"Hey Lu! I think that's a shop! Let's see if they have any ponchos!"
"Good call!" Luffy said, bouncing up to the Tree Top Shop. When we got in there, we were in awe of just how much could fit in one little shop.
"Welcome to the Tree Top Shop, how may I help you?" The clerk said with a smile.
"Hey there, do you—"
"Got any ponchos?" Luffy said, cutting me off. I puffed out my cheeks and looked at him, annoyed. He was too busy picking at his ears to notice. Must have gotten wet without his hat.
"Why yes we do! Right here." He gestured to a myriad of ponchos, sorted by colors.
Luffy B-lined it to the red ponchos. I rolled my eyes, smirking a little to myself. Figures. Luffy's favorite color was red, just like me, but I didn't want to pick the same color as him, so I went for a blue one. I popped it on and Luffy grinned at me.
"You look cute in blue." He said, making me blush.
"Second favorite color." I said, giving him the peace sign.
"Ready to go?" He said, grabbing the air with his hand. That is too cute.
________________________
"Have a nice day!" The clerk said with a smile. As soon as they left, his smile fell to frown. He grabbed his transponder snail and dialed a number on it. "Hey... yeah.... Strawhat Luffy...."
______________________
We made our way through the rest of town, gawking at the tree houses and stopping at a few more shops, even grabbing a bite to eat before Luffy was ready to explore even further.
We passed by Nami, who waved us down.
"What's up?" I said.
"I want to give you guys directions on how to get to the hotel." She said. "Chopper and Franky are staying on the ship to protect it."
"Ok, shoot." Luffy said, ready to take it in.
He nodded furiously while I zoned out. I didn't do verbal directions very well. I knew what direction the Sunny was and that was about it. But when it came to verbal directions, I didn't even try anymore — I knew I wasn't going to absorb a word she said, and I was a little worried Luffy wouldn't either.
"And don't get lost." Nami finished. Luffy nodded and turned to me.
"You ready to hit the woods?" Luffy asked with a big dumb grin on his face.
"What about the rest of the crew?"
"What, you think they can't handle themselves?"
"I think I'm as bad at directions as Zoro and you aren't much better." I laughed.
It was true. I could read a map to an extent, but if someone didn't tell me where I was on the map, it was a hopeless endeavor. Give me directions? I zoned out, please repeat ten times. Ask me to backtrack? Not a good idea either. I looked helplessly at Nami and she just laughed.
"Good luck you two, I'm gonna go relax."
We wandered aimlessly for a while, coming across a few beasts that Luffy couldn't resist fighting. I trailed behind, not quite as interested in attacking animals as he was. Besides, there was something far more concerning to me.
A foreboding shadow kept flitting in and out of my view. It was reminiscent of that day back in my own world, which made my skin crawl. Luffy either didn't notice or wasn't concerned enough to care, but I, on the other hand, couldn't stop watching for it.
"Man, this place is almost like the seducing woods. I can't tell which way the Sunny is." Luffy said, snapping me out of it. That's weird. Luffy doesn't usually care about going home this early.
"Well, we still have plenty of time left in the day." I said lazily.
"I just feel like I've seen this area already." Luffy said, looking around.
"Come to think of it, I think you're right." I did, looking around. "I definitely feel like we've been here before."
"Do you think you can check around, babe? Maybe you can—" I cut him off, immediately striking at his throat with my sword. Luffy quickly dodged, his eyebrows pulling down, confused. "What the Hell are you doing?!"
"I had a feeling, but that just confirmed it." I said, my eyes narrowing as I took another swipe at him "Luffy never calls me 'babe'."
Luffy's face contorted into an evil sneer. "So you figured it out. But the question is... can you do anything about it?"
I glanced around before looking back at the fake Luffy standing before me. Shit. If he was just some guy that had transformed into Luffy, there is no way I wouldn't have noticed the swap. Unless...
I focused as I closed my eyes. Luffy's presence was not in front of me — but it was nearby. I turned the sword around and sliced my own hand, making me scream out. When I opened my eyes, my current reality shattered, revealing an empty forest in front of me.
I rushed to where I could sense Luffy and slid to a stop. He was holding someone back, but nobody was there.
"What the Hell has gotten into you?" He said, his eyes glazed over. Damn it, that simpleton.
"Luffy!" I yelled out. He reeled back, still focused on the nonexistent figure in front of him. I could see a shadow lurking behind him and rushed to his aid. I saw his finger flick and Luffy looked in my direction.
"You?! Are you doing this?!"
Shit.
Luffy snapped his hand back and lashed it out toward me. I dodged and kept running, pulling my sword and swiping at the shadow until it receded. I then turned my attention back to Luffy.
"Luffy, it's me! Misaki!" I yelled.
Luffy muttered something and punched at me again. I dodged and got closer to him, trying to snatch his hand. He whipped out his leg and I leapt over it. Another hand came punching toward me and I grabbed it, making him snap his body to me like he once did long ago. I quickly grabbed him by his face and pulled him toward me, making him falter and his face relax. I pressed my lips to his and pressed my forehead against his own.
"Luffy!" I said desperately. Luffy blinked at me, his eyes softening.
"Misaki? What happened?"
"You're so bad with hypnosis and mind tricks, Lu. We really gotta work on that." I said softly.
"Shit," he said, his hand reaching up to caress my cheek. "I didn't hurt you did I?"
"'Course not!" I said, grinning.
"Good!" He said, smiling at me.
"Well, I certainly didn't expect that!" The shadow said, making us look up. "Looks like you have something that grounds you. That simply won't do."
"What the Hell does that even mean?!" We both said simultaneously. Luffy used his gum gum pistol, making the shadow man come into the light. He was the most generic hypnosis guy I had ever seen in my life, with swirly glasses and everything. I laughed at him.
"Are you serious?!" I snickered. "Dude, what is with your get-up?! It's so weird!"
"I'll make you regret that!" The Hypno-dude said, making us both laugh. He grit his teeth and raised his pendant, making me lunge at him. Luffy seemed susceptible to this kind of stuff, so I wanted to end it quick. I sliced him with my sword, faster than lightning. It was amazing how quickly I was able to get stronger in this reality. I still wasn't up to what I used to be, but I was still fast enough to hit this moron. He fell back to the ground, groaning painfully as he did. I looked back at Luffy and he looked a tad dazed. I felt something stab me in the leg, reopening my stitches on my old wound. I screamed, making Luffy's eyes snap wide open.
"M'!" He screamed, shooting forward and smashing his fist into the man, who used his last second before the collision to raise his pendant before getting plowed into the ground.
"T-thanks, Lu." I stuttered, debating whether or not I should pull the knife out of my thigh.
I looked up at Luffy, who was oddly being quiet. His eyes glazed over and his lids batted heavily. His body swayed weakly before he fell forward into my arms, collapsing.
"Luffy? Luffy?!" I yelled, shaking him.
A chuckle could be heard from behind me. My eyes slid back, narrowing at the man who was dug into the ground. This fucking bastard.
"The goal was to take away his ground." He said weakly. "But it looks like I can't move anymore. Too bad. I was so close. He got me good... Strawhat Luffy."
"Don't flatter yourself." I sneered. "You weren't even a threat."
"No, of course not! Not with you there."
"Do I need to kill you?" I said coldly. "Or have you learned your lesson?"
The man smiled wickedly. "Without you, I could take full control. I could end his career."
I stood up, striding over him with darkness in my eyes, I could feel my nose crinkle at the thought of someone like him getting in Luffy's way. My eyebrow twitched as I contemplated my options. The man kept smiling evilly at me. I sliced my hand, making sure this was my reality and not his. He was still there, pretending like I wasn't contemplating ending his life. I bit my lip. The man chuckled.
"You don't have the guts." He said, sneering at me. He lurched up quickly, aiming for me with another knife. "And when you least expect it, I'll—" I cut him off.
A gargling sound reverberated through the rain forest as blood spilled out through his throat and mouth. I sighed heavily, my hands shaking as I yanked my sword out of his throat. He fell back to the ground, still choking on his own blood. My chest tightened. It didn't feel right, taking a life like that. But I was afraid that the moment I turned my back, he would get the upper hand. I watched him as he struggled, waiting until he stopped breathing before turning my back.
I sheathed my sword and immediately started hyperventilating. I clutched my chest as tears pricked in my eyes. I had to. I HAD to do it. He was about to go back after you. There was a reason I wielded a sword. I was not strong. At all. I was fast, but I was not strong. I needed to have a way to protect myself. The sword was the way to do it. The trembling subsided as I prayed. I prayed for the man to find peace. I took a deep breath and knelt down to Luffy. I tried desperately to wake him. He didn't even mutter, making me grit my teeth.
"Luffy, there's meat here!!" I said, jumping straight to the surefire way to wake him.
Nothing.
I bit my lip, unsure what to do. I grabbed him and hoisted his limp body onto my back. He is so much heavier than he looks. I started dragging him in the direction of the Sunny, hoping I wasn't lost. Hoping to whatever God might exist that I has some kind of homing device that would bring us home.
For what seemed like hours, I walked, dragging Luffy along with me. I was so tired, and my leg was throbbing and wouldn't stop bleeding. My wounds on my face were throbbing as well, making me grit my teeth. This is definitely not what I expected. But I pressed on, hoping I could make it through to the Sunny.
"Misaki?" I heard a familiar voice call out. Tears welled up in my eyes.
"Sanji! I've never been so happy to see you, you beautiful beautiful man!"
"What happened?! I was having a duel with Mosshead to see how big a catch we could get here!" Sanji said, running over to me.
"Zoro is here too?!" I said, desperately.
"Yeah, somewhere."
"We need Chopper! Pronto! Get Chopper! Or get us there!" I said, staggering as I walked into him. I collapsed into his arms, still holding Luffy to my back. "Chopper." I muttered.
"Misaki? Hang on. We will get you there! Stay awake, ok? Misaki?!"
I opened my eyes, finding myself back on the Sunny. Chopper was restitching my leg. I grunted and sat up to see the whole crew staring at me. All except for one.
"Luffy?" I muttered.
"He's still out. What happened?" Nami said, kneeling next to me.
"There was a guy. He did some kind of hypnosis or something." I said, biting my lip. "I think he got Luffy."
"Did he give him any commands?" Chopper said quietly, still focusing.
"I don't think so." I said.
"So he probably just made him sleep."
"Is this bastard still with us?" Zoro asked firmly.
I looked down, a soft no escaping my lips.
"Well, if that's the case, whatever he did probably won't hold. Can't control someone if you aren't alive." Sanji said, puffing his cigarette.
"It depends on what he did but yeah, most likely he will be fine when he wakes up." Chopper said.
He finished up the last stitch and I crawled over to Luffy. I pulled his hat off of my head and placed it next to him. It felt like an eternity went by, but eventually, his eyes fluttered open. I smiled.
"Hey there sleepyhead. How are ya feeling?" I said, placing a hand on his.
"I'm sorry... what's your name again?" Luffy said, his eyes clear as day.