It was dark. Too dark. The sun should have been beating down on me. Instead, it was dark but warm. I opened my eyes, realizing I was still under Jaggy's cape. I peaked out from underneath it, seeing the gruff owner of the cape sitting calmly beside me. He didn't bother looking at me, but huffed through his nose, acknowledging that I was now awake.
"You mutter in your sleep, you know." He said, gruff but quiet.
"Oh. Yeah. That happens sometimes." I said, letting the cape fall to my lap as I sat up.
"Somethin' bothering you?" He said, making me grimace.
I didn't feel like answering him. Instead, I got up. Sleeping on the beach was not all it was cracked up to be. I was covered in sand. And sand got... everywhere. I waded into the water to wash off, letting Jaggy ponder what I was up to.
When I got out of the water, I stood at the shoreline, letting the sun dry me for a moment before dropping to do push ups.
"The Hell are you doing now?" He said, narrowing his eyes at me.
"I can't just sit here. If I'm gonna be stuck here, I may as well train."
I could feel Jaggy watching me intently. I knew he was looking at the wound on my arm. Ignoring him, I continued to count in my head as I did push up after push up.
"Ever thought of resting? Even I rest when I get hurt." He said quietly, making me grit my teeth.
"I don't have time. I have to get stronger."
Suddenly, I got that prickly feeling, my eyes narrowing as I jumped away, narrowly escaping a chunk of metal as it spun into the sand. I landed on my feet, sliding a little before coming to a stop.
"What the Hell, man?!" I yelled.
"So you are fast, huh?" He laughed. "And it's Kid." He said in a mocking tone, referring to me constantly correcting him on my name.
"Well, what the Hell, Kid?!"
He laughed, then got into a fighting stance. "You aren't focusing on the right thing. If your strength lies in your speed, you should double down on that. And the best way to build speed is through combat."
He sent more shrapnel flying in my direction, and I found myself dodging quickly, despite being slowed by the sand at my feet.
"You got any haki, chicky?" He said, making me puff my cheeks.
"I've told you my name a million times now! Use it!" He sent more my way, and I back flipped away from it, wincing at the pain in my arm. I pulled my sword to divert the next couple flying my way.
"Answer my question!" He said, readying himself.
"Armament haki." I said gruffly. He grinned at me, holding up two fingers.
"Looks to me like you have observation haki too. And damn good at that." He said, making my eyes widen.
"What?" I said, standing up straight.
"Close your eyes!" He said. I did as he said, and once again, felt the prickly sensation on the back of my neck.
I couldn't quite visualize it, but found myself jumping back away. I leaned off to the side, feeling something whizz by my face. My eyes snapped open, sweat beading on my forehead as I looked on at him.
"You gotta keep 'em closed. You can't train that with your eyes open."
I kept them closed, trying over and over to visualize what was coming at me, instead of just relying on instinct. Nothing could hit me as I danced around the rubble being thrown at me. That is, until I landed on some that had already clattered to the ground long before that.
"Son of a bitch!" I said, grabbing my foot and hopping a little. It was like stepping on a giant Lego. Fuck that hurt.
"Ah, shit. You good?!" He hollered.
"No! That shit hurt!"
"You bleeding?" He asked. I looked at my foot and shook my head. "Then quit whining, you big baby!" He said, throwing more junk at me.
"Seriously?!" I muttered, working hard to dodge everything. He grinned and picked up the pace, letting things that had already fallen rise back up, attacking me from behind. I dodged and dodged before he was finally satisfied, laughing as I dropped to the ground, covered in sweat.
"I think that deserves a good meal." He said, tossing me a cracked coconut. "Or at least something to tide us over while we catch more fish."
"How long do you think we are gonna have to wait for someone to find us?" I said, focusing on peeling the coconut.
"Depends on how far we drifted."
"Or how far that sea king swam." I chuckled.
"What sea king?" He asked.
"Um... oh shit. You didn't know?" I asked.
"What?" He said, sitting next to me and bumping shoulders with me. I roared out laughing.
"I thought you knew!"
"What?! What?! Tell me!" He said, a little more urgently.
"You were spat up by some kind of sea king serpent!" I said, unable to stop from laughing. Kid paused, thinking carefully before jumping up.
"You let me eat without rinsing that shit off?! What the Hell, Misaki?!"
"Awe, you called me Misaki!" I teased, making him grab lean over and shake me. I laughed harder.
"That's what you take from that?!" He said angrily, making me laugh even harder.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I thought you knew!"
"I did NOT know!" He said, angrily walking over to the water and rinsing off his hands.
"If it makes you feel any better, your cape didn't smell bad, so you probably weren't that dirty."
"It does not make me feel better!" He said. "Maybe I should wash my clothes too." He pondered.
"So long as you don't strip down in front of me." I said, wiping the tears from my eyes. "I don't think I could handle that right now.
Jaggy looked at me and smirked. My heart dropped into my stomach.
"Don't." I warned.
He turned around and dropped his pants, mooning me. I shielded my eyes and squealed before bursting out in laughter.
"STOP! WHYYYYY?!" I laughed. Jaggy laughed back at me, pulling his pants back up. "Welcome to today's show of things I never needed to see!"
"Oh come on! It's just a butt! It's not like I waved my junk at you!"
"Holy shit, stooop, Kid! Please!" I laughed, holding onto my stomach. It hurt so bad to laugh this hard. The bruising was still so fresh.
"What! I won't do it!" He laughed,
"Somehow I doubt it!" I giggled, still holding onto my stomach. He smiled, raising an eyebrow at me.
"I mean... only if you want me to." He joked.
"Noooo, no... please." I said, curbing my laughing fit. "Don't do that."
He laughed, throwing his hands up. "Don't worry! I won't!"
"I appreciate it." I said, smiling at him. I really wanted to tell him in that moment that I was taken. But a part of me worried he would turn on me in an instant. I would take that route if I had to, but I knew Luffy was technically his enemy. And I really wanted to survive if I could. When it came down to it though, if my loyalties were to be tested, I knew I would throw myself to the wolves in an instant. Regardless, I officially felt like we were something akin to friends, even if it was temporary.