, "LUFFY! You were here after all!"
"HAHA! I FINALLY GET TO SEE YOU!" Luffy chimed before jumping off of Komachiyo and flying towards Zoro. I busted out laughing when Luffy landing on him and squeezed his head in a hug, suffocating him for a good second. (God I loved this scene)
I set Tama down and jumped off of Komachiyo as well once he was close enough to the two of them. Zoro gave Luffy a piece of meat, and then saw me walking up behind our captain. "Eh? I thought you said you lost everyone," Zoro said.
Luffy threw an arm around my shoulders and smiled, "Everyone but (y/n)! We got shipwrecked together!"
"Yea, not the best circumstances," I chuckled before smiling at the green head, "I missed you. I also missed Franky for very important reasons that I will discuss later with him."
Surprisingly, he smiled back at me, "It's been a while. I was getting used to having my swords to myself, too."
"Hey, they're mine too," I retorted. "And you didn't say you missed me too."
"No, but it was pretty damn close," he shot back.
I smiled victoriously, "Oh so you definitely thought about me every day, wondering why I didn't come with your group, right? Cuz that's what I got out of this conversation." His teeth gritted, looking like he was about to say something.
"Anyway!" Luffy jumped between us and motioned to Komachiyo, who laid down for us to get on, "Come with us, Zoro! One thing led to another, and now we're on our way to take her to a doctor."
Zoro looked toward the giant dog and his eyes widened. "A sick brat!" he blurted, successfully making me laugh a little. "You shouldn't be stopping to eat!" Zoro scolded. Luffy stated that he would eat his food fast as a response, as if he couldn't eat it on the ride there.
This peaceful moment was cut off by the appearance of one of our fellow worst generation members: Hawkins. Looks like he works under Kaido now, like a coward. At least Bege was only working under Big Mom to tak her down. According to the eyebrow-less blond, he was here because Luffy beat some people up on the beach, and he was notified of it so he came to check it out. Hawkin's group moved closer to us in a menacing manner, meaning a fight was about to break out whether we liked it or not. Zoro drew his sword while Luffy placed his hand on the handle of his borrowed one. I gave it back a bit ago.
"This is the warning Kinemon gave us, you two!" Zoro raised his voice a little so the two of us would listen to him. "'Don't make a scene!'"
Luffy chuckled a bit, "Well, then I'll have to apologize to him later!"
"Nami is seriously going to kill me for letting this happen," I grunted, scratching the nape of my neck with a sigh and activating my devil fruit.
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Hey yall. No I will not be adding Hawkins to the harem :) bro is just too irrelevant and unfunny LMAO pick a struggle