Luffy's nose crinkled as his eyes blinked open. The morning sun shown in tiny rays of light peering through the closed curtains. He was sprawled out across the floor. Momma J was nearby, snoring away softly, kind of like Misaki. Wait a minute. He listened a little harder for the absent little snore before sitting up to look for her. Misaki was nowhere to be seen. He stood up and meandered around, peering in every room before walking out onto the back balcony.
He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw her sitting with her horse. Appa was standing with his head nearly in her lap, almost like he knew this would be the last time they ever saw each other. He could feel a little twinge in his heart for Appa. That horse loved Misaki so much. It sucked that they couldn't have more time to say goodbye. Stupid government should let people do what they want.
Luffy opted to go down the stairs, knowing that someone could be watching. Normally, he would do whatever he felt like, consequences be damned. But Luffy realized now that even though he thought he was being careful, it wasn't nearly careful enough. Jumping off the balcony with that Max guy, stuffing his face half-hazard-ly in front of people, picking up that ball of hay. Just a few things that he definitely could have been more careful about.
He didn't care what Misaki said. He blamed himself for having to leave like this. He wished he could stay and fight. But Misaki said that would make things way worse. He wished he could have been more careful. If he had been, maybe they could have slipped in and out of town, unnoticed.
He stopped a couple feet away from Misaki. She was just softly petting Appa on the head. It looked like she had pulled a chair out from somewhere just so she could sit with him. He could feel the sadness emanating from her, and it made his heart hurt.
Misaki sighed and stood up, hugging appa gently on the head. He leaned into her chest like he knew it was the last time he would ever get a hug from his girl. When she pulled away, appa nudged her and stepped forward to place his forehead against her again. She hugged him a little tighter this time.
"Good boy Appa. You take care of Momma and the others, ok?" She said, petting him gently on the cheek. He then made a sound and walked away to go eat some grass. Misaki looked at him and started walking slowly to the cars. "You ready?" She said.
"Yeah."
"We'll go to the bank and then come back here for our bags. Then we go."
_______________________
The drive to the bank was quiet. Luffy didn't even try talking to me. He looked out of the window, watching everything pass by like he was in a daydream. We didn't bother turning the radio on. It just didn't feel right. I sighed as we arrived.
"I just want you to stay in the car if that's ok."
Luffy grunted in response. I was mostly worried that someone would mess with it or something. I've never felt more paranoid in my life than this very moment.
I walked into the bank and made a B-line for the teller. I needed to make this quick.
"I'm looking to close out my account. I'll take all the money in cash today."
_____________________
Luffy waited like he was supposed to, which was a very rare and slightly difficult task for him. It was taking her a little longer than he expected. He peered at the bank just at the same moment that a few men were going in. Something was off about them. All three of them were wearing black hats that were too big on top of their heads. Luffy's instincts were screaming at him to get out of the car. But Misaki told him to stay...
____________________
"Here you go, ma'am. And just one more time, are you sure you really want to close out your account?"
"Yeah."
"Ok, we hope you have a wonderful day."
"Everybody freeze!"
Shit. No way. What were the odds that today of all days? I turned around to see three large men with ski masks on. Fuck. I stuffed my envelopes of cash down my pants, not even thinking about pockets.
"Get down on the ground!" One said, pointing a gun at a young lady. I grit my teeth as she dropped to the ground. "All of you!"
Fuck.
I stayed standing, unable to move. Luffy. One of the men walked up to me, pointing the gun at my stomach.
"All of you." He growled. Luffy, please. Every fiber of my being refused to let me drop to the ground. If I was going to get shot, it certainly was not going to be in the back. He pushed the gun into my stomach. "Or else should I make an example out of you?"
I slowly put my hands up. I could hear people pleading with me to lay on the ground, followed by one of the men screaming at them to shut up. Luffy, I need you. The man cocked his gun.
"Don't do this." I muttered.
"Then get down on the ground."
Just then, Luffy pushed his way through the front door. The man looked back and I grabbed the gun, twisting it to the ceiling as a shot rang out. He ripped it out of my grip and cracked me right in the face with it before grabbing me around the neck.
"You little bitch—!"
Just then, Luffy looked up, his eyes intense. I felt a wave of intensity blast through the room, and all three men dropped to the floor, unconscious. Shit. As hot as it was when he used his conqueror's haki, maybe now was a bad time. Luffy strode past everybody on the ground and put his hand on my face. I flinched a little, my cheek already swollen and painful.
"You're bleeding." He said, quietly.
All the civilians looked up in awe. One stood up and started walking toward us.
"You shouldn't have done that." I muttered.
"Sorry M'. He had a gun. They all had guns."
"I know." I admitted.
I heard the sound of a gun cocking and we turned to see the civilian, pointing a gun at us.
"Just what the Hell are you? How did you do that? What was that?!"
"What are you doing? He saved us!"
"Shut up! He must be some kind of monster!" Luffy turned to fully face the man, placing his hand on the gun and lowering it.
"Guns aren't for threats. They're for actions. Now that you have drawn it, would you really be willing to put your life on the line?" Luffy said firmly. I had heard that phrase before from Luffy. It was something Shanks had said, long ago.
The man looked down at Luffy. He was taller than him, but when it came to sheer presence, Luffy came out on top. He started trembling and then dropped the gun.
"I may be a monster, but I'm not gonna hurt anyone, k?" Luffy said, smiling.
"Th-thank you." The teller stammered.
"We have to go." I said, firmly. "Guys, please. We weren't here. Destroy the security footage."
"And why would we do that?!" The man in front of Luffy muttered.
"Because you all could be dead without us. But there is someone who needs to not know we were here. Please."
Everyone had stood up by now and were watching us carefully. A woman smiled at us.
"Don't worry. We've got you."
__________________
Misaki was frantic as they drove back to the house. She already thought that merely going to the bank would ring alarm bells, but if even one of those people snitched, then it could be all over. A manhunt for the monster with the power to fell a man just from a look would ensue.
"Lu, we gotta get our bags and go. That's it, nothing more. Nothing less. Get in. Get out."
"I know."
"I mean it."
"I know."
Luffy looked down. He hated tiptoeing around. He hated the fact that he could be leaving a mess behind for her family to clean up. Or take the fall altogether. He wished he could just kick some asses and call it a day. He sighed as they pulled into the driveway. Guess it's time.
__________________
We got out of the car and booked it through the front door. My mom was waiting for us.
"Guys he came back! He came back!"
"What? What did he say?!" I said.
"He said a 'little birdie' told him something and he needed to speak with you both."
"Why the Hell do these little birds keep helping this guy anyways?" Luffy said. Not the time to laugh but poor Luffy.
"Wait, did you say he wanted to speak to both of us?" I said, a little panicked.
"Yeah, why?" She said. I looked at Luffy, very concerned. He nodded.
"He probably knows." Luffy agreed.
"Fuck." I muttered. I closed my eyes. Think. What do I do now? What do we all do? "Lu, we gotta split up."
"The Hell we do!" Luffy started. I put my hand up. I ran up to the living room and grabbed an old town map of the place. If there was a day to be glad my mom was a pack rat, it was today.
"Momma, I need you to take him through the woods and wait here, at the corner of this street. Stay out of sight and be ready for me. I'm gonna drive the car through there to pick him up. Bring the luggage. That way, if he stops me between here and there, he can't suspect anything."
"You're gonna need a better plan than if he catches you between here and there. Cause he is here." Luffy said, peering out of the curtain.
"Shit. Just... go out the back. Go now. I'll still meet you guys over there, but I'll stall him. I'll say you disappeared. Took off. But you gotta leave in case he comes in!"
"Misaki, I don't like—!"
"Go! Now, Lu!" I said, cutting him off. I gave him a little shove and he grit his teeth. "Please, Lu. Just do what I ask. Please. You can derail the plan later, ok? But not now."
Luffy grunted and ran to grab the luggage. He came back through and grabbed me by the collar, pulling me into a quick kiss before he and my mom disappeared out the back door.
I closed my eyes and took a breath. Any second now, that man would be knocking on my door. At this rate, I didn't even know if it was worth running or standing my ground. But this interaction should definitely enlighten me on the subject.
*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*
"Open the door! I know your in there!"
Here it goes.
I opened the door and looked blankly at the man in front of me.
"Ah, fed dude. I'm sorry, what was your name? You never said it before."
"Detective Brady."
"Is your first name Richard? Please say yes. I would love if I could call you Dick Brady."
"Enough with the stalling, Misaki."
"Detective Dick Brady. You gotta admit, it actually had a nice ring to it. Like Dick Cheney."
"Let me just cut to the chase."
"Chase Brady doesn't have as nice of a ring to it." I continued to babble. He put his hand on the door, opening it a little more as he towered over me. I stood unflinchingly as he glared at me.
"Where is he?"
"Where is who?"
"You know who."
"My father?"
"How about your little boy toy?"
"Gone. He vamoosed out of the state."
"Don't lie to me." He sneered.
"I ain't lying! If you got a warrant, you could totally check this place out, but you won't find him here."
"Don't play coy with me, here. You tell me where he is."
"If it's not the guy who left, I honestly have no idea what you're talking about."
"You're really going to make me say it, aren't you?" He said, shaking his head and chuckling.
"Say what?"
"Where. Is. Luffy?"