*skips the entire fight scene bc i can*
I would edit this but no, now u guys have to deal with the rough draft bc im watching jojos rn. Season 3 is almost overrr. DIO is in his punk rock phase rn
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"Two-sword style.. Nigiri... Tower Climb.. RIPPLE!" Zoro sliced the huge straw scarecrow in half and landed back on Otama's dog.
I watched as the devil fruit ability vanished. "I guess... he's not going to follow us?" I hummed.
"He was probably running out of lives to throw away," the swordsman grunted. I nodded in agreement. He slowly put his kimono back on and gripped his injured arm, "Hawkins... that guy has an annoying ability.... he's a little pesky."
"Yea, I heard he reads into the future with his cards, too," I thought aloud, watching as Zoro pulled the nail stuck in his arm out.
He tsk'ed in irritation at the news and looked toward Luffy, "So, how's the brat?"
Luffy tested his hand on her forehead and pulled it away. "Her temperatures rising..." he looked forward and raised his voice, "Dog! Run faster!" It nodded and sped up.
I scooted closer to Luffy and frowned at the sight of the girl he had in his lap. "She's way worse than she was at the house. Do you think the fact that we told her about what happened is effecting how she's doing?" I questioned, looking between my captain and the Tama.
He shook his head, "Either way, we've got to get somewhere fast."
The conversation ended since Komachiyo skidded to a stop, drawing everyone's attention ahead of us. There was a fork in the path so there were two options: left or right. Komachiyo looked back and forth between the two and seemed to sigh in confusion.
"Eh? What's wrong?" Luffy asked the dog. It didn't give the slightest reply. "Don't tell me you're lost?!"
Komachiyo made a low noise and looked to be tearing up. Yea, he's lost. "We've got no time to waste. Let's just go... right," Zoro said.
"I vote that we go opposite of what Zoro says," I interjected, putting my hand up to signify my vote.
"And why's that?" the green head asked, very obviously ticked off.
"Because you've got a knack for going the wrong way," I reminded him.
"No I don-"
"Go left," a foreign voice interrupted. All of us turned around to see who it was. There was a person sitting behind us on Komachiyo, clad in a blue kimono. "You samurai-sama are so strong. You as well, kunoichi-sama."
"Oh, thank you," I took the compliment immediately, as I should. I am definitely strong. She smiled in amusement.
"Who are you?!" Luffy asked.
She continued as if he didn't ask her anything, "I can't believe you repelled Hawkins!"
Zoro seemed to recognize her, "You're..."
"I was saved by you, green gentleman..." I stifled a laugh when she called him that. She sparkled a little while posing a bit, "My name is Tsuru!"
"Were you hiding in that tail the whole time?" Zoro questioned.
She confirmed it and then thanked him. Once she noticed Tama's unusual breathing, she offered Luffy a towel so he could wipe away her sweat. "I hope this doesn't sound too forward, but could I take care of that child, Otama?" she asked.
"Do you know her?" my captain shot back.
"Yes," she answered.
"Oh good! Please! She drank the polluted water from the river to ease her hunger," he explained.
She sighed, "I thought so. That's not good... Instead of seeking a doctor, come to my teahouse."
"Tea?! This is no time for tea!" Zoro pestered her. "If we don't hurry up, she's gonna die! I don't know who that brat is so I guess it's not my concern but-"
Tsuru looked back at him and smiled, "No, no, we have a medical herb that works very well against the poison of the river. That'll be the best to treat Otama's condition."
I rubbed my chin, "Yea, I guess that would make sense since there would be people who were willing to drink the water regardless of the effects if they got hungry enough. From what Tama told us, there's no safe food in most places."
The woman nodded, and Luffy finally looked at her. "I see.. then help us! Thank you!"
She smiled, "Alright! I'll show you the way! If you go left, you can get to the town."
"Dog! Go!" Luffy commanded.
Tsuru returned her gaze to Zoro. "To return the favor I owe you, let me treat you too, green gentleman," she said. I sucked in my lips to keep in my laugh. He silently told me to shut up with his eyes, and then agreed to her offer.
I leaned my elbow on my knee and rested my chin in my hand, looking at the strange woman, "Your hair looks pretty cool," I commented.
She smiled and let her fingers graze over her hair, "Thank you, but it is nothing compared to the women in the capital."
"Still, I think it's cool. Also, your kimono has a nice design," I complimented her once again.
"I could spare you one, if you'd like," she offered, not even thinking about it for a second.
I shook my head, "No, you're already giving Zoro and Otama treatment, I couldn't." I looked past her, seeing a small village. Before she could rebuttal my refusal, I pointed it out.
She faced forward again, leaning forward a bit when we were a bit closer to the outskirts of the village. She seemed to spot something before shouting, "OKIKU-CHAN!" I squinted my eyes at what she was looking at, seeing a rather tall woman standing next to a huge guy.
The tall woman in yellow waved back and called Tsuru's name in response. As soon as we were close to the village, all of us jumped off and told Okiku of the situation. Tsuru, Okiku, and Luffy ran into the nearby building treat Tama. That must be the teashop she owns.
I patted Komachiyo on the head and sighed, "Thanks for bringing us here, you're a life saver. Literally," I told him. He leaned into my hand and let out a bark. What a weird monster dog.
"WHO ARE YOU FOOLS-PE?!" the huge guy yelled, facing the teahouse entrance like anyone who ran in there was listening to him. "Okiku and I were talking-pe!"
I leaned against Komachiyo and watched as Zoro walked up behind the guy, stopping before he ran into him. "Oi, I'm sorry but your fatass is in my way. Move aside," the swordsman grunted causally.
"PFT-" I held a hand over my mouth to stop myself from laughing any further.
The huge guy turned around to look at Zoro. "Why would I have to do that?!" the pink haired man shouted. Zoro gave him a glare, and the guy backed off immediately. "O-Okiku! I'll have a match in Bakura Town later-pe! I'll show you how strong I am so come and see if you're interested!" He left after he said that.
"Wow, just from pure intimidation, huh," I hummed.
Zoro looked to his side, where I was now standing. "Guys like that go running with their tails between their legs when someone poses a challenge to them," he grumbled in distaste, taking his eyes away from me and instead looking at the retreating man.
I jabbed him in the side with my elbow playfully, "Still though, why'd you approach him so aggressively? Usually, you'd just walk on past him."
"He would've gotten in the way if he stayed," he reasoned.
I rubbed my chin and stared at him a little. He seemed to get uncomfortable, but I didn't let him ask any questions because I spoke first. "Ya know, Zoro... I think you like kids," I accused.
He raised a brow, "Why would you think that?"
"Well you've been awfully vigilant of Otama this entire time, even when she hasn't said a word to you, and you're overall just... caring when it comes to kids. Have you not noticed that?" I questioned.
"I don't-"
I interrupted him, "And remember that one time? In Water 7 when we-"
The green haired man slapped his hand over my mouth and violently shushed me. "You don't need to bring that up. Someone might hear," he whisper shouted at me. His red ears forced a laugh out of me when I noticed them. He clearly still remembers that day.
My laughing died down when Tsuru called for us. He gave me a look and I nodded at him. He let go of me and we headed into the teashop.
~~~
"How long will you sit like that?" Zoro growled.
"You should be happy! Today's your birthday!" Luffy chirped.
"Yea, you got upgraded from rice," I added.
Tsuru walked out from her shop and smiled, "Is that true? Then take it as a birthday present from me and eat up!" I sweatdropped at the sight of her sweetness. Just a second ago she was threatening Otama for rejecting the red bean soup, and now she's done a complete 180.
Otama blushed a little and nodded. She took a sip from the bowl/cup thing she had the soup in and brought it away from her mouth. Then she started crying before shouting, "YUMMY! ... This soup is so delicious!"
Zoro smiled a little at the sight of the girl's happiness, and I was quick to wiggle my eyebrows at him when I made eye contact with him. His eye widened and refocused his gaze onto Tama. He's been caught. "Is this your first time having it?!" Luffy asked.
"Yes!" she chirped.
I smiled, "Well happy birthday, then." She grinned right back at me.
She ate some more of it, and then turned her attention to Tsuru. "Thank you, ma'am! I don't think I could top a wonderful birthday like this!" she said. She turned to the side a little and looked at Luffy and I, "I feel bad for Master-sama, though!" We all laughed a little and she quickly finished the soup off. "This is the greatest day of my life!"
I helped put Otama on a separate bench when she fell asleep, then moved back to my original spot between Luffy and Zoro. The green head moved closer to me to fill up the gap that Tama used to be in, and Tsuru took a seat on the other side of him.
"Children like her are not uncommon in the Land of Wano..." Tsuru stated.
Luffy crossed his arms and huffed angrily, "Such a small kid not being able to get enough food is unbelievable!" He brought both of his legs up to cross them and hummed, "Well if you're a grown up, you can eat the poison."
"No you can't!" Tsuru piped in.
"As long as we have the sea, the mountains, and the forests, getting food shouldn't be a problem," he continued as if not hearing her.
She sighed, "You're right. If we humans hadn't ruined them ourselves..." She trailed off.
I shook my head and grumbled, "You say 'we humans' as if you guys had a choice to throw poison into the air and water. It's all that bastard Kaido's fault."
"Damn Kaido!" Luffy growled.
"Yea..." Zoro hummed.
Tsuru stared at us for a second before letting out a laugh, "You are such sweet people. Oh yea! What are your names?"
We all snapped out of our little serious scene at the same time when she asked. Zoro started, "My name is Zorojuro. I'm a ronin."
Oh shit I didn't get to make up a name, it hadn't even crossed my mind. Before I could stop him, Luffy answered, "My name is Monkey D.-"
Zoro made a very weird sound to stop him from talking, and then made some more grunting sounds while motioning towards Tsuru. "His name is... uh... Luffytaro," Zoro corrected. He then gestured to me, "And that's... O(y/n)."
"Eh?! I mean- I'm Luffytaro... Gozaru," Luffy stuttered.
I chuckled a little at them and so did Tsuru. "You guys are from overseas, right? It must have been hard to enter the country," she said.
"How could you tell?!" Luffy questioned.
"You talk weird," she answered. "Don't worry I won't tell anybody. I'm new to this town too, and Okiku-chan has only been working here for a month."
"I guess we better keep our mouths shut around other people if we speak so differently," I said, nodding to myself. Tsuru agreed with me.
Zoro decided to change the subject and say, "I heard this town is called Okobore. What kind of name is that?"
Tsuru sighed, "It's just as the name implies, those who live here get leftovers from the town of officials."
"Tama said there is non-poisonous food somewhere," Luffy piped in.
I nodded and looked toward Tsuru, "Is that where the town of officials is?"
She gave a nod and went into detail about the food situation in the country. Kaido pollutes the waters, and the current Shogun, Orochi, has been monopolizing the food. There is a mountain behind us that has a farm inside of it, made 20 years or so ago by Oden in order to provide food for the country. Orochi just refuses to give it out as it was intended to.
When she finished talking, an arrow came flying straight for her head. Zoro, being the closest one to her, stopped the arrow with his sword and sent it flying back at him. It looked to be a haki enforced arrow.
The flying man with bat wings began barraging us with arrows after he realized we were a bit of a threat, but they were easy to block and dodge. I stayed with Tsuru to make sure none of the man's attacks would hit her, as she didn't seem capable of defending herself.
A shout caught our attention in the middle of the shower of arrows. "LET GO OF ME!" it was Tama's voice. She called for us as she was being taken away by some guy with weird legs.
"GIVE TAMA BACK!" Luffy shouted as we started running towards the kidnapper's retreating form.
Another arrow was shot toward Luffy as we ran. I groaned and grabbed more arrows out of the air when they got close enough, " Damnit! I forgot about him! We don't have time for this!"
"I won't let you go!" the flying guy said.
"Don't get in the way!" Luffy yelled.
I grabbed another arrow and chucked it back at the bat man. He dodged it and shot some more at us. We were forced to keep blocking as Okiku sped off with after the kidnapper, later calling for Tama's dog.
"That woman's holding a sword!" Zoro pointed out.
"She said she knew how to use it," Tsuru muttered. "I've never seen her use it though."
I spun around after deflecting a few more arrows and tried to look at the retreating woman. I couldn't see it because of the dust that Komachiyo was kicking up. "Do you know if it was a named sword? And if it is, which one?" I questioned, still looking at Okiku.
"Um, no, I don't know," Tsuru said.
I groaned and looked toward Zoro. He shook his head. I don't know what I expected, he doesn't know if swords are named or not, he only ever chose them though the feel of them. "Damnit," I groaned. "I'll just ask her later."
That was when I spotted Luffy stretching his arm out to grab onto Komachiyo. "Orrr I guess I could ask her right now," I hummed, jumping onto Luffy's back.
"You coming?" he asked. I gave a nod.
A hand grabbed onto arm, causing both of us to look. It was Zoro. "I'm coming, too," he stated.
With that, Luffy pulled us onto the dog. As soon as we landed on Komachiyo's back, Zoro asked, "What do they want from that brat?!"
"I don't know! But we have to get her back now!" Okiku responded.
"Yea, no matter what the reason is, she's still kidnapped. She's also been chased by Kaido's men earlier as well. That's how we met her. So that may have something to do with this," I told them. They both nodded in understanding.
Luffy ran to the front of the dog, paying no attention to our conversation and shouting, "TAMAAA! I'm gonna save you!"
She called for him, but we didn't get to respond because bat man showed up(and not the good one, sadly). He told 'Gazelleman' to keep going after making Komachiyo fall with a haki enforced arrow attack, making us lose ground. He took off after deflecting Luffy's punch.
"They've had to be planning this," Zoro said.
"One of the headliners must have ordered it. And there is only one place to go in that direction..." Okiku informed, "It's definitely the town of officials."
"That's the tow where those who sell their leftovers to you guys live," the green head hummed.
"Right..." the teashop worker replied. She pulled out a notebook and looked through it. "There are three headliners in that town... Hawkins, Holdem, and Speed. In addition, there are about 30 soldiers who've gotten special abilities from strange artificial fruits." She closed the book and looked back up at us.
I raised a brow, "Why is it that you've taken notes on these kinds of things?"
Zoro piped in, "Yea, you're not just an ordinary girl. Who are you?"
She put up her hair and stated, "I am a samurai!" (the reason why the sub specifically states that she says sessha is bc sessha means like 'clumsy person' or something. its a word mostly used by samurai bc they were supposed to be humble, thus they would refer to themselves with the word sessha as to not sound boastful of their skill)
There was a second of silence. I broke it by asking, "Sessha...?" She only smiled at me. Ehhh alright I'm not gonna question that any further. What I really care about is... "So uh... is that sword on your hip named?"
"Oh, I don't believe so," she said. (its not been titled anything yet from what i remember)
I rubbed my chin, "Would you let me take a little peek at it?"
She laughed a little and handed it to me. I took it out and inspected it. It doesn't seem to be as well-crafted as Zoro's swords, nor the one that Luffy stole from Hitetsu earlier, but it fits her frame well due to its size and even if it is not as well-crafted, it is a great blade nonetheless.
As soon as I was done looking, I gave it back and looked toward the direction we were going. Looks like we're coming up on the village. Luffy called out for Tama one more time, and then some guys showed up to the entrance of the village.
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I hate school hehe