A/N: Rose for you <3 🌹
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"[Name]! Do you really have to leave?!" Kid sobbed, clinging onto me.
Damn, now I feel like crying..
"I'm sorry, sis. Staying here is too risky.. I don't want to endanger anyone's lives." I sighed, trying to comfort her.
"This is so emotional!" Roger wiped a dramatic tear, and Oden played along.
What will I do with these two?
Belle also was upset I was leaving, her expression saying enough. "Be safe out there, [Name]. Make sure to write to us often, okay?" she said with a smile, and I smiled back.
"Why can't I come with you, [Name]?! I can bring armor, and a sword! I'll be your sidekick!" Kid cried, hugging me even tighter.
This is more upsetting than I thought it would be?!
"..Sorry, Kid. Maybe in the future, you can be my sidekick! I hope you'll assist me one day, with the strongest sword ever." I played along with her fantasies, and she laughed in between tears.
"Cheer up, you two! We still have some time left before I leave." I sweat-dropped, trying to fix the sad mood we have going on in the room.
Kid let go of me, walking over to Belle with a slight frown. "[Name], do you have all your things ready?" Belle asked, and I nodded.
I held some bags over my shoulder, which were easy to carry due to my strength.
"Yep! I even cleaned the room I was originally staying in. I don't want to leave it looking like a mess, now.." I told her, and she huffed.
"You've been nothing but kind to me, [Name]. Thank you." Belle smiled sweetly at me, making me want to break down right then and there.
Once Belle and Kid said their fair goodbyes to me, I walked out of the house, feeling like an emotional wreck.
Uh, I suppose it's my fault for getting so attached to those two within a time span of a few months. I get attached very easily..
"Wow, [Name]. I feel like crying." Roger floated next to me, with a gloomy look. Oden flew over to the other side of me.
"Now I kind of regret wanting you to leave the island so badly.. since it's your home, you know." Oden said sympathetically.
"No, don't regret it. It's not like I really had a choice anyway. If I stayed here, it would put everyone in danger. And I mean, everyone. Big Mom isn't someone to be messed around with." I grumbled, trying not to speak too loudly.
There was one more person I had to deal with, though..
"[NAME]!!" The high pitched voice yelled at me in the distance. The voice sounded sad at first, but the closer it got, the angrier the tone became.
"[NAME]."
Oh, shit.
Moona suddenly tackled me in a tight embrace. The longer she hugged me, the tighter her hug was.
"How dare you not tell me you were leaving, [Name]?! I'm your bestest friend ever!" She yelled into my ear, clearly upset with me.
"I'm sorry, Moona! I was just about to go and tell you—"
"[NAME]!" She interrupted me, squeezing me so hard she nearly knocked the breath out of me.
"..Y—Yes?" I stuttered by accident, a little scared.
...
"..Stay safe, okay? I don't know what i'd do if you got hurt." She said with a more calm mixed with sad tone.
Sighing out of relief, I hugged her back. "I'll be fine, Moona. I'm not weak." I reassured. Even though I couldn't see it, I had a feeling she was smiling.
"..So, what's your new Captain like? Is he attractive?" Moona let me out of the hug, looking me in the eye with a smirk.
Of course, she asks this question.
..I decided to look around our surroundings, and make sure Law didn't suddenly appear out of nowhere to hear what I was about to say.
Seriously, second hand embarrassment is the worst..
"..Very." I answered genuinely, and Moona laughed in excitement.
"Oh? You think he's attractive?" Roger asked with a grin.
..I forgot him and Oden were even there.
"I'm jealous, [Name]! I wish you good luck.." Moona told me kindly, adjusting the bags on my shoulder for me.
"Thanks, Moona."
"Next time you visit, you can make up for that sleepover you promised me." She said rather passive aggressively.
"Oh, Moona I apologize—"
She cut me off by hitting me on the head. "[Name], as much as I would like you to stay, you should be leaving now. You don't want to keep your captain waiting now, do you?"
"The girl has a point! I feel like you're stalling." Oden shrugged.
Of course i'm stalling, i'm nervous?! They are acting like i've joined a pirate crew before..
"Right! I'll be leaving now. Uhm, stay safe, Moona." I turned around, waving to her.
"Why are you telling me to stay safe? You're the one going out to sea, silly." Moona laughed at me.
Nodding, I started to walk away, Roger and Oden following right after me, of course.
The meeting place Law and I agreed on was in that hidden cave, so it'll be a little bit of a walk.
"[Name], i'm surprised you considered joining a pirate crew. I'm impressed!" Roger complimented me.
"..The transition of going from a normal life to a pirate life is going to be difficult."
"We both have faith in your abilities, [Name]. You're very strong for a villager.." Oden reassured me with a smile.
"Thanks." I smiled back.
Speaking of my strength though, i'm pretty sure I have to go through that excruciating pain soon. I hate the feeling of my muscles tensing up, and just feeling nothing but agony. Why is that necessary?!
When I say i'd rather die than go through that again, I mean it. Not like Lucien would let me die, though.
Actually, now that I think about it, what happens if I die in this world? Will I be taken back to my world, or.. will I actually die?..
Next time I meet Lucien, I need to ask about that.
"What are you thinking about, [Name]? You seem focused." Roger asked, causing me to snap out of my train of thoughts.
"Boobs." I made up a random excuse to scare him off.
Oden and Roger looked flabbergasted at my comment, not expecting that.
"What?! You asked what I was thinking about!"
"Okay, that's true, but we didn't expect that."
"Your fault."
It worked, and they didn't ask me anything after that. Whew..
Suddenly, a rope came from behind and wrapped around my waist, keeping my arms close to me tightly.
"The hell?" I squirmed, confused about where this rope even came from.
"So you're the infamous [Name] we've heard so much about? We finally have you! Join our crew, you'll make a fine addition." A deep voice laughed.
Quickly turning around, I saw a whole group of people with threatening gazes.
"Yeah, no." I refused casually, not phased by how intimidating they were trying to look.
These guys aren't from Big Mom's crew, I think. They all look weaker than the guy who tried to capture me when I was with Zoro.
"Hah? What do you mean, no? If you refuse, we'll just have to kill you then." One of the ladies of the group said with a smirk.
Roger and Oden snickered at their fatal attempt at trying to threaten me.
I'm not even surprised by all the people trying to kill and kidnap me at this point.
"[Name], you could break out of those ropes any second now." Roger told me, and I nodded. But I have a question to ask, first.
"..I hope you don't mind me asking, but what exactly do the rumors say about me?" I asked.
There is no way in hell that i'm being targeted this much just for being 'strong'. There has to be another reason behind it..
"Eh? You don't even know? Well, we'll inform you then if you're so curious. You—"
"Shut up! I want to tell them."
"What? Why do you get to do it?!"
"Simple. I'm more worthy of the spotlight!"
The two started arguing in front of me, forgetting I was even there.
A taller woman stepped forward, pushing the men that were bickering out of the way.
Woah..
"Anyways, back to the point. The rumors about you are pretty.. interesting. They say you're a 'blessing' from the gods. They made that up because you didn't exist in the government's records.. meaning you came out of nowhere. Also with that strength of yours, and a unique weapon that can extend at will to further compliment it, that's never even been heard of. Pirates and Marines are both.. in sort of a competition to see who can snatch you up first, since your abilities would be very useful to both sides." She explained in detail, even though I was confused.
"What? 'Blessing' from the gods? They seriously made all this up just because I beat up a couple of jerks?.." I questioned, having a hard time believing this.
Lucien is a celestial entity, but that doesn't mean he sent me here to bless the world. He mostly sent me here for his own entertainment, so being a blessing from the gods isn't exactly true.
"..So, it's.. not true?" One of the pirates in front of me asked with a sad expression.
"No, it's not. I believe these rumors have gotten out of hand. I would very much like if people stopped coming after me.." I sighed, clearly annoyed.
"..Is it true you possess such strong power, though? Without a.. devil fruit?" One asked.
I believe that if I answer that truthfully, i'll keep on being targeted. What I want is for them to believe all the rumors are fake, so I don't have to deal with this anymore and i'll be left alone.
"[Name], even if you lie that you don't have that strength, you'll quickly become wanted anyways due to being a pirate. Just wanted you to know.." Roger said calmly, and Oden agreed.
"And what if I said they were all false? I beat those thieves only using skill. No superhuman strength was involved. They probably made that up in order to get revenge on me.. purposefully knowing I would be hunted down by lots." I tried to make it sound believable.
Please, work..
The pirates were all shocked, but the lady who told me about the rumors wasn't convinced in the slightest. "You're good at lying, you know. I'll give you that."
It didn't work?! Kill me already.
"Knock them out, and take them back to the ship." She ordered, and the pirates all obliged, walking towards me.
"..Ugh, looks like i'll have to beat even more people up—"
"Room."
A small rock was then thrown in the direction of the pirates coming towards me, confusing them.
A rush of relief came over me, knowing who it was.
"Shambles!"
Then Law appeared in place of the rock instead, making the pirates scream in fear.
My ears!!
Law quickly sliced the pirates down using his expert swordsmanship, of course.
The tall lady was surprised I had 'back-up', but she prepared to fight by unsheathing her blade she carried.
"Would you look at that.. you were already a pirate, then? [Name]." She asked rather irritated.
Law walked over to me. "Need me to untie those, [Name]-ya?"
"Nah, I got it." I told him with a smile, easily breaking the ropes that were wrapped around me.
Looking back at her with a grin, she was angry all her crew mates were cut down so easily.
"Not only are the rumors true, but you're working with a pirate from the worst generation. Do you know how much commotion that's going to cause?!" She shouted at me.
"..Well, no matter what I do to try and stop those rumors.. i'll still be targeted in the end. So it doesn't matter anymore, really." I told her, and she grit her teeth.
She rushed at me with her sword, trying to take me down.
Law had full trust in me, knowing I could take care of it myself without needing help, so he didn't budge.
I reciprocated the action, running towards her with a fist.
When she was close enough, she tried to swing at me, but her attempt failed. I quickly ducked beneath the sword, shocking her. My fist was aligned with her stomach, and then I punched it right in the center.
She was sent flying into a tree, being knocked out completely.
Roger and Oden being the silent ghosts they were, flew over to inspect her wounds and see how bad I impacted her.
"..Not bad, [Name]-ya." Law complimented with a slight grin, and I immediately thanked him.
"[Name]! That was so cool!" A voice shouted from the wilderness around us.
Three figures exposed themselves. Shachi, Penguin, and Bepo all together. They had sparkles of admiration in their eyes.
Law froze. "I thought I told everyone to stay in the submarine?.."
Uh oh..
"Sorry.." Bepo quickly apologized, while Shachi and Penguin sweat-dropped.
Completely uh phased by the situation, I ran over to Bepo and hugged him. How soft!
"Bepo! I missed you!" I exclaimed, and Bepo cheered up immediately.
Shachi and Penguin's jaws dropped to the ground, not expecting that. "I'm jealous of.. of a bear.." Shachi huffed.
Law was a bit annoyed that three of his crew mate's didn't listen to orders, but that wasn't the main priority right now. "[Name]-ya, are you ready to leave? Do you have everything?" He asked with crossed arms.
Getting off of Bepo, I turned to Law. "Mhm! Right here in this bag," I pointed to my shoulder where the bag was. I packed everything important to me, such as the bunny plush Moona and Kid got for me. I'm still grateful for that..
Um, I shouldn't be thinking about Moona or Kid or i'll start getting emotional in public.. that would be embarrassing..
"We should be leaving then. Shachi, nobody else left the Polar Tang, right?" Law asked with a rather stern look.
"..I think so?"
"..." He sent them a doubtful glare.
"That look is disturbing.." Shachi whispered to Penguin and he nodded.
Roger and Oden noticed that the five of us began walking away, and they quickly came after me.
I'm nervous.
Law walked over to me. "Name-ya, why'd you suddenly change your mind about wanting to be a pirate?"
...
"I'm.. being targeted by.. an emperor of the sea—"
Law paused, taking a minute to process that.
"What?! [Name]-ya, how'd you get involved with an emperor?!" He asked, very surprised.
"Well, um. I don't know, either! She just started coming after me! Big Mom.." I reciprocated the same energy.
Law was silent, still shocked and concerned. It was written all over his face..
"..We'll need to be extremely careful then if you join the crew. She can't get us in the Polar Tang underwater, but that doesn't mean she won't attempt to find a way to. We don't need to get involved with an emperor, or even want to. We will avoid her as much as possible." He tried to act somewhat calm, but I could see he very much wasn't. Anyone could, honestly.
I looked a little ashamed, and Law huffed, clearly seeing it. "We'll talk more about this on the Polar Tang. Come on."