"Where. Is. Luffy?"
Shit. Don't react.
"He's gone." I said, frowning.
"There is no way he is gone!"
"How would you know that?"
"Because there's no way he would leave without you."
I stared at him, stone faced. I really wasn't sure how to respond at that point, but there was no way I was going to accidentally reveal something I shouldn't.
"Look, he ain't here, so you best be on your way."
"I don't think you get it." He said, stepping forward. "If I can't have Luffy, then I still have the next best thing."
"What do you mean?" I said, trying not to recoil from him.
"You have no idea how deep this goes, Misaki. Dimension hopping has been on our radar for an incredibly long time."
"Dimension hopping?"
"That's right."
"So what? What does that have to do with the price of tea in China?"
"You have no idea how long we have been tracking you." He said, stepping even closer. "You have been a point of interest ever since your reappearance six months ago."
"Oh yeah? Why's that?" I said, stone faced.
"The story is always the same. Missing person suddenly reappears after a certain lapse of time. Sometimes hurt, sometimes scarred," He leaned down to get eye to eye with me, "but always exactly where they were first lost. No captors. Unwilling to talk about the experience. Sometimes, they act out in anger, like they had just been ripped away from someone they love. Sound familiar?"
I refused to yield. I glared right back at this man, whose face had now distorted to a near demented state.
"But there were huge differences with your case. You were gone far longer, and you were massively stubborn, refusing to re-acclimate to society. You eventually did speak about your experience, though albeit in very cryptic ways. You even gave yourself a new name. " He said, pinching my chin so that he could hold my gaze.
That stupid goddamned therapist. I should have never....
"Honestly speaking, though, everything was still pretty unremarkable. And then suddenly, you came back. And you came back with a friend." His grin got wider, crazier. "And if there is a way here, there must be a way back. Or else, why would he risk coming here?"
I stood firm, refusing to flinch away. Refusing to react. He was intimidating, unhinged. And I refused to recoil. I refused to give even an inch. He straightened back up and sighed.
"No matter. Even if he never shows his face again, it really isn't him we're after anyways."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It's you, Misaki. You are the key. You are the bridge to a very powerful world. One that could help increase our military might to unfathomable levels." He said, grinning maniacally.
"You don't know what you're talking about! That world... It's far too dangerous for the average man! And not everybody there is like him!"
"Oh don't worry, you can fill us in on every single detail about the place later. And, how to get there."
"Fat chance getting me to talk!" I sneered back at him. No fucking way I was gonna give him the key to get back.
"It's no matter. I have ways of squeezing information out of people."
____________________
"Where the Hell is she?"
"Be patient, Lu."
"I'm no good at that!" He said, throwing his hands up. He was gritting his teeth so hard, Jean was afraid he might chip a tooth. They were waiting at the corner that Misaki told them to wait. Luffy was pacing and uneasy.
"I know you're not, but she said—."
"And what if something changed?"
"Relax Lu!"
"Something's wrong! She should have been here by now!"
"Do you want me to call her?"
Luffy nodded desperately. Jean grabbed her phone and dialed, her brow furrowed as she put the phone up to her ear. She immediately pulled the phone away and dialed again, putting the phone back up to her ear.
"Well?!" Luffy said, crossing his arms when she put her hand up to silence him. She sighed and put the phone back in her pocket.
"Straight to voicemail." She muttered. Before she was even done with her sentence, Luffy was already picking up their bags.
"Get on my back. We are going back and I'm not waiting for you."
Jean climbed on his back, unable to argue with him any longer. She knew her phone should have been on this time around. Luffy ran. He felt like he ran faster than he had ever run before, through the woods and straight back to the house. Only one thing was on his mind. Misaki.
When they got there, nothing had changed. Luffy half expected there to be a hole in the wall or something. He looked around, making note that appa was still grazing happily in the pasture and that the cars were all still in the driveway.
They crept into the house, unsure if their unwanted guest was still there or not. Jean peered around to glance up the stairs and at the front door, but Luffy strode right past her. He didn't feel like wasting any time. But the door was shut, and the car that was on the road when they left was no longer there. Luffy stifled a scoff before going the rest of the way up the stairs, he peered in all of the rooms, before finally taking a deep breath in.
"MISAKIIIIIIIII!" He yelled. No answer. He could feel his chest tighten.
"MISAKIIIII!" Jean echoed. Still no answer.
"MISAKIIIIII!!!!" Luffy yelled, a little more frantically. "Misaki! Where are you?!?!"
Luffy started going back through all the rooms. Each time, slamming each door harder and harder when she wasn't there. He leapt down the stairs, going through the rooms below as well before bolting outside. He ran back up to the front door, hoping he missed something. His stomach dropped. There was the remnants of blood splatter on the door frame. Like someone had cleaned it but missed a spot.
"MISAKIIIIIIII?!?!!!!" He yelled, panic laced in his voice. He ran to the barn, looking in each stall before bolting back out. He went to grab his hat, forgetting for a moment that he let Nami keep ahold of it. He clenched his fists and punched a hole straight through a tree, knocking it over away from the barn. Luffy grabbed his head and dropped to his knees, screaming her name again.
"Luffy stop!" Jean came running out after him. She tried putting her hands on his shoulders and he shook her off. He screamed her name again before dropping the rest of the way to the ground. He punched the ground, sending shockwaves through the earth. Jean yelled at him, but he wasn't listening.
He never wanted to feel like this again. Like he did in Sabaody, when his friends disappeared right before his eyes. Why did I listen to her? I should have stayed. I should have protected her. What's the point of being strong if I'm not there when people need me?!
"LUFFY GET AHOLD OF YOURSELF!"
Luffy screamed for Misaki again. This time, his voice was hoarse. Tears were streaming down his face and the screaming had marred his throat.
Suddenly, Jean grabbed his face and pulled him up to look at her. She pressed her forehead to his, much like how Luffy would whenever Misaki needed to calm down.
"Calm down and think. You're going to be the King of the Pirates. You can't break down before it's over! Think! How can we find her?!"
Luffy's eyes widened.
"OF COURSE!" He shouted, throwing Jean backwards by accident. He ran to his luggage, pulling out his sweater that he came over in and then reached in its pocket. He pulled out a torn piece of paper.
"What's that?" Jean asked.
"It's going to tell us!"
"Tell us what?"
"Exactly what we need to know." He said, taking a deep breath. "Where. Is. Misaki?"