***KID POV***
"We have the supplies we need. How long until you think we'll catch up with them?"
Killer sat a few metres away from me, watching as I tinkered with one of his scythe blades, having already detached it from the gauntlet.
"A week, tops. You keepin' an eye on everyone's training?" I asked, knowing that he would have even if I hadn't tasked him with it.
"Yeah. Haikei and (Y/N) are currently up on deck shooting seagulls. Making some kind of competition out of it." Killer replied, his fingers lightly drumming on the countertop, amidst scattered nuts and bolts.
He only does that when somethin's on his mind.
"Good. We've got this. That red-haired bastard is a goner." I snickered, eyeing him to gauge his reaction. He continued to drum, but that was all. It didn't seem like our looming attack on Shanks and his crew was what the issue was.
"Some would argue that you're also a red-haired bastard." Killer pointed out, and I grunted in annoyance, despite knowing he was right.
"Yeah, well, at least I still got all my limbs 'n shit..." I grumbled under my breath.
Well it ain't the Red-Hair bullshit. What's eatin' him?
We were both silent as I sharpened his blade, the flying sparks enough lessen the obvious, unnatural tension he had brought to the workshop. It was unusual. Usually we told each other everything, no holds barred.
"Okay, that's it." I slammed my hand down onto the table and turned in my seat, nose scrunching. "What's the problem? You're bein' weird. Spit it out." My way of asking if he was alright was kind of harsh, but that was just how I was. He knew that. Better than anyone.
Killer hesitated, which again, was quite unlike him, before he released a long sigh.
"I need to tell you something, but you're not gonna like it, Kid." He spoke low, but clear enough for me to hear. I didn't like when he dove into super serious personal conversation. I'd never liked it, because it usually meant that I was at fault for something.
"Okay? What?" I tried to hurry him up, wanting to rid the air of rigidity as soon as possible. Killer wasn't looking me in the eye, which I also hated. Only people with something to hide did that, or bashful little girls, and I had never known him to be either.
"I didn't wanna say anything before the fight...but it's eating at me..." I could hear a kind frustration in his tone, but it wasn't aimed towards me.
"Then just say it already! You're pissin' me off!" I barked, my chair creaking loudly in complaint as I leered towards him. "It can't be that bad, so spit it out!"
"I kissed (Y/N). Back in Water 7."
Registering Killer's confession took me a lot longer than I would have cared to admit, but once I had realised what he had said, I sat back in my seat properly, taken aback.
"You...kissed 'er..?"
Killer took a deep, composing breath as he nodded slowly, carefully, the hand that had been drumming now flexing anxiously over the countertop.
"Yes...You know I have...had...feelings for her, but I promise you, I was just trying to make her realise that you were the right person for her. Y..You know how stubborn you were both being, and-"
"Fuck off. That obviously wasn't just it." My voice was oddly calm for a man that had just been told that his closest friend, family, had kissed the woman he loved. Killer stiffened in his seat, but still tried to give little away.
"Okay...yeah, there were selfish undertones...but it worked. She ran to find you immediately. I'm sorry, Kid...I-"
I held up my hand to shut him up, looking down at the floor, which glistened with the particles of shaved steel. I needed a moment to think about what I could say. I didn't do that often, and I was pretty sure Killer was unnerved by it.
Killer kissed her...
"I couldn't keep it from you any longer. It felt like I was rotting on the inside. Seriously, Kid, I didn't-"
"Oh, you meant it. I know y'did. Don't lie to me." I warned him, still not willing to look up just yet. This wasn't a situation in which I could be brash.
Killer stood up, and from my peripherals I watched him remove his helmet, bangs falling into place over his eyes. His expression was pained, upset, self-loathing. I recalled seeing that look on him before, and again, like basically everything else that had transpired over the past few minutes, I hated it.
He...
"Did you seriously take that off so I could punch you?" I scoffed, finally looking up at his face. I remained seated, for multiple reasons, but mainly for my own sake. "You really think I'm that pissed?"
Killer ticked a little, inked lips stretched to a thin, worried line.
"I...expected you to be..?" His voice seemed softer without the slight muffle of his helmet, more vulnerable. I didn't get to see him like this much these days.
"Well, I ain't thrilled, but why would I be that shitted off? You love her too, and I hadn't pulled my finger outta my ass at that point. You're probably the only person that I wouldn't fuck up for doin' that." I explained, even though I was still kind of shocked. I shouldn't have been.
"But...I knew-"
"Fuck off. You knew I liked Victoria and you still tried to shoot your damn shot. This ain't any different." I spoke over the top of him, causing him to zip his lips. "You kissed her, and that's that. I'm gonna guess that just made shit harder for you, huh?"
That's one thing I don't want.
Killer sighed again, brushing a hand through his hair, and I caught a glimpse of his icy blue eyes avoiding mine.
"Doesn't matter. I'm just glad that you two are happy. You're perfect for each other." I knew he was being sincere, but it irritated me.
"Bullshit it doesn't matter. She'd be dead if you hadn't taken care of her. I almost killed her more than once, for fuck's sake. If anyone was ever perfect for her, it's-"
"Don't. Kid, just...don't." Killer stopped me with a raised hand, and I complied, sucking on my teeth to try to shut myself up.
Since I had known him, Killer had never been the kind of man to make direct moves towards women, aside from Victoria, when we were young. The fact that he had kissed (Y/N) told me a lot, and I felt bad about it.
"Does seeing us together hurt you..?" I spoke clearly, pointedly, which showed him that I wanted a truthful answer. Not that he ever lied to me, but I knew this was the kind of thing he would try to spare my feelings about.
"Not...exactly..." He murmured, setting his helmet down and tracing the curved stripes with his finger. "It's not like you shove all of that lovey dovey stuff down my throat, so that's no issue." He was right. Sure, we didn't hide our relationship, but we weren't all over each other twenty four seven.
"But there is an issue, isn't there?" I pried, having heard it in his tone. We could read each other well after so many years, cover to cover, and even the fine print. The blond was looking uncomfortable, but he had been the one to start this necessary conversation.
"The issue is all mine. I love her, and that's not gonna change overnight. I made the mistake of kissing her, even though I knew what it would do. That's on me." He explained with a tense jaw, scratching at the scruff growing at the end of his chin. "I laid it all out on the table and she made her choice. I'm glad she didn't try to spare my feelings by accepting me out of pity."
Killer, you're too good of a man.
In some ways we were alike, but in others we were vastly different. This was one of those cases.
"If you love her as much as it sounds like, why didn't y'persist? Y'just gave up because-"
"Pushing a wall won't make it move, Kid." Killer stated firmly, what little I could see of his eyes through his messy fringe rather sharp. "I told you because I expected you to talk with your fists like you usually do, not pry into how I handled things."
I clicked my tongue, still agitated but not angry. Not in the slightest. Not at him.
"I wouldn't punch you for bein' human. This was just a shitty fuckin' situation." I explained, watching him pick up his helmet and put it back on. "She really burst in and shook things up, huh..?"
Killer blew his version of a chuckle from out of his nose, ensuring his face was properly covered once more.
"She really did..." He agreed quietly, beginning to roll one of my screwdrivers back and forth along the desk by his side.
"DINNER'S ON ME, BITCHES!"
The both of us flinched when the workshop door was all but kicked in, an excited (Y/N) rushing in with her arms filled with what looked like multiple deceased seagulls.
"I whooped Haikei's punk ass! Seven to three! He might have accidentally shot down a News Coo, but for legal purposes, no he didn't..."
We've both fallen in love with an actual idiot...
Killer moved first, heading towards the door but stopping to slip his hand beneath the woman's stolen hat so he could ruffle her hair.
"Good job, but I'm not cooking gull." He praised her, and I watched their interaction closely.
He was incredibly gentle when touching her in any way, I had noticed. A genuine kindness he often kept well hidden seemed to come out on display around her. (Y/N) somehow both smiled and pouted simultaneously, and she welcomed his hand with a warmth I had also experienced myself.
There's a kind of love there. I should probably hate it...but I can't.
Ignoring the woman's complaints about not using her questionable prey for dinner, Killer left the workshop, shutting the door behind him and leaving the two of us alone.
(Y/N) turned to me and dumped the cluster of birds onto the ground, stepping over them to approach me.
"Haikei's trying to fish that News Coo he, for legal reasons, totally didn't shoot, out of the water, so we might have a man overboard shortly."
She made herself at home, sitting upon my knee, and I turned to look back at Killer's deconstructed scythe.
"He'll be right." I shrugged, one hand moving around her waist to keep her steady. "Doesn't have a Devil Fruit so he can swim."
I decided that I wasn't going to reveal to her that I knew about the kiss, for all of our sakes. Of course, part of me was curious to hear her take on it, and get a deeper understanding of how she felt towards my dearest friend, but it was best to let it be.
"So...do we have a plan to deal with Shanks yet?" She asked curiously, the light touch of her fingers in my hair too distracting for me to get back to my work. I leant into her affection, but kept my eyes on the metallic surface of the scythe.
"Of course we do. The plan...is to track him down, and kill him. That's all there is to it..."
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"Also pick those damn gull corpses off'a my fuckin' floor. It's disgusting."
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"I'll do it later."
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***I did a Kid Pirates Christmas doodle for my instagram but I'm not sure how Wattpad would react to it, so better safe than sorry xD
Next Time: An Even Worse Idea***